galathea | Review for 2x06 'No Exit'

This week's episode by Matt Witten and Kim Manners takes a step back from the Winchester drama and instead focuses more on the recurring characters of Jo and Ellen. Not sure if this was the best move, considering that we don't really know them well enough to be invested in their story, but well, the episode does have its good moments. :)

Knowing beforehand that this episode was exploring Jo’s character in more depth, I expected to severely hate this episode and surprisingly enough, I didn’t, but I didn’t particularly love it either. So far No Exit was the weakest episode for me, since we had some incredibly intense character episodes the last couple of weeks and this one fell a bit short in comparison. Although this week’s MotW plot was really interesting in itself, too bad it wasn’t explored in more depth. I am not very familiar with crime history, so the story of America’s first serial killer H. H. Holmes was fascinating and I found the whole set-up quite creepy. The tunnels and chambers behind the walls and the being buried alive theme were well done. I loved the way they captured the spirit with a ring of salt and kept it in eternal isolation. I guess I wasn’t the only one who had to think of AtS’ Hell Bound, where AI does something similar with the spirit of a serial killer!

Anyway, while I think seeing Sam and Dean interact with other people is good for a change, I was bothered more by the lack of Sam in this episode than by the presence of Jo. Exploring one character at the expense of another is something I am not very fond of. Episodes in S1 did show that you can have one of the brothers bond with guest characters (Provenance, The Benders, Route 666) without reducing the other to a mere bystander. Sam had hardly any screen-time in this episode and with a few exceptions, even the scenes he was in, weren’t really meaningful. It would have been easy to involve his character in the plotline, adding scenes with Sam and Dean debating on what to do with Jo or how to pursue the case!

For what it is worth, there were some Sam scenes that I adored: I loved his amused reaction to Dean’s Katie Holmes joke, which showed that both brothers feel comfortable again to fall back into their easy banter. I also loved how he instantly offers reassurance for Dean when his brother starts to beat himself up over Jo’s capture, knowing his brother’s tendency to just put the guilt on his own shoulders, no matter how much control he had over the circumstances. His geeky joy about dealing with a famous American legend was cute, as was his broad grin when Dean shows up with the cement truck! Overall he was visibly more relaxed and at ease with his brother, which was lovely to see!

Dean: "My dad started me in this when I was so young. I wish I could do something else."

While this episode neglected Sam, it had some really poignant insights into the older Winchester. Dean’s statement about how Jo doesn’t appreciate that Ellen wants more for her daughter is very telling. He always expressed his distaste for the 'apple pie' life towards Sam and it shows here, that his real attitude is more complex. Sam resenting the hunter’s life and the way they were raised dismissed everything Dean stands for and as a result all their conversations over the course of S1 were more an attempt to convince the other of the value of their perspective than the ultimate expression of their feelings. Despite all his whining, Sam is a good hunter and I am sure he does understand the merits of this life, just as Dean is able to appreciate the merits of a normal life; they were just unable to admit that to their brother for the sake of their argument.

We know from Skin that Dean had dreams of his own, that were subordinated to his family’s needs and while he later on deliberately chooses to stay in this life, his words to Jo suggest a deep seated wish or at least appreciation for a 'normal' life. It's the first time he voices something like regret about his choices in life and his words come off as genuinely felt rather than a simple advice. I tend to think that John’s recent death made Dean reassess his life, the sacrifices the hunter’s life demanded from his family one too many, suddenly tipping the scale to the negative side. Dean’s own idea of normal can never be restored after his father died and I wouldn’t be surprised if he asked himself if it’s all worth it.

I love how we see Dean all relaxed and back to banter with Sam (and Jo) but touch a personal subject and the cracks start to show instantly. We see that especially in his bonding scene with Jo over their fathers. When he starts talking about John and how he took him to his first shooting and he remembers John smiling at him but can’t bring himself to say that it felt like he was proud of him, averting Jo’s eyes and quickly changing subject to her own father, his sad smile just told a world of stories. Even after John told him how proud he is of him in In My Time Of Dying he still hesitates to accept that, years of doubting his own self-worth not easily overcome. I can’t get over how Jensen nails his performance of Dean in these emotional scenes so perfectly, he conveys more with his eyes than a whole page of dialogue ever could. ♥

As a sidenote: I have to admit that I am still a bit wary about the Jo/Dean bonding. I mean the scene was cute and all but her background seems too perfectly cut out for making a match with Dean; losing a parent as motivator, following into Dad’s footsteps, the wish for being a family again, it’s like the writers just try too hard, making her a female Dean instead of giving her a profile of her own. Mind you, over the course of the episode Dean was acting more like a mentor towards Jo and I didn’t get any romantic vibes from them, so I am still not really convinced that they will go down the couple route. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out.

Dean: "Sweetheart, this ain’t gender studies! Women can do the job fine. Amateurs can’t!"

Now, onto Jo! First off, I consider it slightly out of character for Dean to even allow Jo to stay with them on the case. No matter how much information she gathered, he knows (and articulates) that she is an inexperienced amateur and he usually takes his job too serious to endanger it by a) being distracted himself by playing babysitter and b) having someone tag along who not only is a main target for the spirit but also lacks practical knowledge and hence is a hazard to the case. So I can’t help but wonder why he acts against his better judgment here, no matter how much he might admire her courage and understands her motivation.

Also, only last episode Dean expressed to Jo that he respects Ellen too much to even think about hitting on Jo and while that was clearly humorous, I am sure it has a true core. If anything Ellen’s stern reaction to Dean refusing to confide in her about Sam’s visions and the YED in Simon Said showed him that she’s not one to mess with and he already picked up on her protective stance towards Jo earlier, so I find it highly improbable that Jo manages to coerce him into lying to Ellen. He might not directly be able to order Jo around, but Ellen surely can and getting her there and Jo out of the danger would simply take a phone call and a couple of hours wait.

Anyway, I loved Dean’s first confrontation with Jo, cutting right through her crap of accusing him of having chauvinistic motives for not wanting her to work on the case. He doesn’t even flinch, but calmly sets her straight. For all his womanizer tendencies, Dean always proved throughout the show that he deeply respects women and Jo’s indignant outburst is laughable at best, probably born out of a life long experience with male hunters passing through the Roadhouse, who never really took her serious and only considered her a flirt object. As we see later, Jo is very good at transferring emotions and assessments from one person to another, again a sign of her immaturity.

Dean hits the nail right on the head when he points out that she romanticises the hunter’s life. It’s not difficult to imagine that growing up with the tales and adventures of 'heroes' who put their own lives in danger to save the innocent, idolising hunters because she idolises her deceased father, formed Jo’s impressions. She lived a sheltered life, protected from the truth by her mother and despite feeling like an outsider to the normal world, by being the freak with the knife collection, she has no real insight in the 'other' world either, although she wants so badly to belong there. She overestimates her own capabilities: beating hunters at a shooting game doesn’t make her a good fighter, being good at poker doesn’t mean she has the nerve to deal with monsters and being able to do the legwork to a case doesn’t necessarily mean she can connect the dots that lead to solving it. Overestimation combined with over-eagerness can be a lethal mix.

She is so determined to prove herself that she rushes headlong into danger and just validates Dean’s reasons on why he didn’t want her there in the first place, her lack of judgment and caution leading to her capture. Considering though that this is her first encounter with a spirit, she does react very level-headed to her situation after finding herself practically buried alive. She quite calmly tries to figure out her options, reassures the other imprisoned girl and puts up resistance when the spirit attacks her; with the proper guidance and training she could turn out to be a good hunter.

Allowing Sam and Dean to use her as bait and quite calmly putting her trust in Dean and Sam to come through was very courageous and I liked that. I find that scenes like that, where she comes off as more capable and mature, sell the girl way better to me than 'bonding over fathers' scenes. Mainly because I have to take her more serious as character to feel more empathy and before her capture I didn’t really do that. So the bonding scene between her and Dean would probably have worked better for me after they freed her, well at least for her part, not Dean’s of course.

Ellen: "Like father, like sons, that’s what I am talking about!"

Then Ellen, I have to say I was bothered by her this week. I get that she was angry and hurting and probably still terrified over nearly losing her daughter, but I thought she would be more mature than to take it out on the boys. Ever since Sam and Dean showed up on her doorstep, she acted maternal and warm towards them, emphasizing that John was family and I never got an underlying vibe of being conflicted from her, so her outburst came a bit out of the blue. Although John being responsible for William’s death sheds a new light on her harsh reaction when Dean didn’t want to confide in her in Simon Said. It was probably an expression of her fear that the boys can’t be trusted. The debacle in No Exit then just cemented that feeling by resurfacing old feelings of resentment and anger towards John and transferring them to his sons. That’s understandable for Jo, given her youth but I expected better from Ellen.

Maybe it was also simply easier to direct the guilt towards the boys than towards herself, because if she hadn’t tried to protect Jo all her life and opposed her so strongly, this might never have happened, but in the end it was Jo who got herself into trouble and while Dean and Sam might have acted more careless than they should have when they let her tag along, it doesn’t justify Ellen’s outburst of mistrust and hate towards the boys. "Don’t you dare say that. NOT YOU!" With all due respect, but that was totally uncalled for.

I am really frustrated that we didn’t get to hear the complete story about Bill’s death, but only a short re-phrasing from Jo and that we will probably never know if this was really John’s fault or simply Ellen’s interpretation. Her husband was an experienced hunter, to solely blame his death on John with the whole 'he thought John could be trusted' mantra seems very over the top. I’d like to know what exactly John did that justifies such an accusation. John came across as a reckless and fearless hunter, we know that he will withhold information if he thinks he can protect someone, but I hardly see him deliberately causing someone’s death and if this whole event was more of an accident, I see no reason to blame him.

As for Jo, she was hurting and confused and had to digest a lot of new information; finding out that an important part of her life was based on a lie clearly came as a shock. Her words and tone suggest that she too transfers her feelings of anger towards John to Dean, which isn’t really fair either, after the way Dean treated and supported her during this episode, but okay, fairness can probably not really be expected in her state of confusion. Anyway, the tension between Sam and Dean and the Roadhouse gang that arose out of the situation will probably keep them away from there for a while and I have to say, I don’t regret that.

While I do think more recurring characters are good and the initial introduction of the current ones in ELAC was handled nicely, it felt a bit forced that Sam and Dean would contact the Roadhouse on such a regular basis, after all they were practically strangers to them. A stationary location like the Roadhouse opposes the brothers travelling lifestyle and it’s difficult to weave it into the story organically. It’s more plausible to me that the boys would maybe stop by there once or twice per season, demonic signs showing up on Ash’s computer notwithstanding.

What else is noteworthy?

Sam has a new LAPTOP! *sighs with relief* I mean, c’mon, Sam without laptop is like Dean without Impala. I was so happy seeing him on that computer and doing research, independence finally from Ash’s information fountain! ♥ I really like that character, but as I said, I was a bit annoyed about how convenient it was to just call him and get the needed information or drop by at the Roadhouse to use Ash’s supercomputer.

I never ever had a thing for heavy machinery but there’s something incredibly hot about Dean driving a cement truck or a traction engine like in Route 666. *g* I discover new kinks in me that I never even knew existed. LOL

Did anybody else wonder how the spirit managed to 'drag' its victims through the small opening for the ventilation shafts? That didn’t seem to make much sense to me.

A short word at the end: Can we just stop putting more and more guilt and burdens on Dean’s shoulders? As if John’s death and the ominous secret aren’t enough, now he needs to take responsibility for the actions of a thrill-seeking hunter groupie and for John’s 'failures' as well? Give the boy a break and the opportunity to work through all this properly.

So overall I didn’t love this episode but the Dean scenes certainly were worth watching it.

* * *
Did you know? The old photograph supposedly showing a victim of H. H. Holmes is in fact showing a victim of England’s most famous serial killer Jack the Ripper.