Rewatch S8: 8x09 Citizen Fang
Nov. 9th, 2013 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hells_half_acreOkay! Back at it after a week away...
We're finally coming to the end of the OC!Sam storyline, so in that respect, I'm pretty happy - but we still need to get there...
We start off in Caranco, with Benny at the Gumbo shack. The actress playing Elizabeth was one of the moms in The Kids Are Alright, back in S3. She must be a local actress. I like her.
I do love Benny's voice.
Old dude: "You got designs?"
Benny: "Nah, she's more like a little sister to me, you know?"
- I guess "little sister" is more easily understood then, "she's like a great granddaughter to me, you know?"
Old dude: "So you don't mind if I take a shot?"
Benny: "She's all yours, chief."
- I like the look that Benny gives him like - just, completely amused. I also like the fact that the old dude has so much self-confidence that he thinks he has a chance.
And Martin's there too... dun dun dun...
And the old dude is dead - but surprisingly, it was a knife sound we heard in the woods, I thought. Which I think was Benny trying to take off Desmond's head, possibly, and failing? It sounded like a knife sound to me, anyway. (PS: The name Desmond always reminds me of that Beatles song - Obladee Obladaa...or however you spell it.)
To the boys!
Sam: "Yeah, and you're certain? You're sure? Okay, great, just hang tight until you hear from me, okay? No, listen to me, I said hang tight!"
- Foreshadowing that Martin isn't going to do as he's told.
Oh yeah, this was the episode that they filmed after the famous Toronto Con hotel room wrestling match! Wherein Misha ended up with a hurt elbow and couldn't lift his kids for a few weeks, and Jensen ended up with rug burn across most of his forehead... and make-up can't cover everything. Oh boys... you know, I could write a whole essay here about the sexualization of affectionate touch in American society and how it leads to guys doing things like...well, getting into wrestling matches with each other because they've basically been led to believe that it's the only socially acceptable way to touch each other - so it becomes a really really violent form of affection... but I will refrain, because this is supposed to be about the show, not about how western men are all touch-starved oddly-violent crazy people... and also, I think there's such a thing as pathologizing people too much.
Sam: "We got a vamp kill, Dean - Carancro, Louisianna"
- I think part of this is Sam testing how much Dean is in contact with Benny - whether he knows where Benny is.
Dean: "Crazy Martin from the looney bin?"
Sam: "Glendale Springs discharged him last month."
- Try to be a little more insulting there, Dean, you ARE talking to your brother who was crazy just a year and a half to two years ago.
Sam: "Look, he called me when he got out, okay, asked if I got anything for him that might ease him back into the game. He seemed okay, mostly, so I said yes. I've had him tracking Benny for the past week."
Dean: "You put 'mostly okay' Martin on Benny. What is 'mostly okay' doing hunting at all?"
Sam: "Not hunting, Dean, tracking. Observe and report only, I was crystal clear on that."
- I think Sam and Dean have a different definition of what is safe for Martin to do. I can understand Sam's reasoning - give Martin a tracking job, one where he's tracking a supposedly non-violent, non-threatening, monster... something that isn't currently doing any damage, but might. Dean, meanwhile, knows what Benny is capable of (to defend himself) and also knows that 'mostly okay' doesn't mean 'makes good decisions.'
- The problem, as Dean sees it, is that mentally ill people can't necessarily be trusted. That sounds really horrible when I just write it like that, but let me explain - you can trust them to have good intentions, to want to do the right thing, but you can't trust that they're always going to have their head in the game - you can't trust them to be reliable when it comes to their decisions or reactions to things. On a good day, they could be your rock in a storm, but on a bad day, they could be the storm.
- Again, we have Sam suggesting that he had to be EMPHATIC about what Martin was and wasn't allowed to do - another warning sign that Martin perhaps didn't like the sound of following Sam's orders.
Dean: "Wow, I can't believe that."
Sam: "Really, Dean? You don't believe that? Because Benny's a vampire, and any hunter worth his salt isn't just going to let him walk around freely, so I had Martin keep tabs on him, and right now it's looking like I made the right call."
- The Winchesters are having two different conversations here - Dean can't believe that Sam thought it was safe (for Martin) to send him to track Benny down, and he also can't believe that Sam doesn't TRUST him when it comes to Benny. Sam, meanwhile, can't believe that Dean just let Benny go out into the world without keeping tabs on him.
- That being said, I still maintain that this is out of character for Sam. Sam has ALWAYS been willing to give people/monsters the benefit of the doubt. He let Lenore go - and according to Lenore, she only went back to killing because of Eve... and he let Amy go, though later conceeded that maybe Dean was right to kill her. So, has he just come around finally to Dean's POV, just in time for Dean to swing around to his? Or is it a matter of Sam not trusting DEAN - Dean didn't tell him about Benny, maybe Sam thinks there was a reason? Maybe Dean doesn't want to admit that Benny can't be trusted...
You know, it would have actually been a more believable route to have SAM be the one that was hiding a vampire friend. Yes, I know that they needed to write Dean a way out of purgatory and Benny's knowledge of purgatory is needed later... but think about it for a moment? What if Amelia had been the vampire? One rogue vampire trying to live off animal blood, so she became a vet? She helps Sam out, because she's the only one that understands what it's like to be a freak and to have everyone you love die... of course, the fans (and myself) would have hated that storyline because it'd be a rehashing of Amy/Ruby with Sam once again falling for the femme fatale.... but at least it would have been in-f*cking-character!!
Dean: "So Martin's saying Benny did this?"
Sam: "Yeah"
Dean: "Okay."
Sam: "Okay?"
Dean: "If Benny's in Louisiana draining folks, we should look into it."
- I really do think this is all a test of Dean for Sam - all a test for Dean AND Benny... so that Sam can understand what's going on with his brother and whether or not Dean can be trusted when he claims that Benny can be trusted... and I think Dean DOES give the right response to this test. I think Dean actually acts correctly throughout this entire episode UP UNTIL he sends that text to Sam and tricks him.
Dean: "Does this sound like the Benny you know?"
Sam: "I don't know Benny"
- These lines hurt. Because Dean is treating Sam like Sam is an extension of himself, but meanwhile, Sam is just reminded that Dean kept secrets from him, that Sam DOESN'T know Benny. Not at all.
Martin: "The Benny you know? Say what? Why do I get the distinct impression that your brother is vouching for a vampire?"
Sam: "Guys, let's not argue."
Dean: "Nobody's arguing, but if this is Benny, and that's a big if."
Martin: "Oh it's him."
Dean: "I got history with the guy, okay? I'm not signing up for a witch-hunt, I owe him more than that."
Martin: "What in God's great creation could a Winchester possibly owe a vampire? Am I hearing this right?"
Dean: "Look, until we get the facts, we stow the blood-lust and we work this case right, or we work it separately."
- Dean's use of the word "blood-lust" reminds me that this is actually Supernatural's FIRST vampire-themed episode that does not have "blood" in the title.
- Also, I really like the way the actor playing Martin played Martin. You can tell that he's just full of manic energy - he can't stand still, he can't have a reasonable measured conversation. The problem is that Sam sent him to track a vampire, and he's been doing it for a week...and he's had a whole week to build this hunt up in his mind, to fill up with adrenaline and energy and potential scenarios. Basically, he's had an entire week to psyche himself up for a vampire hunt and now Dean is trying to get him to be calm and to think things through thoroughly - but Martin's in fight or flight mode, he's all adrenaline and snap decisions.
Dean: "I just need some time, Sammy."
Martin: "Oh yeah, let the fang take another life, I don't think so."
Sam: "How much time do you need?"
Martin: "You're not actually considering this-"
Dean: "A couple hours, tops."
Martin: "And what if it turns out to be Benny?"
Dean: "Then it's Benny and I'll deal with it!"
Sam: "Couple hours, Dean, no more."
Dean: "I'll be in touch."
- I also love how Sam and Dean basically just ignore Martin, and when Dean finally does address him, it's to yell at him to basically shut-up because Dean knows what he's doing.
Martin: "You're joking, right? We're doing this as soon as he pulls away."
Sam: "No, we're not, Martin. We're going to give him a little bit of time."
Martin: "Hey, it's your brother, it's your call. I don't know how he can go on like this, it's staring him right in the face!"
Sam: "Yeah, well sometimes it's not easy to see things for what they are."
- With a flashback cue like this, and an episode with "crazy Martin" in it, it would have been SO EASY to have Amelia be a product of Sam's PTSD imagination... so easy for the flashback to be his carefully crafted dream world starting to crumble and reality beginning to shine through the cracks. AND YET THEY DIDN'T DO IT! Uuuuuuuuuugh.
FLASHBACK FOR SAM
"Look I'm sure you've got a lot of people telling you what the right thing to do is here-"
"Sam-"
"He's your husband, Amelia. But I don't, I don't want to do the right thing - I mean, this is the right thing, you and me. And maybe I'm going to hell for saying this, but I'm not ready to give this up."
"Neither am I."
- I feel for Sam, I do. This is Sam being selfish and knowing it - I think his last "selfish" act was to go to college.
- "maybe I'm going to hell" isn't really much of a consequence when it comes to the Winchesters, I don't think... "maybe I'm going to hell, but it's okay, I've been there before, I can deal."
Amelia: "Would it bother you if I just took a few days to clear my head?"
Sam: "Ah, of course, take whatever time you need."
- And I think here is where Sam starts to realize that things might not go the way he wants, even if he does give up his martyr act and try to fight for what he wants. I think what Sam was looking for was Amelia immediately jumping on the bandwagon and declaring that she'd never leave him, but instead, she's honest and tells him that she needs time to come to a desicion - and that decision might not be him.
END FLASHBACK
Dean: "Yeah, he putts around in a beat up camper - thing looks like a rolling death trap."
Elizabeth: "Yeah, haha! I thought I was the only one who gave him trouble over that piece of junk."
- I like this exchange, because it's basically Elizabeth saying "I thought I was the only one who cared for him" and Dean recognizing that - them recognizing that they're both in Benny's corner.
Dean: "Um, listen, I tell you what - if he pops up before I can find him. Do me a favour, just have him give me a buzz, or you could just drop a dime yourself."
Elizabeth: "Sure thing, Dean."
- Oh Dean... do you not see the family resemblance...or perhaps you do. ;)
- Unrelated to anything: "drop a dime" is one of the reasons I find English kind of fascinating. We haven't used dimes to make phone calls in years, yet it's still the idiom for calling someone. We don't even really have payphones anymore - yet people are expected to understand what "drop a dime" means. It's stuff like that that makes English really hard to learn.
Benny with another body... oh dear...
Benny: "It's not me, Dean."
Dean: "And which me are we talking about, Benny or Roy?"
Benny: "I'm just trying to blend in."
Dean: "Blend in? Who'd you plant, Benny?"
Benny: "Victim number two. You're concerned about the missed calls. I didn't want to get you involved. Now, you want to safety that thing, talk a bit, or what?"
Dean: "I'm all ears."
- I love the fact that Dean is just standing there with his hands behind his back... like, yeah, that's not suspicious at all. I also like the way this scene kind of mirrors Dean and Benny's first meeting, where they are kind of circling each other again (though not literally) trying to figure out just how much they can trust each other.
Benny: "... he remembers me from the good ol' days."
Dean: "The good old days?"
Benny: "I know it's hard to believe, but I haven't always been this cute and cuddly."
- I just love that last line of Benny's, because he IS cute and cuddly. Awww.
Benny: "No amateur is going to kick me out of my hometown, not this time!"
Dean: "Hometown? You grew up here?"
Benny: "Born and bred. With Andrea gone, and you out hunting again, it seemed like the right time for a homecoming. You two being the only ones that keep all my ducks in a row. Went back to my old job at the cafe. I even found someone to hold myself accountable to. Best kind of someone, Dean. Family."
- It's interesting that Benny needs someone/something to keep him in line. Before he died, he had Andrea, when he came back, he had the revenge quest and Dean... but with Dean not around so much, he had to find someone new - and it can't just be himself.
Dean: "Elizabeth."
Benny: "My great-granddaughter."
Dean: "Really?"
Benny: "Now hold it now, you didn't-"
Dean: "No, no - does she know?"
- Hehehe, awkward.
Benny: "No, as far as she's concerned I'm just another drifter. I'd like to keep it that way. It's been tough, walking the line here, with all those years of purgatory not having to deal with the hunger. But Elizabeth, she keeps me honest, I finally feel like I got a handle on this thing."
- I'd like to point out that Benny wasn't hungry in Purgatory. In my headcanon, and I fully believe CANON, there's no need to eat in purgatory (or sleep, but that's not confirmed - and actually, the way Supernatural has written the soul before, it suggests that sleeping is a soul-activity, which means it should occur everywhere the soul is). A lot of fics will have Dean eating animals or something in purgatory, but um, did you SEE any animals? Why would there be animals in purgatory? Those fics kind of drive me nuts a little bit.
Dean: "A handle on it. Benny, you got two stiffs on your hands and two hunters on your ass."
Benny: "Oh please, that half-wit that found me at the cafe. I'll take my chances with-"
Dean: "That half-wit was sent by my brother and trust me, my brother is not someone you want to mess with."
- I do love that Dean recognizes that Sam is a badass. That Sam will fuck people up. Sam and Dean are basically the top tier of hunters at the moment, whether the other hunters know it or not... Dean knows exactly what Sam's capable of.
Dean: "Vampires pick prey off at the edge of town. Not in the cafe's they work in with their great grand kids. In fact killing any human, it's not his style."
...
Sam: "Listen, Dean, we came here on a dead body. You asked for some time and now there's aother dead body, are we just going on trust here?"
Dean: "Yes."
- Dean is being COMPLETELY honest with Sam, which is the smartest thing to do - but unfortunately, the damage has already been done when Dean didn't tell him about Benny before. Sam still doesn't know what to believe... and that's a huge problem when it comes to asking him to back down solely on trust. It's Sam whose not sure he can trust Dean.
Sam: "Okay, because we've killed for a lot less, and you know how these things turn out for us."
Dean: "Yes, I do, too well. In fact every relationship I've ever had has gone to crap at some point, but the one thing I can say about Benny - he has never let me down."
Sam: "Well good on you, Dean. Must feel great finally finding someone you can trust after all these years."
- And here's where Dean makes a mistake. He doesn't know, at this point, where Sam's mind is at - where Sam's self-esteem is at. Dean just means that Benny hasn't given him a reason not to trust him, but all Sam hear's is what Dean said under the influence of the spectre - that Benny is a better brother than Sam, that Sam's 30 years of service by Dean's side doesn't mean anything, because his mistakes have been too many, too unforgivable. Sam only hears that SAM has once again not made the cut in the "people Dean trusts" list.
- I also really like the fact that Dean uses the word "relationship" here - the very all encompasing word that could mean friendship, familial relationship, or romantic relationship.
Dean: "All I'm saying is that Benny is innocent."
Sam: "No, you're too close to this."
- Dean, I think, might know that he made a mistake with his wording - but he's sticking to the point here and trying not to get sidetracked by family-drama... but I think in this case, it might have been better if he had - if he had thrown out a "I didn't mean it that way. Of course I trust you."
- Sam is also making a good point though, and it's the same one Dean made to him back in S7 during the Amy fiasco - Sam was too close to her, Dean was objective, therefore Dean made the call. Sam is applying the same standards - Dean is too close to Benny, he can't be objective, therefore Sam needs to make the call. It's not necessarily that Sam has decided that Benny has to die, it's simply that Sam has decided that HE needs to investigate it while Dean sits out.
Dean: "You're not going to find him, and if you do, I'll tell you this, you'd be lucky to get out alive." *turns to Martin* "And you, you go with him? You're a dead man, period."
- I love this line of Dean's, because it tells us just how many things Dean is trying to juggle here - just how many people he's trying to protect. He's trying to protect Benny from Sam, yes, but he's also trying to protect Sam from Benny. Dean fought alongside Benny in purgatory for close to a year - he knows how skilled Benny is. Sam might be a badass, but that doesn't mean he's invincible, and he and Benny could be well matched in a fight and just end up killing each other. Martin, of course, is no match for Benny at all.
Sam: "These are innocent lives we're talking Dean, and you're willing to risk them on Benny's word alone."
Dean: "Damn right, I am"
*Martin punches Dean out*
- I think, had Martin not punched Dean out, that Sam would have capitulated - because the fact that Dean was willing to risk innocent people on Benny's word alone MEANS A LOT, and Sam knows it. Instead though, Martin knocks Dean out and Sam really has no choice but to go with Plan A - keep Martin in check and investigate the case himself, while Dean sits out on the sidelines because he's potentially compromised.
Martin: "I'm glad your dad wasn't around to hear that. He'd have a mind to take you both out to the woodshed and show you what's what. I'm half inclined to do it myself."
Sam: "You listen to me, I brought you into this, I can bring you out, just as easy - so the only thing that you're going to be inclined to do is shut-up and follow my lead."
- For the record, I don't think that Martin is saying that John actually used to take the boys out to the woodshed to show them what's what - I think he's implying that's what his OWN father would do, and that he believes it's normal parenting behaviour. I say this, mainly because I don't actually think that John was physically abusive, nor resorted to corperal punishment... and I also think that Martin is the more likely candidate for having been abused as a child (or being the recipient of corperal punishment as a child - given his generation.)
- That being said, don't EVER bring up John Winchester in front of Sam and Dean, especially if you are claiming to know how he would feel about their behaviour. :P
- Also, Sam is huge, and if I were Martin I would listen to him and shut my trap. "I brought you into this, I can bring you out"...because, um, how's same going to bring him out? Again though, we see Sam having to forcibly get Martin to stand down.
Martin: "I'm just saying, your brother chooses a vampire over a brother - I'd know how I'd feel."
- Not helping, Martin! That wasn't what Dean did at all. He wasn't leaving Sam for Benny, nor did he attack Sam on Benny's behalf - he was trying to explain the situation so that they could go after the REAL threat. But Sam's got such weird self-esteem problems when it comes to Dean, that he's just going to hear what Martin says and believe it.
- As a lead in to the flashback though, this is an interesting choice - because it's about someone Sam loves CHOOSING someone over him, which is very apropos to what caused Sam to leave Amelia - because it WAS Sam who did the leaving.
SAM FLASHBACK
Don: "You are Sam, right? Relax I ain't here to fight."
Sam: "I heard about what happened to you - rough deal."
Don: "Yeah, well, I appreciate that. We got outselves a situation here now though, don't we?"
Sam: "Yes, we do."
- What happened to Don?! My headcanon is that he was captured and presumed dead, and then he was actually a POW, and they tortured him and crap - and then he was rescued.
- Sam's "rough deal" seems oddly insufficient - but then, Sam was locked in a cage with Michael and Lucifer for 18 months/180 years/who-knows-how-long, so really anything that happens to people in the real world probably looks a little like a stubbed toe to him. :P
Don: "I know part of her loved me and now part of her loves you. But the only one who knows what's best for Amelia is Amelia, so when all is said and done and she makes her decision, I'll respect it. And if you truly love her, you'll do the same."
- So, I know I was complaining about Don and Amelia's shitty relationship before, but this is actually a decent thing for Don to say - and I think Sam recognizes that. I think Sam realizes here that Don is a decent guy, and Sam, being Sam, can't really say the same for himself - case in point, he just that morning told a woman that he wanted to steal her away from her husband. Sam's the other man, whether he did it intentionally in the beginning doesn't matter, because he's doing it intentionally now.... and Sam's moral standards won't tolerate that for long, no matter how selfish that he wants to be.
END FLASHBACK
Dean is cuffed to the radiator - Sam's kindly taken off his coat (probably to remove cell and lockpicks from his person), but that's no match for Dean, who has still found a way.
Benny: "What'd they say?"
Dean: "They didn't go for it. I'd get scarce."
Benny: "No offense Dean, but your little brother doesn't exactly put chills up my spine."
Dean: "Benny, listen to me, do not underestimate my little brother, he can and will kill you given the chance."
- Again, Dean's trying to keep everyone alive - Benny is formidable, and knows it, the fact that he isn't afraid of Sam speaks a lot for his skill level. Meanwhile, Dean knows Sam's skill level too.
Benny: "Dean, it's my fight - are you in, or are you out?"
- Again, a call-back to their first meeting.
Sam gets a text that seems to be from Amelia - "Sam, I need your help, come quick." So, he gets in the car and goes - leaving Martin alone in the bayou. :P
Martin: "Sam? Sam! SAM! SAAAAM!! Winchesters, man."
- And you gotta laugh at the fact that basically, the Winchesters are known to be just as unpredictable as any mental patient. They're ruled by their emotions, really, when it comes right down to it.
- Yes, it was horrible of Sam to leave Martin alone in the middle of the woods. Yes, it wasn't very professional... and I know a lot of people have issues with the fact that he did it. At the same time though, I think he figured that Martin would have a long walk into town - maybe calm down, or uncuff Dean (if Dean hadn't uncuffed himself already, which I think Sam figured he would sooner rather than later). Sam knew that Dean would take care of the vamp one way or the other - even if Sam didn't completely trust him on Benny. I also think that the only thing going through Sam's mind at that moment was that his life had caught up to Amelia - that he'd arrive to find her burning on the ceiling - or worse.
Dean: "You're not going to talk a lot, are you? I have been dealing with crazy all day."
- I like this line that Dean gives Desmond, mainly, because I know exactly how "crazy-fatigue" feels. And yes, that makes me sound horribly insensitive, I apologize for being honest.
*Benny stares longingly at Dean's bloody neck*
Dean: "You okay?"
Benny *though closed lips*: "I'm fine."
- They did this scene very well. I like how Benny doesn't show us his teeth. Also, there's something inherently very sexual about vampire hunger - I mean, I'm pretty sure that's the whole appeal of the vampire-trope... and I kind of like the kinky nature of Benny basically lusting after Dean, if only for hisbodily fluids blood.
Benny: "My life here is over, isn't it?"
Dean:"'fraid so. Once word gets out..."
- And I think this is another reason why Dean was so pissed at Sam about letting Martin know about Benny. Martin can't be trusted to keep his mouth shut, so that one act of mistrust on Sam's part could bring the entire hunting world down on Benny.
Dean: "Guys like us, we don't get a home. We don't get family."
Benny: "You got Sam."
Dean: "Yeah. Benny you gotta go deep underground [...]"
- I think Dean kind of misses what Benny's saying here, or he just doesn't know how to address it - because Dean is lumping him and Benny together, but what Benny's saying back is that Dean isn't actually like him - Dean DOES get to have family, Benny doesn't. And the fact of the matter is that wherever Sam is, that's Dean's home. So, Dean does get a home, he does get family - it's only Benny who, because of who he is, is denied even the basic comforts of life.
Sam, driving like a maniac, has another flashback...
SAM FLASHBACK
Amelia: "What are you doing?"
Sam: "I'm leaving."
Amelia: "What? Don found you at the bar, he threatened you."
- Again, I know I just said that what Don said was a decent thing to say - but when your wife's first reaction is to believe that you THREATENED someone, um, that's not a good sign.
Sam: "Amelia, no, he didn't threaten me. I'm just trying to do the right thing here."
Amelia: "The right thing? This morning you and I were the right thing, remember?"
Sam: "I know you and Don deserve a chance, okay, and I think you know that too. Just give him a chance, like you gave me. I mean, Amelia, you saved me."
- WHY DIDN'T WE SEE HER SAVING YOU!!
- *cough* I mean - this is basically Sam pulling the old "you can't break up with me, because I'm breaking up with you!" move. Don's a decent guy. Don's Amelia's husband. Amelia hasn't made up her mind, which means there's a possibility that she won't choose Sam...and given the previously mentioned facts about Don, odds are that Amelia will choose Don - that she probably has already chosen Don and just not admitted it ('because who would choose poor broken Sam?' Sam wonders)...so really, it's better to be the one to walk away and feel like you've been the bigger person, rather than be the pathetic loser that gets kicked to the curb.
END FLASHBACK.
Dean: "Time to go, buddy."
Benny: "Thanks for not giving up on me, brother."
Dean: "Don't give me a reason to."
- And this is the thing with Dean, he's loyal to a fault... as long as you don't give him a reason, he will NEVER give up on you...and even if you do give him a reason *cough*Cas*cough*, he will eventually forgive you, if you apologize.
Martin: "Hey Dean"
Dean: "Look, I'm just telling you know that the situation is resolved [...]"
Martin: "Oh, that's good, Dean."
Dean: "Shut-up and listen to me, Benny's long gone, and he won't be coming back ever again - so for your own sake, don't follow him. Are we clear?"
Martin: "You don't have to worry about me, Dean, I'm long gone too."
Dean: "Oh, and Martin, find a new line of work."
- I like how as soon as Martin answers the phone, the creepy voice is in place - and you just KNOW that nothing good will come of this.
- I also like Martin telling Dean that he's "long gone too." Does he mean that he's long gone when it comes to the Winchesters? Never to work with them again? Or does he say that so that Dean thinks he's left town? Or does he say that because he knows that he's long gone mentally, has been for a while, no matter what Glendale Springs says or the fact that he can pass for 'mostly okay'...
Benny: "You leave her alone. Now."
Martin: "How far away are you?"
Benny: "An hour."
Martin: "You got forty-five minutes."
- Creepy Martin is creepy. But what this episode comes down to, besides trust and brother issues, is the question of: who are the bad guys? Who are the monsters? It's an old theme in Supernatural and one that they're continually exploring. Sam and Dean are by virtue of being hunters, just as outside society and sociopathic as the monsters that they hunt... Dean lumps him and Benny together and says "guys like us", but Benny points out that no, Dean isn't like him, Dean gets to have family, he gets to have a home... Benny doesn't. Dean can stop being a hunter any time he chooses, but Benny can't stop being a vampire. And here, we see a hunter threatening an innocent human in order to lure Benny, who has done nothing, to his death...so who is the monster?
Martin: "Lay down your arms you unholy thing!"
Benny: "You got me here now, why don't you just let her go and walk away."
Martin: "I don't think so."
Benny: "You realize that I'm not asking."
Martin: "I realize that completely."
- Benny makes it clear to Martin what's going to happen here. He's going to kill him, and I have to wonder whether Martin understands that like he claims he does.
Benny: "Please, I'm asking you, do not do this, the bad guy is gone, okay?"
Martin: "She doesn't know, Benny."
Elizabeth: "Roy, who's Benny?"
Martin: "Who's Benny? Let's find out shall we? [...] Tell her he won't feed off his own flesh and blood."
Elizabeth: "Flesh and blood?"
[...]
Martin: "...tell her about the monster that you are!"
- It's interesting that it's at the lines where Martin flat out calls him a monster that Benny is able to control his bloodlust. I think Benny's drive, more than anything, is to be human. So he makes himself the friend/partner of a human that he cares for, whether by act or by blood, and then through sheer will of not appearing as a monster in front of them is able to resist the cravings. Just because he's a vampire, doesn't mean he's a monster, and that's fundamentally what Benny wants to convince himself of.
Benny: "What do you want?"
Martin: "Isn't it obvious, I want your head on a stake."
*Benny lies his head on the counter*
Elizabeth: "Roy, no..."
Benny: "I'm sorry."
- I don't think Benny ever intended to allow Martin to kill him. He needed to get Martin to get away from Elizabeth, to come out from behind her and get the knife away from her neck... and so he laid himself out, passively, AWAY from her, in order to accomplish just that. As soon as Martin came to actually do the deed, that's when Benny struck - because he'd been in Purgatory for 50 years, and Dean was right - Martin was dead as soon as he made that phone call.
Sam...creeping on Amelia's windows...seeing her happy with Don.
Elizabeth: "Dean - you told me to call if I saw him."
Dean: "What? Roy? Elizabeth, is he there? Is he there right now?"
Benny: "Just come."
- I wonder what's going through Dean's mind - does he need to protect Benny from Martin? No. Is he worried Sam didn't leave town? Judging from the fact that he was already on the highway, I'm guessing he knew damn well his subterfuge would work... Is he worried that Benny's gone off the straight and narrow? Why now?
I also really like how Dean gives Elizabeth his handkerchief before he walks in - how he presses it to her throat and she leans into the contact. It's actually a really beautiful silent moment.
And Martin is dead. I think with the bloody knife nearby and the clear slit through his throat - that Benny didn't actually vamp kill him, but just straight-up killed him. That being said, it's REALLY hard to tell.
And Sam figures out where the text actually came from...
Dean: "Sammy?"
Sam: "Sam, I need your help, come quick. Nice one. Swapping Amelia's phone out with a burner, sending a distress signal. You got me good. When'd you do that?"
Dean: "A while back, in case I needed it. Looks like I made the right call. So'd you see her?"
- And I think THIS is actually the ultimate dig at Sam's self-esteem, and also what incites his anger. There are two reasons for Sam to be really pissed here, 1)Dean uses his fear that something will happen to his loved ones against him, 2)Dean set up the trick "a while back, in case [he] needed it." Meaning that Dean foresaw that there might be a time when he needed to manipulate Sam into leaving - why would he need to do that? Because he didn't trust Sam. Oh, and there's also the 3rd reason, which is the fact that Dean forced him to reopen the Amelia wound.
Sam: "Yeah, yeah, I did. She's doing just fine, but of course you know that."
Dean: "Actually, I didn't. I did know that it was the only way to get you to lay off."
Sam: "Heh. So? Is it done?"
- I don't think Dean actually realizes the pain he just caused Sam either. He just figures, and how could he, when Sam hasn't told him anything about her or what happened? He just figured Sam shacked up with a girl for a while and then left, so having him drop by is no big deal... though, Dean must know how hard Sam usually falls for girls... so maybe he DOES know exactly what he did, but figures that it's justified given that he did it to keep Sam (and Benny) safe.
Dean: "Yeah, it's done."
Sam: "Any casualities?"
Dean: "Martin."
*Sam cringes*
- I think Sam knows that Martin is just as much his fault as Dean's, perhaps he feels it's more so, because Sam DID leave him in that forest - whether or not the text was fake, Sam's decision that Amelia was more important than Martin means that something happened to Martin. Also, Sam put him on Benny's case in the first place.
Sam: "Was it Benny?"
Dean: "He had it coming, Sam, I'll tell you what happened."
Sam: "I know what happened, Dean!"
Dean: "You going to listen to me or not?"
*Sam hangs up*
- Again, Dean is trying to be completely honest - Martin WAS the bad guy in this scenario, and Dean knows that Sam will see that if he hears what happened. Sam, though, is just too pissed about everything - mad at Dean for the not being honest from the get-go when he got back, for the subterfuge that evening with the text, for STILL siding with a vampire even when it killed someone they knew.
- I do like the fact though that Sam just hangs up. It's very Sam. When Sam gets REALLY REALLY angry, he always chooses to walk away to calm down... rather than hitting him, which I'm sure is what Sam wants to do. Dean hits. Sam walks away... and you can't really argue which option is better. Dean comes off looking abusive and Sam comes off looking like he's always one fight away from abandoning Dean forever.
Amelia: "I knew that was you."
- Oh yeah, did I mention that Show really pissed me off this episode with making Amelia real. If Sam had discovered that Amelia hadn't been real, if his dreamworld had been a literal dreamworld, then Dean sending him that text wouldn't have worked. Sam wouldn't have had anyone to look at through those windows, because the house would have been empty... and Amelia definitely wouldn't have walked up to him in the bar.
- This moment is also kind of ridiculous for what happens next episode...but I'll get to that.
Yay! I might try to do another one of these tomorrow, we'll see... if not tomorrow, then on Wednesday.
We're finally coming to the end of the OC!Sam storyline, so in that respect, I'm pretty happy - but we still need to get there...
We start off in Caranco, with Benny at the Gumbo shack. The actress playing Elizabeth was one of the moms in The Kids Are Alright, back in S3. She must be a local actress. I like her.
I do love Benny's voice.
Old dude: "You got designs?"
Benny: "Nah, she's more like a little sister to me, you know?"
- I guess "little sister" is more easily understood then, "she's like a great granddaughter to me, you know?"
Old dude: "So you don't mind if I take a shot?"
Benny: "She's all yours, chief."
- I like the look that Benny gives him like - just, completely amused. I also like the fact that the old dude has so much self-confidence that he thinks he has a chance.
And Martin's there too... dun dun dun...
And the old dude is dead - but surprisingly, it was a knife sound we heard in the woods, I thought. Which I think was Benny trying to take off Desmond's head, possibly, and failing? It sounded like a knife sound to me, anyway. (PS: The name Desmond always reminds me of that Beatles song - Obladee Obladaa...or however you spell it.)
To the boys!
Sam: "Yeah, and you're certain? You're sure? Okay, great, just hang tight until you hear from me, okay? No, listen to me, I said hang tight!"
- Foreshadowing that Martin isn't going to do as he's told.
Oh yeah, this was the episode that they filmed after the famous Toronto Con hotel room wrestling match! Wherein Misha ended up with a hurt elbow and couldn't lift his kids for a few weeks, and Jensen ended up with rug burn across most of his forehead... and make-up can't cover everything. Oh boys... you know, I could write a whole essay here about the sexualization of affectionate touch in American society and how it leads to guys doing things like...well, getting into wrestling matches with each other because they've basically been led to believe that it's the only socially acceptable way to touch each other - so it becomes a really really violent form of affection... but I will refrain, because this is supposed to be about the show, not about how western men are all touch-starved oddly-violent crazy people... and also, I think there's such a thing as pathologizing people too much.
Sam: "We got a vamp kill, Dean - Carancro, Louisianna"
- I think part of this is Sam testing how much Dean is in contact with Benny - whether he knows where Benny is.
Dean: "Crazy Martin from the looney bin?"
Sam: "Glendale Springs discharged him last month."
- Try to be a little more insulting there, Dean, you ARE talking to your brother who was crazy just a year and a half to two years ago.
Sam: "Look, he called me when he got out, okay, asked if I got anything for him that might ease him back into the game. He seemed okay, mostly, so I said yes. I've had him tracking Benny for the past week."
Dean: "You put 'mostly okay' Martin on Benny. What is 'mostly okay' doing hunting at all?"
Sam: "Not hunting, Dean, tracking. Observe and report only, I was crystal clear on that."
- I think Sam and Dean have a different definition of what is safe for Martin to do. I can understand Sam's reasoning - give Martin a tracking job, one where he's tracking a supposedly non-violent, non-threatening, monster... something that isn't currently doing any damage, but might. Dean, meanwhile, knows what Benny is capable of (to defend himself) and also knows that 'mostly okay' doesn't mean 'makes good decisions.'
- The problem, as Dean sees it, is that mentally ill people can't necessarily be trusted. That sounds really horrible when I just write it like that, but let me explain - you can trust them to have good intentions, to want to do the right thing, but you can't trust that they're always going to have their head in the game - you can't trust them to be reliable when it comes to their decisions or reactions to things. On a good day, they could be your rock in a storm, but on a bad day, they could be the storm.
- Again, we have Sam suggesting that he had to be EMPHATIC about what Martin was and wasn't allowed to do - another warning sign that Martin perhaps didn't like the sound of following Sam's orders.
Dean: "Wow, I can't believe that."
Sam: "Really, Dean? You don't believe that? Because Benny's a vampire, and any hunter worth his salt isn't just going to let him walk around freely, so I had Martin keep tabs on him, and right now it's looking like I made the right call."
- The Winchesters are having two different conversations here - Dean can't believe that Sam thought it was safe (for Martin) to send him to track Benny down, and he also can't believe that Sam doesn't TRUST him when it comes to Benny. Sam, meanwhile, can't believe that Dean just let Benny go out into the world without keeping tabs on him.
- That being said, I still maintain that this is out of character for Sam. Sam has ALWAYS been willing to give people/monsters the benefit of the doubt. He let Lenore go - and according to Lenore, she only went back to killing because of Eve... and he let Amy go, though later conceeded that maybe Dean was right to kill her. So, has he just come around finally to Dean's POV, just in time for Dean to swing around to his? Or is it a matter of Sam not trusting DEAN - Dean didn't tell him about Benny, maybe Sam thinks there was a reason? Maybe Dean doesn't want to admit that Benny can't be trusted...
You know, it would have actually been a more believable route to have SAM be the one that was hiding a vampire friend. Yes, I know that they needed to write Dean a way out of purgatory and Benny's knowledge of purgatory is needed later... but think about it for a moment? What if Amelia had been the vampire? One rogue vampire trying to live off animal blood, so she became a vet? She helps Sam out, because she's the only one that understands what it's like to be a freak and to have everyone you love die... of course, the fans (and myself) would have hated that storyline because it'd be a rehashing of Amy/Ruby with Sam once again falling for the femme fatale.... but at least it would have been in-f*cking-character!!
Dean: "So Martin's saying Benny did this?"
Sam: "Yeah"
Dean: "Okay."
Sam: "Okay?"
Dean: "If Benny's in Louisiana draining folks, we should look into it."
- I really do think this is all a test of Dean for Sam - all a test for Dean AND Benny... so that Sam can understand what's going on with his brother and whether or not Dean can be trusted when he claims that Benny can be trusted... and I think Dean DOES give the right response to this test. I think Dean actually acts correctly throughout this entire episode UP UNTIL he sends that text to Sam and tricks him.
Dean: "Does this sound like the Benny you know?"
Sam: "I don't know Benny"
- These lines hurt. Because Dean is treating Sam like Sam is an extension of himself, but meanwhile, Sam is just reminded that Dean kept secrets from him, that Sam DOESN'T know Benny. Not at all.
Martin: "The Benny you know? Say what? Why do I get the distinct impression that your brother is vouching for a vampire?"
Sam: "Guys, let's not argue."
Dean: "Nobody's arguing, but if this is Benny, and that's a big if."
Martin: "Oh it's him."
Dean: "I got history with the guy, okay? I'm not signing up for a witch-hunt, I owe him more than that."
Martin: "What in God's great creation could a Winchester possibly owe a vampire? Am I hearing this right?"
Dean: "Look, until we get the facts, we stow the blood-lust and we work this case right, or we work it separately."
- Dean's use of the word "blood-lust" reminds me that this is actually Supernatural's FIRST vampire-themed episode that does not have "blood" in the title.
- Also, I really like the way the actor playing Martin played Martin. You can tell that he's just full of manic energy - he can't stand still, he can't have a reasonable measured conversation. The problem is that Sam sent him to track a vampire, and he's been doing it for a week...and he's had a whole week to build this hunt up in his mind, to fill up with adrenaline and energy and potential scenarios. Basically, he's had an entire week to psyche himself up for a vampire hunt and now Dean is trying to get him to be calm and to think things through thoroughly - but Martin's in fight or flight mode, he's all adrenaline and snap decisions.
Dean: "I just need some time, Sammy."
Martin: "Oh yeah, let the fang take another life, I don't think so."
Sam: "How much time do you need?"
Martin: "You're not actually considering this-"
Dean: "A couple hours, tops."
Martin: "And what if it turns out to be Benny?"
Dean: "Then it's Benny and I'll deal with it!"
Sam: "Couple hours, Dean, no more."
Dean: "I'll be in touch."
- I also love how Sam and Dean basically just ignore Martin, and when Dean finally does address him, it's to yell at him to basically shut-up because Dean knows what he's doing.
Martin: "You're joking, right? We're doing this as soon as he pulls away."
Sam: "No, we're not, Martin. We're going to give him a little bit of time."
Martin: "Hey, it's your brother, it's your call. I don't know how he can go on like this, it's staring him right in the face!"
Sam: "Yeah, well sometimes it's not easy to see things for what they are."
- With a flashback cue like this, and an episode with "crazy Martin" in it, it would have been SO EASY to have Amelia be a product of Sam's PTSD imagination... so easy for the flashback to be his carefully crafted dream world starting to crumble and reality beginning to shine through the cracks. AND YET THEY DIDN'T DO IT! Uuuuuuuuuugh.
FLASHBACK FOR SAM
"Look I'm sure you've got a lot of people telling you what the right thing to do is here-"
"Sam-"
"He's your husband, Amelia. But I don't, I don't want to do the right thing - I mean, this is the right thing, you and me. And maybe I'm going to hell for saying this, but I'm not ready to give this up."
"Neither am I."
- I feel for Sam, I do. This is Sam being selfish and knowing it - I think his last "selfish" act was to go to college.
- "maybe I'm going to hell" isn't really much of a consequence when it comes to the Winchesters, I don't think... "maybe I'm going to hell, but it's okay, I've been there before, I can deal."
Amelia: "Would it bother you if I just took a few days to clear my head?"
Sam: "Ah, of course, take whatever time you need."
- And I think here is where Sam starts to realize that things might not go the way he wants, even if he does give up his martyr act and try to fight for what he wants. I think what Sam was looking for was Amelia immediately jumping on the bandwagon and declaring that she'd never leave him, but instead, she's honest and tells him that she needs time to come to a desicion - and that decision might not be him.
END FLASHBACK
Dean: "Yeah, he putts around in a beat up camper - thing looks like a rolling death trap."
Elizabeth: "Yeah, haha! I thought I was the only one who gave him trouble over that piece of junk."
- I like this exchange, because it's basically Elizabeth saying "I thought I was the only one who cared for him" and Dean recognizing that - them recognizing that they're both in Benny's corner.
Dean: "Um, listen, I tell you what - if he pops up before I can find him. Do me a favour, just have him give me a buzz, or you could just drop a dime yourself."
Elizabeth: "Sure thing, Dean."
- Oh Dean... do you not see the family resemblance...or perhaps you do. ;)
- Unrelated to anything: "drop a dime" is one of the reasons I find English kind of fascinating. We haven't used dimes to make phone calls in years, yet it's still the idiom for calling someone. We don't even really have payphones anymore - yet people are expected to understand what "drop a dime" means. It's stuff like that that makes English really hard to learn.
Benny with another body... oh dear...
Benny: "It's not me, Dean."
Dean: "And which me are we talking about, Benny or Roy?"
Benny: "I'm just trying to blend in."
Dean: "Blend in? Who'd you plant, Benny?"
Benny: "Victim number two. You're concerned about the missed calls. I didn't want to get you involved. Now, you want to safety that thing, talk a bit, or what?"
Dean: "I'm all ears."
- I love the fact that Dean is just standing there with his hands behind his back... like, yeah, that's not suspicious at all. I also like the way this scene kind of mirrors Dean and Benny's first meeting, where they are kind of circling each other again (though not literally) trying to figure out just how much they can trust each other.
Benny: "... he remembers me from the good ol' days."
Dean: "The good old days?"
Benny: "I know it's hard to believe, but I haven't always been this cute and cuddly."
- I just love that last line of Benny's, because he IS cute and cuddly. Awww.
Benny: "No amateur is going to kick me out of my hometown, not this time!"
Dean: "Hometown? You grew up here?"
Benny: "Born and bred. With Andrea gone, and you out hunting again, it seemed like the right time for a homecoming. You two being the only ones that keep all my ducks in a row. Went back to my old job at the cafe. I even found someone to hold myself accountable to. Best kind of someone, Dean. Family."
- It's interesting that Benny needs someone/something to keep him in line. Before he died, he had Andrea, when he came back, he had the revenge quest and Dean... but with Dean not around so much, he had to find someone new - and it can't just be himself.
Dean: "Elizabeth."
Benny: "My great-granddaughter."
Dean: "Really?"
Benny: "Now hold it now, you didn't-"
Dean: "No, no - does she know?"
- Hehehe, awkward.
Benny: "No, as far as she's concerned I'm just another drifter. I'd like to keep it that way. It's been tough, walking the line here, with all those years of purgatory not having to deal with the hunger. But Elizabeth, she keeps me honest, I finally feel like I got a handle on this thing."
- I'd like to point out that Benny wasn't hungry in Purgatory. In my headcanon, and I fully believe CANON, there's no need to eat in purgatory (or sleep, but that's not confirmed - and actually, the way Supernatural has written the soul before, it suggests that sleeping is a soul-activity, which means it should occur everywhere the soul is). A lot of fics will have Dean eating animals or something in purgatory, but um, did you SEE any animals? Why would there be animals in purgatory? Those fics kind of drive me nuts a little bit.
Dean: "A handle on it. Benny, you got two stiffs on your hands and two hunters on your ass."
Benny: "Oh please, that half-wit that found me at the cafe. I'll take my chances with-"
Dean: "That half-wit was sent by my brother and trust me, my brother is not someone you want to mess with."
- I do love that Dean recognizes that Sam is a badass. That Sam will fuck people up. Sam and Dean are basically the top tier of hunters at the moment, whether the other hunters know it or not... Dean knows exactly what Sam's capable of.
Dean: "Vampires pick prey off at the edge of town. Not in the cafe's they work in with their great grand kids. In fact killing any human, it's not his style."
...
Sam: "Listen, Dean, we came here on a dead body. You asked for some time and now there's aother dead body, are we just going on trust here?"
Dean: "Yes."
- Dean is being COMPLETELY honest with Sam, which is the smartest thing to do - but unfortunately, the damage has already been done when Dean didn't tell him about Benny before. Sam still doesn't know what to believe... and that's a huge problem when it comes to asking him to back down solely on trust. It's Sam whose not sure he can trust Dean.
Sam: "Okay, because we've killed for a lot less, and you know how these things turn out for us."
Dean: "Yes, I do, too well. In fact every relationship I've ever had has gone to crap at some point, but the one thing I can say about Benny - he has never let me down."
Sam: "Well good on you, Dean. Must feel great finally finding someone you can trust after all these years."
- And here's where Dean makes a mistake. He doesn't know, at this point, where Sam's mind is at - where Sam's self-esteem is at. Dean just means that Benny hasn't given him a reason not to trust him, but all Sam hear's is what Dean said under the influence of the spectre - that Benny is a better brother than Sam, that Sam's 30 years of service by Dean's side doesn't mean anything, because his mistakes have been too many, too unforgivable. Sam only hears that SAM has once again not made the cut in the "people Dean trusts" list.
- I also really like the fact that Dean uses the word "relationship" here - the very all encompasing word that could mean friendship, familial relationship, or romantic relationship.
Dean: "All I'm saying is that Benny is innocent."
Sam: "No, you're too close to this."
- Dean, I think, might know that he made a mistake with his wording - but he's sticking to the point here and trying not to get sidetracked by family-drama... but I think in this case, it might have been better if he had - if he had thrown out a "I didn't mean it that way. Of course I trust you."
- Sam is also making a good point though, and it's the same one Dean made to him back in S7 during the Amy fiasco - Sam was too close to her, Dean was objective, therefore Dean made the call. Sam is applying the same standards - Dean is too close to Benny, he can't be objective, therefore Sam needs to make the call. It's not necessarily that Sam has decided that Benny has to die, it's simply that Sam has decided that HE needs to investigate it while Dean sits out.
Dean: "You're not going to find him, and if you do, I'll tell you this, you'd be lucky to get out alive." *turns to Martin* "And you, you go with him? You're a dead man, period."
- I love this line of Dean's, because it tells us just how many things Dean is trying to juggle here - just how many people he's trying to protect. He's trying to protect Benny from Sam, yes, but he's also trying to protect Sam from Benny. Dean fought alongside Benny in purgatory for close to a year - he knows how skilled Benny is. Sam might be a badass, but that doesn't mean he's invincible, and he and Benny could be well matched in a fight and just end up killing each other. Martin, of course, is no match for Benny at all.
Sam: "These are innocent lives we're talking Dean, and you're willing to risk them on Benny's word alone."
Dean: "Damn right, I am"
*Martin punches Dean out*
- I think, had Martin not punched Dean out, that Sam would have capitulated - because the fact that Dean was willing to risk innocent people on Benny's word alone MEANS A LOT, and Sam knows it. Instead though, Martin knocks Dean out and Sam really has no choice but to go with Plan A - keep Martin in check and investigate the case himself, while Dean sits out on the sidelines because he's potentially compromised.
Martin: "I'm glad your dad wasn't around to hear that. He'd have a mind to take you both out to the woodshed and show you what's what. I'm half inclined to do it myself."
Sam: "You listen to me, I brought you into this, I can bring you out, just as easy - so the only thing that you're going to be inclined to do is shut-up and follow my lead."
- For the record, I don't think that Martin is saying that John actually used to take the boys out to the woodshed to show them what's what - I think he's implying that's what his OWN father would do, and that he believes it's normal parenting behaviour. I say this, mainly because I don't actually think that John was physically abusive, nor resorted to corperal punishment... and I also think that Martin is the more likely candidate for having been abused as a child (or being the recipient of corperal punishment as a child - given his generation.)
- That being said, don't EVER bring up John Winchester in front of Sam and Dean, especially if you are claiming to know how he would feel about their behaviour. :P
- Also, Sam is huge, and if I were Martin I would listen to him and shut my trap. "I brought you into this, I can bring you out"...because, um, how's same going to bring him out? Again though, we see Sam having to forcibly get Martin to stand down.
Martin: "I'm just saying, your brother chooses a vampire over a brother - I'd know how I'd feel."
- Not helping, Martin! That wasn't what Dean did at all. He wasn't leaving Sam for Benny, nor did he attack Sam on Benny's behalf - he was trying to explain the situation so that they could go after the REAL threat. But Sam's got such weird self-esteem problems when it comes to Dean, that he's just going to hear what Martin says and believe it.
- As a lead in to the flashback though, this is an interesting choice - because it's about someone Sam loves CHOOSING someone over him, which is very apropos to what caused Sam to leave Amelia - because it WAS Sam who did the leaving.
SAM FLASHBACK
Don: "You are Sam, right? Relax I ain't here to fight."
Sam: "I heard about what happened to you - rough deal."
Don: "Yeah, well, I appreciate that. We got outselves a situation here now though, don't we?"
Sam: "Yes, we do."
- What happened to Don?! My headcanon is that he was captured and presumed dead, and then he was actually a POW, and they tortured him and crap - and then he was rescued.
- Sam's "rough deal" seems oddly insufficient - but then, Sam was locked in a cage with Michael and Lucifer for 18 months/180 years/who-knows-how-long, so really anything that happens to people in the real world probably looks a little like a stubbed toe to him. :P
Don: "I know part of her loved me and now part of her loves you. But the only one who knows what's best for Amelia is Amelia, so when all is said and done and she makes her decision, I'll respect it. And if you truly love her, you'll do the same."
- So, I know I was complaining about Don and Amelia's shitty relationship before, but this is actually a decent thing for Don to say - and I think Sam recognizes that. I think Sam realizes here that Don is a decent guy, and Sam, being Sam, can't really say the same for himself - case in point, he just that morning told a woman that he wanted to steal her away from her husband. Sam's the other man, whether he did it intentionally in the beginning doesn't matter, because he's doing it intentionally now.... and Sam's moral standards won't tolerate that for long, no matter how selfish that he wants to be.
END FLASHBACK
Dean is cuffed to the radiator - Sam's kindly taken off his coat (probably to remove cell and lockpicks from his person), but that's no match for Dean, who has still found a way.
Benny: "What'd they say?"
Dean: "They didn't go for it. I'd get scarce."
Benny: "No offense Dean, but your little brother doesn't exactly put chills up my spine."
Dean: "Benny, listen to me, do not underestimate my little brother, he can and will kill you given the chance."
- Again, Dean's trying to keep everyone alive - Benny is formidable, and knows it, the fact that he isn't afraid of Sam speaks a lot for his skill level. Meanwhile, Dean knows Sam's skill level too.
Benny: "Dean, it's my fight - are you in, or are you out?"
- Again, a call-back to their first meeting.
Sam gets a text that seems to be from Amelia - "Sam, I need your help, come quick." So, he gets in the car and goes - leaving Martin alone in the bayou. :P
Martin: "Sam? Sam! SAM! SAAAAM!! Winchesters, man."
- And you gotta laugh at the fact that basically, the Winchesters are known to be just as unpredictable as any mental patient. They're ruled by their emotions, really, when it comes right down to it.
- Yes, it was horrible of Sam to leave Martin alone in the middle of the woods. Yes, it wasn't very professional... and I know a lot of people have issues with the fact that he did it. At the same time though, I think he figured that Martin would have a long walk into town - maybe calm down, or uncuff Dean (if Dean hadn't uncuffed himself already, which I think Sam figured he would sooner rather than later). Sam knew that Dean would take care of the vamp one way or the other - even if Sam didn't completely trust him on Benny. I also think that the only thing going through Sam's mind at that moment was that his life had caught up to Amelia - that he'd arrive to find her burning on the ceiling - or worse.
Dean: "You're not going to talk a lot, are you? I have been dealing with crazy all day."
- I like this line that Dean gives Desmond, mainly, because I know exactly how "crazy-fatigue" feels. And yes, that makes me sound horribly insensitive, I apologize for being honest.
*Benny stares longingly at Dean's bloody neck*
Dean: "You okay?"
Benny *though closed lips*: "I'm fine."
- They did this scene very well. I like how Benny doesn't show us his teeth. Also, there's something inherently very sexual about vampire hunger - I mean, I'm pretty sure that's the whole appeal of the vampire-trope... and I kind of like the kinky nature of Benny basically lusting after Dean, if only for his
Benny: "My life here is over, isn't it?"
Dean:"'fraid so. Once word gets out..."
- And I think this is another reason why Dean was so pissed at Sam about letting Martin know about Benny. Martin can't be trusted to keep his mouth shut, so that one act of mistrust on Sam's part could bring the entire hunting world down on Benny.
Dean: "Guys like us, we don't get a home. We don't get family."
Benny: "You got Sam."
Dean: "Yeah. Benny you gotta go deep underground [...]"
- I think Dean kind of misses what Benny's saying here, or he just doesn't know how to address it - because Dean is lumping him and Benny together, but what Benny's saying back is that Dean isn't actually like him - Dean DOES get to have family, Benny doesn't. And the fact of the matter is that wherever Sam is, that's Dean's home. So, Dean does get a home, he does get family - it's only Benny who, because of who he is, is denied even the basic comforts of life.
Sam, driving like a maniac, has another flashback...
SAM FLASHBACK
Amelia: "What are you doing?"
Sam: "I'm leaving."
Amelia: "What? Don found you at the bar, he threatened you."
- Again, I know I just said that what Don said was a decent thing to say - but when your wife's first reaction is to believe that you THREATENED someone, um, that's not a good sign.
Sam: "Amelia, no, he didn't threaten me. I'm just trying to do the right thing here."
Amelia: "The right thing? This morning you and I were the right thing, remember?"
Sam: "I know you and Don deserve a chance, okay, and I think you know that too. Just give him a chance, like you gave me. I mean, Amelia, you saved me."
- WHY DIDN'T WE SEE HER SAVING YOU!!
- *cough* I mean - this is basically Sam pulling the old "you can't break up with me, because I'm breaking up with you!" move. Don's a decent guy. Don's Amelia's husband. Amelia hasn't made up her mind, which means there's a possibility that she won't choose Sam...and given the previously mentioned facts about Don, odds are that Amelia will choose Don - that she probably has already chosen Don and just not admitted it ('because who would choose poor broken Sam?' Sam wonders)...so really, it's better to be the one to walk away and feel like you've been the bigger person, rather than be the pathetic loser that gets kicked to the curb.
END FLASHBACK.
Dean: "Time to go, buddy."
Benny: "Thanks for not giving up on me, brother."
Dean: "Don't give me a reason to."
- And this is the thing with Dean, he's loyal to a fault... as long as you don't give him a reason, he will NEVER give up on you...and even if you do give him a reason *cough*Cas*cough*, he will eventually forgive you, if you apologize.
Martin: "Hey Dean"
Dean: "Look, I'm just telling you know that the situation is resolved [...]"
Martin: "Oh, that's good, Dean."
Dean: "Shut-up and listen to me, Benny's long gone, and he won't be coming back ever again - so for your own sake, don't follow him. Are we clear?"
Martin: "You don't have to worry about me, Dean, I'm long gone too."
Dean: "Oh, and Martin, find a new line of work."
- I like how as soon as Martin answers the phone, the creepy voice is in place - and you just KNOW that nothing good will come of this.
- I also like Martin telling Dean that he's "long gone too." Does he mean that he's long gone when it comes to the Winchesters? Never to work with them again? Or does he say that so that Dean thinks he's left town? Or does he say that because he knows that he's long gone mentally, has been for a while, no matter what Glendale Springs says or the fact that he can pass for 'mostly okay'...
Benny: "You leave her alone. Now."
Martin: "How far away are you?"
Benny: "An hour."
Martin: "You got forty-five minutes."
- Creepy Martin is creepy. But what this episode comes down to, besides trust and brother issues, is the question of: who are the bad guys? Who are the monsters? It's an old theme in Supernatural and one that they're continually exploring. Sam and Dean are by virtue of being hunters, just as outside society and sociopathic as the monsters that they hunt... Dean lumps him and Benny together and says "guys like us", but Benny points out that no, Dean isn't like him, Dean gets to have family, he gets to have a home... Benny doesn't. Dean can stop being a hunter any time he chooses, but Benny can't stop being a vampire. And here, we see a hunter threatening an innocent human in order to lure Benny, who has done nothing, to his death...so who is the monster?
Martin: "Lay down your arms you unholy thing!"
Benny: "You got me here now, why don't you just let her go and walk away."
Martin: "I don't think so."
Benny: "You realize that I'm not asking."
Martin: "I realize that completely."
- Benny makes it clear to Martin what's going to happen here. He's going to kill him, and I have to wonder whether Martin understands that like he claims he does.
Benny: "Please, I'm asking you, do not do this, the bad guy is gone, okay?"
Martin: "She doesn't know, Benny."
Elizabeth: "Roy, who's Benny?"
Martin: "Who's Benny? Let's find out shall we? [...] Tell her he won't feed off his own flesh and blood."
Elizabeth: "Flesh and blood?"
[...]
Martin: "...tell her about the monster that you are!"
- It's interesting that it's at the lines where Martin flat out calls him a monster that Benny is able to control his bloodlust. I think Benny's drive, more than anything, is to be human. So he makes himself the friend/partner of a human that he cares for, whether by act or by blood, and then through sheer will of not appearing as a monster in front of them is able to resist the cravings. Just because he's a vampire, doesn't mean he's a monster, and that's fundamentally what Benny wants to convince himself of.
Benny: "What do you want?"
Martin: "Isn't it obvious, I want your head on a stake."
*Benny lies his head on the counter*
Elizabeth: "Roy, no..."
Benny: "I'm sorry."
- I don't think Benny ever intended to allow Martin to kill him. He needed to get Martin to get away from Elizabeth, to come out from behind her and get the knife away from her neck... and so he laid himself out, passively, AWAY from her, in order to accomplish just that. As soon as Martin came to actually do the deed, that's when Benny struck - because he'd been in Purgatory for 50 years, and Dean was right - Martin was dead as soon as he made that phone call.
Sam...creeping on Amelia's windows...seeing her happy with Don.
Elizabeth: "Dean - you told me to call if I saw him."
Dean: "What? Roy? Elizabeth, is he there? Is he there right now?"
Benny: "Just come."
- I wonder what's going through Dean's mind - does he need to protect Benny from Martin? No. Is he worried Sam didn't leave town? Judging from the fact that he was already on the highway, I'm guessing he knew damn well his subterfuge would work... Is he worried that Benny's gone off the straight and narrow? Why now?
I also really like how Dean gives Elizabeth his handkerchief before he walks in - how he presses it to her throat and she leans into the contact. It's actually a really beautiful silent moment.
And Martin is dead. I think with the bloody knife nearby and the clear slit through his throat - that Benny didn't actually vamp kill him, but just straight-up killed him. That being said, it's REALLY hard to tell.
And Sam figures out where the text actually came from...
Dean: "Sammy?"
Sam: "Sam, I need your help, come quick. Nice one. Swapping Amelia's phone out with a burner, sending a distress signal. You got me good. When'd you do that?"
Dean: "A while back, in case I needed it. Looks like I made the right call. So'd you see her?"
- And I think THIS is actually the ultimate dig at Sam's self-esteem, and also what incites his anger. There are two reasons for Sam to be really pissed here, 1)Dean uses his fear that something will happen to his loved ones against him, 2)Dean set up the trick "a while back, in case [he] needed it." Meaning that Dean foresaw that there might be a time when he needed to manipulate Sam into leaving - why would he need to do that? Because he didn't trust Sam. Oh, and there's also the 3rd reason, which is the fact that Dean forced him to reopen the Amelia wound.
Sam: "Yeah, yeah, I did. She's doing just fine, but of course you know that."
Dean: "Actually, I didn't. I did know that it was the only way to get you to lay off."
Sam: "Heh. So? Is it done?"
- I don't think Dean actually realizes the pain he just caused Sam either. He just figures, and how could he, when Sam hasn't told him anything about her or what happened? He just figured Sam shacked up with a girl for a while and then left, so having him drop by is no big deal... though, Dean must know how hard Sam usually falls for girls... so maybe he DOES know exactly what he did, but figures that it's justified given that he did it to keep Sam (and Benny) safe.
Dean: "Yeah, it's done."
Sam: "Any casualities?"
Dean: "Martin."
*Sam cringes*
- I think Sam knows that Martin is just as much his fault as Dean's, perhaps he feels it's more so, because Sam DID leave him in that forest - whether or not the text was fake, Sam's decision that Amelia was more important than Martin means that something happened to Martin. Also, Sam put him on Benny's case in the first place.
Sam: "Was it Benny?"
Dean: "He had it coming, Sam, I'll tell you what happened."
Sam: "I know what happened, Dean!"
Dean: "You going to listen to me or not?"
*Sam hangs up*
- Again, Dean is trying to be completely honest - Martin WAS the bad guy in this scenario, and Dean knows that Sam will see that if he hears what happened. Sam, though, is just too pissed about everything - mad at Dean for the not being honest from the get-go when he got back, for the subterfuge that evening with the text, for STILL siding with a vampire even when it killed someone they knew.
- I do like the fact though that Sam just hangs up. It's very Sam. When Sam gets REALLY REALLY angry, he always chooses to walk away to calm down... rather than hitting him, which I'm sure is what Sam wants to do. Dean hits. Sam walks away... and you can't really argue which option is better. Dean comes off looking abusive and Sam comes off looking like he's always one fight away from abandoning Dean forever.
Amelia: "I knew that was you."
- Oh yeah, did I mention that Show really pissed me off this episode with making Amelia real. If Sam had discovered that Amelia hadn't been real, if his dreamworld had been a literal dreamworld, then Dean sending him that text wouldn't have worked. Sam wouldn't have had anyone to look at through those windows, because the house would have been empty... and Amelia definitely wouldn't have walked up to him in the bar.
- This moment is also kind of ridiculous for what happens next episode...but I'll get to that.
Yay! I might try to do another one of these tomorrow, we'll see... if not tomorrow, then on Wednesday.
