kate38
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“LOVED the special effects of the first ever COLT bullet used! The skeleton shining through the skin, the flickering and the shadow being pulled out of the vamp! Nice and dramatic. Shame they didn’t keep that.”
YES! That was pretty cool!! I wonder if they used different visual effects for Azazel and his son because they were demons, so killing one of them should look different than killing a vampire?? Now, this time through, I’ll have to pay closer attention to the visual and special effects they use when a demon gets the gank with the Colt 🙂
“How do you think John would have found out about the details?”
Great question, PNP! When the series started, nobody even knew the “thing” that had killed Mary was a demon. Then suddenly, after 22 years of searching for answers, John told Sam a few episodes ago that it was a demon. And by the first episode of season 2, not only has John identified the demon by name AND discovered a way to kill it, but he’s somehow discovered the demon’s plans for Sam, and admits that he’s known the plan “for a while”. That’s a mighty steep learning curve, even for someone with John Winchesters superhuman hunting skills.If I had to guess, I think once John figured out the “thing” was a demon, he figured out how to trap and interrogate demons, so maybe some of them gave up the information. It seems that all the demons in seasons 1 – 3 knew that Sam was supposed to lead Azazel’s army. That would’ve been a juicy piece of information to torture John with. The demons probably had fun telling John, because at that point they were pretty sure there was nothing he could do to stop the plan.
If I had to guess, that would be my best guess 🙂
I LOVE the episodes when we get to see John! I love watching JDM, and his chemistry with Jensen and Jared is remarkable. This episode has always made me wonder exactly when John knew the details of Azazel’s plans for Sam. If John knew he’d need the Colt, then he must’ve known about Azazel’s power level and what it would take to kill him, I think. So he must’ve known the full plan – especially since it seems like only a small amount of time passed between this episode and Salvation/Devil’s Trap. And when John sees Azazel in “In My Time of Dying”, he admits that he’s known about the demon’s plan “for a while”. Unless he was lying, I’m pretty sure he knew when this episode took place.
I can’t help thinking back to the BTS comedic video we saw of Jensen and Jared playing in the snow in between scenes (at Elkins’ cabin) while filming this episode. I’m always encouraged that they seemed to have so much fun making this show. Even when I’m not happy with the show, it makes me very happy for them whenever I’m reminded of that.
Plot holes? In this episode, John says he thought vampires were extinct, and Dean and Sam both say John never mentioned vamps to them. But by season 2, vamps are suddenly commonplace when the brothers run into Gordon Walker, who hunts them regularly. When John shows Dean a vampire fang, Dean says “It’s a vamp fang” like he’s seen one before, which is impossible if he never knew they existed before this episode. The boys also seem pretty comfortable hunting vamps (in season 2) after a single encounter with John in this episode. Also, in season 3 vampires can hear a human heartbeat from blocks away, but the Winchesters somehow sneak into the nest TWICE undetected. The first time, they didn’t even bother to mask their scent.
Speaking of vampires, I like how this episode used eye flare to reveal the vampires. It’s less cheesy than showing us their fangs all the time.
This episode had some of the best family “moments” in season 1. John’s anecdote about the college funds that got spent on ammo, the discussion at the end when John acknowledges that they’re stronger as a family, etc. Those moments hit all the right tones.
kate
“And here we go with Dean’s food obsession and bad manners. LOVE the guy, but I never found that part too funny, because I hate it when the writers made him look stupid.”
I agree, PNP! That always annoys me, too. It isn’t even funny…
I don’t have that much to say about this one. It’s never been one of my favorites.
Hey, did you guys notice that the first murder victim (Mr. Teleska) is Dean’s cop friend from “Man’s Best Friend with Benefits”? These little repeat actor Easter eggs are fun.
I’ve always been luke warm about Sarah, but I did like this case. The idea of a haunted painting was creative, and I didn’t expect the little girl to be the murderer. That was clever.
LOL! “THE KRIP” license plate in the fancy-car parking lot — that was fun 😊
It annoys me when Sam throws his education in Dean’s face. It happens less often in the later episodes, but it happened a lot in the early seasons — like they had to keep reminding us that Sam had a college education, but Dean only had a GED. That always bugs me when they make it seem like Dean isn’t smart.
kate
Hands down, this is my ABSOLUTE favorite episode from season 1. It’s even better than the Pilot. This episode has everything I love, love, love about Supernatural – creepy monster; fabulous atmosphere; spooky tree branches scratching on the window during a windy night; a monster that preys on children; an old-style motel (that looks FABULOUS at night); creepy, wheelchair lady with an inverted cross on her wall; and even some Weechester flashbacks to give me more of the back story I crave. I love this one so much! This is Supernatural in all its glory!
I loved the parallel between Dean and Sam as kids and the motel owner’s children. It was heavy handed, but it was so sweet that I didn’t mind.
I love that Dean felt responsible for going after the shtriga after what had happened when he was a kid. I also love that John knew Dean would want to finish it and “redeem” himself (For clarification, Dean didn’t need to “redeem” himself. He was only a child, so there was no failure on his part; but John understood Dean well enough to know how Dean would feel about that night). I felt bad about how John reacted when Dean was a kid, though. I mean, he left the kid with a shotgun and Dean reached for the only weapon he had. Of course, he’d have killed Sam if he’d fired, but how was a child supposed to know that?
I also loved the insight into Dean’s emotional issues. The flashback in this episode may very well have been the moment when Dean realized that he’d never be allowed to be a child. Ever. No matter what. His responsibility until his death would forever be to watch out for Sammy, and put his own needs and wants on the back burner forever. And when Dean said that John never looked at him the same way after that night — oh my heart. How must young Dean have felt, considering the way he already worshipped his father? How heartbreaking.
One of the (few) things I liked about season 1 is how the writers gradually peeled back Sam’s veil in terms of his relationship with John and Dean. In this episode, Sam learned why Dean is so obedient when John gives him orders. He also commented that he wished he could have remained innocent for longer (interesting, since he got to watch Thundercats on television while Dean already had the weight of the world on his shoulders, but I digress…), and Dean wishes he could have given Sam that, too. Earlier (in Home, I think), Sam learned that Dean is the one who carried him out of the fire. It’s so like Dean to do something heroic and never mention it again. And in Bugs, Sam learned that even though he was not speaking to John (or Dean, for that matter), John still came by Stanford whenever he could, to check on Sam and make sure he was safe. I still didn’t like Sam for several more seasons, but it was nice to see him finally (albeit slowly) gaining an understanding of how much Dean did for him without ever saying a word or asking for anything in return.
I found a lot to love about this episode, even after all the times I’ve seen it. This ep has been the high point of my rewatch so far 🙂
kate
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“Nice dive that Meg took out the window too.”
Wasn’t that cool!?!? And I remember being shocked when we saw Meg later, coming out of a subway station after she was supposed to be dead. I knew by that point that she wasn’t human, but I guess way back then I was still surprised that the fall hadn’t killed her. Of course, that loses its shock effect after the first time we see it 🙂
“Later, when John shows up, the meeting between him and Sam…how it starts out tentative and how JARED just kills it there; showing us just how badly Sam craves John’s love and approval, but is reluctant to be the one to make the first move towards a hug. It really hit home to me on re-watch just how LONG it had been since their fight before Sam left for Stanford and that was the last time they saw each other.
Also very effective to have the shadow entities attack right at the most emotional (and, as said in the show, moment when John had his guard down the most) moment. It was shocking to have them thrown around and attacked so violently after that touching scene with John.”
You’re right, JBB! The emotion and tension in that scene is excellent. Aside from the brief phone call in “Scarecrow”, Sam and John had probably not spoken for what — two years or more? Interestingly, neither of them apologized. Sam saying “It’s been too long” is probably the closest we heard to either of them taking responsibility for the separation. The actors both walked that tightrope artfully — between being happy to see each other, but remaining stubborn about what had happened between them. And then the daeva attacks and just jerks us all back to bloody reality.
That opening teaser was so well done! The slow build of tension…I was worried something would happen in the alley, but who knew it would happen in the apartment!? Meredith’s murder was so creepy and shocking. Love that. I also love how creative they were with showing us the demon throughout this episode. Showing a shadow on the walls is cheap to create, but it was used so effectively.
Question: Why would the daeva leave a blood splatter pattern that would lead the Winchesters to it? Did Meg order that, so the Winchesters would come to Chicago and John would follow them there? If the daeva is as feral as Dean described, I doubt it would come up with that idea on its own.Plot armor alert, PNP: Dean is and will forever be the man, but there’s NO way in hell he saw a pattern in that blood splatter. No way. Also, Meg and Sam walked several blocks in the rain, but their hair and jackets were completely dry 😊. It’s magic!
I must’ve really missed JDM! I was so happy to finally see him. I love how casually John asks if the person who fell out the window was the bad guy – as if his sons send people flying out windows all the time. 🙂
It’s sad that Sam bad mouths Dean when he’s not around. And it must have further broken Dean’s heart to hear Sam say he plans to leave again after they kill the demon, when all Dean wants is for them to be a family again. I get that Sam still wanted to be independent back then but dam, bro – can you leave a little meat on the bones, please? I hate watching that scene, because it’s clear how much Dean hurts without saying much. Jensen was so masterfully expressive, even back then.
Along those same lines, at the end of the episode, it must have killed Dean to have to be the one to say they should part ways with John again, after such a brief reunion. Jensen’s acting (and JDM’s too) was again incredible during that scene at the car. And kudos to the makeup folks for making all three of the actors look so bloody and tattered!kate
“…if the thing is tied to the house and the house no longer exists, I guess it will work, but I agreed with Sam – what if someone posts in the lore that it CAN leave the house??? Dean didn’t really have an answer for that.”
Guess you could be right, but didn’t Sam trick the Ghostfacers into shutting down their website? Of course, someone else could change the lore about the house (what’s left of it), but they’d have to set up a whole new website to do it, right?
“The main idea behind this one is a great one…the tulpa in the internet age with the aggregated power of all the people online thinking something into existence…then changing the lore with new posts that they believe and it actually changes the lore. A cautionary tale of messing with things you don’t understand…like painting an ancient symbol that might actually summon something or start something in motion.”
Yes, JBB — a cautionary tale, indeed. Humans are capable of thinking up such horrors when we put our minds to it. And with the force of the internet behind us, the possibilities are frightening.
And yes — let’s hear it for stupid kids who dabble in magic without realizing they’re dabbling in magic.I kinda liked Dean going off script with burning the cabin down. He didn’t have a lot of time, and had to come up with something. And Sam tricking the Ghostfacers into thinking they had jobs in Los Angeles (after agreeing to take down their website) was clever, too.
Feel free to hate me, but I NEVER liked the Ghostfacers. They’re not as bad as Bela, in terms of lying to people and taking their money. But at least Bela was the real deal. These guys were just frauds. Sigh…
Aside from the Ghostfacers, and the fact that I had NO sympathy for the stupid kids. I liked this episode. I loved the story, the tulpa, and even the practical joking between the brothers. It added so much “color” to these characters in season 1, when we were still trying to figure out who they both were. Ironically, I remember Jensen and Jared both saying that in the early seasons, they used to play practical jokes on each other, but it quickly got out of hand and it became apparent that things were escalating – so they turned their attentions to other people. Then poor Misha comes along in season 4 and has to bear most of their pranks for the next 11 years.
NICE sets by Jerry Wanek and his peeps – both the abandoned cabin and the motel room with the Alamo on the wall and steer horns for headboards. LOL!
Okay – never ending Supernatural fandom debate. When the guy at the fast good joint hands Dean his food, is he saying “Here you go, gents.” Or “Here you go, Jensen.” I think it’s the latter – mostly because that joint looks a lot like the food truck on the CW’s lot, so the guy handing Dean the food probably sees Jensen every day and just slipped up. We’ve seen that on-lot commissary in behind-the-scenes videos before, right?
Location cameo: Hey, in the scene when the boys go to the trailer park to ask the Ghostfacers to shut down their website, the brothers are walking back to their car and we can see a motel in the distance. That’s the same motel from “Bloodlust” (when Sam gets knocked out and kidnapped by Lenore and will-eventually-be-Benny) and “Remember the Titans”.
This was a fun one overall. I think the tulpa was a cool monster — as only human imagination can create.
kate
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Yes! Me, too 🙂
Yeah, that little bit always annoyed me, too. I LOVE the expression on Mrs. Robinson’s face though! “Are you insane?”
On a more serious note, I thought the writers were trying to hammer home the point that a white male and a woman or man of color live in totally different realities, although we share the same “world”. To Dean, it probably seemed completely reasonable to call the police, because the outcome for him would undoubtedly have been more favorable.
It also occurred to me that some viewers (who don’t live in the same reality that Cassie and her family did) might ask the question “Duh, why didn’t he just call the cops and explain what had happened?”. So the writers would have wanted to make it clear that such a move for a person of color would have been suicide.I like that they made Mayor Todd more fair-minded and not a racist. That reinforced an important point, too. That not all people of a given race or social position (e.g., male, white police officer) think the same way.
“Love that Sam’s love for Dean caused him to move the furniture. The only thing powerful enough to elicit that reaction.”
I loved that moment, too! For a few minutes, I liked Sam a lot 🙂 -
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