Big Brother Dean worried sick. Blood on Sammy--not his. Speaking Urdu? Menthols and Bon Jovi. Steve Wandel. Feeling different. He’d rather die. Gun, meet face. Jo, meet Sam.

 

 “My daddy shot your daddy in the head.” Nose flare, evil smirks, flexing and scary. But in a hot way.

 

“No, Sammy. Come on.” Possessed? Shoulder, meet bullet. More evil smirking. Magic cell phones and what IS that song?? Butcher. Bobby. Meg. All tied up but with a few new tricks. Poor Bobby’s house. Poor Dean. Burns! Poor Sam. “If it’s the last thing I do…” Back On the Road Again.

 

Ahhh…Born Under a Bad Sign.

 

I like this episode, guys. Like, really like it. Really really like it.

 

Okay, I love it.

 

But not for the reasons you’d think. Sure, Sam is working the serious sex-on-a-stick action and OMG *breaks for major swoonage* there was Arm!Porn for the DeanGirls. But I’m not gonna talk about that. If you want to see me squee (more than the occasional squeeage that just might pop up in this blog), feel free to roam the Sanitarium. (***Any damage due to fire and/or slapping is/was/will be entirely unintentional. I swear. ***)

 

Ahem. Anyway, back to one of my favorite episodes ever.

 

This one did it for me, in every possible way. The acting was perfection, IMO. Jared’s capability of playing a character (Sam) possessed by another established character (Meg) who is in turn playing Sam, except when he/she is being evil in which Jared manages to successfully channel the original Meg (Nikki Aycox) all the while keeping some of those so distinctly Sam traits, and being able to switch between each of the layers of his character at a second’s notice is nothing short of brilliant. And Jensen? The way he has Dean watching Sam, look at the eppy, you’ll see, Dean’s always watching. He has this look on his face that’s just pure love and concern. And the subtle breaks in his voice? The frantic worry? THIS is acting.

 

The writing, which I’ll get to in a minute, is actually my whole focus in this blog. There are some very interesting things I’ve noticed upon my who-knows-what-number-th time rewatching this eppy. But first some favorite moments and random observations:

 

1.)    Dean walking down the hallway at the beginning of the episode, checking to make sure he’s got the right room, his frenetic worry and glancing around…they make me happy. Every time I watch it. Never fails.

2.)    As mentioned before, I LOVE how Dean watches Sam. In the car, in the motel, in Wandel’s house. Always watching.

3.)    That cashier was awesome. *giggles*

4.)    That motel guy was pretty awesome too. *giggles again*

5.)    Why didn’t Dean just use Sam’s GPS to track him when he went missing for a week? Or when he left in Hunted? Or when he was taken in AHBL??

6.)    Dean smacks Sam awake. Hehe.

7.)    Bobby is made of awesome. J

 

Now for one of my all-time favorite scenes:

 

It starts with “Say something, Sam!” and my heart starts to break. Then Dean pretty much admits he’s terrified, Sammy (Yes, I refuse to believe this was all Meg talking. She was using Sam’s memories and feelings. She was!!) asks him to please do what he promised. The shove of the gun into Dean’s hand against his chest and the way Dean just holds it loosely, like he’s never held a weapon in his life…Sam’s attempt to put on a brave face that crumbles instantly and Dean’s broken “You know I’ve tried so hard to keep you safe.” Remember this scene? It ends with Sam’s ominous “You’ll live” and Dean thinking Sam’s about the do the job himself (I’m not the only one who saw that, right? The look on Dean’s face as he turns to see Sam holding the gun? He thinks Sam’ll commit suicide.) only to be greeted by a charming pistol to the face. Then it’s lights out.

 

And then, of course, THE SCENE:

 

You know the one. It was…well…I’m sure Mos could think up a few words for it. But I digress, there’s more to Evil!Sam than meets the…uh…eye. Body language and speech for example. Jared was phenomenal. I remember the first time watching this, being really truly scared for Jo. I mean, Jared/Sam’s HUGE. And he’s like, trying to rape her. I was very worried about what this would do to the characters, extremely creeped out by Crystal Ship, and…veryturnedonbyhisevilnesss. Ahem. But anyway, the way he delivers his lines here and moves so much like Sam, the relaxed pace interspersed with quick movements or speech (“Don’t be so sure about that. Answer the question.” “I hear things.” Or the sudden stabbing of the wooden pole with the knife) just perfectly sells the idea that this really is Sam gone bad.

 

Which brings us back to the writing. There is sooo much foreshadowing in this episode, it’s not even funny.

 

In no particular order:

 

1.)    A less serious line from Dean “Get any ‘God this looks familiar’ de ja vu vibes?” reminds me verrry much of poor Sammy’s experience with repeating days.

2.)    “Dean. Back from the dead. Beginning to be a real thing with you.” *shudders at thought of dead Dean*

3.)    “Smoking, throwing bottles at people, that sounds more like me than you, Sam.” How about shooting any and every demon-possessed person with the Colt? Sacrificing virgins? Pumping people full of lead? Trying to be like Dean, or is it something else…

4.)    “He was obsessed. Consumed with hunting. And he didn’t care who got caught in the crossfire.” John without Mary. Sam without Dean. L

5.)    “Are you that scared of being alone that you’d let Jo die?” Dean might, I can almost guarantee that Sam would. He stabbed Bobby when he wasn’t completely sure he was the trickster, after all.

6.)    Sometimes demons tell the truth. 100% pure Sam?

7.)    “If it’s the last thing I do, I’m gonna save you.” Going to hell so Sammy lives…*whimpers*

8.)    Speaking of Hell…“Well, it’s like hell. Even for demons. It’s a prison made of bone and flesh and blood and fear.” Now compare that with what Ruby said in MM about that real fire down there. Doesn’t sound like fun, Dean.

9.)    And my last interesting tidbit for the future just happens to be one of my main arguments/reasons for believing Sam WILL turn at some point, not permanently, but for a while at least. See, Sam’s kind and gentle and sensitive. (at least he was before that whole death thing) Except that he’s not exactly:

“I saw the light go out in his eyes.”

‘That must have been awful”

“That’s not my point.”

            WHY the heck isn’t that your point, Sam? That’s a pretty freakin’ pointy detail IMO. If the fact that Dean won’t stop him from being bad upsets him more that the actual act of evil…*sigh* Good thing I love me some Evil. J

 

Lastly, some questions:

 

1.)  Meg doesn’t care about the master plan. So that means she wouldn’t have/won’t follow Sam’s demon army, right? Will we see her again fighting on Lilith’s side? Or is she more of a loner…

2.)  What about Wandel’s friends? Are they still looking for his killer? Did Gordon know him? Who knows? Thoughts, please.

 

So…This ended up waaay longer than I expected. I hope I didn’t break the blog! *looks at Keeper*

 

Thanks Panns for letting me have BUaBS to blah-blah-blah about. *hugs*

 

Now then, if you’ll excuse me, I have a…um…very important business meeting to attend to on the roof. *goes off to find EvilSam*

 

 

 

 Book Club Schedule as of Now:

panns will do WIAWSNB the weekend of March 22nd
oceantriana is going to do Benders around March 29th
whimsywinx is going to do Nightshifter around April 5th