PigNaPoke
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I do agree that this one is HORRIBLY SAD, BUT I do really love it!!
It’s hard to rewatch a movie or episode of a show I like when there is a HUGE story changing twist in it, because when you watch it again most of what made it so cool is now in the open (like the movie “6th Sense”). Yet, somehow this episode remains enjoyable to watch for me every time I have.
Partially because of the performances, mostly of Tricia Helfer, but also the boys. I really like that that’s it! The three of them for most of the episode. No distractions.
I love the way the story unfolds for many of the same reasons you already both mentioned. The layers in both of the ghost stories.
Interesting that Greeley’s wife didn’t leave a ghost behind….being at peace with killing yourself is very sad as well!!
JBB you said that you thought Sam and Dean are “supporting characters” in this episode and I agree. To me it seems that they are “guides” in this story trying to help Molly along the way to figure out she is dead.
And Kate, you said, that it seemed heavy handed and clunky how differently Sam and Dean acted with Molly. To me that was actually a very deliberate decision on Sam and Dean’s part to play on their strength when trying to “guide” Molly to let go. Sam goes the route as the emotional support and trying to coax her into understanding and Dean spilling the blunt truths to see if THAT knocks some reaction in her loose. I don’t think Dean meant to be cruel, but he did want to jolt Molly into reality.YES, Molly opens doors and carries the photo album, but I didn’t take offense in that as she is SO convinces that she is still alive that she might have acquired the ability to touch objects without long practice or being an angry spirit. I can live with that. (I have a little more of a problem that Dean is able to touch Greeley when they fight….but hey….)
I find it HUGELY brave of Molly at the end to let go after having witnessed Greely going up in flames and obviously being in pain. Because of that I also really appreciate the different choice the writers or director made with the way Molly’s spirit dissolves! It looks peaceful and beautiful.
What DOES always crack me up in this episode is that the night never ends! As per Dean they have 2 hours to sunrise just before Molly gets snatched by Greeley, but then they have time to find them, dig up Greely, fight and burn him AND then drive Molly home before the sun rises…..was there a DeLorean parked somewhere?
ONE last thought I had was that in a way the WHOLE mess was really DAVID’s fault as he was the one who tickled/kissed and distracted Molly while she was driving in difficult conditions….so, it is even more tragic in a way because I am sure that he couldn’t get over the fact that he was at least partially responsible for the death of two people, ON TOP OF being super sad that Molly only ever wanted to save him and never felt anything but love for him which kept her around in ghost form.
HAHA, ok – it seems we all agree on most parts. I really didn’t read your comments before posting mine, but mine read almost exactly like Kate’s.
PNP
I haven’t read any of your comments yet….
What great introduction to a character like the Trickster!! Even without anything we know now, on first watching it I loved the character’s twisted sense of humor using Urban Legends to punish his victims….it’s still genius!
GODS, the retelling of the bar scene from both Sam’s and Dean’s view is HILARIOUS even all these years later and after multiple rewatchings!!! Including Sam’s bitchy tone and the “blah blah blah”!! ALL of the fighting between them is perfectly funny and relatable – being on the road and stuck with each other could get annoying – and knowing that the truth is somewhere in the middle makes the whole thing so perfectly brotherly to me.
And the physical “fight scene” on the bed is SO not Winchester, it really looks like two little kids fighting instead of adult hunters.
LOVE Bobby’s implacable ways to let them retell the story and keep them on point and THEN tell them they’re IDJITS. He really feels like a dad here to me.
Poor Jensen having to stuff his cheeks like a chipmunk….impressive how much fits!
I also really enjoy that when it’s time to jump into action and actually face the monster, both Sam and Dean drop their crap and focus on what’s actually important.
There are a couple of slapstick tropes (like Dean’s face stuck between one of the girl’s boobs) I could have lived without, but as a whole the final confrontation with the Trickster is fun to watch, especially because HE doesn’t fight but only watches and makes things happen. It drives the point home squarely of how powerful he actually is when his illusions are strong enough to throw around a couple of impressively large humans…. And the twist in the end that the Winchesters and Bobby didn’t actually win was nicely surprising AND immediately left me wanting more from the Trickster character. (Of course, what we got next from him was BRUTAL, if funny).And the almost apology between the brothers without actually using the words is PERFECT!
WOW, what a roller coaster, so gripping!
Another really strong Jared episode. He is SO SCARY and creepy when Meg is in him!!! I always really admired that especially after knowing more about Jared and how he is nothing like that.
I really liked the moment at the beginning where Dean finds Sam in the motel and Sam tell him totally defeated and beaten down that he doesn’t remember anything. Dean has the perfect “oh, CRAP” look on his face while Sam seems resigned to the idea that “this is it” and no one need to say out loud that BOTH are worried that this might be the moment Sam turned to the dark side.
LOVE Dean’s disdain about the vintage beetle! HA
Also really love watching Dean stoically NOT panicking. You can see clearly how freaked out he is and how much he won’t allow himself to let it surface. The tension between them and inside each of them is amazingly portrayed. It feels REAL. Dean worrying that Sam is slipping, and that John might have been right after all. And we think Sam is convinced that it’s too late already.
It really comes as a surprise when we finally find out for sure it’s NOT Sam but something who wants Dean to kill Sam. SO SMART and great writing twist.
Dean’s conviction that he won’t kill Sam, no matter what, is very revealing and touching. At the beginning he is NOT sure that this isn’t all Sam, but he says he’s rather die than kill Sam, echoing the sentiment from Croatoan that he won’t go on without his brother. And at the end in the car when he tells Sam that he’ll save Sam if it’s the last thing he’ll do….well, as we come to know…that’s exactly what he does.
And I LOVE Dean clocking Sam one in the end. I can totally feel him knowing that it’s not SAM’S fault, but he’s pissed as hell anyway for what he’s been through with this whole mess. HA!
I really enjoy Jo in this, too. She is strong and resillient and I like her realistic understanding that it’s JUST not going to happen with Dean when she says “no, you won’t” after he promises to call her.
I really love watching old episodes and seeing so much more in hindsight how they fit into the BIG picture of the show. Even if not all details stayed consistent…..they did a pretty impressive job over this many season to keep most of it consistent.
PNP
Funny to me how you LIKE all the things I exactly don’t like about this one.
Yeah, it felt like 90 minutes…to me NOT in a good way. HA
Ok, agree to disagree. And sorry, but I still don’t think it was necessary or compelling to bring the “real crime” aspect into SPN.
PNP
Hi JBB,
I agree with everything you said so I will start with some other points before I comment further on yours:
Can we pay homage to the motel for moment? IT IS AWESOME!!! Magic finger bed, red pleather walls, TRUCK FLAP ROOM DIVIDER (!!!) – all SO sleazy and visually great!
And Dean’s enjoyment of the bed it epic. LOVE the man!Lots of GREAT camera work and cinematography in this episode. Right from the start with the sad, dingy apartment of the woman to the creepy cellar, to the church and crypt later – there are lots of gorgeous visuals.
I am completely with you that this was a STRONG Sam episode and Jared did fantastic getting us invested in Sam’s struggle for his own “destiny”. I think this was also the first time we find out Sam prays and actually believes in God and something more spiritual out there that he can’t prove?! I found that compelling too especially in contrast to Dean’s view of “I believe what I see and have encountered”. Especially because it’s equally heartbreaking to learn (by assumption) that Dean USED to behave in angels because his mom told him they were real, just to have that “truth” destroyed when she dies because Little Dean couldn’t believe a God or angels would allow that to happen!!! Like you I also really appreciate in the episode how it turns all of that on its head at the end.
It’s really believable to me that Sam sees stuff BECAUSE he needs something to believe in to have hope for his own redemption. It’s super touching and a little sad. And the last scene of the episode is beautifully acted between the two of them! PLUS awesome use of music budget with “Knocking On Heaven’s Door”, both from a lyric AND foreshadowing perspective!
To “WHAT IS ACTUALLY GOING ON”” I always wondered that, too. To me it had to be more than just the father’s spirit. What connected the father’s spirit to the hooker or the drunk? How could he just pop up in their places? I can believe that the priest is not at rest because of his violent death and missing his final rites. But he’s a pretty problematic father if he appears to people and tells them to kill other people. Taking judgment and execution in his own hands? Not trusting in God’s plan or forgiveness of sins? I can buy that he finds out about their sins through confession, but committing murder through a middleman especially preemptively? That’s a very misguided spirit….misguided by whom?
On a side note, would THAT behavior even after death would get him to heaven? He didn’t flame or fritz out, he actually looked like he was going to heaven, right?
So maybe it was REALLY God/ Chuck talking to Father Gregory? Or maybe Zachariah? OR some other player already trying to set the Winchesters onto the Apocalypse path? Or dividing them for later purposes?
I DO love that this episode give us the first definition of angles as FIERCE warriors.
On another side note: HOW did Dean get away from the final “accident scene” with a witness there and doubtless police on the way? They would have retained him and found out his “wanted” status, no?
Anyhow, very compelling episode to me as well. I bit of a sleeper, but in hindsight packed with important info.
PNP
I completely agree, JBB!!
Our “fantasy horror” show – especially THIS episode seems awfully realistic nowadays! And we’re NOT stuck in a test run.
UGH!
GET VACCINATED PEOPLE! No one’s gonna CURE this one either!
AH, yes….Hendricksen and the FBI. Unpopular opinion but I never liked the involvement of the FBI as a story line. Its too big, too official. Too “real”. To me that’s something that would never really go away. So why go there? The Winchesters have enough on their plate without having to worry about Federal surveillance on them. Also, from a story perspective it didn’t add anything for me that they now had to fly extra carefully under the radar. They are operating on back roads and in the shadows as is.
Was this supposed to give us another “outside perspective” on the Winchesters? That they could be seen as militant redneck survivalists? How is that helpful or interesting when we already know the truth of what they are doing and how they are helping people? It’s just not working for me.
The episode itself is just so so for me. Ronald’s the best thing in it and the whole “who is it” thing drags on a little too long for me. Plus ,we never find out what the shifter is actually there for? So what’s the whole point?
FUNNY flirting by Dean at the beginning. And what’s with Sam’s slimy hair!?
LOVE RONALD! Poor guy. So observant, but X-Files misguided. He’s a great character and the actor superb at bringing him to life. The whole scene with Sam, Dean and Ronald at the beginning is wonderful. Dean is really impressed with Ronald’s “investigation” and I believe he’s fully prepared to tell Ron the truth and then Sam shuts is down HARD. SO FUNNY. Ronald is kinda like Frank Deveraux 1.0 HAHA! And SUCH great wordless acting by Jensen again.
Sad to think, though, that Ronald would most likely still be alive by the end if Sam HAD told him the truth from the start. Maybe he could have been helpful. I get Sam wanted to protect Ron, but in the end NOT telling him the truth forced Ron into ill-advised action and got him killed.
A few positive things:
– AWESOME beer bottle room divider in the crap motel!!
– I say “Okie Dokie”….would Dean like ME, too?
– One of my favorite episode endings ever!!!
REALLY classic horror set up. The beautiful but oppressive old house. The super creepy doll collection – or is that just me? Through in some Hoodoo, fog, faded family portraits and desperate hotel owner….Voila. Something HAS to go wrong there.
NICE special effect on the twisted head guy!!
GREAT wallpaper in the motel Dean and Sam are in at the beginning. HA.
Funny how they are assumed to be “Antiquers” and how that seems to be synonymous with gay? I really never saw any canon homoerotic subtext, just really close brothers, BUT I do find it funny how the writers kept up the outside perspective of them to be “other” (maybe too pretty?) which side characters translated into gay. I am also amused how Dean was pretty uncomfortable with the assumption back then but at the same time has no problem leaning into it when it suits him – like gaining access to the private room with the doll collection. Love the line from Sam about Dean being pretty butch and how he must be overcompensating. HA.
THAT guest room in the mansion hotel with the taxidermy and wedding dress tacked to the wall….lol….I’ve stayed in places like that before and always found it cringeworthy when antique clothes are hanging around. I mean, that practically invites the ghosts to stay, doesn’t it?
Lots of great camera work in this episode. The shooting from the top on the guy that fell down the stairs and the guy who hung on the fan. And in other places, too. The camera movements are almost like you’re watching through an observer’s eyes.
Poor Dean having to deal with drunk Sam and his self-worth issues AND everything else. I totally dig that Dean makes fun of Sam the next morning – teasing him – it’s dumb to get drunk on a job no matter what.
I know it adds atmosphere, but I find it very unlikely that they would have stuck Grandma Rose into the attic after she had a stroke and is in a wheelchair. How unpractical and kinda cruel.I do like the reveal that there is an imaginary friend in the picture a lot because it comes so abruptly and totally out of left field. And the way that everything speeds up after that.
One of the creepiest moments to me is where Tyler is playing with the doll house and the swing starts to move on its own and how that’s mirrored outside. Maggie really had to have a lot of power to make all of those things AND the car work at the same time!That’s some STRONG glass at the pool house! Are we to believe that it’s protected by Maggie as well? GORGEOUS old building and pool, though!
The story is SO SAD. As mean and murderous as Maggie is she’s also so lonely and tragically stuck there thinking her sister wants nothing to do with her. I love that Grandma is the hero in the end. She saves everyone as much as Sam and Dean saved Tyler. I love how the episode ends with the two ghost sisters playing together.
Although I do think Sam and Dean could have had the idea to look for a doll likeness of Maggie and get rid of her as they came across that in Provenance already.
Overall strong episode for me!
Another really good start to an episode. We get so much new info in this little scene that we don’t even recognize right away – at least on first watch. Here is another “child like Sam” with another ability and one who’s being talked to by YED.
I get that Sam is pissed at being kept in the dark and scared of what all that might mean, but he has to know what info like that would do to Dean, too!! Having your dad ask you to kill your little brother if need be is horrible for anyone, but triply so for the Winchesters!!! Sam really could’ve been a little more sympathetic here. And I don’t appreciate at all that he runs off that night after Dean BEGS him to give him a little time! Dean doesn’t beg – at least not often – and here he was clearly distraught….yet Sam runs off and worries him more. Dick move, sir!
Great misdirect after Sam leaves Dean and the next thing we see is him getting blown up!! TOTALLY shocking. I really appreciate the gore and smoking shoe!!! Watching it for the second, third, umpteenth time….I find it humorous how little scruples Kripke had to torment the audience and characters. HA.
I do like the fact that Sam isn’t just trying to disappear into the night and figure this out himself, but goes to the Roadhouse for help. He must have guessed that it would get back to Dean, which I guess is his way to be pissed at Dean and keep him in the loop. SIGH….communication sure wasn’t their strongsuit early on.
But, HEY, it gives us a chance to see Ash and Ellen again and that is always a treat. Love the conversation between Sam and Ellen. Neither sharing too much but showing that they care! Interesting dance and difficult to pull off as writers and deliver as actors! Little bits of important info woven in to ground it. Very cool.
Love love love Ash!! His delivery rocks. “Make the monkey dance.” HAStrange choice of music in the scene between Ash, Ellen and Sam, though. It’s a song that was huge on the TWILIGHT soundtrack and used prominently in the movie. I wonder if that was on purpose or the song was just cheap to use.
The room at the Blue Rose Inn is waaaay over the top. It even has a display case for dishes? Too funny!
I really enjoy every time watching the episode how it starts off as a “self-discovery” journey for Sam and suddenly turns into a completely different thing with Gordon showing up and trying to kill Sam but capture Dean. It turns everything on its head although the new info we are gathering all throughout is amounting to the same thing. It really drives home the fact how BIG of a problem Sam and Dean are actually facing with YED and everything else connected. And I appreciate AVA as stand in for us – audience – the actress is playing the poor, normal, overwhelmed person really well with a slightly hysterical edge. Not everyone can be cool meeting the Winchesters….they ARE quite scary when looking at them from an outside, conventional perspective. HA
AWESOME fight scene on the roof. Between Dean and Gordon.
Both Sterling and Jensen are AMAZING in the scenes in the abandoned house. The all-business-psychpath-edge to Gordon and Dean’s “fighting to stay cool but completely freaked out on the inside” are very effective opposites in the scene.
The whole thing with the double trip wire and two explosions etc are so high stake and suspenseful, it really is movie quality TV.
How are Sam and Dean getting their guns back, though?! Sam lost his in the fight in the house and Gordon surely took Dean’s…..
I love the way Sam and Dean “make up” at the end. Very little is actually said, but we get the apology and acceptance in between the lines. In typical Winchester fashion.
Another gritty, exciting episode!
GREAT START to this one!
I was really shocked the first time around that it looked like Dean was shooting a human without mercy. Made me think back to SKIN and gave me the suspicion Dean was possessed or maybe some other way influenced. Jensen played it so great with Dean being stone faced and brutal until that one little quiver of his mouth right before shooting, so you suddenly knew he wasn’t as sure and cold as he seemed. Very chilling.
LOVE the grainy visual quality to this one – at least on my TV.
OK, with what we know in the end….it all being a set up to test if Sam can withstand the virus (even more chilling nowadays….)….was the “no cell signal” also a set up or just back woods Oregon? And if it was demons….how?
I like the way that Sam and Dean are totally out of their depth right from the beginning and admit it, too, discussing trying to get help from Bobby or Ellen.
That is an awesome piece of driving when Dean has to get away from the creeps on the bridge. It probably wasn’t Jensen at the time, but it looked cool as hell. And thankfully the towns people all sucked at shooting so Baby wasn’t hurt. HA
The gun stand off with the Army Dude is intense but hilarious. Dean and him screaming at each other before deciding they better work together.
Funny how the Sarge was introduced very briefly before but the little we knew about him until that point made it believable to me that Dean would at least partially trust him.I do feel bad for Dean having to be the one shooting two civilians who aren’t clearly “monstrous”. That has to be tough on him no matter what he says. And I love Sam for picking up on that and calling Dean out on it. I was a little surprised why Dean was so gung-ho on shooting Dwayne immediately and not wait for the virus to show up first. But I love the fact that he DOESN’T! It’s jarring to watch him go through the same thing we already watched in the vision but with a different outcome.
ALL of the actors are doing a fabulous job together in the scene after Sam gets trapped and bled on by the nurse. The tension retching up and up and up between all of them is palpable. There are SO many emotions from the different people in this one scene it’s masterful – Dean in super protective mode is scary and powerful and heartbreaking all at once; the fear from the Sarge and Dwayne and the doctor’s helplessness are all very real; Sam’s quiet desperation at being in the middle of the conflict and not wanting anyone else to be at risk tugs at the heart.
Of course there is the usual wordless way the Winchester’s communicate in this situation, but I also love how Dean and the Sarge have a “soldier-to-soldier” rapport that needs little words. They understand each other on a different level that seems very real to me. The guy isn’t a hunter, but Dean shows him respect for having seen action and knowing how to handle himself.
WOW – really tough to watch brother scene with Sam begging Dean to leave and live and Dean just being DONE!
Still wonder where EVERYONE went?! And they totally should have tied Sam up until is was clear he wasn’t infected….but maybe they did off camera?
Shame the Sarge had to bite it as change for the phone booth!! But I do like that they kept to method of communicating with YED at the time consistent.
OH and the end….I’m glad Dean finally got his off his chest what dad put on his shoulders….but I hate the (temporary) fall out… It’s a pretty spot for that scene, though.
Although there is an inconsistency here, because in Season 8’s “The Great Escapist“ Sam says that Dean’s donkey on the Grand Canyon ride was farty but here he says that they’ve never been to the Grand Canyon!
GREAT episode!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this one!!
I always thought it was a clever AND brave way to introduce such show-important idea of cross roads and demon deals to SPN by going back to one of the oldest U.S. based folkloric cases of it with the Robert Johnson legend!!! It is SO iconic in the South – heck, I’ve BEEN to the cross roads of U.S. 61 and U.S. 49 in Clarksdale, MS where this deal supposed to have happened!! – but at the same time probably not a story a large part of the target audience for the show would be familiar with. So I applaud the showrunners and writers for using it and making the parallels to modern times.
Be careful what you whish for…..yes….but also….imagine the possibilities! HA. Slippery slope for sure and one the guys will take full advantage of later – thinking they can outsmart the deal.
I love the way the story unfolds in this episode and how the first two cases of what was asked for in their respective deals makes us as the audience easily identify with Dean’s assumption for the third case just to find out that guy actually meant to do good with giving up his soul.
I also found the artist’s story especially tragic! They could have easily shown us someone who found joy and fulfillment in art for art’s sake but instead we see a lonely, bitter guy driven until the bitter end to create without reward. So sad!
Lot’s of good cautionary tale aspects in this episode….all of which are ignored by the boys when it’s time for desperate measures.
I also really enjoy Dean’s cleverness in this one doubling up on the devil’s trap and luring the demon into the second one. Not just great acting on Jensen’s part, but masterfully acted by DEAN as well! HA.
I always found it funny that they never came up with a more secure way to protect doors or encircle people than granular or dusty materials like salt or sand that EASILY blow away in the first gust of wind from an open window or snort of a hellhound’s nose! Seriously flawed security system, but fun to watch.
I agree with you, JBB! Sam shouldn’t have trusted Dean there to act in a non self-destructive way. BUT…at least they were talking to each other about their suspicion. It’s a start.
REALLY GREAT episode all around for me. Tense, informative, suspenseful and opening up so many new ways to tell the story going forward. Also glad that this lore stayed the same all the way through the show.
PNP
Hi JBB!
I totally agree with you on all above.
The episode was enjoyable, but by no means stellar.
Some of my favorite parts were the communication between the brothers when apart. We learn a lot about their dynamic and “security system” in this one and that was FUN.
LOVE cocky Dean!! Damn that boyish smile and devil-may-care demeanor. Makes me want to smack him upside the head AND kiss him. HA! Sorry.
Didn’t really care for Linda Blair either, but I am sure it was a thrill for them all to get her as guest star. My favorite scenes with her were the ones with Sam at the hotel.
What strikes me this time around watching the series as a whole is that I never really noticed how many episodes the “monster” is actually not the evil doer….how often the “monster” is a plain old human asshole.
I thought the make up and special effects on the death omen / victim were really well done and appropriately gory.
Sam was definitely the focal point in this one and I thought Jared did a fine job making us see Sam’s resourcefulness and capability to solve a case more or less on his own.
I thought Dean told the truth partially because he knew no one would believe him and that might buy Sam some extra time to figure it out?
PNP
I ALWAYS LOVED this one!!!
So many great parts – from SUUUPER creepy vibe in the catacombs, great set/staging of the scenes in the walls. Really well filmed and directed. You can FEEL the claustrophobia when Jo crawls around in the walls and then is locked in that iron wall coffin.
To me this was an awesome use of specific body parts of the “monster”, like nasty fingers and terrifying eyes, to scare the audience instead of seeing the full figure of the ghost.
Love the use of a historic serial killer and how they built the case around that. It lent itself perfectly, but it’s still not easy to write a compelling mystery around it and make the discovery of the villain believable. And like JBB said, this is were we find out about one of Sam’s passions, which is precious because there aren’t that many compared to Dean.
I agree with JBB on all the points about Jo! I always really enjoyed her character. I find her believable as a young woman having grown up in a TOUGH environment and having been taught from childhood how to protect herself. I don’t think she was ever “coddled”. Ellen is tough, dad was a hunter, they run a road house for a pretty rough and dangerous crowd…..she’s no princess on a pea. I can completely relate to her wanting to prove herself as a hunter. NOT TO anyone, really, but I think she’s trying to prove to HERSELF that she can do the job, even as a woman. And the argument between her and Dean about that is GREAT and very on point. I LOVE that Dean shows he’s totally into gender equality here.
I also love the idea that although Sam and Dean have their doubts Jo is up to the job, due to lack of experience, they are impressed with her research and at least give her a chance! No chauvinistic tendencies here.
I also never minded that there is definite sexual tension between Jo and Dean, but I very much respect and admire that the writers never took it all the way with them. There is a lot of potential, but I love that Dean never pushes too hard and that Jo is in control to keep him at arm’s length. All that makes the ONE kiss they share when she dies SOOOO much more heartbreaking. That “what if” moment always totally gets me. It wouldn’t have been this powerful without the long simmer of “maybe” before.
I appreciate even more that the writers didn’t make it all about superficial sexual tension, but that Dean and Jo are bonding over their shared desire to live up to their dads skill and reputation. That was a good basis for a deeper understanding between them. Funny enough Jo could have also easily bonded with SAM over the urge to rebel against a parent and prove your worth to them, she definitely paralleled aspects of both Winchester brothers in complicated relationships with the parental units. HA.
Ellen being “Cold as Ice” about the whole thing is also great! Their mother daughter dynamic – although complicated and somewhat painful – is very real to me and I love that BOTH are portrayed as competent and self-assured and smart, if pretty incapable to show their love easily.
Ellen is such great character to me as well and a solid counter balance to the “Let’s go and kick it in the ass” attitude of the young hunters. I would have loved to see more Sam and Ellen scenes over the years. They seemed to share a good deal of cautious, researcher approach and I would have loved to see them work a case together at some point.
It’s a great shame that Ellen, Jo and Ash weren’t used a little more prominently between Season 2 and 5!!! There was a lot more potential for all of them.
Ellen could have easily become even more of a mother/older sister figure to them and that could have been interesting. I guess, though, that having Bobby as the “replacement” father figure filled that plot point, so having Ellen on top of that would have been conflicting? And later Jody started to fill in for the older sister/mother vibe a little.
Anyhow, I’m rambling.
I LOVED this episode – always – and for me it’s a solid 8
PNP
Yup. You pretty much said all the things I loved about this one, too.
You really feel an urgency in this episode, too.
Dean feeling helpless to do something for Sam when he’s in pain like that.
Sam getting more anxious about what it all means and why it’s happening.
I also love Andy and how he is using his gift of mind control JUST to get by. He’s not amassing wealth or trying to hurt people with it. He’s not trying to life a grand life. He just wants to live comfortably, read Nietzsche and smoke a giant bong in his tricked out van. That is both adorable and hilarious to me. Live and let live.
And I love the way Dean looks almost envious of that for a moment, when they find the van, showing again that he, too, doesn’t expect much from live but would love to have a little low down fun every once in a while. Appreciating the little things….hahaha.All Andy’s benevolent use of his powers makes the evil twin so much more effective. The idea of being forced to do something against your will and being in fully aware of it at the same time is terrifying to me. The way Anson is forcing his will on Andy’s girlfriend making her powerless but still compliant was a very creepy and almost worse than if she would have been physically raped. NOT that I want take any horror out of physical rape what’s so ever!!!! But with the mental abuse/rape she couldn’t even TRY to fight back. Both Andy and Anson weren’t physically imposing, so she probably had a fair chance to fight her way out of the situation, but that option was taken away from her and THAT made it the worst for me. SUPER creepy.
Although heartbreaking for Andy, I do appreciate a lot that the girlfriend couldn’t trust him after he, too, used his powers on her, even if it was to save her. A “happy ending” would have been so wrong here.
As with many interesting characters over the years, I wish they would have used Andy in another episode somehow before AHBL 1. I would have loved to know how he was coping, making use of his powers, maybe for good.
But all in all a really good episode.
PNP
