SPN - "Mannequin 3: The Reckoning"
Feb. 19th, 2011 08:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feliciakwUpon re-watch, this ep definitely has nuggets of goodness to chew on a little bit. It didn't resolve anything, which makes me think there’s more to come with Dean and Lisa.
Then . . . Basic background of what we need to know about tonight's central story, The Dean and Lisa Story. Also, Sam Winchester: Unsouled and Resouled. When last we left Dean and Sam Winchester, Sam was having convulsions on the floor of an abandoned house.
Now . . .
Sam lies on the floor as if dead, and Dean's at a loss. Sam won't respond, not to word, not to touch, and there's nothing Dean can do. Then Sam opens his eyes and tamps Hell back behind the wall. He heaves a breath, and Dean determines to get them far away from the place that triggered the memories.
Community college lab, and an anatomy dummy that has eyes that move. Eek! Janitor dude develops a gash across his forehead that bears a suspicious resemblance to the crack in the universe. Dummy is no longer on its hook. Janitor is a goner.
While this is all indeed creepy, it made me kind of miss Boris. Who's Boris? Boris is a medical skeleton Geo and I used to have hanging in our basement. Geo bought him at Foy's, a great costume/prop/party supply store in Fairborn. (I actually kinda miss Foy's a lot for theater-type stuff.) He thought he was purchasing a plastic dummy, but upon closer inspection, we found penciled numbers on each of the bones in the body, and the way the bones in the skull were fused, it wasn’t a plastic skeleton. Boris hung in our basement for about three years before our move, at which time we donated him to my old theater. I miss him from time to time.
We never had a problem with Boris the way this janitor dude had with the anatomy dummy. Boris was very quiet and agreeable.
I notice the prominent display of skeletal ankles in the shot of the janitor on the floor. Ankles were an issue prior to winter hiatus as well. Hm . . .
Title smash.
“Mannequin 3: The Reckoning” actually made Geo LOL. I was amused. (Also, the title reminded me of "Hell Hazers II." Bwah.)
First brother talk of the ep, and I'm having some serious flashbacks to early days, with Sam's visions. Circumstances have changed, but Dean is there, offering to talk. He also offers coffee, food, and a mysterious effective pill. Hm . . .
Dean's "I told you so" is not condescending or trite or self-congratulatory. He's genuinely scared, and so they're going to do things his way from now on.
"You shove it down, and you let it come out in spurts of violence and alcoholism." Bwah. Oh, Dean "It works for me." Eh . . . that might be debatable, Dean.
Sam not kicking the wall, however, is not debatable. Period.
Dean: Paterson, New Jersey. Maybe we'll have a Snooki sighting.
Me: Huh?
Sam: What's a snooki?
Me: I have no idea.
Dean: That is a good question.
Me: Okay, moving on.
In the science lab, Dean starts playing with the anatomy dummy pieces. I wonder if he had fun with puzzles as a kid.
"Be my valentine" as he tries to had Sam the heart. Oh, Dean. You've made that joke before. Heh.
Phone call. It's Lisa. And Dean . . . rejects the call? WT??? Dean? I know you're not gonna call her, but I figured if she called you, you'd take her call. What's up with that? *frown*
I'm with Sam. Talk to the woman, Dean.
Btw, Jensen looks really good in this ep. Just sayin'.
Suddenly appearing mannequins are not right.
Especially when they can turn their heads.
Oy!
Lisa (or rather, her phone number) calls, and Sam insists Dean pick up. But it's not Lisa, it's Ben, panicked about his mom. Uh-oh.
Also, did Ben hit some sort of a growth spurt between "Twihard" and now?
Dean doesn't want to leave the case, but Sam insists. Because Sam knows it's important and recognizes that Dean's trying to bury it. Dean's hiding behind the case, and Sam's not gonna let him. Sam? It's nice to see you taking care of your brother, ya know?
Dean at Lisa's front door, ringing the bell urgently. Lisa answers the door, looking perfectly fine in her little black dress and up-swept hair. She's going on a date, but she invites him in anyway. Why? Because it's not over between them, at least not cleanly, not yet.
I kinda really like the following conversation between Dean and Lisa. The dynamics are very telling, both for us the audience, and for the characters.
Dean feels at home, apparently. He helps himself to a beer and takes a seat. Lisa, otoh, is pacing nervously. Dean has put her in a difficult position, and she's got some decisions to make. She actually seems to me less confident than we've seen her in the past. Dean does something to her, and she can't get him out of her head.
She's called him six times. (And he's almost called her back about 100 times.)
Dean cares. What does Lisa want from him? She's not asking for anything. But Dean wants her to ask for something, so he can give it.
The dynamic in the scene it just . . . elusive to put into words, but it feels right. They both care about each other, but they're both scared of that, for their own reasons.
Ben comes in, and both Dean and Lisa order him to his room. In unison. Because they're both his parents. (I find it interesting that Dean is comfortable enough in his role as father to do that.) Dean also flashes Ben a glimpse of the "it's gonna be okay" smile. Oh, Dean. Deep down, you want this to work, don't you.
And now we get to the meat of the matter, from Lisa's perspective. What she wants, with Dean, she can't have with Dean--peace of mind and a family life. When her phone rings, she's a tiny bit hopeful that it will be Dean, but she's more fearful that it will be Sam calling to tell her that Dean is dead. But she wants no apologies from him; who he is, is who she's in love with.
"I'm trying to get over you," she tells Dean. And yes, Dean, she's as good as told you she's in love with you, and has been for a long time. Judging by the expression on your face, this is news to you? Dean, you're such a guy.
What Lisa needs is to join a support group for spouses of active duty soldiers or law enforcement personnel or something. She's in a very similar position. Too bad Ellen isn't around to mentor her in how to be a hunter's wife.
Also, Lisa poses a very good question, Dean. What exactly do you want from them?
Sam saves the jerk at the factory.
"You're lucky you were the most suspicious interview of all time." Hee! I don't know why, but I love the way Jared delivers that line.
Okay, the joke the guys play on Rose? Not funny. You'll notice, guys, that she's not laughing? No. She's not. And when she starts to walk away from you, you grab her? Wrong. I just . . . I have no use for you.
Dean and Ben. Seriously, did the kid have a growth spurt of some kind? He seems . . . taller, or something.
I also really like this conversation. We get Dean's side of the story, as well as Ben's opinion on the matter. Dean doesn't like what his job makes him, and he doesn't want to impose that on Lisa and Ben. And it has nothing to do with Lisa and Ben being in danger from something following him home or coming after him. And it has nothing to do with anything Ben thinks he (Ben) did. Dean thinks--rather short sightedly, I might add--that if he sticks around, Ben won't have any choices. Based on his own experience, I can see how he would think that. But that would be Ben's choice when the time came.
I love that Ben calls Dean on his low self-perception. And I especially love that Ben calls him on the family issue. "You say family's so important, but what do you call people who care for you, who love you even when you're a dick? You know you're walking out on your family, right?"
Oh, ouch. Weren't expecting that, were ya, Dean? You remember those few days when your dad left your mom and you and Sammy? Yeah, that's precisely what came to my mind. And judging by the expression on your face, you've never considered it from their POV before. Sometimes you do need a smack upside the head don't you? Can't see the forest for the trees, there, Smokey.
Dean heads back to the hunt, and we don't know how he left things with the Braedens. We do, however, get this nice little montage showing how he feels about them: All the times Lisa opened her door for him. The times she loved him. Being there for and teaching Ben. The everyday fun things in life, like bacon and eggs. How important that year was to Dean.
We get no resolution on the matter, which feels a bit dissatisfying, but everyone's cards are on the table now, at least. I wouldn't be surprised if they revisit this one more time at the end of the season. I won't be surprised if they don't, but I won't be surprised if they do.
Because they resolved exactly nothing.
Sister goes into a bar, followed by jerk security guard Johnny. Irish pub. Sounds good. Hm . . . wonder if we should try to hit one this long weekend.
Okay. Dude is in love with a dummy, and he was giving Rose a hard time for not being able to get a date? hmph.
Dummy head turning is creepy.
The salt and burn didn't stop the ghost. Turns out Rose is still attached . . . to her kidney. Which she donated to her sister. That's something the fandom has been asking for ages--what about a ghost who donated an organ. Bwah! Well, now we know.
Also, iirc, per N3, there's only a 1 in 4 chance that siblings can donate organs to one another. I remember that being of great concern to the Eppes boys. So Sister was very lucky Rose was a match.
Dean is very concerned. They can't cut the kidney out of the girl, she still needs it. He suggests checking with Dr. Robert. \o/ And Dean, that's a lie about his "facilities" being clean. But more importantly, the fact that Sam knows the guy works out of a butcher shop tells me that Sam knows what went down there, specifically. Which means Dean filled him in on the details of that, at least. Which makes me think that perhaps Cas did fill Sam in on the specifics of the vampire thing and the rest of it. Which is kind of disappointing. I would have liked to have seen Sam's reaction to that particular tidbit of info.
Anyway . . .
Hoodoo. Which means a trip to N'Awlins! \o/ Alas, things don't get that far.
Ghost possesses the Impala. "She possesses sex dolls. This is not a sex doll." Apparently the ghost disagrees. Heh. "Hey, you leave my baby alone. She's got nuthin' to do with this!" Oh, Dean. I love you. Hee.
Dean sends Sam and Isabelle off in one direction and acts as a distraction for the ghost. Notice that once again the MOTW chooses Dean as its target. *raises eyebrows* In keeping with the continuing theme of the monsters going after Dean this season. (Last week being the exception.)
Isabelle gets stabbed with flying glass. (I assume it's flying glass. She didn't stay in the car as Sam instructed.) But did the ghost do it? She apologizes . . . It's all very sad and tragic.
Back at the salvage yard, Dean's giving his baby the once over after the possession.
Second brother talk of the ep. They saved a few jerks and got an innocent girl killed. And in exchange, Dean's "got a heartbroken kid and a woman who's so pissed at me . . . " This? This tells me that yes, Dean does consider Lisa and Ben "his." His family. He's not going to give them up easily, I don't think. But he's going to have to figure out the trade-off.
This conversation really hearkens back to the end of WIaWSNB. Dean is despondent, upset that it doesn't feel like he's making a difference. Sam reminding him that yes, they are; they do save people sometimes.
And Sam gives Dean a heartfelt thanks for getting his soul back. It was sooo good to hear that. And Dean? Honey? You need to learn to accept the thanks without such self-consciousness. *huggles them both*
And Sam has got Dean's back. *huggles them more*
These two brother talks really did feel like a return to earlier seasons. Dean being there for Sam with his "epic arc"-type troubles. Sam being there for Dean with his emotional arc-type troubles, when Dean doubtful of his own effectiveness and purpose.
Oh, boys. You're back on the same page. It's been a while.
Then . . . Basic background of what we need to know about tonight's central story, The Dean and Lisa Story. Also, Sam Winchester: Unsouled and Resouled. When last we left Dean and Sam Winchester, Sam was having convulsions on the floor of an abandoned house.
Now . . .
Sam lies on the floor as if dead, and Dean's at a loss. Sam won't respond, not to word, not to touch, and there's nothing Dean can do. Then Sam opens his eyes and tamps Hell back behind the wall. He heaves a breath, and Dean determines to get them far away from the place that triggered the memories.
Community college lab, and an anatomy dummy that has eyes that move. Eek! Janitor dude develops a gash across his forehead that bears a suspicious resemblance to the crack in the universe. Dummy is no longer on its hook. Janitor is a goner.
While this is all indeed creepy, it made me kind of miss Boris. Who's Boris? Boris is a medical skeleton Geo and I used to have hanging in our basement. Geo bought him at Foy's, a great costume/prop/party supply store in Fairborn. (I actually kinda miss Foy's a lot for theater-type stuff.) He thought he was purchasing a plastic dummy, but upon closer inspection, we found penciled numbers on each of the bones in the body, and the way the bones in the skull were fused, it wasn’t a plastic skeleton. Boris hung in our basement for about three years before our move, at which time we donated him to my old theater. I miss him from time to time.
We never had a problem with Boris the way this janitor dude had with the anatomy dummy. Boris was very quiet and agreeable.
I notice the prominent display of skeletal ankles in the shot of the janitor on the floor. Ankles were an issue prior to winter hiatus as well. Hm . . .
Title smash.
“Mannequin 3: The Reckoning” actually made Geo LOL. I was amused. (Also, the title reminded me of "Hell Hazers II." Bwah.)
First brother talk of the ep, and I'm having some serious flashbacks to early days, with Sam's visions. Circumstances have changed, but Dean is there, offering to talk. He also offers coffee, food, and a mysterious effective pill. Hm . . .
Dean's "I told you so" is not condescending or trite or self-congratulatory. He's genuinely scared, and so they're going to do things his way from now on.
"You shove it down, and you let it come out in spurts of violence and alcoholism." Bwah. Oh, Dean "It works for me." Eh . . . that might be debatable, Dean.
Sam not kicking the wall, however, is not debatable. Period.
Dean: Paterson, New Jersey. Maybe we'll have a Snooki sighting.
Me: Huh?
Sam: What's a snooki?
Me: I have no idea.
Dean: That is a good question.
Me: Okay, moving on.
In the science lab, Dean starts playing with the anatomy dummy pieces. I wonder if he had fun with puzzles as a kid.
"Be my valentine" as he tries to had Sam the heart. Oh, Dean. You've made that joke before. Heh.
Phone call. It's Lisa. And Dean . . . rejects the call? WT??? Dean? I know you're not gonna call her, but I figured if she called you, you'd take her call. What's up with that? *frown*
I'm with Sam. Talk to the woman, Dean.
Btw, Jensen looks really good in this ep. Just sayin'.
Suddenly appearing mannequins are not right.
Especially when they can turn their heads.
Oy!
Lisa (or rather, her phone number) calls, and Sam insists Dean pick up. But it's not Lisa, it's Ben, panicked about his mom. Uh-oh.
Also, did Ben hit some sort of a growth spurt between "Twihard" and now?
Dean doesn't want to leave the case, but Sam insists. Because Sam knows it's important and recognizes that Dean's trying to bury it. Dean's hiding behind the case, and Sam's not gonna let him. Sam? It's nice to see you taking care of your brother, ya know?
Dean at Lisa's front door, ringing the bell urgently. Lisa answers the door, looking perfectly fine in her little black dress and up-swept hair. She's going on a date, but she invites him in anyway. Why? Because it's not over between them, at least not cleanly, not yet.
I kinda really like the following conversation between Dean and Lisa. The dynamics are very telling, both for us the audience, and for the characters.
Dean feels at home, apparently. He helps himself to a beer and takes a seat. Lisa, otoh, is pacing nervously. Dean has put her in a difficult position, and she's got some decisions to make. She actually seems to me less confident than we've seen her in the past. Dean does something to her, and she can't get him out of her head.
She's called him six times. (And he's almost called her back about 100 times.)
Dean cares. What does Lisa want from him? She's not asking for anything. But Dean wants her to ask for something, so he can give it.
The dynamic in the scene it just . . . elusive to put into words, but it feels right. They both care about each other, but they're both scared of that, for their own reasons.
Ben comes in, and both Dean and Lisa order him to his room. In unison. Because they're both his parents. (I find it interesting that Dean is comfortable enough in his role as father to do that.) Dean also flashes Ben a glimpse of the "it's gonna be okay" smile. Oh, Dean. Deep down, you want this to work, don't you.
And now we get to the meat of the matter, from Lisa's perspective. What she wants, with Dean, she can't have with Dean--peace of mind and a family life. When her phone rings, she's a tiny bit hopeful that it will be Dean, but she's more fearful that it will be Sam calling to tell her that Dean is dead. But she wants no apologies from him; who he is, is who she's in love with.
"I'm trying to get over you," she tells Dean. And yes, Dean, she's as good as told you she's in love with you, and has been for a long time. Judging by the expression on your face, this is news to you? Dean, you're such a guy.
What Lisa needs is to join a support group for spouses of active duty soldiers or law enforcement personnel or something. She's in a very similar position. Too bad Ellen isn't around to mentor her in how to be a hunter's wife.
Also, Lisa poses a very good question, Dean. What exactly do you want from them?
Sam saves the jerk at the factory.
"You're lucky you were the most suspicious interview of all time." Hee! I don't know why, but I love the way Jared delivers that line.
Okay, the joke the guys play on Rose? Not funny. You'll notice, guys, that she's not laughing? No. She's not. And when she starts to walk away from you, you grab her? Wrong. I just . . . I have no use for you.
Dean and Ben. Seriously, did the kid have a growth spurt of some kind? He seems . . . taller, or something.
I also really like this conversation. We get Dean's side of the story, as well as Ben's opinion on the matter. Dean doesn't like what his job makes him, and he doesn't want to impose that on Lisa and Ben. And it has nothing to do with Lisa and Ben being in danger from something following him home or coming after him. And it has nothing to do with anything Ben thinks he (Ben) did. Dean thinks--rather short sightedly, I might add--that if he sticks around, Ben won't have any choices. Based on his own experience, I can see how he would think that. But that would be Ben's choice when the time came.
I love that Ben calls Dean on his low self-perception. And I especially love that Ben calls him on the family issue. "You say family's so important, but what do you call people who care for you, who love you even when you're a dick? You know you're walking out on your family, right?"
Oh, ouch. Weren't expecting that, were ya, Dean? You remember those few days when your dad left your mom and you and Sammy? Yeah, that's precisely what came to my mind. And judging by the expression on your face, you've never considered it from their POV before. Sometimes you do need a smack upside the head don't you? Can't see the forest for the trees, there, Smokey.
Dean heads back to the hunt, and we don't know how he left things with the Braedens. We do, however, get this nice little montage showing how he feels about them: All the times Lisa opened her door for him. The times she loved him. Being there for and teaching Ben. The everyday fun things in life, like bacon and eggs. How important that year was to Dean.
We get no resolution on the matter, which feels a bit dissatisfying, but everyone's cards are on the table now, at least. I wouldn't be surprised if they revisit this one more time at the end of the season. I won't be surprised if they don't, but I won't be surprised if they do.
Because they resolved exactly nothing.
Sister goes into a bar, followed by jerk security guard Johnny. Irish pub. Sounds good. Hm . . . wonder if we should try to hit one this long weekend.
Okay. Dude is in love with a dummy, and he was giving Rose a hard time for not being able to get a date? hmph.
Dummy head turning is creepy.
The salt and burn didn't stop the ghost. Turns out Rose is still attached . . . to her kidney. Which she donated to her sister. That's something the fandom has been asking for ages--what about a ghost who donated an organ. Bwah! Well, now we know.
Also, iirc, per N3, there's only a 1 in 4 chance that siblings can donate organs to one another. I remember that being of great concern to the Eppes boys. So Sister was very lucky Rose was a match.
Dean is very concerned. They can't cut the kidney out of the girl, she still needs it. He suggests checking with Dr. Robert. \o/ And Dean, that's a lie about his "facilities" being clean. But more importantly, the fact that Sam knows the guy works out of a butcher shop tells me that Sam knows what went down there, specifically. Which means Dean filled him in on the details of that, at least. Which makes me think that perhaps Cas did fill Sam in on the specifics of the vampire thing and the rest of it. Which is kind of disappointing. I would have liked to have seen Sam's reaction to that particular tidbit of info.
Anyway . . .
Hoodoo. Which means a trip to N'Awlins! \o/ Alas, things don't get that far.
Ghost possesses the Impala. "She possesses sex dolls. This is not a sex doll." Apparently the ghost disagrees. Heh. "Hey, you leave my baby alone. She's got nuthin' to do with this!" Oh, Dean. I love you. Hee.
Dean sends Sam and Isabelle off in one direction and acts as a distraction for the ghost. Notice that once again the MOTW chooses Dean as its target. *raises eyebrows* In keeping with the continuing theme of the monsters going after Dean this season. (Last week being the exception.)
Isabelle gets stabbed with flying glass. (I assume it's flying glass. She didn't stay in the car as Sam instructed.) But did the ghost do it? She apologizes . . . It's all very sad and tragic.
Back at the salvage yard, Dean's giving his baby the once over after the possession.
Second brother talk of the ep. They saved a few jerks and got an innocent girl killed. And in exchange, Dean's "got a heartbroken kid and a woman who's so pissed at me . . . " This? This tells me that yes, Dean does consider Lisa and Ben "his." His family. He's not going to give them up easily, I don't think. But he's going to have to figure out the trade-off.
This conversation really hearkens back to the end of WIaWSNB. Dean is despondent, upset that it doesn't feel like he's making a difference. Sam reminding him that yes, they are; they do save people sometimes.
And Sam gives Dean a heartfelt thanks for getting his soul back. It was sooo good to hear that. And Dean? Honey? You need to learn to accept the thanks without such self-consciousness. *huggles them both*
And Sam has got Dean's back. *huggles them more*
These two brother talks really did feel like a return to earlier seasons. Dean being there for Sam with his "epic arc"-type troubles. Sam being there for Dean with his emotional arc-type troubles, when Dean doubtful of his own effectiveness and purpose.
Oh, boys. You're back on the same page. It's been a while.
