Review for 3x05 'Bedtime Stories'
Nov. 3rd, 2007 04:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
galatheaLast season I really hoped that they give Cathryn Humphris more to do, since I really appreciate her writing very much, she always writes a good mix between brother/family angst and casefile and Bedtime Stories is no exception. This was the first episode this season where no recurring characters appeared and we just had the brothers, working a case together, snarky and angsty, with the ongoing seasonal plotlines chiming in and nicely vibrating throughout the MotW. It had a classic S1 feeling for me in that regard and I loved that.
Kyle: "He killed my brothers. How would you feel?"
Sam: "Can’t imagine anything worse!"
Admittedly, I never care much about the monster-of-the-week plot, unless it parallels or reflects on the brothers' relationship or other internal character issues and Bedtime Stories obviously worked that angle rather well. From the abundance of available fairytales the writers mostly focused on stories that dealt with siblings loss and survivor’s guilt, thus reflecting on Sam's struggle to cope with the thought of losing Dean. Kyle, who helplessly had to watch his two brothers getting mauled to death by a 'wolf' - Dean and the hellhounds inevitably come to mind - and subsequently tries to deal with the guilt of being the sole survivor of that encounter, made an excellent mirror for Sam’s situation. As did the sister who witnessed her brother being stabbed to death - unless they were meant to be a couple, but I tend to think that they stuck to the original tale, just like with the others. It's not without irony that his hedonistic tendencies turned out to be a fatal weakness in the end. I mean, Dean & Pie anyone?
The snow white tale worked rather nicely as a parallel for Sam and Dean as well. Doctor Garrison, who kept the spirit of his daughter around, unable to listen to what she was trying to tell him and unwilling to let go of the only family he had left, and Callie, who had turned into an angry, murderous spirit, exacting revenge for the injustice that had happened to her - they mirror how Dean’s deal for Sam's life and his refusal to listen to his brother's concerns and suggestions slowly seem to push Sam into increasingly anger-driven behaviour. Now, to be able to let a loved one go not only relates to Sam, but also to Dean; they both proved time and again that they are unable to let go, at least where their respective brother is concerned. So, all these fairytales resonated nicely with Sam and Dean on different levels, and I found that very compelling about the episode.
Dean: "All you're pitching me right now is a bunch of if's and maybe's, and that's not good enough, because if we screw with this deal, you die!"
Sam: "And if we don't screw with it, you die!"
I loved the opening argument between Sam and Dean in the car, mainly because I feel that as long as they talk about their issues, even if it is in a fight, there is always a possibility of actual dialogue as well. I love that Sam is sharing his ideas with Dean, not at all hiding his efforts to save his brother anymore, until Dean shuts him down. The argument is heated, tense and the emotions are lying raw. It’s a futile argument, since both of them won’t give, can’t give in. They come from opposite sides onto the same problem and there can’t be a conciliation between both approaches, because either way one of them is going to pay the price and the other one will not stand for that.
It’s funny though that Sam tries to cut off the argument by stating that Dean isn’t John, barking out orders and expecting Sam to follow them without second guessing his decisions, since Sam never allowed John any authority over his life anyway, while it was always more likely that he followed Dean’s suggestions. So while this remark is bellowed out in the heat of the moment, it’s only designed to hurt Dean where he can be hit the easiest, in his conviction that it had been better if John survived and he was dead.
Anyway, the opening argument pretty much foreshadowed the ending of the episode. Sam is intent on killing the crossroad demon on the off-chance that it will set Dean free from his contract, and from the get-go he has no concern for the demon's innocent host and neither has Dean. Or if he does, he doesn't mention it. Although he was openly concerned about Sam’s lack of empathy towards the victims just last episode. I can't help but wonder if he deliberately shies away from an open discussion about that issue, just to avoid the question if something is wrong with Sam. In any case, Sam indirectly admits to be willing to kill an innocent human in order to save Dean, which pushes his 'I’d do anything for you' from All Hell Breaks Loose II to a worrisome new level. Furthermore, by suggesting to kill the crossroad demon Sam also risks his own life, and it's obvious that he is not particularly concerned about that fine print in Dean's contract either. As Sam tells Kyle earlier, he can't imagine anything worse than losing his brother, so it's no surprise that those pesky morals and self-preservation take a backseat in his mind.
Sam’s headspace is getting darker and darker this season. He reminds me more and more of John Winchester, so obsessed with saving Dean that he loses all perspective on the costs. That development in Sam's character is tragic, really. I mean, even though Dean’s pact for Sam's life was selfish, it was ultimately a sacrifice made out of love, and the thought that Dean's sacrifice may achieve what the YED with all his elaborate plans could not - namely to turn Sam into something he is not - is just heartbreaking. While it is understandable that Dean is unwilling to act on Sam's suggestions to save him, not least because he is concerned for his brother's life, he also effectively stonewalls Sam, thus pushing him further away and facilitating Sam's slide into darkness. I don't think Dean realises that at the moment. He may notice changes in Sam and allocate them to his nibbling fears about Sam’s 'wrongness', but I don’t think he is ready to admit or even see, how much his own behaviour factors into these changes. Because if he would acknowledge it, the feeling of being liberated would pretty much vanish with it. I doubt though that Dean will be able to turn a blind eye to this development much longer.
The awkward and sullen mood that follows the brothers' argument when Dean enforces a change of subject and simply resumes their discussion about the case is painful to watch. Still, I really love that Sam is visibly subdued when he ponders the possibility that they are dealing with a werewolf case. I think that’s more owed to the fact that it evoked painful memories of Madison, rather than to his argument with Dean.
Sam: "Is that what you want me to do Dean? Just let you go?"
The desperate, hurt and utterly bleak look in Sam’s eyes when Dean tells him to let him go really killed me. And I have to just emphasize again how much Jensen and Jared can convey in one silent look shared between them. We know that Dean is afraid of what awaits him and I do think that part of him wants Sam to save him, if he could only be sure that no harm would come to his brother if he did so, but since he sees no way out, he has to convince Sam to let him go, no matter his own feelings. When he walks down that dark hospital corridor, away from Sam, it was kind of reminiscent of In My Time Of Dying with Sam staring down the empty corridor after he nearly lost Dean.
But Sam just isn’t willing to give into this, just like he wasn’t in Faith or In My Time Of Dying either, so he just does what he does best, sneaking out on Dean and confronting the crossroad demon on his own. First off, I have to say, that even if Sandra McCoy did get the role without Jared’s involvement, I really think she didn’t work at all as the crossroad demon. All former demon incarnations were bitchy, seductive and sarcastic, a mixture between cold, arrogant and amused and McCoy just didn’t get that attitude across, she was just too sweet and I honestly think her acting was mediocre to say the least. The chemistry between her and Jared just didn’t work, if you compare it to Dean and the crossroad demon encounters, so maybe this was a case where close personal relationship did hinder the onscreen interaction.
Anyways, the demon trying to taunt Sam, insinuating that subconsciously he wants Dean gone was a nice exchange, neatly tapping into this season’s plotline of sowing the seeds of doubt, whispering lies and half-truths into people’s ears in order to turn them against everything they believe in. Of course Dean has his flaws and we have seen in the past that they are both going on each others nerves constantly, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t love and appreciate each other. Yet, throwing all of Dean’s flaws into Sam’s face, amplifying thoughts and emotions he surely had of his brother more than once, after he just had a huge confrontation with Dean and probably isn’t too happy with him, can serve to throw Sam off his focus.
I guess the concept of loving someone despite their flaws is incomprehensible for demons, the self sacrificing nature of humans was mocked by demons before in this show. Just as it did with Dean, the demon tries to attack what it perceives as the weak spot in Sam’s defences and reflects it back to him. It is doubtful though, that she grasps that by degrading Dean she is more likely to get a hardened stance out of Sam. The exchange was also interesting, because just like the priest in Sin City, the crossroad demon tried to insinuate that Sam is stronger without Dean, destined for greater things, if he would only step up to his potential. It's very well possible that the demons perceive Dean as the only barrier standing between Sam and his purpose and hence try to undermine his position whenever they can.
As expected, the deal would stand, no matter if the crossroad demon dies or not, since she isn’t the actual holder of the contract. That’s an interesting point, because she obviously had no troubles to call off Evan Hudson’s deal in Crossroad Blues without consulting her 'boss', so it stands to reason that there’s a special interest in Dean’s deal coming due on the demons’ side. She also mentioned in All Hell Breaks Loose to Dean that she could get into a lot of trouble for making that deal, implying that she has to answer to someone else for her actions. Since the YED hardly would’ve complained about the deal and the 'boss' of the crossroad demon is obviously quite happy to get his hands on Dean’s soul, the question remains, which demon faction she opposed with that deal.
As to who her mysterious boss is: Since the YED is dead and Ruby seems to be an outcast amongst the demons, I guess it is either a new opponent, that we didn’t get to know yet or someone we already encountered, who is disguised as a human. It is entirely possible though that if Sam would decide to take his leadership role, he would be able to 'outrank' said boss in the demonic hierarchy, and thus would be able to save Dean by claiming the contract by authority. Again I am worried that in the end Dean’s deal may force Sam into a role, the YED failed to force onto him. Lots of speculations are going around in my head at the moment, I just hope they don’t go to extremes with the characters.
While I did see it coming that Sam would shoot the demon anyway, even if only to test if she lied to him or not, I was still shocked to actually see him surrender to rage and hate and kill her on the spot. He’s at a stage where he doesn’t control his actions anymore where anything demonic is involved and that scares me to death. At the moment there is nothing and nobody who seems to be able to hold Sam back, and I think only Dean would be able to reach his brother and keep him from going further down the slippery slope of darkness. Sam might be in need of saving after all, I hope Dean comes to that realisation in time.
I have never been a fan of the evil!Sam storyline, because I think it will effectively bring down the brothers' dynamics and change the character into something I neither like nor appreciate for storytelling reasons. What made Born Under A Bad Sign so amazing was that Sam was possessed and not evil, the episode keept the character integrity intact, while giving Jared the possibility to play the villain and it worked beautifully. Although Dean usually is the hot tempered one in the brothers' relationship, Sam also always showed a tendency for anger and it seems that he is consumed with it at the moment. Back in Wendigo Dean pointed out to Sam that over the long haul the anger over Jessica's death will kill him, but back then he had Dean to work with him through his grief. Now Sam feels more or less alone, because Dean refuses to emotionally back him up, and that's worrying. How many more questionable actions can they put on Sam until they break that character? I hope, I never find out!
What else was noteworthy:
(1) There’s a serious screw-up with the timeline in this, since Dean mentions it’s close to Halloween which would set this episode into October/November, but since Sin City was set 2 months after Wyoming that would hardly be possible, given that they supposedly opened the gate around April/May. I usually don’t pay close attention to the dates, but that was irritating, even for me.
(2) I find it funny that Sam knew all fairytales, while Dean seemed to be oblivious of them (well, apart from the porn-y movie versions of course *g*), since I would’ve guessed that it was Dean who read the fairytales to Sammy in the first place, when he was a child. Anyways, Sam coming to the conclusion from the evidence that they deal with fairytale trances was kind of far-fetched, but well, I won’t be nitpicky. ;)
In conclusion: All in all I loved Bedtime Stories, but then, there was brother angst in spades, which always manages to capture me like nothing else in the show, so that wasn’t exactly surprising. The storyline around Sam continues to worry me and I hope they will bring at least some kind of resolution to it soon, to give me some peace of mind. Sorry if this only adds up to incoherent ramblings this time, but I am tired and my brain isn't cooperating that much at the moment.
Did you know? In the original script it wasn't intended for Sam to kill the crossroad demon, he was supposed to simply walk away. It was Jared who suggested for Sam to take that step, adding an air of unpredictability and danger to his character.
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Date: 2007-11-03 04:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-03 11:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-04 09:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-04 11:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-20 04:07 am (UTC)I figured you'd like the episode, with all the brother stuff going on! :D I liked it a lot as well, especially the glances between Dean and Sam when the Pig said the thing about seeing your brother die (it was like Dean was finally realizing what Sam was going to go through), and at the end....I did not expect to see Sam confront the CR demon at the end, or shoot her anyway! Damn....
Oh and I really wish they would lay off the gore, it wasn't as bad in this episode, but as you said in one review you'd be happy never to see a table saw or a garbage disposal (or a fan for that matter!) ever again...*shudder*
I also liked seeing the actor who played the doctor again, he was actually in an episode of "Moonlight" (as a father as well, whose wife was dead and who only had his daughter left), so it was the same season he appeared here! Afterwards though....
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Date: 2009-11-20 09:13 am (UTC)ROFL well, gore is part of horror, so it's not like it's unexpected. Kripke and Co have way too much fun to see what they can smuggle past standards&practices. ;)
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Date: 2009-11-20 09:17 am (UTC)And I was just teasing because you said at the beginning that there were no recurring characters in this epp....and there were, the crossroad demon! :p
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Date: 2009-11-20 09:36 am (UTC)Heh, yeah, true. But back then I was just so happy to have no Ruby or Bela in the episode. LOL