For background on Season 7, click here.
Recap
The episode begins in the 100 Mile Wilderness in Maine. A couple is camping when a bright light flashes in the sky. A few moments later there’s a rustle, the guy goes to check and lo and behold—Dean! Back in…well, lots of dirt, grime and blood.
Dean travels to Louisiana and revives a companion, Benny, from Purgatory by slicing open his arm and bleeding glowing-blood onto the bones. They hug, promise to keep in touch, are glad to be back from the big-P.
Sam, meanwhile, lives in Kermit, Texas (there is such a place in West Texas). He quietly leaves a woman and dog during the night and drives the Impala to Whitefish, Montana. It should be noted that one, the woman watches him leave while pretending she’s asleep, and two, someone is watching the house as Sam leaves. He’s greeted by a suspicious Dean who doused him with salt, borax and bleeds him.
As they talk it’s revealed that Dean’s been in Purgatory, the fate of Cas is maybe-dead, Sam has given up saving-people/hunting-things and, actually, never looked for Dean after Dean disappeared by killing Dick Roman. The tension between the two of them is palpable. Later that night Dean finds messages on old phones from Kevin the Prophet, and confronts Sam on ditching Kevin in his time of need.
They start an investigation to find Kevin, subsequently find him in Iowa, where Kevin reveals that he has a tablet from God that reveals how to close the gates of hell, forever. Dean is excited about this, Sam seems a bit reserved—mostly, it seems, because he’s concerned about how this will affect Kevin. Dean pretty much says that there’s no use in crying over spilled milk—Kevin, like the two of them, is in this until it’s over.
Two demons show up and are subsequently vanquished. Interesting to note: Sam missed a swing at the demon, while Dean kicked major ass and Kevin also had some survival techniques (holy water in a squirt bottle). Obvious contrast between how Kevin and Dean’s life has been about survival, while Sam’s has not.
Crowley appears and makes moves to try to take Kevin, and Kevin outwits him (again). The price he pays is that his girlfriend, Channing (who has a demon riding her), gets her neck snapped.
The show ends with Dean making a phone call to Benny, the vampire/friend from big-P.
Thoughts…
…On Dean
Damn, I felt bad for the guy. Coming back from Purgatory and finding out that Sam didn’t look for him or try to find a way to release him. The hurt and surprise are easy to read on his face. Also doubly awful because of all that Dean has put on the line for Sam, multiple times.
Dean has obviously come back a warrior with some PTSD issues. His eyes have a tight look, his manner is wary and shaky. He doesn’t sleep. He’s a bit confused by the cush modern life as opposed to the primal survival of Purgatory. Add to this the layer of brooding brother tension—story and character goldmine!
Still, Dean the Hunter is sharper than ever. He whips major ass on those two demons, more competently in hand-to-hand than ever.
…On Sam
Oh, Sam. As much as the idealist in me prefers Dean’s character, I have to admit, as far as complex, complicated characters go—Sam takes the cake. The consistent cake, thank you writers.
Sam never wanted the hunting life. He quit it as soon as he could, leaving for Stanford, pre-law and a beautiful blond bombshell of a girlfriend. He began hunting as a quest to find his father and vengeance for Jess. Even though at times he could be relentless, obsessed, and arrogant, it was never the ideal of saving-people/hunting-things that motivated him. It was personal. Helping people was a happy byproduct of the end goal.
When he confronts Dean in the motel—the world did spin without us, thank you, it wasn’t all up to us to save everything anymore—I could have given a standing ovation. THANK YOU. The show needs at least one of the characters to have that epiphany, and because Dean pursues hunting out of idealism (it is his life, hunting is who Dean is) he doesn’t understand that it isn’t the same for Sam. Maybe he doesn’t want to understand that. Dean has always preferred the black and white (he loves the ‘purity’ of Purgatory, right?), and Sam has always existed in the gray. Not to say that Dean never grew to accept the gray, he did, but he always seemed to prefer the clear kill.
As for not searching for Dean—well, we don’t know that for sure, yet. But that does seem to me a bit weird, buut definitely explainable. Sam had no one. Everyone in his life (brother, mother, father, fiancée, Bobby, Cas, Jo, Ellen, etc.) was dead or gone. I’d need some peace, too.
Random Thoughts
The figure watching Sam and Amelia’s house had a popped collar. Crowley or Dean?
That femur bone/obsidian blade weapon is awesome.
How did Dean get in touch with Sam? Or does Sam just take off to Montana? This whole scene is shrouded either in mystery or faulty execution. Time will tell.
I can’t wait to see how Dean survived Purgatory. What did he eat? How did he sleep? Were there other humans?
So far, I do not like Amelia. Bit aggressive about the dog, no? “Maybe if you were such an upstanding guy you wouldn’t have hit him in the first place.” Um…okay.
Closing
Dean, as played by Jensen Ackles, is always a pleasure to watch. I like the turn to grizzled warrior, and it makes me believe that, in the end, Dean is either going to become a living legend or become a legend by dying. Sam has a need to connect, to have a family and a life, and I think he’ll get that. Dean seems to be getting further from being able to relate with people other than hunters and monsters, and further from a traditional happy ending. Re-watching the first season reminds me that, in the beginning (before Jo, Ellen, Lisa, etc.) Dean promoted the anti-social hunter life. He repeatedly told Sam they were on their own, no one could understand. Of course, they find people to bond with, become family with, but those people are all dead now. What does that do to a man?
The flashbacks are an interesting contrast. One, desaturated and grim, the other bright and dreamy. I’m not sure how well they played embedded in the storyline, especially the Amelia-flashbacks. They seemed a bit shoehorned in.
Honestly, I can’t wait for next week, and I’m excited about this season. Even though they’re beginning with a familiar trope for Supernatural (the disappearing for a year and coming back)—this time it’s different. Sam and Dean have each fundamentally changed. Sam actually moved on. Dean spent a year in Purgatory, and kind of liked it.
It’s going to be exciting to watch.
Under the Old Oak Tree 