1.15: "Demons I get; people are crazy"
May. 1st, 2006 07:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
llywelaOr: the one where Dean actually verbalises and admits to the driving character trait we've seen in him all the way through this series.
"When we were young, I pretty much pulled him from a fire. And ever since then, I’ve felt responsible for him. Like it’s my job to keep him safe."
The brothers get split up very early in this episode, and I have to admit that I prefer it when a strong double-act like this spend more screen-time together. But the set-up works for this episode. I just don't want it to happen too often.
I liked that right at the start Dean queried whether or not it was 'their kind of case', and so it turned out: it really wasn't their kind of case. But by the time they found that out, it was already too late. The moment Sam went out into the parking lot alone I started hollering at the screen. So obvious that something was going to happen. The cat under the car was a nice mislead, but then...
And then Dean comes out and finds the papers that Sam left on the car, and no sign of Sam himself, and panics. In a very Dean-ish way. There's no obvious freak-out, and yet you can see that he is, if that makes sense. And he has to go through very human channels to begin the search for his brother: contacting the local police for a search of hospitals, CCTV camers, etc, and you can see how deeply frustrating it is for him. Using a stolen police badge...identity fraud of that nature is easier to get away with when interviewing witnesses than when interacting with actual police. Not really surprising that he got busted.
But on the other hand - what other name could he use? I really appreciated the continuity of Cop Kathleen looking Sam up on the police database and coming up with his brother Dean as a dead homicide suspect. After Skin aired we all wondered if being legally dead (and legally a suspected murderer) would cause problems for Dean, and here is the evidence. He literally can't tell her the truth. In this kind of situation he's never going to be able to use his real name.
Probably shouldn't have used a stolen police identity, though.
The scenes of Dean and Cop Kathleen investigating Sam's disappearance, and Sam trying to find a way out of his cage are nicely intercut, along with the grisly reveal about just who is abducting random people and for what purposes. Sam's cellmate Jenkins didn't last long against family hunter.
Interesting parallel between the Bender family and the Winchester family - both have fathers who have raised their sons to hunt and kill. The different being, of course, both the prey and the morals. Dean and Sam have been raised to hunt and kill demons in order to protect the innocent. The Bender sons were raised to hunt and kill innocent people for fun. Ick.
I loved that Sam stayed so level-headed during his captivity, jumping to and trying to find a way out at once - course, that piping that he put so much effort into yanking down from the wall didn't seem to be much use at first, but it did eventually provide him with a crucial resource.
Cop Kathleen seemed familiar to me. I couldn't place the actress, though. Her brother having been a previous victim of the Bender family might have been a big coincidence, but provided her with a powerful motivation to continue to help Dean search for Sam even after realising that he'd lied about his identity. She never did find out who he really was, but his plea about family and being responsible for someone clearly struck enough of a chord with her. Not enough for her to trust him, though - cuffing him to the car like that. Which, of course, gave Dean the opportunity to almost pull himself in half trying to reach the car aeriel to unpick the cuffs.
Loved the scene of Dean finding Sam and the cop in their cages - such obvious relief written all over the faces of both boys. But no simple solution to the problem of the cages - securely locked - or to the mystery of why they've been captured in the first place. So Dean has to go investigating the oh-so creepy Bender house. Should've just called in reinforcements, perhaps - but that's not really how Dean operates. Besides, he's already in trouble with the law for that darned identity fraud.
Dean taken out by a 13 year old girl...okay not quite. But seeing her there all dirty and bedraggled, it's completely in character for him to automatically assume she's a victim of some kind rather than being as psychotic as the rest of the family. Although having said that - he's seen the photos of the 'hunters' with their human trophies by then, so really shouldn't have dropped his guard even for the little girl. Who has way too good of an aim with her knife - surprised she only went for pinning his coat to the wall rather than an actual stab. Dean actually held his own pretty well in the fight, two against one, until the third entered the fray and took him out from behind. And then he really is in trouble.
Nicely unpleasant scenes of Dean all tied up and tortured as the Benders try to work out just how badly their operation has been compromised, make him choose between the cop and his brother. And Dean picked Sam to be freed and hunted? He's got faith in his brother's ability to escape and evade - more so than in the cop, anyway. Oh, and his despair when Pa Bender says to just shoot Sam and the cop anyway.
"You hurt my brother, I’ll kill you, I swear. I’ll kill you all. I will kill you all!"
But even locked in a cage, Sam isn't as helpless as he looks, and takes advantage of the opportunity to escape, and I was bemused by his disappointment over his appropriated rifle jamming and thus being useless to him - was he intending to use it on his supposed executor, or had hopes of using it as part of the escape attempt?
Sam and Cop Kathleen, once free, prove better at the hunting thing than the Bender family. The sons are locked in the cage - why not the father, as well? And then Sam leaves the cop with Pa Bender while he goes off to see what happened to Dean - that man was dead the moment Sam left him alone with the cop. It might have taken a few choice comments of the remorseless variety to push her to the point of shooting, but she was always going to do it.
And then the story just ends, pretty abruptly. Did Dean get free of his bonds and take out the little girl by himself? Or did Sam have to do that for him? I suppose they didn't fancy showing us a fight between grown men and a little girl, but you'd think she'd put up at least a bit of a struggle - she's obviously handy with that knife of hers. But no, we cut straight to the epilogue of Cop Kathleen telling them both to get lost before the authorities arrive, although not before having a moment of understanding with Dean about her brother's death - but she still doesn't know Dean's real name.
And the boys then have to find their way back to town on foot, which is slightly mean what with Dean having that burnt shoulder (nice touch that he's not saying anything but holding his arm awkwardly) and blood all over his face. But the last scene of the brothers walking away teasing each other is great - they're blokes. They're never going to say "I was so afraid for you" or "I love you" but the sentiment expresses itself through that affectionate teasing.
DEAN: Never do that again.
SAM: Do what?
DEAN: Go missin’ like that. (SAM laughs.)
SAM: You were worried about me.
DEAN: All I’m sayin’ is, you vanish like that again, I’m not lookin’ for ya.
SAM: Sure, you won’t.
DEAN: I’m not.
Great stuff.
"When we were young, I pretty much pulled him from a fire. And ever since then, I’ve felt responsible for him. Like it’s my job to keep him safe."
The brothers get split up very early in this episode, and I have to admit that I prefer it when a strong double-act like this spend more screen-time together. But the set-up works for this episode. I just don't want it to happen too often.
I liked that right at the start Dean queried whether or not it was 'their kind of case', and so it turned out: it really wasn't their kind of case. But by the time they found that out, it was already too late. The moment Sam went out into the parking lot alone I started hollering at the screen. So obvious that something was going to happen. The cat under the car was a nice mislead, but then...
And then Dean comes out and finds the papers that Sam left on the car, and no sign of Sam himself, and panics. In a very Dean-ish way. There's no obvious freak-out, and yet you can see that he is, if that makes sense. And he has to go through very human channels to begin the search for his brother: contacting the local police for a search of hospitals, CCTV camers, etc, and you can see how deeply frustrating it is for him. Using a stolen police badge...identity fraud of that nature is easier to get away with when interviewing witnesses than when interacting with actual police. Not really surprising that he got busted.
But on the other hand - what other name could he use? I really appreciated the continuity of Cop Kathleen looking Sam up on the police database and coming up with his brother Dean as a dead homicide suspect. After Skin aired we all wondered if being legally dead (and legally a suspected murderer) would cause problems for Dean, and here is the evidence. He literally can't tell her the truth. In this kind of situation he's never going to be able to use his real name.
Probably shouldn't have used a stolen police identity, though.
The scenes of Dean and Cop Kathleen investigating Sam's disappearance, and Sam trying to find a way out of his cage are nicely intercut, along with the grisly reveal about just who is abducting random people and for what purposes. Sam's cellmate Jenkins didn't last long against family hunter.
Interesting parallel between the Bender family and the Winchester family - both have fathers who have raised their sons to hunt and kill. The different being, of course, both the prey and the morals. Dean and Sam have been raised to hunt and kill demons in order to protect the innocent. The Bender sons were raised to hunt and kill innocent people for fun. Ick.
I loved that Sam stayed so level-headed during his captivity, jumping to and trying to find a way out at once - course, that piping that he put so much effort into yanking down from the wall didn't seem to be much use at first, but it did eventually provide him with a crucial resource.
Cop Kathleen seemed familiar to me. I couldn't place the actress, though. Her brother having been a previous victim of the Bender family might have been a big coincidence, but provided her with a powerful motivation to continue to help Dean search for Sam even after realising that he'd lied about his identity. She never did find out who he really was, but his plea about family and being responsible for someone clearly struck enough of a chord with her. Not enough for her to trust him, though - cuffing him to the car like that. Which, of course, gave Dean the opportunity to almost pull himself in half trying to reach the car aeriel to unpick the cuffs.
Loved the scene of Dean finding Sam and the cop in their cages - such obvious relief written all over the faces of both boys. But no simple solution to the problem of the cages - securely locked - or to the mystery of why they've been captured in the first place. So Dean has to go investigating the oh-so creepy Bender house. Should've just called in reinforcements, perhaps - but that's not really how Dean operates. Besides, he's already in trouble with the law for that darned identity fraud.
Dean taken out by a 13 year old girl...okay not quite. But seeing her there all dirty and bedraggled, it's completely in character for him to automatically assume she's a victim of some kind rather than being as psychotic as the rest of the family. Although having said that - he's seen the photos of the 'hunters' with their human trophies by then, so really shouldn't have dropped his guard even for the little girl. Who has way too good of an aim with her knife - surprised she only went for pinning his coat to the wall rather than an actual stab. Dean actually held his own pretty well in the fight, two against one, until the third entered the fray and took him out from behind. And then he really is in trouble.
Nicely unpleasant scenes of Dean all tied up and tortured as the Benders try to work out just how badly their operation has been compromised, make him choose between the cop and his brother. And Dean picked Sam to be freed and hunted? He's got faith in his brother's ability to escape and evade - more so than in the cop, anyway. Oh, and his despair when Pa Bender says to just shoot Sam and the cop anyway.
"You hurt my brother, I’ll kill you, I swear. I’ll kill you all. I will kill you all!"
But even locked in a cage, Sam isn't as helpless as he looks, and takes advantage of the opportunity to escape, and I was bemused by his disappointment over his appropriated rifle jamming and thus being useless to him - was he intending to use it on his supposed executor, or had hopes of using it as part of the escape attempt?
Sam and Cop Kathleen, once free, prove better at the hunting thing than the Bender family. The sons are locked in the cage - why not the father, as well? And then Sam leaves the cop with Pa Bender while he goes off to see what happened to Dean - that man was dead the moment Sam left him alone with the cop. It might have taken a few choice comments of the remorseless variety to push her to the point of shooting, but she was always going to do it.
And then the story just ends, pretty abruptly. Did Dean get free of his bonds and take out the little girl by himself? Or did Sam have to do that for him? I suppose they didn't fancy showing us a fight between grown men and a little girl, but you'd think she'd put up at least a bit of a struggle - she's obviously handy with that knife of hers. But no, we cut straight to the epilogue of Cop Kathleen telling them both to get lost before the authorities arrive, although not before having a moment of understanding with Dean about her brother's death - but she still doesn't know Dean's real name.
And the boys then have to find their way back to town on foot, which is slightly mean what with Dean having that burnt shoulder (nice touch that he's not saying anything but holding his arm awkwardly) and blood all over his face. But the last scene of the brothers walking away teasing each other is great - they're blokes. They're never going to say "I was so afraid for you" or "I love you" but the sentiment expresses itself through that affectionate teasing.
DEAN: Never do that again.
SAM: Do what?
DEAN: Go missin’ like that. (SAM laughs.)
SAM: You were worried about me.
DEAN: All I’m sayin’ is, you vanish like that again, I’m not lookin’ for ya.
SAM: Sure, you won’t.
DEAN: I’m not.
Great stuff.
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no subject
Date: 2006-05-02 06:37 am (UTC)Anyway odd about how it ends abruptly. Do you think they're might've been some odd cut thanks to the TV Channel or it was just the way it was meant to be? :S
Can't wait to see it :D
no subject
Date: 2006-05-02 06:45 am (UTC)The ending did feel a little odd - but I gather that's how it was aired in America, too. Maybe a scene got cut for length in the original? Or maybe the writers realised they were running out of time and chose to cut the ending rather than lose any of the earlier material? The ways of TV are largely a mystery to me!
no subject
Date: 2006-05-02 07:08 am (UTC)Very odd maybe they did cut it because they were running out of time. If when it's shown over here they don't have the cut, I'll let you in on it even if you know the ending LOL. This is going to puzzle me for a while methinks...
no subject
Date: 2006-05-02 07:11 am (UTC)