S04.E11: Family Remains

[DittyDotDot]

A family looks for a new start in the country. But something is inside the walls of their house.

 

I tried to watch this episode in the light of an interview I read with Jeremy Carver back in S4 where he states this episode was an exercise for him to see if he could write a horror story since his writing background is not from this genre. I really did try, but I'm sorry, I still find it a miss. I think he could have aimed higher than a B-grade horror movie from the '70s and '80s and written an actually scary and good episode that wasn't full of clichés and plot holes. I have no problems with humans being the monsters or that it was a dark and icky subject, I have a problem that he took a dark and icky subject and made it just a bunch of silly horror tropes rather than scratching beneath the surface of it.

 

And I can't even blame it all on Carver; Kripke should have seen all the problems a mile away and helped steer this episode better. For instance, these kids that were supposed to be locked away from society and never saw the light of day somehow taught themselves to read and write? Or, running out of one room only to lock yourself in another room to be attacked once again by the kids rather than getting the fuck out of there. And don't even get me started on how those kids knew how to break into a car trunk and steal all the weapons and/or why they slashed their tires when all they really wanted was for them all to leave. Just too much nonsense for me to get behind. I think they were thinking it would be something akin to The X-files episode Home (I still think that's one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen on television), it is not even in the same universe, IMO. 

 

I'll continue with trying to end on the positive though. I think the guest cast was good and did their jobs nicely and the look of the episode was spot on for me, so kudos to the art department and location team again. But really, the only thing that makes this episode worth watching at all is Dean. Dean pushing and chasing as many cases as he can to try and save as many people as he could to try and make up for what he did in Hell was a good through line here and the only thing that holds this episode together for me.  It's a nice flip of the coin to what they were trying to do with Sam in Playthings and I wish it was something they had delved into for more than one episode. I really didn't need another repeat of his regrets of Hell speech, though, but they do like to beat us over the head with things we already know with this show, so whatever.

 

Hmm, did I really end it on a positive there?

[FlickChick]

Don't feel bad about not finding much to like in this one, @DittyDotDot, because I couldn't find anything to like. :) I remember thinking that it was Carver's biggest failure (back in S3) because at that time, I thought he was a pretty good writer and I liked the way he wrote the boys. Of course, that was in S3. Today I have an entirely different view of his "talent". :(

[Goldmoon]

I just rewatched this yesterday and it put me in mind of "Home," which I thought sucked rotten eggs.  What I hate is that the dog died though.  Poor pup.

[GirlyGeek]

This was the very first episode I watched live. I didn't have a problem with it really, but I also wasn't in the habit (yet) of picking episodes apart, and was just so excited to be 'all caught up'.

Funny you mention XF Home ep. The lady who played the mom under the bed from Home was in this episode! Which was disturbing.

But ya, once I re watched and really payed attention, there were a lot of holes. The family, though, were good PIP, I think, and good guest stars.

[Hanahope]

On 9/17/2014 at 10:59 AM, DittyDotDot said:

And don't even get me started on how those kids knew how to break into a car trunk and steal all the weapons and/or why they slashed their tires when all they really wanted was for them all to leave. Just too much nonsense for me to get behind.

100% yes.  Seriously, how would they know to get into the Winchester's trunk?  

And just when I was bitching about how one person could do all that, they introduced a second wall-kid (or adult I guess, since apparently the bro-sis would have to be near 30).  And if Dean 'just found out' about this case, or perhaps it was a week old, how did the house get all cleaned up, put on the market, and go through escrow in such a short time?

So the story/plot was crappy, but yeah the guest stars were decent enough.

[DittyDotDot]

4 minutes ago, Hanahope said:

100% yes.  Seriously, how would they know to get into the Winchester's trunk?  

Not only into the trunk proper, but the weapons cache has a combination lock on it. I guess Sam and Dean forgot to lock it when they forgot to shut the trunk? ;)

Ugh, this episode...

[Katy M]

3 hours ago, Hanahope said:

100% yes.  Seriously, how would they know to get into the Winchester's trunk?  

And just when I was bitching about how one person could do all that, they introduced a second wall-kid (or adult I guess, since apparently the bro-sis would have to be near 30).  And if Dean 'just found out' about this case, or perhaps it was a week old, how did the house get all cleaned up, put on the market, and go through escrow in such a short time?

So the story/plot was crappy, but yeah the guest stars were decent enough.

And how did they know how to write?  And apparently the girl had a whole conversation with Danny, but we never saw her doing anything more than grunt?  And why wouldn't Sam and Dean have had a gun on them?  They were all in the trunk?  Unless they're somewhere they don't want to be caught with a gun, like in the bank at Nightshifter, they always have one on them.  It would be stupid not to.  Especially Dean. Have we ever seen Dean not have a gun when he needed one?  And why did the housekeeper have a picture of a girl she'd never met before? I can kind of accept that one just for the sake of expediency since they could have gotten a pic somewhere else and this just saved time, but everything else was pure plot hole.

This is the first epi of SPN I hated.  I did like the family.  But, I hated everything else. 

[bettername2come]

Supergirl! Clay from 13 Reasons Why! The guest stars are great, but this is my least favorite human villain episode. Poor dead asshole Ted. Sam and Dean not having weapons on them is stupid. "Like you know what hell's like." I admit, my heart hurt for Dean in that moment.  It's just sad and disturbing and things don't make sense. Glad the family survived. Except for poor Uncle Ted and the dog. 

If I were any good at making gifs, there'd be an Oliver Queen/Dean Winchester "I liked it!" comparison gifset on Tumblr right now. 

[Katy M]

8 hours ago, bettername2come said:

things don't make sense.

Yes, nothing in this episode makes sense.  How do these kids know how to write.  Sam says she looks like she's never been outside yet they can break into a locked trunk and steal everything out of it in like 5 seconds.  Why would Sam and Dean run into a house where they think they  might have to save someone without a gun.  I know they think they were dealing with a ghost, but at least a salt gun.  When does Dean ever not have a gun on him, unless they're robbing a bank:)  Why did the housekeeper happen to have pictures of two dead women that she never even met.  (That one doesn't actually bother me much, as they could have found the picutres elsewhere and it was just a time saving device, but on top of everything else, eyeroll).  Why was the guy in the teaser so shocked at seeing his daughter/granddaughter.  Did he really think it was that impossible to get out of the basement or whatever?  Why was the boy not freaked out about a girl living in the walls?  He wasn't 5. That should have freaked him out.  Why did the family completely split up when they ran out of the house. Safety in numbers people. 

 

I know I said all this before, but this episode pisses me off so bad.  The storyline is good.  The family is sympathetic.  And this is the crap we end up. It's the first epi of Supernatural that I HATE.  And it was right after a hiatus.

Edited June 23, 2017 by Katy M

[catrox14]

17 hours ago, bettername2come said:

If I were any good at making gifs, there'd be an Oliver Queen/Dean Winchester "I liked it!" comparison gifset on Tumblr right now. 

I kid you not. I literally thought about Dean then. They were both in horrible circumstances albeit Dean made a deal that got him there vs Oliver's situation.

But UGH I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE that they had Dean say he liked hurting others. They should have left it at "I felt relief from dishing out some retribution on those that hurt me". That's a whole different kettle of fish than the poor shorthand by Carver here.

[RulerofallIsurvey]

Upon rewatch, I remembered why I didn't like this episode so much.  They killed the dog.  I hated (still do) that they killed the dog.   It's like Dean with the bunnies: why do the dogs always get it?  Ugh.  I just hate that.  It's too easy to kill the dog for the cheap horror.  And hearing its' whines as it died?  I'd have hunted down that bitch and killed her myself if that had been my dog.

On 6/23/2017 at 8:08 AM, Katy M said:

Why was the guy in the teaser so shocked at seeing his daughter/granddaughter.

I figured he thought she should have been dead since he'd boarded up the dumbwaiter and had probably stopped feeding her a long time ago.

On 6/23/2017 at 8:08 AM, Katy M said:

Why was the boy not freaked out about a girl living in the walls?  He wasn't 5. That should have freaked him out. 

That seriously bugged me this time.  Unless he thought she was a ghost and thought that was cool.  But when she threatened his family (said he could stay but they all had to leave) why didn't he go tell his parents then?

On 6/23/2017 at 8:08 AM, Katy M said:

the family completely split up when they ran out of the house. Safety in numbers people.

And especially the parents splitting up from the kids made no sense.

The existence of the brother was a good, creepy, and shocking reveal.

I thought it was odd that this family would just so easily accept these two random strangers at their word about the ghost and everything else - especially at the beginning before it all got really weird.  I know it's Sam and Dean.  And We know Sam and Dean.  But they didn't know Sam and Dean.  At least Uncle Ted showed some believable skepticism.    

[Katy M]

40 minutes ago, RulerofallIsurvey said:

I thought it was odd that this family would just so easily accept these two random strangers at their word about the ghost and everything else - especially at the beginning before it all got really weird.

They didn't really.  Uncle Ted kept saying it was just a person (and he was right).  Andy believed them pretty quick, but he was like 10.  And Kate said there was a ghost before they even came running in.  As for the parents, I think what with all the tires being slashed, they didn't know what else to do.  If they had had a working car, they would have rung from the house AND Sam and Dean as quickly as possible.  But, pretty much every epi, the people have to believe S&D pretty quickly, or we would run into 5 hour long episodes of them trying to convince people. 

[Iju]

"Listen, man. I've got a gun. You don't get your ass back in that circle, you're gonna have yourself a third hole."
"Dude, you don't have a gun."
"And?" 

what do you mean "and"? dean, that why you got ghost sickness. you did it right there, scaring people :P not like the man didn't deserve it, but still.

sam using his puppy eyes in the beginning to calm ted and the family down. haha, love it, they don't even know they are reacting to it, they just get lost in them and his calming voice. never get tired of it.

i never saw just how brave dean was until i saw him go into the walls for the son. and then he just calls ted to come along like bro you are doing something very horrifying, we're not all steel guts like you ;) the camera angle was good in that scene as well.

actually, this whole episode was terrifying. like really terrifying. even my mother was clutching everyone around her and shrieking with us, and she LOVES horror movies, the real gritty ones. this did just as eric wanted, scared the crap out of us. 

----------

also random but in this scene (not sure if you can see it in this SS) when the sun shone on his face you can see his freckles. they are so freaking cute, i love them so so much, i don't think i will ever stop talking about them.

[catrox14]

9 hours ago, Iju said:

what do you mean "and"? dean, that why you got ghost sickness. you did it right there, scaring people :P not like the man didn't deserve it, but still.

Because Dean was right here. He was being brutally honest with the man as to what would happen.

 

9 hours ago, Iju said:

i never saw just how brave dean was until i saw him go into the walls for the son. and then he just calls ted to come along like bro you are doing something very horrifying, we're not all steel guts like you ;) the camera angle was good in that scene as wel

Considering all the brave things Dean has done in this show this was right in line. For me, Dean was brave at 4 years old and brave throughout his childhood taking care of Sam when John left them. And brave when he admitted he didn't want to look for John alone. On some level, I think him selling his soul for Sam was brave. It was terribly reckless but still brave. 

Welcome to the Dean is actually a brave person club!

[Iju]

2 hours ago, catrox14 said:

Because Dean was right here. He was being brutally honest with the man as to what would happen.

 

Considering all the brave things Dean has done in this show this was right in line. For me, Dean was brave at 4 years old and brave throughout his childhood taking care of Sam when John left them. And brave when he admitted he didn't want to look for John alone. On some level, I think him selling his soul for Sam was brave. It was terribly reckless but still brave. 

Welcome to the Dean is actually a brave person club!

no no, dean was doing what had to be done no doubt, he's just being himself. but there's a reason he got the sickness and sam didn't, and this scene proved it. that's all :P

this episode was particularly scary for me and the fam, the most scary it has been in a long time, so i think that's why i sort of blinked when dean headed into the walls like that. it's easy - well maybe not easy but easier - for him to be brave for sam and his father because he knows and loves them. but he just charged full on into the wall for a person he barely knew. that's what woke me up to him and his honest character. if i were to be even more honest i would say that almost every episode wakes me up to dean and sam as people and i like that. on most TV shows in the first two seasons you are introduced into the characters and you follow them into their adventures and whatnot. but this show continues to add to what they are as people from the beginning, and i like that. the writers (for the most part anyway) respect sam and dean not as characters but as human beings, they just don't reach inside and make them do what they want them to do, they have to only do it as it aligns with their personalities as their own person, and i like that so much.

[catrox14]

18 minutes ago, Iju said:

no no, dean was doing what had to be done no doubt, he's just being himself. but there's a reason he got the sickness and sam didn't, and this scene proved it. that's all :P

taking my reply to the Yellow Fever thread.

 

18 minutes ago, Iju said:

this episode was particularly scary for me and the fam, the most scary it has been in a long time, so i think that's why i sort of blinked when dean headed into the walls like that. it's easy - well maybe not easy but easier - for him to be brave for sam and his father because he knows and loves them. but he just charged full on into the wall for a person he barely knew. that's what woke me up to him and his honest character. if

Dean has been throwing himself into harm's way for complete strangers since the pilot.  That's literally been his job. Saving people. Hunting things. That's who he's always been.

ETA: That was one of the main reasons I started liking Dean in s1. That he was willing to jump into practically anything to save other people.  It's always interesting to me how folks see the characters. 

Edited March 17, 2018 by catrox14

[Iju]

9 minutes ago, catrox14 said:

 

 

Dean has been throwing himself into harm's way for complete strangers since the pilot.  That's literally been his job. Saving people. Hunting things. That's who he's always been.

ETA: That was one of the main reasons I started liking Dean in s1. That he was willing to jump into practically anything to save other people.  It's always interesting to me how folks see the characters. 

true, i had already gotten that hint when in faith...wait no not faith, that episode when dean was about to die in S1 but was saved by that "preacher" man? that episode. anyway i had seen that when he didn't resist by the reaper and allowed himself to get touched. he really felt like he didn't deserve his life taken back.

i know that dean has always been the one to jump in the fire, but as i said this was the scariest scenario i have ever seen on the show so far. for him to jump into the game like that wasn't showing me how brave dean was, but how really brave he was, like if you know someone who is kind, but they do something that show they are actually super kind? i hope that clarifies what i meant.

[Zipper]

I'm getting selective in this re-watch of mine, and the dog makes it a Nope. There's no room for dying animals in my psyche today.

[DeeDee79]

On 3/17/2018 at 3:24 PM, Iju said:

true, i had already gotten that hint when in faith...wait no not faith, that episode when dean was about to die in S1 but was saved by that "preacher" man? that episode. anyway i had seen that when he didn't resist by the reaper and allowed himself to get touched. he really felt like he didn't deserve his life taken back.

You are correct; that did happen in Faith.

[Myrelle]

17 hours ago, Zipper said:

I'm getting selective in this re-watch of mine, and the dog makes it a Nope. There's no room for dying animals in my psyche today.

This one might be the Darkest episode that this show has ever given us-to me, anyway.

[The Companion]

Poor doggy.

I found this episode really disappointing. It made no sense. I am all for hand waving, particularly in the horror genre, but this one had holes you could drive the moving truck through. I think y'all have covered most of them. The writers couldn't decide if they were feral or not. There were several bizarre nonsensical choices. The timeline made no sense. 

Then there is Dean's confession. Again, the groundwork has not been laid. He should be written a lot darker. 

I usually like the horror movie episodes. I just didn't feel like this one held up.