Let’s all talk about The Kids are Alright (S3 E2)

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    • journalbookbinder
        November 8, 2021 at 10:26 am #10843

        I do love this one. Ben is Dean’s biological son. End of story. It’s funny and very creepy and I, for one, LOVE Lisa and love how much you can tell that Lisa was really “the one” for Dean. So I can’t wait to rewatch. I say it many times, but I love it the they keep the same actor. Even if Ben was maybe not as great an actor as a young teen, I was STILL glad they kept him for later episode and will be forever pisses at the way they “resolved” the Ben & Lisa situation. With Cas’ magic memory eraser. Hated that. TOO convenient to get them out of the story and so so so cruel for Dean.

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      • kate38
          November 8, 2021 at 10:26 am #10952

          Creepy monster children are always a fun ride!

          Question: The woman who drove her car into the lake – how was she planning to explain that? Maybe she lost control of the car with her daughter in the back seat, but wouldn’t you call the cops? She just walked home like nothing had happened.

          I love that Lisa remembered Dean after their very brief experience 8 years earlier, and that she talked him up to her friends — “THE Dean”. I love even more that Dean remembered her so fondly. After all the one-night stands Dean likely had over an 8-year period, when he realized his death was imminent he wanted to find Lisa and reconnect with her. It’s sweet. She clearly meant something to him, and I like that. Aside from Cassie, we don’t meet any women that Dean allowed himself to develop feelings for. Knowing that he likely never stopped having feelings for Lisa makes me feel better about his life somehow. Yes, one night stands are convenient and probably fun, but empty. I like knowing that Dean had a chance for more than that.

          I like that Ben got to see Dean being a hero and saving everybody. I’m glad that Ben isn’t Dean’s son, though. As much as family meant to Dean, I think Dean would’ve made some very different choices if Ben had been his son. I like that the writers didn’t choose to go there.

          One of the most important elements of this episode is rarely mentioned by fans. In the months and years following Mary’s murder, every friend and family member in her orbit was systematically eliminated by demons. John would’ve known that. It makes even more sense that John took his kids and ran, kept them on the road, used assumed names and did everything to keep his children and himself under the radar. He probably thought they’d be next. To me, that’s just one more example of John being misunderstood by the fandom. I don’t think he was a bad father — just a guy with no good choices.

          I really like the Ruby reveal at the very end. I remember being shocked the first time I saw that, because Ruby could’ve just been another hunter. Why would a demon have a knife that killed other demons? That scene between Ruby and Sam was nicely paced and executed.

          Looking forward, once I knew Ruby was a demon, I didn’t trust her or believe that she’d be willing to save Dean, but I wanted to believe that something or someone could. Gosh! Season 3 was just a rollercoaster of crushed hopes and dreams. (Whimper…)

          kate

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        • journalbookbinder
            November 8, 2021 at 10:26 am #11068

            I was very much looking forward to this rewatch. It’s funny. I still really liked it, but in my mind, there was so much more to this episode! I was thinking there was more between Dean and Lisa. More scenes between Dean and Ben. There were plenty, but I forgot how much time was dedicated to the monster changling children! There was A LOT of time spent on the “first case” that we saw; the child that the mom tried to drown in the lake.

            And it is one of the half-comedy/half-horror/half touching (I know that’s three halves) SPN episodes that, to me, are what SPN is all about.

            It’s pretty “horror” with the father dying on the spinning table saw blade! It’s very sad with the mother feeling compelled to drown her daughter when she kind of acts like she thinks she’s going crazy and Lisa didn’t believe her when she said she thought her daughter was not her daughter. She must have felt so alone and was believably extremely devastated when she returned home from the lake.

            I have to nit pick that there was a bit TOO MUCH time spent on the rattling bathroom door as her daughter tried repeatedly to get in.

            I also have to nit pick that I don’t get what Lisa was going to do. She figured out something was wrong with Ben…then you see her grab her keys, then the next shot she’s curled up in a ball next to the front door. I guess because there were more changling kids outside preventing her from leaving, but I found it odd that capable Lisa would decide to curl into a ball.

            Let me go on about Lisa for a minute. She is so beautiful. To me, one of the most striking actresses Supernatural ever had. Yup; fitting for Dean and how beautiful he is (but I thought Cassie was fittingly beautiful too), but she’s just so pretty with all that dark hair and dark eyes and I just LOVE that she’s not a “Jessica” blonde! Thank you!

            I also like that she’s confused by Dean being there; she does a good job conveying “trying to be polite”; and then she’s tough; putting her foot down when Dean has Ben hit the kid that took his game.

            And the end is so very touching. The way Dean WANTS Ben to be his (FYI, he IS HIS! I never believed Lisa and he alleged blood test!). That’s what I love about SPN. Dean was going for a fun weekend of sex and he ended up stepping into something much deeper. Thinking about his mortality and what he’s leaving behind other than a car. And what Lisa says back to him; that Ben is alive because of him; that the fact that he has saved so many people is his true legacy; that was repeated over and over during the rest of the run of the show. With most impact when Sam and Dean carved their initials in the bunker’s table. It’s sweet and it’s sad; with Dean’s pending death and him saying to Lisa that this can never be his life; though he looks like he kind of wants it to be. I guess we saw in What Is and What Should Never Be just how much Dean MIGHT have wanted that normal life that seemed to always be Sam’s request, not his. Here I felt like we saw that he wanted that. Wanted the chance to be a dad, maybe.

            Ben. Super-fun. Loved the writing for Ben. Loved when he ran back to hug Dean. Like he really liked or needed having a man around. Jensen was great with the kid playing Ben. Loved most how he was very “Dean” at the end; helping the kids escape the basement.

            So for me, this one was all about Dean and that’s what I loved about it.

            Oh yeah; Ruby was in this too! That was a good sidebar; as was Sam’s research about his mom’s friends. Somehow it didn’t bother me that that scene went on a long time; unlike the kid rattling the bathroom door. That WAS interesting, Kate. And I have to give Jared credit because you can see right there on Sam’s face how everything changes in his attitude towards Ruby when she says she can get Dean out of his deal. I remember at first I didn’t really believe her either…but, as you said Kate, there was a demon killing other demons so I wasn’t sure what to think.

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          • PigNaPoke
              November 8, 2021 at 10:26 am #11946

              OOOH, soo late to the party…

              I always have and will love this episode because of Lisa and Ben and what that story line reveals about Dean’s secret desire for a family life.

              It isn’t a perfect episode. I agree with the criticism that some of the “changeling children are creepy and violent” theme is a bit overdone in parts or too much time spent on the rattling of the bathroom door etc. But I do believe that it helps making the complete desperation and loneliness of the mother clear and let’s me believe that she’s driven to the brink of drowning the monster child that is clearly NOT her daughter anymore and no one will believe her.
              Kate, I honestly think she doesn’t have any “what’s after” clue. She’s just at the end of her rope and scared out of her wits to a point that she makes a snap decision.

              YES, JBB, in my heart and mind Ben IS DEAN’S as well!! And I thought A LOT about all that over the years.

              To me Lisa either was quick to lie about actually taking a DNA test at all OR she knows Ben is Dean’s but isn’t about to throw that at the guy she had an amazing weekend with 8 years ago and who pops up out of nowhere for who knows what reason or how long. Dean JUST showed back up….Lisa is in the middle of a party, it’s not the place or time to say something about it right there, IF she knows. What would that accomplish? I don’t have the feeling that Dean revealed much about his personal life to Lisa during the fun weekend (not like he did in the months with Cassie) so Lisa couldn’t know at that moment that Dean would take a responsibility like that seriously. All a reveal like that would do at that point is make her and Ben vulnerable to Dean’s whim. Maybe Dean would want parental rights, maybe he turns out to be an asshole (thinking in Lisa’s POV here). She tells him later that she’s had a thing for “bad boys” ergo putting him into that category as well. I completely understand that she doesn’t tell Dean in this episode that Ben is his IF she actually knows. After all, Dean leaves again at the end of the episode, and Lisa just found out about his real “job” and what danger he has to deal with on a regular basis. So, again, what would it mean or change for her to tell him right there. I LOVE that Dean says that he would have been proud to be Ben’s dad. Lisa shyly suggests for Dean to stick around and she seems really disappointed when he declines (well, who wouldn’t be….lol).
              Then later, he moves in and lives with them for a year and she has a much better look at the REAL Dean, but he’s a MESS at the time, so again, what difference would it make to add to the huge burden on his shoulders? She sees his commitment to their family and I think she would no wanted to put that extra pressure on Dean of “needing to care”. I do believe that she would have eventually told him, OR she simply didn’t know and Dean showed his love for them in every way he can. Then it all crashes down and he makes that horribly sad decision to leave them behind (which I am still incredibly torn about)….so really, it’s just all been bad timing with them. However, I am do very happy for BOTH of them that they at least have the little time they do spend together as it clearly means/meant a lot to them both (and Ben).

              OK – sorry to go on and on…..

              I also love all the funny parts of this episode. Jensen’s physical comedy is SO on point in this one!! The way he moves away from the ladies after their creepy flirting in the yard. The way he reacts to Ben and stumbles back towards the house when he’s suspecting Ben might be his son. It’s all perfect.

              Regarding the other story in this episode. I agree with both of your assessments. I love the way the Sam and Ruby story develops. We are constantly left guessing if she is on his side or playing him. The little bits of info she feeds him and the carrot she dangles seem such a great help, but then the reveal of her being a demon puts it all in question again. Playing again on the theme that there are so many grey areas in this world it makes Sam’s struggle really relatable.

              Kate, I always wondered about the usefulness of the info about all of Mary’s friends being killed systematically. WHY? What was the point of that story line? Why would they kill all of Mary’s acquaintances? To keep John without help? I don’t know. It seemed like a throwaway story line to me and I didn’t like that. Am I missing something?

              So, there, that’s my two cents. 🙂

              PNP

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