Rewatch S6: ...And Then There Were None (6.16)

[hells_half_acre]

So, in the style of Supernatural, we go from a super funny episode to a super depressing one.

The upshot is that this should be a fairly easy clothing episode, since it's so contained.

Don't get me wrong though, the contained-incident is one of favourite plot thingies (I'm so coherent today), it's just a little hard to watch, because it's so INTENSE.

So, let's get started...

It's our red herring! Doing what red herrings do!

I once wrote a short story about a trucker. It was cliched probably, but I enjoyed it. I forget what happens. I think he just spends the whole time missing his family or something.

Is it wrong that part of me is kind of glad that the jesus-dude gets attacked? Yes, yes it is. 

"Your father made you, and then abandoned you. You see signs where there's nothing, but the truth is, your apocalypse came and went and you didn't even notice. A mother would never abandon her children like he did."

-Actually, I know at least one mother who totally abandoned her children...it happens, but statistically not as much. Anyway, I DID like the contrast between the patriarchal humans and the matriarchal monsters. I guess technically, since monsters=evil, that could be construed as misogynistic - but I don't think it is, because the show isn't saying that patriarchy is BETTER, actually, I think it's quite the opposite given how messed up Sam and Dean are.

"Nest of vamps, werewolf dance party..."

-Why wasn't I invited!

"...shifters - 6 of them, 2 hunters died taking them out."

-When I first saw this episode, I thought Bobby said "2 hundred died taking them out" and I was like "WHOA! That's a little epic for a throwaway sentence!"

Ok, I DO kind of feel bad for this jesus-dude...ok, yeah, I'm a bad person. Sigh.

Man, I don't do their disguises for the clothing catalogue (and to me suits are disguises), but I love the dress-trench coats they are wearing. Beautiful.

"Hello...freakish nightmare! What the hell is that?"
-I love the way Dean goes from flirty to freaked out in the span of a second.

I love Bobby all cleaned up...he looks so smooth.

"Agent Willis,"

"Agent - I wasn't expecting you, yet."

-Rufus! It's like a secret call went out that they should all wear trench coats.

"So?"

"So what?"

"Are we partnering on this or what? Come on man, it's not rocket surgery."

-So, my love for sayings is only matched by my love for people who mix up their sayings. For instance, one of my favourite things to say is: "We'll burn that bridge when we come to it." 

"Long as I get to drive."

"Hell no."

-I guess in the Rufus+Bobby team, Rufus was the Dean character. ;)

"It's something new."

"New? There's no such thing as new, Bobby."

-I love all things that expand the Supernatural universe. This does because it both expands our knowledge of the known-universe, and tells us that it's changing. Like - the idea that there is nothing new, that every monster they come across, even if they haven't come across it before, is OLD, that there is a way to kill them. And now we have new - khan worms and the other things that crawl out of purgatory...

You know you are doomed when the Winchesters are that happy. I mean, they are basically never that happy, so when they are, you know something is going to come out of left-field and punch them in their smiley faces. It's sad, but true.

I do love them greeting Rufus, though. Technically, the only time we've seen on the screen for the boys to hang out with Rufus in any meaningful way would have been during Good God Y'all (5.02), before the final scene where Sam and Dean part ways. Other than that, Dean just had that one conversation about Bella in S3, and that was kind of tense and unfriendly for the most part (in my memory, anyway). So, unless some stuff happened between then and now with Rufus that we haven't seen...it was during Good God Y'all that they bonded enough to greet him with smiley happy faces.

"Alright, we all pack a snack? Let's see what we can see."

- I like this line...it's like something you'd say to kindergarten children.

"Welcome to next time."

"No no! Hold on!"

"I said I'd kill him!"

"Just a second!"

- I love this - the fact that it's ONLY Sam that stops Dean from carrying through on his threat/promise. I always imagined that this would be what it'd be like if Dean ever took the time to track down Roy and Walt from S5's Dark Side of the Moon. Though, he may make them sweat a little first - may as well. I have a plan for a fanfic, if they never bring them up again (and Sam and Dean don't die in the series finale....probably I'm SOL there, but *shrug* that's what AUs are for.)

Rufus: "I take it you know him."

Dean: "He's our grandfather."

Rufus: "Oh, somebody needs a hug."

- A family drama, there's nothing quite like it. I love outsider-POV and we get that a little here through Rufus.

"You don't remember what he did, I do!"

"I know! I'm not saying don't, I'm saying not yet!"

- I love Sam and Dean. I like Sam here...I like that there IS this part of him still that sees the use of people. I also like that he can recognize when it's possible to win a battle with Dean and when it's not.

Bobby: "So, you're Samuel"

Samuel: "You must be the guy pretending to be their father."

Bobby: "Somebody ought to."

-Burn from Bobby. I love Bobby. I kind of wish he could have really gone to town on Samuel, like you know Bobby probably wanted to. I mean, he LOVES those boys as fiercely as any father would.

Samuel: "You don't know half the things that I know, kid."

-According to..something...S6 companion? It was Mitch's idea to call Bobby "kid", originally it was "old man" - which, yeah, doesn't make any sense given the timeline and speech. I love it.

Bobby: "I now know that you'd throw your own kin to hungry ghouls, I know enough."

Gwen: "What?"

-Oh Gwen, again, we get this weird fence-straggling thing...where there is a chance that Gwen could be good, but then, she's also been a bit of a douche before. 

I didn't record Gwen and Dean's final conversation, but it basically just reiterates that Gwen COULD have been on Dean and Sam's side. It's a shame she went out the way she did...a little under-developed, but with huge potential.

Bobby: "I'm sorry, if you care."

Samuel: "Screw you, I care."

-I don't know, I think it was a valid question from Bobby. But yeah, Gwen was the last of the Campbell cousins. Dean's prediction that Samuel's dealings were going to put him and everyone around him in the ground was SPOT ON, I'd say.

"We're going to find him alive, Samuel, or I'm going to put a bullet in your head."

-I love Protective!Sam.  

So, while they search for Dean - behind the scenes info: Everyone was sick accept Jared during the filming of this episode.

Dean: "What do you mean check my ear?"

*Rufus pokes him in the air*

Dean: "Why don't you buy me a drink first"

-I'll use these lines to talk about this, because they're funny. But again, Jensen does Dean's freak out about a giant worm coming out of his head very well. This season seems to be all about violating Dean...and I would like to point out that the "khan worm" is the first time in the entire series that Dean is EVER possessed.

Yeah, Hunters never disarm completely...but nice try Bobby.

Willy and Raj...are two of Bobby and Rufus' contacts. I really need to make a list of names that are mentioned (or in phones) that we don't know about. But, uh, I think I already have way too many timelines/catalogues/lists on the go.

"Well, we sit on our thumbs, or we go in guns blazing"

"Like Omaha?"

"You know what, screw you for bringing up Omaha, that's just low."

-Ooo, Omaha. I like how Hunters all have their sort of...well, Waterloo, for lack of a better word. Martin (the guy from 5.11 Sam, Interrupted) had Albuquerque, I think...and Bobby and Rufus have Omaha. 
-Anyway, this is our first mention of Omaha between these two. It's very interesting how we really only get two episodes to understand the Bobby+Rufus friendship: Weekend at Bobby's and this one. In Weekend and Bobby's, we see the friendship, and in this one, we see how the friendship fell apart (without details), but we also see how it began too...but I'll get to that.

Dean: "You fed us to Crowley."

Samuel: "True, but what am I going to do about it now. Do I blame you for trying to kill me? No, what I did was...but I'm not apologizing. I did what I did, I don't cry over spilled blood."

Sam: "So you really can just go on, like..."

Samuel: "Just because you're Dr. Jekyll at the moment doesn't you can get all high and mighty. Don't forget we spent a year together."

Sam: "Yeah, we did, we're blood, and you still sold me out."

-Again, I almost have sympathy for Samuel here - it's clear that at least PART of him has remorse and knows he royally fucked up...but I think, like Cas, it has become a pride issue. He won't admit that he got in over his head, that he got used, that he made bad choices. He won't ask for help, because that will be admitting that he was wrong. So, instead he'll be a jackass and push away the only family he has left. The only family that would have helped him for the SOLE reason that they were family - only, now Samuel has taught them that blood means nothing, so that ship has sailed.

Samuel:"Trust me, what I did pales in comparison to what you did, and on more than one occassion."

Sam: "Alright, tell me what I did."

Dean: "No, Sam, come on..." *stands between Samuel and Sam*

-I love how Dean physically puts himself between Sam and "memories" here. Protective!Sam and Protective!Dean in the same episode. Lovely :)

"So what's the plan?"

"We stick together, we gotta keep track of the monster, who it's in."

-I like how Bobby and Rufus were trying to come up with a plan, and they just ask Dean and he's like "THIS IS WHAT IS HAPPENING GRR!" Hahaha, for better or for worse, you gotta love that boys decisiveness.

Sam rescues Dean from the trip wire bomb. I love that addition to the episode. They didn't have to put it in, but it shows the heightened tension of everyone really well.

"Dean?"

"Sam!"

"I'm going to go around"

"Alright, watch yourself."

-I like how Dean's version of "yeah, I'm here" is "SAM!" Hahaha, Sam KNOWS Dean is just on the other side of that door, and Dean knows that Sam isn't in trouble because he says "Dean?" pretty calmly. Are there still those people counting the number of times Sam and Dean say each others names in each episode? Because I loved whoever did that for the first two seasons. It was amazing.

"Don't move!"

"Sam"

"Put the gun down!"

"Whatcha goin' to do, Son, you're not going to shoot me - you got your soul back. You'd shoot your own family?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't go with the family thing. Try again."

"Mary's still my daughter,"

"I said don't move!"

"you're still named after me"

"I said DON'T MOVE!"

- This is played brilliantly.

"Appears to be our moment, Sam. You still want to know about you're summer vacation? I'll tell you all about it. You're dying to know, huh"

"Yeah, I am"

"Well, then let's just put these down and talk."

"Stop"

"It's alright, Sam"

*bam*

- I'm actually indifferent about whether it was Sam or Dean that killed Samuel - but again, I'm just disappointed that Samuel really didn't get a chance to see what Sam was like with a soul. Even when they did talk in this episode, Sam was very cold (who wouldn't be). I just wanted to have that moment where you'd be able to see it in Samuel's eyes that he had an amazing grandson...but, I'm a Sam fan, and Samuel is a douche, so maybe it would have never happened.

Dean: "Sam! Sam"

*Bobby runs up to the front*

Bobby: "Oh Thank God."

-Man, I missed this the first time I watched the episode, but the look on Bobby's face...it's amazing. If there was any problems still lingering between Bobby and Sam by this point, they were long gone (and I think they were probably gone the minute that Sam got back from hunting the dragons and apologized to Bobby)...because the look of utter love and relief on Bobby's face is astounding. It's amazing how he's basically taken over the role of John Winchester so completely in terms of how much he loves the boys.

"It's me"

"Ok, that's great, Sam. I'm just going to cuff you until w're sure - you understand, right?"

"It's in him"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, yeah, I think."

"You see anything come out of him after he dropped?"

- I love how Sam goes from being 100% sure to suddenly doubting himself...suddenly thinking that there's a possibility he just dropped Samuel for no reason.

"Tell me you got something?"

"Nothing."

"What? So you mean he wasn't a monster when I ganked him."

-Again, just, Jared's a good actor. I love the emotions in this scene.

"One way to find out - Bobby, you got a cranial saw in the car?"

"'course."

-And I love Bobby.

"...and I want you and you...and ok, I want you and you to watch him and him...if anything crawls out of anybody somebody step on it!"

-And I love Rufus.

"You did the right thing, you know."

"You mean you think I did, if it's in him and not me. This thing's playing three card monty with us."

-No, I think Dean means you did the right thing regardless of whether the thing is in him or not.

"I don't know, I mean, I barely remember him - and what I do remember, it's not good. And what he did to us, but..."

"There's a but?"

"I mean, I can't help but think - what would mom say?"

"You know what I think mom would say? She's say just because you're blood, doesn't make you family - you gotta earn that."

-Yeah, I think she'd say that too. She's probably have trouble with ganking her own father, but it probably wouldn't be that much of an issue if she found out he fed her first born son to ghouls.
-I also think that Samuel could get away with that "not good" stuff because he was with Soulless!Sam. I have a feeling it was easier to remove doubt, when you had someone as cold as Soulless!Sam to compare your actions too.
-However, with this line, we do come back to our Family As Choice theme. And I approve. 

"You boys want to take a breather?"

"We're good."

"We're about to crack open your grandfather's grapefruit. Take a breather."

-People in Supernatural really like using the word "grapefruit" to mean head. I guess because of how grapefruits are coloured...I just, don't think I ever heard that used as much as I have since I started watching this show. 
-Got distracted there - what I meant to say was that I like the fact that Sam and Dean were just going to watch the debraining. I don't think they'd have a problem with it whatsoever.

"What is this, B, have you been dumpster diving again!"

"It still works."

-Ok, I just copied this out because I listened to it a couple of times, and it really does sound like Rufus calls him "B" here. Which, is adorable...unless I'm completely mishearing.

"It was my fault, Omaha"

"No, no,it wasn't"

"I should have listened to you."

"Well that's catagorical, Bobby."

"Just let me get this out."

"Bobby, we've had this conversation already, okay"

"No, we haven't, I never said I'm sorry, Rufus, you lost her because of me, and I-"

"I said we've had this conversation already. And you can blather all day and it wouldn't change a thing, Bobby. I will never forgive you for what happened, you got that? Never. So change the subject, Bobby."

-This is brilliantly acted by Steven Williams. I love the way you start seeing that his jokey happy attitude is actually a front that he puts on. It's an act to ease the way so that he can work with Bobby. It's a "let's pretend this is old times, so that I can get through it" - whatever happened in Omaha, I think it's what led Rufus to retire (as he was in S3) and become bitter. When he decided to go back on the road, it was probably easier just to slip into an old skin, rather than figure out how he was supposed to act now that everything was different.
-Also, we get only the slightest hint of what happened in Omaha...Rufus lost a female and it was Bobby's fault, because Bobby wanted to go in with guns blazing and it was a bad choice.
-Also, I'm with Dean...as much as I do have my own grudges that I hold. If the people involved actually expressed real sorry, I'd forgive them - because holding grudges hurts. It's not pleasant.

Fight scene!

"Alright, how about...check for goo, right?"

-I absolutely love all 4 hunters putting their fingers in their ears.

For a second I actually forgot that Rufus dies...wow...it always amuses me when that happens.

"Ok, I'm not a doctor, but I'm going to go ahead and call this one."

-Heheh.

"I've got a damn pacemaker"

"You better hope it's a good one."

"Since when do you have a pacemaker?"

"Since Bush Jr. term one. I'm down three toes, fyi."

-I love Rufus and Bobby...sigh.

Rufus' final words were "Bobby, my ass."

"Hey there, you little herpy"

"Why do you keep talking about herpes."

"I don't, shut-up. Shut-up!"

-I think Jared delivered that line brilliantly...like they don't have their closest family member tied to a chair with his life in danger...and instead he's just like "seriously, what is up with all these herpes references?"

Jim Beaver is so freakin creepy here.

"She has a message for you"

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"You're all going to die. She's pissed. She's here. And it's going to be nothing but pain for you from here on in."

-Sometimes I wonder if this message was for Samuel, who is still actively working for Crowley...other times, I think it's actually just what it is.

"How much more do you think he can take?"

"You can't kill me, not without taking him with me."

"Well, we'll just have to do what Bobby would want us to do."

-It's true. You might have a bit of leverage, Monster, but you don't have as much as you think.

Jared does a good job having Sam not being able to watch and then being absolutely frantic. Man, the amount of love in this episode is really touching, quite frankly. It really highlights the places where it is not *cough*Samuel*cough*.

"I gotta say, I never figured Rufus for the religious type."

"Well, he didn't exactly keep kosher. He always used to pull the ol' can't work on a sabbath card whenever we had to bury a body...."
-I love that at VanCon we actually got to witness Steven Williams finding out that Rufus was Jewish! Hahaha. And again, as a fan of diversity, I like the fact that Rufus was Jewish and they honoured that instead of doing his burial Hunter-style.

"...You know, I was just a job. I was Joe Mechanic. My wife got possessed, went nuts on me. I stabbed her, and that didn't stop her. Next thing I knew this guy comes busting in - soaks her with holy water and sends that demon straight to hell so fast. I would have gone away for killing her, but Rufus cleaned up everything. Taught me a thing or two about what's really out there - pretty soon we were riding together, worked like that for years, kinda like you two knuckleheads."
- Rufus was Bobby's White Knight. Which is kind of amazing, when you think about it. It actually makes sense, the joke I said earlier about Rufus being the "Dean" of the team. He would have been...the older more experienced Hunter who had the authority to tell Bobby what to do. 

"So what happened?"

"It was Omaha, it was my fault, and he never let it go."

"Well he should have."

"You don't know what I did, Dean?"

"It doesn't matter."

"What do you mean it doesn't -"

"I mean at the end of the day you two were family. Life's short. Ours are shorter than most. We going to spend it wringing our hands? Something's going to get us, eventually. And when my guts get ripped out, just so you two know, we're good. Blanket apology for all the crap that anybody's done, all the way around."

"Some of us pulled a lot of crap, Dean."

"Well, clean slate."

"Okay."

- I love that Dean does this. Because it's true...believing that to the end of days, you failed your White Knight and he'll never forgive you is pretty harsh. I don't think Dean would want Sam to feel like Dean hated him at all - no matter what he did. And it's true, Dean and Sam have had a LOT of falling outs, but Dean's never taken away his love (no matter how much Sam has feared that he would), the most Dean has done is take away his trust...which is still pretty brutal, but it's honest, and it's something that Sam could earn back. Feel free to disagree with me here.
-It's also quite the sweeping promise to make. Like I said before, there are grudges that I hold, because I can't forgive until someone actually has the balls to admit that they were wrong, that they messed up...if that never happens, well, I don't want them to have my forgiveness, even on my death bed (or theirs). Maybe it's not healthy, but it's just not something I'm capable of...so, it's quite mature and giving of Dean to tell Bobby and Sam this. Mind you, besides Stanford (which Sam shouldn't apologize for anyway) I don't think there's anything that's happened between Bobby, Sam, and Dean, that hasn't been apologized for. Once you get that sincere apology, you pretty much have to forgive...otherwise, you're just causing hurt to yourself and the other person for no reason...unless, maybe, it's some form of self-punishment. 

Anyway, kind of went into a tangent about forgiveness there...but hopefully that's ok.

So, now that we've wrapped up the Campbell arc, we'll start getting into Cas' downward spiral in the next episode! Fun times! See you then...