Rewatch S6: Like A Virgin (6.12)

[hells_half_acre]

Ok! Late with this one today...

Clothes were complicated again. Sam changed TWICE while Dean was in San Francisco. I may have to revise my day count in the timeline.

Do they usually do a "Road So Far' on the mid-season return? I can't remember. They did in S6, anyway. I love the fact that they chose Back in the Saddle Again, by the way.

Oh, yeah, teaser first. I was all set to start my capping-clothes skillz. Uh, don't actually have anything to say about it.

"Is he ever going to wake up?"

"I'm not a human doctor, Dean"

"Could you take a guess"

"Ok, PROBABLY NOT."

"Well don't sugar-coat it."

"I'm sorry, Dean, but I warned you not to put that thing inside him."

-Still, Cas, explain to me why the alternative is better? Go on, I dare you. It makes no sense.

"Let me tell you what his soul felt like, when I touched it - like it had been skinned alive, Dean. If you wanted to kill your brother, you should have done it outright."

- I will say this for Castiel though, and I think it comes across with this line of his, this must be horrible for him. Seriously, he was the one that botched Sam's return. More than that though, Sam is his friend, we know that from S5. It must be pretty damn horrible to "see" your friend skinned alive. Especially knowing that you tried to prevent it and failed - that in a way, you screwed it up worse than it was before. It wasn't only Dean who had false hope that Soulless!Sam was actually Sam...Castiel did too. I mean, you could argue that he may have already known, but I don't think he did. I think he thought he had rescued his friend, and then he found out he didn't really - and then he had to see the damage inflicted on his friends soul...and yeah, anyway...I'm being long winded and not very coherent, but what struck me about this line was that Castiel does love Sam a great deal, and it must have been very hard for him to "see" the damage done to his soul.

"Dean, he's been through how much? Somehow he always bounces back."

"He's never been through this."

-I like this line - Bobby is ever hopeful, but Dean has a point too. And really, you could say this about anything that happens to anyone of us. Each tragedy that strikes is new, just because we made it through other tragedies, doesn't mean we'll make it through the next one. 

"Can I help? Send me to the library, anything?"

-Man, if I were Dean, sitting around without anything to do but worry about my brother...yeah, I'd be begging to be sent to the library too. :P

"Dean"

"Sam?"

-Awww, the hug. I love this hug.

"Wait, I saw...I felt Lucifer snap your neck-"

"Well Cas-"

"Cas is alive?!"

-This must be so trippy for Sam. He woke up and thought that Bobby and Castiel were dead, and then he finds out there not. To steal a future line of Deans - the other shoe had to drop at some point.

"So Sam, what's the last thing you remember?"

"The field - and then I fell"

"Ok, and then?"

"I woke up in the panic room."

-Sam really does have a very unique relationship with that panic room.

"Well, how long was I gone?"

"About a year and a half."

"What?!"

-I don't even know what I wanted to say about this...maybe just that, yeah, this must be so trippy for Sam.

"How did I get back, was it Cas?"

"Not exactly."

"Dean, what did you do?"

"Me and Death-"

"DEATH! The Horseman!"

-Firstly: Yes! Sam is right, it WAS Cas.
-Secondly: I love how Sam suddenly goes to *serious face* WHAT DID YOU DO? Haha...oh Winchesters.

"Come on, why the poopface?"

"I'm glad he's better, I really am. But, that kid went straight up Menendez on me not 10 days ago, and now it's all just erased? I'm sorry, but I'm having a bit of a hard time even looking at him."

"It wasn't Sam."

"It wasn't all Sam, but it was him, Dean."

-Then we get back to the debate: Was Soulless!Sam part of Sam? Or was he a different beast altogether?
-I do like how we see that there are some things that Bobby just doesn't bounce back THAT quickly from, and having one of his surrogate sons almost kill him is one of them. Sam might be better, but it must be really weird for Bobby to have someone walking around his house who looks like the dude who tried to kill him last week. To think that there's a part of Sam that might be capable of killing him. 

"If we start throwing that crap at him, we don't know what could happen - it could crack the wall!"

-While I agree with Bobby that they should have told Sam themselves, I can really sympathize with Dean here - because he really doesn't know how flimsy that wall is. He doesn't know how much or how little it can take - and the idea that he could break it by accident must be terrifying.

"He's going to find out, you know, one way or another someone will tell him, or he'll figure it out - he's not dumb. He should hear it from us."

"Could we just leave it alone for the moment, please."

-Again, I agree with Bobby, but I love the way Jensen delivers that last line - you can tell it's Dean just trying to say "Can I just enjoy this moment of happiness and calm for as long as possible?"

"It's this thing in Oregon"

"Great! I'm in."

"Whoa whoa, you just got vertical"

"Exactly! I'm up, I'm good."

"Well, a few more days of crap cable wouldn't hurt."

-I love the idea of Dean being like "Sam! SIT DOWN AND WATCH TV! HAVE A NAP! LET ME GET YOU A BLANKET!" and Sam being like "Uh, I'm not sick."

"What was that?"

"One part age, three parts liquor?"

-Recipe for Bobby Singer!

I love the angles they've started using in the car here, the ones from over the backseat - they add something to the scene - make them more closed in, I guess. It's more of a "driving in the car" feel.

"So you never even tried, huh?"

"Tried?"

"To go live a life, after. You do remember you promised that, right?"

"Yeah, I remember"

"So why didn't you try?"

"What makes you think I didn't?"

"Because look at you, look at this - you're exactly the same."

"Yeah, you're probably right...I was with them for a year, Lisa and Ben."

"A year? So then what?"

"Didn't work out" *turns up music*

- I love this this exchange for two reasons:
1)Sam saying that Dean is exactly the same. Because Dean WASN'T the same at the beginning of this season - I fully believe that although he was in mourning and melancholic, and obviously not QUITE fitting in with civilian life, he was on the road to recovery in terms of how he deals with his emotions and his more...well...problems that lead to substance abuse. Soulless!Sam managed to derail all that in just 6 short months.
2)Sam doesn't KNOW what happened. Dean telling him it didn't work out and then turning up the music - Sam can really only assume that the relationship deteriorated on its own. He can only assume that it didn't work out because Dean and Lisa ended up being mismatched...and given that it was his dying wish for Dean to go to her, I've got to wonder how that makes him feel. I mean, it was always a good possibility that it wouldn't work out. Did he think that Dean only started to try to find a way to bring Sam back when things between him and Lisa failed? Does he feel bad for accidentally causing Dean heartache? Is he just happy that Dean tried?

"I've got another theory - Penny's diary."

"Did you steal that from her room?!"

"I love that you even asked me that."

- I love how in love with Sam Dean is in this episode. (That sentence construction is horrible.)

"Virgins, Sam, virgins."

"Penny was 22."

-*cough*I lost my virginity at 22*cough*coincidentally it was just after I found a haircut that looked good on me*cough*

"I've decided that I'm going to give Stan my most precious gift."

"That sounded really creepy coming out of your mouth"

"I think I delivered it."

-Hilarious.

"Fine, let's say you're right, who would want virgins?"

"You got me. I prefer ladies with experience."

-Firstly, I love this line. Secondly, I love this line on the gag reel. Thirdly, I love this whole episode, because it manages to be about virgins, but is, in it's own way, sex positive and not slut-shaming as opposed to most of  (American) TV.

Melissa kind of looks a little like Natalie Portman - just in the eyes, the jaw is different - basically, I'm trying to say that she's attractive. Nice eyes.

"Melissa, no one is judging anybody here, but should you really be wearing that ring?"

"Wha- well, I mean, I - I haven't-"

"Really?"

"Matt Barn didn't count!"

- I also love this, because there's always that thing people do, especially teenagers, where virginity and sex somehow is defined as only penis->vagina. It makes me laugh, because oral-sex still has the word sex in it. I'm pretty sure gay dudes and ladies wouldn't define themselves as virgins...and I mean, some girls break their hymens playing sports. It's this really antiquated concept, yet it persists. You get all these kids with promise rings having tons of anal sex, and I just find that...well...hilariously stupid. (my apologies if any of you are wearing promise rings while having tons of anal sex.)

"So, what you think Batman tried to rape her?"

"Well, he does carry a lot of rage. But he rejected her because she was already de-hymenated."

"You think?"

"I think it just goes to show that being easy is pretty much all upside."

-First off, LOVE the Batman analysis. Secondly, again, love the fact that being easy is pretty much all upside. Personally, I feel the same. I have a lot of great memories (and friends), because I'm not a prude about things.

"So what kind of thing likes virgins and gold?"

"P. Diddy?"

"You know, it's kind of comforting. I die for a year, come back, and you're still not funny."

"Shut-up, I'm hilarious."

-You ARE hilarious, Dean...and that's the other thing I love about this episode. Dean goes right back into being Dean, and he does it OVER THE TOP! Because he is happy, and he can.

"World of Warcraft websites."

"I don't know what that means."

-Dean really can't make fun of Castiel for not understanding references. :P

"Dragons, dude. See, I told you - not possible."

"Actually, it might be."

"How? In what reality?"

"It's been a strange year. Let me get a second opinion."

- I also love that Sam is coming into this story new - he doesn't know that things have been wonky with the monsters.

"What do you know about dragons?"

"What? Nothing."

"Seriously."

"Well, they're not like the Loch Ness monster, Dean, dragons aren't real."

"Could you make a few calls?"

"To who, Hogwarts?"

- Oh man, I wanted to tie this into my demented'verse so far - but the last thing I wrote ended before this episode. Maybe someday...

"Hey, did we hunt a Skinwalker lately?"

"Doesn't ring a bell."

"Are you sure? It's just - deja vu or something."

"You gotta remember, you're eggs are still a little scrambled."

"Yeah, right."

- I love Dean telling Sam that his eggs are scrambled, when to Sam he feels perfectly fine - except for the hole in his memory.

"I can't believe she didn't just right to mind - Dr. Visjak, Medival Studies, SFU."

- I love Bobby's smile when he gives this information. You can just see that there's a whole story there that is quite something.

"Did Bobby say where they park?"

"No"

"Great, back to lore."

"Which says what? That they live in Middle Earth?"

"No, caves."

"Such a nerd."

- I love that Dean calls Sam a nerd when it's basically Dean (and John) who have made Sam into the research-dude that he is. 

I love Doctor Visjak.

"Finding one took two decades, countless hours, and some really bad sex with an eastern ambassador, but yeah."

-LOVE HER.

"Oh come on, you know the story. We need a brave knight who's willing to step up and slay the beast."

"Well, I'll just give it a go, shall I?"

- I LOVE the sword in the stone sequence. I also love that it was basically all Jensen and the directors brain-child...I love that the script just said something like "Dean tries to take out the sword and fails" and Jensen is like "Hmm...yeah, I think we can do a little bit more here.."

Bobby wears Carhardtt shirts too. Like surrogate-father like son.

"Wait, Bobby, wait - you okay?"

"Yeah, of course, why?"

"Besides the way you've been acting and talking, nothing. Is there something I should know?"

"No, all you need to know is where Godzilla's holed up."

"Bobby, what happened this last year?"

"It had it's moments, no more than usual, got nothing to do with you, Sam, how could it?"

"Of course."

"Call me if you need anything."

- Dean put Bobby in a tight spot, because Bobby can't go behind Dean's back and tell Sam, but at the same time, Sam is ONLY going to get more curious about the year and a half that he missed.

"Castiel, I'm back, so if you have a minute?"

"Sam, it's so good to see you alive."

"Yeah, you too."

-HUG DENIED. FANDOM OUTRAGE! Hahaha, awww, poor Castiel. Still though, when has Castiel EVER hugged them. It WOULD be awkward. I think though, that Castiel DOES want that feeling of belonging to this family, and part of me thinks that he pushes for the hug here as sort of an overcompensation for the things he's doing behind the scenes. But I might be reading too much into it.

"Um, look, I would hug you, but-"

"It'd be awkward."

-It really would, but I love the awkward head-movement Misha does here -, uh, I'll just, um, go over here, a bit.

"It's a crazy year, huh. I just talked to Bobby, he told me everything that happened-"

"Frankly, I'm surprised you survived. I was begging Dean not to do it."

-Oh Sam, you crafty bastard. It's always easiest to trick the naive things.

"So, how does it feel?"

"What?"

"To have your soul back, of course."

"Right, you mean, because I was walking around with no soul...ah, really good, Cas, really good. You know what, I'm just hazy on a few of the details - you think you could walk me through?"

-This is masterfully acted by Jared, because you can SEE the realization, and you can SEE the horror, and you can see him desperately trying to hide it so that he doesn't let on that he didn't know.

"You rocks think you're so smart."

-Here's a little fact about me - the private school I went to was Christian-based, and they liked to put a lot of emphasis on the differences between man and animal...like, how man is superior and separate and far far different than any animal on the earth. It used to bug the crap out of me, because I really don't think we're THAT different fundamentally, and I also don't think our differences are necessarily always good. Anyway, we had to recite these verses in school and one of them was this one going on about how great man was in comparison to animals, so whenever we said it I would replace the word "animals" with "rocks." Because, you know, man IS better than rocks, because rocks can't think AT ALL. Anyway, that's really long winded, but I get an extra kick out of this line for that reason.

I love that the sword gets broken - it's so in keeping with the Winchesters and the tone of the show. That these brother have made themselves a makeshift life out of makeshift parts...and they don't even get a whole sword to kill the beast.

"Dude, we have been here for hours! I think the lore is off. Hey, what if dragons like nice hotels?"

- Haha, I'd love to see them hunt a monster in a nice hotel. It's much easier in the sewers, where no one can here anything scream.

I love that the sword falls JUST out of reach of Dean - cue LONGER ARM-SPAN SAM TO SAVE THE DAY!!!!

"Hey Sam, ask me what time it is?"

"Why don't you cut to the chase and just roll in it?"

"I rarely have wealth."

- I think Dean has been gleefully rolling in his wealth all episode, and it is about to be ripped away from him.

"Dean"

"Yeah?"

"I am so - so sorry - I can't even begin to say."

"For what?"

"You know what."

"Who, Bobby?"

"Cas"

"Cas...*mumbles* child. You weren't supposed to know."

-Ripped away. I love how Dean mumbles child under his breath. Dean DOES belittle Castiel an awful lot this season, and I know a lot of people don't like him for it, but I don't think he's wrong. I think, as Castiel admits, that Castiel is prideful and that Dean's comments hurt because of that - but it doesn't mean that Dean is wrong. Mind you, telling a child that they're a stupid child constantly is not going to make them grow up. 

"What I did? To Bobby, to you! Of course I should know."

"Sam, Death didn't just shove your soul back in, he put up the Great Wall of Sam between you and the things that you don't remember, and trust me when I say that the things you don't know could kill you. That's not a joke."

-I always wanted them to have a special conversation about the Vampire-Incident. But nope, all we get is "to you!" but that's okay. 
-I love "The Great Wall of Sam"

"It wasn't you!"

"You know, I kinda feel like I've been slipped the worst Mickey of all time, and I woke up to find that I burnt the whole city down. And you can say it wasn't me, but I'm the one with the zippo in my pocket, so I'm not sure it's that cut and dry. And I appreciate you trying to protect me, I do, but I got a fix what I can fix. So I need to know what I did."

"But you don't know how dangerous that could be."

"What would you do? Right. Same thing."

-Now we get the Winchesters and their guilt complexes. I was really worried with this episode, because there is absolutely no way that Sam could atone for a year and a half of being soulless...and it seemed especially cruel after he had just sent himself to Hell to atone for all his previous mistakes. I'm glad though, that when the wall finally does come down, Sam realizes that he really doesn't need to make himself suffer on top of everything he's already suffered. Knowing Show though, that might not last long.

"It basically describes this place. It's like the backside of your worst nightmares - filled with the bodies and souls of all things hungry, sharp, and nasty."

-BODIES. Did you hear that? The BODIES and souls....oh man. Mind you, I guess given that the things that come out have to possess people, they don't really escape with their bodies...but it is a clue that there are monsters in purgatory that might not actually exist on earth.

"The door to purgatory. Well, I knew a demon who would have loved to have known about that."

-He still does, Dean. Don't tell Castiel.

"Bringing something here? What?"

"I'm working on it."

"Can you give us something?"

"I got a name."

"What?"

"Mother"

"Mother? Mother of what? Dragons?"

"I wish. It says it a few times here. Mother of All." 
-And we get to meet our Red Herring for the season! And what an entrance she has.

Ok! So, this one was late, but hopefully I can knock another one off tomorrow before I head to my friends place to see the new episode! Yay!

Comments

[missyjack.livejournal.com]

It strikes me as symbolic that the panic room being (presumably) destroyed sort of coincides with Sam feeling atoned.

I feel conflicted about Cas here because he must be shitting himself over whether Sam remembers who got him out of hell. Also re: the hug - i wodner if Cas didn't go for the hug because he was secretly watching the Sam/Dean, Sam?bobby reunion hugs?

I adore Dean being SO gleeful about his Sammy being back. Also huge kudos to Jared's acting. I think we'd sort of got used to soulless Sam, and its only now we are reminded how different our Sam is.

Again with the brother roles - Sam will always bee the nerd for Dean, even though Dean knows about Hogwarts and Middle Earth!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

It strikes me as symbolic that the panic room being (presumably) destroyed sort of coincides with Sam feeling atoned.

Oh, good catch.

he must be shitting himself over whether Sam remembers who got him out of hell.

I don't think there's any possibility of that. He would have rescued Sam in his true form (unrecognizable) and also, Soulless!Sam didn't know, so souled!Sam wouldn't know either.

Also re: the hug - i wodner if Cas didn't go for the hug because he was secretly watching the Sam/Dean, Sam?bobby reunion hugs?

Ha! A good possibility, now that we know he is a spying spy. :P

I think we'd sort of got used to soulless Sam, and its only now we are reminded how different our Sam is.

Very true. Jared really blew it out of the water in S6.

Sam will always bee the nerd for Dean, even though Dean knows about Hogwarts and Middle Earth!

Let's not forget that Dean is the trekkie of the family too ;)

[liliaeth]

and the horror nerd.

Let's not forget that in Hollywood Babylon, he was the one who didn't just know the directors and the main actors of low budget horror movies, but he actually remembered the names of background actors and so on...

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Haha, oh Dean, methinks perhaps YOU are the nerd of this operation. ;)

[alexseanchai]

I'm not convinced Eve is a red herring. I mean, there's the obvious, but bardicvoice said in her most recent recap that she thinks Eve was a leviathan, and I gotta say I'm in love with that theory.

[franztastisch]

Butting in here to say.. that is an awesome theory! I love that. And it would make sense!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Ooo, that's a cool theory! She DID bleed black goop when they killed her. But the other Leviathans can't create monsters - at least, not that we've seen.

Also, technically she can be a Leviathan AND a Red Herring.

[franztastisch]

-This is masterfully acted by Jared, because you can SEE the realization, and you can SEE the horror, and you can see him desperately trying to hide it so that he doesn't let on that he didn't know.

THIS THIS THIS. Punch in the gut. This is something Jared does so well. Like, when Bobby tells Sam to lose his number in... 5x01 and when Lucifer tells Sam that he's his vessal in... 5x03?

And um... hello. *waves* 22 and virgin. And... you've made me feel better about myself. Cos.. well, you're awesome. And... yeah. Gloss over this bit...

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

This is something Jared does so well. Like, when Bobby tells Sam to lose his number in... 5x01 and when Lucifer tells Sam that he's his vessal in... 5x03?

YES! Oh man, that boy breaks my heart with those scenes.

And... you've made me feel better about myself. Cos.. well, you're awesome. And... yeah. Gloss over this bit...

Well you certainly shouldn't feel bad about yourself! I happen to think you are awesome too. Don't let weird-ass society imply differently.

[franztastisch]

It's not that I feel bad, as such, just... I dunno. It's odd. Cos it's not like I mind but. I dunno. Sometimes I just feel awkward. Though to be honest, that's pretty standard. I think it's just cos... people talk about it all the time. But people who haven't, don't. So it's comforting just to find out that's you're not the only one. Which of course I'm not. But sometimes it's just nice to hear it.

ANYWAY

You think I'm awesome. My day is made. :D

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Haha, well, I'm glad I made your day ;)

I get what you mean. It's sort of like if everyone went to summer camp except for you. Or, when I was young, everyone had nintendo except for me. Basically, I'm saying sex is like videogames, there ARE people who don't play them. :P

(The cool thing is that for girls, the more you know your own body first, the better sex is when you finally do have it - so, depending what you do with your free time, your first time could be pretty damn rocking. As opposed to all those who started when they were teens and may still be having disappointing sex because of it.)

[franztastisch]

Or, when I was young, everyone had nintendo except for me. Basically, I'm saying sex is like videogames, there ARE people who don't play them. :P

Yey! Now I fall into two groups. I don't have the required hand eye coordination for videogames. :P

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I don't have the required patience and lack-of-temper. :P

[franztastisch]

Haha oh yeah, lack-of-temper. Don't have that either. :P

[4422shini.livejournal.com]

"I can't believe she didn't just right to mind - Dr. Visjak, Medival Studies, SFU."

What bugged me about this line is that there ISN'T a San Francisco University, but there is a San Francisco State University. SFU is SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY, aka one of the university's in Vancouver, aka local, aka my university.

When Bobby said that, I was like HOMFG THEY'RE GOING TO VANCOUVER o_o!! But nooooooooo.... What a letdown. >:(

On a side note, that's kind of related, I can see how they could do that, because of this little story I'm about to go into...

Several years ago I was at a gallery opening in Victoria, sipping on wine and feeling sophisticated. I was talking to this attractive young man, we were discussing schooling and I mentioned I was going to SFU, he perked up. "So what's it like going to school in a foreign country?" I have no idea why this didn't clue me in, but I was like, "uhhh, expensive, I think..?" Anyways, we talked shop for 15 more minutes and then we parted ways. As we left, he said, "good luck in San Fran."
It kind of blew my mind that a guy didn't know about SFU and yet lived in Victoria. So I guess I can forgive the writers, if this bloke who's less than 100 km from the uni doesn't know about it.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

When Bobby said that, I was like HOMFG THEY'RE GOING TO VANCOUVER o_o!! But nooooooooo.... What a letdown. >:(

Awww, see, I saw of it more as an inside joke, where they KNEW about SFU (how could they not? They film in the same town as it?) and they knew that San Fran only has a State Uni, but they used SFU as little joke anyway.

But yeah, that's weird that dude in Victoria didn't know about SFU.