hells_half_acre | Quick Reaction: 7x03 The Girl Next Door

Ok, I've got my best friend visiting this weekend, and we watched together...but because it's not my normal routine, I'm feeling a little scattered (also I'm kind of sleepy) So hopefully this makes sense...

Ok, how did we start?

Oh yeah - did you notice that in the THEN portion, they added Sam saying "I see Lucifer sometimes", even though he's never said that before in an episode? Also, it was kind of weird, because Lucifer wasn't even IN this episode - so why bother? I guess they had his voice, but still.

What else...the ambulance was a little bit different too - did the ambulance guy rattle off their injuries before? I think that was added too.
Ok, now to the actual NOW part of the episode. We arrive and they are setting Dean's leg. Ouch. Sam's getting an MRI and they knock Dean out with drugs, and that's that.

I like Dean walking up obviously high on painkillers...and forgetting that his leg is broken. Wouldn't falling out of bed hurt the leg more, even though it was casted? I mean...can't you rebreak it? Still, funny. And actually something I've done before - not on a broken leg, thank goodness, but on legs that hadn't woken up with the same speed that my brain and upper body did.

BOBBY! I knew he was alive, but it was still nice to see him - and looking so handsome in a suit, no less. I liked Dean's "Bobby! You're alive!" Awww...I also liked the fact that Bobby was like "uh, yeah, duh."

And then when he hands Dean the crutches and gives him that cheek pat and smile - awesome, and so damn fatherly. :)

So, Dean makes is way to the ambulance bay, and Bobby steals Sam. It's actually nice they had Sam strapped into a gurney made things easier. Then Bobby steals an ambulance and they all MAKE THEIR ESCAPE.

3 WEEKS LATER.

Apparently you only need 4 weeks to mend a broken leg. I thought it was longer - but then, I've managed to somehow make a sprained ankle last 7 weeks, so my perspective is skewed.

So, um, timeline stuff here for a moment....There was actually a date in last weeks episode. Problem - it was Oct. 3rd. I'm not sure if there is a date in this episode, but 3 weeks after Oct. 3rd is October 24th, and we'd be into fall-colours and that sort of stuff...also, Oct. 3rd doesn't work the best with my possible dates for the S6 finale, because that should've happened sometime in June, and by Oct. 3rd, Sam's hand still wouldn't have stitches in it. So...what to do, what to do...? Which disbelief do I suspend?

Anyway, NICE CABIN! I like it. I like Dean watching Spanish soaps...and the fact that the cabin belonged to Rufus. Now I picture Rufus leaving everything to Bobby in his will or something.

And Bobby has COPIES of all his books! YAY BOBBY! *hugs* (sorry, I just really like books...a good way to make me cry is to leave me in a bookstore too long).

I also love the way they portrayed one of Sam's "episodes" in this scene - more from Dean and Bobby's point of view then from Sam's - where Sam just stairs into the middle distance and doesn't respond to stimuli for 30 seconds or so. I know when Sam leaves, that Dean is all concerned about him - but I'm with Bobby on this, if the occasional 30 second space-out is all Sam is suffering from, then BE GLAD.

Still, Dean is all worried that "the other shoe will drop." Of course, when it does drop, it's because Dean MAKES it drop, and he doesn't even realize the type of shoe it is. But we'll get to that.

Sam goes and picks up some food at a convenience store in ~~Stanley Park~~ Whitefish. And he sees A NEWSPAPER! Oh man, someone is killing people with an ice-pick! Wasn't there some Nazi or something that was murdered with an ice pick in South America? I can't remember now...hopefully it was a Nazi, and not a good guy. But yeah...um....anyway...Sam is like "hmmm....that serial killer sounds remarkably like the first girl that I ever kissed."

And we find out that Sam's tendency to kiss monsters started at an early age.

Young Sam was tasked with doing the research while Dean and John drove down highway 80. It's a Japanese monster! Kitsune - they are foxes, by the way.

I really like Colin Ford. He does such a good job of Sam. He even has the puppy dog eyes when the girl turns him down.

Now, you'll have to forgive me, because I can't actually remember the sequence of the scenes where Sam is on the phone to Dean and John. I do like that it seems the majority of his conversation were with Dean - that Dean was the intermediary between Sam and John. I also liked how Sam's demeanor changed when John DID come on the phone. And of course, "quick question - how do you talk to girls?"
We also find out that this was in '98 - so that cellphone is realistic, because I'm pretty sure it's the same model that I had around that time.

Actually, let me just talk about the flashback all in one go - that'll make things easier on my poor memory.

Sam complaining about Uncle Bobby's books not being in english...yelling that they have to "stab it in the heart!" and the librarian shushing him.

I loved that they showed Sam kicking ass. It's a little cliche - win the girl by beating up the boys who are harassing her - but I don't care.
So they go back to the girls house, and she's got a fridge full of brains.

She admits that her mum isn't a very nice person, and Sam says the same thing about his dad...and she also implies that her mum hits her - and Sam ACTUALLY implies the same about John - well, if you read that much into it. At the very least, he confirms that John was an angry drunk. Personally, I never saw John as being physically abusive (even though I wrote a fic where he was), but maybe I'll have to start revising my opinion - after all, I've only ever seen John sober.

Anyway, the girl wins Sam over by making him feel like he belongs BECAUSE he's a freak. And this, as we see, is something that Sam's finally come to terms with in the present - that it's OK that he's a freak, that it doesn't have to be something BAD. Dean hasn't learnt this lesson yet - but we'll get to that.

Then the girl's mother comes home - confirms the abuse applied earlier...and says she has two hunters on her tail in a stupid Impala. Cue big confrontation - Amy killing her mother to save Sam, and Sam letting Amy run, because he's going to stand by his earlier statement that she's a good person. I did like the confrontation though - the fact that they both pretty much say "I have to kill you, because it's part of the definition of what I'm supposed to be" and then they both decide that labels are for schmucks...just like earlier they both decided that it was ok to be a freak. Wait...is Supernatural secretly a comment on sexuality and gender-identity? (DUN DUN DUN! I'm half-joking, but at the same time, it KIND OF IS, GUYS!)

Ok, present:

I know what I haven't talked about yet! THE LEVIATHANS HAVE INFILTRATED THE CREDIT CARD INDUSTRY! Sheiss!

So, the Leviathans really aren't going about killing the Winchesters half-assed like most monsters "I will kill you! Oh, you got away...oh well, I'll fall back and regroup and wait a season and THEN try again maybe...or maybe not." Nope, the Leviathans are serious. They are going about this PROPER.

Methinks the boys are going to have to brush up on their hustling skills...or they're going to end up sleeping in the car a lot.

Anyway, um, Dean is freaking out about Sam being gone...with his car. I liked Sam's note: "Back in a few days. I'm fine. Sam." I also noticed over the years that Sam/Jared writes his As like pentagrams - I think it's very fitting (and kinda cute).

So, Dean SAWS OFF HIS OWN CAST! Leg healed! That's a good way to permanently fuck up your leg, Dean. Be careful, or you'll make

ratherastory a little TOO happy. ;)

Meanwhile, Sam has tracked Amy down. I like how they do the eyes on the Kitsune, by the way. Very subtle but effective. Amy only started munching on bad people because her son was sick and need FRESH brains. Aww, how sweet. Amy is a mortician, and can eat brains all the time (yay Amy!), so Sam is like: Ok, we're cool.

I do like how it's basically a story about two childhood friends who tries not to be like their parents, and then meet up later and discover that they are kind of like their parents. Still, they are also NOT like their parents, because they go about things different - Amy eats the already dead, and Sam lets the good monsters live.

Dean, however, does not. So, Dean finally tracks Sam down and gives him a punch in the face - which was hilarious, and I loved the silhouette-distance shot of that. (I also liked the fresh angle of the monster kill at the very beginning.) Though part of me is thinking that if John really WAS an abusive drunk, then Dean really shouldn't be hitting Sam so much. Especially, it's probably not good to hit someone in the fact who just suffered a massive head-trauma 3 weeks before and still has a slight bruise on his head (and was also knocked out again by a Kitsune...but Dean doesn't know that)...seriously though? Sam should be at the critical point in number of concussions by now.

And Sam relates the story to Dean, because Sam is HONEST. And Sam tells Dean that Sam has finally come to terms with being a freak, and all is right with the world, and TRUST him - and Dean is like, "I trust you." And Sam doesn't believe him at first....and it turns out that Sam is right not to.

Because this is when the other shoe drops, and it's not Sam that drops it. It's Dean. Because Dean betrays Sam and goes and kills a mother in front of her kid - yet doesn't kill the kid. My best friend pointed out that is was very "Kill Bill". But um...didn't someone once kill Dean's mother? Remember how that turned out? Also - why did he leave the kid? I mean, if he was going to be a bastard, why not go all out? Why leave that lose thread....unless maybe that loose thread comes back to tell Sam that Dean totally killed Amy.

Shoes dropping everywhere! - because I think Sam IS fine. He is getting better, and even if he doesn't get better than this, it seems manageable. Dean, however, is NOT fine. He's still repulsed and bigoted against that part of his brother that is not human - that part of Sam that makes him a freak. I also think this was a bit...uncharacteristic of Dean - which to me means that something fundamental is wrong. Because back in S2, Dean let Lenore go on Sam's wish. But, that was before Dean found out about the demon-blood coursing through his brother, and it was before his angel friend when dark-side....and it was before a LOT of things.

My best friend thought that Dean was just playing the part of the good soldier - doing what John would have done, just like he always did...though, he then remembered that Dean had been rebelling against that in the past couple seasons, so he didn't quite get why he reverted back to it now.

My best friend was also kind of disappointed, because he was hoping for a whole episode devoted to the hospital - but instead that was resolved within the first five minutes. But he did mention that it feels like they are getting back to normal now - with the MOTW episode between heavy plotty-episodes.

I liked the episode though - I'm still reeling a bit over Dean being such an asshole, but hey, the dude deals with his life the best way he can, and sometimes his way of dealing causes him to act like a psycho (remember that time he saw that vamps head off?)

Alright...um....I'm kind of fading fast here folks. So, I think I'm going to leave off there.

Since I've got a friend visiting, I probably won't be as speedy to reply to your comments as I normally am. I will eventually though, I promise. :)