SPN--Season 4 Rewatch
Rewatch of Supernatural 2022
Season 4
General Observations-I remembered this season as the one where Sam and Dean’s relationship falls apart because they don’t communicate, and started this rewatch looking for the signs. Interestingly, it felt different than I remembered it.
It was fascinating to see the difference between season 3 Ruby and season 4 Ruby. This season’s Ruby is not nearly as gratingly obnoxious-she’s toned down the level of scorn in her comments to the point that I didn’t want to have Sam shoot her every time she opened her mouth. Even knowing she’s manipulating Sam, her reduction in the level of scorn in her interactions with him (and Dean) makes it harder to be 100% sure she’s playing them. As I rewatched, I was surprised to find myself lulled into believing her at times.
One other interesting note, regarding the episode recaps-for season 1 nearly all of them started with ’22 years ago’; most of the season 2 recaps started with Dean’s ‘saving people, hunting things’ line; and in season 3 the majority of the recaps began with Dean saying ‘let’s hunt some evil sons of bitches’ (a telling change in the boys’ focus!) However for season 4 there no longer is a tag line, the recaps go directly into scenes from previous episodes without any comment.
61. Lazarus Rising (4.01)-W: Kripke/D: Manners
Beginning recap to ‘You Shook Me’ (AC/DC)-covers monsters, demons, Lilith, Ruby, Dean’s death, hell
Open with the scary eye flashes
Dean was buried with his ring
Opening sequence is stunning, minimal dialog, Dean’s disorientation, mystery very viscerally communicated
Why isn’t there anyone in the store though?
Newspaper date September 18, 2008
Dean stops to check out Busty Asian Beauties magazine
Weird salt containers
Dean to Bobby: ‘You’re about the closest thing I have to a father’
Dean slices himself on his bicep instead of forearm
What does Dean remember? ‘Not much’
Bobby hasn’t talked to Sam for months
Sam wouldn’t burn Dean’s body-‘He said you’d need a body when he got you back home somehow’
Automatic assumption Sam made a deal
Dean accessing Sam’s cell to get GPS turned on-awfully easy
Jared’s face has filled out
Hug #3
Sam calls Ruby Cathy, she corrects to Chrissie-what was the point of that exchange?
Dean: ‘What did it cost?’-Sam: ‘The girl? I don’t pay, Dean’
Sam is sorry he didn’t save Dean-he’s been hunting Lilith
Sam returns the amulet
Again Dean says he doesn’t remember ‘a damn thing’-possible he doesn’t at this point?
Sam explains that Lilith couldn’t kill him, says Ruby is dead -first lie
Sam: ‘…you didn’t want me to go down that road so I didn’t’-second lie
Castiel’s name revealed
Dean jokes about his perky nipples-he’s used that phrase before
‘Smarter brother back in town’
Dean bluffs the demons to get out of the restaurant but they leave all the demons there-I would have expected Dean to want to exorcise them
And Sam sneaks out…
Both of them lie about where they are going
‘Big time magic knife’
Sam does not get nosebleed when pulling demon; checks to see if person is dead
Ruby says she doesn’t know what pulled Dean out-can’t tell if telling truth or not
Ruby counsels Sam to tell Dean about using his powers-trying to give good advice or manipulating Sam? Sam knows Dean will be pissed
Sam: ‘I don't know if what I'm doing is right. Hell, I don't even know if I trust you…But what I do know is that I'm saving people. And stopping demons. And that feels good. I want to keep going.’
Castiel is totally unfazed at being stabbed
Castiel: ‘You have no faith’
Cas says he warned Pamela not to try to see his true form
Cas thought Dean would be able to handle his true voice
Cas in ‘a vessel’ (sounds nicer than a meatsuit…)
Cas: ‘You don’t think you deserve to be saved…God commanded it...we have work for you’
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester (4.02)-W: Gamble/D: Sgriccia
Recap-can’t save ‘em all; people who died; Dean’s back; Sam’s powers; Ruby; Cas
3 Stooges on woman’s TV
Short-lived Hunter Olivia Lowry
Boys at Bobby’s
Dean tells Sam he doesn’t believe in God or angels
Dean: ‘If there is a god, why would he give a crap about me?... I've saved some people, okay? I figured that made up for the stealing and the ditching chicks. But why do I deserve to get saved? I'm just a regular guy’
Dean tells Sam to get pie-Sam: ‘When have I ever forgotten the pie?’
Ruby is scared of angels
‘Where’s the pie?’
Hunters killed: Jed, Carl Bates, R. C. Adams
Sam is driving
Brutal Henrickson/Sam fight
Creepy twins this time
Dean to ghost Meg: ‘We did the best we could’
Meg really beats up Dean
Smart Dean shoots the chandelier to drop over Meg
Sam notices the mark on the ghost
Bobby’s panic room reveal
Dean wants to know If God is there where is he? Why doesn’t he help? (Same question Dean asks when he finally meets God years later)
Boys in sync: ‘A sign of what?’
Bobby says it’s the apocalypse
Dean: ‘The apocalypse, apocalypse? The four horsemen, pestilence, $5-a-gallon-gas apocalypse?’ (Well, I guess we’re going through the apocalypse now…)
Ghost Meg: ‘What you’re doing with that demon Ruby…how many innocent bodies has Ruby burned through’
Henrickson: ‘Why do you deserve another chance, Dean?’
Really good fight scene with all the ghosts
Dean catches falling bowl
Boys are sleeping in Bobby’s living room
Dean doesn’t understand why angels didn’t help, they are dicks-Cas: ‘Read the Bible. Angels are warriors of God’
If seals break Lucifer is freed
Angels ‘walking among you for the first time in 2000 years’ (Later episodes show this is not true)
Cas: ‘You should show me some respect. I dragged you out of Hell. I can throw you back in’
63. In the Beginning (4.03)-W: Carver/D: Boyum
Recap-Mom scenes, Cas, Colt
Sam is sneaking out to see Ruby
Dean having eye flashes of hell
Cas tells Dean he has to stop ‘it’-when actually that’s not possible!
Dean to 1970s restaurant worker: ‘Sonny and Cher broke up’
Newspaper date April 30, 1973-makes it track that Mary’s deal was on May 2 which is Sam’s birthday
Man to John: ‘Say hello to your old man’-that was retconned…
Dean to John: ‘My dad taught me everything I know about cars’-oooh
Dean re Impala: ‘…still gonna be bad ass when it’s 40’-another oooh
Dean driving crappy yellow car
Dean about mom being a babe: ‘I’m going to hell…again’
Dean’s face when he realizes mom is a hunter
Mary has Men of Letters star on her bracelet
Grandma wears plaid too LOL
Samuel dresses as priest
Dean’s face when boy says the stranger had yellow eyes
All the foreshadowing!!!
Dean to Mary about John: ‘I think you 2 are meant to be…In fact I’m depending on it’
Mary about John: ‘He’s everything a hunter isn’t’-ouch
Mary’s words about wanting to get out of the life and be safe are the same things Sam wanted
‘The very worst thing? Is for my children to be raised into this like I was. No, I won't let it happen’-heartbreaking
Dean’s warning not to get out of bed on Nov 2, 1983
Cas points out if Dean changes past then the people saved will die but Dean puts his family first
Dean drives from Lawrence to Colorado and back awfully fast…
Oh shit, Grandpa’s possessed!
‘Are you one of my psychic kids’ and he smells Dean-ick!
Dean finds out YED bled into baby Sam’s mouth
John and Mary are parked at the iconic bridge!
Cas explains purpose of trip was to find out Azazel’s plan
Episode ends on ‘To Be Continued’
In episode commentary Kripke said the idea was to show time is a closed loop and that Dean going back in time is what got YED to notice Mary
64. Metamorphosis (4.04)-W: Humphris/D: Manners
Recap-previous episode, warning about Sam
When Sam expels demon the smoke gets fiery as is dissipates
Dean sees what Sam is doing with Ruby, tries to kill her, Sam stops him
Dean punches Sam, first time he calls Sam a monster: ‘If I didn’t know you I would want to hunt you’
Sam justifies his behavior as saving people and not telling Dean because he knew Dean would object
Dean tells Sam angels want him to stop
First time Dean uses ‘Cas’
Dean tells Sam all about going back in time and finds out Sam’s known for a year about the demon blood in him
Dean shutting down because he doesn’t know how to deal with Sam; Sam aggressively defensive
Travis hasn’t seen the boys in 10 years
This is boys’ first rugaru
Travis: ‘…ever been really hungry?...haven’t-eaten-in-days hungry?’-Dean: ‘Yeah’
Sam wants to give rugaru a chance to choose not to be a monster
Dean pulls car across to opposite lane to have talk in car-Dean, don’t do that!
Sam is super pissed at Dean challenging his behavior, then switches to trying to ‘make something good’ out of being cursed-that argument gets Dean to soften
They introduce themselves to Jack (rugaru) as Sam and Dean Winchester
Travis has the righteousness of those who see things as black and white
Boys bust the door down and damage frame only Jack isn’t there, but when door is shown again it is okay
The pregnant wife adds a whole layer of awful to the problem (her kid will be 30 in 2038-another hunt?)
Sam: ‘I guess you were right about Jack’ when they see Travis’ body
Sam trying to get through to Jack: ‘you’ve got this dark pit inside you, I know…it only matters what you do’
Sam has to kill Jack (burning alive is horrific!)
Dean says he’s sorry he’s been hard on Sam, but ‘your psychic thing, it scares the crap out of me’
Sam: ‘…this thing, this blood, it's not in you the way it's in me. It's just something I got to deal with’
Sam says he’s done using powers and Dean thanks him-Sam’s rejection of Dean’s concerns: ‘Don't thank me. I'm not doing it for you. Or for the angels or for anybody. This is my choice’
I found this episode riveting the first time and it’s still gripping on rewatch because of Travis forcing the monster into monsterhood and the no-win situation, and all the parallels with Sam’s situation along with Dean’s mixed resignation and fighting with Sam.
65. Monster Movie (4.05)-W: Edlund/D: Singer
No recap
Totally different title cards-1930s movie style with all the tech credits at the start
Over-the-top music really sells the episode
Dean: ‘…a straightforward, black and white case’ LOL
Dean is gung-ho to hunt monsters while Sam thinks they need to focus on apocalypse
Very nice suits, have they upgraded?
Jaime calls them on not acting like feds
Jaime flirts back with Dean
‘Intermission’ card
Sam is the Dracula movie and book expert
Jaime: ‘…you're giving up your life for this terrible...responsibility’-Dean: ‘Last few years, I started thinking that way… it started…weighing on me…I had this - let’s call it a near-death experience…I realize that I help people…I save them…It's kind of like a gift... like a mission…from God.’
Organ music!
Sam pulling man’s ear: ‘It’s supposed to come off’
Dean figures out they’ve been drugged at the bar just a little too late
Dracula: ‘Is there garlic on this pizza?’ LOL
Jaime to Dracula: ‘Ever think that you’re lonely because you kill people?’
Jaime shoots the monster (Jaime is awesome)
‘The End’
This is the first time we see one of Dean’s pick-up attempts working-we’ve only heard about others and seen him giving lines…Jaime is clearly an equal participant in wanting a quick fling
This whole episode is over-the-top and yet also true to the show with the boys in character and the case making sense
66. Yellow Fever (4.06)-W: Dabb & Loflin/D: Sgriccia
Recap: Dean as hellhounds attack; arguments about Sam’s powers
After scene of Dean running from little dog we go to ‘43 hours earlier’
Autopsy scene turned into a joke about boys being squeamish…sigh
Mention of chupacabra when discussing possible monsters
First time mention of ghost sickness
Sam says all victims shared a personality type-they were dicks-Dean: ‘So you’re saying I’m a dick?’-Sam: ‘All 3 victims used fear as a weapon…all we do is scare people’-Dean: ‘…then you’re a dick too’-Sam: ‘Apparently I’m not’-I’m guessing this was a hint at Dean having been a torturer in hell but since we don’t know about that yet it really seems to slam Dean
Dean coughing up one wood chip leads Sam to figure out they have to go to lumber mill?
Effective use of words being changed and highlighted as Dean reads book
Start of Dean drinking randomly from his flask which continues rest of season
Hallucination Sam tells Dean he’s going back to hell
Bobby comes up with idea to scare the ghost to death
We find out that 4 months in hell is 40 years
Lilith: ‘Remember all the fun you had?’
‘Eye of the Tiger’ tag
This is one of my least favorite episodes-I could put up with how they turned Dean into a mockery of himself but Sam is totally unconcerned that his brother whom he just got back is going to die again! Where is Sam’s angst about time running out? Sam is being completely out of character! Not to mention the whole case is a stretch…
67. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester (4.07)-W: Siege/D: Beeson
Recap: general monsters, seals, Sam’s powers
2 days before Halloween
Shot inside mouth with razor blade-yuck! 4 razor blades total
Sam hates Halloween because their every day is Halloween (we get another explanation seasons later…)
Suits
Sam pronounces ‘Samhain’ wrong-it’s ‘saa-wn’-show should have known that
Back to showing Dean’s food fixation and horndog ways (eating all the candy, ogling cheerleaders)
Masks in school make Dean uneasy-my theory: ghost sickness in previous episode triggers his conscious memories of hell
Tracy is an emancipated teen-convenient writing
Sam meets Cas
Angels want to destroy town to save seal, Dean argues there are other choices
Dean bluffs that angels want him alive more than destroying the town, he won’t leave
Dean: ‘…there’s nothing more dangerous than some a-hole who thinks he’s on a holy mission’-Dean’s talking about angels-but Sam’s behavior falls into this too
Smart Sam figures out the kiln is needed to char the bones in hex bags and that hex bag in their room showed up after talking to the teacher
Sam tries argument that his powers are needed against this demon-Dean says no
The male witch is killed with regular bullets?!
Smart Sam figures out covering faces in blood will hide them from Samhain
Sam is immune to demon power blast
This is the first time Sam has a nosebleed using his powers-because he hasn’t been partaking in demon blood lately? But the audience doesn’t know about the blood yet…
Dean is distraught at Sam using powers
Uriel privately warns Sam, then tells him to ask Dean what he remembers from hell
Cas says the orders were actually to follow Dean’s orders
Dean defends his decision even though seal broke, because the people are still alive
Cas admits he has some doubts about what’s going on
Cas: ‘I don’t envy the weight on your shoulders’
68. Wishful Thinking (4.08)-W: Edlund & Bollo; D: Singer
Recap: Cas, References to remembering hell
Sam pressing Dean to tell him about hell, Dean flat-out denies remembering
Dean increased drinking
Dean making inappropriate comments about watching women
Sam pretends to be writing a book called ‘Supernatural’ LOL
Dean mocks kid being chased by bullies
Bigfoot is a hoax
Dean steals booze from the unattended store
Sam automatically assumes the couple is only a couple because of a wish since the guy is nerdy-looking…this is not cool premise of the episode
Dean has to search his pockets to find the correct ID
Dean assumes Sam would wish to be a lawyer, normal-Sam says he’s ‘not that guy anymore’ he want’s Lilith’s head on a plate bloody’ and Dean is disturbed
Dean has a nightmare, Sam says he wishes Dean would talk to him
(This is Sam’s pattern from back when John died, he needs Dean to admit how broken up he is-why though?)
‘Aren’t you the guys from the health department?’-Sam: ‘Yeah…and florists on the side’-Dean: ‘Plus FBI and on Thursdays we’re teddy bear doctors’
Dean: ‘…people are people 'cause they're miserable bastards, 'cause they never get what they really want’
Dean: ‘The things that I saw... there aren't words. There is no forgetting. There's no making it better. Because it is right here...forever. You wouldn't understand. And I could never make you understand’
69. I Know What You Did Last Summer (4.09)-W: Gamble/D: Beeson
Recap: Cas, seals, Sam’s powers
There are 600 possible seals-only 66 need to be broken to free Lucifer
Sam is hustling pool as drunk with Dean as friend counseling not to bet-then Sam leaves $500 on table when he sees Ruby
Dean and Ruby go at each other
Sam explains what happened when Dean was in hell-he tried crossroad deal, was too drunk to protect himself, Ruby saved his life, she switches to brain-dead body because of Sam’s objections, teaches him to use his powers, they become lovers (that is some scene!), she saves his life again when he made suicidal attempt on Lilith (flashbacks throughout the episode)
Boys in suits again
Dean coins the term ‘angel radio’ for Anna hearing angels
Anna: ‘And you’re the Dean?’ ‘Dean Winchester is saved’
Alastair shows up-immune to Sam’s powers
They lose Ruby’s knife in unsuccessful attempt to stab Alastair
After jumping through window Sam has to sew up his own gashed arm (shades of ‘Mystery Spot’ Sam!), then fixes Dean’s dislocated shoulder
Dean: ‘So far, all you've told me about is a manipulative bitch who… screwed you, played mind games with you, and did everything in the book to get you to go bad’
Sam about Ruby saving him: ‘What she said to me...It's what you would've said. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here’
They have to leave the car escaping motel
Dean makes strained thank you to Ruby for keeping Sam alive
Cas says Anna has to die
‘To Be Continued’
70. Heaven and Hell (4.10)-W: Kripke & Sands/D: Miller Tobin
Recap: Anna, Pamela
Dean: ‘You’re some heartless sons of bitches’-Cas: ‘As a matter of fact, we are’
Anna makes a banishing sigil to send the angels away-first one
Bobby’s panic room-Bobby not there, he is in ‘the Dominican’
Dean reluctantly thanks Ruby for hex bags
Sam retrieved Impala from where they left it last episode
Dean gets Pamela
Anna remembers she was an angel, ripped out her grace because she wanted to experience humanity; she was stationed on earth for 2,000 years
Only 4 angels have ever seen god
Ruby tells Sam about Alastair being the ‘grand inquisitor’; says Sam is too out of shape to handle him, Sam knows what he has to do to tone up-Sam: ‘No, I’m not doing that any more’ (at this point we assume she is probably referring to sex)
Angel radio says Dean gives up Anna or goes back to hell
Anna says disobedience is angels’ biggest sin-what Lucifer did
Anna knows what Dean did in hell-he should forgive himself, let people help him
Ruby sells them out to Alastair who tortures her; Uriel threatens Dean in a dream with return to hell (he calls Uriel junkless), when Dean doesn’t give in Uriel says you need to know where to apply pressure (which we find out means he’ll go after Sam); eventually angels and demons end up fighting over Anna and Dean says that was Sam’s plan all along
Anna grabs her grace from Uriel, explodes in white light, and disappears
They get Ruby’s knife back
Dean confesses hell to Sam, starting with it was 40 years: ‘They sliced and carved and tore at me in ways that you...Until there was nothing left. And then, suddenly...I would be whole again...like magic...just so they could start in all over. And Alastair...at the end of every day he would come over. And he would make me an offer. To take me off the rack...if I put souls on...if I started the torturing. And every day, I told him to stick it where the sun shines. For 30 years, I told him. But then I couldn't do it anymore, Sammy. I couldn't. And I got off that rack. God help me, I got right off it, and I started ripping them apart. I lost count of how many souls. The things that I did to them.’-Sam: ‘Dean, look, you held out for 30 years. That's longer than anyone would have’-Dean: ‘This.. inside me...I wish I couldn't feel anything, Sammy. I wish I couldn't feel a damn thing’
71. Family Remains (4.11)-W: Carver/D: Sgriccia
Recap: Cass, Lilith, Dean’s hell
Sam is asleep in backseat
They’ve been working cases nonstop for a month
EMF doesn’t work because of power lines
Suits
When getting family to leave-flat tires, all weapons from Impala gone (how did monster get into trunk and carry everything to their lair???)
Kid: ‘You hunt ghosts like Scooby-Doo?’
Sam lets Dean go look for ghost and missing kid while Sam sits and reads the diary-I would have expected more concern about splitting up
Show is so visually dark it’s really hard to tell what is on the screen…
Dean has to go into small dark spaces, definitely not happy about it
That family is going to stay there after all that???
Dean: ‘You know, I felt for those sons of bitches back there. Lifelong torture turns you into something like that.’-Sam: ‘You were in hell, Dean. Look, maybe you did what you did there, but you're not them’-Dean: ‘I wasn't like them. I was worse. They were animals, Sam, defending territory. Me? I did it for the sheer pleasure’-Sam: ‘What?’ Dean: ’I enjoyed it, Sam. They took me off the rack, and I tortured souls, and I liked it. All those years, all that pain. Finally getting to deal some out yourself. I didn't care who they put in front of me. Because that pain I felt, it just slipped away. No matter how many people I save, I can't change that. I can't fill this hole. Not ever’
We finally see why Dean is broken
This is another episode where the plot doesn’t make sense-how those kids survived from being babies?
72. Criss Angel is a Douchebag (4.12)-W: Siege/D: Singer
Recap: Sam’s powers and Ruby
Wearing suits again
Sam was into magic when he was 13
We’re supposed to wonder just what happened with Dean and ‘the Chief,’ it’s supposed to be funny bit…
Ruby knows 34 seals are broken
Ruby trying to get Sam back in the game: ‘Admit you like the feeling’
Dean saying ‘I hope I die before I get old’ triggers Sam
Dean: ‘It ends bloody or sad. That’s just the life’ (Well it certainly did for Dean, didn’t it ☹)
Cool visual of Sam shot through the room divider
Jay drops the charges after boys arrested
Jay was really a sympathetic character
Jay: ‘I killed my best friend yesterday and you want to thank me’
Sam goes to Ruby, he’s back in: ‘I don’t want to be doing this when I’m an old man’
So this is the episode that pushes Sam back into using demon blood because Dean doesn’t see an end to this life? I feel it should have been something more than a conversation that does it…
73. After School Special (4.13)-W: Dabb & Loflin/D: Kane
Recap: Sam’s complaints about how they were raised, scenes from childhood flashbacks
Ectoplasm from victims’ eyes, ears
Ghost possession, it’s rare
In flashback from 1997 we learn they were at Truman for 1 month, 3rd school and it’s only November; werewolf hunt during the summer
Dean is wearing John’s jacket in flashback
Impala license plate BQN 9R3 in flashback
Bully calls young Sam ‘Losechester!’
Young Sam stands up for bullied kid-‘You want to take his place?’-Sam: ‘Yeah’
Current day Dean notes 3 of the cheerleaders are legal
When Sam is attacked Dean yells he’s going to rip his (attacker’s) lungs out both in flashback and present day
Sam feels bad about burning his friend’s bones, not being there for Barry when he finds out Barry committed suicide
When Amanda dumps Dean in flashback she says he’s a sad lonely little kid-to save face Dean says ‘Don’t feel sorry for me…I save lives, I’m a hero’
Green cooler appearance
Mr. Wyatt after Sam thanks him for advice: ‘The only thing that really matters is that you’re happy. Are you happy, Sam?’-Sam doesn’t answer
The actor playing young Dean uses an annoying New York accent
74. Sex and Violence (4.14)-W: Humphris/D: Beeson
Recap: Sam’s powers
Sam being secretive about his phone call
Wear suits as lawyers
Skill levelling up-they hacked the victim’s credit card records
Sam hits it off with Dr. Cara Roberts
Oxytocin is the marker in the blood
Dean knows the Greek story ‘The Odyssey’ to Sam’s surprise
First time we see Bobby’s fake phone bank
Different suits when they go back to see doctor
Cara: ‘Haven't you ever been in a relationship where you really love somebody and still kinda wanted to bash their head in?’-both a red herring and reflection on boys’ relationship
Um, shut the blinds, you two!
Dean: ‘…Madison, and then Ruby, and now Cara…what is with you and banging monsters?’
Dean shares his flask with Nick
Nick gave Dean a little brother he could trust
Dean vents about Sam keeping secrets: ‘What else aren’t you telling me? We used to have each other’s backs’
Sam attacks Dean directly: ‘You’re holding me back…I’m a better hunter than you are, stronger, smarter…I can take out demons you’re too scared to go near’
Nice throw, Bobby, nailing the siren!
Dean after Sam says he doesn’t need to say goodbye to Cara: ‘Look at you, love ‘em and leave ‘em’
It was the siren that made them say those things-‘We’re good’
Except they’re clearly not
Even the first time I saw this the things I noticed the things they each said under the influence had such different tones-Dean expressing pain over losing trust in Sam while Sam’s words drip with contempt for Dean
75. Death Takes a Holiday (4.15)-W: Carver/D: Boyum
Recap: Pamela, Sam’s powers
Sam is gung-ho to take the job-Dean: ‘I don’t want to be holding you back…’-Sam: ‘That was the siren…can we get past this’
Pretend to be bloggers for website ‘Floored by the Lord’
Victim: ‘angels were watching over me’
Sam speculates reaper is missing
Dean doesn’t like that if they fix it people start dying, Sam says it’s the natural order
Sam: ‘…the normal rules don’t really apply to us’
When they are in the cemetery they are both wearing gloves to keep their hands warm-that’s a first
This time Sam is immune to Alastair’s power-when Dean asks about it Sam blows him off-Dean: ‘If you’re gonna keep your little secrets I can’t really stop you but just don’t treat me like an idiot’
Dean says he has a concussion
Solstice is tomorrow night
‘You can’t kill Death’-HAHAHA
Dean has idea about becoming ghosts
Pamela reluctant about helping
Sam is wearing a too-short hoodie as a ghost
Dean doesn’t remember Tessa until she kisses him
Sam blatantly lies-swears to the kid that he won’t have to go with the reaper in order to get info-early season Sam wouldn’t have done that
Dean confesses he wishes he’d have gone with Tessa
Dean questions why he got a second chance when he’s done horrible things
They practice ghost skills on some really weird fan-driven toy horse
Alastair in another meatsuit (the one he eventually dies in)
Alastair says Death loaned him the scythe and references Death has 3 pals
Pamela summons Sam back to his body and Sam pulls the demon
Pamela doesn’t die because reaper not back in business
Alastair comes after Dean, Cas catches him in blaze of light
Cas says it was him, not Bobby, who told Sam about the case
Dean: ‘If you want our help why the hell didn’t you just ask?’-Cas: ‘Because whatever I ask you seem to do the exact opposite’
Dean talks the ghost kid into going with Tessa: ‘We’re all scared. That’s the big secret’
Tessa warns Dean: ‘Stop lying to yourself, Dean. The angels have something good in store for you. A second chance… deep down, you know something nasty's coming down the road. Trust your instincts, Dean. There's no such thing as miracles’
Pamela gets to die in front of Dean after whispering warning to Sam: ‘If you think you’ve got good intentions, think again’
End card: We dedicate this entire season to Kim Manners. We miss you, Kim.
76. On the Head of a Pin (4.16)-W: Edlund/D: Rohl
This does not feel like an Edlund episode at all
Recap: seals, angels, Anna, Sam’s powers, Dean’s hell experience
First dead angel, first time we see wing imprint-cool reveal shot
Sam is driving
Dean is too tired to fight with Sam and with apocalypse, Sam wants Dean to get angry
Angels want Dean to torture Alastair because of his experience
Cas: ‘We know this is difficult’-Uriel: ‘But we don’t care’
Whisk Dean away without waiting for his answer
Cas says the devil’s trap is old Enochian (the floor symbol looks like the kind the boys use)
Cas says he is getting too close to humans, starting to have doubts, has been demoted
Dean: ‘You ask me to open that door and walk through it, you will not like what walks back out’
Sam’s concern is not that Dean has to do torture: ‘…he can't do it. He can't get the job done. Something happened to him downstairs...He's not what he used to be. He's not strong enough’
Alastair reveals John didn’t break in 100 years, Dean broke in 30
Dean: ‘I could still dream in hell…I dreamt of this moment’
Ruby uses a spell that burns a map to find Dean’s location
Sam says he needs it-Ruby: ‘You don’t’ seem too happy about it’-Sam: ‘This is the last thing…but I need to be strong enough’-we finally see that he’s been drinking her blood
Faucet turns on its own
Anna shows up, notes her vessel was destroyed but she called in a few favors
Anna challenges Cas to really think if making Dean torture is god’s will, admit he’s feeling doubt
Dean’s face gets harder and harder as the torture goes on
Alastair tells Dean he broke the first seal and Dean believes him-the look on his face as he is breaking inside but needs to hide what Alastair’s words did to him
Cas comes to the rescue, Alastair starts spell to banish him
Sam kills Alastair
Sam demands Cas heal Dean-he can’t
Cas reveals his doubts to Uriel-‘Please tell me what to do’-Uriel tries to recruit Cas to raising Lucifer team
Uriel reveals angel blade (first time we see one)
Why do Cas and Uriel have a fistfight??? They’re angels!
When Anna kills Uriel the light blast shows out the building windows
Cas says it’s true Dean broke the first seal, and ‘the righteous man who begins it is the only one who can finish it’
Dean: ‘I can't do it, Cas. It's too big. Alastair was right. I'm not all here. I'm not-I'm not strong enough. Well, I guess I'm not the man either of our dads wanted me to be. Find someone else. It's not me’
Personal note--Watching this episode for clues to how the finale is being set up actually made watching it disappointing because it kept me from being fully immersed in it. I remember being devastated for Dean when I first saw this and missed feeling that this time. I’d also forgotten how much angel time was in it. Jensen’s performance was brilliant
77. It’s a Terrible Life (4.17)-W: Gamble/D: Conway
Personal note-I watched seasons 1 through 4 on dvds so I went from ‘On the Head of a Pin’ directly to this episode. My daughter, who’d gotten me hooked on the show, made a point to be there when this episode started and laughed herself silly at my ‘what the hell is going on?’ reaction
Recap was summary of previous episode
Music ‘A Well-Respected Man’ (The Kinks) was perfect over the montage of respectable Dean Smith’s day
Sam to Dean in elevator: ‘You look really familiar’
Sam in I.T.: ‘…did you try turning it off and then on?’ LOL
Sam’s been having dreams of fighting monsters with a guy who looks like Dean Smith
Sam to Dean in elevator: ‘What do you think about ghosts?’
Sam’s sketches of monsters are very artistic-guess he can draw again…
Microwave dings after screen goes to black
Co-worker: ‘I’ll never eat popcorn again’
Sam’s questions trigger Dean doing research
Dean very easy-going about telling Ian he made a paperwork mistake, tries to calm him down when Ian goes nuts about being a failure
Both Sam and Dean started 3 weeks ago
Boys learn how to hunt ghosts from Ed and Harry’s Hellhounds website which includes advice from the douchebag Winchesters
After first encounter with ghost Sam convinced this is what he should be doing: ‘…there’s something in my blood…I’m destined for something different’
Ghost shows up because this is the worst time since the Great Depression (2008 was recession)
Boys work together seamlessly including simultaneous swings through the ghost with iron pokers
Sam tries to convince Dean to go monster hunting with him-Dean: ‘You gotta be kidding me. How would we get by? With stolen credit cards? Eating diner food drenched in saturated fats? Sharing a crap motel room every night?...You don't wanna go fighting ghosts without any health insurance’
Dean’s parents are Bob and Ellen, he has a sister Jo, and he went to Stanford
Sam broke up with his girlfriend Madison but her phone number goes to a vet clinic LOL
Sam smashes his cubicle up in the same way Dean smashed the Impala in season 2
Dean Smith’s boss offers him VP job in 8 years and big bonus-when Dean turns it down the color in the episode immediate fades
Zachariah, while a bit supercilious, apparently has been trying to help Dean get back together-‘…to prove to you that the path you're on is truly in your blood. You're a hunter. Not because your dad made you, not because God called you back from hell, but because it is what you are. And you love it. You'll find your way to it in the dark every single time and you're miserable without it. Dean, let's be real here. You're good at this. You'll be successful. You will stop it.’
78. The Monster at the End of this Book (4.18)-W: Siege & Weiner/D: Rohl
No recap-opens with Chuck on couch seeing flashes of episodes
Boys are wearing suits with overcoats for the first time
Bookstore owner thinks they are LARPing like ‘the guys from those books…Steve and Dirk…Sal and Dane?’
Supernatural books have an underground cult following
Title card features a series of the book covers with ‘Supernatural’ in the book font
Books were published in 2005-couple dozen, last one ‘No Rest for the Wicked’ ends with Dean in hell
Fans complain a lot
Sam finds Sam/Dean slash on the internet: Dean: They do know we’re brothers, right?’-Sam: ‘Doesn’t’ seem to matter’
The publisher says the Dr. Sexy books are more popular than Supernatural
The references to show canon are hysterical
Publisher: ‘…the best parts are when they’d cry’
Dean’s favorite song is a tie between Led Zeppelin’s ‘Ramblin’ On’ and ‘Traveling Riverside Blues’
They show their tattoos again
Chuck says he kept writing the books but the rest weren’t published
Chuck says he never used their last names in the books-which is absurd, the idea he wrote all the books without ever once using Winchester!
Chuck: ‘I am a god…a cruel capricious god’ Oh man, that line sure plays different in hindsight!!!
Dean knows his Vonnegut!
Dean reading the book in the laundromat describing exactly what they are doing is really funny…but don’t think about it because how is it he’s reading a book already published that has their real-time actions?
When Chuck’s draft says Dean has band-aids-Sam: ‘I’ve seen you gushing blood. You’d use duct tape and bar rags before you’d put on a pink flower band-aid’
When Dean tries not to have an argument with Sam to make it different from what Chuck wrote: ‘It frustrates me when you say such things’
Chuck says he didn’t put the demon blood in the books: ‘I was afraid that would make you look unsympathetic…you got to know that’s wrong’-When Sam protests he has to do this because Dean can’t-Chuck: ‘Maybe the demon blood makes you feel stronger? More in control?’-Sam: ‘No that’s not true’
So Chuck’s a prophet (but he’s also god? Don’t think about it too much…sigh
Cas says the books will become the Winchester Gospels
Sam: ‘You think I’ll do it don’t you? You think I’ll go darkside?’ Dean: ‘Yes…The way you’ve been acting lately…the things you’ve been doing’ (And Dean still doesn’t know Sam is drinking demon blood!)
First time Dean prays to Cas
Archangels guard the prophet-Cas very carefully clues Dean in how to use Chuck to protect Sam without directly saying anything
Lilith tries to cut a deal with Sam, she’ll back down in exchange for Sam and Dean’s lives
Sam to Lilith: ‘I am nothing like you’
Zachariah visits Chuck to find out what happens next
79. Jump the Shark (4.19)-W: Dabb & Loflin/D: Sgriccia
Recap: John and Sam, Sam’s powers
Hi Kate-bye Kate, nice knowing you…
Sam is brushing his teeth outdoors while Dean sleeping in the car
John was in Minnesota on a case in January 1990-Adam born September 29, 1990
Dean really doesn’t want to believe this could really be John’s kid
Adam’s first contact with John for his 12th birthday 2002
Smart Dean setting holy water and silverware to show Adam is a monster
Rock/paper/scissors to see who goes down the duct-Dean loses
Sam tells Adam about monsters, Dean upset, feels Dad deliberately kept Adam in the dark to protect him
Boys discussing what to do with Adam: ‘Do I get a say in this?’ Both together: ‘No!’
Sam teaches Adam the ropes-he knows what it is like to want revenge
Cemetery guide to Dean: ‘Have you thought about where you’d like to spend eternity?’ LOL
Dean wearing overcoat over FBI suit
Bartender can tell Dean is a cop by the way he carries himself
Sam wants to use Adam as bait
Sam to Adam: ‘Being a hunter isn't a job, Adam. It's life…If you're really gonna do this, you can't have…connections, ever. They're weaknesses. You'll just put those people in danger, get them killed’-Dean calls him on it, says that is the same speech John gave Sam right before Sam went to Stanford-Sam: ‘Well turns out Dad was right’
Dean takes deep breath before crawling through second tight space of the episode
Dean does very athletic maneuver to get out through the ceiling of the crypt
Ghouls do a number slicing Sam’s arms!
Ghouls need headshots
Dean goes ballistic pummeling Adam’s ghoul
Sam suggests they could ask Cas to bring Adam back-Dean: ‘He’s in a better place’ (Oh poor Adam…)
Dean: ‘You two were practically the same person… I worshipped the guy, you know? I dressed like him, I acted like him, I listen to the same music. But you were more like him than I will ever be. And I see that now’-Sam: ‘I’ll take that as a compliment’-Dean: ‘You take it any way you want’
The writers took the time to make Adam’s existence plausible. The contrast between how Sam and Dean reacted to him was striking-Dean virulently against the possibility, wants to protect Adam when it seems Adam is the real deal while Sam wants to immediately turn him into a ‘real’ part of the family by making him a hunter as quickly as possible and discounting any chance for Adam to have a normal life
80. The Rapture (4.20)-W: Carver/D: Beeson
Recap: meeting Cas, Sam’s blood drinking
The first time Dean has his fishing dream, which Cas interrupts
Banishing sigil on wall of destroyed building
Jimmy-totally not Cas!
Jimmy: ‘Angel inside you, it’s kinda like being chained to a comet’
Dean wants to send Jimmy home, Sam wants to keep him as a lead
Sam sneaks out, we see his blood flask is empty
Jimmy slept in his suit and tie-guys didn’t offer him something to sleep in?
Anna pops in the backseat, explains Cas being dragged back to heaven is ‘seriously bad’ (knowing about Naomi from future seasons makes that statement particularly legit)
Jimmy says there is something special in his blood
Angels have to get permission to take vessels
Jimmy was Cas’ vessel for almost a year
Sam is going through withdrawal, Dean notices something’s wrong ‘You practically fainted trying to gank a demon’
Cas possesses Claire
Jimmy is fatally stabbed
Sam drinks demon blood in front of everyone
Claire/Cas to Jimmy: ‘Of course you have our gratitude…it’s time to go home now’
Jimmy offers himself as vessel again to spare his daughter
Cas cuts Dean off when Dean tries to find out what Cas needed to tell him originally: ‘I learned my lesson while I was away, Dean, I serve heaven, I don’t serve man, and I certainly don’t serve you’
Sam wants Dean to be angry with him-Dean is just done
Dean and Bobby lure Sam into the panic room (which has been stripped down a lot)
I remember not being very impressed with this episode originally but on rewatch I was very impressed with Misha’s creation of a completely different character and with how this set up revealing Sam’s demon blood drinking to everyone
81. When the Levee Breaks (4.21)-W: Gamble/D: Singer
Recap: Sam’s history
Ceiling fan has a devil’s trap on the grid
Sam still justifying his actions to Dean
Sam tortured by hallucination of Alastair (how come Ruby had to be naked when tortured but Sam stays fully dressed?)
Bobby gets a random call from Rufus
Seals are breaking like crazy
Sam tells young Sam to get over wanting normal, then yellow-eyed young Sam agrees with Sam
Mom in her bloody nightgown tells Sam he’s doing the right thing, Dean is holding him back
Bobby questions whether they need Sam on the battlefield and if they’re keeping him from it because they love him too much
Dean calls Cas for 2 ½ hours; he agrees to ‘give himself wholly to the service of God and his angels…To follow his word as swiftly and obediently as you did your own father’s’
Black veins appear on Sam’s skin (shades of Amara’s plague!) then has seizure that flings him around the room
Bobby: Are we absolutely sure we’re doing the right thing?’-Dean: ‘I’m not giving him demon blood…at least he dies human’
Dean hallucination calls Sam a monster, says demon blood makes Sam feel like ‘a big bad wolf in a world of little pigs’
Cas lets Sam out of the panic room-Anna questions why-Cas: ‘Those were my orders’
Anna is caught
Bobby tries to stop Sam, Sam challenges Bobby to kill him, then knocks Bobby out
Ruby claims she couldn’t come to Sam earlier because of hunting Lilith; she says it’s too bad ‘things have gotten this bad between you two’
Dean knows Sam will do opposite his normal pattern to throw Dean off
Ruby looks very pleased when Sam drinks her blood
Ruby reveals Lilith will open the final seal
Dean finds Sam, goes after Ruby immediately, Sam stops him and tells Ruby to go
Dean tries to get through to Sam: ‘Sam, you're lying to yourself. I just want you to be okay. You would do the same for me. You know you would’-Sam: ‘Come with us Dean, we’ll do it together’-Dean: ‘That sounds great. As long as it's you and me. Demon bitch is a dealbreaker. You kiss her goodbye, we can go right now’
Sam says Dean’s not strong enough-'Stop bossing me around, Dean. Look. My whole life, you take the wheel, you call the shots, and I trust you because you are my brother. Now I'm asking you, for once, trust me’-Dean: ‘you don’t know what you’re doing, Sam’-Sam: ‘Yes I do’-Dean: ‘Then that’s worse’
Sam throws first punch, when Dean is down Sam starts to choke him, then lets go
Sam: ‘You don’t know me. You never did. And you never will’
Dean: ‘You walk out that door, don’t you ever come back’
This is so hard to watch knowing how wrong Sam is and what he’s going to realize shortly
82. Lucifer Rising (4.22)-W: Kripke/D: Kripke
Road so far recap of the season
1972 St. Mary’s, YED sets the stage-in the episode we find out that Azazel has been trying to free Lucifer and found a way to communicate at that site; Lucifer told him to free Lilith (done when Devil’s Gate opened in season 2) and to find a special child
Ruby hopes the brothers patch things up after this is over-wow, she has Sam (and the audience?) completely fooled
Dean is back at Bobby’s, has given up on Sam, gets lecture from Bobby about family: ‘They’re supposed to make you miserable! That’s why they’re family…your dad was a coward…he’d push Sam away rather than reach out to him…you are a better man than your daddy ever was’
Then Dean is transported to the angels’ green room and given non-answers to all his questions
Dean leaves voicemail for Sam: ‘Look, I'll just get right to it. I'm still pissed...and I owe you a serious beatdown. But...I shouldn't have said what I said. You know, I'm not Dad. We're brothers. You know, we're family. And...no matter how bad it gets, that doesn't change. Sammy, I'm sorry’
Sam tortures the demon nurse with Ruby’s encouragement every time he falters
Cas won’t help Dean get to Sam
When Ruby insists Sam has to kill the nurse he hesitates-' I'm about to bleed and drink an innocent woman…maybe Dean was right…’
Zachariah reveals the real angel plan was to let the demons get Lucifer and fight the apocalypse, confident that the angels will win, but that they had to pretend to try to stop the demons to keep the rest of the angels in line; Sam has a part to play though he made need a little nudge; Dean’s job will be to stop Lucifer
Zach points out the Michael painting
Dean makes one more attempt to get Cas to help him get to Sam-Cas: ‘What is so worth saving? I see nothing but pain here. I see inside you. I see your guilt, your anger, confusion. In paradise, all is forgiven. You'll be at peace. Even with Sam’-Dean: ‘You can take your peace and shove it up your lily-white ass. 'Cause I'll take the pain and the guilt. I'll even take Sam as is…There is a right and there is a wrong here, and you know it’
Sam listens to the voicemail: ‘Listen to me, you bloodsucking freak. Dad always said I'd either have to save you or kill you. Well, I'm giving you fair warning. I'm done trying to save you. You're a monster, Sam, a vampire. You're not you anymore. And there's no going back’
Sam goes to kill the nurse for the demon blood
Cas returns to Dean and draws angel banishing sigil, then vanishes Zachariah (why didn’t the sigil send Cas away too?)
Smart Dean figures out that Chuck knows where Sam is
Sam has showdown with Lilith-Ruby sees Dean and shuts door on him-Sam hesitates when he hears Dean’s voice-Lilith taunts him and he kills her and his eyes turn black
Ruby is ecstatic and praises Sam for opening the door for Lucifer, then says how hard she worked: ‘You don't even know how hard this was! All the demons out for my head. No one knew. I was the best of those sons of bitches! The most loyal! Not even Alastair knew! Only Lilith! Yeah, I'm sure you're a little angry right now, but, I mean, come on, Sam! Even you have to admit I'm awesome!’
Sam is devastated at what he’s done-Ruby: ‘It wasn't the blood. It was you and your choices. I just gave you the options, and you chose the right path every time…I know it's hard to see it now but this is a miracle. So long coming. Everything Azazel did, and Lilith did. Just to get you here. And you were the only one who could do it… And he's gonna be grateful. He's gonna repay you in ways that you can't even imagine’
Dean breaks down the door and goes for Ruby with the knife-Sam holds her for Dean
Sam: ‘I’m sorry’-Dean grabs Sam’s jacket, Sam grabs him back
Screen goes to white
Notes: In the episode commentary Kripke says it was intended from Ruby’s first appearance in season 3 that her role was to lead Sam to freeing Lucifer; he also said that the angels changed the phone message
This is the first gag reel that includes clips and photos of the crew
Final thoughts on season 4-masterful job of showing how Sam goes wrong both from his own arrogance and Ruby’s pushing-without Ruby he probably would have had enough doubts to listen to Dean (though they probably would have been killed.) Ruby was written and acted perfectly, enough sincerity blended into her manipulation that the audience really couldn’t tell which side she was on-even rewatching, knowing the truth I couldn’t tell for sure. And watching the boys split, Jensen showing Dean’s spiraling because of hell and because of Sam…this season was very coherent.
Season 4
General Observations-I remembered this season as the one where Sam and Dean’s relationship falls apart because they don’t communicate, and started this rewatch looking for the signs. Interestingly, it felt different than I remembered it.
It was fascinating to see the difference between season 3 Ruby and season 4 Ruby. This season’s Ruby is not nearly as gratingly obnoxious-she’s toned down the level of scorn in her comments to the point that I didn’t want to have Sam shoot her every time she opened her mouth. Even knowing she’s manipulating Sam, her reduction in the level of scorn in her interactions with him (and Dean) makes it harder to be 100% sure she’s playing them. As I rewatched, I was surprised to find myself lulled into believing her at times.
One other interesting note, regarding the episode recaps-for season 1 nearly all of them started with ’22 years ago’; most of the season 2 recaps started with Dean’s ‘saving people, hunting things’ line; and in season 3 the majority of the recaps began with Dean saying ‘let’s hunt some evil sons of bitches’ (a telling change in the boys’ focus!) However for season 4 there no longer is a tag line, the recaps go directly into scenes from previous episodes without any comment.
61. Lazarus Rising (4.01)-W: Kripke/D: Manners
Beginning recap to ‘You Shook Me’ (AC/DC)-covers monsters, demons, Lilith, Ruby, Dean’s death, hell
Open with the scary eye flashes
Dean was buried with his ring
Opening sequence is stunning, minimal dialog, Dean’s disorientation, mystery very viscerally communicated
Why isn’t there anyone in the store though?
Newspaper date September 18, 2008
Dean stops to check out Busty Asian Beauties magazine
Weird salt containers
Dean to Bobby: ‘You’re about the closest thing I have to a father’
Dean slices himself on his bicep instead of forearm
What does Dean remember? ‘Not much’
Bobby hasn’t talked to Sam for months
Sam wouldn’t burn Dean’s body-‘He said you’d need a body when he got you back home somehow’
Automatic assumption Sam made a deal
Dean accessing Sam’s cell to get GPS turned on-awfully easy
Jared’s face has filled out
Hug #3
Sam calls Ruby Cathy, she corrects to Chrissie-what was the point of that exchange?
Dean: ‘What did it cost?’-Sam: ‘The girl? I don’t pay, Dean’
Sam is sorry he didn’t save Dean-he’s been hunting Lilith
Sam returns the amulet
Again Dean says he doesn’t remember ‘a damn thing’-possible he doesn’t at this point?
Sam explains that Lilith couldn’t kill him, says Ruby is dead -first lie
Sam: ‘…you didn’t want me to go down that road so I didn’t’-second lie
Castiel’s name revealed
Dean jokes about his perky nipples-he’s used that phrase before
‘Smarter brother back in town’
Dean bluffs the demons to get out of the restaurant but they leave all the demons there-I would have expected Dean to want to exorcise them
And Sam sneaks out…
Both of them lie about where they are going
‘Big time magic knife’
Sam does not get nosebleed when pulling demon; checks to see if person is dead
Ruby says she doesn’t know what pulled Dean out-can’t tell if telling truth or not
Ruby counsels Sam to tell Dean about using his powers-trying to give good advice or manipulating Sam? Sam knows Dean will be pissed
Sam: ‘I don't know if what I'm doing is right. Hell, I don't even know if I trust you…But what I do know is that I'm saving people. And stopping demons. And that feels good. I want to keep going.’
Castiel is totally unfazed at being stabbed
Castiel: ‘You have no faith’
Cas says he warned Pamela not to try to see his true form
Cas thought Dean would be able to handle his true voice
Cas in ‘a vessel’ (sounds nicer than a meatsuit…)
Cas: ‘You don’t think you deserve to be saved…God commanded it...we have work for you’
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester (4.02)-W: Gamble/D: Sgriccia
Recap-can’t save ‘em all; people who died; Dean’s back; Sam’s powers; Ruby; Cas
3 Stooges on woman’s TV
Short-lived Hunter Olivia Lowry
Boys at Bobby’s
Dean tells Sam he doesn’t believe in God or angels
Dean: ‘If there is a god, why would he give a crap about me?... I've saved some people, okay? I figured that made up for the stealing and the ditching chicks. But why do I deserve to get saved? I'm just a regular guy’
Dean tells Sam to get pie-Sam: ‘When have I ever forgotten the pie?’
Ruby is scared of angels
‘Where’s the pie?’
Hunters killed: Jed, Carl Bates, R. C. Adams
Sam is driving
Brutal Henrickson/Sam fight
Creepy twins this time
Dean to ghost Meg: ‘We did the best we could’
Meg really beats up Dean
Smart Dean shoots the chandelier to drop over Meg
Sam notices the mark on the ghost
Bobby’s panic room reveal
Dean wants to know If God is there where is he? Why doesn’t he help? (Same question Dean asks when he finally meets God years later)
Boys in sync: ‘A sign of what?’
Bobby says it’s the apocalypse
Dean: ‘The apocalypse, apocalypse? The four horsemen, pestilence, $5-a-gallon-gas apocalypse?’ (Well, I guess we’re going through the apocalypse now…)
Ghost Meg: ‘What you’re doing with that demon Ruby…how many innocent bodies has Ruby burned through’
Henrickson: ‘Why do you deserve another chance, Dean?’
Really good fight scene with all the ghosts
Dean catches falling bowl
Boys are sleeping in Bobby’s living room
Dean doesn’t understand why angels didn’t help, they are dicks-Cas: ‘Read the Bible. Angels are warriors of God’
If seals break Lucifer is freed
Angels ‘walking among you for the first time in 2000 years’ (Later episodes show this is not true)
Cas: ‘You should show me some respect. I dragged you out of Hell. I can throw you back in’
63. In the Beginning (4.03)-W: Carver/D: Boyum
Recap-Mom scenes, Cas, Colt
Sam is sneaking out to see Ruby
Dean having eye flashes of hell
Cas tells Dean he has to stop ‘it’-when actually that’s not possible!
Dean to 1970s restaurant worker: ‘Sonny and Cher broke up’
Newspaper date April 30, 1973-makes it track that Mary’s deal was on May 2 which is Sam’s birthday
Man to John: ‘Say hello to your old man’-that was retconned…
Dean to John: ‘My dad taught me everything I know about cars’-oooh
Dean re Impala: ‘…still gonna be bad ass when it’s 40’-another oooh
Dean driving crappy yellow car
Dean about mom being a babe: ‘I’m going to hell…again’
Dean’s face when he realizes mom is a hunter
Mary has Men of Letters star on her bracelet
Grandma wears plaid too LOL
Samuel dresses as priest
Dean’s face when boy says the stranger had yellow eyes
All the foreshadowing!!!
Dean to Mary about John: ‘I think you 2 are meant to be…In fact I’m depending on it’
Mary about John: ‘He’s everything a hunter isn’t’-ouch
Mary’s words about wanting to get out of the life and be safe are the same things Sam wanted
‘The very worst thing? Is for my children to be raised into this like I was. No, I won't let it happen’-heartbreaking
Dean’s warning not to get out of bed on Nov 2, 1983
Cas points out if Dean changes past then the people saved will die but Dean puts his family first
Dean drives from Lawrence to Colorado and back awfully fast…
Oh shit, Grandpa’s possessed!
‘Are you one of my psychic kids’ and he smells Dean-ick!
Dean finds out YED bled into baby Sam’s mouth
John and Mary are parked at the iconic bridge!
Cas explains purpose of trip was to find out Azazel’s plan
Episode ends on ‘To Be Continued’
In episode commentary Kripke said the idea was to show time is a closed loop and that Dean going back in time is what got YED to notice Mary
64. Metamorphosis (4.04)-W: Humphris/D: Manners
Recap-previous episode, warning about Sam
When Sam expels demon the smoke gets fiery as is dissipates
Dean sees what Sam is doing with Ruby, tries to kill her, Sam stops him
Dean punches Sam, first time he calls Sam a monster: ‘If I didn’t know you I would want to hunt you’
Sam justifies his behavior as saving people and not telling Dean because he knew Dean would object
Dean tells Sam angels want him to stop
First time Dean uses ‘Cas’
Dean tells Sam all about going back in time and finds out Sam’s known for a year about the demon blood in him
Dean shutting down because he doesn’t know how to deal with Sam; Sam aggressively defensive
Travis hasn’t seen the boys in 10 years
This is boys’ first rugaru
Travis: ‘…ever been really hungry?...haven’t-eaten-in-days hungry?’-Dean: ‘Yeah’
Sam wants to give rugaru a chance to choose not to be a monster
Dean pulls car across to opposite lane to have talk in car-Dean, don’t do that!
Sam is super pissed at Dean challenging his behavior, then switches to trying to ‘make something good’ out of being cursed-that argument gets Dean to soften
They introduce themselves to Jack (rugaru) as Sam and Dean Winchester
Travis has the righteousness of those who see things as black and white
Boys bust the door down and damage frame only Jack isn’t there, but when door is shown again it is okay
The pregnant wife adds a whole layer of awful to the problem (her kid will be 30 in 2038-another hunt?)
Sam: ‘I guess you were right about Jack’ when they see Travis’ body
Sam trying to get through to Jack: ‘you’ve got this dark pit inside you, I know…it only matters what you do’
Sam has to kill Jack (burning alive is horrific!)
Dean says he’s sorry he’s been hard on Sam, but ‘your psychic thing, it scares the crap out of me’
Sam: ‘…this thing, this blood, it's not in you the way it's in me. It's just something I got to deal with’
Sam says he’s done using powers and Dean thanks him-Sam’s rejection of Dean’s concerns: ‘Don't thank me. I'm not doing it for you. Or for the angels or for anybody. This is my choice’
I found this episode riveting the first time and it’s still gripping on rewatch because of Travis forcing the monster into monsterhood and the no-win situation, and all the parallels with Sam’s situation along with Dean’s mixed resignation and fighting with Sam.
65. Monster Movie (4.05)-W: Edlund/D: Singer
No recap
Totally different title cards-1930s movie style with all the tech credits at the start
Over-the-top music really sells the episode
Dean: ‘…a straightforward, black and white case’ LOL
Dean is gung-ho to hunt monsters while Sam thinks they need to focus on apocalypse
Very nice suits, have they upgraded?
Jaime calls them on not acting like feds
Jaime flirts back with Dean
‘Intermission’ card
Sam is the Dracula movie and book expert
Jaime: ‘…you're giving up your life for this terrible...responsibility’-Dean: ‘Last few years, I started thinking that way… it started…weighing on me…I had this - let’s call it a near-death experience…I realize that I help people…I save them…It's kind of like a gift... like a mission…from God.’
Organ music!
Sam pulling man’s ear: ‘It’s supposed to come off’
Dean figures out they’ve been drugged at the bar just a little too late
Dracula: ‘Is there garlic on this pizza?’ LOL
Jaime to Dracula: ‘Ever think that you’re lonely because you kill people?’
Jaime shoots the monster (Jaime is awesome)
‘The End’
This is the first time we see one of Dean’s pick-up attempts working-we’ve only heard about others and seen him giving lines…Jaime is clearly an equal participant in wanting a quick fling
This whole episode is over-the-top and yet also true to the show with the boys in character and the case making sense
66. Yellow Fever (4.06)-W: Dabb & Loflin/D: Sgriccia
Recap: Dean as hellhounds attack; arguments about Sam’s powers
After scene of Dean running from little dog we go to ‘43 hours earlier’
Autopsy scene turned into a joke about boys being squeamish…sigh
Mention of chupacabra when discussing possible monsters
First time mention of ghost sickness
Sam says all victims shared a personality type-they were dicks-Dean: ‘So you’re saying I’m a dick?’-Sam: ‘All 3 victims used fear as a weapon…all we do is scare people’-Dean: ‘…then you’re a dick too’-Sam: ‘Apparently I’m not’-I’m guessing this was a hint at Dean having been a torturer in hell but since we don’t know about that yet it really seems to slam Dean
Dean coughing up one wood chip leads Sam to figure out they have to go to lumber mill?
Effective use of words being changed and highlighted as Dean reads book
Start of Dean drinking randomly from his flask which continues rest of season
Hallucination Sam tells Dean he’s going back to hell
Bobby comes up with idea to scare the ghost to death
We find out that 4 months in hell is 40 years
Lilith: ‘Remember all the fun you had?’
‘Eye of the Tiger’ tag
This is one of my least favorite episodes-I could put up with how they turned Dean into a mockery of himself but Sam is totally unconcerned that his brother whom he just got back is going to die again! Where is Sam’s angst about time running out? Sam is being completely out of character! Not to mention the whole case is a stretch…
67. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester (4.07)-W: Siege/D: Beeson
Recap: general monsters, seals, Sam’s powers
2 days before Halloween
Shot inside mouth with razor blade-yuck! 4 razor blades total
Sam hates Halloween because their every day is Halloween (we get another explanation seasons later…)
Suits
Sam pronounces ‘Samhain’ wrong-it’s ‘saa-wn’-show should have known that
Back to showing Dean’s food fixation and horndog ways (eating all the candy, ogling cheerleaders)
Masks in school make Dean uneasy-my theory: ghost sickness in previous episode triggers his conscious memories of hell
Tracy is an emancipated teen-convenient writing
Sam meets Cas
Angels want to destroy town to save seal, Dean argues there are other choices
Dean bluffs that angels want him alive more than destroying the town, he won’t leave
Dean: ‘…there’s nothing more dangerous than some a-hole who thinks he’s on a holy mission’-Dean’s talking about angels-but Sam’s behavior falls into this too
Smart Sam figures out the kiln is needed to char the bones in hex bags and that hex bag in their room showed up after talking to the teacher
Sam tries argument that his powers are needed against this demon-Dean says no
The male witch is killed with regular bullets?!
Smart Sam figures out covering faces in blood will hide them from Samhain
Sam is immune to demon power blast
This is the first time Sam has a nosebleed using his powers-because he hasn’t been partaking in demon blood lately? But the audience doesn’t know about the blood yet…
Dean is distraught at Sam using powers
Uriel privately warns Sam, then tells him to ask Dean what he remembers from hell
Cas says the orders were actually to follow Dean’s orders
Dean defends his decision even though seal broke, because the people are still alive
Cas admits he has some doubts about what’s going on
Cas: ‘I don’t envy the weight on your shoulders’
68. Wishful Thinking (4.08)-W: Edlund & Bollo; D: Singer
Recap: Cas, References to remembering hell
Sam pressing Dean to tell him about hell, Dean flat-out denies remembering
Dean increased drinking
Dean making inappropriate comments about watching women
Sam pretends to be writing a book called ‘Supernatural’ LOL
Dean mocks kid being chased by bullies
Bigfoot is a hoax
Dean steals booze from the unattended store
Sam automatically assumes the couple is only a couple because of a wish since the guy is nerdy-looking…this is not cool premise of the episode
Dean has to search his pockets to find the correct ID
Dean assumes Sam would wish to be a lawyer, normal-Sam says he’s ‘not that guy anymore’ he want’s Lilith’s head on a plate bloody’ and Dean is disturbed
Dean has a nightmare, Sam says he wishes Dean would talk to him
(This is Sam’s pattern from back when John died, he needs Dean to admit how broken up he is-why though?)
‘Aren’t you the guys from the health department?’-Sam: ‘Yeah…and florists on the side’-Dean: ‘Plus FBI and on Thursdays we’re teddy bear doctors’
Dean: ‘…people are people 'cause they're miserable bastards, 'cause they never get what they really want’
Dean: ‘The things that I saw... there aren't words. There is no forgetting. There's no making it better. Because it is right here...forever. You wouldn't understand. And I could never make you understand’
69. I Know What You Did Last Summer (4.09)-W: Gamble/D: Beeson
Recap: Cas, seals, Sam’s powers
There are 600 possible seals-only 66 need to be broken to free Lucifer
Sam is hustling pool as drunk with Dean as friend counseling not to bet-then Sam leaves $500 on table when he sees Ruby
Dean and Ruby go at each other
Sam explains what happened when Dean was in hell-he tried crossroad deal, was too drunk to protect himself, Ruby saved his life, she switches to brain-dead body because of Sam’s objections, teaches him to use his powers, they become lovers (that is some scene!), she saves his life again when he made suicidal attempt on Lilith (flashbacks throughout the episode)
Boys in suits again
Dean coins the term ‘angel radio’ for Anna hearing angels
Anna: ‘And you’re the Dean?’ ‘Dean Winchester is saved’
Alastair shows up-immune to Sam’s powers
They lose Ruby’s knife in unsuccessful attempt to stab Alastair
After jumping through window Sam has to sew up his own gashed arm (shades of ‘Mystery Spot’ Sam!), then fixes Dean’s dislocated shoulder
Dean: ‘So far, all you've told me about is a manipulative bitch who… screwed you, played mind games with you, and did everything in the book to get you to go bad’
Sam about Ruby saving him: ‘What she said to me...It's what you would've said. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here’
They have to leave the car escaping motel
Dean makes strained thank you to Ruby for keeping Sam alive
Cas says Anna has to die
‘To Be Continued’
70. Heaven and Hell (4.10)-W: Kripke & Sands/D: Miller Tobin
Recap: Anna, Pamela
Dean: ‘You’re some heartless sons of bitches’-Cas: ‘As a matter of fact, we are’
Anna makes a banishing sigil to send the angels away-first one
Bobby’s panic room-Bobby not there, he is in ‘the Dominican’
Dean reluctantly thanks Ruby for hex bags
Sam retrieved Impala from where they left it last episode
Dean gets Pamela
Anna remembers she was an angel, ripped out her grace because she wanted to experience humanity; she was stationed on earth for 2,000 years
Only 4 angels have ever seen god
Ruby tells Sam about Alastair being the ‘grand inquisitor’; says Sam is too out of shape to handle him, Sam knows what he has to do to tone up-Sam: ‘No, I’m not doing that any more’ (at this point we assume she is probably referring to sex)
Angel radio says Dean gives up Anna or goes back to hell
Anna says disobedience is angels’ biggest sin-what Lucifer did
Anna knows what Dean did in hell-he should forgive himself, let people help him
Ruby sells them out to Alastair who tortures her; Uriel threatens Dean in a dream with return to hell (he calls Uriel junkless), when Dean doesn’t give in Uriel says you need to know where to apply pressure (which we find out means he’ll go after Sam); eventually angels and demons end up fighting over Anna and Dean says that was Sam’s plan all along
Anna grabs her grace from Uriel, explodes in white light, and disappears
They get Ruby’s knife back
Dean confesses hell to Sam, starting with it was 40 years: ‘They sliced and carved and tore at me in ways that you...Until there was nothing left. And then, suddenly...I would be whole again...like magic...just so they could start in all over. And Alastair...at the end of every day he would come over. And he would make me an offer. To take me off the rack...if I put souls on...if I started the torturing. And every day, I told him to stick it where the sun shines. For 30 years, I told him. But then I couldn't do it anymore, Sammy. I couldn't. And I got off that rack. God help me, I got right off it, and I started ripping them apart. I lost count of how many souls. The things that I did to them.’-Sam: ‘Dean, look, you held out for 30 years. That's longer than anyone would have’-Dean: ‘This.. inside me...I wish I couldn't feel anything, Sammy. I wish I couldn't feel a damn thing’
71. Family Remains (4.11)-W: Carver/D: Sgriccia
Recap: Cass, Lilith, Dean’s hell
Sam is asleep in backseat
They’ve been working cases nonstop for a month
EMF doesn’t work because of power lines
Suits
When getting family to leave-flat tires, all weapons from Impala gone (how did monster get into trunk and carry everything to their lair???)
Kid: ‘You hunt ghosts like Scooby-Doo?’
Sam lets Dean go look for ghost and missing kid while Sam sits and reads the diary-I would have expected more concern about splitting up
Show is so visually dark it’s really hard to tell what is on the screen…
Dean has to go into small dark spaces, definitely not happy about it
That family is going to stay there after all that???
Dean: ‘You know, I felt for those sons of bitches back there. Lifelong torture turns you into something like that.’-Sam: ‘You were in hell, Dean. Look, maybe you did what you did there, but you're not them’-Dean: ‘I wasn't like them. I was worse. They were animals, Sam, defending territory. Me? I did it for the sheer pleasure’-Sam: ‘What?’ Dean: ’I enjoyed it, Sam. They took me off the rack, and I tortured souls, and I liked it. All those years, all that pain. Finally getting to deal some out yourself. I didn't care who they put in front of me. Because that pain I felt, it just slipped away. No matter how many people I save, I can't change that. I can't fill this hole. Not ever’
We finally see why Dean is broken
This is another episode where the plot doesn’t make sense-how those kids survived from being babies?
72. Criss Angel is a Douchebag (4.12)-W: Siege/D: Singer
Recap: Sam’s powers and Ruby
Wearing suits again
Sam was into magic when he was 13
We’re supposed to wonder just what happened with Dean and ‘the Chief,’ it’s supposed to be funny bit…
Ruby knows 34 seals are broken
Ruby trying to get Sam back in the game: ‘Admit you like the feeling’
Dean saying ‘I hope I die before I get old’ triggers Sam
Dean: ‘It ends bloody or sad. That’s just the life’ (Well it certainly did for Dean, didn’t it ☹)
Cool visual of Sam shot through the room divider
Jay drops the charges after boys arrested
Jay was really a sympathetic character
Jay: ‘I killed my best friend yesterday and you want to thank me’
Sam goes to Ruby, he’s back in: ‘I don’t want to be doing this when I’m an old man’
So this is the episode that pushes Sam back into using demon blood because Dean doesn’t see an end to this life? I feel it should have been something more than a conversation that does it…
73. After School Special (4.13)-W: Dabb & Loflin/D: Kane
Recap: Sam’s complaints about how they were raised, scenes from childhood flashbacks
Ectoplasm from victims’ eyes, ears
Ghost possession, it’s rare
In flashback from 1997 we learn they were at Truman for 1 month, 3rd school and it’s only November; werewolf hunt during the summer
Dean is wearing John’s jacket in flashback
Impala license plate BQN 9R3 in flashback
Bully calls young Sam ‘Losechester!’
Young Sam stands up for bullied kid-‘You want to take his place?’-Sam: ‘Yeah’
Current day Dean notes 3 of the cheerleaders are legal
When Sam is attacked Dean yells he’s going to rip his (attacker’s) lungs out both in flashback and present day
Sam feels bad about burning his friend’s bones, not being there for Barry when he finds out Barry committed suicide
When Amanda dumps Dean in flashback she says he’s a sad lonely little kid-to save face Dean says ‘Don’t feel sorry for me…I save lives, I’m a hero’
Green cooler appearance
Mr. Wyatt after Sam thanks him for advice: ‘The only thing that really matters is that you’re happy. Are you happy, Sam?’-Sam doesn’t answer
The actor playing young Dean uses an annoying New York accent
74. Sex and Violence (4.14)-W: Humphris/D: Beeson
Recap: Sam’s powers
Sam being secretive about his phone call
Wear suits as lawyers
Skill levelling up-they hacked the victim’s credit card records
Sam hits it off with Dr. Cara Roberts
Oxytocin is the marker in the blood
Dean knows the Greek story ‘The Odyssey’ to Sam’s surprise
First time we see Bobby’s fake phone bank
Different suits when they go back to see doctor
Cara: ‘Haven't you ever been in a relationship where you really love somebody and still kinda wanted to bash their head in?’-both a red herring and reflection on boys’ relationship
Um, shut the blinds, you two!
Dean: ‘…Madison, and then Ruby, and now Cara…what is with you and banging monsters?’
Dean shares his flask with Nick
Nick gave Dean a little brother he could trust
Dean vents about Sam keeping secrets: ‘What else aren’t you telling me? We used to have each other’s backs’
Sam attacks Dean directly: ‘You’re holding me back…I’m a better hunter than you are, stronger, smarter…I can take out demons you’re too scared to go near’
Nice throw, Bobby, nailing the siren!
Dean after Sam says he doesn’t need to say goodbye to Cara: ‘Look at you, love ‘em and leave ‘em’
It was the siren that made them say those things-‘We’re good’
Except they’re clearly not
Even the first time I saw this the things I noticed the things they each said under the influence had such different tones-Dean expressing pain over losing trust in Sam while Sam’s words drip with contempt for Dean
75. Death Takes a Holiday (4.15)-W: Carver/D: Boyum
Recap: Pamela, Sam’s powers
Sam is gung-ho to take the job-Dean: ‘I don’t want to be holding you back…’-Sam: ‘That was the siren…can we get past this’
Pretend to be bloggers for website ‘Floored by the Lord’
Victim: ‘angels were watching over me’
Sam speculates reaper is missing
Dean doesn’t like that if they fix it people start dying, Sam says it’s the natural order
Sam: ‘…the normal rules don’t really apply to us’
When they are in the cemetery they are both wearing gloves to keep their hands warm-that’s a first
This time Sam is immune to Alastair’s power-when Dean asks about it Sam blows him off-Dean: ‘If you’re gonna keep your little secrets I can’t really stop you but just don’t treat me like an idiot’
Dean says he has a concussion
Solstice is tomorrow night
‘You can’t kill Death’-HAHAHA
Dean has idea about becoming ghosts
Pamela reluctant about helping
Sam is wearing a too-short hoodie as a ghost
Dean doesn’t remember Tessa until she kisses him
Sam blatantly lies-swears to the kid that he won’t have to go with the reaper in order to get info-early season Sam wouldn’t have done that
Dean confesses he wishes he’d have gone with Tessa
Dean questions why he got a second chance when he’s done horrible things
They practice ghost skills on some really weird fan-driven toy horse
Alastair in another meatsuit (the one he eventually dies in)
Alastair says Death loaned him the scythe and references Death has 3 pals
Pamela summons Sam back to his body and Sam pulls the demon
Pamela doesn’t die because reaper not back in business
Alastair comes after Dean, Cas catches him in blaze of light
Cas says it was him, not Bobby, who told Sam about the case
Dean: ‘If you want our help why the hell didn’t you just ask?’-Cas: ‘Because whatever I ask you seem to do the exact opposite’
Dean talks the ghost kid into going with Tessa: ‘We’re all scared. That’s the big secret’
Tessa warns Dean: ‘Stop lying to yourself, Dean. The angels have something good in store for you. A second chance… deep down, you know something nasty's coming down the road. Trust your instincts, Dean. There's no such thing as miracles’
Pamela gets to die in front of Dean after whispering warning to Sam: ‘If you think you’ve got good intentions, think again’
End card: We dedicate this entire season to Kim Manners. We miss you, Kim.
76. On the Head of a Pin (4.16)-W: Edlund/D: Rohl
This does not feel like an Edlund episode at all
Recap: seals, angels, Anna, Sam’s powers, Dean’s hell experience
First dead angel, first time we see wing imprint-cool reveal shot
Sam is driving
Dean is too tired to fight with Sam and with apocalypse, Sam wants Dean to get angry
Angels want Dean to torture Alastair because of his experience
Cas: ‘We know this is difficult’-Uriel: ‘But we don’t care’
Whisk Dean away without waiting for his answer
Cas says the devil’s trap is old Enochian (the floor symbol looks like the kind the boys use)
Cas says he is getting too close to humans, starting to have doubts, has been demoted
Dean: ‘You ask me to open that door and walk through it, you will not like what walks back out’
Sam’s concern is not that Dean has to do torture: ‘…he can't do it. He can't get the job done. Something happened to him downstairs...He's not what he used to be. He's not strong enough’
Alastair reveals John didn’t break in 100 years, Dean broke in 30
Dean: ‘I could still dream in hell…I dreamt of this moment’
Ruby uses a spell that burns a map to find Dean’s location
Sam says he needs it-Ruby: ‘You don’t’ seem too happy about it’-Sam: ‘This is the last thing…but I need to be strong enough’-we finally see that he’s been drinking her blood
Faucet turns on its own
Anna shows up, notes her vessel was destroyed but she called in a few favors
Anna challenges Cas to really think if making Dean torture is god’s will, admit he’s feeling doubt
Dean’s face gets harder and harder as the torture goes on
Alastair tells Dean he broke the first seal and Dean believes him-the look on his face as he is breaking inside but needs to hide what Alastair’s words did to him
Cas comes to the rescue, Alastair starts spell to banish him
Sam kills Alastair
Sam demands Cas heal Dean-he can’t
Cas reveals his doubts to Uriel-‘Please tell me what to do’-Uriel tries to recruit Cas to raising Lucifer team
Uriel reveals angel blade (first time we see one)
Why do Cas and Uriel have a fistfight??? They’re angels!
When Anna kills Uriel the light blast shows out the building windows
Cas says it’s true Dean broke the first seal, and ‘the righteous man who begins it is the only one who can finish it’
Dean: ‘I can't do it, Cas. It's too big. Alastair was right. I'm not all here. I'm not-I'm not strong enough. Well, I guess I'm not the man either of our dads wanted me to be. Find someone else. It's not me’
Personal note--Watching this episode for clues to how the finale is being set up actually made watching it disappointing because it kept me from being fully immersed in it. I remember being devastated for Dean when I first saw this and missed feeling that this time. I’d also forgotten how much angel time was in it. Jensen’s performance was brilliant
77. It’s a Terrible Life (4.17)-W: Gamble/D: Conway
Personal note-I watched seasons 1 through 4 on dvds so I went from ‘On the Head of a Pin’ directly to this episode. My daughter, who’d gotten me hooked on the show, made a point to be there when this episode started and laughed herself silly at my ‘what the hell is going on?’ reaction
Recap was summary of previous episode
Music ‘A Well-Respected Man’ (The Kinks) was perfect over the montage of respectable Dean Smith’s day
Sam to Dean in elevator: ‘You look really familiar’
Sam in I.T.: ‘…did you try turning it off and then on?’ LOL
Sam’s been having dreams of fighting monsters with a guy who looks like Dean Smith
Sam to Dean in elevator: ‘What do you think about ghosts?’
Sam’s sketches of monsters are very artistic-guess he can draw again…
Microwave dings after screen goes to black
Co-worker: ‘I’ll never eat popcorn again’
Sam’s questions trigger Dean doing research
Dean very easy-going about telling Ian he made a paperwork mistake, tries to calm him down when Ian goes nuts about being a failure
Both Sam and Dean started 3 weeks ago
Boys learn how to hunt ghosts from Ed and Harry’s Hellhounds website which includes advice from the douchebag Winchesters
After first encounter with ghost Sam convinced this is what he should be doing: ‘…there’s something in my blood…I’m destined for something different’
Ghost shows up because this is the worst time since the Great Depression (2008 was recession)
Boys work together seamlessly including simultaneous swings through the ghost with iron pokers
Sam tries to convince Dean to go monster hunting with him-Dean: ‘You gotta be kidding me. How would we get by? With stolen credit cards? Eating diner food drenched in saturated fats? Sharing a crap motel room every night?...You don't wanna go fighting ghosts without any health insurance’
Dean’s parents are Bob and Ellen, he has a sister Jo, and he went to Stanford
Sam broke up with his girlfriend Madison but her phone number goes to a vet clinic LOL
Sam smashes his cubicle up in the same way Dean smashed the Impala in season 2
Dean Smith’s boss offers him VP job in 8 years and big bonus-when Dean turns it down the color in the episode immediate fades
Zachariah, while a bit supercilious, apparently has been trying to help Dean get back together-‘…to prove to you that the path you're on is truly in your blood. You're a hunter. Not because your dad made you, not because God called you back from hell, but because it is what you are. And you love it. You'll find your way to it in the dark every single time and you're miserable without it. Dean, let's be real here. You're good at this. You'll be successful. You will stop it.’
78. The Monster at the End of this Book (4.18)-W: Siege & Weiner/D: Rohl
No recap-opens with Chuck on couch seeing flashes of episodes
Boys are wearing suits with overcoats for the first time
Bookstore owner thinks they are LARPing like ‘the guys from those books…Steve and Dirk…Sal and Dane?’
Supernatural books have an underground cult following
Title card features a series of the book covers with ‘Supernatural’ in the book font
Books were published in 2005-couple dozen, last one ‘No Rest for the Wicked’ ends with Dean in hell
Fans complain a lot
Sam finds Sam/Dean slash on the internet: Dean: They do know we’re brothers, right?’-Sam: ‘Doesn’t’ seem to matter’
The publisher says the Dr. Sexy books are more popular than Supernatural
The references to show canon are hysterical
Publisher: ‘…the best parts are when they’d cry’
Dean’s favorite song is a tie between Led Zeppelin’s ‘Ramblin’ On’ and ‘Traveling Riverside Blues’
They show their tattoos again
Chuck says he kept writing the books but the rest weren’t published
Chuck says he never used their last names in the books-which is absurd, the idea he wrote all the books without ever once using Winchester!
Chuck: ‘I am a god…a cruel capricious god’ Oh man, that line sure plays different in hindsight!!!
Dean knows his Vonnegut!
Dean reading the book in the laundromat describing exactly what they are doing is really funny…but don’t think about it because how is it he’s reading a book already published that has their real-time actions?
When Chuck’s draft says Dean has band-aids-Sam: ‘I’ve seen you gushing blood. You’d use duct tape and bar rags before you’d put on a pink flower band-aid’
When Dean tries not to have an argument with Sam to make it different from what Chuck wrote: ‘It frustrates me when you say such things’
Chuck says he didn’t put the demon blood in the books: ‘I was afraid that would make you look unsympathetic…you got to know that’s wrong’-When Sam protests he has to do this because Dean can’t-Chuck: ‘Maybe the demon blood makes you feel stronger? More in control?’-Sam: ‘No that’s not true’
So Chuck’s a prophet (but he’s also god? Don’t think about it too much…sigh
Cas says the books will become the Winchester Gospels
Sam: ‘You think I’ll do it don’t you? You think I’ll go darkside?’ Dean: ‘Yes…The way you’ve been acting lately…the things you’ve been doing’ (And Dean still doesn’t know Sam is drinking demon blood!)
First time Dean prays to Cas
Archangels guard the prophet-Cas very carefully clues Dean in how to use Chuck to protect Sam without directly saying anything
Lilith tries to cut a deal with Sam, she’ll back down in exchange for Sam and Dean’s lives
Sam to Lilith: ‘I am nothing like you’
Zachariah visits Chuck to find out what happens next
79. Jump the Shark (4.19)-W: Dabb & Loflin/D: Sgriccia
Recap: John and Sam, Sam’s powers
Hi Kate-bye Kate, nice knowing you…
Sam is brushing his teeth outdoors while Dean sleeping in the car
John was in Minnesota on a case in January 1990-Adam born September 29, 1990
Dean really doesn’t want to believe this could really be John’s kid
Adam’s first contact with John for his 12th birthday 2002
Smart Dean setting holy water and silverware to show Adam is a monster
Rock/paper/scissors to see who goes down the duct-Dean loses
Sam tells Adam about monsters, Dean upset, feels Dad deliberately kept Adam in the dark to protect him
Boys discussing what to do with Adam: ‘Do I get a say in this?’ Both together: ‘No!’
Sam teaches Adam the ropes-he knows what it is like to want revenge
Cemetery guide to Dean: ‘Have you thought about where you’d like to spend eternity?’ LOL
Dean wearing overcoat over FBI suit
Bartender can tell Dean is a cop by the way he carries himself
Sam wants to use Adam as bait
Sam to Adam: ‘Being a hunter isn't a job, Adam. It's life…If you're really gonna do this, you can't have…connections, ever. They're weaknesses. You'll just put those people in danger, get them killed’-Dean calls him on it, says that is the same speech John gave Sam right before Sam went to Stanford-Sam: ‘Well turns out Dad was right’
Dean takes deep breath before crawling through second tight space of the episode
Dean does very athletic maneuver to get out through the ceiling of the crypt
Ghouls do a number slicing Sam’s arms!
Ghouls need headshots
Dean goes ballistic pummeling Adam’s ghoul
Sam suggests they could ask Cas to bring Adam back-Dean: ‘He’s in a better place’ (Oh poor Adam…)
Dean: ‘You two were practically the same person… I worshipped the guy, you know? I dressed like him, I acted like him, I listen to the same music. But you were more like him than I will ever be. And I see that now’-Sam: ‘I’ll take that as a compliment’-Dean: ‘You take it any way you want’
The writers took the time to make Adam’s existence plausible. The contrast between how Sam and Dean reacted to him was striking-Dean virulently against the possibility, wants to protect Adam when it seems Adam is the real deal while Sam wants to immediately turn him into a ‘real’ part of the family by making him a hunter as quickly as possible and discounting any chance for Adam to have a normal life
80. The Rapture (4.20)-W: Carver/D: Beeson
Recap: meeting Cas, Sam’s blood drinking
The first time Dean has his fishing dream, which Cas interrupts
Banishing sigil on wall of destroyed building
Jimmy-totally not Cas!
Jimmy: ‘Angel inside you, it’s kinda like being chained to a comet’
Dean wants to send Jimmy home, Sam wants to keep him as a lead
Sam sneaks out, we see his blood flask is empty
Jimmy slept in his suit and tie-guys didn’t offer him something to sleep in?
Anna pops in the backseat, explains Cas being dragged back to heaven is ‘seriously bad’ (knowing about Naomi from future seasons makes that statement particularly legit)
Jimmy says there is something special in his blood
Angels have to get permission to take vessels
Jimmy was Cas’ vessel for almost a year
Sam is going through withdrawal, Dean notices something’s wrong ‘You practically fainted trying to gank a demon’
Cas possesses Claire
Jimmy is fatally stabbed
Sam drinks demon blood in front of everyone
Claire/Cas to Jimmy: ‘Of course you have our gratitude…it’s time to go home now’
Jimmy offers himself as vessel again to spare his daughter
Cas cuts Dean off when Dean tries to find out what Cas needed to tell him originally: ‘I learned my lesson while I was away, Dean, I serve heaven, I don’t serve man, and I certainly don’t serve you’
Sam wants Dean to be angry with him-Dean is just done
Dean and Bobby lure Sam into the panic room (which has been stripped down a lot)
I remember not being very impressed with this episode originally but on rewatch I was very impressed with Misha’s creation of a completely different character and with how this set up revealing Sam’s demon blood drinking to everyone
81. When the Levee Breaks (4.21)-W: Gamble/D: Singer
Recap: Sam’s history
Ceiling fan has a devil’s trap on the grid
Sam still justifying his actions to Dean
Sam tortured by hallucination of Alastair (how come Ruby had to be naked when tortured but Sam stays fully dressed?)
Bobby gets a random call from Rufus
Seals are breaking like crazy
Sam tells young Sam to get over wanting normal, then yellow-eyed young Sam agrees with Sam
Mom in her bloody nightgown tells Sam he’s doing the right thing, Dean is holding him back
Bobby questions whether they need Sam on the battlefield and if they’re keeping him from it because they love him too much
Dean calls Cas for 2 ½ hours; he agrees to ‘give himself wholly to the service of God and his angels…To follow his word as swiftly and obediently as you did your own father’s’
Black veins appear on Sam’s skin (shades of Amara’s plague!) then has seizure that flings him around the room
Bobby: Are we absolutely sure we’re doing the right thing?’-Dean: ‘I’m not giving him demon blood…at least he dies human’
Dean hallucination calls Sam a monster, says demon blood makes Sam feel like ‘a big bad wolf in a world of little pigs’
Cas lets Sam out of the panic room-Anna questions why-Cas: ‘Those were my orders’
Anna is caught
Bobby tries to stop Sam, Sam challenges Bobby to kill him, then knocks Bobby out
Ruby claims she couldn’t come to Sam earlier because of hunting Lilith; she says it’s too bad ‘things have gotten this bad between you two’
Dean knows Sam will do opposite his normal pattern to throw Dean off
Ruby looks very pleased when Sam drinks her blood
Ruby reveals Lilith will open the final seal
Dean finds Sam, goes after Ruby immediately, Sam stops him and tells Ruby to go
Dean tries to get through to Sam: ‘Sam, you're lying to yourself. I just want you to be okay. You would do the same for me. You know you would’-Sam: ‘Come with us Dean, we’ll do it together’-Dean: ‘That sounds great. As long as it's you and me. Demon bitch is a dealbreaker. You kiss her goodbye, we can go right now’
Sam says Dean’s not strong enough-'Stop bossing me around, Dean. Look. My whole life, you take the wheel, you call the shots, and I trust you because you are my brother. Now I'm asking you, for once, trust me’-Dean: ‘you don’t know what you’re doing, Sam’-Sam: ‘Yes I do’-Dean: ‘Then that’s worse’
Sam throws first punch, when Dean is down Sam starts to choke him, then lets go
Sam: ‘You don’t know me. You never did. And you never will’
Dean: ‘You walk out that door, don’t you ever come back’
This is so hard to watch knowing how wrong Sam is and what he’s going to realize shortly
82. Lucifer Rising (4.22)-W: Kripke/D: Kripke
Road so far recap of the season
1972 St. Mary’s, YED sets the stage-in the episode we find out that Azazel has been trying to free Lucifer and found a way to communicate at that site; Lucifer told him to free Lilith (done when Devil’s Gate opened in season 2) and to find a special child
Ruby hopes the brothers patch things up after this is over-wow, she has Sam (and the audience?) completely fooled
Dean is back at Bobby’s, has given up on Sam, gets lecture from Bobby about family: ‘They’re supposed to make you miserable! That’s why they’re family…your dad was a coward…he’d push Sam away rather than reach out to him…you are a better man than your daddy ever was’
Then Dean is transported to the angels’ green room and given non-answers to all his questions
Dean leaves voicemail for Sam: ‘Look, I'll just get right to it. I'm still pissed...and I owe you a serious beatdown. But...I shouldn't have said what I said. You know, I'm not Dad. We're brothers. You know, we're family. And...no matter how bad it gets, that doesn't change. Sammy, I'm sorry’
Sam tortures the demon nurse with Ruby’s encouragement every time he falters
Cas won’t help Dean get to Sam
When Ruby insists Sam has to kill the nurse he hesitates-' I'm about to bleed and drink an innocent woman…maybe Dean was right…’
Zachariah reveals the real angel plan was to let the demons get Lucifer and fight the apocalypse, confident that the angels will win, but that they had to pretend to try to stop the demons to keep the rest of the angels in line; Sam has a part to play though he made need a little nudge; Dean’s job will be to stop Lucifer
Zach points out the Michael painting
Dean makes one more attempt to get Cas to help him get to Sam-Cas: ‘What is so worth saving? I see nothing but pain here. I see inside you. I see your guilt, your anger, confusion. In paradise, all is forgiven. You'll be at peace. Even with Sam’-Dean: ‘You can take your peace and shove it up your lily-white ass. 'Cause I'll take the pain and the guilt. I'll even take Sam as is…There is a right and there is a wrong here, and you know it’
Sam listens to the voicemail: ‘Listen to me, you bloodsucking freak. Dad always said I'd either have to save you or kill you. Well, I'm giving you fair warning. I'm done trying to save you. You're a monster, Sam, a vampire. You're not you anymore. And there's no going back’
Sam goes to kill the nurse for the demon blood
Cas returns to Dean and draws angel banishing sigil, then vanishes Zachariah (why didn’t the sigil send Cas away too?)
Smart Dean figures out that Chuck knows where Sam is
Sam has showdown with Lilith-Ruby sees Dean and shuts door on him-Sam hesitates when he hears Dean’s voice-Lilith taunts him and he kills her and his eyes turn black
Ruby is ecstatic and praises Sam for opening the door for Lucifer, then says how hard she worked: ‘You don't even know how hard this was! All the demons out for my head. No one knew. I was the best of those sons of bitches! The most loyal! Not even Alastair knew! Only Lilith! Yeah, I'm sure you're a little angry right now, but, I mean, come on, Sam! Even you have to admit I'm awesome!’
Sam is devastated at what he’s done-Ruby: ‘It wasn't the blood. It was you and your choices. I just gave you the options, and you chose the right path every time…I know it's hard to see it now but this is a miracle. So long coming. Everything Azazel did, and Lilith did. Just to get you here. And you were the only one who could do it… And he's gonna be grateful. He's gonna repay you in ways that you can't even imagine’
Dean breaks down the door and goes for Ruby with the knife-Sam holds her for Dean
Sam: ‘I’m sorry’-Dean grabs Sam’s jacket, Sam grabs him back
Screen goes to white
Notes: In the episode commentary Kripke says it was intended from Ruby’s first appearance in season 3 that her role was to lead Sam to freeing Lucifer; he also said that the angels changed the phone message
This is the first gag reel that includes clips and photos of the crew
Final thoughts on season 4-masterful job of showing how Sam goes wrong both from his own arrogance and Ruby’s pushing-without Ruby he probably would have had enough doubts to listen to Dean (though they probably would have been killed.) Ruby was written and acted perfectly, enough sincerity blended into her manipulation that the audience really couldn’t tell which side she was on-even rewatching, knowing the truth I couldn’t tell for sure. And watching the boys split, Jensen showing Dean’s spiraling because of hell and because of Sam…this season was very coherent.