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llywelaOkay, this one was good. In a really meaty, family issues, ongoing story-arc kind of way.
I liked that right at the start, since they had no real leads to follow, Dean suggests going back to visit Sarah. He might not want Sam to walk away again the way he did when he left for college, but he's more than supportive of the idea of getting those two together again. But Sam is all, "maybe someday. We've got a lot of work to do. You know that." To which all I can think is, what work? They've just said they can't find any leads to follow.
But then the name Elkins comes up, and it rings a bell. Still a bit of a long shot – having the right area code doesn't actually mean much, does it? It's a big state in a big country – could be a lot of Elkins' there. But that spider sense never lies, so of course they are onto something.
Dean says that Elkins' journal dates back to the sixties – a good 20 years before John started keeping his. I really hope they kept it. Could be useful.
There's lots of little details to appreciate. There's the gruesome, as Dean casually uses blood spots on the floor to stick the paper down so he can take a rubbing of the scratches one-handed. And there's the amusing, as both boys just about jump out of their skin when John taps on the Impala's window. He lets them know he saw them at Elkins' house, and the first sign of friction appears.
Sam: "Why didn't you come in, Dad?"
John: "You know why. I had to make sure you weren't followed. By anyone or anything."
Not exactly expressing confidence in the boys there, but at least he follows it up with praise.
"Nice job of covering your tracks, by the way."
Elkins was a friend of John, but they had a falling out, a long time ago. Why does that not surprise me? John does seem rather…narrowly focused, shall we say. There's no give, no flexibility.
But he wants the boys' help now, since they're there. Elkins had a very special gun, and he wants it. But the vampires that killed him have got it now, which means they have to go vampire hunting…
Supernatural's vampire lore is very anti-Buffy, which is highly amusing.
The vampire's laying their trap for the young couple they capture is very nicely done – suitably believable, suitably creepy, very effective.
Love seeing the boys crashed out on top of the beds at the motel. John apparently doesn't sleep, however, as he sits monitoring police radio transmissions instead, which puts them on the track of the vampires. Then at the crime scene, those first hints of friction start to develop, as Sam grumbles.
Sam: "I don't see why we couldn't have gone over."
And…at this stage, there really isn't much to grumble about. Three of them is a lot to descend on a crime scene; one man alone can get the job done efficiently and report back. But the issues he's grumbling about run much deeper than the actual issue at hand, and Dean reacts accordingly.
Dean: "Oh, don't tell me it's already starting."
Sam: "What's starting?"
Sam doesn't see it – he's as focused as John, in his own way. Focused here on the issue at hand, and gives the impression that he expects there to be reasons to disagree with John and accordingly is just looking for excuses to grumble. Because having John around is bringing up all kinds of other, deeper issues. And Dean's attitude implies that the butting of heads between John and Sam has been a regular theme in the past. The conversations between them now back that up – Sam challenges John constantly, giving the impression that he doesn't trust his dad to know what he's talking about, although mostly he just wants full disclosure, which they clearly rarely receive.
I was really pissed off when John had a go at Dean, out of the blue, about the Impala being a little rusty. "I wouldn't have given you the damn thing if I thought you were going to ruin it."
What's that all about? Undercutting his son for no good reason – Dean looks hurt, but sucks it up in silence, while Sam looks amused but sympathetic.
While Dean reads up on vampires, Sam is driving, which doesn't happen all that often.
Sam: "Course, it would have been nice if he just told us what he thinks."
Dean: "So it is starting."
Sam: "What?"
Dean: "Sam, we've been looking for Dad all year. Now we're not with him for more than a couple hours, there's static already."
And that 'static' really isn't so much about the case at hand as about all those older issues that drove Sam away in the first place. John keeps them on a strict 'need to know' basis, which evidently means telling them next to nothing about anything, and Sam deeply resents being treated like children. Dean doesn't give much away about how he really feels about John's methods; he's simply willing to go along with it for the sake of the mission, as always, willing to accept that's how John runs things. Willing to do what it takes to get the job done. But Sam isn't – not after everything they've been through. He thinks they deserve more than that, and he's right, although mid-job might not be the best time to start a mutiny. With John, though, there doesn't seem to be any other time.
Vampire Luther: "Revenge isn't worth much if you end up dead."
Yeah, the family Winchester could use that advice.
When John phones in directions, believing he's picked up the vampires' trail but without explaining why, it is the final straw for Sam. Gotta love that mulish face he pulls. And the reason why Sam is driving becomes clear now – having Sam behind the wheel means he's in control. So he gets in front of John's truck to provoke a confrontation.
Lesson for Dean – when family tension arises, don't let Sammy drive.
Like I said – mid-job isn't the best time to stage a mutiny.
Dean: "Sammy, come on. We can Q&A after we kill the vampires."
But John not taking the time to explain why he thinks the vampires went that way really isn't what this is all about. And Dean knows that, but he's well and truly stuck in the middle here, and his frustration and weariness at being in this position again is palpable. Especially since they both drag him into it more than once. Sam's arguments are all about 'we' – him and Dean against John, and John retaliates in kind.
Sam: "This is why I left in the first place."
Not really because he just wanted to go to school, then? No – few things are that simple, and most major events are multi-causal.
John: "Yeah, you left. Your brother and me, we needed you. You walked away."
Sam: "You were the one who said don't come back. You were the one who closed the door. You were just pissed off you couldn't control me any more."
Got to love the complexity of the issues all three of these guys have with each other. There's just so much fine detail behind their motivations and reactions, to everything. Fantastic.
Dean plays the role of peacemaker here, getting in between them, pushing them apart, ordering them both back to their separate vehicles, and he's deeply, deeply pissed off that these, the only two people he has in his life, can't see eye to eye about anything, apparently. "Terrific."
The captured girl gets vamped after seeing her boyfriend killed – SN vamping not vastly different than Buffy's, but it is different. SN vampire lore continues to be slowly spelled out for the audience – they can tolerate sunlight, can't be killed by stakes or fire, sleep during the day but can and will wake up if disturbed; beheading is the only way to kill them.
Dean: "So I guess walking right in's not our best option."
John: "Actually, that's the plan."
*snigger*
And then…
John: "So, you boys really wanna know about this colt?"
Do they really want to know…? I really hope he didn't mean that, that he hasn't been deaf to everything Sam has said. After the vague comments he's made about the darn gun, since he expects them to risk their lives going into the vampire nest in search of it, how could they not want to know the exact details about why it is so significant?
The colt is very special. It will kill anything. Including 'the demon'. There is no need to spell out which one – they know and the audience knows. It doesn't need a name.
Waking the newly vamped girl while trying to free her and thus alerting the rest of the nest to their presence…yeah, it's predictable. But still well done. And of course they escape, although not before John has taken Dean's usual role of getting thrown into the wall.
"Once a vampire gets your scent, it's for life."
And apparently, just being in the room with them is enough for that. Yeah, that bodes well for the future.
The dead man's blood thing is vampire lore that Buffy never used – comes from Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire stuff, no? But the fact that Dean is sent to collect it means that Sam and John are alone together for the first time since Sam left for college. Which gives John the opportunity to monologue at length, telling the story of the now defunct college funds he set up for his boys when they were first born (spent on ammo? Very John!)
John: "This is never the life that I wanted for you. After your mother passed, all I saw was evil, everywhere, and all I cared about was keeping you boys alive. I wanted you prepared, ready…somewhere along the line I stopped being your father and became your drill sergeant. So when you said you wanted to go away to school, all I could think about was that you were going to be alone. Vulnerable. Sam, it never occurred to me what you wanted. I just couldn't accept the fact that you and me, we're just different."
It's nice to see that John can examine his own actions and motivations regarding his sons if he has to, although taking stock and actually acting on the faults he identifies is another matter entirely. And he's wrong – he and Sam aren't actually that different. They have a lot in common in terms of temperament – that's why they find it so hard to get along. They are too alike. Where they differ is in how they view their lives and work, what they want from life. And, as Sam says, they now have Mary and Jessica's deaths in common.
Dean always, always has his collar turned up at the back. And I always, always want to reach into the TV and straighten it for him! Teehee.
Yeah, John really wants to keep his sons safe – he's so anxious to keep them safe that he's willing to offer Dean up as vampire bait. This man has serious double standards.
"I usually draw the line at necrophilia."
Dean snarks away so nicely with his face caught in vampire Kate's vice-like grip. So, they capture their dead man's blood poisoned vampire, which will bring the others out in search of her, because vampires apparently mate for life. And then comes the kicker, and the second mid-job mutiny. John is to distract the vampires and retrieve the colt, while the boys free the prisoners they are keeping in their nest. And then he wants them to split up again. Sam's reaction is predictable; Dean's really isn't.
Sam: "You can't treat us like this. Like children."
John: "You are my children. I just want to keep you safe."
Dean: "Dad, with all due respect, that's a bunch of crap."
Love how both John and Sam react with absolute amazement. Because…John and Sam butt heads constantly, Sam and Dean also butt heads a lot. But for Dean to argue back to John means that something is seriously wrong. That's not the natural order of things.
Dean: "You know what Sam and I have been hunting. Hell, you sent us on a few hunting trips yourself. You can't be that worried about keeping us safe."
So happy that Dean called him on that. Like I said – double standards. And John is a complicated man, and perhaps doesn't always entirely understand himself. But he's forced to admit that he doesn't expect to make it out of the fight alive when he takes on 'the demon', and says he can't face the thought of losing his sons. Which, I'd have thought, takes us right back to what Dean just said about the regular hunting they do all the time being dangerous. But instead of reiterating that point, he focuses on the other part of John's words.
Dean: "What happens if you die? Dad, what happens if you die and we could have done something about it?"
Well said. John is willing to die in the attempt to take down that demon, and he doesn't want his sons there when he does it, but doesn't stop to think what that would do to them, having already lost their mother to it, and their childhood – their whole lives up till now – to the hunt for revenge.
I love that, having tried unsuccessfully to keep the peace, to prevent things coming to a head a second time, Dean now sides with Sam. Last time this confrontation took place, Sam walked away and left Dean behind, so there wasn't much side-taking to be done there. This time, however, they are mid-job, they are all actively hunting, whether together or apart, and there is a side to be taken. And he chooses Sam, stands up to John's way of doing things at last.
Dean: "I think maybe Sammy's right on this one. I think maybe we should stick together. We're stronger as a family, Dad, you know it."
Or maybe it's less about siding with Sam and more about wanting the family together, despite the fighting and disagreements. Except that it was Dean who said first in Shadow that they should split up…
Doesn't matter, anyway, as John simply pulls rank and refuses to discuss the matter. He's made a decision, now they have to complete the mission and stop arguing. End of discussion.
So, the boys go and free the hostages, while John lets the vampires catch up with him, only for his exchange of hostages to go wrong. Again, John does Dean's usual trick of getting flung around, this time into the door of his truck. And Dean and Sam come dashing to the rescue, because they're through following orders.
Nice to see that some traditions hold firm: Dean hasn't been flung into any walls this episode, but Sam, as usual, gets strangled. And John uses one of those precious bullets in the colt to save him. The effects of vampire Luther getting nailed in the head and slowly dying are very cool.
John: "You ignored a direct order back there."
Sam: "Yes, sir."
Dean: "Yeah, but we saved your ass."
Love how Sam, again, looks ever so slightly freaked out hearing Dean, again, argue back to John. Like I said, that is just not the natural order of things. And for all that John raised his sons to hunt, for all that he had Dean hunting alongside him for years after Sam went to college, it seems like in that moment he is seeing them as men for the first time, not just 'his boys'.
John: "You're right."
Dean: "I am?"
John: "Scares the hell out of me. You two are all I've got. But I guess we are stronger as a family. So. We go after his damn thing. Together."
Woohoo.
I liked that right at the start, since they had no real leads to follow, Dean suggests going back to visit Sarah. He might not want Sam to walk away again the way he did when he left for college, but he's more than supportive of the idea of getting those two together again. But Sam is all, "maybe someday. We've got a lot of work to do. You know that." To which all I can think is, what work? They've just said they can't find any leads to follow.
But then the name Elkins comes up, and it rings a bell. Still a bit of a long shot – having the right area code doesn't actually mean much, does it? It's a big state in a big country – could be a lot of Elkins' there. But that spider sense never lies, so of course they are onto something.
Dean says that Elkins' journal dates back to the sixties – a good 20 years before John started keeping his. I really hope they kept it. Could be useful.
There's lots of little details to appreciate. There's the gruesome, as Dean casually uses blood spots on the floor to stick the paper down so he can take a rubbing of the scratches one-handed. And there's the amusing, as both boys just about jump out of their skin when John taps on the Impala's window. He lets them know he saw them at Elkins' house, and the first sign of friction appears.
Sam: "Why didn't you come in, Dad?"
John: "You know why. I had to make sure you weren't followed. By anyone or anything."
Not exactly expressing confidence in the boys there, but at least he follows it up with praise.
"Nice job of covering your tracks, by the way."
Elkins was a friend of John, but they had a falling out, a long time ago. Why does that not surprise me? John does seem rather…narrowly focused, shall we say. There's no give, no flexibility.
But he wants the boys' help now, since they're there. Elkins had a very special gun, and he wants it. But the vampires that killed him have got it now, which means they have to go vampire hunting…
Supernatural's vampire lore is very anti-Buffy, which is highly amusing.
The vampire's laying their trap for the young couple they capture is very nicely done – suitably believable, suitably creepy, very effective.
Love seeing the boys crashed out on top of the beds at the motel. John apparently doesn't sleep, however, as he sits monitoring police radio transmissions instead, which puts them on the track of the vampires. Then at the crime scene, those first hints of friction start to develop, as Sam grumbles.
Sam: "I don't see why we couldn't have gone over."
And…at this stage, there really isn't much to grumble about. Three of them is a lot to descend on a crime scene; one man alone can get the job done efficiently and report back. But the issues he's grumbling about run much deeper than the actual issue at hand, and Dean reacts accordingly.
Dean: "Oh, don't tell me it's already starting."
Sam: "What's starting?"
Sam doesn't see it – he's as focused as John, in his own way. Focused here on the issue at hand, and gives the impression that he expects there to be reasons to disagree with John and accordingly is just looking for excuses to grumble. Because having John around is bringing up all kinds of other, deeper issues. And Dean's attitude implies that the butting of heads between John and Sam has been a regular theme in the past. The conversations between them now back that up – Sam challenges John constantly, giving the impression that he doesn't trust his dad to know what he's talking about, although mostly he just wants full disclosure, which they clearly rarely receive.
I was really pissed off when John had a go at Dean, out of the blue, about the Impala being a little rusty. "I wouldn't have given you the damn thing if I thought you were going to ruin it."
What's that all about? Undercutting his son for no good reason – Dean looks hurt, but sucks it up in silence, while Sam looks amused but sympathetic.
While Dean reads up on vampires, Sam is driving, which doesn't happen all that often.
Sam: "Course, it would have been nice if he just told us what he thinks."
Dean: "So it is starting."
Sam: "What?"
Dean: "Sam, we've been looking for Dad all year. Now we're not with him for more than a couple hours, there's static already."
And that 'static' really isn't so much about the case at hand as about all those older issues that drove Sam away in the first place. John keeps them on a strict 'need to know' basis, which evidently means telling them next to nothing about anything, and Sam deeply resents being treated like children. Dean doesn't give much away about how he really feels about John's methods; he's simply willing to go along with it for the sake of the mission, as always, willing to accept that's how John runs things. Willing to do what it takes to get the job done. But Sam isn't – not after everything they've been through. He thinks they deserve more than that, and he's right, although mid-job might not be the best time to start a mutiny. With John, though, there doesn't seem to be any other time.
Vampire Luther: "Revenge isn't worth much if you end up dead."
Yeah, the family Winchester could use that advice.
When John phones in directions, believing he's picked up the vampires' trail but without explaining why, it is the final straw for Sam. Gotta love that mulish face he pulls. And the reason why Sam is driving becomes clear now – having Sam behind the wheel means he's in control. So he gets in front of John's truck to provoke a confrontation.
Lesson for Dean – when family tension arises, don't let Sammy drive.
Like I said – mid-job isn't the best time to stage a mutiny.
Dean: "Sammy, come on. We can Q&A after we kill the vampires."
But John not taking the time to explain why he thinks the vampires went that way really isn't what this is all about. And Dean knows that, but he's well and truly stuck in the middle here, and his frustration and weariness at being in this position again is palpable. Especially since they both drag him into it more than once. Sam's arguments are all about 'we' – him and Dean against John, and John retaliates in kind.
Sam: "This is why I left in the first place."
Not really because he just wanted to go to school, then? No – few things are that simple, and most major events are multi-causal.
John: "Yeah, you left. Your brother and me, we needed you. You walked away."
Sam: "You were the one who said don't come back. You were the one who closed the door. You were just pissed off you couldn't control me any more."
Got to love the complexity of the issues all three of these guys have with each other. There's just so much fine detail behind their motivations and reactions, to everything. Fantastic.
Dean plays the role of peacemaker here, getting in between them, pushing them apart, ordering them both back to their separate vehicles, and he's deeply, deeply pissed off that these, the only two people he has in his life, can't see eye to eye about anything, apparently. "Terrific."
The captured girl gets vamped after seeing her boyfriend killed – SN vamping not vastly different than Buffy's, but it is different. SN vampire lore continues to be slowly spelled out for the audience – they can tolerate sunlight, can't be killed by stakes or fire, sleep during the day but can and will wake up if disturbed; beheading is the only way to kill them.
Dean: "So I guess walking right in's not our best option."
John: "Actually, that's the plan."
*snigger*
And then…
John: "So, you boys really wanna know about this colt?"
Do they really want to know…? I really hope he didn't mean that, that he hasn't been deaf to everything Sam has said. After the vague comments he's made about the darn gun, since he expects them to risk their lives going into the vampire nest in search of it, how could they not want to know the exact details about why it is so significant?
The colt is very special. It will kill anything. Including 'the demon'. There is no need to spell out which one – they know and the audience knows. It doesn't need a name.
Waking the newly vamped girl while trying to free her and thus alerting the rest of the nest to their presence…yeah, it's predictable. But still well done. And of course they escape, although not before John has taken Dean's usual role of getting thrown into the wall.
"Once a vampire gets your scent, it's for life."
And apparently, just being in the room with them is enough for that. Yeah, that bodes well for the future.
The dead man's blood thing is vampire lore that Buffy never used – comes from Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire stuff, no? But the fact that Dean is sent to collect it means that Sam and John are alone together for the first time since Sam left for college. Which gives John the opportunity to monologue at length, telling the story of the now defunct college funds he set up for his boys when they were first born (spent on ammo? Very John!)
John: "This is never the life that I wanted for you. After your mother passed, all I saw was evil, everywhere, and all I cared about was keeping you boys alive. I wanted you prepared, ready…somewhere along the line I stopped being your father and became your drill sergeant. So when you said you wanted to go away to school, all I could think about was that you were going to be alone. Vulnerable. Sam, it never occurred to me what you wanted. I just couldn't accept the fact that you and me, we're just different."
It's nice to see that John can examine his own actions and motivations regarding his sons if he has to, although taking stock and actually acting on the faults he identifies is another matter entirely. And he's wrong – he and Sam aren't actually that different. They have a lot in common in terms of temperament – that's why they find it so hard to get along. They are too alike. Where they differ is in how they view their lives and work, what they want from life. And, as Sam says, they now have Mary and Jessica's deaths in common.
Dean always, always has his collar turned up at the back. And I always, always want to reach into the TV and straighten it for him! Teehee.
Yeah, John really wants to keep his sons safe – he's so anxious to keep them safe that he's willing to offer Dean up as vampire bait. This man has serious double standards.
"I usually draw the line at necrophilia."
Dean snarks away so nicely with his face caught in vampire Kate's vice-like grip. So, they capture their dead man's blood poisoned vampire, which will bring the others out in search of her, because vampires apparently mate for life. And then comes the kicker, and the second mid-job mutiny. John is to distract the vampires and retrieve the colt, while the boys free the prisoners they are keeping in their nest. And then he wants them to split up again. Sam's reaction is predictable; Dean's really isn't.
Sam: "You can't treat us like this. Like children."
John: "You are my children. I just want to keep you safe."
Dean: "Dad, with all due respect, that's a bunch of crap."
Love how both John and Sam react with absolute amazement. Because…John and Sam butt heads constantly, Sam and Dean also butt heads a lot. But for Dean to argue back to John means that something is seriously wrong. That's not the natural order of things.
Dean: "You know what Sam and I have been hunting. Hell, you sent us on a few hunting trips yourself. You can't be that worried about keeping us safe."
So happy that Dean called him on that. Like I said – double standards. And John is a complicated man, and perhaps doesn't always entirely understand himself. But he's forced to admit that he doesn't expect to make it out of the fight alive when he takes on 'the demon', and says he can't face the thought of losing his sons. Which, I'd have thought, takes us right back to what Dean just said about the regular hunting they do all the time being dangerous. But instead of reiterating that point, he focuses on the other part of John's words.
Dean: "What happens if you die? Dad, what happens if you die and we could have done something about it?"
Well said. John is willing to die in the attempt to take down that demon, and he doesn't want his sons there when he does it, but doesn't stop to think what that would do to them, having already lost their mother to it, and their childhood – their whole lives up till now – to the hunt for revenge.
I love that, having tried unsuccessfully to keep the peace, to prevent things coming to a head a second time, Dean now sides with Sam. Last time this confrontation took place, Sam walked away and left Dean behind, so there wasn't much side-taking to be done there. This time, however, they are mid-job, they are all actively hunting, whether together or apart, and there is a side to be taken. And he chooses Sam, stands up to John's way of doing things at last.
Dean: "I think maybe Sammy's right on this one. I think maybe we should stick together. We're stronger as a family, Dad, you know it."
Or maybe it's less about siding with Sam and more about wanting the family together, despite the fighting and disagreements. Except that it was Dean who said first in Shadow that they should split up…
Doesn't matter, anyway, as John simply pulls rank and refuses to discuss the matter. He's made a decision, now they have to complete the mission and stop arguing. End of discussion.
So, the boys go and free the hostages, while John lets the vampires catch up with him, only for his exchange of hostages to go wrong. Again, John does Dean's usual trick of getting flung around, this time into the door of his truck. And Dean and Sam come dashing to the rescue, because they're through following orders.
Nice to see that some traditions hold firm: Dean hasn't been flung into any walls this episode, but Sam, as usual, gets strangled. And John uses one of those precious bullets in the colt to save him. The effects of vampire Luther getting nailed in the head and slowly dying are very cool.
John: "You ignored a direct order back there."
Sam: "Yes, sir."
Dean: "Yeah, but we saved your ass."
Love how Sam, again, looks ever so slightly freaked out hearing Dean, again, argue back to John. Like I said, that is just not the natural order of things. And for all that John raised his sons to hunt, for all that he had Dean hunting alongside him for years after Sam went to college, it seems like in that moment he is seeing them as men for the first time, not just 'his boys'.
John: "You're right."
Dean: "I am?"
John: "Scares the hell out of me. You two are all I've got. But I guess we are stronger as a family. So. We go after his damn thing. Together."
Woohoo.
