S01.E16: Shadow

[DittyDotDot]

Dean and Sam are investigating a mysterious murder in Chicago and discover that Meg is responsible for it. However, when they try to catch her, Meg unleashes shadow spirits on them and they realize that she is really setting a trap for their father.

[DittyDotDot]

Oh boy, another episode that I feel I should really like, but somehow falls flat and was written by Kripke himself. If it wasn't for Kim Manners pushing for those real moments and his directing style, I'm not sure what I would find to care about in this episode.

 

Firstly, I don't really care for Meg, she's too obvious (like another future demon-chick that I didn't care for.) I don't think it's the actress, but the character itself.  I find Nicki Aycox did a fine job with what she had to work with.

 

Second, I just can't with Jeffery Dean Morgan. No matter what show or movie he's in, he always makes me want to fall asleep (to be fair though, he did a movie, that I can't remember the name of, that I was shocked and pleasantly surprised at how I stayed conscious throughout.) Plus, I never felt like he carried the gravitas that I though the aged hunter John should have (although, as a younger John I didn't have any problem with him--other than him putting me in a coma) and the fact that he is only like 10 years older than Jensen, but looks like he's no more than two or three, makes it even harder to buy that he's these guys' father.

 

And then finally, I found it to be far too talky and pointless in the end. I do like scene of Dean and Sam gearing up in the hotel room though--it's a nice moment that strips both of them open for a bit and I found both of their perspectives to be heartbreaking. They both have things they want and can't have and neither of them feel like they are wrong, just different. I might be more drawn to it because of the way Kim Manners spoke about it at that first Paley Festival panel they did in 2006, though.

 

Anyway, I'm sometimes puzzled by Kripke's episodes. How can this be the same guy that wrote The Pilot and In My Time Of Dying, but also wrote Home and Shadow? I'm going with Split Personality Disorder as an explanation.

[mertensia]

I always look at the bloodstains on the carpet and wonder how in Hell Dean spotted a pattern - in fact the correct pattern.

[DittyDotDot]

Yeah, I always laugh at that one, but more because I can only imagine the rehearsal--I can just see someone standing there telling Jensen, how to connect those dots.

[mstaken]

And then finally, I found it to be far too talky and pointless in the end.

 

God, yes, even for a show that's often guilty of heavyhanded, repetitive, action-halting dialogue, this episode is one of the talkiest. I actually like the first half of this episode a lot, but the second half just drags and feels really slow and awkwardly written to me. The John scenes would have been so much more effective if they were more subtly written, IMO...and briefer! 

Edited June 25, 2014 by mstaken

[DittyDotDot]

The funny thing about the talkyness is that it was all for naught in the end. Meg sets a trap for Dad, they kill Meg, Meg lives. Dad arrives, Dad leaves. Even the events of the actual case meant nothing in the end.  Nothing's learned, nothing's advanced. I just don't get the point of it in the end. I can totally get behind an episode that's just a fun diversion and does nothing to actually advance the plot, but enjoyable none-the-less--this was not an example of that, IMO.

[catrox14]

 always look at the bloodstains on the carpet and wonder how in Hell Dean spotted a pattern - in fact the correct pattern.

 

This was just on TNT and I rewatched it.

 

I love this episode because of how we peel back more layers about Sam and Dean and that it starts to subvert our expectations about these boys and who we think they are and what they both want and how they view John.

 

Oh man, the scene when the boys are getting ready to go into battle and Dean realizes that Sam is going to leave again once they find the YED just breaks my heart. Dean being so vulnerable and admitting his fear and the desire that they could still be family again, OUCH. Jensen Ackles, YOUR FACE IS UNFAIR. Beautiful work by Jensen showing that vulnerability without being sappy. Great work from Jared finding that spot of having to tell Dean the truth about what he wants in that moment without being cruel to Dean. IMO both found the perfect balance needed to make that scene work.

 

Then the reunion of the boys with John. Oh lordy.  Dean is happy and relieved to see his Dad yet seems guarded. Dean watching Sam and John reconcile and hug yet being separate from them was interesting to me. It wasn't jealousy but it was much more wary than anything. I think when Dean tells John they can't stay together because THEY, the boys, make John more vulnerable is a lie. I think something pinged in Dean that it was John that made them and especially Sam more vulnerable.

 

I have no issues with Dean seeing the pattern in the carpet. Dean is a genius. Not being sarcastic. He notices things and he makes connections. He made an EMF thingy out of a Walkman. He gets away with credit card fraud. I have no problem with him spotting something he thought was odd.

Edited June 25, 2014 by catrox14

[mertensia]

You know one thing I do have to credit John with: he taught his sons it's okay to hug. (I know guys who won't hug other guys- even relatives. "Hugging is a girl thing.")

[AwesomO4000]

Besides the John reunion scene, I mostly remember this episode for the nice twist on the usual "woman is tied up and uses her sensuality* to get out" trope. The scene in the warehouse between Meg and Sam was all sorts of twisted and wrong, but it was also kinda hot, in my opinion, especially since Sam used his wits - in conjunction with Dean even though they were not able to communicate it - to get himself out. His plan hinged on distracting Meg and hoping that Dean would use that to his advantage and/or distract Meg in turn. It turned out to be the latter, and Sam got himself free once Dean distracted Meg. Nice teamwork there between the two of them.

 

* "You wanna have fun? Go ahead then. I'm a little tied up right now." Who knew: Sam's a tease.

[DittyDotDot]

The way they used to work together was such a joy. They rarely needed to talk to communicate with one another. This is what it's like working with someone that you live every moment with and know so completely. I still find my sister's and I have a sort of short hand when working on projects together and I only see my older sister about once a year. You just become so used to that person's rhythms that no matter how much time has passed you fall right back in step with them.

 

Oh God, I think I'm starting to sound like I write Winchest or something. Sure sign it's time to stop.

[catrox14]

I try to figure out what it s about the Winchesters that I find so appealing and it's that they like each other even when they hate each other if that makes sense. Sadly, my sister and I don't like each other. Like we would never choose to be friends. And when we've had occasion to have to work together on a family thing or collaborate it just goes to shit in a hurry. Maybe that's what I love about these boys. They are sort of a messy ideal of what I wish I could  have with my sister.  But alas. Not to be. 

 

And I think Shadow is where we really start to see how much they understand each other on one level and not at all on others. 

[DittyDotDot]

I don't know that I have that ideal of a relationship with my sisters--we are definitely different people and we probably wouldn't choose to be friends--but as kids we had to rely on each other a lot and we learned that if we worked together and united we could accomplish a lot more than when we allowed our own egos to get in the way.  Its the intensity of their childhoods is what gave them that closeness. Maybe this is why I don't always feel like their entire childhood was crap--without it, I don't think they would have this closeness nor that same sort of working relationship. Sometimes the little bit of good outweighs the huge steaming pile of bad. What Is And What Should Never Be?

[GirlyGeek]

On June 25, 2014 at 10:14 AM, catrox14 said:

Then the reunion of the boys with John. Oh lordy.  Dean is happy and relieved to see his Dad yet seems guarded. Dean watching Sam and John reconcile and hug yet being separate from them was interesting to me. It wasn't jealousy but it was much more wary than anything. I think when Dean tells John they can't stay together because THEY, the boys, make John more vulnerable is a lie. I think something pinged in Dean that it was John that made them and especially Sam more vulnerable.

Just finished this one on re-watch.  Its one I've always liked, though I think its mostly because of the reunion scene.  I'm a sucker for stuff like this.  There's a lot of layers going on in that scene.  This character of John that we've barely seen all season, that the boys have been trying to find now for 16 episodes finally, FINALLY, shows up.  At this point in the Season, we're all frustrated with the "why is John not answering" or "why did their dad not show up for this/that" and, many of us are on the John sucks bandwagon.  
But then he shows up, tears in his eyes to see his sons, hugs Dean and I melt.  

Sam and John sweep things under the rug, of course.  But I love their scene because of the non-verbal stuff going on.  The awkwardness (had it been 4 years since he saw his own dad?), the tidbit about the last conversation they had being a big-time fight, John saying "Its been a long time" and Sam giving his dad a little leeway, a little forgiveness by saying "too long"; they want to hug it out but both just stand there unsure until Sam gives his dad a little nod.

Dean's face throughout is wary but hopeful.  Then of course it all goes to crap.  But its a really nice scene that gets me every time.

Meg, while I like this version and actress, is a little too talky for my taste.  And I don't much like the Shadow effects.  Also, it annoys me that they'd go for the deep lacerations and claw marks to the face, and then just 'tv magic' it away in the next episode.  That would SO leave a mark.

But the way the boys work together in this episode is refreshing and shows just how much they've fallen in step with each other.

I also love the scene of Sam and Dean gearing up for the fight with Meg.  Another very layered scene between them and its well done.  I think its equally sad on both their parts:

• that Dean even remotely thinks the family could work together and 'go back to the way things were' is a dream of a wounded child who is stuck in a place where the good memories are shiny and happy and the bad memories don't matter/exist.  
• that Sam thinks he could kill this demon and then jump back into school, get back on track with being a lawyer, etc is him being in denial of what he's gone through in the last 8-9 months, the things he's seen, and the way he's been changed and damaged.

It also strikes me that, at this point in the series, Dean's focus isn't on killing the thing that killed his mom.  Yes, he wants that to happen, but at this point he wants to save people, kill bad guys, and follow his Dad's footsteps/legacy/orders.  His line about "its never going to be over" is tragic because the only way to follow that line of thinking through to the end conclusion is to realize that, for Dean, the fight is never over until the fight takes him out.

Have I mentioned how fun it is to have waaaayyyy too many think-y thoughts and to get to chat with you all about this show I've seen a million times?  :)

[AwesomO4000]

12 hours ago, GirlyGeek said:

Also, it annoys me that they'd go for the deep lacerations and claw marks to the face, and then just 'tv magic' it away in the next episode.  That would SO leave a mark.

I sometimes wonder about that actually, and I'm not sure. At least long term anyway (short term definitely). I guess how deep is the question and how jagged. The reason I wonder this is that coincidentally today I was looking at my husband's leg as we were sitting together on the couch. It has no hair on it on side below the knee, and this is because - against my nagging advice - he wore shorts to play softball. This is a bad idea in Florida, even in the outfield. The grass is rough with knotty things in it. Needless to say, he went one day when I did not go with him - to nag him - and came home with an eight inch long, 3 inch wide patch on his leg that looked like hamburger (seriously, it was disgusting.) It oozed for weeks, and I seriously wondered if it would even heal. And that would have been bad enough, but he was crazy enough to do it a second time next season - same result. But looking at his leg today, despite the no hair - which isn't even noticeable unless you're looking for it or rubbing it like I was - his skin is smooth without a mark or any indication he'd damaged it like that. (Which is a good thing, because as catrox enjoys her arm porn, I'm a leg gal, and my hubby has great calves... and other leg parts.)

Maybe some people have skin that heals better. But in this case, likely they didn't want to have to scar up the guys for every episode, so they got magic healing. Later they seemed to be somewhat better -

Spoiler

as with the season finale and season 2 premier - Sam's face was pretty banged up and stayed so for a bit.

[SueB]

On 6/11/2016 at 0:45 PM, GirlyGeek said:

 

Have I mentioned how fun it is to have waaaayyyy too many think-y thoughts and to get to chat with you all about this show I've seen a million times?  :)

Right there with you.

And YES to the Bucket 'O FEELS in this episode. You are spot on with your Sam and Dean assessments.

I also am not a fan of the jagged face clawing as the healing is a bit OTT. 

I do love that, in retrospect, you can see how they built up to this moment with Meg tracking Sam, then Sam and Dean to get to John.  Nearly worked too.  Good thing Sam's raid of the trunk included the road flare.  

As I watched them prep for the big confrontation, I kept thinking 'My BABIES!'.  So nervous and hiding it all with weapons prep and bravado.  *boys*

[bettername2come]

 Winchester reunions! Why am I such a sucker for their "Yessir" thing?  John didn't want to leave them. "You boys are beat to hell." He's worried about them. He wants to care for and protect them! This is the John Winchester I love. (But what about "Faith," John? Huh? Dean was dying!) I love Jeffrey Dean Morgan. He has such great chemistry with the boys.

I always think it's funny when the injuries disappear, just because it makes it funnier when Jared gets injuries that have to stick around for multi-episode arcs.

[The Companion]

On 6/25/2014 at 7:16 AM, mertensia said:

I always look at the bloodstains on the carpet and wonder how in Hell Dean spotted a pattern - in fact the correct pattern.

Ha! I thought the same thing. 

On 6/25/2014 at 12:14 PM, catrox14 said:

This was just on TNT and I rewatched it.

I love this episode because of how we peel back more layers about Sam and Dean and that it starts to subvert our expectations about these boys and who we think they are and what they both want and how they view John.

Oh man, the scene when the boys are getting ready to go into battle and Dean realizes that Sam is going to leave again once they find the YED just breaks my heart. Dean being so vulnerable and admitting his fear and the desire that they could still be family again, OUCH. Jensen Ackles, YOUR FACE IS UNFAIR. Beautiful work by Jensen showing that vulnerability without being sappy. Great work from Jared finding that spot of having to tell Dean the truth about what he wants in that moment without being cruel to Dean. IMO both found the perfect balance needed to make that scene work.

Then the reunion of the boys with John. Oh lordy.  Dean is happy and relieved to see his Dad yet seems guarded. Dean watching Sam and John reconcile and hug yet being separate from them was interesting to me. It wasn't jealousy but it was much more wary than anything. I think when Dean tells John they can't stay together because THEY, the boys, make John more vulnerable is a lie. I think something pinged in Dean that it was John that made them and especially Sam more vulnerable.

I have no issues with Dean seeing the pattern in the carpet. Dean is a genius. Not being sarcastic. He notices things and he makes connections. He made an EMF thingy out of a Walkman. He gets away with credit card fraud. I have no problem with him spotting something he thought was odd.

Agree that they did great work in this episode.

I am going to need some time before I see John and not Negan and therefore don't hate JDM when he shows up. 

The shadow monsters were pretty great. I wish they would have played on the shadow aspect more. Something like the Doctor Who episodes Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead.