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meg_tdjYou know why this episode hurts to watch now every bit as much as it did 3 years ago? Because nothing has been the same for Sam and Dean ever since. Even after all they'd been through leading up to this, it's like this was the point when they lost their innocence and their hope, you know? Those few short moments at the beginning of 2x21's teaser was the last interaction Sam and Dean had before everything fell apart. It's so dang tragic! Which is why I love these episodes to death.
I believe my original reaction post for this episode went something along the lines of "OH MY GOSH THEY KILLED MY SAM!!!!!!!!!" And that was pretty much the extent of my insight, LOL. I did NOT see that coming, and I was in agony that entire week. And yet I couldn't stop watching the death scene a million times over, because it was the best dang death scene I had ever seen. Still is, actually. It came out of nowhere, that knife ripped and tore through Sam's back, and then it was over. And Dean was left trying to cling to his brother's body and be in denial about the whole thing until he just... lost it. Maaaaan. Nothing will ever top that for me. That scene deserved some kind of award, seriously.
I LOVED the psychic-kid storyline, and this was an awesome way to lay it to rest. Loved seeing Ava and Andy again, and I totally didn't call Ava being the bad guy AT ALL, so that was a great surprise. I actually liked Jake at first and the friendship that sprang up between him and Sam as they tried to keep a brave face on for the others. Gah! Stupid Jake! Why couldn't you have stayed awesome like that??
Not to mention Ava. I always wonder whether she was genuinely upset over her fiance's death or if it was all an act. Ah, Ava. I loved you so. *sigh*
Poor, poor Roadhouse. But at least it went to heaven. :P
It bugs me a little bit when YED says Sam's nursery should look familiar. He was 6 months old, for goodness' sake! :P They did recreate that scene really well, though. And there's sooooo much foreshadow... like Sam saying "Does this mean I have demon blood in me?" and YED saying nothing, just chuckling to himself like he was thinking, "You don't know the half of it, kid." AUGH!!
Mary's "It's you" had fandom in a whirl for over a year. That was awesome. :D
Sam put up a darn good fight against a dude with superhuman strength! *sniffle*
Excerpt from the season 2 Companion -
"I loved killing Sam," enthuses Gamble. "That was a really fun scene to write. I went from office to office saying, 'I killed Sam Winchester, everyone can go home now!'" Gamble also took a scary amount of pleasure in demonstrating the effects of Jake's supernatural strength. "The challenge of the scene was that if somebody like that punches you, he shatters your bones. Sam was going to die at the end of the fight anyway, so you might as well break every bone in his body."
She's an evil, evil woman. :P
Randomness -
*I'm never sure if it was intentional or a genuine reaction from the actress, but it always cracks me up that Ava jumps when Sam bellows for Lily. Heehee!
*Ever notice that Sam sniffs and makes a face when YED brushes past him? My first thought is always "Sulphur!" ;)
*The whole "Andy's brother what's-his-name" joke never gets old.
Fave scenes - Sam and Andy contacting Dean, and of course, the best death scene ever.
Quotes -
Dean: Don't forget the extra onions this time, huh?
Sam: Dude, I'm the one who's gonna have to ride in the car with your extra onions.
Dean: *smiles* Hey, see if they got any pie.
Sam: *rolls eyes, slams car door*
Dean: Bring me some pie! Love me some pie.
Andy: What are you doing here?
Sam: I don't know.
Andy: What am I doing here??
Sam: I don't know, just...
Andy: Where are we???
Sam: Andy, look, calm down.
Andy: I can't calm down! I've just woke up in freaking Frontier Land!
Andy: *waves with hand in coat pocket* Hey. Andy. Also freaking out.
Jake: Well, if it makes you feel any better, I went to sleep last night in Afghanistan.
Andy: Oh, but get this, um, I've been practicing, training my brain like meditation, right? So now, it's not just thoughts I can beam out, but images, too. Like, anything I want, it's like BAM, people they see it. This one guy I know? Total dick. I used it on him - gay porn, all hours of the day. *laughing* It's just like... you shoulda seen the look on his face!
Dean: How are we supposed to look for Sam? What, do we just close our eyes and point?
Jake: So, we're soldiers in a demon war to bring on the apocalypse?
Sam: Well, when you put it like that...
Ava: Sam, I'm sorry, psychics and spoon bending is one thing, but demons?
Sam: Look, I know it sounds crazy...
Jake: It doesn't just sound it.
Sam: Andy, you with me or what?
Andy: Give me a minute? I'm still working through "demons are real."
(I love that this exchange is an echo of the scene from Simon Said where he found out he had an evil twin, hee!)
Sam: I think I know where we are now - Cold Oak, South Dakota. A town so haunted, every single resident fled.
Ava: Swell. Good to know we're somewhere so historical!
Jake: Salt is a weapon?
Sam: It's a brave new world.
Andy: Well hopefully there's food in your world, cause I'm freakin' starving.
Ava: Don't worry, I'm fine. Except for every single thing that's happening, heh.
Andy: D. Hasselhoff?
Sam: Yeah, that's, that's Dean's signature.
*pause, Andy tries not to laugh*
Sam: It's hard to explain.
Dean: Whoo. That was about as fun as getting kicked in the jewels.
Ava: My horoscope said I shouldn't have gotten out of bed.
YED: Welcome to the Miss America Pageant.
YED: Sam. Sammy... you're my favourite.
Sam: You killed them? All of them?
Ava: I'm the undefeated heavyweight champ.
Sam: Oh my God.
Ava: Don't think God has much to do with this, Sam.
-----
Took notes on the commentary, which was done by Kripke, Sera, and Bob Singer...
They joked that the cafe in the teaser was the smallest cafe in the world, heh. They built the whole thing and tore it down the next day. They joked about the "monsoon" that week creating a moat around it -
Kripke: Most diners have moats. That's the thing I like about diners. If you want a burger, you gotta earn it.
The town they filmed in was built 10 years earlier for a TV series and was just abandoned afterwards. In the script the whole episode was supposed to take place in an abandoned orphanage or something, but they'd been sent pictures of this town because it was already built and would be free to use, so they went with that instead.
Because of the "monsoon", it was hard to get in and out of this place on the dirt road, so they almost resorted to helicopters. When they finally got in and started filming, they were worried they wouldn't be able to get out again.
Lily was originally 2 characters - a guy named Alex who kills by touching people, and a girl named Lily who was telephathic and was the one who contacted Dean. They felt there were too many people.
They all praised Aldis Hodge (Jake). Sera felt he could have had his own show as Jake. It was Raelle's idea to make him a soldier.
Ash's watch was supposed to be a calculator watch, and Sera was disappointed that it wasn't. Bob went with the most distinctive watch he was brought.
There's a real legend about a town so haunted that everyone either died or left, called Dudleytown. They mentioned it in the episode but it was edited out.
The "I will not kill" chalkboard was flipped around from the blank side when the camera panned away, so that scene could all be done in one shot.
They talked for a while about Kripke and Bob's different ways of rejecting an idea. Kripke goes for the "compliment sandwich" - "I loved it! Let's change every single thing! But I loved it!" while Bob comes in and says "Uh, so that sucked."
Sera: The more compliments Eric gives, the worse it is.
(Kripke cracked up so hard over that comment, LOL.)
They praised Sera for being the kind of writer who takes criticism well and comes back with a better product, which is why she's their favourite writer on the show.
Kripke was "so over this freaking Roadhouse!" He felt it didn't work at all. He hated all the hunters in the background cleaning their guns. He loved that they burned it down.
Lily was supposed to be hung from the bell, making it ring, but Bob liked the visual of her being hung from the windmill better. Kripke and Sera complained about the lack of blood and gore in her death, and between them they came to the conclusion that she should have been hung by her intestines rather than rope. *shakes head* I worry about those two.
Bob said Katie (Ava) was a joy to work with.
In the "D. Hasselhoff" scene it's all one camera angle because it was shot at night, and any other angle would have shown that. Bob told the actors to talk fast so the scene wouldn't take up much time, but Bob HATES that shot. He hates having both actors in a single frame.
Jim Beaver, Kripke declared, is "to good to kill!" Yay! He wanted Bobby to be "the boys' surrogate father, I love the guy so much."
Dean's original line when he had the vision was "I'm not a freakin' psychic!" but they felt that sounded too harsh on Sam, so it was changed to "I'm not some psychic."
Sera has a trick for writing male characters - the more out-there the subject matter is, the less they say, and the more their sentences trail off. Bob says she has a natural penchant for making what a character doesn't say equally as important as what they do say. Kripke also loves her funny lines.
Sera loves geeky characters the best. She adored Andy and his van and "weird books."
It was Bob's idea for Ava to be the bad guy, to twist the most sympathetic character like that.
Sera loves evil!Sam, especially when he was on the verge of "raping Jo" (in BUABS).
They'd already established that YED chooses a new dude to possess everywhere he goes, but they loved Fred Lane so much they just said he'd been riding the janitor around all year.
Kripke let Sera have the "Miss America Pageant" line for her episode, but told her she "can't call it American Idol, I get that line."
Bob talked about Fred being blind with the yellow contacts.
Kripke was terrified of Sam's dream sequence, answering so many questions and giving a peek behind the curtain, because he was afraid people would think it didn't live up to the anticipation. Sera was also worried about writing it, trying not to make anything that's ever been said before sound like crap.
Sera laughed over Sam emoting with stuffed animals behind his head. ;)
The baby wouldn't stop crying, which Kripke found hilarious - "It's so funny that we have a job that's like, okay, we're gonna drip all this fake blood in a baby's mouth. Dammit, the baby won't do it!" They also had trouble finding a substance that would look like blood but would be safe for the baby to drink.
They originally wanted to keep the psychic kids alive longer, but Kripke wasn't impressed by the psychic kid eps, they weren't as scary and cool as "monsters," so they accelerated the storyline. He felt it worked best as a season arc rather than stretching it out and was glad they'd done that.
Sera is baffled by people who read spoilers. She can't understand it, because it would make the show suck if you knew what was going to happen before seeing it for yourself. Thank you, Sera! My thoughts exactly. :P
Sera praised the beauty of J&J. She gets fanmail when she disrobes them, apparently.
The shot when Sam sinks to his knees after being stabbed was an homage to Platoon. They write things like that into the script - "And then we go into the moment from Platoon!" The most random one was Footloose, in Hookman.
To Sera, the third character in the show is the brothers' relationship. They love doing something to one brother and leaving the camera on the other for their reaction.
-----
For Part 2, nothing sums it up better than Loki's Two Twenty-Two, Dean's monologue set to gorgeous music with a montage of wee!chester clips illustrating his words. Most beautiful vid ever.
I think this was my favourite use of Carry On My Wayward Son in the Road So Far recaps. Ending on Dean's scream like that, then cutting to him standing over Sam's dead body? Guh! So perfect.
Poor, sweet Bobby, so worried about Dean and silently taking the brunt of his anger. *sniffle* And Jensen knocked this entire episode out of the park yet again. When Bobby says Dean shouldn't be alone, the look on Dean's face is screaming "I AM alone!!" You can FEEL it. So heartbreaking. And Dean's entire monologue over Sam's dead body, ending with the most heartwrenching cry ever - "WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!" *cries* Btw, I love the hard, twisted music that plays while he's rushing to the crossroads. Made that scene even more intense.
We already had YED comparing the psychic kids thing to the Miss America Pageant, then in this ep it was American Idol, hahaha! Yeeeeah... why WERE they all American? :P
It's never said in the show, but according to Kripke the deal was struck (and consequently Dean was killed) on May 2, Sam's birthday.
I love that Sam almost saw through the you-were-just-injured thing until Dean said that Bobby was the one who patched him up. Because Bobby can do ANYTHING, dude. Who wouldn't believe that?? ;)
Sam had tears in his eyes when Dean told him about Ash and Ellen. I wish we'd seen his reunion with Ellen as well as Dean's. I've always loved their mother/son vibe.
How awesome was the junkyard scene?? Poor Bobby, having to act all cool around Sam like nothing was wrong, and then casually inviting Dean to join him outside... ohhhh, Dean knew he was in serious trouble, heh. That scene was so perfect. But when Bobby said, "Have you got that low an opinion of yourself? Are you that screwed in the head??" I always shout, "Uh, YES." Because he totally does/is.
I miss the YED and his hilarious lines. *sigh*
EVIL!SAM. For really real this time, it seemed. I love love love the scene where he and Jake face off. I mean, dude, Sam shoots him 4 times in the back, smirks for a while letting Jake drown in his own blood and plead for his life, then shoots him 3 more times. WHAAAAT?!?! That was AWESOME. And closely followed by the "not 100% Sam" line caused much panic in the following hiatus.
All hell literally breaking loose was pretty awesome, too. I love the little exchange between Bobby and Ellen - "Bobby, what is it?" "It's Hell." Ha! What a great answer to that question. ;)
John climbing out of Hell just felt so RIGHT. He got to have his revenge on YED after all, yay! I wish he'd said something to the boys, though. It was a gorgeous goodbye (in spite of the obvious green screen), but dangit, John, SAY SOMETHING. :P
Yet another perfect scene - when Sam confronts Dean about making the deal. Poor Sam, after seeing what John's deal did to Dean, now he found himself in the same position. And the look on Dean's face when Sam gave his speech about it being his turn to save his big brother... I don't think Dean had ever known that Sam felt the same way about Dean as Dean feels for Sam, you know? They mutually have each other's backs, but Dean has never seen it that way. It's like it dawned on him for the first time right then. And he also probably felt it was proof that the YED was lying when he hinted that Sam wasn't himself anymore. It was probably a relief to see him get all teary-eyed and saying he was going to save his big brother, even though Dean knew it would be futile to try. At least Sam WANTED to try.
I love that they recreated the final scene from the pilot, only in reverse. That was awesome. They didn't know at that point whether they would be picked up for a third season, and I always think that would have been a perfect note to end the show on if it hadn't come back. But I'm soooooo glad it did come back! And it just gets better and better. :)
Randomness -
*I love Dean's purple-checkered shirt. He always wears it when there's loads of Winchester angst going on.
*I always feel bad for those poor women in their dinky dresses standing out on a muddy road in the middle of a cold, wet, Vancouver night. You'd think they'd at least give them sleeves or something, you know?
*You know something isn't right with Sam when you see him eating. Be afraid. Be very afraid. ;)
*My favourite shot of the whole episode is when Sam looms over Bobby's table resting on his knuckles. I can't even explain why. He just looks so massive, I love it. :P
Quotes -
Bobby: Something big is going down. End-of-the-world big.
Dean: Well then LET IT END!!
Bobby: You don't mean that.
Dean: *stands up, sending chair flying* You don't think so? You don't think I've given enough? You don't think I've paid enough? I'm done with it. All of it.
YED: I'll make certain that they both live long enough to know the chewy taste of their own intestines.
Bobby: I could throttle you!
Dean: And send me downstairs ahead of schedule?
YED: Oh my, I'm shocked at this unforeseen turn of events.
Jake: What are you gonna do, kill me?
Sam: It's a thought.
Jake: You had your chance. You couldn't.
Sam: I won't make that mistake twice.
YED: Boys shouldn't play with Daddy's guns.
YED: I know, red tape, it'll make you nuts.
(Didn't he say that in 4x03, too?)
YED: How certain are you that what you brought back is 100% pure Sam?
Dean: Well, check that off the to-do list.
Sam: Do you think Dad really... do you think he really climbed out of Hell?
Dean: The door was open. If anyone's stubborn enough to do it, it'd be him.
Sam: I kinda can't believe it, Dean. I mean... our whole lives, everything, has been prepping for this, and now... I kinda don't know what to say.
Dean: I do. *bends over YED* That was for our mom, you son of a bitch.
Sam: You save my life over and over. I mean, you sacrifice everything for me. Don't you think I'd do the same for you? You're my big brother. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you. And I don't care what it takes, I'm gonna get you out of this. Guess I gotta save your ass for a change.
Dean: We got work to do.
I believe my original reaction post for this episode went something along the lines of "OH MY GOSH THEY KILLED MY SAM!!!!!!!!!" And that was pretty much the extent of my insight, LOL. I did NOT see that coming, and I was in agony that entire week. And yet I couldn't stop watching the death scene a million times over, because it was the best dang death scene I had ever seen. Still is, actually. It came out of nowhere, that knife ripped and tore through Sam's back, and then it was over. And Dean was left trying to cling to his brother's body and be in denial about the whole thing until he just... lost it. Maaaaan. Nothing will ever top that for me. That scene deserved some kind of award, seriously.
I LOVED the psychic-kid storyline, and this was an awesome way to lay it to rest. Loved seeing Ava and Andy again, and I totally didn't call Ava being the bad guy AT ALL, so that was a great surprise. I actually liked Jake at first and the friendship that sprang up between him and Sam as they tried to keep a brave face on for the others. Gah! Stupid Jake! Why couldn't you have stayed awesome like that??
Not to mention Ava. I always wonder whether she was genuinely upset over her fiance's death or if it was all an act. Ah, Ava. I loved you so. *sigh*
Poor, poor Roadhouse. But at least it went to heaven. :P
It bugs me a little bit when YED says Sam's nursery should look familiar. He was 6 months old, for goodness' sake! :P They did recreate that scene really well, though. And there's sooooo much foreshadow... like Sam saying "Does this mean I have demon blood in me?" and YED saying nothing, just chuckling to himself like he was thinking, "You don't know the half of it, kid." AUGH!!
Mary's "It's you" had fandom in a whirl for over a year. That was awesome. :D
Sam put up a darn good fight against a dude with superhuman strength! *sniffle*
Excerpt from the season 2 Companion -
"I loved killing Sam," enthuses Gamble. "That was a really fun scene to write. I went from office to office saying, 'I killed Sam Winchester, everyone can go home now!'" Gamble also took a scary amount of pleasure in demonstrating the effects of Jake's supernatural strength. "The challenge of the scene was that if somebody like that punches you, he shatters your bones. Sam was going to die at the end of the fight anyway, so you might as well break every bone in his body."
She's an evil, evil woman. :P
Randomness -
*I'm never sure if it was intentional or a genuine reaction from the actress, but it always cracks me up that Ava jumps when Sam bellows for Lily. Heehee!
*Ever notice that Sam sniffs and makes a face when YED brushes past him? My first thought is always "Sulphur!" ;)
*The whole "Andy's brother what's-his-name" joke never gets old.
Fave scenes - Sam and Andy contacting Dean, and of course, the best death scene ever.
Quotes -
Dean: Don't forget the extra onions this time, huh?
Sam: Dude, I'm the one who's gonna have to ride in the car with your extra onions.
Dean: *smiles* Hey, see if they got any pie.
Sam: *rolls eyes, slams car door*
Dean: Bring me some pie! Love me some pie.
Andy: What are you doing here?
Sam: I don't know.
Andy: What am I doing here??
Sam: I don't know, just...
Andy: Where are we???
Sam: Andy, look, calm down.
Andy: I can't calm down! I've just woke up in freaking Frontier Land!
Andy: *waves with hand in coat pocket* Hey. Andy. Also freaking out.
Jake: Well, if it makes you feel any better, I went to sleep last night in Afghanistan.
Andy: Oh, but get this, um, I've been practicing, training my brain like meditation, right? So now, it's not just thoughts I can beam out, but images, too. Like, anything I want, it's like BAM, people they see it. This one guy I know? Total dick. I used it on him - gay porn, all hours of the day. *laughing* It's just like... you shoulda seen the look on his face!
Dean: How are we supposed to look for Sam? What, do we just close our eyes and point?
Jake: So, we're soldiers in a demon war to bring on the apocalypse?
Sam: Well, when you put it like that...
Ava: Sam, I'm sorry, psychics and spoon bending is one thing, but demons?
Sam: Look, I know it sounds crazy...
Jake: It doesn't just sound it.
Sam: Andy, you with me or what?
Andy: Give me a minute? I'm still working through "demons are real."
(I love that this exchange is an echo of the scene from Simon Said where he found out he had an evil twin, hee!)
Sam: I think I know where we are now - Cold Oak, South Dakota. A town so haunted, every single resident fled.
Ava: Swell. Good to know we're somewhere so historical!
Jake: Salt is a weapon?
Sam: It's a brave new world.
Andy: Well hopefully there's food in your world, cause I'm freakin' starving.
Ava: Don't worry, I'm fine. Except for every single thing that's happening, heh.
Andy: D. Hasselhoff?
Sam: Yeah, that's, that's Dean's signature.
*pause, Andy tries not to laugh*
Sam: It's hard to explain.
Dean: Whoo. That was about as fun as getting kicked in the jewels.
Ava: My horoscope said I shouldn't have gotten out of bed.
YED: Welcome to the Miss America Pageant.
YED: Sam. Sammy... you're my favourite.
Sam: You killed them? All of them?
Ava: I'm the undefeated heavyweight champ.
Sam: Oh my God.
Ava: Don't think God has much to do with this, Sam.
-----
Took notes on the commentary, which was done by Kripke, Sera, and Bob Singer...
They joked that the cafe in the teaser was the smallest cafe in the world, heh. They built the whole thing and tore it down the next day. They joked about the "monsoon" that week creating a moat around it -
Kripke: Most diners have moats. That's the thing I like about diners. If you want a burger, you gotta earn it.
The town they filmed in was built 10 years earlier for a TV series and was just abandoned afterwards. In the script the whole episode was supposed to take place in an abandoned orphanage or something, but they'd been sent pictures of this town because it was already built and would be free to use, so they went with that instead.
Because of the "monsoon", it was hard to get in and out of this place on the dirt road, so they almost resorted to helicopters. When they finally got in and started filming, they were worried they wouldn't be able to get out again.
Lily was originally 2 characters - a guy named Alex who kills by touching people, and a girl named Lily who was telephathic and was the one who contacted Dean. They felt there were too many people.
They all praised Aldis Hodge (Jake). Sera felt he could have had his own show as Jake. It was Raelle's idea to make him a soldier.
Ash's watch was supposed to be a calculator watch, and Sera was disappointed that it wasn't. Bob went with the most distinctive watch he was brought.
There's a real legend about a town so haunted that everyone either died or left, called Dudleytown. They mentioned it in the episode but it was edited out.
The "I will not kill" chalkboard was flipped around from the blank side when the camera panned away, so that scene could all be done in one shot.
They talked for a while about Kripke and Bob's different ways of rejecting an idea. Kripke goes for the "compliment sandwich" - "I loved it! Let's change every single thing! But I loved it!" while Bob comes in and says "Uh, so that sucked."
Sera: The more compliments Eric gives, the worse it is.
(Kripke cracked up so hard over that comment, LOL.)
They praised Sera for being the kind of writer who takes criticism well and comes back with a better product, which is why she's their favourite writer on the show.
Kripke was "so over this freaking Roadhouse!" He felt it didn't work at all. He hated all the hunters in the background cleaning their guns. He loved that they burned it down.
Lily was supposed to be hung from the bell, making it ring, but Bob liked the visual of her being hung from the windmill better. Kripke and Sera complained about the lack of blood and gore in her death, and between them they came to the conclusion that she should have been hung by her intestines rather than rope. *shakes head* I worry about those two.
Bob said Katie (Ava) was a joy to work with.
In the "D. Hasselhoff" scene it's all one camera angle because it was shot at night, and any other angle would have shown that. Bob told the actors to talk fast so the scene wouldn't take up much time, but Bob HATES that shot. He hates having both actors in a single frame.
Jim Beaver, Kripke declared, is "to good to kill!" Yay! He wanted Bobby to be "the boys' surrogate father, I love the guy so much."
Dean's original line when he had the vision was "I'm not a freakin' psychic!" but they felt that sounded too harsh on Sam, so it was changed to "I'm not some psychic."
Sera has a trick for writing male characters - the more out-there the subject matter is, the less they say, and the more their sentences trail off. Bob says she has a natural penchant for making what a character doesn't say equally as important as what they do say. Kripke also loves her funny lines.
Sera loves geeky characters the best. She adored Andy and his van and "weird books."
It was Bob's idea for Ava to be the bad guy, to twist the most sympathetic character like that.
Sera loves evil!Sam, especially when he was on the verge of "raping Jo" (in BUABS).
They'd already established that YED chooses a new dude to possess everywhere he goes, but they loved Fred Lane so much they just said he'd been riding the janitor around all year.
Kripke let Sera have the "Miss America Pageant" line for her episode, but told her she "can't call it American Idol, I get that line."
Bob talked about Fred being blind with the yellow contacts.
Kripke was terrified of Sam's dream sequence, answering so many questions and giving a peek behind the curtain, because he was afraid people would think it didn't live up to the anticipation. Sera was also worried about writing it, trying not to make anything that's ever been said before sound like crap.
Sera laughed over Sam emoting with stuffed animals behind his head. ;)
The baby wouldn't stop crying, which Kripke found hilarious - "It's so funny that we have a job that's like, okay, we're gonna drip all this fake blood in a baby's mouth. Dammit, the baby won't do it!" They also had trouble finding a substance that would look like blood but would be safe for the baby to drink.
They originally wanted to keep the psychic kids alive longer, but Kripke wasn't impressed by the psychic kid eps, they weren't as scary and cool as "monsters," so they accelerated the storyline. He felt it worked best as a season arc rather than stretching it out and was glad they'd done that.
Sera is baffled by people who read spoilers. She can't understand it, because it would make the show suck if you knew what was going to happen before seeing it for yourself. Thank you, Sera! My thoughts exactly. :P
Sera praised the beauty of J&J. She gets fanmail when she disrobes them, apparently.
The shot when Sam sinks to his knees after being stabbed was an homage to Platoon. They write things like that into the script - "And then we go into the moment from Platoon!" The most random one was Footloose, in Hookman.
To Sera, the third character in the show is the brothers' relationship. They love doing something to one brother and leaving the camera on the other for their reaction.
-----
For Part 2, nothing sums it up better than Loki's Two Twenty-Two, Dean's monologue set to gorgeous music with a montage of wee!chester clips illustrating his words. Most beautiful vid ever.
I think this was my favourite use of Carry On My Wayward Son in the Road So Far recaps. Ending on Dean's scream like that, then cutting to him standing over Sam's dead body? Guh! So perfect.
Poor, sweet Bobby, so worried about Dean and silently taking the brunt of his anger. *sniffle* And Jensen knocked this entire episode out of the park yet again. When Bobby says Dean shouldn't be alone, the look on Dean's face is screaming "I AM alone!!" You can FEEL it. So heartbreaking. And Dean's entire monologue over Sam's dead body, ending with the most heartwrenching cry ever - "WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!" *cries* Btw, I love the hard, twisted music that plays while he's rushing to the crossroads. Made that scene even more intense.
We already had YED comparing the psychic kids thing to the Miss America Pageant, then in this ep it was American Idol, hahaha! Yeeeeah... why WERE they all American? :P
It's never said in the show, but according to Kripke the deal was struck (and consequently Dean was killed) on May 2, Sam's birthday.
I love that Sam almost saw through the you-were-just-injured thing until Dean said that Bobby was the one who patched him up. Because Bobby can do ANYTHING, dude. Who wouldn't believe that?? ;)
Sam had tears in his eyes when Dean told him about Ash and Ellen. I wish we'd seen his reunion with Ellen as well as Dean's. I've always loved their mother/son vibe.
How awesome was the junkyard scene?? Poor Bobby, having to act all cool around Sam like nothing was wrong, and then casually inviting Dean to join him outside... ohhhh, Dean knew he was in serious trouble, heh. That scene was so perfect. But when Bobby said, "Have you got that low an opinion of yourself? Are you that screwed in the head??" I always shout, "Uh, YES." Because he totally does/is.
I miss the YED and his hilarious lines. *sigh*
EVIL!SAM. For really real this time, it seemed. I love love love the scene where he and Jake face off. I mean, dude, Sam shoots him 4 times in the back, smirks for a while letting Jake drown in his own blood and plead for his life, then shoots him 3 more times. WHAAAAT?!?! That was AWESOME. And closely followed by the "not 100% Sam" line caused much panic in the following hiatus.
All hell literally breaking loose was pretty awesome, too. I love the little exchange between Bobby and Ellen - "Bobby, what is it?" "It's Hell." Ha! What a great answer to that question. ;)
John climbing out of Hell just felt so RIGHT. He got to have his revenge on YED after all, yay! I wish he'd said something to the boys, though. It was a gorgeous goodbye (in spite of the obvious green screen), but dangit, John, SAY SOMETHING. :P
Yet another perfect scene - when Sam confronts Dean about making the deal. Poor Sam, after seeing what John's deal did to Dean, now he found himself in the same position. And the look on Dean's face when Sam gave his speech about it being his turn to save his big brother... I don't think Dean had ever known that Sam felt the same way about Dean as Dean feels for Sam, you know? They mutually have each other's backs, but Dean has never seen it that way. It's like it dawned on him for the first time right then. And he also probably felt it was proof that the YED was lying when he hinted that Sam wasn't himself anymore. It was probably a relief to see him get all teary-eyed and saying he was going to save his big brother, even though Dean knew it would be futile to try. At least Sam WANTED to try.
I love that they recreated the final scene from the pilot, only in reverse. That was awesome. They didn't know at that point whether they would be picked up for a third season, and I always think that would have been a perfect note to end the show on if it hadn't come back. But I'm soooooo glad it did come back! And it just gets better and better. :)
Randomness -
*I love Dean's purple-checkered shirt. He always wears it when there's loads of Winchester angst going on.
*I always feel bad for those poor women in their dinky dresses standing out on a muddy road in the middle of a cold, wet, Vancouver night. You'd think they'd at least give them sleeves or something, you know?
*You know something isn't right with Sam when you see him eating. Be afraid. Be very afraid. ;)
*My favourite shot of the whole episode is when Sam looms over Bobby's table resting on his knuckles. I can't even explain why. He just looks so massive, I love it. :P
Quotes -
Bobby: Something big is going down. End-of-the-world big.
Dean: Well then LET IT END!!
Bobby: You don't mean that.
Dean: *stands up, sending chair flying* You don't think so? You don't think I've given enough? You don't think I've paid enough? I'm done with it. All of it.
YED: I'll make certain that they both live long enough to know the chewy taste of their own intestines.
Bobby: I could throttle you!
Dean: And send me downstairs ahead of schedule?
YED: Oh my, I'm shocked at this unforeseen turn of events.
Jake: What are you gonna do, kill me?
Sam: It's a thought.
Jake: You had your chance. You couldn't.
Sam: I won't make that mistake twice.
YED: Boys shouldn't play with Daddy's guns.
YED: I know, red tape, it'll make you nuts.
(Didn't he say that in 4x03, too?)
YED: How certain are you that what you brought back is 100% pure Sam?
Dean: Well, check that off the to-do list.
Sam: Do you think Dad really... do you think he really climbed out of Hell?
Dean: The door was open. If anyone's stubborn enough to do it, it'd be him.
Sam: I kinda can't believe it, Dean. I mean... our whole lives, everything, has been prepping for this, and now... I kinda don't know what to say.
Dean: I do. *bends over YED* That was for our mom, you son of a bitch.
Sam: You save my life over and over. I mean, you sacrifice everything for me. Don't you think I'd do the same for you? You're my big brother. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you. And I don't care what it takes, I'm gonna get you out of this. Guess I gotta save your ass for a change.
Dean: We got work to do.
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Date: 2010-07-07 01:57 am (UTC)OMG - IT IS SO TRUE. The more one looks back through the series, the more amazing it is to see just how much thought went into the plot. It is insane how well planned out, and hinted at, it all is!
This episode seriously broke my heart. I didn't get to see the follow-up for two weeks, and was terrified that Sam was seriously dead. That death scene is so insanely painful to watch - poor Winchesters! And then Dean's emotional break down to Sam's corpse. Ugh. Again, they are amazing actors.
Really, though, the Winchesters are (as Bobby points out) amazingly willing to throw themselves into hell for each other. You kind of have to wonder how much planning went on in both Heaven and Hell to get all of this to go down correctly. It's mind boggling.
I have to admit, I share your love of evil!Sam - he is pretty badass. Seeing it now in reference to where the show ends up going is even more interesting than it had been. I also love anything with Bobby or Ellen, and that final showdown scene is perfect in any number of amazing ways from John clawing his way out of Hell, to Sam and Jake, to the "that was for our mom, you son of a bitch". Just. So. Good.
And, so many good quotes. Although, if my mother says "bring me some pie" one more time, I will throw said pie at her, haha.
Bobby: Something big is going down. End-of-the-world big.
Dean: Well then LET IT END!!
This says so very much about Dean, and it is heartbreaking.
And, I have always adored the We have work to do - it is just too good.
I love that they recreated the final scene from the pilot, only in reverse. That was awesome. They didn't know at that point whether they would be picked up for a third season, and I always think that would have been a perfect note to end the show on if it hadn't come back.
Hear, hear! And now, I'm going to stop, because I am really, really rambling.
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Date: 2010-07-07 08:56 pm (UTC)Although, if my mother says "bring me some pie" one more time, I will throw said pie at her, haha.
LOL! That's awesome. I wish I could exchange SPN quotes with my mom, but the only ep she can reference is Wishful Thinking. She's always bringing up the suicidal teddy bear when I least expect it. ;)
I enjoyed the rambling! Heck, I do it all the time. :P
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Date: 2010-07-07 10:48 pm (UTC)Oh, good - expect more rambling responses in the future!
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Date: 2010-07-07 11:00 pm (UTC)Yay! I look forward to reading them. :)
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Date: 2010-07-07 02:20 am (UTC)Yes, I had that feeling too.
However...
There is no Evil!Sam.
What Sam did to Jake was Sam's innocence finally breaking into shattered shards. But broken innocence and having been pushed far, far over the limit does not equate to evil.
Yes, I take that word seriously. :P
<3
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Date: 2010-07-07 09:03 pm (UTC)Sam has had evil inside him since he was a baby, but he fights and fights against it and 99.99999% of the time he's a lovely, kind, compassionate, beautiful person. But then every now and then you catch a momentary glimpse of what's hidden away in his core, and I LOVE the way Jared plays it. His face gets so hard and ruthless, it gives me chills. That's what I mean by evil!Sam. Not that he's an evil person, but that for a brief moment he lets that darkness inside him call the shots. Even with all he was put through because of the YED and Jake, there's no way he would have killed someone so cold all by himself. I like to think when the YED hinted that he wasn't 100% Sam anymore, it meant that in bringing him back, the demons had awakened those semi-dormant drops of demon blood in him, and the way he killed Jake was the direct result.
But whichever way you see it, I was talking about that bone-chilling stare and the way he smirked as he took a human life. I don't know what else to call it, and "evil!Sam" has such a delicious ring. ;)
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Date: 2010-07-07 09:56 pm (UTC)Yeah, I know. ^^;;;
It probably would have a similar ring for me if I hadn't been traumatized by the nasty comments of Sam-hating fangirls, particularly back in the period of S4.
I know, it's a personal interpretation issue. I apologize if I come off as 'correcting' you, I'm just stating my own view of the character, I know mine isn't any more correct than anyone else's.
In my interpretation of things, the demon blood doesn't contain "evil juice". The darkness in Sam that does surface from time to time is just human darkness, which all of us have. It's the result of his experiences, the hurts he's suffered, because he has suffered hurts, even from childhood, just as Dean has.
That struggle he has, which as you said, Jared portrays so wonderfully, is a human struggle (for me). I can identify with it, and I didn't get fed any demon blood, that I know of! ;) (although it might explain a few things.. <.<)
One of the things I adore about this show is that there's very little that isn't human, even about the monsters! The line between human and demon, or angels, or other critters, seems mostly to be physical, and in how much power the individuals have, which pure human types being the weakest, in that real-world-affecting sense. Even Lucifer isn't "Evil Incarnate", in some way we can't understand - that's the way they chose to write the show.
So, in my mind, there is no Evil!Sam. And where I once might have gotten some enjoyment out of the concept, the fun got all sucked out of me somewhere along the line in the fanwars.
I guess it's good other folks can find it enjoyable, though, even it it still makes me knee-jerk and fly into Sam!Defender! mode. -_-;;;
<3
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Date: 2010-07-07 10:05 pm (UTC)I guess that's a personal belief difference then, because I believe evil exists in humanity as well as in the monsters they fight, so wherever it comes from, Sam has it in him and it's a constant struggle for him not to give into it. Which I relate to as well, and it's why he's my favourite character of all time. So don't worry, I'm not dissing him or anything when I talk about "evil!Sam". I find him all the more admirable for overcoming it as much as he does. :)