Review for 2x17 'Heart'

[galathea]

You know, in the AtS episode Underneath Lindsey is in a kind of hell dimension, living an illusionary life of safety and happiness, while stepping down into the basement of his home to get his heart cut out on a regular basis by a hellish creature. Well, in my basement lurks Supernatural and does the same job just as fine .. and it stomps on my heart for extra good measure. Thank you Sera Gamble & Kim Manners! I think I am still quite incoherent about Heart, so forgive me if my thoughts are all over the place. ;)



First off, this is the first episode in two seasons where the boys encounter a werewolf, and I like that just like vampires, werewolves seem to be very rare creatures in the Supernatural universe. That's unusual, given their popularity in other supernatural themed shows/movies, but it makes those creatures more special in this show. I also liked that they kept the special effects of the werewolf transformation simple and instead of turning them into hairy monsters mostly retained their human features, which nicely resonated with the main moral dilemma of the episode.

Anyway, Heart starts out on the humorous and easy going side. It’s exciting to see both Sam and Dean back in full hunter mode - at ease with each other, in sync and competently focused on doing their job - which ties Heart in with Roadkill very nicely. Unsurprisingly, I especially enjoyed the many lovely brotherly moments in the first half of the episode, like for example Dean’s adorable glee about the opportunity to face a werewolf again, while Sam mocks his enthusiasm, amused about his brother's antics. Or Sam rolling his eyes at his brother's tendency to hit on every girl in a five mile radius and Dean teasing Sam about his awkwardness around Madison. I absolutely loved that the boys played rock, paper & scissors in order to decide who gets to stay with the hot girl, and I thought the fact that Dean always chooses scissors - basically giving Sam what he wants by predictably throwing the game every time - was very heartwarming. Sam calling Dean on that 'flaw', amused and gleeful, was very cute, too. ♥ I just love these little snippets from their past, as I enjoy imagining them as kids. It always reminds me fondly of my own time with my sisters, and I revel in how accurate Supernatural is in depicting siblings relationships.

Sam: "You're unusual."
Madison: "Unusual, like unusual ...?"

Sam’s awkwardness and nervousness when he is alone with Madison, e.g. the way he nearly jumps out of his chair when she empties her underwear on the table, his shy blush when she obviously hits on him or his boyish excitement over her soapy tv show, were completely adorable and excellently played by Jared. I really have to mention here how much Jared stepped up his acting game in S2. It is a joy to watch him lately. ♥ It was nice to see Sam connect to someone so intimately, willing to put his worries and fears about his destiny to the back of his mind, even if just for a short while, and enjoy female companionship.

I think Jared and Emmanuelle Vaugier had a nice chemistry, though not as much as he had with Taylor Cole, who played Sarah in Provenance. I am probably alone on this, but I didn’t find the sex scene all that compelling. Not that it wasn’t good, it just didn’t draw me in emotionally. Mainly I think this is an effect of the camera work though. The close-up shots of limbs and mouths don’t allow us to see the characters' expressions, which focuses the act more on the physical aspects than on the emotional connection between them, which maybe was the point. Overall though, I preferred Dean's sex scenes in Route 666, with the wide angle shots that gave us his facial expressions and showed us Dean's mix of tenderness and passion during the act. A matter of tastes, I guess. :)

Dean: "C'mon she ganked her boss and her ex-boyfriend, that doesn't sound rash and unconscious."
Sam: "Yeah, but what if it was, Dean. I mean, what if some animal part of her brain saw both those guys as threats. Hell, the cop, too."

Although Dean clearly wasn’t the focus of this episode, I think his scenes nevertheless had an impact. Again, Heart proved that the whole black & white pattern from Bloodlust just doesn’t apply as smoothly to Dean as that episode wants to make us believe. I still think that part of Bloodlust is badly written. Anyway, Dean’s first harsh reaction when he finds out about Madison being the werewolf is based on his knowledge as a hunter. To his knowledge - probably passed onto him by John - the werewolf is a conscious creature, living an ordinary life by day, turning into a lethal predator at night and the victim pattern of Madison’s killing trail seems to provide evidence for the theory that she knows exactly what she is doing.

When Dean clashes with Sam about the question if they should kill Madison right away or try to save her - as Sam suggests - Dean's hesitancy to give Madison the benefit of the doubt isn't based on hate for her. He simply tries to not get emotionally involved, because it makes his job harder or might even endanger it in the end, like in Roadkill, where Sam connects to the ghost Molly and almost allows it to cloud his judgment. Dean knows that bonding with Madison will make killing her so much more difficult, and he simply can't allow himself that kind of weakness as a hunter. When John’s theories are proven wrong though and Dean realizes that Sam’s theory about the animal being a separate part of the human mind - with the human being an innocent, and most importantly, unknowing victim - proves to be correct, Dean instantly changes his attitude. His honest attempt to comfort Glenn, as well as his stricken expression at Glenn's confusion and fear after he turns human again, speak volumes about his sympathy.

It doesn’t change what Dean thinks has to be done in the end, but he clearly shows pity for the supernatural creatures here. His earlier glee about the werewolf hunt disappears rapidly, and he revises his initial 'shoot first, ask questions later' approach as soon as he realises Madison's genuine dilemma. Consequently he offers Madison the truth, thus giving her the opportunity to make an informed choice. So, I maintain that Dean doesn’t always see things black and white, his attitude is way more complex - a mixture of genuine dislike of the supernatural, consummate professionalism and a caring personality - and that has always been the case, even back in S1. In my opinion it’s Dean's attitude in Bloodlust that is the exception and not the other way round, and in Bloodlust it might have just been a side-effect of his own self-loathing, based on his feeling that he should be dead.

Sorry for the rant, I am still kind of unhappy about the simplification of Dean's motives in Bloodlust. ;)

Sam: "I can't"
Madison: "I don't want to die. I don't. But I can't live like this. This is the way you can save me. Please, I'm asking you to save me."

I was spoiled for the fact that Sam has to kill Madison in the end, but somehow I was still completely taken by surprise about how the writers turned the cards at the end of the episode. The tragic last 10 minutes of Heart turned it from ordinary monster-of-the-week episode to a powerful character episode, and I really loved that. Obviously we could argue about the validity of certain plot points here, like the question why Madison didn’t turn into a werewolf the night before - was it really the lack of sleep like Dean suggested? Or if Madison's decision to rather accept death than to live like a monster came too fast and hence was not believable. Or if they should have tried other routes first - like locking her up or look for other cures - before taking the radical step. However, I actually couldn’t care less about that. I think the last scene was deliberately set-up to further Sam's emotional development, rather than to explicitly explore Madison's fate, and of course it's possible to criticise that as a questionable narrative decision, however, for me it worked perfectly.

Honestly, I don’t think anything hit me so deeply since John’s final words in In My Time Of Dying. Over the past weeks we saw Sam's struggle to come to terms with his supposed destiny. He heavily relied on outside reassurance to get a grip on his fear, even pleading with his brother and pleading with God for salvation. Over the course of the show we also saw that it is usually Dean, who takes on the responsibility to do what has to be done, shouldering the hard decisions and actions himself, to preserve what little innocence Sam has left, an innocence he himself has long lost and never wished back. Dean was always willing to get his own hands dirty, so Sam doesn’t have to, but in Heart Sam finally steps up to leave that innocence behind. He steps up to the task and refuses to let his big brother take this burden from him. It’s a step from boyhood to manhood that Sam takes here, and that is huge in terms of character development.

Madison's plea for Sam to kill her, so she can be saved, expresses the same sentiment that Sam expressed towards Dean in Playthings and Born Under A Bad Sign, namely that she prefers to die at the hand of someone she loves and trusts, rather than living a life that’s not completely under her own control, possibly hurting the one's she loves in the process. In theory Sam can easily relate to that stance, as it is the loss of control over his own fate that Sam fears the most as well. However, at first Sam refuses to give up the hope that it is possible to save Madison's life, because it means to give up hope for himself as well. Sam clearly identifies with Madison and his desperate urgency to save her - against all odds - stems from his own issues, as well as from his feelings for her. Madison's choice to accept her death as her own salvation possibly foreshadows Sam's own choice, should his supposed 'destiny' to become evil ever come to pass, and that's a bleak prospect.

As a side note: I think his experience with Madison will allow Sam to realise the full weight of the burden he placed upon his brother, when he made him promise to kill him if he should ever turn into a monster. Although he misses the point earlier in their discussion, when he accuses Dean of being willing to kill Madison, but not him. While Madison already turned into a monster, Sam didn’t and despite what Sam might believe, there is still a chance to save him and Dean will go out of his way to make sure of that. They were simply too late for Madison.

Anyway, I think it is also important that it is Madison herself, who makes the ultimate decision here and not the brothers. While I highly doubt that Sam and Dean would have simply gone through with killing her if she had insisted on finding another way, it was crucial that she had a choice. "I can keep feeling sorry for myself or I can take control of my life, and I chose the latter!" she states to Sam earlier. Her decision to die, instead of allowing what happened to her to rule her life, consequently stems from that insight. Madison can’t live with what she has done, and more importantly, with what she might still do, if she hesitates to act on her knowledge. Now, in this moment, she is still an innocent, but if she would ever harm someone else again, it would truly be on her conscience. Sam was right, she is impressive.

I think if the writers had taken the easy way out of Madison's predicament, it would have cheapened this episode considerably, as it would have reduced it to a simple monster-of-the-week episode, instead of making it arc and character relevant. Not everybody can be saved - or at least not in the way the brothers want to - and I love that the writers had the courage to take the painful route here. This episode wasn’t about saving the damsel in distress, it was about the conscious decision of the characters to take responsibility for their own lives, even as innocent victims of events that lie outside of their control. It was about re-gaining control, about breaking out of the circle of despair and helplessness, especially for Sam, if for better or worse has to be seen further along.

When Dean gently takes the gun from Madison - his eyes locked on his brother, who is falling apart right in front of him - silently offering Sam to take on this burden for him, I think that was the moment that finally broke me. I was at the same time immensely proud of and devastated for Sam, when he acknowledges that he needs to go through with it himself - even if it is only for Madison's sake - and that Dean can’t protect him from this step forever. While Sam goes to leave his innocence behind, Dean’s heart visibly breaks for his little brother. He tried so hard to protect Sam, but no matter how much he wants to protect him, he has to let Sam make this own decision here. And Dean probably heard more gunshots in his life than a person ever should have, but this one makes him flinch. His little brother is facing an act here that he himself might still need to face, and that hits right home. Kudos to Jensen and Jared for nailing that scene, it could have turned out cheesy, but it worked perfectly for me.

And that’s it. My show just killed me. Over and out, someone please salt and burn my bones and let me rest in peace!

Comments

[impalalove]

I agree especially with the end not turning out to be cheesy, and as for the werewolf, they did it with CGI. I thought it seemed more of a vampire to me, because I've always thought werewolves had well, fur. So... makeup, maybe, might have been another option.

But another great review to another great SPN episode! ♥

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

Thanks Kallie :) *g*

Well, it may have reminded you of vamps because it was similar to the Buffy/Angel makeup for vamps, but I kinda like that they have their own take on supernatural creatures and are not afraid to go against common and popular versions. :)

[impalalove]

There is that, true. :D

[mystic-aleisha.livejournal.com]

I think your very right in saying JA and JP nailed that scene and I do have a growing love for JP it was a great episode and a great review from you.

Anyway I finally got my lj up and going again and again don't stress about having lack of art at the moment, as I said you art is always great no matter when it comes.

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Al :)

... and yay for getting your lj up :) I am always restless with long phases of not being able to art, but well, it can't be forced *g*