Hey y'all! Blame my cat for the extra couple of hours it took to get this recap up: she's old and so we let her outside in an enclosed area so she won't get run over or get beat up by other cats in the area, only now it's spring time so her boyfriend cat from the other side of the fence got frisky and jumped up and got stuck on the roof! So I had to climb around trying to get him down.
I want to take a moment to thank you for all your comments last week (and every week), they really mean a lot and it's great to see what you all think (of Canada, mostly, but also the episode hehe) - both when you agree and disagree with what I've said! ;) So thank you!
Please check out theboxblog.net for more of this! Later today I am uploading a commentary about the Lost love triangle, so check it out if you're interesting, it'll be nice and controversial. But enough about that, let's talk about SPN. It was the last episode before a looooong break, but I think it gave us enough to think about till April, don't you?
If last week's theme was parody, surely this week it's horror!
From the very first moments it is made clear that this episode is nothing like last week! But that's a good thing, because crazy genre switches is the bread and butter of this show.
The redshirt of the week meets Mother of All at a gas station (of course, where else?). She calls herself 'Eve'. Clever. She wants to ride with Rick in his nice big red truck, and I already think it's sad that she had to pick such a nice truck driver to bring down bloody murder on, because I'm sure there are nastier ones! She tries to make out with him, but Rick won't have any of that nonsense. Rick refers her to Jesus. Because really, her hunger is for him. Um, what?
"Your Father made you, and then abandoned you. So you pray. But truth is, your apocalypse came and went, and you didn't even notice. A mother would never abandon her children like he did. You'll see."
Okay, I know this wasn't the case this time, but I hate it when evil things say "You'll see" and then kill the person they say it to. Because then how will they see?! But in this case I guess he did see. And I also understand now why Eve chose this particular truck driver. She's not interested in punishing the foul, but in corrupting the pure.
Next scene, Rick returns home to his wife - and smashes her head in. NASTY. Sometimes I think it's weird that I'm such a big fan of the show, seeing as how I hate gore and horror. I'm just here for the funny stuff, really.
Did I hear "Werewolf Dance Party"?
Bobby is back!! I'm still gutted we missed him last week, but at least he's in the show as much as he is. For someone who is not a regular, Jim Beaver sure is in the show a lot - especially compared to the actual regular Misha Collins! Where's he at anyway, wasn't he meant to be back on a permanent basis by now? I mean, okay, he did die last week but I've seen his tweets, he's out there somewhere! But I digress.
Bobby has found a spot of mystical convergence (hey, a Hell Mouth!), where Rick killed his wife. So the Three Stooges/Musketeers/Blind Mice/etc. head down there, where they are met with a very confused and sad Rick. He blacked out and doesn't remember what happened. And it's sad that he's been charged with his wife's murder, isn't it, because okay he did do it but it wasn't his fault! Now he's stuck in jail AND has lost his wife. Poor man.
Looking at the surveillance footage, the brothers and Bobby see Eve, but her face is creepy and rotted-looking. The only other time we've seen something like this is in shapeshifters, when their eyes give them away, but this time it looks like some absurd possession thing. Which I suppose it is, considering Mother has taken up residence in the poor virgin girl's body.
And, haha, coming in for Mother's Day. Funny. The hunters are scared of running into the Mother, since they don't know how to deal with her. It's good to be back on that mystery, as nice as last week's diversion was.
This town ain't big enough.... or, I guess it is.
Bobby heads down to check out the latest disturbance: a man killed six people with a hunting rifle. And look, there's another hunter in town: Rufus! I like him. Compared to the other horrible, morally gunkish hunters we've met, Rufus is like a fluffy bunny. Also, recurring likable characters on this show are so few and far between, we must cherish them for as long as they last.
Bobby and Rufus team up and examine the possessed man's body. They find black stuff in his ear - Mother's saliva, yuck.
They meet Dean and Sam, who are happy to see Rufus. What a bizarre, dysfunctional yet strangely sweet family all those hunters are. Makes me all nostalgic for the Road House.
Together, the four of them go to the place where the two possessed people worked. And look what we have here: another couple of hunters! It's Gwen and Samuel! You know, in a way it's long overdue for hunters to run into each other like this, because while America is huge, lately there HAVE been several very intense hotspots where Sam and Dean have gone to fight some ultra big bad, and you'd think other hunters would have got a whiff of that too. But here they are and it's a big happy family reunion... at least to the extent that Dean doesn't blow out Samuel's brains. And wait, is this the first time Samuel has met Bobby? I guess so.
There is brother angst, because Sam wants Dean to calm down and Dean is annoyed. What else is new?
"You must be the guy pretending to be their father." "Well somebody ought to."
YOU TELL HIM, BOBBY!
Okay if it's ever a question of Bobby vs. anybody, just know that I'll be siding with Bobby, 'kayyy? I love love love the Dean/Sam/Bobby relationship, I think it's the best part of the show. First of all, he's a better father figure than John ever was (sorry! But it's true), and it's even more amazing because the three of them have never been stuck with each other, or forced to work together because of twisted family loyalties. Bobby reached out to the brothers because they needed him, and that made them a family. And family is really what this show is all about!
Tension is pretty high after that though. Sam stands his ground by Bobby's side (!), and tells Samuel he got his soul back. There's great close-up shots, but Rufus interrupts the camera by demanding some plot development instead. Samuel tells them a bit about Eve, how she's the creature from purgatory who 10,000 years ago mothered all the monsters, apparently. That's it.
Gwen is shocked that Samuel would kill Dean (as I'm sure Mary would be, as well!), and goes to confront Dean about it. For a moment, she looks like Bella from Twilight, but I'm sure that was unintentional. Gwen is cool though, whoever she resembles, and - 
Oh. Dean shot her! Jeez. I think after last week I'm feeling a bit numb to the big character deaths, I mean they already killed Kripke so nobody is safe! Still though, here was the one family member who had even a slight chance at redemption and inclusion into the Winchester family... oh wait, obviously she had to be killed off, lol. This isn't the Sam, Dean and Gwen show. Still, it's too bad.
Dean runs off, and it becomes obvious that he has been infected by Mother. Wow, they really are powerless against her, if she can infiltrate the most sacred!!
"We're gonna wanna find Dean before he finds us."
This is just like in 'Born Under a Bad Sign,' when Sam was a shapeshifter (what? Shapeshifter? I meant possessed, sorry, still thinking about the eye thing) and he terrorised Dean and Jo, remember?? Except this time it's Dean who's the danger to the group. And let's take a moment here to rejoice at the fact that, for once, it is Dean who is unpredictable and Sam who we, as the audience, can trust! Because that doesn't happen often.
Sam tricks Dean by calling his phone, and Dean finds himself outnumbered. Dean tells them that "a worm thing" crawled out of his ear; he just woke up and is confused. This scene seemed off to me, and though in retrospect I know that it really was as straightforward as it seemed, I just find it strange. Dean seemed like he was lying, but he wasn't. Oh well.
Rufus picks at Dean's ear, which is a random touch of comedy (I do like those), and does find traces of the black goo like Dean said. Bobby suggests that they should all put their guns away, as they now don't know who has the worm and who doesn't. Haha, ew. But it's a very sensible suggestion! Because we've only got Rufus left as collateral damage before it starts being threatening for key characters and/or characters we care about! Not that I don't like Rufus of course but you know what I mean.
What I still don't get though is when the "worm thing" became lifelike, because before it was Mother who spit it in the truck driver's ear wasn't it?
They all put their guns away - and stow them into a locker. NOT the locker with the "I <3 to Polka" sticker on it though, the one next to it. See, this is why you need me to do these recaps, bet you didn't pick up on that very important distinction DID YA?
Nothing makes sense! But it's super exciting.
Now the hunters are stuck in that place with the worm, and do we know why they are staying there and not you know... leaving? I think I missed something there. I do like the cooped-up, lockdown vibe that's going on, but to me it just doesn't make much sense why they'd expose themselves to the worm for no good reason. Maybe someone can explain that to me in the comments.
Samuel leaves, and Dean and Sam follow him - leaving Bobby and Rufus on their own. I sense trouble. Bobby looks maaaad. There is clearly some unfinished business between the two of them.
Out in the corridor, Sam and Dean confront Samuel. They are angry with him for feeding them to Crowley. Samuel doesn't want to apologise, especially not to Sam who he claims did much worse things. Dean promises to kill Samuel the moment they finish the case, and it's so sad that things have happened this way. I mean, here Samuel is back from the dead and the brothers finally had a chance to connect to family - Mary's family no less - and look where they are. Sam and Dean really will never have anyone but each other, will they? (Hey don't smile, I meant that in a sad way!)
But uh-oh - Samuel's got the goo! And a gun. He runs off and Bobby and Rufus arm up again. So much for the no gun plan! We don't even know if the goo can infect more than one person at once!
Sam saves Dean from triggering a trap which Samuel set. All the lights go out, and poor Sam is separated from the group! This also reminds me of something we've seen before, in a really early episode, but I can't remember what it was.
I have another question too: don't people work here? Why is it such a scary, run-down place full of pipes and lockers?
I Know What You Did Last Summer... so don't shoot me.
Sam finds Samuel... who tries to play the family card. "Mary's still my daughter. And you're still named after me." And he uses the leverage that he still knows what Sam did when he was soulless, to stop Sam killing him. But um, guess it didn't work, because Sam shoots him! Youch, guess I was wrong about Rufus dying first! And now we'll never know, damn it Sam!
The others come to find Sam, who is shocked but claims that the worm is in Samuel, not him. God, no one can trust each other, can they?
Bobby and Rufus, the new dream team, go to the bathroom the car together, leaving Sam and Dean on their own with Samuel's body. I hate it when they split up! Sam can watch Samuel, Dean can watch Sam. Aw man, if this really is the end of Samuel, that would be terribly anticlimactic.
"What would mom say?"
What, about her son shooting her father? Aww, poor Sam. I really like Dean's response though: "I think she'd say, 'just because you're blood doesn't mean you're family'." And that applies to their relationship with Bobby, too. And to the fact that Dean and Sam aren't "just" blood, they are the ultimate definition of family. You have to earn it.
Just then, the light comes back on - I guess they earned that - and Bobby and Rufus come back to cut into Samuel's skull. God, isn't it enough that he died? These hunters are so rough. Bobby gets all sentimental: "It was my fault, Omaha. I should have listened to you. I never said I'm sorry, Rufus. You lost her because of me..." I wonder what that's about. "I will never forgive you for what happened," Rufus tells him. That is so sad, because I like them two as a team. Poor Bobby.
AAAH Samuel is alive!!!!! Just as Rufus begins to cut him, he wakes up! I did NOT see that coming - but for a moment I was really excited that he wasn't really dead, because I think it's weird for his story to just end like that.
But Bobby electrocutes him, and the worm finally gets out - and Samuel dies again. Bobby and Rufus are alright though... but where is the worm, now?
Four To Go...
I'm starting to worry about that episode title, 'And Then There Were None'! The four remaining Survivors are now more suspicious of each other than ever, as the worm is loose again. Dean reasons that it must be in either Rufus or Bobby, as they were knocked out, but as we know it can infect people when they are awake too, so really it could be in anyone.
lol and they all check for goo. None of them seem to have it, but Sam has a plan. They all need to get electrocuted. Cause... that always ends well. I HATE getting shocked, it feels really weird and a little bit sweet in an electric kind of way, so I feel for them. Sam and Dean seem uninfected (though how would they know, with that mop on Sam's head?), as does Rufus (though his pacemaker might not be), but when Rufus tries to do the test on Bobby... Bobby stabs him! OH MY GOD I AM SO SHOCKED... hahahahaha. Ohhh they should pay me for this!
Anyway Rufus dies, predictably. Now we've only got the three untouchables left! The brothers knock Bobby out and tie him up (well it's only fair, he's done it to them), and try to shock the worm out of him. And Dean keeps talking about herpes.
Bobby talks in a creepy deep voice, and moves his head like he's in a GaGa music video. I guess that's evil for you these days, huh? Eve would be so disappointed. But the worm is comfy - it's nice inside Bobby, and it doesn't want to leave. I bet. It plays on the brothers' feelings, that they love Bobby (can I get an AWWWW?), and they don't want to kill the worm because it'll kill Bobby too. This is just like demon possessions!
She's pissed. She's here. And it's gonna be LEGENDARY!
Sorry, I thought that was a much more powerful statement. Wormy says he's new and that Eve created him. Eve led the brothers there to tell them that... what I said just now, plus some stuff about pain.
Dean shocks him some more but the worm won't budge. "We'll just have to do what Bobby would want us to do," Dean says, and they intensify the pressure. Oh man, this is horrible! They fried him! Finally the worm gets out (what a nasty little bugger - but ultimately unimpressive. Guess that budget really got cut, huh?)
And Bobby isn't breathing.
Good thing we follow Jim Beaver on Twitter and know he's back for some more episodes though! Because the next scene, which we might think was Sam and Dean burying Bobby... was of course the three of them burying Rufus. You know, in the third season of Buffy they have a lot more success with an emotional fakeout like this, when it looks like Cordelia dies and the next scene is a funeral - which we pan away from as Willow and Buffy walk past, talking about how Cordy will be okay. This scene really reminded me of that, except the directing didn't take it all the way where it needed to go, because it didn't feel as powerful as it could have done.
Bobby might not be dead though, but he's sad. He talks about his wife getting possessed and him killing her... with Rufus' help. Rufus taught him about hunting, and they were a team for years ("kind of like you two knuckleheads"). Until Omaha, when Bobby did something Rufus could never forgive. And we might think that this foreshadows something that will divide Sam and Dean, if not for Dean's rough dismissal. "He should have [forgiven you]. It doesn't matter. At the end of the day, you two were family. Life's short, ours are shorter than most. Are we gonna spend it wringing our hands? Something's gonna get us eventually. And when my guts get ripped out, just so you two know, we're good." Clean slate. Cause they're family. Which was the point made about whatever Sam did that Samuel knew about, because now we'll never know, and it doesn't matter anyway. We love him, and Dean and Bobby love him, no matter what.
Bobby pours some whiskey on the grave, and shares a drink with Rufus one last time.
Rating: 2/5
Consider that rating an A for effort, but a D for execution. I think I got a crooked perspective on this episode though, and I won't be offended if you disagree with my assessment. I guess I just didn't feel it. First of all, most of the time I was just trying to figure out why they were all stuck in the building and didn't leave or burn the place down, and thinking that it must be a dream sequence, as surely Gwen, and then Samuel, couldn't just die like that? The whole worm thing came out of nowhere and just seemed SO convenient, I really was just waiting for the final twist which never came. Because seriously, Mother spits into a truck driver's ear, creates a monster worm, which infects two randoms before hiding in a (conveniently abandoned) building waiting for a bunch of hunters? How must that pitch have sounded in the writers' room? Of course it's a good point to make that these guys are IT, that really aside from Cas (hey, why didn't they call him?) this handful of people is all that's standing between evil and humanity... but really, a worm?! A worm. Honestly I was tempted to give this episode 1/5, but in the end I gave it a bit extra because the idea of a house of terror for hunters who already mistrust each other, not knowing who is against who, is technically a great concept, and it could have been brilliant. But in my opinion, there was no real suspense, or excitement, and I didn't feel much besides bewilderment. I also thought it was a strange, random, rushed way to tie up some loose ends by killing them. Samuel was surely brought back for a reason, and that reason can't have been to round up some ultimately irrelevant mega monsters and then get killed by a worm? His entire presence was completely undermined by his anticlimactic (though violent) death, and I was so excited to see him try to bring back Mary! Why bring him back at all, if nothing came of that or his character in general? It annoys me because it makes me feel like the writers are rushing. Gwen and Rufus were less important, but I almost thought their deaths were so predictable, they were unnecessary. I mean a surprise would have been if Gwen actually survived, as she was plot-wise the most likely to die. The family theme was disjointed and half-hearted... but I DID like the point that was hammered home that family doesn't equal blood and vice versa. Bobby, Dean and Sam have already been established as the core family of the show but it's always nice to be reminded of their bond. Ultimately though, I wasn't impressed. I felt like I could have been, but though I was glad to get back to the Mother story, if that's the best she can come up with, so far I am not impressed. Hope she brings it in a bit bigger way (send like, a snail after them next time. A really big, slimy one. THEN we'd be talking!) after the break.
Quotable:
Samuel: "You must be the guy pretending to be their father."
Bobby: "Well somebody ought to."
Have a great break you guys, and sound off in the comments.. Episode 17, airing April 15th, is one of the big ones: we're going back in time for the Colt - and I mean the MAN! Exciting times!
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