SPN - "Let It Bleed"
May. 27th, 2011 01:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feliciakwFinally. A day to sit down and do my long and rambly. It's been kind of an exhausting week. Between assimilating the ep itself, and reading about fandom freaking out and fretting and hand-wringing over things that haven't even been written yet . . . Oh, Fandom. Why you give me such agita?
There's much to talk about in this ep. So grab yourself some of your favorite beverage and have a seat. This might take a while.
Then . . . Everything we need to know about Lisa and Ben and Dean. And may I just pause a moment here and comment on that second shot of Lisa and Dean, in the kitchen, when he kisses her on the temple? To me, that is as freakin' sexy as any bedroom scene. Why? Because it is so incredibly sweet and telling. It's not a passionate roll in the hay. (And don't get me wrong; I appreciate those, too.) It's a quick, gentle, everyday reminder of what she means to him. I bet she put notes in his lunchbox, too. It's the little everyday things that you do for each other to remind each other how important you are.
Everything we need to know about Dr. Visyak, Raph, and Cas and Crowley's arrangement, and souls, and Purgatory, and Cas being found out, etc., etc.
Now . . .
It was a dark and stormy night . . .
A shot rang out. The maid screamed.
Oh, wait. Wrong story.
It was a dark and stormy night.
Ides of March, 1937. And someone it typing away furiously on some strange looking contraption with bells and levers and where you have to feed the paper in one page at a time.
Lighting flashes, and branches outside the window scrape eerily against the pane.
The study door slowly opens.
The writer calls out into the dark of the room. "Hello?" No answer.
He opens a desk drawer and pulls out a revolver. (For the record, it's not the Colt.)
He moves slowly across the room to the door. Leans out to check the dark hallway. Empty.
He retreats back into the room and locks the door. Pours himself a drink with a shaky hand.
Suddenly, the window shatters inward, and a dark figure is standing before him.
He begs reprieve. "We didn't know," he says. "I'm sorry."
The dark shape advances on him. He leans back against his desk. His hand slips, scattering his manuscript.
A garbled, choked sound, and blood splatters across the pages.
"Hunter of the Dark, by H.P. Lovecraft." Ooh.
Maybe I should read a Lovecraft book this summer. I don't know much about him. Or anything, really.
Title smash
Bobby's study, and Sam and Dean are doing a little light reading. Except neither of them is really concentrating at the moment. Dean's mind is clearly on his conversation with Cas the night before. Sam tries to offer some modicum of consolation. "At least you tried."
Dean declares Samuel's journals pointless. "Jebediah Campbell has squat to tell me about how to keep Cas from crackin' Purgatory." I do believe girlyghoul70 has mentioned Jebediah Campbell before, at the beginning of the season. Bwah!
Bobby enters and tells the boys that Cas didn't just stop in to mend fences, that they're down one journal. The journal of one Moishe Campbell. Of the New York Campbells. Bwah!
Fortunately, Bobby made a copy of the journal. "Hi. Glad to meet ya. Bobby Singer, paranoid bastard." Oh, Bobby, you're awesome.
Dean's serving coffee while Bobby exposites. Moishe paid a visit to H.P. Lovecraft. Dean doesn't know who that is, and I'm surprised. (I later find out that Metallica has a song based on Cthulu? So I'm even more surprised. And annoyed. It annoys me when they dumb Dean down for the sake of exposition.) But the punchline of that little exchange, "Yeah. I was too busy having sex with women" is a very Dean line. Anyway . . . H.P. Lovecraft writes about opening doorways to other dimensions. A clue!
Braeden house. Ben is in his room with his earbuds on, reading a Cthulu comic. Lisa is watching a ballgame with her new boyfriend.
Suddenly, men break into her house! They grab her, and Ben hears the scuffle through his music. He creeps to the stairs in time to see the baddies kill Boyfriend, Dr. Matt. Ben races to his room, shoves a chair against the doorknob, and makes a frantic call to Dean.
Now, before we get into this incredibly well played exchange, I'd like to make a note. We come to know later that these were demons. And I'm wondering, what the heck? What about the devil's trap at the front door? They had one when Dean was living with them. Did Lisa not take heed? And what about salted windows and doors? Lisa. Chica. You know this stuff is out there. Heck, you've known ever since the changling thing, and while you might not have had to take precautions after Dean left town that time, you know things have gotten much dicier since then. What the heck, chica?
Ben (who has Dean on speed dial, you'll notice) makes a desperate call to Dean (who has Ben in his caller ID . . . or recognizes his number on sight), and the back and forth between the two is just so full of intensity and emotion. Ben is at a loss what to do, and Dean is trying to get information to work with. "What are they? Did you see their eyes? Teeth? This is important, Ben. I need to know. Where are you now? Can you get to your mom's closet? I left the shotgun in there." And Sam is really concerned, doesn't like the sound of Dean's side of the conversation.
The anguish on Dean's face as he squeezes his eyes shut and rubs his forehead. This is the call he's been dreading for ages, his worst nightmare (see 6.01, EoMS). And now Bobby and Sam are both cluing in to the conversation.
"Okay, Ben, listen to me. Go to your window, and jump. Any bones you break won't compare to what they're gonna do to you. You've got to jump."
Ben makes to do as Dean says.
"I'm coming to get you and your mom. I promise."
But the demons get to Ben before he can jump.
And it's Crowley! Yikes!
Dean and Crowley exchange words, bottom line being that Crowley won't hurt Lisa and Ben if Dean and "Jolly Green" (i.e., Sam. Bwah.) back off and let Crowley do his Purgatory thing.
And if there was any question before as to whether or not Dean loves Lisa and Ben, his reactions throughout this conversation removes the doubt. This isn't just any other victim. This isn't a casual friend. This is someone who's important to Dean. This is the worry and helplessness Dean feels when Sam is a victim. Lisa and Ben are family, try as he might to make it otherwise. And he will stop at nothing to get them back.
Dean fills Sam and Bobby in, and Sam asks the $65,000 question: "Do you think Cas knows about this?"
"We gotta assume he does," Dean says. And who can blame him? And this becomes another brick in the wall between Dean and Cas.
Dean's going after Lisa and Ben, and Sam immediately states he's coming with. Dean tells Sam to stay with Bobby and keep on the Lovecraft thing, but Sam says, "You gotta be nuts if you think I'm gonna let you do this alone." Sam? I love you since you got your soul back. It feels like it's been a really long time since you've been so actively concerned about your brother and working with him rather than butting heads. *smish* He also needs someone to keep him from self-destructing. Thank you for taking on that job. *double smish*
Bobby's ready to join the posse, but they need someone to follow the Lovecraft lead. So Bobby continues the investigation while Sam and Dean call Balthazar.
Good grief. We're not even 10 minutes into the show, and look how much I've written.
Balth is irked at being called away from his extracurricular activities. Sam and Dean clue him in on the Crowley-Cas collaboration. He apparently knew that Crowley was alive, but he had no clue about the Purgatory Plot. Dean ask Balth for help retrieving "two people who are very important to me" and Dean is hoping that there's a shred of decency under Balth's snark. "They're innocent people, and I'm asking for your help."
"Fair enough," Balth says, and disappears.
I gotta say, I wasn't particularly fond of Balthazar when he first showed up at the beginning of the season, but I gotta say that he's grown on me. I'm starting to rather like him. (So long as I ignore that he's supposed to be an angel.) I think that this video is no small part of the reason.
But I digress.
Sam suggests they call Cas, which Dean flat out refuses to do. And I get it. Dean's under the assumption that Cas knew about the plan, at the very least, and might possibly even have been in on it. Worst case scenario, it was Cas's idea to begin with, though I don't think that's particularly crossed Dean's mind. But Dean has issues with consorting with the enemy, and the lines with Cas have been drawn.
Meanwhile, Bobby is meeting witha young Steve Buscemi a Lovecraft expert and collector. Dude is geeky, but he knows his stuff. Lovecraft had a dinner party on March 10, 1937, wherein the guests attempted to open a door to another dimension. "To see what's out there. Maybe it's friendly." "It's never friendly!" Bobby says. Heh. No mention of Cthulu in the morning papers the next day. Geek offers to show Bobby his collection of letters, but they're gone. Bobby knows they've been swiped by the guy in the trench coat. "Looks like Columbo, talks like Rain Man."
Bobby calls Sam to bring him up to speed. All attendees to the dinner party died or disappeared within a year. However, there was a little boy who was there, the son of the maid.
Sam is walking through the salvage yard to a garage. We can hear a fight going on inside in the background. Bobby asks Sam how things are going on their end.
"Slow going," says Sam.
"How's Dean?"
"About how you'd expect."
Um, yeah. On a moderately controlled rampage, and more than likely putting a few of the techniques he learned in the Pit to work.
Sam approaches Dean between demons. Seeing his brother like this really hurts. "You're runnin' on whiskey and coffee and whatever else you're taking. . . . At least let me take over. You deserve a break."
But Dean's not ready to stop. "Lisa and Ben, wherever they are, that is 100% on me. And if they're hurt . . . I'll yell if I need you." The hurt in both their eyes. Guh!
Sam steps outside and calls Cas, begs him to bring Lisa and Ben back. Because it's ripping Dean apart.
Cas hears him.
So Cas confronts Crowley on the matter. Cas lays into Crowley for snatching Lisa and Ben. Crowley says he's honored Cas's request not to harm Sam and Dean. Cas demands to know where they are, Crowley's not talking.
Cas gets a telepathic call from . . .
Balthazar. Balth confronts Cas about working with the King of Hades. Cas tries to deny it, but Balth sees through him. Purgatory exposition, and Balth asks Cas if he'd be the vessel. Wait, what? Suck up all those souls. What? So . . . angels can ingest souls? What? WHAT? I mean, with the Horseman, it made sense. But . . . what??? *brain hurts* Okay whatever.
Balth explains that it's too dangerous, that Cas could explode and take a substantial chunk of the planet with him. Well, at least someone is taking the planet into consideration.
"That won't happen," Cas says, like most over-confident people would. Of course.
Cas demands to know if Balth is with him or not. Balth is "in for a penny, in for a pound." Sam and Dean were the ones who spilled the beans to Balth. They're a touch worked up over the kidnapping.
Bobby talks to the witness, the old man who was the child who saw everything. Something did come through that night. Took his mom. "I'm sorry about your mom," Bobby says. "You're the first person who ever said that," says the old man.
"Hey, you want to see a picture?" he asks. Bobby nods. The man pulls out a picture, and Bobby recognizes the woman immediately.
My mom: Lisa!
Me: (in my head) No!
Back at the garage, Dean is putting some of his old torture techniques to work. Unfortunately, the paint on the devil's trap is still wet, and when he walks across it, he breaks a line. Yikes! (and bzuh?)
Demon sends Dean flying, breaks out of his straps, and throttles Dean against the side of a van. Oh, Dean.
But! Cas to the rescue! He fries the demon and saves Dean!
Dean, all macho bravado and pride, didn't ask for Cas's help. Cas replies, "Well, regardless, you're welcome." Cas misses having Dean on his side.
Dean: Why are you here?
Cas: I had no idea Crowley would take Lisa and Ben.
D: Yeah, right.
C: You don't believe me.
D: I don't believe a word that's comin' out of your mouth.
And that hurts Cas, but really, Cas? Why should he? You've been keeping things from him ever since Sam got back. You've been working with Crowley all year, for cryin' out loud. You've betrayed Dean's trust. Why should he believe you now? You know the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"?
Cas pleads his case much better this time than the last time. He believes Dean to be his family. He always comes when Dean calls, and he still considers himself Dean's friend. In spite of Dean's loss of faith and threats, he's saved Dean again. "Has anyone but your closest kin ever done more for you?"
He asks for Dean's trust, believes he's earned it. Dean remains skeptical . . . after all, Cas is talking about popping Purgatory.
"I came to tell you that I will find Lisa and Ben," Cas says, "and I will bring them back. Stand behind me the one time I ask."
Of course, Cas. The way you stood behind Dean when he decided to say yes to Michael, to stop Lucifer before Lucifer got to Sam. You stood solidly behind him, never lost faith in . . .
Oh, wait.
You tracked Dean down, verbally derided him, accused him of betraying you, beat him bloody, looked on him with disgust when you'd beaten him until he couldn't get up, then zapped him unconscious and dragged him back to Bobby's to be locked in the panic room, cuffed to the bed.
All because you felt betrayed by Dean's plan to do what he thought was the only option left to him, that would give him enough power (or rather, give Michael the necessary vessel of power) to defeat Lucifer.
Ring any bells, Cas? Except, of course, that Dean doesn't have the power to best you physically, or beat you into submission.
(Though to your credit, you did stop short of smiting Dean. You opted to take him back to Bobby's rather than fry him.)
That's not to say I don't sympathize with Cas. I can totally understand why he wants the trust and support of his best friend. However, Cas, you need to re-read Proverbs 27:6 . . . "Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses." (NIV) Which means that your enemy (i.e., Crowley) will flatter you and cajole you and say pretty things to you, whereas a friend (i.e., Dean) will call shenanigans on your crap when you need it, with your best interest in mind. Cross reference Psalm 141:5 . . . "Let the righteous man strike me--it is a kindness; let him rebuke me--it is oil on my head. . . ." If you truly do trust Dean, Cas, then you should trust his judgment over Crowley's.
But back to our scene. Cas says he'll retrieve Lisa and Ben. He just asks that Dean stand behind him this one time.
Of course, what Dean hears is another ultimatum. "You're asking me to stand down? That's the same damn ransom note that Crowley handed me. You know that, right?" Dean refuses Cas's help.
This is just tearing both of these guys apart.
Cabin in the woods, and is Bobby driving the sports version of an Impala?
This cabin is one of Dr. Eleanor (Ellie) Visyak's safe houses. Though Bobby says that this one isn't all that safe.
Bobby tells Ellie that he knows what she is, shows her the picture. Well, now. There's a twist! But it turns out whatever Ellie is, she likes it here. She didn't ask the door to be opened, she just happened to be what fell through. However, are we told that she's not the one who killed Lovecraft? Did something else get through as well? She's spent 75 years trying to keep Purgatory closed. That's why she gave Dean the sword.
Wait. Did she write all those books using H.P. Lovecraft's name as a pseudonym? O.o
Bobby warns Ellie about Cas. Bobby wants to take her somewhere, to protect her. She finds that very sweet, but "you're just a man." Careful, honey. Don't make the same mistake everyone else seems to and write off humans so quickly.
Back at Bobby's, Sam is pouring himself a stiff drink when Balth appears. "I'm officially on your team. You bastards." Oh, Balth. Yeah, you've kinda grown on me.
Dean joins the conversation. Balth explains that he asked Cas some questions and didn't like the answers. Cas seems pretty sure of himself, and Balth expresses his concern that Cas's scheme will turn Chernobyl. So he's now the Winchesters' double agent.
He also went looking for Lisa and Ben, and that gets Dean's attention. Yes, Balthazar could make a tentative ally. He found them, but he can't get them out, and seems genuinely regretful for that. Crowley has coated the place in angel-proofing, apparently doesn't trust Cas. So Balth will get the boys as close as he can, but then they're on their own.
Balth zaps them to the warehouse, then states that this is where he gets off. "God be with you," he says earnestly. And as a second thought, "Or what have you." Okay, it's official. I like Balthazar now. That little blessing tells me that for all his self-servingness, there's still a spark of angelic . . . whatever . . . in there. I'm very tempted to make a study of him, but I wouldn't quite know where to start. So I'll just savor the moment before the Winchesters advance to face the demons.
Creeping through the warehouse, Sam and Dean split up.
Aside: The shot of Dean on the stairs is nicely backlit.
Sam gets nabbed and locked away.
Lisa and Ben are sitting on the floor, tied to a post, with demons coming and going, watching them. Outside, there are sounds of a fight, flesh hitting flesh, grunts of pain. One by one the demons go out to check, until one comes crashing back through the door and falls through the railing of the stairs. Dean to the rescue! \o/
Dean kills the last demon, then cuts Lisa and Ben free. But as he's hustling them to the exit, Lisa grabs Ben, the knife, and puts the knife to Ben's throat. And her eyes go black.
Oh, Dean so does not need this.
Oh, this demon knows how to play Dean. Play on his doubts, his regrets for dragging Lisa into this. The demon plays Ben pretty good, too.
Also? The demon plays the "Dean is Ben's father" card, then says no one knows who Ben's real dad is. *raises eyebrows* Did we just get confirmation that Lisa does not know who Ben's father is? I've kind of thought that ever since TKAA. Of course, this info is coming from a demon, so this could be part of the messing with Ben. Still, this could fall into one of those "truths that mess with your head" thing. Hm . . .
Dean reassures Ben throughout this confrontation, and Ben trusts Dean. Holy water to the face, and Ben runs clear.
A fight ensues, Dean knocks the knife from Lisa's hand, and Dean yells for Ben to pick it up.
Yes! A good old-fashioned exorcism! Been a long time since we've seen one of those.
But the demon stabs Lisa! "She's just a dead meatsuit."
But Dean can't leave her like that. The look in his eyes is so painful. Ben is seeing things Dean wishes he'd never see.
Dean completes the exorcism (much to the demon's surprise), and Lisa collapses to the floor.
Dean and Ben both race to Lisa. Dean has Lisa put pressure on her own side, and calls her honey. He calls Sam (who's still out cold in another part of the warehouse). Jensen is so freakin' awesome in this scene. Throughout the entire ep.
Ben is in shock. Dean slaps him out of it; he needs Ben to hold it together. He gives Ben directions, calm and clear. Go to the duffle bag, get the salt gun. He's going to have to carry Lisa, so Ben's going to have to cover their escape. Also, get the knife.
"All right, Ben. Elbow in, gun tight to your shoulder, watch for the kick." (Kinda makes you wish you'd taught him to shoot when he asked, huh.)
Ben shoots his first demon, and he's not sure what to make of it. He's scared, but Dean needs to keep pushing him.
Two more shots to additional demons, and they've made their way out.
They hear Sam pounding on a door. They've found Sam yay! Dean puts Lisa down, shoots the lock off the door, and tells Ben to give Sam the shotgun. Dean tells Sam, "We need a ride," so Sam boosts a ride.
Dean climbs in the back seat, cradling Lisa in his arms. Her blood is on his hands, literally, and his mantra to Ben, to Lisa, to himself is, "She's gonna be fine. You're gonna be just fine." The tension, you could cut it with a knife.
At the hospital, Lisa is on life support, a ventilator. Dean, near tears, anguish written all over him, sits vigil by her bedside, holding her hand. Ben sits and watches his mother without saying a word.
"I'm sorry," Dean tells Ben, but Ben wants nothing to do with Dean, and so leaves the room.
As Ben leaves, Cas is there. Dean, full of grief and anger, has no room for forgiveness. "She'll be dead by midnight. It's too little, too late."
Cas doesn't press the issue. He didn't come for Dean anyway. He lays his hand on Lisa's forehead and heals her.
Dean seems a bit incredulous. "Thank you," he says through tears in his voice. "I wish this changed anything."
"I know. So do I," Cas says. "All else aside, I just wanted to fix what I could." He turns to leave.
Dean: There's one more thing you can do for me.
Cas: *turns back to Dean, awaiting his request*
Dean: *pleading and pain and heartbreak in his eyes*
Me: *gasp* *hand to mouth* He's going to erase their memories.
Interesting set dressing. In the next shot, Lisa is propped up against a forest green pillowcase. Green, not a color you see in hospital linens. Green, like Dean's canvas jacket. Green, like Dean's overshirt. Green, like Dean's eyes.
Lisa wakes to find Ben sitting at her side.
Dean quietly approaches the door to the room.
Ben informs Lisa that they were in a car crash, that he's fine, that she hit her head. Yep, memory wipe. *sob*
And Dean . . . the grief in his eyes . . . guh. He taps on the door, and Lisa looks at him expectantly, with anticipation, like she could be glad to see him. Ben, otoh, seems a little suspicious. "Who are you?"
"I'm Dean," he says. "The guy who hit you."
Lisa's Mona Lisa smile falls. "Oh," she says softly, disappointed. Dean might be wiped from her memory, but I don't think he's been wiped from her heart.
Dean: I just, uh, I lost control for a minute, and I just wanted to say that I'm sorry.
Me: *heart breaks at the metaphor*
Dean: I'm real happy you're both okay. And I'm just glad your life can get back to normal now.
And that's the thing. So many people are scoffing at Dean for having their memories wiped to protect them from ghosties and ghoulies and things that go bump in the night. That's not it at all. He's trying to protect them from the trauma of remembering--remembering being possessed, remembering having a demon tell you in your mother's voice that she never wanted you, the memories of seeing your mother stab herself, or of having no control over your own body and stabbing yourself. He's releasing them from the memory of him, from loving him, from missing him.
He's restoring their innocence.
He's sacrificing his place in their lives so that they can be spared the pain of remembering. Because he would rather be the one to suffer losing them, then have them suffer.
Oh, Dean.
And in a certain regard, my speculation came to pass. Dean has ceased to exist for Lisa and Ben. *sob*
Lisa's not angry with him for crashing into their car. "We're okay, so that's what's important, right?"
"Yeah," Dean agrees. "So anyway, I'll leave you two alone." He'll not bother them again. "You take care of your mom," he tells Ben. And again, you can hear the tears in his voice. He walks away, takes a deep breath to compose himself, putting his game face back on for his brother. (Yeah, right. Sam can see right through you, Dean.)
This whole thing, regardless of the loopholes (pictures, family, past associations, anyone?), breaks my heart. Dean gave up a piece of himself for their benefit.
(I'm not going to get into how this is an imperfect solution, because Dean still loves them, thus they are still a point of vulnerability. This is a pretty firm closing of the door on that relationship. Savor the anguish and move on. Meaning, I don't expect the show to revisit this in the future.)
In the Impala, Sam and Dean have a few words about the sitch. "Dean, you know, you have pulled some shady crap before, but this has got to be the worst. Whitewashing their memories? Take it from somebody who knows--"
And Sam? I'm with ya on this. Because in wiping Dean from their memories? Dean had Cas take from them the memories of what Lisa called "the best year of my life." (He also must have taken away what's been referred to as "the best night of her life.")
This was my reaction the last time one of my shows did a memory wipe. To elaborate further (SPOILER WARNING for Dr. Who "Journey's End"):
Dr. Who just wiped clean the memory of one of my favorite characters. It's as if her adventures never happened. I'm sitting here with my chin trembling, my lip quivering, and tears dripping down my face. The Donna we knew, the Donna The Doctor knew, is gone. And the way they left it, they can't bring her back. (Still, this being Dr. Who, anything is possible, right? Right?)
So, yeah. I've been through this before.
Dean cuts Sam off. "You ever mention Lisa or Ben to me again, I will break your nose." Ben and Lisa are taboo now.
"I'm not kidding," he tells Sam, and Sam reads the pain and heartache in Dean's eyes.
Sam reluctantly agrees. And though Dean doesn't let Sam see it, his lip trembles a little as they pull away from the hospital, closing that door and leaving them behind.
Outside Dr. Visyak's cabin (which is sporting angel wardings on the windows), Cas appears behind Ellie, puts his hand on her shoulder, and they disappear.
There's much to talk about in this ep. So grab yourself some of your favorite beverage and have a seat. This might take a while.
Then . . . Everything we need to know about Lisa and Ben and Dean. And may I just pause a moment here and comment on that second shot of Lisa and Dean, in the kitchen, when he kisses her on the temple? To me, that is as freakin' sexy as any bedroom scene. Why? Because it is so incredibly sweet and telling. It's not a passionate roll in the hay. (And don't get me wrong; I appreciate those, too.) It's a quick, gentle, everyday reminder of what she means to him. I bet she put notes in his lunchbox, too. It's the little everyday things that you do for each other to remind each other how important you are.
Everything we need to know about Dr. Visyak, Raph, and Cas and Crowley's arrangement, and souls, and Purgatory, and Cas being found out, etc., etc.
Now . . .
It was a dark and stormy night . . .
A shot rang out. The maid screamed.
Oh, wait. Wrong story.
It was a dark and stormy night.
Ides of March, 1937. And someone it typing away furiously on some strange looking contraption with bells and levers and where you have to feed the paper in one page at a time.
Lighting flashes, and branches outside the window scrape eerily against the pane.
The study door slowly opens.
The writer calls out into the dark of the room. "Hello?" No answer.
He opens a desk drawer and pulls out a revolver. (For the record, it's not the Colt.)
He moves slowly across the room to the door. Leans out to check the dark hallway. Empty.
He retreats back into the room and locks the door. Pours himself a drink with a shaky hand.
Suddenly, the window shatters inward, and a dark figure is standing before him.
He begs reprieve. "We didn't know," he says. "I'm sorry."
The dark shape advances on him. He leans back against his desk. His hand slips, scattering his manuscript.
A garbled, choked sound, and blood splatters across the pages.
"Hunter of the Dark, by H.P. Lovecraft." Ooh.
Maybe I should read a Lovecraft book this summer. I don't know much about him. Or anything, really.
Title smash
Bobby's study, and Sam and Dean are doing a little light reading. Except neither of them is really concentrating at the moment. Dean's mind is clearly on his conversation with Cas the night before. Sam tries to offer some modicum of consolation. "At least you tried."
Dean declares Samuel's journals pointless. "Jebediah Campbell has squat to tell me about how to keep Cas from crackin' Purgatory." I do believe girlyghoul70 has mentioned Jebediah Campbell before, at the beginning of the season. Bwah!
Bobby enters and tells the boys that Cas didn't just stop in to mend fences, that they're down one journal. The journal of one Moishe Campbell. Of the New York Campbells. Bwah!
Fortunately, Bobby made a copy of the journal. "Hi. Glad to meet ya. Bobby Singer, paranoid bastard." Oh, Bobby, you're awesome.
Dean's serving coffee while Bobby exposites. Moishe paid a visit to H.P. Lovecraft. Dean doesn't know who that is, and I'm surprised. (I later find out that Metallica has a song based on Cthulu? So I'm even more surprised. And annoyed. It annoys me when they dumb Dean down for the sake of exposition.) But the punchline of that little exchange, "Yeah. I was too busy having sex with women" is a very Dean line. Anyway . . . H.P. Lovecraft writes about opening doorways to other dimensions. A clue!
Braeden house. Ben is in his room with his earbuds on, reading a Cthulu comic. Lisa is watching a ballgame with her new boyfriend.
Suddenly, men break into her house! They grab her, and Ben hears the scuffle through his music. He creeps to the stairs in time to see the baddies kill Boyfriend, Dr. Matt. Ben races to his room, shoves a chair against the doorknob, and makes a frantic call to Dean.
Now, before we get into this incredibly well played exchange, I'd like to make a note. We come to know later that these were demons. And I'm wondering, what the heck? What about the devil's trap at the front door? They had one when Dean was living with them. Did Lisa not take heed? And what about salted windows and doors? Lisa. Chica. You know this stuff is out there. Heck, you've known ever since the changling thing, and while you might not have had to take precautions after Dean left town that time, you know things have gotten much dicier since then. What the heck, chica?
Ben (who has Dean on speed dial, you'll notice) makes a desperate call to Dean (who has Ben in his caller ID . . . or recognizes his number on sight), and the back and forth between the two is just so full of intensity and emotion. Ben is at a loss what to do, and Dean is trying to get information to work with. "What are they? Did you see their eyes? Teeth? This is important, Ben. I need to know. Where are you now? Can you get to your mom's closet? I left the shotgun in there." And Sam is really concerned, doesn't like the sound of Dean's side of the conversation.
The anguish on Dean's face as he squeezes his eyes shut and rubs his forehead. This is the call he's been dreading for ages, his worst nightmare (see 6.01, EoMS). And now Bobby and Sam are both cluing in to the conversation.
"Okay, Ben, listen to me. Go to your window, and jump. Any bones you break won't compare to what they're gonna do to you. You've got to jump."
Ben makes to do as Dean says.
"I'm coming to get you and your mom. I promise."
But the demons get to Ben before he can jump.
And it's Crowley! Yikes!
Dean and Crowley exchange words, bottom line being that Crowley won't hurt Lisa and Ben if Dean and "Jolly Green" (i.e., Sam. Bwah.) back off and let Crowley do his Purgatory thing.
And if there was any question before as to whether or not Dean loves Lisa and Ben, his reactions throughout this conversation removes the doubt. This isn't just any other victim. This isn't a casual friend. This is someone who's important to Dean. This is the worry and helplessness Dean feels when Sam is a victim. Lisa and Ben are family, try as he might to make it otherwise. And he will stop at nothing to get them back.
Dean fills Sam and Bobby in, and Sam asks the $65,000 question: "Do you think Cas knows about this?"
"We gotta assume he does," Dean says. And who can blame him? And this becomes another brick in the wall between Dean and Cas.
Dean's going after Lisa and Ben, and Sam immediately states he's coming with. Dean tells Sam to stay with Bobby and keep on the Lovecraft thing, but Sam says, "You gotta be nuts if you think I'm gonna let you do this alone." Sam? I love you since you got your soul back. It feels like it's been a really long time since you've been so actively concerned about your brother and working with him rather than butting heads. *smish* He also needs someone to keep him from self-destructing. Thank you for taking on that job. *double smish*
Bobby's ready to join the posse, but they need someone to follow the Lovecraft lead. So Bobby continues the investigation while Sam and Dean call Balthazar.
Good grief. We're not even 10 minutes into the show, and look how much I've written.
Balth is irked at being called away from his extracurricular activities. Sam and Dean clue him in on the Crowley-Cas collaboration. He apparently knew that Crowley was alive, but he had no clue about the Purgatory Plot. Dean ask Balth for help retrieving "two people who are very important to me" and Dean is hoping that there's a shred of decency under Balth's snark. "They're innocent people, and I'm asking for your help."
"Fair enough," Balth says, and disappears.
I gotta say, I wasn't particularly fond of Balthazar when he first showed up at the beginning of the season, but I gotta say that he's grown on me. I'm starting to rather like him. (So long as I ignore that he's supposed to be an angel.) I think that this video is no small part of the reason.
But I digress.
Sam suggests they call Cas, which Dean flat out refuses to do. And I get it. Dean's under the assumption that Cas knew about the plan, at the very least, and might possibly even have been in on it. Worst case scenario, it was Cas's idea to begin with, though I don't think that's particularly crossed Dean's mind. But Dean has issues with consorting with the enemy, and the lines with Cas have been drawn.
Meanwhile, Bobby is meeting with
Bobby calls Sam to bring him up to speed. All attendees to the dinner party died or disappeared within a year. However, there was a little boy who was there, the son of the maid.
Sam is walking through the salvage yard to a garage. We can hear a fight going on inside in the background. Bobby asks Sam how things are going on their end.
"Slow going," says Sam.
"How's Dean?"
"About how you'd expect."
Um, yeah. On a moderately controlled rampage, and more than likely putting a few of the techniques he learned in the Pit to work.
Sam approaches Dean between demons. Seeing his brother like this really hurts. "You're runnin' on whiskey and coffee and whatever else you're taking. . . . At least let me take over. You deserve a break."
But Dean's not ready to stop. "Lisa and Ben, wherever they are, that is 100% on me. And if they're hurt . . . I'll yell if I need you." The hurt in both their eyes. Guh!
Sam steps outside and calls Cas, begs him to bring Lisa and Ben back. Because it's ripping Dean apart.
Cas hears him.
So Cas confronts Crowley on the matter. Cas lays into Crowley for snatching Lisa and Ben. Crowley says he's honored Cas's request not to harm Sam and Dean. Cas demands to know where they are, Crowley's not talking.
Cas gets a telepathic call from . . .
Balthazar. Balth confronts Cas about working with the King of Hades. Cas tries to deny it, but Balth sees through him. Purgatory exposition, and Balth asks Cas if he'd be the vessel. Wait, what? Suck up all those souls. What? So . . . angels can ingest souls? What? WHAT? I mean, with the Horseman, it made sense. But . . . what??? *brain hurts* Okay whatever.
Balth explains that it's too dangerous, that Cas could explode and take a substantial chunk of the planet with him. Well, at least someone is taking the planet into consideration.
"That won't happen," Cas says, like most over-confident people would. Of course.
Cas demands to know if Balth is with him or not. Balth is "in for a penny, in for a pound." Sam and Dean were the ones who spilled the beans to Balth. They're a touch worked up over the kidnapping.
Bobby talks to the witness, the old man who was the child who saw everything. Something did come through that night. Took his mom. "I'm sorry about your mom," Bobby says. "You're the first person who ever said that," says the old man.
"Hey, you want to see a picture?" he asks. Bobby nods. The man pulls out a picture, and Bobby recognizes the woman immediately.
My mom: Lisa!
Me: (in my head) No!
Back at the garage, Dean is putting some of his old torture techniques to work. Unfortunately, the paint on the devil's trap is still wet, and when he walks across it, he breaks a line. Yikes! (and bzuh?)
Demon sends Dean flying, breaks out of his straps, and throttles Dean against the side of a van. Oh, Dean.
But! Cas to the rescue! He fries the demon and saves Dean!
Dean, all macho bravado and pride, didn't ask for Cas's help. Cas replies, "Well, regardless, you're welcome." Cas misses having Dean on his side.
Dean: Why are you here?
Cas: I had no idea Crowley would take Lisa and Ben.
D: Yeah, right.
C: You don't believe me.
D: I don't believe a word that's comin' out of your mouth.
And that hurts Cas, but really, Cas? Why should he? You've been keeping things from him ever since Sam got back. You've been working with Crowley all year, for cryin' out loud. You've betrayed Dean's trust. Why should he believe you now? You know the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"?
Cas pleads his case much better this time than the last time. He believes Dean to be his family. He always comes when Dean calls, and he still considers himself Dean's friend. In spite of Dean's loss of faith and threats, he's saved Dean again. "Has anyone but your closest kin ever done more for you?"
He asks for Dean's trust, believes he's earned it. Dean remains skeptical . . . after all, Cas is talking about popping Purgatory.
"I came to tell you that I will find Lisa and Ben," Cas says, "and I will bring them back. Stand behind me the one time I ask."
Of course, Cas. The way you stood behind Dean when he decided to say yes to Michael, to stop Lucifer before Lucifer got to Sam. You stood solidly behind him, never lost faith in . . .
Oh, wait.
You tracked Dean down, verbally derided him, accused him of betraying you, beat him bloody, looked on him with disgust when you'd beaten him until he couldn't get up, then zapped him unconscious and dragged him back to Bobby's to be locked in the panic room, cuffed to the bed.
All because you felt betrayed by Dean's plan to do what he thought was the only option left to him, that would give him enough power (or rather, give Michael the necessary vessel of power) to defeat Lucifer.
Ring any bells, Cas? Except, of course, that Dean doesn't have the power to best you physically, or beat you into submission.
(Though to your credit, you did stop short of smiting Dean. You opted to take him back to Bobby's rather than fry him.)
That's not to say I don't sympathize with Cas. I can totally understand why he wants the trust and support of his best friend. However, Cas, you need to re-read Proverbs 27:6 . . . "Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses." (NIV) Which means that your enemy (i.e., Crowley) will flatter you and cajole you and say pretty things to you, whereas a friend (i.e., Dean) will call shenanigans on your crap when you need it, with your best interest in mind. Cross reference Psalm 141:5 . . . "Let the righteous man strike me--it is a kindness; let him rebuke me--it is oil on my head. . . ." If you truly do trust Dean, Cas, then you should trust his judgment over Crowley's.
But back to our scene. Cas says he'll retrieve Lisa and Ben. He just asks that Dean stand behind him this one time.
Of course, what Dean hears is another ultimatum. "You're asking me to stand down? That's the same damn ransom note that Crowley handed me. You know that, right?" Dean refuses Cas's help.
This is just tearing both of these guys apart.
Cabin in the woods, and is Bobby driving the sports version of an Impala?
This cabin is one of Dr. Eleanor (Ellie) Visyak's safe houses. Though Bobby says that this one isn't all that safe.
Bobby tells Ellie that he knows what she is, shows her the picture. Well, now. There's a twist! But it turns out whatever Ellie is, she likes it here. She didn't ask the door to be opened, she just happened to be what fell through. However, are we told that she's not the one who killed Lovecraft? Did something else get through as well? She's spent 75 years trying to keep Purgatory closed. That's why she gave Dean the sword.
Wait. Did she write all those books using H.P. Lovecraft's name as a pseudonym? O.o
Bobby warns Ellie about Cas. Bobby wants to take her somewhere, to protect her. She finds that very sweet, but "you're just a man." Careful, honey. Don't make the same mistake everyone else seems to and write off humans so quickly.
Back at Bobby's, Sam is pouring himself a stiff drink when Balth appears. "I'm officially on your team. You bastards." Oh, Balth. Yeah, you've kinda grown on me.
Dean joins the conversation. Balth explains that he asked Cas some questions and didn't like the answers. Cas seems pretty sure of himself, and Balth expresses his concern that Cas's scheme will turn Chernobyl. So he's now the Winchesters' double agent.
He also went looking for Lisa and Ben, and that gets Dean's attention. Yes, Balthazar could make a tentative ally. He found them, but he can't get them out, and seems genuinely regretful for that. Crowley has coated the place in angel-proofing, apparently doesn't trust Cas. So Balth will get the boys as close as he can, but then they're on their own.
Balth zaps them to the warehouse, then states that this is where he gets off. "God be with you," he says earnestly. And as a second thought, "Or what have you." Okay, it's official. I like Balthazar now. That little blessing tells me that for all his self-servingness, there's still a spark of angelic . . . whatever . . . in there. I'm very tempted to make a study of him, but I wouldn't quite know where to start. So I'll just savor the moment before the Winchesters advance to face the demons.
Creeping through the warehouse, Sam and Dean split up.
Aside: The shot of Dean on the stairs is nicely backlit.
Sam gets nabbed and locked away.
Lisa and Ben are sitting on the floor, tied to a post, with demons coming and going, watching them. Outside, there are sounds of a fight, flesh hitting flesh, grunts of pain. One by one the demons go out to check, until one comes crashing back through the door and falls through the railing of the stairs. Dean to the rescue! \o/
Dean kills the last demon, then cuts Lisa and Ben free. But as he's hustling them to the exit, Lisa grabs Ben, the knife, and puts the knife to Ben's throat. And her eyes go black.
Oh, Dean so does not need this.
Oh, this demon knows how to play Dean. Play on his doubts, his regrets for dragging Lisa into this. The demon plays Ben pretty good, too.
Also? The demon plays the "Dean is Ben's father" card, then says no one knows who Ben's real dad is. *raises eyebrows* Did we just get confirmation that Lisa does not know who Ben's father is? I've kind of thought that ever since TKAA. Of course, this info is coming from a demon, so this could be part of the messing with Ben. Still, this could fall into one of those "truths that mess with your head" thing. Hm . . .
Dean reassures Ben throughout this confrontation, and Ben trusts Dean. Holy water to the face, and Ben runs clear.
A fight ensues, Dean knocks the knife from Lisa's hand, and Dean yells for Ben to pick it up.
Yes! A good old-fashioned exorcism! Been a long time since we've seen one of those.
But the demon stabs Lisa! "She's just a dead meatsuit."
But Dean can't leave her like that. The look in his eyes is so painful. Ben is seeing things Dean wishes he'd never see.
Dean completes the exorcism (much to the demon's surprise), and Lisa collapses to the floor.
Dean and Ben both race to Lisa. Dean has Lisa put pressure on her own side, and calls her honey. He calls Sam (who's still out cold in another part of the warehouse). Jensen is so freakin' awesome in this scene. Throughout the entire ep.
Ben is in shock. Dean slaps him out of it; he needs Ben to hold it together. He gives Ben directions, calm and clear. Go to the duffle bag, get the salt gun. He's going to have to carry Lisa, so Ben's going to have to cover their escape. Also, get the knife.
"All right, Ben. Elbow in, gun tight to your shoulder, watch for the kick." (Kinda makes you wish you'd taught him to shoot when he asked, huh.)
Ben shoots his first demon, and he's not sure what to make of it. He's scared, but Dean needs to keep pushing him.
Two more shots to additional demons, and they've made their way out.
They hear Sam pounding on a door. They've found Sam yay! Dean puts Lisa down, shoots the lock off the door, and tells Ben to give Sam the shotgun. Dean tells Sam, "We need a ride," so Sam boosts a ride.
Dean climbs in the back seat, cradling Lisa in his arms. Her blood is on his hands, literally, and his mantra to Ben, to Lisa, to himself is, "She's gonna be fine. You're gonna be just fine." The tension, you could cut it with a knife.
At the hospital, Lisa is on life support, a ventilator. Dean, near tears, anguish written all over him, sits vigil by her bedside, holding her hand. Ben sits and watches his mother without saying a word.
"I'm sorry," Dean tells Ben, but Ben wants nothing to do with Dean, and so leaves the room.
As Ben leaves, Cas is there. Dean, full of grief and anger, has no room for forgiveness. "She'll be dead by midnight. It's too little, too late."
Cas doesn't press the issue. He didn't come for Dean anyway. He lays his hand on Lisa's forehead and heals her.
Dean seems a bit incredulous. "Thank you," he says through tears in his voice. "I wish this changed anything."
"I know. So do I," Cas says. "All else aside, I just wanted to fix what I could." He turns to leave.
Dean: There's one more thing you can do for me.
Cas: *turns back to Dean, awaiting his request*
Dean: *pleading and pain and heartbreak in his eyes*
Me: *gasp* *hand to mouth* He's going to erase their memories.
Interesting set dressing. In the next shot, Lisa is propped up against a forest green pillowcase. Green, not a color you see in hospital linens. Green, like Dean's canvas jacket. Green, like Dean's overshirt. Green, like Dean's eyes.
Lisa wakes to find Ben sitting at her side.
Dean quietly approaches the door to the room.
Ben informs Lisa that they were in a car crash, that he's fine, that she hit her head. Yep, memory wipe. *sob*
And Dean . . . the grief in his eyes . . . guh. He taps on the door, and Lisa looks at him expectantly, with anticipation, like she could be glad to see him. Ben, otoh, seems a little suspicious. "Who are you?"
"I'm Dean," he says. "The guy who hit you."
Lisa's Mona Lisa smile falls. "Oh," she says softly, disappointed. Dean might be wiped from her memory, but I don't think he's been wiped from her heart.
Dean: I just, uh, I lost control for a minute, and I just wanted to say that I'm sorry.
Me: *heart breaks at the metaphor*
Dean: I'm real happy you're both okay. And I'm just glad your life can get back to normal now.
And that's the thing. So many people are scoffing at Dean for having their memories wiped to protect them from ghosties and ghoulies and things that go bump in the night. That's not it at all. He's trying to protect them from the trauma of remembering--remembering being possessed, remembering having a demon tell you in your mother's voice that she never wanted you, the memories of seeing your mother stab herself, or of having no control over your own body and stabbing yourself. He's releasing them from the memory of him, from loving him, from missing him.
He's restoring their innocence.
He's sacrificing his place in their lives so that they can be spared the pain of remembering. Because he would rather be the one to suffer losing them, then have them suffer.
Oh, Dean.
And in a certain regard, my speculation came to pass. Dean has ceased to exist for Lisa and Ben. *sob*
Lisa's not angry with him for crashing into their car. "We're okay, so that's what's important, right?"
"Yeah," Dean agrees. "So anyway, I'll leave you two alone." He'll not bother them again. "You take care of your mom," he tells Ben. And again, you can hear the tears in his voice. He walks away, takes a deep breath to compose himself, putting his game face back on for his brother. (Yeah, right. Sam can see right through you, Dean.)
This whole thing, regardless of the loopholes (pictures, family, past associations, anyone?), breaks my heart. Dean gave up a piece of himself for their benefit.
(I'm not going to get into how this is an imperfect solution, because Dean still loves them, thus they are still a point of vulnerability. This is a pretty firm closing of the door on that relationship. Savor the anguish and move on. Meaning, I don't expect the show to revisit this in the future.)
In the Impala, Sam and Dean have a few words about the sitch. "Dean, you know, you have pulled some shady crap before, but this has got to be the worst. Whitewashing their memories? Take it from somebody who knows--"
And Sam? I'm with ya on this. Because in wiping Dean from their memories? Dean had Cas take from them the memories of what Lisa called "the best year of my life." (He also must have taken away what's been referred to as "the best night of her life.")
This was my reaction the last time one of my shows did a memory wipe. To elaborate further (SPOILER WARNING for Dr. Who "Journey's End"):
Dr. Who just wiped clean the memory of one of my favorite characters. It's as if her adventures never happened. I'm sitting here with my chin trembling, my lip quivering, and tears dripping down my face. The Donna we knew, the Donna The Doctor knew, is gone. And the way they left it, they can't bring her back. (Still, this being Dr. Who, anything is possible, right? Right?)
So, yeah. I've been through this before.
Dean cuts Sam off. "You ever mention Lisa or Ben to me again, I will break your nose." Ben and Lisa are taboo now.
"I'm not kidding," he tells Sam, and Sam reads the pain and heartache in Dean's eyes.
Sam reluctantly agrees. And though Dean doesn't let Sam see it, his lip trembles a little as they pull away from the hospital, closing that door and leaving them behind.
Outside Dr. Visyak's cabin (which is sporting angel wardings on the windows), Cas appears behind Ellie, puts his hand on her shoulder, and they disappear.
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no subject
Date: 2011-05-27 07:16 pm (UTC)I don't watch Dr. Who but I have seen some memory wipe situations before and they never seem to end well. And they usually don't stick. Dean broke my heart this ep. And Jensen knocked it out of the park!
*sits patiently waiting for your part 2 long and rambly*
no subject
Date: 2011-05-28 10:12 pm (UTC)I can't personally recommend classic Who, because I haven't watched much of it. But I do have several folks on my f-list who would recommend it heartily. I do, however, recommend the new Who. There's some excellently creepy stuff in some of them. *shudder*
Will probably do my next long and rambly next week.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-28 12:28 am (UTC)This whole thing, regardless of the loopholes (pictures, family, past associations, anyone?), breaks my heart. Dean gave up a piece of himself for their benefit."
Jensen broke my heart in that scene. I don't know how he was able to show that Dean's heart was breaking, but it was still somehow controlled/restrained, it didn't cross the line of emotions...if that makes any sense.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-28 10:14 pm (UTC)