Review for 4x04 'Metamorphosis'

[galathea]

Man, the show doesn’t really slow down and jumps head-on into questions, I wanted to see addressed for a long while now, picking up themes and motifs they touched in the earlier seasons. I honestly didn’t expect to see so many answers and truths revealed this early in the season, but it gives me the feeling that the writers know exactly where to go with the characters this year and that really thrills me to no end! ♥ In any case, Cathryn Humphris’ script for Metamorphosis gave me everything I wanted from the first confrontation between the brothers after the revelations of last week’s episode.



Metamorphosis finally explores Sam’s side of the story deeper, allowing us a glimpse into his head and so far it affirms all my speculations about him. I have to admit that I was wondering for a while now why the writers decided to focus on Dean’s perspective ever since the season premiere, when it was Sam who had changed, while Dean came back from hell basically unchanged. Now I tend to think it was because it set up the confrontation in Metamorphosis perfectly. In a way the first 4 episodes of S4 are the counterpart to the first 4 episodes of S2, where we experienced Dean’s erratic behavior and steady downward spiral through Sam’s eyes, while we only had limited insight into Dean’s motivations and had to make assumptions from his actions. Both mini-arcs find a temporary resolution when the respective brother finally comes out with the truth, but I guess it’s fair to say that just like in S2 the reprieve will be short lived and things are far from being over, heading for an even bigger confrontation midseason.

While I am usually unhappy when Sam and Dean are at odds with each other, this season has me gripped, because their conflict feels very real and the emotions are raw and believable, and in a sense we are heading towards this specific confrontation ever since S1, when Sam’s powers were introduced. It’s a complex and messy tangle of love, pain, hurt and anger between the boys at the moment and I don’t know why, but in S3 they didn’t manage to touch on that in a similar intense fashion although they had just as great material to work with.

Anyway, Metamorphosis continues right where we left off last episode and leads straight into the confrontation between Sam and Dean, that I awaited eagerly all week. And man, did they deliver! The several arguments between the brothers were pitch perfect and very in character, from Dean starting to throw punches, only to come around in the end and apologize, to Sam being defensive and trying to get Dean to understand, only to be defeated in the end. Like with so many really important arguments between them it’s not about the one being right and the other being wrong, but about perspectives. They both raise valid points and they need to find a compromise that allows both of them to live with it, but I guess that we will have a long way before us until that happens.

Sam: “It doesn’t matter who you are, it only matters what you do!”

As predicted Sam has the best intentions at heart. He tries to take something scary and evil and turn it into something good, because that’s just who he is. He fought his supposed destiny for 2 years, but the price for his resistance was enormous. It didn't only cost his own but also his brother's life and it’s very Sam to stop running and turn around, facing this thing head-on for a change, trying to control it on his own terms. He is right, he is stuck with this ‘curse’ and it’s not going away, just because he doesn’t want it. Denial will get him nowhere in the end, but the question is, where will embracing his powers lead him?

It's a valid question, if Sam is really so wrong about using his powers. After all, he does save people, with no apparent damage to himself at the moment, his soul and his humanity seem intact. So where’s the harm? Up to now Sam only exorcises demons, but we know from Jake that once started, the psychic kids can unlock every possible power within a very short span of time, and Ruby made clear that Sam would be able to reach his full potential within 30 hours in order to defeat Lilith. So why the sudden limit in Sam’s abilities, provided he isn’t lying to Dean? I tend to think that Ruby might hold the answer to that question. I think that her current sweet and obedient attitude towards Sam is a means to an end, as sarcasm and pressure failed to get her anywhere with him last season. In S3 Ruby tried to convince Sam that he has to go against his gentle nature and that he has to accept collateral damage, but in the end Sam refused her. So, to get Sam to believe in the benevolent use of his powers may be the best way to win him over. Her agenda is still the same as it was in S3, she just changed her tune.

Ruby knew that Sam didn't feel comfortable with his powers, she also knew that Sam promised Dean to not go down that road, and she needed to bypass these obstacles. And what better way to convince him, than by tempting him into the first small step under the mantle of benignity, thus lulling him into a false sense of security. The next step would raise less resistance and the next even less and so on. Sam admitted in Lazarus Rising that it feels good to use his powers, even if he didn’t know if it feels right. We see how easily the low level demon in the beginning of Metamorphosis goads Sam into anger, so how long until Sam is tempted to cross a line? How long until using his powers feels evil? How long until it corrupted him beyond the point of no return? How long until he becomes the very thing he usually hunts? It is a slippery slope down on the proverbial road to hell, and I am still not convinced that there is a way for Sam to access the full range of his powers and still stay good.

So why not take his new handy ability to exorcise demons without harming the host and leave it at that? As Sam realises in the end, it’s playing with fire, there’s no guarantee that he is able to stop. It’s like Jack Montgomery’s overwhelming hunger for human flesh, once he started to satisfy it, there was no turning back, it consumed him. It might well be that no matter what, it’s already too late for Sam. He opened himself up to the evil inside him and that taste of power might have been enough to set a chain reaction in motion that Sam isn’t able to control. 'It’s my choice', Sam emphasizes but Jack’s example showed that no matter how hard you try to make that choice, it’s possible that it is of no avail in the end.

Sam: "This disease is pumping through my veins, and I can’t ever rip it out or scrub it clean. I’m a whole new level of freak!"

Ever since All Hell Breaks Loose Pt1 I was wondering if Sam still believes in his own humanity after he learned of the blood ritual, and I am happy that the episode at least partially addressed this. In a twisted way Sam tries to use the part of himself that is inhuman to ensure his humanity. As long as he uses his powers for good, and as long as he has good intentions, he cannot fall, right? There is simply no way for him to redeem himself from the evil inside him, other than to do as much good as he can, using every means he has at his disposal. Sam’s argument here is an echo of his statement back in Playthings, that he can only change his destiny by saving as many people as he can.

It breaks my heart to know that Sam was dealing with these self-doubts ever since the S2 finale, but had no opportunity to come to terms with them or to even share his burdens, because he was so caught up in his fight for Dean’s life. Breaking Dean's deal took priority over everything, even himself. In S3 we only saw some fleeting moments of his internal struggle, like his distressed expression when Dean declares human/not human a simple black & white problem in Time Is On My Side or his pained plea "Don’t look at me like that", when Dean stares him down at his suggestion to fight Lilith with his powers in No Rest For The Wicked. He feels so desolate, and I doubt that Dean’s reassurance at the end of the episode, that he doesn’t need to deal with this alone, is really comforting to him.

Sam’s fear that Dean might reject him for what he is, reaches far back to the beginning of the series and while Dean has never been able to see anything but goodness in his brother, his general stance towards supernatural creatures didn’t exactly make it easy for Sam to overcome his fears. Sam’s devastated expression at Dean’s admission that if he didn’t know him, he would want to hunt him down, was heart-breaking. His brother’s reaction confirmed every fear Sam ever had. Although Sam fails to see that Dean’s fierceness results more from Sam’s lies and deceptions, as he feels his brother personally betrayed him.

In Are You There God? It's Me Dean Winchester Sam’s joy at Castiel’s appearance and his conviction that it is a positive sign for the both of them, clearly showed the depth of his belief that he is still on the side of good. That belief is shattered though, when Dean passes on Castiel’s message, that if Dean doesn’t stop Sam, he will. I don’t think that Dean is completely convinced in the matter of God and angels yet, but nonetheless uses Sam’s own faith against him here to lend his argument more power. Dean gives Sam no room for excuses, he questions his every decision and combined with the disastrous results of their attempt to save Jack, it leaves Sam utterly defeated. His statement that he is done with everything was ominous in its vagueness. I hope we'll find out soon what exactly he meant here.

Dean: "If I didn't know you, I would want to hunt you."

Understandably Dean’s first reaction is fuelled by feelings of betrayal and disappointment. Sam not only lied to him, repeatedly, he also broke the promise he gave to Dean in No Rest For The Wicked. Dean died and went to hell, so his brother doesn’t have to gamble away his humanity in an effort to save him, and in the end it had been for nothing. In their first argument in the motel Dean isn’t able to see beyond that betrayal. His frustration and hurt discharge in a surge of violence, and he lashes out against his brother, verbally as well as physically. In his anger he even considers walking out on Sam, which is a sure sign that he is at the end of his rope in that moment.

Dean’s quiet "You don’t need me" clearly shows though, that the betrayal isn't the only issue Dean has here: His whole life he defined himself through being Sam’s protector and mentor, but now Sam not only refuses to accept Dean back in that role, he also has replaced him with Ruby. Dean feels useless, like he has no place in Sam’s life anymore. Sam changed, and Dean had no opportunity to change with him, to adapt, define a new role. He has no idea anymore how he fits in with his brother and that discovery is immensely unsettling for him. Just three episodes ago, he was convinced that there is nothing that he doesn’t know about Sam and the reality hits him hard here.

Still, even if it was only spoken in anger, Dean’s admission that if he didn't know Sam, he would want to hunt him down, was shocking, because it opens disturbing parallels to Gordon. Back in Hunted Gordon argued for a preemptive strike against Sam, and it didn't matter to him that Sam hadn't done anything that would constitute as evil. Dean, on the other hand, always needed to be sure that a line was crossed before he considered taking action. The extent of Sam’s deception though, not only towards Dean but also towards himself, as he clearly represses his own doubts in order to be able to press on with his powers, throws Dean. It’s clear that the discovery that Sam lied to him over and over again, for a very long time, resulted in massive trust issues from Dean’s side, especially since he himself lately always opts for full disclosure with his brother. How can he ever trust Sam again? The very fundament of their relationship seem to be in question.

Anyway, as so often with Dean, his anger burns high and intense, but as soon as the initial shock is over and Sam shows his own frustration, desperate to make his brother understand, Dean’s attitude softens instantly. In their argument at the roadside Dean finally really listens to his brother, looks beyond his own hurt and realizes the extent of Sam’s distress and tries to take the first step towards him. Sam’s defeated demeanor after they failed to save Jack prompts Dean’s apology and his switch into big brother mode. While he tries to reassure Sam that he doesn’t need to deal with this own his own, Sam's closed off expression shows that there is no real comfort for him available at the moment. That doesn't bode well for Sam's state of mind in the near future.

Travis: "They start out human for all intents and purposes. (…) They feed once, they are monsters forever."

The monster-of-the-week plot in Metamorphosis was obviously only a vehicle to illustrate Sam and Dean’s dilemma. It was crafted to exactly fit around the story of the brothers and had no other function than highlighting it. While the parallels between Jack and Sam were drawn very unsubtle, even without Dean pointing it out to us, thank you very much, it at least raised an interesting point and I have to wonder if this is meant as foreshadowing: Jack did control his urge to feed, even if only barely, until Travis provoked him into a frenzy. He lost control when he tried to protect his wife and child and from there on a return was impossible.

I can easily imagine Sam losing control should Dean’s life be threatened again and as mentioned before, I doubt that now that he started to use his powers, it will be easy to abandon them, especially in a situation where they allow him to save his brother (or anybody else in peril). Could he watch someone die, rather than act? If the events at the end of No Rest For The Wicked were to take place now, I don’t think Sam would be able to not use his powers. I think that his statement that he wants to stop is genuine. I can’t see him jump into yet another lie, just to soothe his brother’s worries, not after the immense fallout they just had. Still, it's possible that in the end he can't avoid it, and I am anxious to see how it all plays out.

Anyways, would it have been truly possible for Jack to control the monster inside him indefinitely? The episode draws the obvious parallel to Bloodlust here. Lenore and her group were able to control their base instincts, but they were able to substitute human blood with animal blood. When Jack fed on raw meat, it didn’t seem to calm his urges in the least though. Would it have been possible for him to sustain himself like that or was Sam’s attempt to save him doomed to fail from the start? Sam tried to save a 'monster' with an uncommon theory before, namely Madison in Heart, to whom he also related because she was an innocent victim, someone with something evil inside, that she couldn’t control. He failed to save her as well and, just like Jack, had to kill her.

It seems that no matter how hard Sam tries, in the end, he is condemned to fail, death and destruction seem to follow him around. Back in Provenance he was already convinced to be cursed and since then it was only a steady downward spiral for him. Metamorphosis left me aching for both boys, but the tragedy of Sam’s fate was what stayed with me the longest after the episode.

What else was noteworthy?:

(1) I loved the short reprieve from the intense drama, when the brothers had a moment of bonding over Dean’s report of his time travel adventure. The reverence in their voices and soft expressions when they talk about Mary, always tugs at my heart strings. It’s like they revert into 4 yr olds whenever their mother is mentioned. Apparently seeing Mary make the deal for John’s life didn’t affect Dean’s feelings for her in the least, and I am happy about that.

(2) The scene where Sam is locked up in a closet, while Dean’s life is in danger, was very reminiscent of Nightmare, and I wonder if it was deliberately set as a contrast to that episode, where Sam freed himself by using his powers, while here he used more 'conventional' means. Although why he didn’t simply kick the flimsy door down and instead tried to lockpick it, remains a mystery to me. *g* I loved Sam’s enraged reaction to Jack's threats against Dean and the way he leans his head against the door and closes his eyes in relief, when Jack rassures him that Dean is alive, was heart-warming. ♥ Small gestures like these gain even more importance for me in an episode that is so filled with tension between the boys.

(3) I loved that we got to meet Travis, another hunter, who was not of the completely unhinged sociopath variety. Although he was mainly used for exposition purposes and accordingly doomed to die, I liked his character, especially since he supplied us with the information that Sam was a mathlete in highschool and provided plenty of opportunity for Dean to make digs at his brother.

In conclusion: Metamorphosis was an intense emotional ride and tops off a fantastic run of early mytharc episodes. If the show stays true to its usual pattern, the next episode will be more light-hearted, they always like to follow up drama with comedy. S4 so far is awesome! ♥

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Did you know? While filming the scene where Sam and Dean stake out Jack’s house with binoculars, Jared and Jensen apparently fell for the oldest prank in the history of pranks. The crew applied black paint on the edges of the binoculars, so that after looking through them, both boys had black smudges all over their eye areas. *g*