Supernatural - 209 - Croatoan

[roguem]

It's horribly late, but RL has claimed my attention.
I bring you my review:

The intro let us know this episode would hold some kicks. It was wonderful, because first you think this will be a Sammy-centric episode, but then the Dean bits come in and I just had to squee because I just felt that this episode would bring some great brotherly moments.

 

The opening scene was wonderful. Actually a simple scene but so beautifully played and cut. We had no idea what was going on, but the suspense was there.

First pause to comment on Jensen’s acting. I love how he uses everything he’s got, like the twitching of the lip to show he’s uncertain, it’s pretty rare to see an actor give his all in every scene, but this boy delivers every time.

 

Why did I take joy in the fact that Sammy was on the floor when it was revealed that this was a premonition? I have no idea, I guess I’ve just been waiting for a time Dean wouldn’t be there and he’d actually fall down.

I’d be cool to see Sam having a vision from Dean’s point of view, that we didn’t see the actual vision, but Sam seizing or whatever he does when he gets a vision.

 

Dean eats jerkey! Hah! Sorry, that will forever be a Wolverine reference to me, so of course that made me happy.

I loved the look on his face when he saw Sam.

 

When did the boys get a navigator? And why couldn’t we have been with them for that shopping trip? I want a scene like that, Sam being all professional and going for the one that will be easy to use and such, while Dean goes for the ones that have cool extras. I have no knowledge about these things, but would still have been fun to see.

 

Dean: I’m sure I had a good reason.

Sam: I sure hope so.

Dean: What does that mean? I mean, I'm not gonna waste an innocent man. I wouldn't!
Sam: I never said you would.
Dean: Fine.
Sam: Fine. Look, we don't know what it is. But whatever it is, that guy in the chair is part of it. So let's find him, and see what's what.
Dean: Fine.
Sam: Fine!

 

Up until this season I would have totally been on Dean’s side on this one, but Dean is unstable, and not as sure of things as he once was, things can get out of hand at some point.

Loved the scene, typical sibling exchange with the “Fine.” helped take some of the tension out of the conversation, very well done.

 

I really liked the location in this episode. I have no idea why, but it was a great setting for the storyline, looked kind of closed in because of all the trees around the area.

 

I loved the army guy, he reminded me of Louis Gosset Jr. for some reason. And I loved the fact that Dean picked up on the army tattoo, and used that as a way to get the guy to ease up and give them the info they wanted. For once it was Dean who managed to get a grownup to give them the info they needed, and I think he did it really well too.

Has anyone checked out the company John was in? I haven’t checked, but want to know if anyone found something about it.

 

I keep thinking they discovered the writing on the pole a bit too easily, if they were walking towards it instead of away from it I wouldn’t have given it a second thought.

 

Sam: Roanoke? Lost colony? Ring a bell? Dean, did you pay any attention to history class?
Dean: Yeah. The shot heard 'round the world, how bills become laws....
Sam: That's not school; that's Schoolhouse Rock!
Dean: Whatever.

 

Loved that exchange between them. I don’t think Dean is stupid. Sam needs to lighten up. I can barely remember anything from history class, so I don’t really expect any of them to. To my American flisters, did you learn about this in history class? The Roanoke colony? Sounds like it would be an interesting lesson.

Sam seems so displeased when Dean starts quoting Schoolhouse Rock. I thought it was great, and to be honest I wouldn’t have thought anything of it if Sam hadn’t pointed out where out was from.

Dean wasn’t that lost on the subject though, Sam just needed to refresh his memory. He has after all been out of school a bit longer than Sam. I found it kind of amusing that Dean seemed worried at the thought of people just disappearing.

 

I wasn’t to happy when they started talking about calling in Ellen to help out. I don’t mind her, but I think there’s been too much ‘roadhouse’ time in this season already, we don’t need more, and I liked the idea of Bobby helping out a lot better. Honestly though, I was kind of glad that they didn’t get a signal or connection on the phone. I will always prefer when they work alone as it lets the boys just be themselves.

 

“Born to fish, forced to work.” Lol.

That family was creepy, but I got another X-Men reference, the kid who opens the door was in X2! Gotta love Vancouver!

 

Dean: That was kinda creepy, right? A little too Stepford?

Sam: Big time.

 

My first thought was that they seemed so Stepford, so loved that the reference popped up.

They didn’t even really have to think about it before heading to the back of the house to check things out. Dean gets to pull out his shiny new gun, and he even gets to shoot too.

I just think it’s too funny that Dean had the dead guy stored in his trunk. For people walking by that couldn’t have looked to good. And he’s left holding the guy while trying to explain things to the doc.

 

Sam: I hesitated, Dean. It was a kid.
Dean: No, it was an It.

 

I like that the boys have different views here. Dean is more set on destroying the evil, while Sam keeps looking at the human sides. None of them are a 100% right when it comes right down to it, but this way they help to balance each other out and keep the other one from making mistakes.

 

The WTF license plate got a good giggle, has to be one of the best plates ever. I wouldn’t have gotten out of my car if I found something like that, the bloodied baby seat in the back would have had me running away screaming. I kept expecting something to pop up and attack Dean; I kept mentally urging him to get back in the Impala. But what does the boy do? He picks up a bloodied knife! Come on Dean!

 

The demon virus was a cool twist. Kind of reminded me of ’28 Days Later’, where the virus makes people crazy. Not exactly the same thing as here, but still, I like the idea. I mean how do you get rid of a demon virus?

 

Dean at the barricade loved this scene on so many levels.

 

Man at Barricade: Say, why don't you get out of the car and we'll talk a little?
Dean: Well, you are a handsome devil but I don't swing that way. Sorry!

 

It’s canon now people! Hah. ;p

Great bit though, Dean handled it as well as he could have. Loved the part where he sped away with that guy hanging on to the side. Nice action moment.

 

I wasn’t a big fan of how it was filmed when the woman attacked the doctor and Sam, the whole strobing(?) visual is something I will never be a fan of as it tends to distract from what’s really going on.

 

Dean and the Sarge was another great scene. The tension and paranoia is mounting, but well played out with a bit of humor. I didn’t really doubt that the Sarge was still human, just something about the level of paranoia coming from him.

 

Sarge: My neighbor, Mr. Rogers…
Dean: You’ve got a neighbor named Mr. Rogers?
Sarge: Not anymore.

 

This scene has to go down as one of my faves, I can’t really pinpoint why, but I loved it. The mix of humor and the tension between Sarge and Dean was very well portrayed.

 

Sammy comforting the nurse, and then the slight look of relief that crosses his face when he hears the Impala drive up to the clinic was nice too.

 

Dean: I feel like Chuck Heston in The Omega Man.

 

Always love the references, even when I’ve got no clue. Heh.

Love the convo between the two, getting caught up on what’s been going on, and that Dean wants to know what Sam is thinking about the doctor’s theory before he believes it. I just adore those moments that show how much they trust each other. Like after Dean finds out about the infected woman, knowing there’s no cure for the virus, all he needs to finally pull the trigger is conformation from Sam that she actually is infected. Had anybody else in the world told him that he’d want to double check the facts.

 

They’re trapped and the nurse is scared. I liked that at least one person was freaking out a bit. Considering the people there at this point it was logical that she’d be the one who was showing fear in such a way.

 

Dean: Night of the Living Dead didn't exactly end pretty.

 

I think this episode has more of the zombie-movie element than ‘Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things’ when it boils right down to it. All in all a better homage to the genre.

 

Sam’s idea on how to make bombs was good, they needed ammo, and they were surrounded by supplies.

Then Duane enters the scene, Dean is on guard at once, and Sam is on high alert with regards to Dean. Loved the bit where Duane asked about his parents, feel sorry for the guy, but when Dean said ‘Awkward.’ I had to laugh. Mainly because I had a flashback to the porn-incident, but also because it fitted nicely.

 

The cut on Duane’s leg sets everybody off, but in different ways, was cool to see how many different reactions such a little thing could produce. Dean and Sarge go on the defensive at once, not really even thinking about it, moving to tie him up, while Sam is looking for an answer. Had either of them been working on this case on their own it would have ended badly.

 

One thing I loved about this episode was that almost every discussion they had somehow turned in to a discussion about how they’ve been dealing, especially how Dean’s changed since John’s death. Sam and Dean arguing about letting Duane live or not turns into a discussion about how Dean has changed. Sam’s been prodding at this a long time, it’s already earned him a punch in the face, but he keeps going, no wonder Dean locked him in the office, leaving Sam to plead with him not to kill Duane.

 

I think anybody would have been turned into a crying wreck if they had a gun to their face, especially with someone as determined as Dean holding the gun.

They dragged that scene out forever, it was effective though. Watching every thought cross Dean’s mind, Sam’s words sinking in, his commitment to kill demons. You could really see all those things running through his mind.

I was glad he didn’t shoot him, because no matter what we know now, the uncertainty of that action would have ended up haunting Dean.

Again it shows the power the brothers have over each other. Sam had pleaded for Duane’s life that put a totally different spin on things in an instant, had Sam said it was okay for Dean to shoot Duane I don’t think he would have had much trouble deciding what to do.

 

The following scene where they get the message that Duane’s not infected was also nice. Dean has kind of stepped back at this point letting Sam take the lead on the whole Duane issue.

The look he gave Sam when he went to get more alcohol makes me wonder if there’s something more than Sam’s pleading that stopped Dean from shooting Duane.

 

I knew something was up with the nurse.

It was kind of funny to watch a little blonde tackle Sammy to the ground. At least it gave Dean the opportunity to shoot someone though.

I had no idea how Sam was gonna get out of this one, two things sprang to mind though, either the nurse didn’t do a good enough job infecting him, or maybe he’d be immune. I was imagining Dean holding the doctor at gunpoint while she had to figure out a cure!

 

Sam reaching out to Dean and Sarge stopping Dean from taking his hand because Sam might be infected. Damn! The look on both their faces.

 

The following discussion had me captivated. Dean won’t let anybody shoot Sam. He would  use himself as a shield if he had to.

 

Duane: You were gonna shoot me!
Dean: You don't shut your pie hole, I still might.

 

Sam knows the severity of the situation, on some level he seems to have accepted his fate. Dean has already lost so much, there’s no way he’s going to loose his brother too.

 

Dean: Sam, we've still got some time.
Sarge: Time for what? Look, I understand he's your brother and I'm sorry. I am. But I got to take care of this. (prepares to shoot Sam)
Dean: I'm gonna say this one time, you make a move on him and you'll be dead before you hit the ground. You understand me? I mean do I make myself clear?

 

Dean totally snapped in to Army voice there, and I liked it a lot!

Dean gave up the Impala! He basically gave the others the Impala, so he could stay behind and look after Sam.

Despite all the drama and suspense in this scene that’s actually a very beautiful moment. Dean doesn’t even give it a second thought. He’s staying behind with Sam, and it’s not open for discussion.

 

Dr. Lee: I'm sorry. Thanks for everything, Marshals.
Dean: Oh, actually we're not really marshals.
Dr. Lee: (confused) Um, oh.

 

Hehe, liked that Dean confessed that they weren’t Marshals, though I’m kind of worried that might come back to bite the in the ass.

Sam pleading with Dean to just give him a gun and leave him to take care of business. Oh, boys, you know how to tear my heart apart.

 

Sam: This is the dumbest thing you’ve ever done.
Dean: I don’t know about that. Remember that waitress in Tampa? Brrr....

 

Leave it to Dean to make a joke at a time like this.

The whole scene with the two of them talking, and Dean actually opening up was so beautifully played. I wanted so desperately to crawl into the screen and comfort them.

Damn the people for coming back before Dean could open up more.

 

I liked the ending of the case though, that everybody had just disappeared. Whatever you imagine happened could be much more disturbing than the actual cause, but we know the Demon is involved.

 

Sam’s gonna live! Yay!

 

I have to admit it was kind of fun to see an episode where the boys had no clue by the end of it, where they actually didn’t figure it out. Usually that’s something I’m not a big fan of, but for this it worked perfectly. Also because we all kind of know that this will be revisited at some point, we’ll get some kind of answer, the question is when.
Will the infected people just reappear or are they gone forever?

Why was Sam immune?

Will we ever get the answers to that?

 

Duane is MaleMeg the second! I kind of felt that the second they cut over to him and the sarge after the case was finished. I was sad to see Sarge go, but it couldn’t be helped.

I’ve been wondering when we’d see traces of the Demon again, the fact that it comes at this point makes me think we’re in for one hell of a ride for the rest of this season. I’m very curious to see what’s coming.

 

The final scene was just beautiful, the location looked like it had been plucked out of a catalogue for a nice B&B with large park grounds or something, very idyllic.

 

Sam’s prodding Dean again, but this time Dean knew it was coming. He keeps stalling, but it’s clear that he’s going to open up at least a bit more.

 

Dean: I just thinking we ought to… go to the Grand Canyon.
Sam: What?
Dean: Yeah, you know, all this driving back and forth across country, you know, I've never been the Grand Canyon. We could go to TJ, or Hollywood...see if we can bang Lindsay Lohan.

 

I wouldn’t mind an episode where they’re just sightseeing. I’m very curious how they’d be under normal circumstances. How they’d manage just being tourists. Dean says he’s tired, but I think he’d go stir crazy after a while. If they somehow managed to destroy all evil beings, Sam would probably be able to settle down, get a steady job. I imagine Dean wouldn’t be able to stay in the same place for long before moving on to something else.

 

I’m not jumping on the whole “Kripke, you bastard!” bandwagon, as I loved how this was done, and I think that I’m the only one in the fandom that doesn’t desperately want to know ‘the truth about Sam’, thought the fact that we’ll get to know mid-season makes me think it’s not something huge. It will be important, but not huge.

 

All in all I loved this episode, and am really looking forward to what’s coming next.

This is probably the last time my review will be this extensive, they seem to get longer every time, so for the next episode I'll try a new strategy. The new episode is this Thursday, right?