My Review/Observations of Bedtime Stories
Nov. 13th, 2007 03:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
raloriaWow! This is really late, but it couldn't be helped. Quizzes in college classes will do that. Hmph. But better late than never, I always say. :D
If you want a little bit more of my thoughts check out my First Impressions Post for this episode. Please remember that the caps here are just small for the review. I'll be posting the full sized caps in a regular picspam later on.
All the caps within this review were taken from my own Hi-Def recording of the episode. You're free to take any that you like, as long as you give me credit. There are 104 caps, but most of them are clickable thumbnails in consideration of my fellow dial-up users.
* The teaser kick starts the episode with a bloody and violent beginning. We're in Maple Springs, New York, btw. I actually missed that during the initial airing and kept wondering where all this was taking place. I did, however, catch on right away (knowing that this episode involved fairy tales) that these 3 guys were representing the Three Little Pigs. Heh.
* There's the frog....which I wish they had resolved or explained in some way. It just keeps showing up wherever the boys are for no reason. I mentioned to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
trystan830 that is must be the WB frog. Ha!
* The boys are engaged in one of the most heated arguments I've ever seen between them. It's all about Dean's Demon Deal (DDD) of course. Sam wants to go track down the Crossroads Demon and even shoot her with the Colt if she won't let Dean out of the deal. Dean doesn't want Sam to do anything because if they screw things up he'll end up dead again. When he finally says he's not going to discuss the matter any further, Sam fires back with, "You're not dad!". Ooooooh. Dean glares and fumes and then counters in the only way he has left...the "I'm the big brother, the oldest, so what I say goes" card. That silences Sam, but he's still upset. Dean moves the conversation on to the case, a "psychotic killer". They're thinking because of the nature of the attacks and the lunar cycle that it's probably a werewolf.
I'd like to take a moment and point out the clever use of color and lighting in this scene. My instructor and mentor, Phil Lucas, always told us that nothing you see on film is ever just an accident. It's all done for a reason. If you watch the scene you'll notice the use of a red light behind their heads at certain times. At first you might think, "well, that's just to show the tail lights of other cars.", but if you watch the scene carefully, you'll see that it shows up at distinct moments. Notice how it doesn't show up until Sam says Dean isn't dad...then it just floods Dean's face with anger. When they cut back to Sam it's there as well. Dean ends the argument and the red light disappears from him, but you'll notice as Sam reads from the newspaper, that the red light is still on the back of his head. He's still angry. It stays there until he visibly relaxes a bit and mentions the lunar cycle. Neat, huh? I love catching things like this.
* Ah, more scenes of the boys in suits. Very nice. Plant and Page. *giggles* Sammy as sketch artist. Dean cleverly passes that job off onto little brother, "the things he can do with a pen". Heehee. It's cute how Dean tries to take a look as Sam starts to draw and Sammy kind of pulls away. So adorkable, these two. Thinking this attacker is a werewolf, their questions naturally turn to the eyes and teeth, but Kyle (the victim) says the dude who attacked him was normal. Things take an emotional turn when he brings up the deaths of his brothers..."How would you feel?", he asks Sam. Jared does an amazing job here, showing Sam's emotional crisis over Dean's impending death. "I can't imagine anything worse." *cries* This scene really got to me the second time I viewed it, realizing as the camera shows Dean's face that the brothers were each thinking about losing each other, but coming from different places. Dean, because he knows what it's like to lose his brother, and Sam, because he knows he probably will. Beautifully acted and shot with some of the most gorgeous closeups I've seen on this show...and this eppy wasn't even directed by Kim "I love a close up" Manners.
Figures Dean would know Wiley Coyote. Hee. So Dean leaves to question the doctor (Dr. Garrison) and Sam ends up showing his sketch to Kyle. "It's a work in progress." *giggles* Hey, I don't think I could've done much better myself. I'm not a bad artist, but I've always stunk at drawing people.
* The boys walking...gotta love it. *glares at annoying CW ads* Grrrr. The facts aren't adding up to werewolf behavior, so the boys are a little stumped. Oh, and that weird edit to the trees is still bugging me.
* So Ken and Barbie are lost in the woods. Okay...Ken is actually his name, but we never do find out what the gal's name is, so....I just filled in with the name that made sense to me. Heh. They come across a little quaint house with a kindly old lady who invites them in for some pie (does this show have a thing for pie or what?). But the nice old lady poisoned the pie and Ken and Barbie are soon writhing on the floor as granny comes at them with a very large knife. Eeeek! She slices into Ken as Barbie screams and a pretty young girl calmly watches from outside.
* Pretty smooth how the boys avoid the state troopers. Dr. Garrison is trying to convince Barbie to stay. The boys interview her and find out about the little girl who witnessed the attack. Oh, the boys are wearing different suits now, btw.
* They go to the old lady's house to check out the place for EMF and Sam finds some activity over by the window. Sam's made the connection to fairy tales for the murders.
Dean: So what...you think the murders are what? A re-enactment? That's a little crazy.
Sam: Crazy as what? Every day of our lives?
Dean: Touche'.
* Some research is in order and apparently Dean lost the coin toss 'cause he's the one we see emerging from the library and none too happy about spending six hours to come up with "zip, zilch, nada". Sam suspects the little girl might be a spirit putting trances on people. Then the boys encounter the bizarre frog.
Dean: Alright, maybe it is fairy tales. Totally messed up fairy tales. I'll tell you one thing, there's no way I'm kissing that damn frog.
*giggles*
Sam then sees a pumpkin on the porch of a house nearby and alludes it might be Cinderella as a mouse scurries by. Dean comments with a "Dude, could you be more gay?" and the boys decide to investigate.
* Inside the house they find a young woman beaten and handcuffed to the stove, claiming her stepmother did it. Btw, Dean with the hand signal to Sam...*guh*...so hot. They're such a great team now...guns drawn...searching methodically like a couple of pros. Anyway, Dean then sees the young girl watching them. She takes off and Dean follows as Sam breaks out the lock pick set to free "Cinderella". Dean walks through the house, following the dark haired girl into a large room. She disappears and then reappears as he turns around. After asking "who are you?" she flashes out of sight, leaving a shiny red apple on the floor. Love Dean's expression after he picks up the apple....like "can this get any more bizarre?". Heh.
* Okay, I like this little scene with the apple for a purely fangirly reason....yep...the boys tossing that apple back and forth. Heehee. Anyway, Sam figures out the little girl is Snow White and Dean says he's seen the porno version. Sam goes over the story of how the wicked stepmother in the story gives Snow White a poisoned apple that puts her into a deep almost death-like sleep. They return to the hospital asking about comatose little girls and find out about Dr. Garrison's daughter, Callie, who's been in the hospital for some time.
* We cut to Dr. Garrison as he reads one of the Grimm Fairy Tales to Callie. As he reads Little Red Riding Hood, we see an elderly lady approach her minivan and get viciously attaacked by the Wolf Man guy with the Wiley Coyote tattoo on his arm. Back at the hospital, the boys approach and learn about how Callie wound up in a coma at the age of 8 from swallowing bleach. There was also a stepmother involved, confirming their supicions about the Snow White theory. Dean figures the step mother poisoned young Callie to get attention via Munchausen Sydrome by Proxy (which Sam provides the name of, him being the geek-boy he is). Dean was doing the whole movie reference thing, that he does so well. Sixth Sense. "Hey you know fairy tales, I know movies." Heehee. Meanwhile, the earlier seen elderly lady is brought in with some animal bites on her. She doesn't make it and the brothers find out she has a young grand-daughter. They easily put together the Little Red Riding Hood story they heard Dr. Garrison reading to what just happened with the latest victim.
Dean: You find a way to stop Callie. Alright?
Sam: What about you.
Dean: I'm gonna go stop the big bad wolf. Which is the weirdest thing I've ever said.
Love his quick turn down the hall!
* We see the granddaughter, who is even dressed like Little Red Riding Hood, get into grandma's minivan, only to be greeted by Mr. Big Bad Wolf. Eeep!
* At the hospital, Sam tries to tell Dr. Garrison what really happened to Callie, but the doctor, understandably, doesn't want to listen. He goes into Callie's room, shutting the door in Sam's face. But Sammy's not deterred and enters anyway, "I don't have time to do this gently." He explains that Callie is hurting people and that she's a spirit. Dr. Garrison then surprises Sam with, "So you've seen her too."
* Dean kicks in the door of a house, gun at the ready. That just never gets old, does it? The young granddaughter is there, but so is Big Bad Wolf and a fight ensues. I love fight scenes. Tough to film (I know from experience here, folks) and nasty to cap, but oh, so fun to watch! Dean gets some good punches in, but Mr. Wolf soon sends him flying into a nearby cabinet. Ouch!
* Dr. Garrison says he's seen Callie, but couldn't believe it. Sam confirms it's real and that Callie's step-mom poisoned her. The doctor steadfastly denies it, saying his wife loved Callie.
Sam: Look. Callie is killing people. She's angry, she's desperate, because nobody will listen to her. So you have to listen to her. Please...listen to your daughter.
I really like Jared's delivery of this. It's really quite beautiful.
* Back at the fight...Dean is getting thrown around by Mr. Wolf. How awesome is it that Dean did that one stunt into the mirror? I love it when the guys do their own stunts. Little spirit Callie is watching the fight happily. Dean gets thrown to the floor and spies some large sewing scissors. He grabs them, fulfilling his role as Huntsman in the Little Red Riding Hood tale as he uses them against Mr. Wolf. Spirit Callie hears her dad calling and disappears.
* She reappears in the hospital room with the doctor and Sam. This is really a touching scene and kudos to both the young actress playing spirit Callie and the actor playing Dr. Garrison. And yeah, I know they keep cutting back to Dean and Mr. Wolf, but let's stay with this scene for a moment, okay? Spirit Callie confirms that her step-mom poisoned her. The doctor apologises for not recognizing what happened to her and he tearfully pleads with Callie to stop hurting people. He admits it's time to let her go. Turning to kiss his comatose daughter goodbye, she slips away as a distraught-looking Sam looks away.
* Dean's been struggling with Mr. Wolf for the scissors and as Callie dies, he gains the upper hand, ready to plunge them into the guy. But Mr. Wolf suddenly comes out of his trance, begging for his life and wondering where he is, as Dean backs off his attack in relief. Dr. Garrison tearfully strokes his daughter's black hair and we get a lovely sad expression from Sam. No doubt feeling he'll be in the same position with Dean in a little less than a year. *sobs* So sad, but I love it when this show makes me cry.
* The boys talk to Dr. Garrison one last time, confirming that it's all over. The doctor admits that while his daughter was the most important person in his life, he should have let her go a long time ago. He walks away and we get one of the most painfully sad scenes of the season so far. *whimpers*
Dean: You know, what he said? It's some good advice.
Sam: Is that what you want me to do Dean? Just let you go?
And they just hold on those glorious closeups....*cries* Dean looks down before looking up at Sam and then walking away down the hallway. If that's not a metaphor for Dean's impending death from his demon deal, I don't know what is. Sam ends up standing there...alone - just like he'll be once Dean dies. It's just so heartbreaking to see Sam like this. He's desperate to save his big brother, who continues to push him away. Damn it Dean! Why do you have to be so pig-headed about this? Your cavalier attitude about your life is killing Sam. *Sigh* Poor Sammy. You can see him swallowing at the end of the scene, trying to hold his emotions together as he watches Dean walk away. Again, great stuff from Jared. He's really starting to shine this season, in all areas of his performance. Not just the heavy, emotional stuff, but the comedy too. Anyway, this scene just rips my heart out, while I'm gleefully smiling because this is the kind of stuff that I just eat up! I love the brotherly angst! Long may it reign! Oh, and did anyone kind of get sense of a callback to that scene in IMTOD when they do the 360 around Sam after Dean almost dies and the camera pulls back to show him standing alone in the hallway? It reminded me of that scene a little.
Oh, and another rant against the CW here for putting one of those damned ads right at the end of this scene! It's an outrage! It pulls you right out of the show! It's so distracting! I can live with the mildly annoying CW logo in the corner, but these green bands are just ruining my show! Aaaarrrrrgggghhhh! The most touching and emotional scene of the episode and they go and ruin it! I'm almost tempted to write a letter to Dawn Ostroff in protest. Maybe draw up a petition. Who's with me?
* Awwww...Dean sleeping. *pets him* Meanwhile, Sam is not in his own bed. He's off to meet with the Crossroads Demon - against Dean's orders. Okay, I already went into this scene in my First Impressions post, so I'll try to be brief here. First off, I think Sandy's the greatest. She's pretty and sweet and she makes Jared happy. I've only seen her in photos and in the Pussycat Dolls program, which, btw she was waaaaay too nice for. I went into this episode knowing she was cast as the Crossroads Demon. I saw the promo pics. I started watching the scene with an open mind and no assumptions either way as to how it would play out. But I was sadly disappointed in her performance. She just smiled too much. When I should have been thinking Demon I was thinking SandySandySandy. She took me right out of the scene. Jared, did a great job, however, and held onto his performance throughout. But Sandy just couldn't cut it as the demon in my book. There was one brief moment where she stopped smiling and got very serious. Then her portrayal worked for me. But it was short-lived. I suppose she was told to play it in the usual demon-snarky way, but for me it just didn't work. I really wanted to enjoy the scene...and just couldn't.
Besides all that...Sam summons the demon and threatens her with the Colt (which she recognizes isn't the original and names Ruby as the one responsible....ooooh). He wants her to let Dean out of the deal or else she dies. She proceeds to taunt him, saying that he must be tired of Dean and his bossy ways, his tortured psyche. Once Dean's gone he'll be free of all that. Sam gets angry, but she points out Dean made the deal of his own free will and that it's unbreakable. He thinks if he kills her then the deal's broken, but she reveals that she's "just a saleswoman" and that it's her boss who holds Dean's contract. But she won't tell him who it is, so he takes a moment and then calmly shoots her in the head. She falls dead and we end with another CU of Sam (S2 it was always Dean at the end, looks like this season belongs to Sam) and we get some really wild sounding music. So yet another dramatic ending.
Even with my problems over the final scene, I still thoroughly enjoyed this eppy. It had the light moments, the brotherly moments, and a good fight scene. Hmmmm...yeah....that frog still bugs me.
If you want a little bit more of my thoughts check out my First Impressions Post for this episode. Please remember that the caps here are just small for the review. I'll be posting the full sized caps in a regular picspam later on.
All the caps within this review were taken from my own Hi-Def recording of the episode. You're free to take any that you like, as long as you give me credit. There are 104 caps, but most of them are clickable thumbnails in consideration of my fellow dial-up users.
* The teaser kick starts the episode with a bloody and violent beginning. We're in Maple Springs, New York, btw. I actually missed that during the initial airing and kept wondering where all this was taking place. I did, however, catch on right away (knowing that this episode involved fairy tales) that these 3 guys were representing the Three Little Pigs. Heh.
* There's the frog....which I wish they had resolved or explained in some way. It just keeps showing up wherever the boys are for no reason. I mentioned to
trystan830 that is must be the WB frog. Ha!* The boys are engaged in one of the most heated arguments I've ever seen between them. It's all about Dean's Demon Deal (DDD) of course. Sam wants to go track down the Crossroads Demon and even shoot her with the Colt if she won't let Dean out of the deal. Dean doesn't want Sam to do anything because if they screw things up he'll end up dead again. When he finally says he's not going to discuss the matter any further, Sam fires back with, "You're not dad!". Ooooooh. Dean glares and fumes and then counters in the only way he has left...the "I'm the big brother, the oldest, so what I say goes" card. That silences Sam, but he's still upset. Dean moves the conversation on to the case, a "psychotic killer". They're thinking because of the nature of the attacks and the lunar cycle that it's probably a werewolf.
I'd like to take a moment and point out the clever use of color and lighting in this scene. My instructor and mentor, Phil Lucas, always told us that nothing you see on film is ever just an accident. It's all done for a reason. If you watch the scene you'll notice the use of a red light behind their heads at certain times. At first you might think, "well, that's just to show the tail lights of other cars.", but if you watch the scene carefully, you'll see that it shows up at distinct moments. Notice how it doesn't show up until Sam says Dean isn't dad...then it just floods Dean's face with anger. When they cut back to Sam it's there as well. Dean ends the argument and the red light disappears from him, but you'll notice as Sam reads from the newspaper, that the red light is still on the back of his head. He's still angry. It stays there until he visibly relaxes a bit and mentions the lunar cycle. Neat, huh? I love catching things like this.
* Ah, more scenes of the boys in suits. Very nice. Plant and Page. *giggles* Sammy as sketch artist. Dean cleverly passes that job off onto little brother, "the things he can do with a pen". Heehee. It's cute how Dean tries to take a look as Sam starts to draw and Sammy kind of pulls away. So adorkable, these two. Thinking this attacker is a werewolf, their questions naturally turn to the eyes and teeth, but Kyle (the victim) says the dude who attacked him was normal. Things take an emotional turn when he brings up the deaths of his brothers..."How would you feel?", he asks Sam. Jared does an amazing job here, showing Sam's emotional crisis over Dean's impending death. "I can't imagine anything worse." *cries* This scene really got to me the second time I viewed it, realizing as the camera shows Dean's face that the brothers were each thinking about losing each other, but coming from different places. Dean, because he knows what it's like to lose his brother, and Sam, because he knows he probably will. Beautifully acted and shot with some of the most gorgeous closeups I've seen on this show...and this eppy wasn't even directed by Kim "I love a close up" Manners.
Figures Dean would know Wiley Coyote. Hee. So Dean leaves to question the doctor (Dr. Garrison) and Sam ends up showing his sketch to Kyle. "It's a work in progress." *giggles* Hey, I don't think I could've done much better myself. I'm not a bad artist, but I've always stunk at drawing people.
* The boys walking...gotta love it. *glares at annoying CW ads* Grrrr. The facts aren't adding up to werewolf behavior, so the boys are a little stumped. Oh, and that weird edit to the trees is still bugging me.
* So Ken and Barbie are lost in the woods. Okay...Ken is actually his name, but we never do find out what the gal's name is, so....I just filled in with the name that made sense to me. Heh. They come across a little quaint house with a kindly old lady who invites them in for some pie (does this show have a thing for pie or what?). But the nice old lady poisoned the pie and Ken and Barbie are soon writhing on the floor as granny comes at them with a very large knife. Eeeek! She slices into Ken as Barbie screams and a pretty young girl calmly watches from outside.
* Pretty smooth how the boys avoid the state troopers. Dr. Garrison is trying to convince Barbie to stay. The boys interview her and find out about the little girl who witnessed the attack. Oh, the boys are wearing different suits now, btw.
* They go to the old lady's house to check out the place for EMF and Sam finds some activity over by the window. Sam's made the connection to fairy tales for the murders.
Dean: So what...you think the murders are what? A re-enactment? That's a little crazy.
Sam: Crazy as what? Every day of our lives?
Dean: Touche'.
* Some research is in order and apparently Dean lost the coin toss 'cause he's the one we see emerging from the library and none too happy about spending six hours to come up with "zip, zilch, nada". Sam suspects the little girl might be a spirit putting trances on people. Then the boys encounter the bizarre frog.
Dean: Alright, maybe it is fairy tales. Totally messed up fairy tales. I'll tell you one thing, there's no way I'm kissing that damn frog.
*giggles*
Sam then sees a pumpkin on the porch of a house nearby and alludes it might be Cinderella as a mouse scurries by. Dean comments with a "Dude, could you be more gay?" and the boys decide to investigate.
* Inside the house they find a young woman beaten and handcuffed to the stove, claiming her stepmother did it. Btw, Dean with the hand signal to Sam...*guh*...so hot. They're such a great team now...guns drawn...searching methodically like a couple of pros. Anyway, Dean then sees the young girl watching them. She takes off and Dean follows as Sam breaks out the lock pick set to free "Cinderella". Dean walks through the house, following the dark haired girl into a large room. She disappears and then reappears as he turns around. After asking "who are you?" she flashes out of sight, leaving a shiny red apple on the floor. Love Dean's expression after he picks up the apple....like "can this get any more bizarre?". Heh.
* Okay, I like this little scene with the apple for a purely fangirly reason....yep...the boys tossing that apple back and forth. Heehee. Anyway, Sam figures out the little girl is Snow White and Dean says he's seen the porno version. Sam goes over the story of how the wicked stepmother in the story gives Snow White a poisoned apple that puts her into a deep almost death-like sleep. They return to the hospital asking about comatose little girls and find out about Dr. Garrison's daughter, Callie, who's been in the hospital for some time.
* We cut to Dr. Garrison as he reads one of the Grimm Fairy Tales to Callie. As he reads Little Red Riding Hood, we see an elderly lady approach her minivan and get viciously attaacked by the Wolf Man guy with the Wiley Coyote tattoo on his arm. Back at the hospital, the boys approach and learn about how Callie wound up in a coma at the age of 8 from swallowing bleach. There was also a stepmother involved, confirming their supicions about the Snow White theory. Dean figures the step mother poisoned young Callie to get attention via Munchausen Sydrome by Proxy (which Sam provides the name of, him being the geek-boy he is). Dean was doing the whole movie reference thing, that he does so well. Sixth Sense. "Hey you know fairy tales, I know movies." Heehee. Meanwhile, the earlier seen elderly lady is brought in with some animal bites on her. She doesn't make it and the brothers find out she has a young grand-daughter. They easily put together the Little Red Riding Hood story they heard Dr. Garrison reading to what just happened with the latest victim.
Dean: You find a way to stop Callie. Alright?
Sam: What about you.
Dean: I'm gonna go stop the big bad wolf. Which is the weirdest thing I've ever said.
Love his quick turn down the hall!
* We see the granddaughter, who is even dressed like Little Red Riding Hood, get into grandma's minivan, only to be greeted by Mr. Big Bad Wolf. Eeep!
* At the hospital, Sam tries to tell Dr. Garrison what really happened to Callie, but the doctor, understandably, doesn't want to listen. He goes into Callie's room, shutting the door in Sam's face. But Sammy's not deterred and enters anyway, "I don't have time to do this gently." He explains that Callie is hurting people and that she's a spirit. Dr. Garrison then surprises Sam with, "So you've seen her too."
* Dean kicks in the door of a house, gun at the ready. That just never gets old, does it? The young granddaughter is there, but so is Big Bad Wolf and a fight ensues. I love fight scenes. Tough to film (I know from experience here, folks) and nasty to cap, but oh, so fun to watch! Dean gets some good punches in, but Mr. Wolf soon sends him flying into a nearby cabinet. Ouch!
* Dr. Garrison says he's seen Callie, but couldn't believe it. Sam confirms it's real and that Callie's step-mom poisoned her. The doctor steadfastly denies it, saying his wife loved Callie.
Sam: Look. Callie is killing people. She's angry, she's desperate, because nobody will listen to her. So you have to listen to her. Please...listen to your daughter.
I really like Jared's delivery of this. It's really quite beautiful.
* Back at the fight...Dean is getting thrown around by Mr. Wolf. How awesome is it that Dean did that one stunt into the mirror? I love it when the guys do their own stunts. Little spirit Callie is watching the fight happily. Dean gets thrown to the floor and spies some large sewing scissors. He grabs them, fulfilling his role as Huntsman in the Little Red Riding Hood tale as he uses them against Mr. Wolf. Spirit Callie hears her dad calling and disappears.
* She reappears in the hospital room with the doctor and Sam. This is really a touching scene and kudos to both the young actress playing spirit Callie and the actor playing Dr. Garrison. And yeah, I know they keep cutting back to Dean and Mr. Wolf, but let's stay with this scene for a moment, okay? Spirit Callie confirms that her step-mom poisoned her. The doctor apologises for not recognizing what happened to her and he tearfully pleads with Callie to stop hurting people. He admits it's time to let her go. Turning to kiss his comatose daughter goodbye, she slips away as a distraught-looking Sam looks away.
* Dean's been struggling with Mr. Wolf for the scissors and as Callie dies, he gains the upper hand, ready to plunge them into the guy. But Mr. Wolf suddenly comes out of his trance, begging for his life and wondering where he is, as Dean backs off his attack in relief. Dr. Garrison tearfully strokes his daughter's black hair and we get a lovely sad expression from Sam. No doubt feeling he'll be in the same position with Dean in a little less than a year. *sobs* So sad, but I love it when this show makes me cry.
* The boys talk to Dr. Garrison one last time, confirming that it's all over. The doctor admits that while his daughter was the most important person in his life, he should have let her go a long time ago. He walks away and we get one of the most painfully sad scenes of the season so far. *whimpers*
Dean: You know, what he said? It's some good advice.
Sam: Is that what you want me to do Dean? Just let you go?
And they just hold on those glorious closeups....*cries* Dean looks down before looking up at Sam and then walking away down the hallway. If that's not a metaphor for Dean's impending death from his demon deal, I don't know what is. Sam ends up standing there...alone - just like he'll be once Dean dies. It's just so heartbreaking to see Sam like this. He's desperate to save his big brother, who continues to push him away. Damn it Dean! Why do you have to be so pig-headed about this? Your cavalier attitude about your life is killing Sam. *Sigh* Poor Sammy. You can see him swallowing at the end of the scene, trying to hold his emotions together as he watches Dean walk away. Again, great stuff from Jared. He's really starting to shine this season, in all areas of his performance. Not just the heavy, emotional stuff, but the comedy too. Anyway, this scene just rips my heart out, while I'm gleefully smiling because this is the kind of stuff that I just eat up! I love the brotherly angst! Long may it reign! Oh, and did anyone kind of get sense of a callback to that scene in IMTOD when they do the 360 around Sam after Dean almost dies and the camera pulls back to show him standing alone in the hallway? It reminded me of that scene a little.
Oh, and another rant against the CW here for putting one of those damned ads right at the end of this scene! It's an outrage! It pulls you right out of the show! It's so distracting! I can live with the mildly annoying CW logo in the corner, but these green bands are just ruining my show! Aaaarrrrrgggghhhh! The most touching and emotional scene of the episode and they go and ruin it! I'm almost tempted to write a letter to Dawn Ostroff in protest. Maybe draw up a petition. Who's with me?
* Awwww...Dean sleeping. *pets him* Meanwhile, Sam is not in his own bed. He's off to meet with the Crossroads Demon - against Dean's orders. Okay, I already went into this scene in my First Impressions post, so I'll try to be brief here. First off, I think Sandy's the greatest. She's pretty and sweet and she makes Jared happy. I've only seen her in photos and in the Pussycat Dolls program, which, btw she was waaaaay too nice for. I went into this episode knowing she was cast as the Crossroads Demon. I saw the promo pics. I started watching the scene with an open mind and no assumptions either way as to how it would play out. But I was sadly disappointed in her performance. She just smiled too much. When I should have been thinking Demon I was thinking SandySandySandy. She took me right out of the scene. Jared, did a great job, however, and held onto his performance throughout. But Sandy just couldn't cut it as the demon in my book. There was one brief moment where she stopped smiling and got very serious. Then her portrayal worked for me. But it was short-lived. I suppose she was told to play it in the usual demon-snarky way, but for me it just didn't work. I really wanted to enjoy the scene...and just couldn't.
Besides all that...Sam summons the demon and threatens her with the Colt (which she recognizes isn't the original and names Ruby as the one responsible....ooooh). He wants her to let Dean out of the deal or else she dies. She proceeds to taunt him, saying that he must be tired of Dean and his bossy ways, his tortured psyche. Once Dean's gone he'll be free of all that. Sam gets angry, but she points out Dean made the deal of his own free will and that it's unbreakable. He thinks if he kills her then the deal's broken, but she reveals that she's "just a saleswoman" and that it's her boss who holds Dean's contract. But she won't tell him who it is, so he takes a moment and then calmly shoots her in the head. She falls dead and we end with another CU of Sam (S2 it was always Dean at the end, looks like this season belongs to Sam) and we get some really wild sounding music. So yet another dramatic ending.
Even with my problems over the final scene, I still thoroughly enjoyed this eppy. It had the light moments, the brotherly moments, and a good fight scene. Hmmmm...yeah....that frog still bugs me.
