PigNaPoke
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I loved Dean catching Sam watching porn (or about to). Dean’s always made out to be the player in these early episodes, but I love that this DOES humanize Sam…he IS a guy with needs even if he doesn’t womanize like Dean. Could probably write a dissertation on Sam watching porn instead of trying to pick up women…that would be interesting.
You really have to pay attention to catch that little nugget, though, so it doesn’t make a open point for Sam’s “humanization” but I love your point about it.
And I’d read that dissertation in a heart beat. HAHA
PNP
And Dean WANTS to feel like this out-of-the-usual-bounds behavior is okay. Gordon tells him that it is. I think Dean wanted to be reassured that this was an okay way to deal with his loss. It’s not, but Gordon was telling him that it was.
That’s a really good point, JBB. I agree. It’s tough to watch, though, because I do think that Dean is aware that the same time that his behavior is NOT ok or normal but he simply doesn’t know how to deal with what he feels – the grief and guilt over John’s death. And it’s all so very believably played by Jensen which makes it so compelling.
PNP
HAHAHA – JBB! Too funny. ZOMBIE GIRLFRIEND, that’s what it’s about….well on the surface.
What I enjoyed about this episode the most was that Sam and Dean really have to figure the whole case out from scratch. There isn’t much help from John’s journal. They stumble around from theory to theory from ghost to angry spirit to finally zombie. I also appreciate that the zombie lore here is derived from GREEK origins – not Caribbean Hoodoo or similar often used concepts!
To me the most important elements of this episode are the brother moments. First the fight Sam and Dean have, or better, the way Sam confronts Dean and doesn’t let him wiggle out of it with lame excuses. Dean IS scary – still not dealing with John’s death, avoiding all talk about it, driven and harsh on the case, jumping to conclusions quickly when they JUST had a case showing that wasn’t such good idea. Then Dean’s breakdown about the guilt he feels and how Sam can’t help.
These scenes between them fighting on the street and then Dean’s apology and later confession are beautifully raw and full of real palpable emotion.
Their chemistry so early in the run of the show is already magical to watch!Couple of funny things about the episode:
It took me a couple of times watching this episode, but when you listen closely you hear that Sam is watching the “Skin Channel” in the hotel room and that “Casa Erotica” is next! HAHAHA. I think that is the first time we hear about that particular “educational program”! And also, Sam shouldn’t be so harsh on Dean’s habits then, I guess!I remember that a bts feature revealed that Jared split his pants filming the graveyard chase scene in the end and I believe is also broke his arm in the same sequence.
This is a GREAT episode in my book!!! SO MUCH to unpack in this one!
FIRST OFF – AAAAAWESOME Baby driving sequence at the beginning! REALLY showing off her beautiful lines!Love, again, the mix of lighter notes like the talk with the sheriff and the scene in the morgue against the darker tone of the Gordon story points.
I LOVED to hate Gordon – well, on first watching the show I just hated him, but now I find the inclusion of him excellent and so important!! What an awesome actor and what sadly twisted and disturbed character – more and more so as time goes by. The way it is revealed to us through the course of this episode that his first kill was his own sister is CHILLING (good job Sera Gamble!). And Gordon’s whole character arc is tragic and clearly shines a light on the fact that not all hunters are “well doing” heroes. But that rigid thinking and clinging to simplified world views is as dangerous (if not more so) as the supernatural predators you hunt. (That fact sadly is even more poignant today than when the episode first aired!)
I was always surprised at the fact that Dean trusted Gordon so fast and revealed so much after just meeting him, but at the same time it is very touching that he is desperate enough with pent up emotion to open up to this total stranger. Of course, it saddened me that he feels like he has to hide this from Sam….but he’s “big brother Dean” – I get it. I also understand that it’s a relief to Dean to “simply do” as he was taught, hunt and kill the monster, without having to think too much about it and that fighting together for the same cause makes Gordon seem like an ally and foxhole buddy quickly.
Between finding out about the Road House, the hunter community at large and now Gordon in particular I can see how Sam and Dean would find it intriguing that they aren’t all alone out there fighting evil. And it’s interesting how Dean leans into the “let’s do this together” aspect of the immediate fight when Sam is more drawn to Ellen’s behind the scenes approach.
I LOVE how this episode starts a REAL shift in Dean’s thinking about the world of “monsters” and how “in the box black and white thinking” and assumptions can really lead you down the wrong path but how trying to figure out the grey areas is HARD! He’s faced with the fact that John’s way of thinking and doing wasn’t always correct and that he’s going to have to figure out on his own now what’s right and wrong. That’s powerful stuff!
We see “Sam the Thinker” and “Dean the Doer” even more clearly in this episode and I don’t mind the difference it establishes between them because I always thought from the start that BOTH are vitally necessary qualities and make the best balance when put together!
Always LOVE Buffy/Angel actor sightings, so of course I am thrilled about Amber Benson as Lenore!
And it’s funny to me how Ty Olsson ends up playing two very different vampires over the run of the show!
Yup, a really strong episode for me AND one of THE most GORGEOUS shots of Dean there at the very end!!!!
Also loved (and could watch it on an endless loop) Dean rushing to sit in the “normal” chair in the office of the carnival runner and making Sam sit in the carved clown chair; and Sam looking so very uncomfortable doing it. Just perfect acting. I also really liked that their faces are still beaten up from the car crash and previous episode. I did not like the later episodes when Cas could magically heal them; I liked that early consistency; that reminder that they had really got through some rough physical stuff!
YES! I always forget about that scene and laugh at it each time I watch this episode!
I also love the fact that with the reveal of the Road House and a community of hunters we get yet another new view of John’s upbringing of the boys! We already heard from Bobby that John wasn’t the easiest to get along with and now we hear/see it again that John really was a loner and kept the boys isolated from the hunter community at large. I always wished that we would have found out why! Was John somehow still hoping that this was all temporary and he would eventually get away from the hunter life and therefore didn’t want the boys to associate too much with the community of “outlaws”?
PNP
Hi All,
WELCOME Rosethornshurt!
VERY GOOD point about the assumptions! I never thought about it that way! But it’s a theme that pops back up in BLOODLUST for sure! The need to diversify one’s thinking! Not see just dark and light.
PNP
REALLY, you love it??? I HATE clowns and always found this episode really creepy. Of course, that’s the point and I get it.
I do find the case interesting and am glad that the KIDS were not the ones harmed but that they are bait to get to the parents.I kinda love how in the early seasons the brother’s first instinct and guess was mostly “spirit” or “ghost” and how they slowly learn more and more TOGETHER with us. They rely so often on someone else (Ellen in this case, Bobby most often) to tell them what they are hunting instead of researching it themselves….it really shows their growth in later seasons. They learned from the best (John, his journal, Bobby, Ellen etc) before they become completely self-sufficient. That, too, makes them more interesting to me. They weren’t all knowing or superior in the beginning – they just acted on heart, instinct, training and good guidance from a reliable network and the grew into some badass hunters who save the world – a lot – over time right before our eyes.
AH, SINGLE MAN TEAR at the pyre!!
Love the slight role reversal here when Sam is the one who wants to storm off and DO something to revenge John and Dean is the one with the cool head and logic that they have NOTHING to go on for the time being. It also establishes the pattern if Dean internalizing his struggles when Sam wants to talk it out and share his pain. Glad some things stayed consistent all the way through…lol….even if it’s the dysfunctional ones. The did learn to deal with it better over the years and I’m glad for that, too.
This whole episode has a really palpable undercurrent of Sam’s guilt to have parted with John in anger and Dean’s worry that Sam will up and leave at any moment – even before they each actually say that. And we can also see clearly how they struggle to see a way forward, without John, with each other, unsure what and who to trust. Of course, they got each other’s back in dangerous situations, but what happens during the rest of the time? It’s hard to watch, but well played.The introduction of the Roadhouse, Jo and Ellen is FANTASTIC! Continuing the SPN tradition of STRONG independent, self-reliant FEMALE characters!! They feel real and honest to me. Multi-layered and relatable as a mother-daughter relationship with all the love and all the frustration that comes with it.
And Ash is just a GEM. I always wanted him to have played a little bit bigger of a role and have a few more episodes. It was a real shame to lose him this quickly.
Sam’s hair is EXTRA stupid in early season 2!!! Dean though looks extra fine! A bit more grown up from last season and gorgeous. His eyes seem HUGE in this episode.
Good episode that deepens our understanding of the many layers of the brotherly relationship.
Incredible Episode is right!
First off….Dean in hospital PJs….YUMMMM!
When Dean wakes and starts wondering around the department overhead says PATHOLOGY and right next to it OBSTETRICS….hehe, what kind of hospital is that?
All that injury make up had to suck, but it looks great.
I always wondered if Sam actually “heard” Dean saying the “find some hoodoo priest and lay some mojo on it” because he repeats it word for word to John. Or are we supposed to think they are just THAT in tune. I think the first option because Sam later hears Dean when he yells at the Reaper over his bed. Makes me wonder if that was another possibly sign of Sam’s special powers that were later abandoned?
SIGH – couldn’t John AT LEAST say “thanks” or “good thinking” to Sam when he’s ordering him around and Sam has it already covered??
I love the parallel with Sam not giving up on Dean AND the Impala. Sam not able to give up on Dean just as Dean wouldn’t give up on the Impala.
ALL the scenes between Sam and John and Dean and John are fantastic in this episode!! The one where Ghost-Dean is talking to John and John just sitting there is heartbreaking. But my favorite is the “Swayze” one with Sam and John at each other’s throat and Dean STILL trying to mediate until he finally snaps. It’s so so good and doesn’t seem “acted” at all.
I LOVE that Sam brings the Ouija Board into play. It’s so old school and kinda shows the novice level “magic” knowledge they had in the beginning. I also really love the way that scene is filmed, the camera movements and overhead shots making Dean appear and disappear. It’s really cool.
Touching to see that even as pissed as Sam is with John for seemingly not caring and accusing him of summoning the demon etc. he also immediately defaults to “dad’ll know what to do” when things get tough and he doesn’t know what to do next.
It always broke my heart a little that Dean was SO tired of living and his heavy burden that is ALMOST let Tessa take him. At least I think he would have gone with her. Jensen is amazing in this scene, too. The range of emotion from defiance, petulance, fear, insecurity, resignation he goes through is all plain visible in his face.
I am glad that they kept the same actress playing Tessa over the years. She does a really fine job between the freaked out girl, the cooly caring Reaper and the few seconds as a demon!
OK, if John summoned YED, wouldn’t he had to know WHO or WHAT he was? I’m sure a normal demon summoning wouldn’t have done the trick on a Prince of Hell? He says that he’s known for a while about Sam and the other children! So he must have also known more about YED. Still boggles my mind that he didn’t say MORE to Dean in his last moments with him. Really, John, all you gonna reveal is that Dean might have to kill his brother if he can’t save him…NOTHING else? GRRR. (or should I be pissed with CHUCK for this one?)
It took me a few watchings of the final scene between John and Dean before I truly felt sad and sympathetic for John here, but nowadays I DO! Of course he apology to Sam is a little more convoluted than the one to Dean, but at least he attempts it. And JDM is GREAT in those scenes!
Still in AWE of the sheer luck of how the coffee cup landed when Sam drops it. Those shots are just stunning!
FANTASTIC episode and a HELL of a season opener for the second season. WOW.
Is that also the first time we hear the “family theme” score music??
SO MUCH GOOD in this one, BUT I also find myself chuckle how many things DIDN’T stick around.
Like excessively long exorcisms. HAHA. If they’d have to recite ALL of that every time they use one….
Sam (Jared) was always better than Dean (Jensen) with the Latin but even he must have had a twisted tongue after that scene.I do like the violence of the demon not wanting to let go of the possessed vessel though it makes the violation of humanity so much more visceral. But I get that that was impractical to keep around for every subsequent excorsism.
Another thing that didn’t stick around was the idea of demons passing like a virus from person to person by mere touch. It makes it way to easy for demons to run the world. I like to think humans are a bit more resilient to evil influence of demons and not just weak targets.
What? Salt works against demons? You can “salt them out”? HAHA. Nope – didn’t stick.
LOOOOVE BOBBY!!! (Poor Rumsfeld…) We get to see his house and property for the first time – yay! We get to meet him and learn how much he knows. We immediately get the impression that he CARES about the boys. Why else would he lend a priceless book to them and offer to clear up the mess with Meg’s body.
Nicky Aycox is SOO good in her final scenes. Intense and scary and powerful and then pitifully human in her death.
The family moments were amazing!
Dean admitting that he’s scared of himself sometimes is so touching.JDM’s transformation into Azazel from one moment to the next is amazing. He’s really scary.
Love that Sam doesn’t question how Dean knows that John isn’t John but steps behind Dean’s protection instead.
I always thought it was chilling that holy water doesn’t work on a demon of his caliber (aka Prince of Hell)!! It’s truly terrifying to find out none of your knowledge holds any water (bada-ching). Kinda similar to when Dean shoots Lucifer in the head with the colt and it doesn’t work. Makes you feel like a tiny ant ready to be stepped on in a blink. And makes the Winchesters’ willingness to fight evil anyways even more impressive.
Azazel sure knows how to slash at Dean with so much more than invisible claws!!! It must have been hell to hear all that even if you’re trying to hang on to thinking that it’s lies. Mixing in stuff like Sam ring-shopping for Jess, which is news to Dean, but rings true must make it really hard to see the line between that and untruth. Like DOES John like Sam better? Does John think Dean isn’t needed? It’s horrible to hear.
Always wondered why Azazel would disappear through the floorboards?
And HOW did the demon trucker knew where to find them?? I Jump at the crash EVERY time. No matter that I know it’s coming, no matter that I know they’ll survive….the pure explosive violence of it is still shocking.
WHAT a cliff hanger. I remember my first hellatus like it was yesterday. Worrying one of them would not survive. Not knowing yet that people come back from the dead.
LOVE the opening family scene! Dad catching up the boys on all he knows and found out. LOVE that. Finally open family discussion.
But assuming, kate38, you are right….is John lying here or just not telling the entire truth, if he knows about Azazael’s plan for Sam? Wouldn’t he maybe told Dean here already? Taken him to the side and given him the 411? (I know, it’s better story telling the other way…) John also really seems clueless when Pastor Jim gets killed and the boys ask him if he thinks it was THE demon. Is John that good of a actor? (JDM sure is!)
In that scene I love that John actually ASKS Sam if he has any better ideas than to check ALL six-months old babies in Salvation and Sam answers respectfully “No, Sir.” To me that always reads as it’s all Sam wants to be included in decision making and now that he gets that he is happy to defer back to John and respect him.
I know – COMPLICATED family dynamic, but I LOVE that part so much. That’s what makes them all such interesting, layered characters.HEHEHE – love the little “Dean moment” at the hospital admin desk where the pretty brunette desk person asks him if she can help and he goes “Oh God yes…only, I’m working right now.” Such a flirt. And SO GORGEOUS.
The VISION conversation is AWESOME between the Winchesters! LOVE Dean’s reaction to John’s scolding!!! Right on, Dean! John definitely is surprised about the visions, so IF he knew about Azazael’s plan….he definitely didn’t know about THAT part.
Also it’s a huge turn around for John here from “let’s not work together because the demon is too dangerous” to “here’s the gun, go kill it yourself.”!!!???(GAWDY, yet DRAB brown motel room in this one. Hahaha.)
THAT raised railroad track is probably my all time favorite scenic background on the show!!!! Glad they used it again after!
I never understood why Azazael was still “collecting” kids at that point? Second generation? In case Sam’s gen didn’t pan out?
I really like the BM scene in the car where Sam thanks Dean for all his support and all Dean gets from it is the implied “goodbye” just in case. It’s funny and heartbreaking. Dean thinking that he could lose BOTH of this family members in one night and NOT having it. So very “Dean”! And then NOT letting Sam run back into the building!
Question: Sam SAW in his vision that the clock in Rosie’s room stops at 9:45 PM…..shouldn’t that have been a pretty easy way to know exactly when to bust into the house? LOL. Instead they are sitting for hours in the car in front of the house?And, GODS, that final scene between Sam and Dean RIPS my heart out every time. The little change from “all we have” to “all I have” when Dean talks about the family is so important at that moment and SO SAD! It clearly speaks of him not trusting yet that Sam will stay. Sniff.
Very good episode and great build up to the finale.
Watching these three last episodes of season 1 in one go is a real treat as it created SUCH thick tapestry of material for all of the following 14 seasons. It always amazes me that we got so little actual screen time from John but the little we got made him into such monumental and touchstone element of the show!!! They were certainly magic together! I am still grateful that we had this at all.
PNP
OK – I am still baffled why demons have no issues with hallowed ground, but ghost do? hahah.
Maybe it’s because demons are riding a person’s body? So the body is what is physically in contact with the hallowed ground?
But then why DOES holy WATER work?
PNP
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.
I remember that, too, K!
Actually I also think Jensen and Jared talk about that on the episode commentary on the DVD!! Which is part of why I love watching episodes with commentary….all the BTS stories.PNP
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.
WOW – interesting, kate. I NEVER had that thought at this point. How do you think John would have found out about the details? Maybe I just never really thought about (shame on me) WHY/HOW John knew that Sam had the potential of turning into something that Dean might have to kill. IF John knew here already what was to come it would make extra sense, of course, that he would like to keep the boys out of the fight and out of direct line of sight of Azazael. On the other side something as powerful as YE probably couldn’t be kept from Sam, if that’s who he needed to fulfill his plan, no matter what John did.
It’s a very plausible argument that John might have known here already….
Thanks for pointing that out, Kate.
PNP
I’m SO with you, kate!! I love this one, too.
The long awaited real family reunion. Seeing them actually work together on a case. It was as thrilling the first time around as it is on the um-teenth rewatch! And it was testosterone overload….lol.
It really gives us the first more in-depth look into their head on family dynamic. That ONE scene on on the dark highway when Sam cuts John off in the Impala and they get right in each other’s faces duking it out tells us more about their history and current state of affairs than any long exposition would. I love that. I could feel for EACH of them in that scene. I feel Sam’s frustration over being shut out again, John’s anger over losing control of them in a way, Dean’s desperation to keep his family together and being forced to step between them – all clearly showing us what many fights in the Winchester “household” would have looked like And it’s all brilliantly written and acted and really gets under my skin each time watching it.I, too, love the college fund/amo scene in the cabin between John and Sam. I had high hopes that they were actually bonding in a real and maybe permanent way when we hear John admitting that he became more their drill sergeant than their dad along the way in the wake of Mary’s death, but then later he goes right back to giving the boys orders.
I also loved that in this episode Dean finally makes a first real step to standing up to John by calling him out on his crap and not just following orders blindly. It was like Dean took the words out of my brain. John had no issue sending them off on dangerous hunts alone all this time, but now he basically tells them that they are in his way again. I do get John’s counter argument that he can’t watch his boys die, BUT sending your boys on hunts alone could get them dead too….so it’s ok as long as you don’t have to WATCH? NOPE, John….that’s BS and weakly argued. You can’t have it both ways. You trained them to be killers, hunters, soldiers, smart and resourceful….now trust YOUR training them and let them participate.
Sorry, rant over. I loved that there was so much unpacked in this episode and by the end they are all in a better – more cohesive place for it.
I completely agree with the plot hole! HAHA, it was practically a fishnet stocking. But we forgive them.
I do love that they introduced (and stuck with all these years) the dead man’s blood lore!!! That was a cool idea and unique in vampire lore as far as I know.
Jared plays the choking, suffocating victim well! They love putting Sam in that position, huh?
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.
PNP
Another REALLY strong episode!!
Hands down one of my top three hotel rooms. Absolutely LOVE the room reveal with the disco bass music and Sam and Dean’s “huh” at the end!!!! I laugh out loud every time.
HEHEHE – Dean’s being Dean in the bar. Sleezy pickup lines and all.
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 DO love the way Dean tries to push Sam at Sarah seeing how they seem to like each other and Dean wants Sam to have a little fun – although, it’s not really subtle. Hehe. I really like the resulting brother talk about why Dean is pushing so hard. Dean is so empathetic and concerned in this scene and actually verbalizes his concern in a really nice way – not shying away from “chick flick talk” for once.
REEEEALLY like the Sarah character!! Smart, mature, strong, independent thinking, open-minded. Pretty tough the way she deals with a woman’s head coming off at the neck in front of her and then insists on tagging along with the boys!! Love that she cut Sam some slack with the wine list. And I really appreciate her asking Sam if there is something between them, not just waiting or trying to kiss him. I’m with Dean on that one. “Marry that girl”.
It’s lovely that Sam and her kiss at the end and Dean is so happy about it. Shame the next time we see Sarah is when Crowley kills her via hexbag….but I did enjoy her as a temporary sidekick on this case.
And the case is GREAT! Creepy ghost children are one of MY favorites. There is something super disturbing about “innocent” children being corrupted after death into being such bloodthirsty little monsters!! And when dolls with real children’s hair are involved…..creep factor goes up to 1000. The painting is awesomely awful! SOOO ugly. And it was an interesting interaction between ghosts – with the father trying to warn viewers and the little girl being the actual villain in the piece. Nice twist.
Is this the first time we learn about iron fire pokers as good ghost dispersing weapons? I think it might be.
Fun fact that the slaughter of the family in the painting was front page news together with the sinking of the Titanic! Must be a small town.
Fun effects. Good casting. Great locations between the stately house, the cemetery, the mausoleum and the motel room!!! Excellent episode.
