S01.E21: Salvation

[DittyDotDot]

Meg turns to killing John's friends in order to get the Colt. Sam and Dean stakeout the Demon's next target; a family with a six month old baby showing signs of special abilities. John heads off alone to confront Meg.

[DittyDotDot]

Meg returns; John gets captured; Sam and Dean revisit arguments from the Pilot; and it all gets kicked off with our very first Wayward Son. This isn't a particular favorite of mine, but there's nothing actually wrong with it either. I just find that there've been very few shows that can maintain my interest in a long drawn out mystery that takes a few years to pay off, so I'm more drawn to the one-off episodes myself.

 

I really liked the opening of this episode with Pastor Jim. Although I've been waiting nine years for them to fill out this character for me. He seemed like a very interesting character to mine, but it seems the show has totally forgotten about him now. Sigh.

 

I could have lived without most of the scenes of John lumbering around that warehouse and I didn't really understand the point of casting a demon to just stand beside Meg and look tough. Plus, I hate the talky talk of evilness spouting from obvious Meg.

 

I do, however, find I like a lot of the character work in this episode--Dean's continuing to stand up to John in the face of John's growing recklessness; Sam's need to get his revenge and willingness to sacrifice himself to get it; John's weariness and need to have this be over. I also really like Sam's "just in case" speech to Dean and Dean's "don't talk like that" speech back. All of that was handled well and Jensen breaks my heart when Dean tells Sam that he's barely holding it together--Jensen actually breaks my heart a few times in this episode--nicely played Mr. Ackles.  

 

Overall, a decent penultimate (hee!) episode for a freshman season.

[mertensia]

They didn't quite know what to do with this episode and it shows. It's like they said "we have to separate them and have John kidnapped but how?" and worked backwards from there.

The most amusing thing was Meg's brother casually shooting her to see if the Colt was real.

[DittyDotDot]

Yeah, like I said in another thread they really didn't know what to do with John throughout the season. They needed them to be separated, but also needed him to be okay so that Sam and Dean could be hunting randoms instead of actively looking for John. This episode really highlights that John wasn't doing much of anything while they were separated anyway. He didn't really know much more than they knew before and he hadn't saved anyone from the demon...I just couldn't figure out what he was doing that was more important than Dean dying. They really needed to think this out better.

 

It was amusing when no-talky-demon shot Meg though. Maybe that's why I'm not really drawn to the myth heavy episodes--they're generally lacking in fun.

[mertensia]

My guess is until he came face to face with Dean's imminent mortality John was kind of "well if Dean dies in the saddle so be it." No wonder Dean's a death-seeker.

[AwesomO4000]

I agree with what everyone is saying here, because I agree this episode was kind of all over the place with tone and message. Even with the ending where Sam and Dean argue over their next move - Sam wanting to continue chasing the YED vs Dean wanting to give up the chase if it means Sam potentially getting himself killed - the entire argument barely gets a chance to register with me before it's all rendered moot with the phone call that Meg has John. So while the character work is good as you mentioned DittyDotDot, in terms of the plot some of it was sort of rendered moot by circumstance. It might've been nice to explore that a little longer before the action came along. Hee, it's like the ep writers were "oh crap, we took up too much time with John lumbering around, we better move this along a little faster here at the end..."

[7kstar]

I agree with what everyone is saying here, because I agree this episode was kind of all over the place with tone and message. Even with the ending where Sam and Dean argue over their next move - Sam wanting to continue chasing the YED vs Dean wanting to give up the chase if it means Sam potentially getting himself killed - the entire argument barely gets a chance to register with me before it's all rendered moot with the phone call that Meg has John. So while the character work is good as you mentioned DittyDotDot, in terms of the plot some of it was sort of rendered moot by circumstance. It might've been nice to explore that a little longer before the action came along. Hee, it's like the ep writers were "oh crap, we took up too much time with John lumbering around, we better move this along a little faster here at the end..."

I think this is the entire series weakness, they always seem to cram too much in the final few eps instead of pacing it better.

 

Plus for so long we have that John is the example of the best hunter out there but yet gets captured so easily.  So was John really this great hunter or just lucky?  I really wish they hadn't made John such a bad father, I think he was more interesting when you could see the reasons why he was twisted and did some really stupid stuff but loved his sons.

Versus the idea he was just a bad dad all around and why would Dean stay so loyal to him all these years?

 

Again I see so much potential and wish they had thought it out a bit more and paced it a little bit better.  They needed a few more eps to make this really work.

[GirlyGeek]

Well, once again I agree with everything above.  The pacing was a little strange here and there.  Sam's hair has gotten out of control. The warehouse scenes with John were strange and a little cheesy IMO.

But the character momentum in this episode is great.

I particularly love Dean standing up to John about not being able to get him on the phone. And his speech to Sam about barely hanging on.  He takes charge at the end and makes sure Sam understands that killing the demon is not more important than family/dad.

John is flailing here. And Dean sees it. John is so close, closer than ever before AND with a weapon to seal the deal. But people he cares about are dropping like flies around him and he knows Sam and Dean would be next. He doesn't want to lose anyone else.  He's done. He's being reckless. And he has no good options or choices.

his speech about wanting Mary alive... Well for a man who kind of an asshole, he sure cries and hugs a lot.  Lol

Sam's in a similar place.  He's blinded by the revenge that's right in front of him and he's putting that in front of his family.

Carry On Wayward Son had me from the start, though. Best montage ever. And I love that the show made this their theme.

[SueB]

On 6/12/2016 at 0:50 AM, GirlyGeek said:

John is flailing here. And Dean sees it. John is so close, closer than ever before AND with a weapon to seal the deal. But people he cares about are dropping like flies around him and he knows Sam and Dean would be next. He doesn't want to lose anyone else.  He's done. He's being reckless. And he has no good options or choices.

THIS.  And that scene on the side of the road.  John is looking to Dean for COMFORT here.  He doesn't have that relationship with Sam.  But John is just seriously grieving over losing Paster Jim and he stopped the car to talk to Dean.  He's not a hugger but he had to tell Dean. This is grief overload. And it just makes it so clear that Dean has been there before for him. It's why John could say "It's Jim." to him. John relies on Dean to hear his pain. Even if Dean does nothing to make the pain go away. Even though John treats him like a soldier, John needs someone to talk to about this and apparently it's Dean.  And Dean knows it. His initial "What!?" ... he knew something was bad. And then his "Dad?"... he knew his Dad needed to say more.  I can see why Sam felt left out.  Because John is talking to Dean the whole time. He doesn't bring this pain to Sam but he had no choice but to share it with someone... and that was Dean.  And it makes me hurt for ALL THREE.  John, because he has no one he can talk to besides his son. Dean, because he has to step up to the role of comforter to a parent. Sam, because he's left out of the conversation.  Screwed up dysfunctional family in pain.

And then later, the only apparent OTHER person he confides in beside Paster Jim and Dean is Caleb and Meg slits his throat.  John is so RECKLESS. And Dean sees it. And the look of panic on his face as he sees John go is hard to watch. And then Sam pulls the same shit and tries to run back into a burning building.  I felt so bad for Dean having to open a vein for Sam about how he's feeling just to get Sam to PAY ATTENTION.  Because Dean doesn't like to talk about his feelings but if he didn't Sam would continue down a reckless path.  

This episode is all about the family dynamic for me.  And when the three are on screen together? It's like family feels overload. Like looking into the sun directly.  You can only take so much of that.     

[bettername2come]

There is so much nostalgia for me in watching season one and flashing back to all the crazy theories that turned out to be wrong, even if some of them were awesome. 

The first "Carry On My Wayward Son"! I remember how awesome and surprising it was the first time. I still think it's one of the best.

Pastor Jim! The character I was so sad to see disappear since we'd heard several references to him throughout the season. And then he has that awesome arsenal in the church! (the sentences this show make me type) He was so cool! And seemed to be a good minister. And now he's dead. And seemingly forgotten. 

"When were you gonna tell me about this?" You fucking hypocrite, John! He tried! You never answer the damn phone!

"That really hurt my feelings." "Just your feelings? That was a seven story drop!" - I forgot how much I love this exchange. As well as "I'm so not in the mood for this! I've just been shot!" I like Nicki Aycox's performance as Meg. I mean I hated her, but I had fun hating her.

That smile John gives when he turns on the holy water and Meg calls him cute. It's just pure Dean.

I wonder whatever happened to Rosie the baby and her family. And was it just a trap for the Winchesters or was there really a plan for those babies?

Dean just constantly has to keep pulling Sam from the fire, literally and figuratively, doesn't he?

[Iju]

 

dangit, jensen is so talented. he really is made for this character. dean usually keeps his emotions under wraps (at least his sensitive ones) so when he shows just a trinkle of them, in combination of jensen's talent, it hits so dang hard.

it's like what john said in the beginning of the ep: "You don't think I wanted a normal life for you two? I wanted Sam to go to college; I wanted Dean to have a family." that small mention alone put a clue in the back of my mind, and this scene with dean confirms it. it shows that, in my opinion and gatherings of what i have seen so far, that sam could live without his family, at least for a long while. in fact, the show opens with him being away from his family for at least two years and was fine with it. so this much is true. so what john meant by that is if sam had enough resources in his life, he'd be able to grow strong wings and fly; he wouldn't need his family so much. but when john said that he wanted dean to have a family, that showed that through his exterior, dean is probably the most traditional down home guy out there, maybe even more so. what this tells me is that even if dean had the lifetime equipment to fly off, he wouldn't be able to keep in the air for long. he needs his family, and only hypothetically could he survive without his direct family would be if he made one of his own, by his own blood. he wouldn't last long with distant relatives and certainly not with friends.

so what do i mean by that? surely dean can have friends? yes he can, but notice how they never last long. we could argue that he travels a lot and that's probably why he doesn't have the time for any, but just hear me out. look at how dean handles the people he and his bother meet in a daily basis. he is always the blunt, rough edged one (and borderline anti social), and when he tried to hone in and be friendly and sociable, it's an even bigger turn off to people than beforehand. he even said once with what looked like a small hint a jealousy that "You know, my brother could give you his puppy-dog look, and you’d just buy right into it." he's even given hints he doesn't even like humanity itself ("Demons and ghosts I understand, people are just crazy."). so dean's private life and people are pretty tight knit. we also have to remember that, because he is the oldest and got along more with john, dean spent more time away from humanity hunting monsters and whatnot.

now let's look at sam's situation before he was involved in all this drama. as said before, he had a college life, friends, surely a job and a girlfriend (as well as potential fiance). the reason why he slipped into the normal life so easily is because he understands how humans works, which applies to how he can use his "puppy eyes" on others in order to gain information he and his brother need. now, because of their differences, sam is clearly on the winning side of having at least casual friends. dean is just too far removed from society to have friends, and even if one were to try to understand him, they wouldn't be able to get much farther than his million watt

smile because, as we all know, dean doesn't open up to strangers regularly.

so now that the friends idea for dean is out the window, we look closer on what john meant by dean having his own family. ep 13, for its dull and uninteresting storyline, is actually the most important of the series when talking about this very subject. why? because dean - possibly for the first time in his life - was legitimately in love. he told cassie everything about himself, everything he was working for, everything that happened to him. for however his romance with cassie lasted, he had achieved his dream, he probably would have even married her just as sam would have with jessica.
but it didn't last. she didn't believe much (or anything really) about what he told her, and he probably realised that his job would just end up killing her (and maybe his kids) one day anyway. he was shattered by their break up and was still bleeding over it (thus why he refused saying a word about it to sam, he never did in fact, now that i think about it). cassie wasn't only the love of his life, but also a dark, permanent reminder that he could never have his dream (his own family) just as jessica is a reminder for sam he can't have his (a normal life). in addition, he had no-one to go to for his break up and had to shoulder it alone. at least sam had his brother when jessica died right?

so due to the impossible situations of not being able to have friends or his true dream, dean has to hold on to his family that much tighter. he really does have no one but his family. i know that if dean died, sam would be miserable for the rest of his life, but still try to find a way to live on. dean...i am not confident at all he would live. he would probably end up ending himself or lazily slip up during the job and have a monster do it for him. i noticed that while sam is the softer one, he is actually the emotionally strong one, and it is dean who is not only sensitive but extremely sensitive one. sam looks out for dean's heart while dean looks after sam's butt because he gets into so much trouble lol :)

Edited March 1, 2018 by Iju

[The Companion]

On 6/11/2016 at 11:50 PM, GirlyGeek said:

Well, once again I agree with everything above.  The pacing was a little strange here and there.  Sam's hair has gotten out of control. The warehouse scenes with John were strange and a little cheesy IMO.

But the character momentum in this episode is great.

I particularly love Dean standing up to John about not being able to get him on the phone. And his speech to Sam about barely hanging on.  He takes charge at the end and makes sure Sam understands that killing the demon is not more important than family/dad.

John is flailing here. And Dean sees it. John is so close, closer than ever before AND with a weapon to seal the deal. But people he cares about are dropping like flies around him and he knows Sam and Dean would be next. He doesn't want to lose anyone else.  He's done. He's being reckless. And he has no good options or choices.

his speech about wanting Mary alive... Well for a man who kind of an asshole, he sure cries and hugs a lot.  Lol

Sam's in a similar place.  He's blinded by the revenge that's right in front of him and he's putting that in front of his family.

Carry On Wayward Son had me from the start, though. Best montage ever. And I love that the show made this their theme.

Yes, the character momentum makes up for an uneven episode, imo. Part of it is that I find Meg to be a little boring and not particularly scary. But the confrontations among the Winchesters were fantastic.

I am happy to hear that I have another 5 months before the baby is old enough to worry about being sliced and barbecued by a demon. Of the two storylines, that one worked more for me and I particularly liked the husband misinterpreting intent. I would speculate, but everyone else already knows what happens. The perils of watch 14 years late.