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llywelaI'd heard mixed reviews of this episode, but I really liked it. There hasn't been an episode yet that I disliked, mind.
We start with the very creepy painting followed by the very creepy murders of the couple who've just bought it, and then cut to Sam and Dean, in a bar. Sam is researching; Dean is kicking back and enjoying himself. Apparently Dean feels in need of a little R&R because this attitude lingers for quite a while into the episode.
SAM: Dean, no thanks, I can get my own dates.
DEAN: Yeah, you can, but you don’t.
SAM: What is that supposed to mean?
DEAN: Nothin’.
That's a fairly important little exchange – they've never really talked about Jessica's death and the impact it's had on Sam, his reluctance to move on. Here, Dean raises it, but drops it again instantly, not willing – yet – to force the issue.
Sam waking Dean up by honking the horn and then laughing at his reaction is very cute. And Dean's bleary-eyed disgruntlement is perfect.
Dea: "Man, that is so not cool."
Investigating the contents of the house at the auction house, Dean is still not really on his game – he doesn't really seem to care that much about this case, which is unusual for him. It's not so much his clumsy handling of the undercover work that seems off, since we've seen that before, but his attitude. Usually, if he blows his cover it's because he's trying too hard. He can get scarily intense at times. Here, though, he just seems tired of the whole thing already. In the bar the previous night he'd suggested 'shore leave', and although at the time that was mostly to do with him having his eye on a girl, but I can't help wondering if he might not have been at least partly serious.
I find myself wondering if Daddy John ever allowed the family to just take a break now and then, or if it was a relentless hunt, hunt, hunt all the time. In what little I've seen of him so far, he's come across as a very dedicated taskmaster, and if John pushed to the limits, Dean wouldn't argue against it. But Dean is in charge of the operation now, for the first time, and that's a heavier load than he's previously had to carry. His motivations for carrying on the hunt are very different to either John's or Sam's, for that matter, and he really does have very little in his life to enjoy. So maybe I'm just constructing rationalisations for slopping writing, or maybe Dean just is feeling in need of a little break from the constant hunting, needs to recharge the batteries.
Sam's frustration with Dean's clumsiness at the auction house is highly amusing. Dean grabbing as much finger food as he can stuff down his throat is also amusing. Well, free food there saves them hard-stolen money, right?
And then there's Sarah, hitting it off with Sam at once on an intellectual level, for a few brief moments, anyway, before the boys get kicked out.
The joint 'huh' on seeing the décor of their motel room is another amusing moment, as are the several occasions on which Dean fails to remember/pronounce the word 'provenance' and Sam has to correct him. This is another of those differences between the boys – Sam is the intellectual. He cares about those kinds of details. Dean is more practically minded. He really doesn't care what the word is, and therefore makes no attempt to remember it.
Dean practically forces Sam at Sarah. And only partly because they need her help to solve the case.
DEAN: You know, when this whole thing is done, we could stick around for a little bit.
SAM: Why?
DEAN: So you can take her out again. It’s obvious you’re into her, even I can see that.
Stage one of The Talk, interrupted by business of the 'I've found what we need to know variety'. And the second time this episode that Dean has suggested taking a break.
Love watching them scale that fence and break into the auction house – very unconventional upbringing and training these boys had to acquire those skills.
If Dean hadn't made an excuse to get Sam to see Sarah again – excellent little ruse to fool his brother, btw, proving he can act a part well when he wants to – they never would have found out about the painting restoring itself after they burned it. Sam's inability to conceal his shock on seeing it, and his babbling to Sarah while thinking at a hundred miles an hour is just too funny.
The oh-so helpful librarian amused me immensely, so delighted that someone had expressed an interest in local crime history – apparently some kind of hobby of his.
And then while the boys discuss what their next move should be, we get stage two of The Talk.
SAM: Dude, enough already.
DEAN: What?
SAM: “What?” Ever since we got here, you’ve been tryin’ to pimp me out to Sarah. Just back off, all right?
DEAN: Well, you like her, don’t you? (SAM says nothing.) All right, you like her, she likes you, you’re both consenting adults….
SAM: What’s the point, Dean? We’ll just leave. We always leave.
DEAN: Well, I’m not talkin’ about marriage, Sam.
SAM: You know what, I don’t get it. What do you care if I hook up?
DEAN: Because then maybe you wouldn’t be so cranky all the time. (SAM scoffs. DEAN sits up.) You know, seriously, Sam, this isn’t about just hookin’ up, okay? I mean, I think this Sarah girl could be good for you. And I don’t mean any disrespect, but I’m sure that this is about Jessica, right? (SAM looks at him sadly.) Now, I don’t know what it’s like to lose somebody like that, but….I would think that she would want you to be happy. (SAM is close to tears.) God forbid, have fun once in a while. Wouldn’t she? (SAM smiles faintly.)
SAM: Yeah, I know she would. (He sighs.) Yeah, you’re right. Part of this is about Jessica. But not the main part.
DEAN: What’s it about? (SAM says nothing.) Yeah, all right. (He leans back on the bed.)
This is a conversation that really couldn't have taken place any earlier in the series. Sam wouldn't have been ready to hear it, and Dean wouldn't have been comfortable saying it - he still isn't comfortable saying it, but now feels able to at least make the attempt. It has taken them until now to be sufficiently relaxed with one another, to be ready to talk about something so personal. And even now they can only say so much before the subject has to be dropped again. Small steps.
Sarah is incredibly trusting. This guy she's only just met, and been on just one date with, calls to ask all kinds of weird questions…and she just hands over the address of a friend and client, just like that? Okay, so she insists on meeting them at the house of the woman who bought the painting rather than just telling them where it was, but even that seems dodgy to me. And then she watches them break into the house, and still doesn't call the police…
The windows of Evelyn's house appear to have bars across them, for some reason. This will be important later.
Maybe Sarah was just that convinced by Sam's impression of Dean at his most scarily intense. Finding her friend and client dead seems to clinch her acceptance of them as weird but well meaning. But she's got plenty of spunk – she's seen enough to know there's more going on than meets the eye, and instead of running and hiding she wants to know the truth, to understand.
DEAN: Sam? (SAM turns to look at him.) Marry that girl.
The changing aspects of the painting are pretty well done, and provide good clues. Keeps the story spinning out. I love how observant they all are in this episode – each taking turns at spotting small but significant details.
I can only assume Dean got the job of checking death certificates and the like because he wanted Sam to have time alone with Sarah – given a choice, he generally prefers to leave that kind of thing to Sam, where possible. But this allows Sam to have another version of The Talk with Sarah – he kind of tells her about Jess, but not really. He says as little as he can possibly manage while still getting his point across.
SAM: Look it’s hard to explain...it’s just that when people are around me….I don’t know, they get hurt.
SARAH: What do you mean?
SAM: I mean, like, physically hurt. With what my brother and I do, it’s—(He stops, seeming to have trouble with the words.)—Sarah….I had a girlfriend. (She nods.) And she died. And my mom died, too. I don’t know, it’s like….it’s like I’m cursed or something—like death just follows me around. Look, I’m not scared of much, but if I let myself have feelings for anybody—
SARAH: You’re scared they’d get hurt, too. (SAM nods.) That’s very sweet. And very archaic.
SAM: Sorry?
SARAH: Look, I’m a big girl, Sam. It’s not your job to make decisions for me. There’s always a chance of getting hurt.
SAM: I’m not talkin’ about a broken heart and a tub of Haagen-Dazs. I’m talkin’ about life and death.
SARAH: And tomorrow, I could get hit by a bus. That’s what life is. Look, I know losing somebody you love—it’s terrible. You shut yourself off, believe me, I know. But when you shut out pain, you shut out everything else, too.
SAM: Look, Sarah, you don’t understand. The pain that I went through—I can’t go through it again. I can’t.
By his scene, I've warmed to Sarah considerably since her first appearance, when she just seemed bland. She's feisty. But throughout this conversation you can see that she sees that she isn't convincing Sam. He believes he's cursed and should remain alone, and as much as he likes her, he isn't going to let his barriers drop enough to let her in – she's already got just about as far as she's ever going to.
Isaiah the alleged family-killer had a pauper's burial, which means they have bones to burn. And we know how much Dean loves to salt and burn… Sarah's grim acceptance of what they do grows more amusing by the moment.
SARAH: You guys seem to be uncomfortably comfortable with this.
SAM: Yeah, well, this isn’t exactly the first grave we’ve dug. Still think I’m a catch? (He smiles.)
But of course, it was never going to be that simple. As soon as Sam and Sarah get trapped in the house with the painting – clearly still haunted – and Dean is unable to get the door open to get them out, I start hollering at the TV to break a window and get out that way. Takes a while to remember that at least one of the windows has bars across it, which would make it a fairly tricky exit.
All hail the invention of cellphones, without which Sam and Sarah would be toast.
The little girl in the painting was the killer all along, and the father was trying to warn people by changing position, looking directly at her. For some reason, I find that incredibly touching and feel impossibly sorry for Isaiah, who was blamed for the killings, given a pauper's burial because his family were ashamed of him, has now had his remained salted and burned – and yet even beyond the grave attempted to rein in his murderous adoptive child.
Children who are placed for adoption can at times be seriously disturbed – they are all available for adoption for a reason, and that reason is generally a good reason to be screwed up in some way. Of course, 99.99% of them are not serial killers. This one was, and it's a nice twist.
The ghost girl is deeply creepy.
SAM: What kind of house doesn’t have salt? Low-sodium freaks.
Mwahahah. Who says this show doesn't have entertaining dialogue?!
SARAH: Sam, wait. We used to handle antique dolls at the auction.
SAM: Well, that’s fascinating, Sarah, but important right now?
That little exchange convinced me that these two really could make it work, if Sam would just let himself take the chance. Just, so coupley. And Sarah was completely right, and provides the information necessary for Dean to take off back to the cemetery and torch the doll containing the girl's hair. But smashing through the gates like that – he must be really worried about Sam to risk damage to his car…
I love that when it's all over, and Sam and Sarah are sitting on the floor recovering from their near miss, you can tell that Sam is waiting for the inevitable phone call to check that they are okay. Again, all hail the invention of cellphones!
Sam was never going to stay with Sarah – he knows it and she knows it. He's not ready for that, even if he was prepared to give up on his mission. But he agrees to come back and visit, rather than fobbing her off with a maybe, and seals the deal with a kiss, so all is not lost – the post-Jess healing process moves forward another step. And Dean is satisfied with that.
Overall, maybe not a mile a minute, and very much standalone in many respects, but I enjoyed it and found it satisfying in terms of the interactions of the brothers and the gradual development of their relationship.
We start with the very creepy painting followed by the very creepy murders of the couple who've just bought it, and then cut to Sam and Dean, in a bar. Sam is researching; Dean is kicking back and enjoying himself. Apparently Dean feels in need of a little R&R because this attitude lingers for quite a while into the episode.
SAM: Dean, no thanks, I can get my own dates.
DEAN: Yeah, you can, but you don’t.
SAM: What is that supposed to mean?
DEAN: Nothin’.
That's a fairly important little exchange – they've never really talked about Jessica's death and the impact it's had on Sam, his reluctance to move on. Here, Dean raises it, but drops it again instantly, not willing – yet – to force the issue.
Sam waking Dean up by honking the horn and then laughing at his reaction is very cute. And Dean's bleary-eyed disgruntlement is perfect.
Dea: "Man, that is so not cool."
Investigating the contents of the house at the auction house, Dean is still not really on his game – he doesn't really seem to care that much about this case, which is unusual for him. It's not so much his clumsy handling of the undercover work that seems off, since we've seen that before, but his attitude. Usually, if he blows his cover it's because he's trying too hard. He can get scarily intense at times. Here, though, he just seems tired of the whole thing already. In the bar the previous night he'd suggested 'shore leave', and although at the time that was mostly to do with him having his eye on a girl, but I can't help wondering if he might not have been at least partly serious.
I find myself wondering if Daddy John ever allowed the family to just take a break now and then, or if it was a relentless hunt, hunt, hunt all the time. In what little I've seen of him so far, he's come across as a very dedicated taskmaster, and if John pushed to the limits, Dean wouldn't argue against it. But Dean is in charge of the operation now, for the first time, and that's a heavier load than he's previously had to carry. His motivations for carrying on the hunt are very different to either John's or Sam's, for that matter, and he really does have very little in his life to enjoy. So maybe I'm just constructing rationalisations for slopping writing, or maybe Dean just is feeling in need of a little break from the constant hunting, needs to recharge the batteries.
Sam's frustration with Dean's clumsiness at the auction house is highly amusing. Dean grabbing as much finger food as he can stuff down his throat is also amusing. Well, free food there saves them hard-stolen money, right?
And then there's Sarah, hitting it off with Sam at once on an intellectual level, for a few brief moments, anyway, before the boys get kicked out.
The joint 'huh' on seeing the décor of their motel room is another amusing moment, as are the several occasions on which Dean fails to remember/pronounce the word 'provenance' and Sam has to correct him. This is another of those differences between the boys – Sam is the intellectual. He cares about those kinds of details. Dean is more practically minded. He really doesn't care what the word is, and therefore makes no attempt to remember it.
Dean practically forces Sam at Sarah. And only partly because they need her help to solve the case.
DEAN: You know, when this whole thing is done, we could stick around for a little bit.
SAM: Why?
DEAN: So you can take her out again. It’s obvious you’re into her, even I can see that.
Stage one of The Talk, interrupted by business of the 'I've found what we need to know variety'. And the second time this episode that Dean has suggested taking a break.
Love watching them scale that fence and break into the auction house – very unconventional upbringing and training these boys had to acquire those skills.
If Dean hadn't made an excuse to get Sam to see Sarah again – excellent little ruse to fool his brother, btw, proving he can act a part well when he wants to – they never would have found out about the painting restoring itself after they burned it. Sam's inability to conceal his shock on seeing it, and his babbling to Sarah while thinking at a hundred miles an hour is just too funny.
The oh-so helpful librarian amused me immensely, so delighted that someone had expressed an interest in local crime history – apparently some kind of hobby of his.
And then while the boys discuss what their next move should be, we get stage two of The Talk.
SAM: Dude, enough already.
DEAN: What?
SAM: “What?” Ever since we got here, you’ve been tryin’ to pimp me out to Sarah. Just back off, all right?
DEAN: Well, you like her, don’t you? (SAM says nothing.) All right, you like her, she likes you, you’re both consenting adults….
SAM: What’s the point, Dean? We’ll just leave. We always leave.
DEAN: Well, I’m not talkin’ about marriage, Sam.
SAM: You know what, I don’t get it. What do you care if I hook up?
DEAN: Because then maybe you wouldn’t be so cranky all the time. (SAM scoffs. DEAN sits up.) You know, seriously, Sam, this isn’t about just hookin’ up, okay? I mean, I think this Sarah girl could be good for you. And I don’t mean any disrespect, but I’m sure that this is about Jessica, right? (SAM looks at him sadly.) Now, I don’t know what it’s like to lose somebody like that, but….I would think that she would want you to be happy. (SAM is close to tears.) God forbid, have fun once in a while. Wouldn’t she? (SAM smiles faintly.)
SAM: Yeah, I know she would. (He sighs.) Yeah, you’re right. Part of this is about Jessica. But not the main part.
DEAN: What’s it about? (SAM says nothing.) Yeah, all right. (He leans back on the bed.)
This is a conversation that really couldn't have taken place any earlier in the series. Sam wouldn't have been ready to hear it, and Dean wouldn't have been comfortable saying it - he still isn't comfortable saying it, but now feels able to at least make the attempt. It has taken them until now to be sufficiently relaxed with one another, to be ready to talk about something so personal. And even now they can only say so much before the subject has to be dropped again. Small steps.
Sarah is incredibly trusting. This guy she's only just met, and been on just one date with, calls to ask all kinds of weird questions…and she just hands over the address of a friend and client, just like that? Okay, so she insists on meeting them at the house of the woman who bought the painting rather than just telling them where it was, but even that seems dodgy to me. And then she watches them break into the house, and still doesn't call the police…
The windows of Evelyn's house appear to have bars across them, for some reason. This will be important later.
Maybe Sarah was just that convinced by Sam's impression of Dean at his most scarily intense. Finding her friend and client dead seems to clinch her acceptance of them as weird but well meaning. But she's got plenty of spunk – she's seen enough to know there's more going on than meets the eye, and instead of running and hiding she wants to know the truth, to understand.
DEAN: Sam? (SAM turns to look at him.) Marry that girl.
The changing aspects of the painting are pretty well done, and provide good clues. Keeps the story spinning out. I love how observant they all are in this episode – each taking turns at spotting small but significant details.
I can only assume Dean got the job of checking death certificates and the like because he wanted Sam to have time alone with Sarah – given a choice, he generally prefers to leave that kind of thing to Sam, where possible. But this allows Sam to have another version of The Talk with Sarah – he kind of tells her about Jess, but not really. He says as little as he can possibly manage while still getting his point across.
SAM: Look it’s hard to explain...it’s just that when people are around me….I don’t know, they get hurt.
SARAH: What do you mean?
SAM: I mean, like, physically hurt. With what my brother and I do, it’s—(He stops, seeming to have trouble with the words.)—Sarah….I had a girlfriend. (She nods.) And she died. And my mom died, too. I don’t know, it’s like….it’s like I’m cursed or something—like death just follows me around. Look, I’m not scared of much, but if I let myself have feelings for anybody—
SARAH: You’re scared they’d get hurt, too. (SAM nods.) That’s very sweet. And very archaic.
SAM: Sorry?
SARAH: Look, I’m a big girl, Sam. It’s not your job to make decisions for me. There’s always a chance of getting hurt.
SAM: I’m not talkin’ about a broken heart and a tub of Haagen-Dazs. I’m talkin’ about life and death.
SARAH: And tomorrow, I could get hit by a bus. That’s what life is. Look, I know losing somebody you love—it’s terrible. You shut yourself off, believe me, I know. But when you shut out pain, you shut out everything else, too.
SAM: Look, Sarah, you don’t understand. The pain that I went through—I can’t go through it again. I can’t.
By his scene, I've warmed to Sarah considerably since her first appearance, when she just seemed bland. She's feisty. But throughout this conversation you can see that she sees that she isn't convincing Sam. He believes he's cursed and should remain alone, and as much as he likes her, he isn't going to let his barriers drop enough to let her in – she's already got just about as far as she's ever going to.
Isaiah the alleged family-killer had a pauper's burial, which means they have bones to burn. And we know how much Dean loves to salt and burn… Sarah's grim acceptance of what they do grows more amusing by the moment.
SARAH: You guys seem to be uncomfortably comfortable with this.
SAM: Yeah, well, this isn’t exactly the first grave we’ve dug. Still think I’m a catch? (He smiles.)
But of course, it was never going to be that simple. As soon as Sam and Sarah get trapped in the house with the painting – clearly still haunted – and Dean is unable to get the door open to get them out, I start hollering at the TV to break a window and get out that way. Takes a while to remember that at least one of the windows has bars across it, which would make it a fairly tricky exit.
All hail the invention of cellphones, without which Sam and Sarah would be toast.
The little girl in the painting was the killer all along, and the father was trying to warn people by changing position, looking directly at her. For some reason, I find that incredibly touching and feel impossibly sorry for Isaiah, who was blamed for the killings, given a pauper's burial because his family were ashamed of him, has now had his remained salted and burned – and yet even beyond the grave attempted to rein in his murderous adoptive child.
Children who are placed for adoption can at times be seriously disturbed – they are all available for adoption for a reason, and that reason is generally a good reason to be screwed up in some way. Of course, 99.99% of them are not serial killers. This one was, and it's a nice twist.
The ghost girl is deeply creepy.
SAM: What kind of house doesn’t have salt? Low-sodium freaks.
Mwahahah. Who says this show doesn't have entertaining dialogue?!
SARAH: Sam, wait. We used to handle antique dolls at the auction.
SAM: Well, that’s fascinating, Sarah, but important right now?
That little exchange convinced me that these two really could make it work, if Sam would just let himself take the chance. Just, so coupley. And Sarah was completely right, and provides the information necessary for Dean to take off back to the cemetery and torch the doll containing the girl's hair. But smashing through the gates like that – he must be really worried about Sam to risk damage to his car…
I love that when it's all over, and Sam and Sarah are sitting on the floor recovering from their near miss, you can tell that Sam is waiting for the inevitable phone call to check that they are okay. Again, all hail the invention of cellphones!
Sam was never going to stay with Sarah – he knows it and she knows it. He's not ready for that, even if he was prepared to give up on his mission. But he agrees to come back and visit, rather than fobbing her off with a maybe, and seals the deal with a kiss, so all is not lost – the post-Jess healing process moves forward another step. And Dean is satisfied with that.
Overall, maybe not a mile a minute, and very much standalone in many respects, but I enjoyed it and found it satisfying in terms of the interactions of the brothers and the gradual development of their relationship.
