Let’s all talk about Folsom Prison Blues (S2 E19)

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    • journalbookbinder
        September 29, 2021 at 12:14 pm #10121

        I am looking forward to rewatching this one! I remember thinking it was so risky for Sam and Dean to put themselves in PRISON! And bodyguard Clif has a cameo as a prisoner!

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      • journalbookbinder
          September 29, 2021 at 12:14 pm #10170

          I greatly enjoyed this one. Kate made a comment in the last one (Hollywood Babylon) about how Dean fits in everywhere. As a PA there and a prisoner here. Learning how to use cigarettes and currency…figuring out how things work. When Sam asks if he’s at all disturbed how well he fits in there, he says no. He learns to adapt everywhere! I love that about him here.

          I remember, on first watch, I didn’t guess who Deacon was and I was VERY nervous when the warden pulled them aside and told the other guard to leave. I thought they were going to get a serious beating. I remember on first watch that reveal surprised me.

          Again, not loving the ghost aspect. Very similar ghost behavior to the episode right before it (just there to be vengeful and scary).

          I was with Sam on this one. Thought it was an incredibly risky plan. Especially when Hendrickson got involved. I thought they watered-down Hendrickson a bit here. Didn’t love that. He was SCARY when he first appeared in the earlier episode and knew so much about them. Here, he seems kinda stupid. I did love that the lawyer saw fit to misdirect him though and that little bit of suspense in the graveyard at the end is really effective. Kind of not believable that the lawyer would go do what seems like nonsensical research to her. Are we supposed to believe that Dean is just THAT GOOD at getting what he wants from women?

          Poor Clif/Tiny; killed by a ghost.

          Why did the ghost always just go to the next target? I thought she was there to keep the rules intact. She went for Dean, then he hit her with salt, and she immediately seemed to go after Tiny for no reason.

          I liked that Dean actually had to have a bruise for a lot of this. They always heal too quickly to believe it.

          Again, Jensen stole the show for me here, acting like prison was no big deal and having full confidence in having to repay one of his father’s debts to a good friend. He’s be running the place if he really were incarcerated.

          Not very believable that the IMPALA would be waiting for them once Deacon lets them escape! But okay.

          Again, loved the “extra” drama at the end in the graveyard when they essentially escape a second time.

          Good character actor in the “long time convict” that Sam talks to while mopping the floor.

          Not a bad one.

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          • kate38
              September 29, 2021 at 12:14 pm #10181

              “I greatly enjoyed this one. Kate made a comment in the last one (Hollywood Babylon) about how Dean fits in everywhere. As a PA there and a prisoner here. Learning how to use cigarettes and currency…figuring out how things work. When Sam asks if he’s at all disturbed how well he fits in there, he says no. He learns to adapt everywhere! I love that about him here.

              I remember, on first watch, I didn’t guess who Deacon was and I was VERY nervous when the warden pulled them aside and told the other guard to leave. I thought they were going to get a serious beating. I remember on first watch that reveal surprised me.”

              I 100% agree with both of these, JBB! I think Dean’s relatability and understanding of human nature are often overlooked in the show. I love seeing those attributes — and his intelligence — so prominently on display. And you’re right — if Dean ever ended up in jail for real, he’d absolutely end up running the place :).

              I REALLY liked how they revealed Deacon’s identity! I remember being shocked the first time I saw that.

              kate

              • This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by kate38kate38.
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            • kate38
                September 29, 2021 at 12:14 pm #10182

                “Why did the ghost always just go to the next target? I thought she was there to keep the rules intact. She went for Dean, then he hit her with salt, and she immediately seemed to go after Tiny for no reason.”

                Great question, JBB! I’d always assumed that the ghost was punishing Tiny for breaking the rules by fighting. I’d assumed that’s also why she killed Lucas, and why she came after Dean.

                kate

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              • kate38
                  September 29, 2021 at 12:14 pm #10184

                  Good character actor in the “long time convict” that Sam talks to while mopping the floor.”

                  Yes! I don’t know his name (I should, because I’ve seen him in tons of shows), but this actor is very good. He’s sincere, understated, and totally convincing as Randall. I liked that scene with Sam when they’re mopping the floor, and the other scene when Dean has to pay him in cigarettes for information.

                  kate

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              • kate38
                  September 29, 2021 at 12:14 pm #10180

                  I LIKE this one! Whenever I hear “Green Onions”, I think fondly of the perp walk in this episode – LOL! The look on Sam’s face when his cell mate stands up in priceless! It’s amazing to me that they found someone taller than Jared 😊. Even Randall was a fun character. I like the lady lawyer a lot, too.

                  When I first watched this one, I was surprised that the Winchester brothers would trip a silent alarm. But when I realized they’d gotten arrested purposely, it made perfect sense.

                  Interesting exchange of roles between the brothers: When they first arrive, Sam makes a comment about how the four people who died weren’t “innocent” because they were in jail. Dean had to remind him that not only are some people in jail innocent, but even if someone has been convicted of a crime, it doesn’t mean that person deserves to die. In the early seasons, the writers tried very hard to paint Sam as the empathetic one, while painting Dean as an absolutist (at least where monsters are concerned). But in this episode, it’s clearly Dean who sees the humanity in the prisoners and Dean who has a much easier time relating to them. It’s also Dean who has to remind Sam that they should work the job and stay until the job is done, because Deacon saved John’s life in the Marine Corps, so honoring their word to him is important.

                  Little piece of trivia: When they were filming this episode, one of the filming days was Jensen’s birthday. I read that many of the extras were actual prisoners (I’m not sure how WB worked that out, or if that part is even true). So, when all the prisoners in the yard surprised Jensen by suddenly turning to face him and singing “Happy Birthday” Jensen admitted being a little freaked out – all those grizzled, burly guys singing “Happy Birthday” was probably weird 😊.

                  Clif Kosterman is adorable as Tiny! And Dean is just plain adorable from start to finish! The Blue Steel is famous now 😊

                  I still like Victor Henricksen, even though I’m not supposed to! He’s so smart, sassy and combative. And when the brothers escaped – yet again – I saw a little smile of respect, just like I saw at the end of “Nightshifter” when the brothers slipped past feds AND a SWAT team. I think Henricksen respected the brothers – especially Dean – despite being adversaries.

                  Question: Wouldn’t an old jail building like the one in this episode have iron doors (especially in solitary), and probably iron bars? If so, a ghost should’ve had a harder time moving through the corridors at will. The writers implied that she escaped the older building when the iron door was opened and she was freed from that cell, so it makes me wonder how she was so mobile after being released. I’ve chosen to ignore the fact that the old cell walls were just cement (not salt-impregnated or anything like that), so that old cell shouldn’t have been able to keep her confined, anyway. I’ve also considered the possibility that the “new” part of the building could’ve had steel bars and doors. If so, it would’ve been nice if we’d been told that.

                  kate

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                • PigNaPoke
                    September 29, 2021 at 12:14 pm #10244

                    Question: Wouldn’t an old jail building like the one in this episode have iron doors (especially in solitary), and probably iron bars? If so, a ghost should’ve had a harder time moving through the corridors at will. The writers implied that she escaped the older building when the iron door was opened and she was freed from that cell, so it makes me wonder how she was so mobile after being released. I’ve chosen to ignore the fact that the old cell walls were just cement (not salt-impregnated or anything like that), so that old cell shouldn’t have been able to keep her confined, anyway. I’ve also considered the possibility that the “new” part of the building could’ve had steel bars and doors. If so, it would’ve been nice if we’d been told that.

                    EXCELLENT question, Kate!!! I thought of that, too, when rewatching this time!! Never struck me before as odd but it did now.
                    I have no good answer for you. Bad writing?

                    Funny enough THIS is only one of MANY things I found annoying in the episode this time around.

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                  • PigNaPoke
                      September 29, 2021 at 12:14 pm #10245

                      This is a rare case of an episode I use to look forward watching and enjoyed well and which is NOW totally switched to annoy me in many parts.

                      First off, hate to say it, but I always did (and nowadays even more so) find it hugely unrealistic that Sam and Dean would be stupid enough to risk going to jail on a flimsy case of “dad owed this guy so we need to make good on it” when they know that they had the FBI on their asses?! WHAT?? Nooo way. There are way too many variables that could have gone wrong that would not have gotten them exactly to that jail Deacon was in. And when it DOES go wrong and Hendricksen shows up….even Dean would have been way more tense all the way during their time in jail about what’s about to happen after. They have more self-preservation instinct than that, and if nothing else, Dean wouldn’t want to risk Sam in that way.
                      So the entire premise of the episode doesn’t really work for me anymore. Plus you already know that I am not a fan of the FBI involvement anyway….this just plays that up even more and I don’t enjoy how it limits the boys in their movements and possible actions. BUT IF you have to bring that into the show, then make it realistic, which this here is not to me. Anyhow – moving on.

                      Secondly – lots about the stint in jail seems very gimicky to me nowadays. Like how a CW show for a YA audience would imagine jail: bad food, cigarette trading, ability to talk to other inmates in solitary, huge cell mates, shower jokes, yadayadayada….really? Mildly amusing, yes, but also so far from reality that it’s not really compelling to me.

                      YES, I do enjoy seeing Dean be versatile and fitting in anywhere because he’s smart and a good judge of people! BUT here it’s so expected because its been pushed so hard on us how “Dean’s the tough one” and the borderline criminal etc. I would have found it way more interesting if SAM was the one who would have fit well into jail – playing up his anger about the whole situation and his worry about becoming a monster etc. I thought that’s a missed opportunity here.

                      Funny side note: Clif said in an interview I listened to recently that Jensen didn’t like the way the prison uniform looked on him and had it taken in some and tailored to him. And everyone teased him about it. HAHAHA.

                      Thirdly – the ghost story was odd and inconclusive and somehow even unimportant as the focus for me was much more on “how the heck are they going to get out?”. I liked the LOOK of the scary ghost eyes, though. The rest about the case was pretty forgettable to me.

                      And LASTLY there are the blatant holes in the story like old and rusty cells with still blood-soaked mattresses being reused or Sam’s ability to move around the jail to burn the mattress or that there is no lock down after there is a fire in a cell or that there is no yard or perimeter fence or security outside the building and MOST OF ALL that the IMPALA IS PARKED RIGHT OUTSIDE?! WHAT?! That is just idiotic. Why not at least make them crawl through a sewer and outside and end up in some swamp and THEN find the Impala, which Deacon might have hidden for them….SOMETHING!

                      All in all I was surprised at myself how this episode lost appeal to me and I would now only give it about 4 out of 10

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                  Let’s all talk about Folsom Prison Blues (S2 E19)

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