llywela | "When someone says a place is haunted, don't go in!" (Reply)

List of love! Because I was in the mood for some classic season one SN, and Asylum is up next, and is one of my all-time favourite episodes. This one is awesome. It's the first of the little trio of episodes that converted me from casual fan of the show to full-blown obsession. Asylum-Scarecrow-Faith: the character progression through the three makes up an amazing little mini-arc. So, here's the first:

~~Many, many~~ things I love about Asylum
…and other standout moments

Warning upfront: this is going to be image-heavy. Seriously. Very, very image-heavy. It just can't be helped. This episode is way too much of a favourite!

I think I'm gonna go with chronological order again for this one. It just works better that way.

1. Haunted lunatic asylum! Fantastic. It's such a horror classic.

And the interior set dressing is awesome – so grungy and gross and wonderfully creepy.

2. Almost midway through the first season, with nine random hunts behind the brothers already, it is good to be reminded that the John-search remains ongoing, in between those other gigs.

What I love about this scene is how neatly it begins the job of setting up the remainder of the episode, clearly demonstrating right from the start of the episode Sam's increasing frustration about his father's continued absence. This is coming off the back of Home, which was a pretty unsettling episode for Sam – his premonitions were confirmed as absolute fact and we saw how afraid he was of what they meant; he revealed his premonitions to Dean after keeping them secret for so long; he had his hopes raised and then dashed that they might have found the creature that killed Mary and Jessica; and he encountered the spirit of the mother he never knew. That's a pretty heady combination, and it all feeds into his renewed desire to get this over with already and find some answers.

But Dean's resignation to the fact that John doesn't want to be found only adds to Sam's frustration.

Plus, on a shallow note, I really like that red shirt on Dean.

3. "Love the guy, but I swear – he writes like friggin' Yoda." Heh. And aww. Dean's open and obvious affection for his infuriatingly enigmatic father is touching, especially in contrast to Sam's mutinous attitude.

4. The scene where John texts Dean coordinates for a hunt is awesome on so many levels.

Dean's reaction is heartbreaking, immediately voicing his relief that at least they now know their father is still alive, and his hope that maybe John wants to meet them at these coordinates. His bright optimism that maybe they'll get to lay eyes on their father at last stands in stark contrast to Sam's irritation with John's failure to communicate clearly and effectively. Glass half full versus glass half empty. Dean has learned to be happy with whatever crumbs are tossed his way, while Sam is forever looking for the full loaf.

Sam is right, of course. After disappearing without a word of explanation, after months of silence, after the countless messages the brothers have surely left for their father – after the events of Home…John's sons deserve a lot better from him than a handful of numbers in a text message. No communication of any kind for months, and then nothing more than an autocratic, enigmatic riddle to be solved, just dropped from out of nowhere without so much as a word of hey, boys, hope you're doing okay, or do you mind taking care of this for me? It's disrespectful, and Sam is right to be angry about it.

Therefore, of course, Dean's willingness to go along with whatever his father wants him to do is like a red rag to a bull where Sam is concerned.

But from Dean's point of view, this reaction stems from the very complex relationship he has with his father, from his deep-seated craving for paternal approval that dates way back into childhood and does not allow rebellion of any kind, even from distance. He transfers his disappointment into action, focusing on the job as something positive and constructive that is within his power to achieve, in the absence of any means of tracing John. By taking on the job John has sent him, he can save innocent lives and maybe also prove his worth to his father. Maybe if he does the job properly, to the very best of his ability, jumps through every hoop he is asked to without question, his Dad will come back to him…

But all Sam sees is his brother blindly following orders, and he is in no mood to try to understand why. So all his anger and resentment of the way John is treating them gets transferred onto Dean, neatly setting the scene for later events in the episode. Back in these early days, Dean could still lay down the law to Sam and have him follow orders, however reluctantly. But Sam is not happy, at all, and it shows.

Bless him, Jared Padalecki's acting has improved no end since these early days, though!

5. Nigel Tufnell, ha! Dean and his fake IDs.

6. Sam takes a little too much pleasure in shoving his brother around in the name of subterfuge and information gathering.

Sam was angry with Dean for taking on this job so unquestioningly in the first place. Now they are in town and on the case and he's still annoyed with his brother, mostly because John isn't around to be angry with. At every step of the episode, Sam's state of mind is further set up to make him a prime target for the vengeful spirit.

7. Boys scaling fences. Never, ever, ever gets old.

8. I love that Dean just can't stop himself cracking wise about Sam's newly revealed and unexplained psychic abilities, determinedly treating this new and disturbing facet of his brother as normal and everyday, nothing to be concerned about. Maybe trying to convince both Sam and himself that he is perfectly okay with the notion of his little brother being touched by the supernatural. It's so very Dean.

Ah, but Sam so rarely appreciates Dean's humour, even when he isn't sulking as badly as he is all the way through this episode.

9. "Kinda like my man Jack in Cuckoo's Nest."

"Kinda like my man Jack in the Shining."

Hee. The jokes might fall flat with Sam, always, but Dean just keeps 'em coming regardless.

10. "When are we going to talk about it? […] The fact that Dad's not here."

"Oh. Never."

Oh, man, this one hurts. It hurts all the more the better you understand these two characters: who they each are and where they are coming from. Sam needs to talk about it, needs to vent. He needs to know that Dean feels as hurt and disappointed and angry with their father as he does. But Dean simply cannot go there; there's too much buried inside that can of worms. Repression is the only way he knows how to deal with the intense and complicated emotions John inspires. So he does what he always does: tows the party line, pretends there isn't a problem, and focuses on the job at hand, much to Sam's mounting frustration.

11. Sam, Sam – so very lousy at subterfuge when trying to pump the psychiatrist for information. Bless him.

"This brother you're road-tripping with – how do you feel about him?" I love that the scene cuts away before we get an answer, and you can just feel the collective groan reverberating around fandom, since we would really rather like to know what he would say!

Wouldn't it be cool it we could hear his answer on this particular day, so early in the show when he still understands his brother so very little, and then compare it to the answer he might give two years later?

12. I love Bored!Dean. 'Nuff said.

13. I love how Sam looks so totally grossed out at the thought of concealed bodies stuffed into nooks and crannies of the asylum all these years.

14. As random guest characters go, Kat really stands out as one of the stronger ones: suitably terrified, but spunky with it.

15. I love the sequence of the brothers exploring the asylum by night, all sweeping flashlights and shadows, with spirits moving about just out of eyeshot. The cinematography is so evocative, and haunting – which is fitting, obviously. Beautiful.

16. Boys and their toys, eh.

Man, I miss the simplicity of cases like this – I want to see more of the boys randomly wandering around haunted buildings with their camcorder and EMF again!

17. "The only thing that freaks me out more than a pissed off spirit is the pissed off spirit of a psycho killer." Mwahahah. Well said!

18. "Dean! Salt-gun!" Oh, Sammy. Why are you not armed yourself, since you are searching a building you know to be haunted?

But yeah, that really is gross.

Dean, of course, comes charging to his brother's rescue, just as he always, always does. Big damn hero. Love it.

19. I love how clearly defined the brothers' very different approaches to this case are. Right from the start, they approach the events in the asylum from totally different perspectives. Dean is completely matter-of-fact about the whole thing: it's just another haunting; they go in, get the job done and get out again, end of story.

Sam, though, is constantly questioning everything he sees, putting pieces of the puzzle together and trying to figure out the complete picture. However much they may or may not be at odds with one another, it is this difference in approach that makes them such an effective team, complementing one another perfectly.

20. The discovery of Kat – and revelation that she has a boyfriend wandering around someplace as well – prompts such a wonderfully pissed off eyeroll from Dean and bitchface from Sam. Civilians underfoot always make a job so much messier.

Just lookit their faces!

21. Dean's just getting on with the job, strategising in businesslike fashion, blithely unaware that there's a problem, while Sam's discontent continues to simmer away the whole time. It gives the distinct impression that Sam sulking like this is pretty typical behaviour that Dean takes for granted he will snap out of eventually, since their circumstances really can't be helped. And if not for Ellicott's involvement later, that probably would be the case!

22. "You've seen a lot of horror movies, yeah? […] Do me a favor. The next time you see one, pay attention. When someone says a place is haunted, don't go in!"

Hee. And I love the way this sequence is filmed, framed by that window. But, you know, Dean really should take his own advice – surely anyone who has ever seen a horror film knows that splitting up is the worst thing you can do! And yet it was Dean's idea.

23. I love Sam's incredulous double take when Gavin explains his horrific, mentally scarring experience…being kissed by a spirit. Hee. Kid, that's nothing!

24. Dean versus door is such a regular theme of the show. He doesn't often come across a door that can defeat him, like this one does.

25. "She has to what?" "I have to what?" Never fails to amuse me.

It kills me that Sam is so earnest in his conviction that his hunch is right. We see this trait in him time and time again, and it is almost always someone else's life on the line.

26. The spirits of these asylum patients? Wonderfully grisly.

27. "Room number." Jinx. Hee! They hardly ever do that any more, and I miss it.

28. The brief conversation Sam has with Kat as he escorts her and Gavin to the exit is wonderfully revealing. "Why would anyone want a job like that?" Kat wonders, and you have to agree with her – why indeed? "I had a crappy guidance counsellor," Sam sniffs, subtly disparaging his absent father. And then, oh, Sam's face when Kat asks if Dean is his boss – worst possible day for a remark like that! It all feeds into his growing discontent, ripe for Ellicott to home in on.

29. "This is why I get paid the big bucks."

I really like the sequence of Dean poking around Ellicott's office. He's thorough, methodical, and just so damn good at his job, totally on the ball, spotting the crucial details that enable him to find Ellicott's secret log book where the police investigation back in the 60s failed miserably.

And he looks appropriately nauseated as he reads about Ellicott's secret laboratory and illegal experiments on his patients.

30. Sam's this displeases me bitchface pops up over and over and over again throughout this episode. And it always makes me giggle. But probably isn't meant to. I can't help it. It's the way he purses his lips!

31. Oh, Sam. He falls so easily into Ellicott's trap, not questioning for a second that it is his brother calling him, despite the interference over the line. He simply hears Dean ask for help and that's all that matters. However much he may have been annoyed by his brother in this episode, Dean in danger clouds Sam's judgement in a way that very little else can ever achieve. It's interesting, because Sam in danger gives Dean clarity of thought like nothing else.

32. Man, the boiler room, with that door so spookily and enticingly opening all on its own, is so creepy! Sam certainly looks unnerved by it.

And it's maybe important to remember that the whole time Sam is so ineffectually poking around, he is expecting to find his brother in imminent danger and/or hurt at any moment. He came down here to save Dean, and that kind of makes what comes later all the worse.

Easy prey for Ellicott.

33. We get a good look at the damage done to the wall by Kat's rocksalt blast. Fairly impressive, yes? This will be important later.

34. I love that the moment Dean hears that Sam went down to the basement alone, after a phone call he knows he didn't make, you can see the cogs turning in his mind. He knows before following him down that Sam has been lured into a trap, and he knows that something in the asylum makes people homicidally crazy. He has read Ellicott's journal. He's going in prepared. This will also be important later.

35. Checkit the way Sam just pops up in front of Dean, out of nowhere. It's a clue! You can tell right from the start that he isn't right: he's almost himself, but not quite. You can also see that Dean's discovery of Ellicott's journal and figuring out of what's going on here is annoying him a lot more than it should, and you have to wonder why. Is it just that his brother's focus on the job is getting under his skin now more than ever, under Ellicott's influence, or is this Ellicott's anxiety working through Sam, since his destruction is imminent? Maybe a combination of the two.

36. I really, really love the whole scene in the boiler room, brother versus brother, with Dean getting closer and closer to the secret laboratory and then finding the hidden door, and Sam getting tenser and tenser and finally snapping and showing his hand. I make no apologies for telling the story via an abundance of pictures, here. I warned you about the image-heavy thing, right?

Dean came down here expecting to have to deal with an Ellicott-influenced Sam. But that doesn't make it any less unpleasant to find himself staring down the business end of a shotgun wielded by his little brother.

I love that Dean tries to talk Sam down, even though he knows he is beyond reasoning, being under Ellicott's influence and all. He has to try, because that's who he is. Because his little brother has been attacked by a vengeful spirit that now has him under its deadly influence, and Dean has to try to fix him. And because Sam is pointing a loaded shotgun at him. One way or another, it's a stalemate that can't go on indefinitely.

Bam! He actually does it – pulls the trigger and shoots his brother! Whoa!

Now, it's just a couple of minutes since we saw what a shot from distance did to the wall upstairs. So, rocksalt might not kill, but still…a close range shot to the chest like that? Not to mention getting blasted right through the partition wall? Yeah, Sam's not wrong: it's gonna hurt like hell.

Awesome scene.

37. And that awesome scene is followed by another, equally awesome scene. Dean on the floor and in pain, having just been shot and all, and Sam waving the shotgun at his head…and, y'know, rocksalt to the chest might not kill, but I tend to suspect that a point blank shot to the head might well do the trick. Seriously maim, at the very least.

Sam has been a seething mass of resentment simmering away throughout this episode. So, with Ellicott's rage therapy to push him over the edge? Boy, does he let rip.

"I mean, why are we even here? Because you're following Dad's orders like a good little soldier? 'Cause you always do what he says without question? Are you that desperate for his approval? […] That's the difference between you and me. I have a mind of my own. I'm not pathetic like you."

The extreme homicidal rage comes direct from Ellicott, but the sentiment behind those words? That's all Sam. We've seen him thinking it throughout the episode. If he weren't under the influence of the spirit, he'd never dream of saying it out loud, but the spirit only tapped into anger he already felt, removed the inhibitions holding it in. And that's what must hurt the most, for Dean: hearing his little brother striking right at the heart of who he is and condemning him for it.

Dean is on the top of his game in this episode – his brisk efficiency has been another thing irritating Sam – and he remains so even now, on his back on the floor having been shot, with his brother verbally ripping into him as well as threatening to shoot again. Persuading Sam to exchange the rocksalt-loaded shotgun, which is capable of inflicting serious damage, for a pistol Sam doesn't know isn't loaded? That's clever. And Sam looks so confused. Dean actively participating in his own murder wasn't anticipated, by either his rational mind or the irrational impulses currently in control.

"You hate me that much? You think you could kill your own brother? Then go ahead. Pull the trigger."

And Sam does. He pulls the trigger. Several times. Aiming right between the eyes. And…damn, the look on Dean's face. He came prepared for this eventuality – that's why the unloaded pistol, after all! But he was clearly hoping he could talk Sam down, that it wouldn't come to this. And yet when Sam pulls the trigger…Dean looks hurt, and he looks disappointed, but he doesn't look surprised. He knows that the homicidal rage is coming from Ellicott, and he also knows that Sam's issues with the job and their father, and by association with Dean himself, run very deep. Dean would never resent Sam for being unable to overthrow the spirit's influence, but you just know that the whole incident will be filed away deep in his mind, as further evidence of his own failure. Sam's opinion matters to Dean.

And then, oh, bless his heart. To top it all off, having used the distraction provided by the unloaded pistol to overpower Sam and knock him out, Dean follows up with an affectionate pat on the back and apology. Because it isn't Sam's fault, and he knows it, and he hates hurting his little brother even for his own good. Even though Sam just shot him and tried to kill him.

"Sorry, Sammy."

Awesome, awesome scene.

38. We don't get a good look, but as Dean pokes around the secret laboratory in search of Ellicott's concealed corpse, you can just about catch the odd glimpse of the damage to his chest done by that rocksalt blast.

See the blood speckles right in the middle of his chest, where the jacket falls open?

My inner h/c fanficcer sees these images and instantly starts imagining guilt-laden first aid later. Except that I don't write fanfic any more. But still.

39. I love that Dean is grossed out by the corpse. We see this time and again, from both brothers. It's such a human touch, that no matter how many of these things they deal with, they still always find them disgusting.

40. Ever the professional, Dean manages to finish the job all on his own even while being attacked by the spirit. Like I said, he's at the top of his game in this episode. John would be proud. You know, if he were around to see it.

This is a really cool shot with the two Ellicotts in view – spirit and corpse.

41. I love that Dean is incapable of holding a grudge against his little brother. What happened was painful in more ways than one, but it wasn't Sam's fault, and that's that.

42. "Do we need to talk about this?" "No. I'm not really in the sharing, caring kind of mood. I just wanna get some sleep." Aww. Sam wanting to talk it through in hopes of making things better, all earnest and worried, and Dean just wanting to brush it all under the carpet and pretend it never happened. 'Cause, you know – can of worms, and all that. Denial is always Dean's preferred coping mechanism. It's so them.

It really kills me that Sam apologises for what he said, rather than for shooting his brother. He knows what would have hurt Dean most. And I love that Dean so clearly doesn't believe Sam when he claims not to have meant any of it. Sam needs to say it, and he needs to feel that Dean believes it, because our ugliest and most resentful thoughts should be private, not dragged out in public to cause pain for all concerned. But Sam owns those thoughts, however deep they lie in his subconscious, even if he would never willingly have voiced them, even though they are balanced out by love and loyalty, and all the denial in the world can't change that. This is still so very early in the show, and Sam's understanding of what makes his family tick so very imperfect still.

43. Woot! Sleeping Dean! Topless sleeping Dean! ♥