Rewatch S7: Adventures in Babysitting (7x11)
And now we enter a world in which Bobby is dead....
Oh, mid-season premiere intro music!
Sometimes I wonder why they recap storylines that they aren't even going to bring up...grr... :P
Teaser kill! I don't understand these hunters hunting when they have young children who depend on them...stay home, salt the windows, and get a safer job, dude.
Week One
Week Two
- So, Sam and Dean wear the same clothes for two weeks...and I thought *I* stretched the acceptable wear-time of clothes.
- Also, Sam has a new PLAIN shirt. Fitting for the occasion. I'll be interested to see if he ever wears it again.
- Also - this is heartbreaking. :(
Week 3
- Oh, they changed clothes, well, that's good.
Sam: "Dean, you know, um, I wonder - should we be telling people? People he knew?"
Dean: "How long ago did I give Frank these numbers? It's been a few weeks, right?"
- I kind of feel like Dean jumped straight to revenge, but is partially ignoring the reason WHY he's in revenge mode. Like Cas, it's easier for him not to address the loss directly. He doesn't have a car to fix up this time, so he's going to focus all his energy on killing Dick Roman. And purposefully not addressing his grief over Bobby or dwelling to much in that mind-set of loss.
- I also think that when John died, it must have been Bobby who called his old contacts and let them know.
Sam: "Dean, do you want to call Bobby's people or not?"
Dean: "Why is that our job?"
Sam: "Because who else is going to do it?"
Dean: "I'm not calling anybody. If you want, go right ahead."
Sam: "I don't want to call anybody, you kidding me?"
- Somebody probably should though, you guys. But, I think despite Sam trying to do the right thing here, he's not that much more capable of it than Dean is... he doesn't really want to acknowledge it either.
*Dean finds the flask*
- And so it begins...
Dean: "Who was it?"
Sam: "Just some kid"..."I think maybe a Hunter's kid. I mean, she sounded pretty scared. You know, I have a caller ID maybe we should- Maybe we should go find her, we can check on her."
Dean: "What about Frank?"
Sam: "Dean, I think we should go find this girl first."
Dean: "Sam, Frank's been working on the numbers that Bobby spent his last breath on, and you want to back burner that? Fine, you go check out girl scout, I'll find Frank."
- And here we come to the different ways of grieving for Sam and Dean. Dean is focusing on revenge, whereas Sam is focusing on the idea that maybe he'll feel better if he saves someone else - he couldn't save Bobby, but he can save someone else.
*beer disappears*
Dean: "Thanks for drinking my entire beer."
Sam: "I didn't touch your beer; mine's right there. You probably drank it without noticing."
Dean: "Right."
- And so it REALLY begins, with our first hint that Bobby didn't cross over.
- I really like the way Sam says his line in there though, it's very little brother. :P
Crissy: "So where is he?"
Sam: "Bobby? He's uh...he's...passed away."
- I do like the little things - like for all Sam's trying to be strong, you can tell how much it pains him to say the words outloud. But, at the same time, I think Sam HAS to make Bobby's death REAL by talking about it - it'd probably be detrimental to his thin sanity to pretend that Bobby is on vacation.
I love the dance that Sam and Crissy do, where she doesn't let on that she knows about Hunting and so Sam doesn't either. I love the smile she gives him when he asks her to make him some coffee. I had a feeling she knew then, the first time I watched it.
Ah the showdown with Frank. We find out what happens when Frank believes in Leviathans... it MIGHT not be a good thing. :P
Dean: "They bleed black goo, right - you want to see what I bleed?"
- You know, the Winchesters should have completely scarred up forearms by now.
Dean: "Wait, Dick's got people watching you?"
Frank: "Do I look like I know? You think you think it's easy to see this deep into what's real and also be bipolar with delusional ideation? There's no pill for my situation, sweetiepop. So yeah, best guess, the big mouths are onto me. Next question."
- I really like how Frank isn't just "crazy", he's DIAGNOSED. He KNOWS what he has. He knows what he has an he knows how much more difficult it makes his life.
- Frank would be a great counter-point (or additional point) to Sam's storyline, if they had written this season a touch better. A large part of this season is about mental-illness and being functionally, or not functionally, "crazy." But I think that point gets lost somewhere somehow. Maybe because we just don't see Sam struggling. Is Frank supposed to be a source of hope for Sam or a source of worry? Are we supposed to think that Sam has a future as a Hunter because Frank can do it? I think this would have been a really interesting point to explore, but yet they don't really do it. They bring him in, and they MENTION the crazy, but they've dropped the other thread that they're supposed to be tying this one to.
- Also, I really love all Frank's pet names for Dean. They're adorable.
Frank: "Hey, cut me some slack. You called me like four days ago!"
Dean: "I called you four weeks ago, Frank!"
Frank: "What? No... really? Days, weeks, quit busting my chops!"
- Is Frank me?
Frank: "Look, I'm sorry about Bobby, I really am. This one time we were in Fresno, and we got stuck-"
Dean: "No, no, no! I am not going to play 'this one time with Bobby' crap, I'm not going to get all warm and fuzzy with somebody else, who barely knew him!"
Frank: "Just trying to make friendly conversation."
Dean: "This is not a friendship, Frank. I'm paying you!"
Frank: "Hey, you know what you need? Little LSD, little shiatsu-"
Dean: "I'm out of here."
- This is why I know that they never intended Frank to be a Bobby replacement - Frank says ALL the wrong things. Here's a tip, when someone is grieving (or upset at all), don't 1)say/imply that you know exactly how they feel, 2)suggest that they'll feel better if they indulge in carnal pleasure (ie: you just need to get laid). Both things, whether well intentioned or not, belittle the amount of grief/upset that the person is feeling, which only makes them more upset.
- Also, Dean states outright that he is PAYING Frank for his help. The only reason Frank is helping Dean is for money, not friendship, and not out of the goodness of his heart.
- Also, if Frank is bipolar with delusional ideation, I really don't think he should be doing LSD...but hey, I'm not a health-care professional.
Frank: "...you know what you start to wonder - hey, maybe I'm missing a number!"
Dean: "How do you figure?"
Frank: "I don't know, hey, maybe it's because Bobby was dying of brain trauma!"
- I do love this line, because yeah - the fact that Bobby could remember anything was a miracle.
Dean: "So what do we do?"
Frank: "Stay away! Or, if we're stupid, we go there and set-up surveillance."
- You do have to hand it to Frank though, for all his paranoia, he's willing to put his life a LITTLE bit on the line to solve this puzzle.
Dean: "Now what?"
Frank: "You look horrific, when was the last time you really slept a night?... I'll take first shift, you're no use if you can't even keep your eyes open"
*Dean is asleep*
- This how I picture Dean falling asleep every single night since S4 really. Just going until suddenly he drops unconscious like someone pressed an off switch. I think we've only seen him get undressed to sleep once since 4x01 and that was in a deleted scene. Oh wait, there was the year with Lisa...okay, so he HAS slept normally for a bit anyway, since S4.
Sam: "...be nice if we could get this girl's dad back home to her, you know? Alright, could use your help. Call me."
- And this is what it comes down to for Sam - He couldn't save his own father(s), so he's going to do his best to save someone elses.
Oh Sammy, you've been duped and taken out by two women that must be FREEZING, since I believe they filmed this episode mid-end October when it's only around 8C at night at most (that's ~45F, Americans). :P
Dean: "How long was I out?"
Frank: "About 36 hours."
Dean: "What?! Why didn't you wake me."
Frank: "Not your butler!"
- I do love the time-vortex that Frank's trailer seems to be. Also, it means Frank's been awake for 36 hours because he never woke Dean up for his shift.
- Dean must be starving.
Dean: "What's she doing?"
Frank: "Being a naughty bossy girl."
Dean: "I hate to ask for that in a non-porno version."
- Hehe, I just like this exchange, so sue me.
Frank: "They're surveying, they're getting ready to build something."
Dean: "Build what?"
Frank: "Exactly, what? No idea."
Dean: "Well how do we find out?"
Frank: "We watch. Patience grasshopper."
- See, I think this is where they went wrong. Instead of "figure out the mystery" it became "wait for the mystery to solve itself, while we hunt unrelated things." I know corporate espionage is not very "Supernatural," but they could have at least TRIED to figure out the Wisconsin thing themselves BEFORE it was built. They had enough info - the company that bought it, where it was...etc. They could gone to whatever city the company was headquartered in and done a job there while they tried to break into their offices on the side or something, I don't know. Just SOMETHING a little more proactive then "we watch."
Frank: "Did I mention you look awful."
Dean: "Yes, maybe because someone I cared about just got shot in the head, and this is like shoving a rock up a hill... and screw you!"
- Dean IS breaking down a bit here, and Frank knows it. I think he's probably trying to get him too, maybe for his own selfish reasons of getting Dean off his back and to stop breathing down his neck...but maybe not.
Frank:"Here's my advice you didn't ask for: quit."
- I love that line. I need to remember to use it in my life.
Dean: "What?"
Frank: "Do you want to keep going?"
Dean: "I want Dick Roman on a spit."
- This is interesting, because Dean doesn't actually answer the question. Dean DOESN'T want to keep going. He's tired, all his friends are dead except Sam. And this is especially interesting when it comes to S8, but I'm trying not to put too may S8 spoilers in these rewatches.
Frank: "But you're going to drive yourself into the ground first. Good plan."
Dean: "I'm not going to quit. It's not even an option. I'm not going to walk out on my brother."
- And also interesting...Dean won't abandon Sam, and Sam won't abandon Dean..and yet, maybe they both want out and are just not saying because they're trying not to abandon each other. I know, I know, Dean wants Dick Roman on a spit regardless...but we are in this weird scenario where both of them are clinging to hunting for the sake of the other person.
Frank: "Okay, fine, do what I did..."[...]"No, cupcake, what I did when I was 26 and came home to find my wife and two kids gutted on the floor. Decide to be fine until the end of the week, make yourself smile because you're alive and that's your job, and do it again the next week."
Dean: "So fake it?"
Frank: "I call it being professional. Do it right, with a smile, or don't do it."
- This actually works, fyi. Well, to a degree. I've known it to work.... but I am not a health-care professional and you should never take my advice when it comes to depression. :P
- I also like this point because I think it's the first time Dean sees Frank as a person. A person who, despite doing all the wrong things, actually DOES know what it's like to lose someone.
I think they got the timing on the phone-call scene wrong, because as soon as Sam says "Vitala" Dean is like "NO THAT'S WRONG!" even though Sam hasn't actually gotten to the point where he says the wrong information. Also, maybe Dean should have corrected John's journal? Just an idea...it's not like he's been sitting on it for 8 years or anything...
Dean: "Sam!"
Crissy: "No, who's this?"
Dean: "Who's this!?"
Crissy: "Sam told me to call if I hadn't heard from him."
- Ah, I love Dean's classic "something has happened to Sammy" face.
Lee: "You seem to be handling this very well."
Sam: "Yeah, well, I was out there looking for you. I'm a friend of Bobby Singer's. Crissy called. She's fine. She's just worried about you."
- You know, Sam is not very good at rescuing people...didn't this exact same thing happen in The Benders? :P
Sam: "How many times they fed on you?"
Lee: "Three"
- And the stakes are set. I also like Lee, because he doesn't expect Sam to take the bite for him - he tells Sam everything he knows about the Vitala, fully expecting to not make it further than those few minutes.
Dean: "Where is it?"
Crissy: "You mean everything about the job my dad was working?"
Dean: "Sam said you didn't know."
Crissy: "Sam seemed competent. [...]"
Dean: "Alright, hand it over, okay, I have had a long LONG week."
*Crissy pulls a gun*
Dean: "Alright, I get it, you're a tough kid, but I am trying to get Sam AND your Dad back."
Crissy: "My Dad left, and he didn't come back. SAM left and he didn't come back. I give you the info, you leave and you don't come back."
- As much as I'm not sure about her methods here (Why pull the gun?), I do see where Crissy is coming from. She's facing the possibility of sending an endless stream of hunters to their death. First her father, then Sam, now Dean...I wouldn't want to do it either.
Dean: "I'm coming back."
Crissy: "I'm coming with you."
Dean: "Hell no"
Crissy: "I'm coming, or you're not going."
*Dean smacks the gun out of her hand*
Crissy: "Ow!"
- Heheheh, I just love the way she says Ow. She's not concerned. She knows Dean's not going to hurt her. She knows that he HAS to bring her...but yeah.
Crissy: "One thing doesn't make sense though. My dad's a pretty great hunter, and your brother's the size of a car, so..how'd this thing get them both."
Dean: "Vitala's usually hunt in pairs. Sam and your Dad both assumed it was one thing hunting solo."
Crissy: "Why's they think that?"
Dean: "Because they had the wrong info, or best available. Our Dad took down a loner years ago. Sam has his journal. Your dad must have been going on the same...facts."
Crissy: "And you know different, 'cause?"
Dean: "Because I hunted one that turned out to be two a couple years back."
Crissy: "And you never told Sam! Wow, thanks, why don't you share that with the rest of the class so that we don't all get killed."
Dean: "Sam was away at Stanford, smart ass."
- Oh, this gives us another hunt that Dean did on his lonesome while Sam was at school. We only had one other one of those before - the "voodoo" thing in New Orleans.
- But, here's is also a really good point: DEAN'S KNOWLEDGE IS GREATER THAN OTHER HUNTERS. It's greater than his father's knowledge, and it's at least on par with Bobby's (even though I suspect Bobby had a greater memory for the things he knew). I would love to see more of this in the show - the fact that Sam and Dean have effectively "leveled-up" over the years.
Crissy: "Sam went to college? I thought you said your dad was a hunter."
Dean: "He was! We were. Sam quit and went to college.... you could to you know, go to college, be a Hunter slash pediatrician."
- I love how Dean immediately catches on that Crissy focused in on the "Sam went to college" aspect of what he is saying. And immediately, you see him go into "get this kid out of hunting" mode, which I believe, we last saw in "No Exit" when he tried to persuade Jo to give it up without success.
Sam goading the Vitala is cool. I think he's channelling a bit of Soulless!Sam there. :)
Dean: "You ever actually work with your dad?"
Crissy: "Sure, of course."
Dean: "No, I mean work, not shot cans in the woods."
Crissy: "I mean I help all the time."
Dean: "So no."
- Crissy really is a horrible liar.
Crissy: "Look maybe this was a lot harder for you when you were my age."
- Oh Crissy, you really do not know your audience.
Crissy: "What century is this? No one fist bumps anymore."
Dean: "Come on, give it up! Good work!"
Crissy: "You're a dweeb"
- And I think this is where Crissy actually started to like Dean...and then he immediately pisses her off by handcuffing her to the steering wheel.
Crissy: "Please, they're probably dead."
Dean: "You don't know that."
Crissy: "It's been days, they're just a pile of meat. I've seen it! I watched my mom get torn to shreds. Let me go in there and kill them."
- What's interesting here is that Crissy accepts her loved one is dead even when she has no evidence, whereas Dean is refusing to accept/acknowledge/deal-with a loved one's death even though he has seen it and it is fact. Also, Crissy is ALSO on a mission of revenge. She wants to kill them. It's not about saving her father anymore, because it's been 5+ days and those aren't good odds, she just wants to kill what got him. Another comparison between Crissy and Dean? Well, both of them saw their mother get killed - only, Crissy has lived a more protected life than Dean has - so in a way, Crissy is Dean and Sam rolled into one, because Sam was also protected by John (and Dean) growing up and given a slightly more innocent childhood than Dean had been given.
Crissy: "You're such a hypocrite, how come you get to do it and I don't!"
Dean: "Because I'm the grown-up!"
- And I'm pretty sure they are actually talking about revenge at this point. How come it's okay for Dean to seek revenge but not Crissy? Back in S4 we learned that the path of revenge is a very dark path, after all...so how come Dean gets to do it? Because he knows exactly what mistakes he's making, and he doesn't care.
Okay, now the fight scene. See, it was fine until Crissy came in. I'm not sure where the fault was here - the writing, the directing, the stunt-coordinator? But something went wrong, because we're supposed to believe later that Crissy saved Dean in the fight, yet, Dean wouldn't have needed saving if Crissy hadn't run in and botched things up first.
So, let me fix it - IMAGINE THIS: instead of Crissy running past Dean and the other Vitala grabbing her. Instead, while Dean wrestles with the blond Vitala and raises the knife for the kill, the brunette Vitala gets up and comes at him. Out of nowhere, Crissy jumps the brunette, saving Dean once! The blond vitala throws Dean off her since he is distracted. The brunette turns the tables on Crissy and bam, we pick up at the point where the Vitala's seem to have the upperhand, disarm Dean, and move in for the kill, thus giving Crissy her moment to be a good actress while she has the knife up her sleeve.
It's also a bit weird how Dean seems to go into shock when the Vitala is attacking Lee and Crissy is screaming "Daddy! Dean!"...like, how is that something that triggers a panic/shock/weird-thing? Am I missing some particular trauma of Dean's in the forest that is Dean's trauma?
Crissy: "Bad actress, huh?"
Dean: "Yeah, I take it back."
-Because you made Dean go into shock somehow? Seriously, I DO NOT GET IT.
Dean: "Don't thank us, quit. Your daughter's 14 years old and she's already a hunter with a kill under her belt? I'm not trying to be a dick, but what do you think that does to her lifespan? She could still be a regular kid."
Lee: "You know I got into this for a reason?"
Dean: "I know - your family. That's the same reason you should get out while you still can.
Lee: "No, I can't. You ever known anyone who left the life?"
Dean: "No, they all get killed first."
- Oh man, S8 thoughts...but, kind of promised myself that I wouldn't pull S8 into this rewatch, but, hey, comments are a free-for-all, so you all can still comment with S8 thoughts, okay?
- Dean also knows people who got out and then were dragged back in...Sam, himself, Rufus...
Crissy: "Dean! thanks for saying bye, asshat."
[...]
Dean: "How'd you get out of those cuffs anyway?"
Crissy: "Girl's got to have her secrets."
Dean: "Bobby pin...."
- I love the fact that Dean knows a girl's secret. :P
Dean: "...You know you could have gotten yourself killed."
Crissy: "I saved your bacon."
Dean: "My point stands, but yes."
- She endangered your bacon first though...*goes back and imagines my version of the fight* Okay, fixed. Yes, thank goodness for Crissy.
Crissy: "Looks like I'm retiring..."
- Okay, um, they needed to do that differently too, because the way they've cut this together, it's like Dean and Sam talk to her father and then BAM not even SECONDS later, he's thought it over and changed his mind and told Crissy in time for her to run out and catch Dean before he leaves. So, if you'll allow me: WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE DONE: They should have had the scene with Lee and Dean, WITHOUT Sam. Dean says his piece about Crissy after Lee thanks him, and then Dean says "Alright, well, I gotta go see if they've put a bandaid on Sam yet - see ya" or words to that effect...and then Dean walks out of the room presumably to go find Sam. And then when Dean and Sam leave the building, Dean can be like "took ya long enough" and Sam could be fiddling with his bandage and say "shut-up" or something equally vague - and then TIME HAS PASSED with barely any extra seconds...they could have shaved the extra seconds off the scene with the field in wisconsin, because that was kind of a nothing scene.
Dean: "Yeah? How you feel about that?"
Crissy: "who knows, maybe I'll go to Stanford like Sam."
*fist bump*
Crissy: "We're so lame"
Dean: "Yeah we are. Take care of yourself."
- Like I said, Crissy is Dean and Sam rolled into one. And Sam and Dean have saved her father AND gotten her out of the life, even though they could do neither for themselves.
Sam: "You know what, good for them."
Dean: "Yeah, it's nice to walk away from somewhere and feel like they could be okay..."
- Which is why Sam wanted to take the case in the first place, Dean. He wanted to do something that would remind him that he was still capable of positive things in the world.
Dean: "...how about you? You alright?"
Sam: "No, I'm definitely not. But, uh, you know, but I think maybe, I just want to work... Should I even ask?"
Dean: "I'm fine."
Sam: "Fine meaning?"
Dean: "You're right. We should just, work, right? Figure out a way to kick Dick Roman's ass. We are the professionals."
- Again, WHAT WE SHOULD HAVE HAD: Was Sam be MORE mentally unstable this episode. Maybe the venom messed him up a bit? Maybe it's Bobby's death - we need more of a build to his inevitable break. We have to be DREADING something that we can see coming. It could have been as simple as Sam saying that he thinks the venom messed him up a bit, but he'll be okay, and then he squeezes his hand a little or something.
*Sam turns on the radio and goes to sleep*
- Did he turn on a soft rock station?! Because ADORBS.
*Dean tries not to cry while smiling*
- Jensen does this really well, because he ends up looking horribly miserable with a smile on his face. I'm not sure Dean should be taking mental health advice from a bipolar guy with delusion ideation...though, I guess he might know better than most.
DELETED SCENES
Sam leaving the cabin...rooting through the trunk of Bobby's car. He finds a medallion and a picture of him and Dean from S1, and it is heartbreaking. Though, they weren't at Bobby's very long in S1, so it's kind of a funny picture for him to have.
Crissy and Dean in Sam's motel room. Crissy wants to know their secret code for knowing what hotel room to look for.
Dean: Lately, third motel in the book, pay cash, check in under Bates.
Crissy: Get the room closest to the fire-exit, looks like.
Dean: Not bad.
Sam and Dean leaving the hospital.
Sam: They could still do it - Quit.
Dean: Your bet is on them getting out?
Sam: I don't know, by the time you're in, it's like you can't really pick anymore. Maybe he can still pick for her.
Dean: yeah, that'd be nice, wouldn't it?
- I'm just not sure where they were going with this storyline really...are they trying to say that Sam and Dean each need the other one to "pick for them" and get them out? Is that even an option anymore? Why bring up the fact that Dean wants out - that they're both trapped?
Anyway, that's that!
I should stop posting these in the middle of the night, but it's kind of hard to get them done any other time when I work for a living (I had last week off).
Tune in next time for some time travel and Sheriff Jody Mills! (I need a Jody Mills icon.)
Oh, mid-season premiere intro music!
Sometimes I wonder why they recap storylines that they aren't even going to bring up...grr... :P
Teaser kill! I don't understand these hunters hunting when they have young children who depend on them...stay home, salt the windows, and get a safer job, dude.
Week One
Week Two
- So, Sam and Dean wear the same clothes for two weeks...and I thought *I* stretched the acceptable wear-time of clothes.
- Also, Sam has a new PLAIN shirt. Fitting for the occasion. I'll be interested to see if he ever wears it again.
- Also - this is heartbreaking. :(
Week 3
- Oh, they changed clothes, well, that's good.
Sam: "Dean, you know, um, I wonder - should we be telling people? People he knew?"
Dean: "How long ago did I give Frank these numbers? It's been a few weeks, right?"
- I kind of feel like Dean jumped straight to revenge, but is partially ignoring the reason WHY he's in revenge mode. Like Cas, it's easier for him not to address the loss directly. He doesn't have a car to fix up this time, so he's going to focus all his energy on killing Dick Roman. And purposefully not addressing his grief over Bobby or dwelling to much in that mind-set of loss.
- I also think that when John died, it must have been Bobby who called his old contacts and let them know.
Sam: "Dean, do you want to call Bobby's people or not?"
Dean: "Why is that our job?"
Sam: "Because who else is going to do it?"
Dean: "I'm not calling anybody. If you want, go right ahead."
Sam: "I don't want to call anybody, you kidding me?"
- Somebody probably should though, you guys. But, I think despite Sam trying to do the right thing here, he's not that much more capable of it than Dean is... he doesn't really want to acknowledge it either.
*Dean finds the flask*
- And so it begins...
Dean: "Who was it?"
Sam: "Just some kid"..."I think maybe a Hunter's kid. I mean, she sounded pretty scared. You know, I have a caller ID maybe we should- Maybe we should go find her, we can check on her."
Dean: "What about Frank?"
Sam: "Dean, I think we should go find this girl first."
Dean: "Sam, Frank's been working on the numbers that Bobby spent his last breath on, and you want to back burner that? Fine, you go check out girl scout, I'll find Frank."
- And here we come to the different ways of grieving for Sam and Dean. Dean is focusing on revenge, whereas Sam is focusing on the idea that maybe he'll feel better if he saves someone else - he couldn't save Bobby, but he can save someone else.
*beer disappears*
Dean: "Thanks for drinking my entire beer."
Sam: "I didn't touch your beer; mine's right there. You probably drank it without noticing."
Dean: "Right."
- And so it REALLY begins, with our first hint that Bobby didn't cross over.
- I really like the way Sam says his line in there though, it's very little brother. :P
Crissy: "So where is he?"
Sam: "Bobby? He's uh...he's...passed away."
- I do like the little things - like for all Sam's trying to be strong, you can tell how much it pains him to say the words outloud. But, at the same time, I think Sam HAS to make Bobby's death REAL by talking about it - it'd probably be detrimental to his thin sanity to pretend that Bobby is on vacation.
I love the dance that Sam and Crissy do, where she doesn't let on that she knows about Hunting and so Sam doesn't either. I love the smile she gives him when he asks her to make him some coffee. I had a feeling she knew then, the first time I watched it.
Ah the showdown with Frank. We find out what happens when Frank believes in Leviathans... it MIGHT not be a good thing. :P
Dean: "They bleed black goo, right - you want to see what I bleed?"
- You know, the Winchesters should have completely scarred up forearms by now.
Dean: "Wait, Dick's got people watching you?"
Frank: "Do I look like I know? You think you think it's easy to see this deep into what's real and also be bipolar with delusional ideation? There's no pill for my situation, sweetiepop. So yeah, best guess, the big mouths are onto me. Next question."
- I really like how Frank isn't just "crazy", he's DIAGNOSED. He KNOWS what he has. He knows what he has an he knows how much more difficult it makes his life.
- Frank would be a great counter-point (or additional point) to Sam's storyline, if they had written this season a touch better. A large part of this season is about mental-illness and being functionally, or not functionally, "crazy." But I think that point gets lost somewhere somehow. Maybe because we just don't see Sam struggling. Is Frank supposed to be a source of hope for Sam or a source of worry? Are we supposed to think that Sam has a future as a Hunter because Frank can do it? I think this would have been a really interesting point to explore, but yet they don't really do it. They bring him in, and they MENTION the crazy, but they've dropped the other thread that they're supposed to be tying this one to.
- Also, I really love all Frank's pet names for Dean. They're adorable.
Frank: "Hey, cut me some slack. You called me like four days ago!"
Dean: "I called you four weeks ago, Frank!"
Frank: "What? No... really? Days, weeks, quit busting my chops!"
- Is Frank me?
Frank: "Look, I'm sorry about Bobby, I really am. This one time we were in Fresno, and we got stuck-"
Dean: "No, no, no! I am not going to play 'this one time with Bobby' crap, I'm not going to get all warm and fuzzy with somebody else, who barely knew him!"
Frank: "Just trying to make friendly conversation."
Dean: "This is not a friendship, Frank. I'm paying you!"
Frank: "Hey, you know what you need? Little LSD, little shiatsu-"
Dean: "I'm out of here."
- This is why I know that they never intended Frank to be a Bobby replacement - Frank says ALL the wrong things. Here's a tip, when someone is grieving (or upset at all), don't 1)say/imply that you know exactly how they feel, 2)suggest that they'll feel better if they indulge in carnal pleasure (ie: you just need to get laid). Both things, whether well intentioned or not, belittle the amount of grief/upset that the person is feeling, which only makes them more upset.
- Also, Dean states outright that he is PAYING Frank for his help. The only reason Frank is helping Dean is for money, not friendship, and not out of the goodness of his heart.
- Also, if Frank is bipolar with delusional ideation, I really don't think he should be doing LSD...but hey, I'm not a health-care professional.
Frank: "...you know what you start to wonder - hey, maybe I'm missing a number!"
Dean: "How do you figure?"
Frank: "I don't know, hey, maybe it's because Bobby was dying of brain trauma!"
- I do love this line, because yeah - the fact that Bobby could remember anything was a miracle.
Dean: "So what do we do?"
Frank: "Stay away! Or, if we're stupid, we go there and set-up surveillance."
- You do have to hand it to Frank though, for all his paranoia, he's willing to put his life a LITTLE bit on the line to solve this puzzle.
Dean: "Now what?"
Frank: "You look horrific, when was the last time you really slept a night?... I'll take first shift, you're no use if you can't even keep your eyes open"
*Dean is asleep*
- This how I picture Dean falling asleep every single night since S4 really. Just going until suddenly he drops unconscious like someone pressed an off switch. I think we've only seen him get undressed to sleep once since 4x01 and that was in a deleted scene. Oh wait, there was the year with Lisa...okay, so he HAS slept normally for a bit anyway, since S4.
Sam: "...be nice if we could get this girl's dad back home to her, you know? Alright, could use your help. Call me."
- And this is what it comes down to for Sam - He couldn't save his own father(s), so he's going to do his best to save someone elses.
Oh Sammy, you've been duped and taken out by two women that must be FREEZING, since I believe they filmed this episode mid-end October when it's only around 8C at night at most (that's ~45F, Americans). :P
Dean: "How long was I out?"
Frank: "About 36 hours."
Dean: "What?! Why didn't you wake me."
Frank: "Not your butler!"
- I do love the time-vortex that Frank's trailer seems to be. Also, it means Frank's been awake for 36 hours because he never woke Dean up for his shift.
- Dean must be starving.
Dean: "What's she doing?"
Frank: "Being a naughty bossy girl."
Dean: "I hate to ask for that in a non-porno version."
- Hehe, I just like this exchange, so sue me.
Frank: "They're surveying, they're getting ready to build something."
Dean: "Build what?"
Frank: "Exactly, what? No idea."
Dean: "Well how do we find out?"
Frank: "We watch. Patience grasshopper."
- See, I think this is where they went wrong. Instead of "figure out the mystery" it became "wait for the mystery to solve itself, while we hunt unrelated things." I know corporate espionage is not very "Supernatural," but they could have at least TRIED to figure out the Wisconsin thing themselves BEFORE it was built. They had enough info - the company that bought it, where it was...etc. They could gone to whatever city the company was headquartered in and done a job there while they tried to break into their offices on the side or something, I don't know. Just SOMETHING a little more proactive then "we watch."
Frank: "Did I mention you look awful."
Dean: "Yes, maybe because someone I cared about just got shot in the head, and this is like shoving a rock up a hill... and screw you!"
- Dean IS breaking down a bit here, and Frank knows it. I think he's probably trying to get him too, maybe for his own selfish reasons of getting Dean off his back and to stop breathing down his neck...but maybe not.
Frank:"Here's my advice you didn't ask for: quit."
- I love that line. I need to remember to use it in my life.
Dean: "What?"
Frank: "Do you want to keep going?"
Dean: "I want Dick Roman on a spit."
- This is interesting, because Dean doesn't actually answer the question. Dean DOESN'T want to keep going. He's tired, all his friends are dead except Sam. And this is especially interesting when it comes to S8, but I'm trying not to put too may S8 spoilers in these rewatches.
Frank: "But you're going to drive yourself into the ground first. Good plan."
Dean: "I'm not going to quit. It's not even an option. I'm not going to walk out on my brother."
- And also interesting...Dean won't abandon Sam, and Sam won't abandon Dean..and yet, maybe they both want out and are just not saying because they're trying not to abandon each other. I know, I know, Dean wants Dick Roman on a spit regardless...but we are in this weird scenario where both of them are clinging to hunting for the sake of the other person.
Frank: "Okay, fine, do what I did..."[...]"No, cupcake, what I did when I was 26 and came home to find my wife and two kids gutted on the floor. Decide to be fine until the end of the week, make yourself smile because you're alive and that's your job, and do it again the next week."
Dean: "So fake it?"
Frank: "I call it being professional. Do it right, with a smile, or don't do it."
- This actually works, fyi. Well, to a degree. I've known it to work.... but I am not a health-care professional and you should never take my advice when it comes to depression. :P
- I also like this point because I think it's the first time Dean sees Frank as a person. A person who, despite doing all the wrong things, actually DOES know what it's like to lose someone.
I think they got the timing on the phone-call scene wrong, because as soon as Sam says "Vitala" Dean is like "NO THAT'S WRONG!" even though Sam hasn't actually gotten to the point where he says the wrong information. Also, maybe Dean should have corrected John's journal? Just an idea...it's not like he's been sitting on it for 8 years or anything...
Dean: "Sam!"
Crissy: "No, who's this?"
Dean: "Who's this!?"
Crissy: "Sam told me to call if I hadn't heard from him."
- Ah, I love Dean's classic "something has happened to Sammy" face.
Lee: "You seem to be handling this very well."
Sam: "Yeah, well, I was out there looking for you. I'm a friend of Bobby Singer's. Crissy called. She's fine. She's just worried about you."
- You know, Sam is not very good at rescuing people...didn't this exact same thing happen in The Benders? :P
Sam: "How many times they fed on you?"
Lee: "Three"
- And the stakes are set. I also like Lee, because he doesn't expect Sam to take the bite for him - he tells Sam everything he knows about the Vitala, fully expecting to not make it further than those few minutes.
Dean: "Where is it?"
Crissy: "You mean everything about the job my dad was working?"
Dean: "Sam said you didn't know."
Crissy: "Sam seemed competent. [...]"
Dean: "Alright, hand it over, okay, I have had a long LONG week."
*Crissy pulls a gun*
Dean: "Alright, I get it, you're a tough kid, but I am trying to get Sam AND your Dad back."
Crissy: "My Dad left, and he didn't come back. SAM left and he didn't come back. I give you the info, you leave and you don't come back."
- As much as I'm not sure about her methods here (Why pull the gun?), I do see where Crissy is coming from. She's facing the possibility of sending an endless stream of hunters to their death. First her father, then Sam, now Dean...I wouldn't want to do it either.
Dean: "I'm coming back."
Crissy: "I'm coming with you."
Dean: "Hell no"
Crissy: "I'm coming, or you're not going."
*Dean smacks the gun out of her hand*
Crissy: "Ow!"
- Heheheh, I just love the way she says Ow. She's not concerned. She knows Dean's not going to hurt her. She knows that he HAS to bring her...but yeah.
Crissy: "One thing doesn't make sense though. My dad's a pretty great hunter, and your brother's the size of a car, so..how'd this thing get them both."
Dean: "Vitala's usually hunt in pairs. Sam and your Dad both assumed it was one thing hunting solo."
Crissy: "Why's they think that?"
Dean: "Because they had the wrong info, or best available. Our Dad took down a loner years ago. Sam has his journal. Your dad must have been going on the same...facts."
Crissy: "And you know different, 'cause?"
Dean: "Because I hunted one that turned out to be two a couple years back."
Crissy: "And you never told Sam! Wow, thanks, why don't you share that with the rest of the class so that we don't all get killed."
Dean: "Sam was away at Stanford, smart ass."
- Oh, this gives us another hunt that Dean did on his lonesome while Sam was at school. We only had one other one of those before - the "voodoo" thing in New Orleans.
- But, here's is also a really good point: DEAN'S KNOWLEDGE IS GREATER THAN OTHER HUNTERS. It's greater than his father's knowledge, and it's at least on par with Bobby's (even though I suspect Bobby had a greater memory for the things he knew). I would love to see more of this in the show - the fact that Sam and Dean have effectively "leveled-up" over the years.
Crissy: "Sam went to college? I thought you said your dad was a hunter."
Dean: "He was! We were. Sam quit and went to college.... you could to you know, go to college, be a Hunter slash pediatrician."
- I love how Dean immediately catches on that Crissy focused in on the "Sam went to college" aspect of what he is saying. And immediately, you see him go into "get this kid out of hunting" mode, which I believe, we last saw in "No Exit" when he tried to persuade Jo to give it up without success.
Sam goading the Vitala is cool. I think he's channelling a bit of Soulless!Sam there. :)
Dean: "You ever actually work with your dad?"
Crissy: "Sure, of course."
Dean: "No, I mean work, not shot cans in the woods."
Crissy: "I mean I help all the time."
Dean: "So no."
- Crissy really is a horrible liar.
Crissy: "Look maybe this was a lot harder for you when you were my age."
- Oh Crissy, you really do not know your audience.
Crissy: "What century is this? No one fist bumps anymore."
Dean: "Come on, give it up! Good work!"
Crissy: "You're a dweeb"
- And I think this is where Crissy actually started to like Dean...and then he immediately pisses her off by handcuffing her to the steering wheel.
Crissy: "Please, they're probably dead."
Dean: "You don't know that."
Crissy: "It's been days, they're just a pile of meat. I've seen it! I watched my mom get torn to shreds. Let me go in there and kill them."
- What's interesting here is that Crissy accepts her loved one is dead even when she has no evidence, whereas Dean is refusing to accept/acknowledge/deal-with a loved one's death even though he has seen it and it is fact. Also, Crissy is ALSO on a mission of revenge. She wants to kill them. It's not about saving her father anymore, because it's been 5+ days and those aren't good odds, she just wants to kill what got him. Another comparison between Crissy and Dean? Well, both of them saw their mother get killed - only, Crissy has lived a more protected life than Dean has - so in a way, Crissy is Dean and Sam rolled into one, because Sam was also protected by John (and Dean) growing up and given a slightly more innocent childhood than Dean had been given.
Crissy: "You're such a hypocrite, how come you get to do it and I don't!"
Dean: "Because I'm the grown-up!"
- And I'm pretty sure they are actually talking about revenge at this point. How come it's okay for Dean to seek revenge but not Crissy? Back in S4 we learned that the path of revenge is a very dark path, after all...so how come Dean gets to do it? Because he knows exactly what mistakes he's making, and he doesn't care.
Okay, now the fight scene. See, it was fine until Crissy came in. I'm not sure where the fault was here - the writing, the directing, the stunt-coordinator? But something went wrong, because we're supposed to believe later that Crissy saved Dean in the fight, yet, Dean wouldn't have needed saving if Crissy hadn't run in and botched things up first.
So, let me fix it - IMAGINE THIS: instead of Crissy running past Dean and the other Vitala grabbing her. Instead, while Dean wrestles with the blond Vitala and raises the knife for the kill, the brunette Vitala gets up and comes at him. Out of nowhere, Crissy jumps the brunette, saving Dean once! The blond vitala throws Dean off her since he is distracted. The brunette turns the tables on Crissy and bam, we pick up at the point where the Vitala's seem to have the upperhand, disarm Dean, and move in for the kill, thus giving Crissy her moment to be a good actress while she has the knife up her sleeve.
It's also a bit weird how Dean seems to go into shock when the Vitala is attacking Lee and Crissy is screaming "Daddy! Dean!"...like, how is that something that triggers a panic/shock/weird-thing? Am I missing some particular trauma of Dean's in the forest that is Dean's trauma?
Crissy: "Bad actress, huh?"
Dean: "Yeah, I take it back."
-Because you made Dean go into shock somehow? Seriously, I DO NOT GET IT.
Dean: "Don't thank us, quit. Your daughter's 14 years old and she's already a hunter with a kill under her belt? I'm not trying to be a dick, but what do you think that does to her lifespan? She could still be a regular kid."
Lee: "You know I got into this for a reason?"
Dean: "I know - your family. That's the same reason you should get out while you still can.
Lee: "No, I can't. You ever known anyone who left the life?"
Dean: "No, they all get killed first."
- Oh man, S8 thoughts...but, kind of promised myself that I wouldn't pull S8 into this rewatch, but, hey, comments are a free-for-all, so you all can still comment with S8 thoughts, okay?
- Dean also knows people who got out and then were dragged back in...Sam, himself, Rufus...
Crissy: "Dean! thanks for saying bye, asshat."
[...]
Dean: "How'd you get out of those cuffs anyway?"
Crissy: "Girl's got to have her secrets."
Dean: "Bobby pin...."
- I love the fact that Dean knows a girl's secret. :P
Dean: "...You know you could have gotten yourself killed."
Crissy: "I saved your bacon."
Dean: "My point stands, but yes."
- She endangered your bacon first though...*goes back and imagines my version of the fight* Okay, fixed. Yes, thank goodness for Crissy.
Crissy: "Looks like I'm retiring..."
- Okay, um, they needed to do that differently too, because the way they've cut this together, it's like Dean and Sam talk to her father and then BAM not even SECONDS later, he's thought it over and changed his mind and told Crissy in time for her to run out and catch Dean before he leaves. So, if you'll allow me: WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE DONE: They should have had the scene with Lee and Dean, WITHOUT Sam. Dean says his piece about Crissy after Lee thanks him, and then Dean says "Alright, well, I gotta go see if they've put a bandaid on Sam yet - see ya" or words to that effect...and then Dean walks out of the room presumably to go find Sam. And then when Dean and Sam leave the building, Dean can be like "took ya long enough" and Sam could be fiddling with his bandage and say "shut-up" or something equally vague - and then TIME HAS PASSED with barely any extra seconds...they could have shaved the extra seconds off the scene with the field in wisconsin, because that was kind of a nothing scene.
Dean: "Yeah? How you feel about that?"
Crissy: "who knows, maybe I'll go to Stanford like Sam."
*fist bump*
Crissy: "We're so lame"
Dean: "Yeah we are. Take care of yourself."
- Like I said, Crissy is Dean and Sam rolled into one. And Sam and Dean have saved her father AND gotten her out of the life, even though they could do neither for themselves.
Sam: "You know what, good for them."
Dean: "Yeah, it's nice to walk away from somewhere and feel like they could be okay..."
- Which is why Sam wanted to take the case in the first place, Dean. He wanted to do something that would remind him that he was still capable of positive things in the world.
Dean: "...how about you? You alright?"
Sam: "No, I'm definitely not. But, uh, you know, but I think maybe, I just want to work... Should I even ask?"
Dean: "I'm fine."
Sam: "Fine meaning?"
Dean: "You're right. We should just, work, right? Figure out a way to kick Dick Roman's ass. We are the professionals."
- Again, WHAT WE SHOULD HAVE HAD: Was Sam be MORE mentally unstable this episode. Maybe the venom messed him up a bit? Maybe it's Bobby's death - we need more of a build to his inevitable break. We have to be DREADING something that we can see coming. It could have been as simple as Sam saying that he thinks the venom messed him up a bit, but he'll be okay, and then he squeezes his hand a little or something.
*Sam turns on the radio and goes to sleep*
- Did he turn on a soft rock station?! Because ADORBS.
*Dean tries not to cry while smiling*
- Jensen does this really well, because he ends up looking horribly miserable with a smile on his face. I'm not sure Dean should be taking mental health advice from a bipolar guy with delusion ideation...though, I guess he might know better than most.
DELETED SCENES
Sam leaving the cabin...rooting through the trunk of Bobby's car. He finds a medallion and a picture of him and Dean from S1, and it is heartbreaking. Though, they weren't at Bobby's very long in S1, so it's kind of a funny picture for him to have.
Crissy and Dean in Sam's motel room. Crissy wants to know their secret code for knowing what hotel room to look for.
Dean: Lately, third motel in the book, pay cash, check in under Bates.
Crissy: Get the room closest to the fire-exit, looks like.
Dean: Not bad.
Sam and Dean leaving the hospital.
Sam: They could still do it - Quit.
Dean: Your bet is on them getting out?
Sam: I don't know, by the time you're in, it's like you can't really pick anymore. Maybe he can still pick for her.
Dean: yeah, that'd be nice, wouldn't it?
- I'm just not sure where they were going with this storyline really...are they trying to say that Sam and Dean each need the other one to "pick for them" and get them out? Is that even an option anymore? Why bring up the fact that Dean wants out - that they're both trapped?
Anyway, that's that!
I should stop posting these in the middle of the night, but it's kind of hard to get them done any other time when I work for a living (I had last week off).
Tune in next time for some time travel and Sheriff Jody Mills! (I need a Jody Mills icon.)