Let’s all talk about When the Levee Breaks (S4 E21)

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    • journalbookbinder
        September 12, 2022 at 4:52 pm #18357

        Oh boy. This is one of those that is near-impossible for me to watch. It’s so painful, yet it’s so good. I can’t believe we’re already up to this one in our rewatch. I’ll take a deep breath and press “play”.

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      • PigNaPoke
          PigNaPoke
          September 12, 2022 at 4:52 pm #20105

          AYAYAY – this one is SO HARD to watch. BUT also one of the best episodes that season, I think.
          GREAT first scene with Sam and Dean speaking through the Safe Room’s tiny window. Very interesting lighting (Sam red and Dean pale white, like hot and cold) and camera angles.
          Jared does a great job at playing the different stages of the detox, from physical pain to shame to despair etc. The writing is very good but he really brings it all to such vivid life I can almost FEEL what he’s going through.
          And Jensen, too, manages to make me feel Dean being physically queasy having to listen to Sam screaming below.

          They are both SO good here.

          Alastair standing in for pure PAIN is interesting as Sam never had to deal with that from him. Basically, Sam is taking on Dean’s pain here or what he imagines Dean went through in hell. Probably in an expression of guilt on his part for being too weak to save Dean from it.

          LOVE the interaction between Colin and Jared! Young Sam’s hopes and dreams clashing with older Sam’s bleak view of reality. It feels like this is Sam’s shame over having his childhood ideals die.

          Mary bringing the encouragement and backing his own delusions. First time we see a slightly tougher version of her, I think. Having her side with Sam in Sam’s mind is fascinating as he clearly looks for parental absolution and really can’t know how she WOULD react to his predicament while he does know that John would be appalled at best, which is most likely why he doesn’t show up.

          I wonder how they had Jared fly about the room and roll on the walls??

          WORST part of the detox is Dean talking to Sam in his head as Sam’s DOUBT! That bit is so hard to watch. But it goes straight with all we know of Sam’s fears of disappointing Dean to a point that Dean would turn away from him completely. UGH! And then it comes true at the very last scene.

          Interesting that Cas seems to confirm that the demon blood DOES make Sam stronger but that it also changes him.

          I wonder if the writers just didn’t know what to do about Sam’s powers and how to connect them or not to the demon blood? Or why the message about the effects so convoluted? Sam does say to Ruby in the next episode that he feels forever changed inside from the demon blood and then he has black eyes when he kills Lilith. Maybe there were plans to continue on that path at some point? Or maybe we were just supposed to keep guessing. That’s fine. It did make for interesting storypoints.

          I also thought, Sam could have killed himself another demon to drink its blood, if he was that desperate for blood. He didn’t have to wait for Ruby. It might have helped to make a point that Ruby’s blood is extra powerful or tasty to him.

          Dean is heartbreakingly strong when he tells Bobby that he found his line and he will not let Sam turn into a monster, he rather lets him die. UGH!

          Cas opening the door and letting Sam free is one of two things I cannot forgive Cas for (the other is crumpling Sam’s wall). I know he just had a “attitude adjustment” after the Rupture telling Dean he is serving Heaven and not mankind….but, come on, he also has had serious doubts of what’s going on upstairs!
          (Of course, it makes the character super interesting because we keep having to doubt if we CAN trust him)

          The verbal and physical fight at the end is AWFUL to watch! EVERY SINGLE TIME!! Both so desperate for the other to listen until their frustration takes over and they beat each other senseless. I don’t think either really wants to kill the other but MAN, it’s a close thing. Dean’s last words, echoing John, are probably the worst blow he can dish out, for both of them.

          Amazing episodes full of tough plotpoints but excellently acted and super engaging.

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        • journalbookbinder
            September 12, 2022 at 4:52 pm #20217

            Damn Cas…after I watched this I realized the chain of events is really all CAS’ FAULT! He let Sam out to fulfill his role in the path to heaven’s hoped-for Lucifer/Michael death match. AND in the next episode he gets Dean there to stop Sam a day late and dollar short! Cas’ struggles with loyalty basically screwed everyone! Okay, okay, Dean in hell torturing souls was supposed to be the first domino to fall. But Cas KNEW the plan and knowingly let it happen and HELPED it happen by letting Sam out and we’ll discuss the rest in the next episode.

            Sam’s hallucinations were interesting. The worst was his greatest fear of Dean abandoning him and him seeing Dean basically throwing him away as a “monster”. It was horrible. Kudos to Jensen for playing that up extra-cruel in the panic room! And interesting that Sam believed that Mary was on his side. Or were all of the hallucinations put there by Ruby just to make sure Sam would seal the deal and do HER bidding to free Lucifer? Obviously she had to drive Sam and Dean apart for it to have any chance of happening.

            The pain in Dean’s face listening to Sam detox is horrible.

            PigNaPoke; very interesting point about Allastair! That Sam is taking on Dean’s pain as he had no firsthand experience with Allastair torture. Also true that Sam didn’t HAVE to have Ruby with him…he seemed to actually somewhat trust her, which was, of course misplaced as Dean is almost always right about everything.

            That final scene. UGH! That’s why it took me weeks to finally watch this one. Dean just looks destroyed; on the edge of tears trying to reason with Sam, then finally crying, then resorting to violence. Sam pleading with Dean; that super-hopeful look he has when he asks Dean to come “with him” and Dean says fine as long as Ruby is gone and Sam just will not agree to that. It kills them both! Sam that Dean won’t come with Ruby and Dean that Sam won’t do it without her. The whole scene is so gut-wrenching and so perfectly acted. Those barely-held-in-check emotions on BOTH sides; HOW do they DO that?!?!

            Also love Bobby here. Unsure as to whether or not what they are doing is right.

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          • PigNaPoke
              September 12, 2022 at 4:52 pm #20241

              Hey JBB,

              I don’t believe Ruby was powerful enough to plant hallucinations with Sam. And even IF she was, wouldn’t her power be repelled by all the protection on the safe room? She even says to Sam that she couldn’t have helped because the room was designed to bite her in the ass.

              I always understood the entire detox sequence to be a true “drug” withdrawal with the accompanying hallucinations, representing Sam’s struggles with himself and his actions.

              PNP

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          Let’s all talk about When the Levee Breaks (S4 E21)

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