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6.08 – All Dogs Go To Heaven

Details

6.08 – All Dogs Go To Heaven

DETAILS

Writers: Adam Glass
Director: Phil Sgriccia
First aired: Friday, November 12.

IT’S A DOG’S LIFE — Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki) investigate what seems to be a werewolf killing but turns out to be a skinwalker (guest star Andrew Rothenberg) posing as a family dog who is taking revenge on his owner’s enemies. After capturing the dog, he turns human and tells Sam and Dean that an Alpha skinwalker has created many sleeper cells that will rise on his command and kill their families.. The only way to stop the mass murders is to find and kill the Alpha.

Phil Sgriccia directed the episode written by Adam Glass.

Recap

RECAP

Synopsis

Sam and Dean discover the Alpha skinwalker’s plan: create sleeper cells of his kind and turn them loose upon humanity. To find and stop the Alpha, the brothers need the help of a skinwalker that has taken the form of a dog and befriended its human family.

Full Recap

Buffalo, new York

A businessman talks to his wife to make sure she’s taking care of their dog. As he leaves a bar and gets into his car, something emerges from the bushes and leaps onto the hood. It smashes through the windshield and kills the man.

The brothers stop at a rib shack and Dean calls Bobby to try and find a way out of their “arrangement” with Crowley. Crowley appears and tells them that he has a job for them, and points out that Sam would sell out his brother in a minute. Dean refuses to work for him, and Crowley gives Sam a touch of Hell, warning that it’s a hostage situation. However, he agrees to return Sam’s soul if they complete the job. Crowley then shows them a newspaper report on the man’s death. He appears to have been killed by a werewolf, but Dean notes that it’s not a full moon. However, Sam warns that werewolves have started manifesting on other nights.

As Sam and Dean drive to Buffalo, Sam nonchalantly goes about checking out the case. Dean is still upset, and doesn’t trust Sam. However, Sam insists that he hasn’t changed and that he’ll prove he’s still Dean’s brother.

In Buffalo, the brothers as FBI agents and investigate a second death, that of a dock worker, Ron Garrigan. Sam confirms the hearts are missing, and asks if there are any animals. The detective in charge figures that it’s an animal attack, but Dean points out that they don’t strike on the docks.

The next morning, Dean wakes up at the motel and remembers that Sam doesn’t sleep anymore. He’s been checking the victims and discovered that the two men were connected. They go to the home of Cal Garrigan and ask his girlfriend Mandy if he’s home. She invites them in and tries to clean up, and then says that Cal is sleeping. Cal staggers out, clearly tired from a late night drinking. He claims he was out drinking, but they realize he’s been up to something else. They then explain that they’re investigating the death of his brother, Ronald. The last time Ron was there, Cal called the cops. Sam then notes that their landlord was killed by an animal, and he was threatening to evict the Garrigans. Dean and Sam then leave. Outside, they discuss the case and Dean insists they have to be sure that Cal is the killer before handing him over to Crowley. Sam isn’t particularly concerned.

That night, the brothers follow Cal to a series of bars and strip clubs. However, he doesn’t do anything else during the night, and Dean decides to take a break. Once they go, Cal staggers out and goes to his car. He finds the family dog, Lucky, waiting for him. It leaps at him and pulls him under the car, and rips out his heart. The dog then transforms into a human being. The creature goes back to its home and looks at Mandy, sleeping. It then transforms back into a dog, gets into bed with her, and sits and watches over his mistress. Mandy wakes up and realizes that Cal didn’t come home that night.

Sam and Dean check out Cal’s murder and Sam figures that Mandy is the prime suspect. He asks if Dean can turn her over to Crowley, and Dean says that he can.

Mandy tends to her sick son, Aiden, and Lucky comes over to play. She then takes Lucky for a walk, but notices that he has blood on his fur. As she walks around the neighborhood, Dean and Sam approach her and say that they have to take her in for questioning. When she says she was up with her sick son all night, Dean asks to talk to Aiden. He confirms that Mandy is innocent. Sam doesn’t understand his concern, but says he’ll watch Mandy while Dean checks out the crime scene. Dean objects, but Sam assures him that he’s only going to watch her.

That night, Sam watches and sees Lucky transform into a naked man. The man gets dressed and walks out, and Sam prepares to shoot him. However, he follows “Lucky” to a playground where he talks briefly with another man. As Lucky comes back, Sam prepares to shoot him, but Lucky smells him. He runs and Sam goes after him, but Lucky turns into a dog and runs across the road… where a car hits him. Sam tries to stop them, but they put the dog in and drive away before he can.

At the motel, Dean considers calling Lisa but then gives up. Sam calls and tells him what happened, and explains that they’re dealing with a skinwalker. They can change anywhere at anytime and infect people with a bite. The next morning, they go to the pound and find Lucky locked up. They inform it that they have silver bullets and ropes, and take him back to the hotel. He reverts to human form, and they ask why he’s with the family. Sam threatens to torture him, but Dean realizes that Lucky cares about the family. He wants to know who Lucky was talking to, and Lucky admits that he can’t say anything. However, Dean says that they want to protect Mandy and her son. Lucky finally says that he was a homeless man, recruited, bitten, and transformed into a skinwalker. He was placed in the family, and told to wait until he received a signal to bite his family and transform them as well, along with all the other skinwalkers who were recruited. Lucky says that there’s a pack leader, but he doesn’t think he’s the alpha. He hesitates to betray his fellow skinwalkers, but Dean says that Mandy and her son are the only people who has ever showed him any kindness. Either he kills them, or helps the Winchesters stop the pack leader.

Outside, Sam wonders how they can get close enough to the skinwalkers given their sense of smell. Dean gets out a sniper rifle and explains that he plans to shoot the pack leader. When Sam says that Crowley wants the alpha, Dean says that they have to save the families. He then tells Sam to stop trying to pretend that he’s human and walks away.

Lucky meets with the pack leader while Dean and Dean set up on a nearby rooftop. Sam figures that Lucky will betray them, but Dean figures he’ll go through with it because he loves the family. Sam admits that he’d betray them in a second. The pack leader, his lieutenant from the playground, and his underlings arrive, and Dean waits for the perfect shot. However, the pack leader has his men bring out Mandy and her son. Sam tells Dean to take the shot even though Mandy is in the way, but Dean refuses.

The skinwalkers take Mandy and her son into a nearby garage, and the pack leader’s lieutenant warns Lucky that he committed unauthorized murders. They demand a commitment from Lucky, and tell him to turn mother and child. As they talk, Sam comes in and opens fire, while Dean shoots from a sniper’s position. Lucky tries to get Mandy out, even though she doesn’t know who he is in his human form. He gets her into an office and has her lock the door, and Mandy hides her son beneath the desk.

Sam goes after the skinwalkers, and they transform into dogs. One of them gets behind Dean, who shoots it down with a silver bullet. Meanwhile, the lieutenant confronts Lucky and says that he’s just a dog, and now he’s going to kill Lucky’s family. He smashes Lucky down, but Lucky reverts to dog form to protect Mandy. The lieutenant takes out a gun and shoots him with a silver bullet, and then moves in for the kill. Dean finally gets the shot and kills him. Meanwhile, Sam finds Lucky and prepares to shoot him, but he gets away before Sam can kill him. Sam sees Mandy, who has witnessed the entire thing.

Later, Lucky comes to see Mandy and says that she and Aidan were the only family he’s ever had. He thanks her, but Mandy calls him a psycho and tells him to stay away or she’ll kill him. He reverts to dog form and walks away.

As Dean and Sam go to a park for lunch, Dean wonders how many skinwalkers are out there, waiting for the signal. Sam admits that he’s not really Sam, and he doesn’t care about Dean or Lisa or anyone else. He figures Dean won’t stay around unless he’s honest, and talks about all the heinous things that he’s done. However, he remembers when he was Sam, and figures he should go back to being him. Dean admits that it’s a step, and says that they’ll do what they have to do to get his brother back.

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Review

Gaelic’s Review

Stream of Consciousness, Episode 6.08

 

Remember in the Season 1 blooper reel when they were trying to do the Merry Christmas from the cast and crew of Supernatural thingy and they were leaning on the car and Jensen suddenly goes, “You’re not Sam,” and they both start laughing?

Yeah. That thought crossed my mind more than once in this episode.

Today was a day where everything that could go wrong at work DID go wrong at work—the kind of wrong you find out about at zero hour and your stomach bottoms out and your blood pressure spikes and you realize this means a weekend full of work and blargh! The hubs made up for it a bit by taking me to dinner which…*breathe*

So if I summarize more than usual or seem taciturn-ish, I apologize. I’ll make up for it next week.

We start off in Buffalo, NY, with a guy coming out of the Honey Wagon Bar on the phone checking in about his…kid…er…wait…um…dog? Yeah, uh, disturbingly enough, I think he was talking about his dog. Anyway, we see that he’s being watched from the bushes as he finishes his conversation. He gets in his car and whatever is watching him lunges at the car and dives through the front windshield and blam. Blood on window and one very dead guy.

Oddly enough, as the camera pulled away, I saw that reflected in the shiny black door of his car were the words: Jewelry For Cash. It ended up meaning nothing for the storyline, but it totally caught my eye. *shakes head at self*

Next day (or so) we’re with the guys at Fat Mack’s Rib Shack and Sam is sitting at a table picking at his food while Dean is on the phone with Bobby asking him to keep digging for any other way of getting Sam’s soul back than having them work for Crowley.

Oh. Hello, Crowley.

The Self-Appointed King of Hell shows up and says, “Is that Bobby Singer? Give him a kiss for me.”

Heh.

Dean’s expression could be described as…erf. Just, yeah. Erf.

Crowley has a job for them—sits down next to a surprised-looking Sam and Dean drops down across from him telling him he can shove his job up his ass. Sam doesn’t say a word.

C: Is that any way to talk to your boss?

D: You’re not my boss, dick bag.

C: Quit clutching your pearls; you’ve been working with me for some time. Sam…longer.

Hee…I know he’s a bad guy, and by that very nature must one day be defeated, but I gotta say, I enjoy him. I’ll be sorry to see him go. One day.

Sam’s giving Crowley that narrow-eyed I know I’m supposed to be pissed off here and this is the expression that conveys pissed off look and says, “We didn’t know.”

Crowley sees right through it.

C: You’d sell your brother for $1 right now if you really needed the soda.

Y’know, the sad part is he’s right. Soda’s really do cost $1 these days.

Dean just can’t get his head around them having to work for a demon. He looks down and simply says, “No.” He’s done some shady things in his time, but he’s not doing this. And I can’t blame him for digging his heels in. He started out with a simple directive: kill the baddies. Demons have always been at the top of the baddie list. Then things got sideways quick and he was suddenly following in his father’s footsteps, making deals with demons, surviving as the angel’s chew toy, and now…working for a demon? No wonder his pretty head is spinning.

Crowley simply says he bets Dean will work for him and touches the back of Sam’s hand, instantly turning it a painful, molten red and causing Sam to cry out. Crowley says something I didn’t clearly catch, but it sounded like, “You like Hell, Sam?” As if that burn on his hand was just a taste of what was currently happening to his soul—or, perhaps, what could have happened to him had he been down there any longer than he had. Or a threat as to what could happen if they don’t play nice.

Dean reacts instinctively, flinching, his eyebrows pulling together, his eyes darting in a clear, what the hell expression. Doesn’t really matter what he does or doesn’t think about This Sam…a demon was causing his brother pain. And that had to stop.

C: This is a hostage situation. I own your brother.

Crowley stops the burning and then sweetens the deal. He tells Dean he’ll give back a little bit of Sam’s soul for every Alpha they bring back.

Hmmm…. Not sure yet how I feel about pieces of a soul. How does that work, exactly? And if I’m having a hard time with the way SoullessSam is or isn’t conveying emotions…I’m just wondering how it’s going to work if he is QuarterSoulSam…y’know? I guess I want it to be a bigger deal when he gets his soul back—like that scene in Buffy when she has to stab Angelus to send him to Hell and save the world and just before she does—BAM! His soul is returned and it’s Angel not Angelus. It was a pretty big moment, y’know? That’s…kinda what I’m hoping for here.

But I’m ever-willing to watch how the story rolls out.

Annnnyway. Crowley gives them a newspaper with the story of the dead car guy and says his chest was ripped open and his heart was missing.

Sam’s immediately like, “Werewolf.” Without missing a beat, Dean chimes in, “Not a full moon.”

Crowley: Werewolves turning on a full moon is so…’09.

Sam says that he’s right—he and Gramps bagged a werewolf about six months ago on the half moon. Curiouser and curiouser. However, Dean’s tight jaw conveyed that more than werewolves have been out of whack for awhile.

Sometime later, they’re in the car, at night, and Sam is telling Dean what he’s found out (somehow) about the victim. Vic wasn’t exactly the nicest of guys, owned some apartments, blah blah blah. He’s already dug in and doing the job and Dean’s like, seriously?

D: It’s just…y’know…I’m working for a demon…I don’t even know who you are…I just need a second to adjust.

No kidding. They never really get time to assimilate the truckloads of seemingly impossible information shoved at them in very little time. And if his balance—namely his brother—is missing, everything else is just…wrong.

S: This is a crap situation. I get it. But I’m still me. Same melon, same memories. Still like the same music. Still think about Suzie Eisor.

D: Biology class Suzie Eisor?

HA! I loved Dean’s wry face here—how he glanced askance at Sam with that look that only guys can perfect and get away with. The look that says he’s mentally checking out Suzie’s…attributes…in that very moment.

S: Can you blame me? I know you don’t trust me. And I can’t take back what I did. But I’m going to prove that I’m still your brother.

Dean looks doubtful, and his expression mirrored mine. I told a friend earlier today that the hubs and I are working with our four-year-old on what it means to say, “I’m sorry.” We want her to say it—but only because it means you truly feel bad about what you did and will do your best not to do it again. However, the words I’m sorry aren’t magic words that make the bad thing you did disappear. You still have to face the consequences of your actions.

I thought about that during Sam’s speech and his “I’m sorry” from last week. And the week before. At this point in the episode I was in full-on “just go with it, Gaelic” mode because I didn’t buy what Sam was selling. I wanted to because I miss the Sam I Remember. And the Sam I Remember would have totally sold me on those words and I would have been pulling for him to convince Dean and win back his brother’s trust.

But the Sam That Is…he’s not the Sam I Remember. Not even close. I mean…and this is just me…but was tripped up by his words, and thinking how can someone who doesn’t feel even like music? How can someone who doesn’t feel lust after a memory of a pretty girl? I know, I know, the hooker, but part of me wonders if he just did her because he could. Not out of any form of need or desire—as both of those stem from feelings.

And all I could see was him logically using the correct words to manipulate his brother into doing what he needed Dean to do—get the Alpha. The BIG question I carried throughout the episode was: why? I was unsure of Sam’s motivation until the end scene. And even then I was slightly wary, though more reassured that I wasn’t (and therefore Dean wasn’t) being played.

So…Dean decides to play ball, apparently, because next thing we know, they’re down at the docks, suited up, and approaching a crime scene with authority. They flash their FBI badges at a local detective-type-person and Dean introduces them as Agents Holt and Wilson.

Okay, someone, take pity on me. I usually get their aliases and love when I’m in on the joke…but this? Whoosh. Right over my head. Help a gal out?

The Detective wants to know why the Feds were there and Sam, with an expression like he was teetering-on-death-bored, says, “We’re specialists. They call us in to answer the questions of mouth-breathing dick monkeys.”

Dean cuts his eyes over to his brother all, Dude…. That was…unexpected. “Dick” must have been the insult of choice for this episode, too, because I heard it no less than three times.

The detective, though mirroring Dean’s WTH expression, wasn’t as off-put by the insult as you’d think because he obliged Sam by filling them in on the situation. Victim was a dock worker—attacked by an animal. Second one in two days, in fact. Heart missing as well.

Dean: Animal. Out here. Think it came for the sailing?

Heh.

Next thing we know, Dean is sleeping. Mmmmm…. We get a nice shot of his profile and The Bicep Of Doom before a noise in the background jars him awake and he comes to all groggy and rubbing his face and completely, hair-tussled, adorable. *bites lip*

He slept on top of the covers in his jeans and T-shirt and I found something about that just…delicious. *unf* He peers sleepy-eyed over his shoulder and sees Sam up and dressed. He says in a gravelly, sleep-rough voice, “You didn’t sleep. ‘Cause you don’t. Sleep.”

Turning away from Sam, he rubs his eyes and mutters, “Not creepy at all.”

I have to say, I’m a little jealous. I don’t sleep much, and my body feels the impact. Sam doesn’t sleep at all and is perfectly healthy. *pouts* (I’m just kidding…)

Sam’s all like, yeah, yeah, yeah, are you just gonna stare at me, or do you actually want to work this case because I found stuff. Only he doesn’t say it exactly like that. But basically he found a link between the two victims and wants Dean to get the lead out already.

D: Let me get dressed, Robocop.

They pull up to a house and we’re treated to a shot of Sam pulling out a big-ass gun, chambering a round, and putting it in his back waistband – which would have been a lot sexier if he weren’t wearing a suit. I don’t know…suits just…don’t do it for me. However, I don’t think it was sexy they were going for. Sam was in serious No Nonsense Mode.

They knock on the door and a woman holding a toddler—a boy maybe about three or four—lets them inside once she sees their badges. She asks her boy to go play in his room and clears kiddie toys off the table really quickly. They want to talk to a Cal Garrigan (I think—didn’t quite catch the last name clearly) and she says he’s her boyfriend, but he’s sleeping.

D: Mind telling him up and at ‘em? He’s got guests.

Right about then, Cal stumbles into the kitchen.

D: Mornin. Ish.

A German Sheppard—that I didn’t even know was there at first—growls when Cal enters the room and this draws Sam’s attention. After some evasive questioning and Cal and the woman—Amanda (hee)—looking oddly guilty, Dean surmises that Cal got blind drunk and passed out and Sam’s all, “Who knows what you’ve been up to at night.”

Cal and Amanda continue to look anxious and shifty and it’s unclear as to why—but looking back you figure that it’s because Cal stays out all night drinking and Amanda doesn’t know where he is or why she’s still with him.

Sam announces that they’re investigating the death of Cal’s brother, Ron—the guy on the dock. Sam says there’s sketchy stuff between the two, which Cal doesn’t deny.

Cal: You love your brother, y’know, but Ron had a lot of problems. He was…volatile.

Dean shifts his eyes to the side, but says nothing.

Sam points out that the last time Ron was there, Cal called the cops. Cal said it was because Ron pushed Amanda. Then Sam brings up Dead Guy #1 and says he was their landlord and isn’t it weird that they were both killed by animal attacks? Amanda and Cal continue to look shifty and nervous as they ask why the Feds are asking about their landlord and Dean says they’re just following procedure and they get up to leave. On the way out, Sam suggests they take Cal out.

*blinks*

D: No, we make sure.

S: Really?

D: Before we hand him over to a lifetime of demon rape? Yeah, really.

Hmmmm…now who was worried about whom shooting first and asking questions later? Interesting.

So, they follow Cal who manages to drink his way around Buffalo, NY, all night. Dean comments that he’s getting cirrhosis just watching him—which is sadly ironic considering how much our boy tends to drink. Sam is quietly patient, wanting to wait Cal out, convinced he’s the werewolf. So…they wait. All night. Come morning, no wolfing out, but Sam’s unconvinced.

They leave the warehouse they’d been staking out watching Cal and his buddies pickle their livers, and soon after, Cal’s buddies leave. Before Cal is able to get in his pick-up for an ill-advised drive home, the German Sheppard—Lucky—from Amanda’s house shows up. And before you can say Rin-Tin-Tin, he jumps Cal, kills him, eats his heart….

And morphs into a man.

A good friend of mine told me this particular storyline closely resembled a book she’d read recently called, “Sharp Teeth.” It’s written in free verse, so I haven’t tackled it yet, but apparently the werewolf-cum-skinwalker theme isn’t terribly original. So…the storyline of this episode wasn’t hugely compelling, but the brother message that flowed around the edges and crashed against us at the end was worth it.

Anyway, Man!Lucky heads back to Amanda’s, stands in her room and watches her sleep for a minute, then morphs back into Dog!Lucky and climbs into bed with her. I have to say, I did eye my black lab a bit at this part. She, in turn, cocked her head innocently back at me as if to say, whatever you’re thinking, I didn’t do it.

Lucky wakes Amanda up in the morning with some slobbery dog kisses and she proclaims him her “only decent boyfriend” once she realizes that Cal isn’t there. She heads to the bathroom, strips, and steps into the shower. All with Lucky watching.

Now that is creepy.

So…back with the boys, they’re at the crime scene with Cal’s body and Dean goes out on a limb to say it’s not Cal. Which leaves them one suspect: Amanda.

S: Can you do it?

D: What?

S: Shove her in the trunk, serve her up to Crowley?

Dean pauses, looks down, takes a breath, then meets Sam’s eyes.

S: Yeah, Sam. I can do it.

Sam’s all, okay cool. He was, quite literally, just checking. Not concerned. Dean watches him walk away and his face is inscrutable.

We get a little Lucky Dog montage with Amanda comforting her little boy who isn’t feeling well and Lucky bringing his toy and being such a good dog, yes…you’re such a good dog. Amanda goes to take Lucky for a walk (and leaves her little boy alone?) and that’s when our guys find her. They confront her only to realize she had no idea that Cal was dead. They take her inside and sit down to talk with Lucky watching them. They ask her to come with them, but she’s visibly shaken and trying to connect all the dots.

She says her boy was sick all night and she’s basically operating on 30 mins of sleep. Boy, do I know that feeling. Dean’s all, hold up…can I talk to your son?

Sam (his voice hard and disbelieving): What difference does that make, Agent Holt?

D: Trust me. It’s important.

They end up leaving with Dean saying that Amanda is innocent and Sam saying she’s lying—alibi or no alibi.

S: Last werewolf was in bed with me and she still wolfed out.

D: Don’t make this personal. Something isn’t adding up.

See, now, I would’ve bought the painful memory of Madison from the Sam I Remember, but with the Sam That Is? Pfft. I was right with Dean. Don’t go there. Different situation entirely.

So, Sam says that Dean should go check out Cal’s crime scene and he’ll stay and keep an eye on Amanda. Dean’s like, uhhh, how ‘bout we switch? Sam scoffs that he still knows how to do his job—he’s just going to watch her. Dean is reluctant, his expression worried, but Sam wins. I guess trust has to start somewhere, right?

Sam is outside Amanda’s house, leaning up against a play set, looking in through Amanda’s window, and I was suddenly reminded of this movie with Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman called “The Strangers.” Something about the way he was standing there, not moving, expressionless, was incredibly spooky to me. Anyway, as he’s watching, he sees Lucky The Dog turn into Man!Lucky and is all, bah…wha?

He pulls his gun and ducks into the shadows, watching Man!Lucky as he climbs a low chain link fence and meets up with a Big Guy who looks like he’s reading Lucky the riot act, then Man!Lucky turns around and heads back…only…he can smell Sam. He actually looks right over to where Sam is hiding, but Sam has pulled back into the shadows enough that he can’t be seen. It’s a little chilling, actually, to know Sam was there and Lucky just couldn’t see him. One flinch and Sam would have been caught.

Not that it would have mattered as Lucky was a bit of a softy, but we didn’t know that at the time—we’d just seen him rip some dude’s heart out.

Man!Lucky takes off running and Sam gives chase—using a trampoline to impressively clear the fence and keep running. Nicely done, Sam. Man!lLucky turns back into a dog on the fly and Sam’s still running after him. Suddenly, it’s minivan vs pooch and Lucky gets clipped. The minivan owners pick him up and we hear them say something about a vet and Sam tries to flag them down saying, “That’s my dog!” but they don’t hear him. Ooops.

Back at the motel, Dean’s looking at Lisa’s name on his cell phone. He tosses the phone on the table without calling and just as he turns away, the phone rings. The speed with which he turns and grabs the phone speaks to the fact that he had one, wild hope that it was her. But alas, it was Sam.

Sam tells Dean that it isn’t a werewolf—it’s a skinwalker. Both guys were rusty on their skinwalker lore, but luckily Bobby didn’t have anything else going on in that moment and was able to look it up for Sam. Basically, they’re werewolf cousins, can infect you with one bite, nosh on human hearts, and can be killed with silver bullets. Easy enough, right?

Sam tells Dean he knows where their canine friend is, too. They head to the vet and find Lucky. Dean crouches in front of the kennel with Sam in the background casually tossing a ball back and forth. Dean shows the dog a clip full of silver bullets.

D: Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

He says it’s time to go and they can do it the easy way (holds up clothes) or the hard way (holds up a choke collar). Lucky whines. Sam laughs. Dean shoots him a look.

S: What? Soul or not, that’s funny.

They take Man!Lucky back to the motel and tie him up with silver-lined rope and a couple of silver chains. He’s going nowhere, ya’ll. Sam’s questioning him, and is toooootally cocky. Like full-on bad-cop cocky.

S: Why shack up with a family? Is it a kinky thing? Do you play with your food? Roll over. Speak.

ML: Go to Hell.

S: Already been. Didn’t agree with me. So, how about I take this silver knife and I start carving some dog until you behave?

Dean is sitting quietly on the edge of the bed, watching.

ML: Do what you’ve gotta do.

Sam advances and Dean stops him with a calm, rather gentle, “Hang on, Sam.”

Sam pulls up short—almost as if Dean’s voice is a leash—and stares menacingly at Man!Lucky. Dean is in reflective, good-cop mode.

D: You don’t have to tell me why you’re with the family. I get it. You killed every threat that came near them. You care about them. What I want to know is, who is that guy you were kibitzing with?

ML: I can’t say anything.

Why, ‘cause you don’t talk about Fight Club?

D: If you don’t, you’re gonna put the girl and the little boy in danger and sooner or later all this crap is going to come for them.

Dean, drawing on his own fear and heartache about Lisa and Ben, tells Man!Lucky that he and Sam don’t care about him—it’s Amanda and her son that matter to them. Keeping them safe. That’s their only agenda. Man!Lucky gives in and tells them that there are like 30 skinwalkers in this particular pack. They were all recruited. I’m sensing a pattern….

Their mission was to find a family, settle in, and wait for the signal. When they got it, psychically, they were supposed to turn their families—and 30 becomes 150, and so forth. They aren’t the only sleeper cell out there, either. Which is…worrisome.

Dean tries to convince Man!Lucky that he can help stop them, but Man!Lucky is afraid—the guys that turned him are ruthless. Meanwhile, Sam apparently decides to have a little fun. He whistles and catches ML’s eye, then tosses the ball he’d been playing catch with off to the side, his eyes challenging.

Dean: Sam. Not. Helping.

ML: Fetch this, dick.

See? Favorite insult this episode.

Sam’s expression smoothes into an almost-playful, fake-offended look. Hee.

Dean calls ML’s bluff about turning his family—using his ability to read people (which is honed this go-round) he says that these are the only people who have ever shown Lucky any kindness. ML relents and they make a plan to take out the pack (or so I assume…we didn’t actually see the planning).

The boys are parked under an overpass and are getting weapons out of the trunk. Sam wants to know how they’re going to sneak up on someone/thing that can smell them 100 yards out. Dean shows him the sniper rifle—which I don’t think we’ve seen since Andy and his Evil Twin back in Season 2.

They have a brief, tense discussion about taking out the pack leader and stopping the psychic signal thereby saving 150 people or having the pack leader give up the Alpha who they take to Crowley for a piece of Sam’s soul. Sam says he’s just asking—wants to be clear on the plan. He says it like it doesn’t matter to him either way, but I started to wonder at this point how much it really did matter to him.

Was he just doing the job because that’s what he’s been doing and he knows how to make people help him get the job done? Or did he truly want to play Crowley’s game for the sake of his soul? I’m not trying to put Sam in a bad light. This isn’t Old Sam, here. This is Soulfree Sam. Robo Sam. This is a Sam who found the justifiable logic in allowing his brother to get turned by a vamp and didn’t feel bad for it one little bit. So I had to work through the thought process of how someone who doesn’t care…could desire something.

Dean: You’re not Sam. It’s your body and your brain, but…it’s not you. So stop pretending and do us both a favor.

Cas said that Dean posed an interesting philosophical question about if Sam was really Sam without his soul. I think the answer Dean has come to realize is yes and no. Biologically, he’s Sam. Dental records would show that he was born Sam Winchester. He has Sam’s scars and Sam’s memories. But that’s where the likeness ends. Everything that made him Dean’s brother is gone. And no amount of apologies or empty promises was going to convince Dean otherwise.

So, while I was sitting with that, the boys grabbed their guns and walked away from the Impala…and the distance between them was just…well, I noticed it. It wasn’t like when they walked away from the minivan in ELAC: not-quite-in-step, but still near enough to bump shoulders if one went crooked. This time, well, the Impala could have been between them.

Man!Lucky is pacing in front of a warehouse garage door. Dean is on the roof in sniper position, looking at Lucky through the scope. Sam is sitting on the roof beside him, filling a clip with silver bullets.

S: He looks nervous, right?

D: Wouldn’t you be?

S: I’d double-cross us. Best bet if he wants to keep breathing.

D: Nah, he’ll go through with it.

S (as if he’s trying to understand why): ‘Cause he loves that family?

D: Yep.

After a pause, Sam repeats decisively, “I’d double-cross us.”

D: Thanks, Dexter. That’s reassuring.

HA! Ha ha HA! Dexter! I think I heard cackles from several people across the country at that one.

S: Just making conversation.

An SUV pulls up. About six men climb out. Sam twists around and peers through binoculars, spoting the Big Guy Man!Lucky was talking to that night. They spot the boss, but Dean can’t get a clean shot. Then suddenly, one of the guys grabs Amanda and her little boy from the back of the SUV. She’s clutching her son to her and looks terrified. Crap.

S: Take the shot.

D: I’m trying—she’s in the way.

S: Take it anyway!

Dean jerks his eyes to the side, unable to believe what he just heard. The baddies and Amanda all head inside and the door closes. Dean curses under his breath.

S: So, Plan B?

D: We’ve got one?

Dean, sweetie, I think it’s time to realize that your little brother always has a Plan B now.

Inside it’s a big bully fest with Amanda asking them to let her son go. The Big Guy tells Man!Lucky that the boss is mad because Lucky didn’t have permission for those murders and he was going to screw up The Plan. So, to prove his loyalty to The Plan they want Lucky to turn Amanda and her son while they watch—or they’re going to kill them all.

In that moment, Sam steps in and starts shooting. He kills the boss and a few others and then we see Dean in the back of the room, picking them off with the sniper rifle.

So, Plan B = crossfire. Nice one, guys!

Amanda and her son hide and Man!Lucky shows up and pulls them away from the fray and hides them in some kind of office, telling her to bolt the door, which she does, then she tucks her son under the desk. Meanwhile, Sam is chasing one skinwalker, who turns into a Doberman and starts stalking Sam.

A wolf spots Dean and Dean tries to turn and fire, but the barrel of the sniper rifle gets stuck in the support he’d been steadying it against and the wolf lunges. Dean pulls out his pistol and BLAM—dead skinwalker. Whew. In a similar turn of events, the Doberman spots Sam, lunges and Sam turns and fires. Whew again.

Lucky is trying to protect Amanda and her son from the Big Guy and morphs into his dog form to do it. Big Guy wings Lucky, but Dean gets Big Guy with sniper shot before the Big Guy can move in for the kill. Sam spots wounded Lucky (in dog form) on the ground and checks his clip, seeing that he has one bullet left.

Now, ya’ll…I know. Skinwalker. Not. Really. A. Dog. But he looked like a dog and I have two dogs and dogs are just—well, they usually survive all of the worst disaster movies and when they don’t (I Am Legend, I’m looking at you) I pretty much decide then and there to hate the movie. So, if Sam had shot Lucky in dog form, I would have howled.

But, as luck would have it (no pun intended), Lucky got away before Sam got to him. Whew for the last time.

Amanda saw Sam, though, and her eyes went wide when she recognized him. Sometime later, Man!Lucky shows up at Amanda’s door, heart on sleeve, very I come in peace. He says that Amanda and her son are the only family he’s ever had and…he knows what he is. But no one has ever been nice to him before and he wanted to thank her.

Then she TOTALLY destroys the poor skinwalker’s heart by saying, “Get away from this house, you psycho.”

Lucky nods, like he deserved that and worse (I mean…he did kill her bf and two other people), and leaves—turning into a dog on his way out. I had this odd…almost sad feeling. There seems to be a dark-side-of-the-mirror theme to the question what makes us human this season: what makes a monster.

Or, maybe that’s just me.

They guys are in a park somewhere with sacks of food and find a picnic table to eat at. Dean glances at a jogger with a Border Collie and says he’ll never look at a dog the same.

D: Makes you wonder how many packs are out there. Wonder if they’re just…waiting for the signal.

Um, exactly. And I’m thinking not just skinwalkers. But vamps, djinn…all manner of baddie. I mean, I think that Freaky Assed Vamp Dream isn’t done coming back to us just because Crowley now has the Alpha Vamp. I think there’s more to it. And I think stopping the signal (which is so anti-Browncoat, but what can you do) is going to be another part of this puzzle of a season.

This time, we get a picnic in the park for our heart-to-heart, not on or in the Impala. They changed it up a bit. It was a really pretty setting—gorgeous day for a revelation. I notice Sam’s face looked…smooth. Sometimes when he does ‘emotionless’ it looks sinister. But this time he looked peaceful. As if coming to the decision of putting it all on the table with Dean was the solace he didn’t even know he was looking for. Not that someone who doesn’t feel needs solace—just that to me, that’s how he appeared.

Dean, though, good Lord. The light hit his face perfectly, turning his eyes almost gray. The lines around his mouth and eyes were like frames for a picture of futile resistance, reluctant acceptance, and wary relief. I need screen caps and I need them now.

S: You were right. I’m not your brother. I’m not “Sam.”

D (his body going still, his voice uncertain): Okay….

S: All that blah blah blah about being the old me? Crap.

(He actually said blah blah blah, which had me smirking.)

Dean does a slow head tilt—he’s finally hearing the truth and it’s starting to tip his world a bit sideways. I half expected him to grip the table for balance, but he barely moves anything other than his head and eyes.

S: Like…Lisa and Ben. I’ve been acting like I care about them. But I don’t. I couldn’t care less.

D: Is this supposed to make me feel better?

S: You wanted the real me—this is it. I don’t care about them. I don’t even care about you, except that I need your help. And you’re clearly not gonna stick around for much longer unless I give it to you straight.

He continues to speak in a very detached, matter-of-fact tone that is visibly hard for Dean to take. The basic way he spreads it out there for Dean hits harder than I think Dean was prepared for. He watches Sam the whole time, his eyes almost never leaving his face, but his body pulls in and away as if he’s holding his breath or bracing himself. Or both.

S: So…I’ve done a lot worse than you know. I’ve killed innocent people in the line of duty, but I’m pretty sure it’s not something the old me could have done. Maybe I should feel guilty. But I don’t.

D (sounding like he’s been kicked in the gut): Get to the punch line, Sam.

S: I don’t know if how I am is better or worse. It’s different. You get the job done and nothing really hurts. Not the worst thing. But I’ve been thinking. I was that other Sam for a long time. And it was harder. But there were things I remember…. Let’s just say I should probably go back to being him.

So, wow. Okay. First? This way may be simply ‘different’ – but I’m also going to vote ‘worse’ because…killing innocent people? Yikes.

But this was the first moment I believed Sam all season. I think that before the whole “he’s got us by the short and curlies” and “we don’t have a choice if we’re going to get my soul back” approach to working for Crowley was simply lip service. He wanted to hunt, he wanted to do the job, and if that meant getting orders from a demon, well, so what? The job went better with Dean around, so he’d say “let’s get my soul back” if that kept Dean in the game.

But now he’s saying that he remembers it was harder as the old Sam, and he wants to go back there—despite the fact that he doesn’t feel any pain this way. Because he’s gotta know if they win, and he gets it back, he’s probably gonna feel a whole lot of pain. Not just “I’ve been to Hell” pain. But the pain of simply being human. Even those of us who live utterly happy lives have experienced pain. We’ve just learned to put it someplace where it doesn’t swamp us.

Like Dean—if he allowed himself to feel the pain of Hell, he’d curl up in a dark corner and wish for death. Or forget Hell—the pain of his life. Of losing his mother and his childhood and his choices and his father and his brother. He’s learned to live with that, the wounds scabbing over again and again. Scar tissue burying memories.

So, after over a year of being soulless and pain free, when Sam gets it back, Hell or no Hell, I’d imagine it should suck big time to remember how to deal with human emotions. They’re pretty much the most powerful thing on Earth. Especially considering he effectively just admitted to murder (though he said ‘in the line of duty’…).

My only thing is—and I’m just putting this out there—I hope that the Show doesn’t take the compare/contrast pain route with either Sam’s time in Hell or the return of his soul. It’s going to hurt and that should be enough. I really, really hope they don’t compare Sam’s pain to Dean’s pain. Because pain is pain.

I lose and arm, you lose an eye—who got hurt worse? What if I was a baseball player and you were a singer? What if you were a model and I was a voice-over talent? You simply can’t say. And I hope Show doesn’t say, either.

While I believe he was sincere, I also think he was still manipulating Dean—bottom line, Sam wants to get the Alphas. Currently, that means working for Crowley. Now I believe his motivation is because he wants his soul back, but I didn’t really believe that at the start of the episode.

Dean doesn’t want to work for a demon, and knowing that, Sam found a way to get exactly what he wanted by choosing the correct words to convince his brother. Now, I’m not saying that this manipulation was malicious or that Dean wouldn’t want Sam to get his soul back anyway. I’m just saying I see how good Sam is at this and while I believe what he said, I still am not sure I trust him completely. Like Dean, I’m going to be watching him every minute.

D: That’s…very interesting.

He looks down, nodding a bit.

D: It’s a step.

S: So?

D: We do what we gotta do. Help me get my brother back.

*rubs heart*

That last line sunk me. I want Dean to have his brother back so bad. I miss the Sam I Remember. I miss Sam. The Sam that Dean gave up everything for. Dean’s brother. And while “do what we gotta do” might mean that Dean won’t fight against working for Crowley…it could also mean that he’s willing to try any means possible.

Bartering with Balthazar, for example. I’m just saying…this is the Supernatural universe. There are other possibilities. And I can’t wait to see what happens next.

I did watch previews, though, and holy cow—I don’t know what to expect. However, I was grinning.

See you next week!

Guest Stars

GUEST STARS

Mark Sheppard Mark Sheppard Crowley (as Mark A. Sheppard)
Janet Kidder Janet Kidder Mandy Duren
Andrew Rothenberg Andrew Rothenberg Lucky
John Mann John Mann Skinwalker #1
Jason Diablo Jason Diablo Cal Garrigan
Arien Boey Arien Boey Aiden Duren
Aleks Paunovic Aleks Paunovic Skinwalker #2
Ash Lee Ash Lee Detective
Billy Mitchell Billy Mitchell Erik Gieszelmann

Gallery

IMAGE GALLERY

No Episode Stills

Episode Screen Captures

Behind The Scenes

 

Videos

TRAILER/CLIPS

PromoClipSpace PromoSpace Sneak Peek

 

Music

MUSIC

“City Blues” by Black Mustang
(plays when Sam and Dean meet Crowley at Fat Mack’s Rib Shack)

“Flirtin’ with Disaster” by Molly Hatchet
(plays in the bar when Dean and Sam watch Cal)

Superwiki

Quotes

QUOTES

Crowley: Is that Bobby Singer? Give him a kiss for me.

Dean: I’m gonna say this once. You can take your job and shove it up your ass.
Crowley: Is that any way to talk to your boss?
Dean: You’re not my boss, dickbag.

Dean: Wow. I haven’t heard of a skinwalker in years. I’m actually a little rusty on the profile.
Sam: You and me both. Uh, I just got the low down from Bobby. They can change anywhere, anytime. Skinwalkers infect you with a single bite. Otherwise, they’re basically a werewolf cousin – silver will drop ’em, they chow hearts like snausages.

Sam: I’m not your brother. I’m not Sam.

Sam: Um, all that ‘blah, blah, blah,’ about being the old me? Crap. Like Lisa and Ben, right? I’ve been acting like I care about them. But I don’t. I couldn’t care less.
Dean: Is this supposed to make me feel better?

Sam: You wanted the real me. This is it. I don’t care about them. I don’t even really care about you. Except that… I need your help. And you’re clearly not gonna stick around for much longer unless I give it to you straight, so… I’ve done a lot worse than you know. I’ve killed innocent people in the line of duty. But I’m pretty sure it’s not something the old me could’ve done. And maybe I should feel guilty. But I don’t.

 

Dean: We do what we got to do. And we get my brother back.

Trivia

TRIVIA

The title of the episode is also the name of a 1989 animated film.
Some elements of this episode exhibit a resemblance to Toby Barlow’s 2008 epic poem/novel Sharp Teeth.
The Winchesters use the aliases Agents Holt and Wilson.Holt and Wilson are police officers in the 1981 movie Wolfen.
Sam: All right. So, we know that werewolves are basically id gone wild, right? I mean, whoever they hate, they kill when they wolf out. So, I’ve been playing connect the victims.

Id is the psychic apparatus defined by Sigmund Freud as the part of the personality structure that contains a human’s basic, instinctual drives.

 

Mandy Duren’s name may be a reference to Duran Duran, who sang “Hungry Like the Wolf.”
Dean: Let me get dressed, Robocop.

Robocop was the main character in a movie of the same name about a cop who is wounded and then made into a powerful cyborg. Dean also calls Sam “RoboSam” in 6.07 Family Matters.

 

 

Dean: Three scuzzy bars, one scuzzy strip club, a chili-dog joint, seven or eight nightcaps, and now… scotches in the library. I’m getting cirrhosis just watching this. Other than that, we got squat.

Cirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease characterized by replacement of liver tissue by fibrosis, scar tissue, and regenerative nodules leading to loss of liver function. One of the common causes of cirrhosis is alcoholism.

 

 

Sam: Masterful deduction, Sherlock.

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

 

 

Sam: Dogs and cats living together – mass hysteria. So, you know this means that we’re down to one suspect, right?

This line is by Dr. Venkman, played by Bill Murray, in Ghostbusters.

 

 

Dean: Where is this little Scooby gang of yours?

Scooby-Doo is a media franchise based around several animated television series. All versions of the show feature a talking dog named Scooby-Doo and his “gang.”

 

 

Dean: God, you’re a sleeper cell.

A sleeper cell is a team of operatives (usually spies or terrorists) that lies dormant in a target population living out seemingly ordinary everyday lives until they are given instructions to act and carry out their mission.

 

 

Dean: I mean, it’s your gigantor body and – and maybe your brain, but it’s not you. So just… stop pretending. Do us both a favor.

Gigantor is the giant robot in the cartoon series of the same name. Watch the opening theme song.
Gigantor had been long used in fandom as both an adjective and a noun in relation to both Sam and Jared.
From Salute to Supernatural Chicago 2010 (after “All Dogs Go to Heaven” was filmed but before it aired).
Fan refers to Jared playing Sam as RAWR GIGANTOR and Mark Shepherd refers to Jared as “Gigantor the talking moose.”

 

 

Sam: I’d double-cross us.
Dean: Thanks, Dexter. That’s reassuring.

Dexter is the serial killer protagonist in a series of books starting with Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay by and a TV Series called Dexter on Showtime.

 

 

Sam: That big guy, the driver – that’s the guy Lucky met in the park.
Dean: And there’s El Jefe.

El Jefe is a Spanish colloquialism for the Boss, or the Chief.

 

 

John Mann and Aleks Paunovic portrayed the “hero” skinwalkers. Gavin Buhr, Fraser Corbett, Taras Kostyuk, James Ralph portrayed the rest of skinwalker pack.

 

 

At the start of the episode the boys are eating at Fat Mack’s BBQ Shack, and at the end they are eating takeout from Beef Barn.
In the newspaper article about the first victim, he is named as Erik Gieszelmann and is said to be survived by his cat, Sticky.
Dean: No, it’s not a full moon.

 

 

Crowley: Werewolves turning on the full moon – so ’09.
Sam: He’s right. Samuel and I ganked one about six months back on the half-moon. Things have been out of whack for a while now, I guess.

One of the few consequences of the averted Apocalypse was monsters behaving differently.

 

 

Sam: Look… this is a crap situation. I get it. But, Dean, I am still me – same melon, same memories. I-I still like the same music. I still think about Suzie Heizer.

Sam tells Dean that he still likes the same music he always has. This is probably a bit of an in-joke by the writers as while much is made of Dean’s love of classic rock, Sam’s musical tastes are a mystery. The only time we get an idea of his musical tastes is in 4.01 Lazarus Rising when Dean is appalled to find an mp3 player in the Impala, which is playing a song by Jason Manns.
At Comic Con 2007, Kripke said Sam listened to “whatever cool modern music is. I don’t know any of them because I don’t listen to anything after 1980…”

 

 

Sam: Fine. She still had time to wolf out, Dean. The last werewolf was in bed, with me, and she wolfed out.

Sam is referring to Madison in 2.17 Heart, who transformed into a werewolf after she and Sam had sex.

 

 

Lucky is taken to the Erie County Domestic Animal Hospital.

 

Superwiki

Forum

 

Episode Forum

Episode Schedule

Thu, Oct 10 15.01 - Back and to the Future - Season Premiere
Thu, Oc 17 15.02 - Raising Hell
Thu, Oct 24 15.03 - The Rupture
Thu, Nov 7 15.04 - Atomic Monsters
Thu, Nov 14 15.05 - Proverbs 17:3
Thu, Nov 21 15.06 - Golden Time
Thu, Dec 05 15.07 - Last Call
Thu, Dec 12 15.08 - Our Father, Who Aren’t In Heaven
Thu, Jan 16 2020 15.09 - The Trap
Thu, Jan 23 2020 15.10 - The Heroes' Journey
Thu, Jan 30 2020 15.11 - The Gamblers
Mon, March 16 2020 15.12 - Galaxy Brain
Mon, March 23 2020 15.13 - Destiny's Child
Thu, Oct 08 2020 15.14 - Last Holiday
Thu, Oct 15 2020 15.15 - Gimme Shelter
Thu, Oct 22 2020 15.16 - Drag Me Away (From You)
Thu, Oct 29 2020 15.17 - Unity
Thu, Nov 05 2020 15.18 - Despair
Thu, Nov 12 2020 15.19 - Inherit the Earth
Thu, Nov 19 2020 15.20 - Carry On - Series Finale

* This Schedule might change as new info come.

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