‘I Can’t Be Around You Right Now’
Then came the last two minutes of Supernatural, which seemed like a bit of a regression but made more sense to me after I thought it over. While Dean was debating ways to get rid of the leviathans’heads, he wanted to know why Sam was acting so sullen, so Sam let it all out. He knew exactly what Dean had done to Amy and that his brother had lied to him. Dean offered up token protests, but Sam grabbed his bags and walked away.
I’ll admit, it was a bit of a disappointment that Sam was so angry with Dean that he didn’t even give his brother a chance to explain. After all, it was just last week that Sam was New!Sam and wanted Dean to open up. So why was he so irrational tonight? Was it drama for drama’s sake? Well, perhaps. But I think it also relates to how the boys have been acting this season. Sam has been making a conscious effort not to keep things from Dean. He told him about his Lucifer visions and last week we saw him really trying to get Dean out of his shell. It seems like Sam is desperate to have a real relationship with his brother again, one that’s not based on secrets and lies (Let’s not mention him running away in episode 7.03, ok? That situation is pretty explainable).
The point is, Sam has learned lessons from season 4 and 5 in particular and wants to be honest. I think the thing that Sam is most upset about isn’t necessarily the fact that Dean killed Amy (although I suppose he is upset about that), but the fact that Dean lied. And not only did he lie initially, but he kept this secret even when Sam wanted Dean to tell him the truth.
Here’s an interesting question to consider: if Dean had told Sam the truth about Amy last week when Sam was pushing for it, do you think he would have been as angry? Or is the situation far worse not only because Dean lied, but because he would have continued to lie unless or until the truth came out another way. Sam had to hear the truth about his brother’s secrets from another source, just like Dean had to hear the truth about Sam’s growing powers from Castiel in season 4.
Yes, there is a pattern in Winchester ‘verse whereby they keep secrets from one another, sometimes to protect the other and sometimes because they are ashamed. And yes, it is extremely rare that Dean just picks up and leaves when they’ve had this kind of an argument, unlike Sam, who does have a tendency to storm out. But, again, like I discussed last week about the brothers’personalities, their reactions to conflict is in line with their personalities. Dean really doesn’t leave Sam, because he needs and wants his family and because being alone is a fate Dean abhors. Sam is far more comfortable storming out because he’s always been more independent.
Was the ending disappointing? A bit. But, frankly, I think that it’s also a bit understandable given not only the characters’history but also their personalities. The good news is that this rift won’t last that long. After all, we see in the promo for next week’s Supernatural episode that they’re already back to working a case together. It’s my hope that they may finally air their grievances and move past this. I know that it’s unlikely that Dean will want to sit down and explain his reasoning for killing Amy. That’s just not who he is and, in his mind, he was right. But the boys are in a good place right now, even if Dean is basically a full-blown alcoholic and Sam’s slightly crazy with hallucinations and there are still some lies between them.
Oh, boys.
Despite the ending, I thought this was a great episode. Not only did we get to see crazy, homicidal versions of Sam and Dean, but the writers poked fun at the boys when the leviathan clones lamented about how lame the brothers were. Plus, while I do sort of lament for the old days when the boys fought ghosts and hunted yellow-eyed demons, I kind of like Dick Roman. Any guy who can put the snarky Crowley in his place is definitely a guy I want to see again.
Follow Us
Good review but you got one thing wrong. The Boron Sulfate/Decapitation trick didn't kill the Leviathans, it just stopped them. They're still alive just weakened and missing their heads lol
Fair enough. Although, I suppose it's as close to "killing" as they may get with the leviathans. It seems like unless their heads get reattached, that's pretty much it. Let's hope they don't get reattached ;)
What was interesting was getting a glimpse inside Dean's head. He thinks Sam is unstable, and I think this is what is bothering Sam . He knows his brother does not trust his judgment, and who can blame Dean, so Sam storms off like a child. So sad to see such little growth in Sam's character. He told Dean about Amy, a monster, because deep down he knew Dean would do what he didn't have the courage to do himself. Personally, I think Dean needs to be free of Sam for awhile so he can start to see outside of his relationship with his brother. Family does not mean the same thing to Sam as it does to Dean, and Dean should just realize it's true.
I don't think that Sam wanted Dean to kill Amy. I think the complete opposite is true. He wanted Dean to trust him and Amy and let her go. And I think his anger right now stems more from Dean lying and his apparent mistrust in Sam than what happened to Amy.
I don't think Dean's feeling that Sam is unstable is really what made Sam angry. Sam knows he's unstable and he's well aware that Dean is keeping a watchful eye on him because of it. Sam was angry because Dean lied to him, and I think he's completely justified in those feelings. Like Clarissa pointed out, it's not even so much that Dean initially lied about it. He continued to lie and would have continued to lie if Levi!Dean hadn't exposed the lie. I'm one of the folks who agreed with Dean's killing of Amy, but not lying to/misleading Sam about it. Furthermore, I think Sam's response of walking away was actually a very mature thing to do. He was extremely angry and didn't want to say something to Dean in that moment that he couldn't take back later. Think about how many hurt feelings and ruined relationships we could avoid If more of us would just walk away and cool off before talking about how we feel. That way, when Sam comes back to talk to Dean about why he got so angry, they can actually talk about it in reasonable, rational tones and not just shout at each other. I think that shows tremendous growth and maturity in Sam.
I agree and disagree Jessica about Sam walking away. Yes, I agree that more people should learn to walk away from confrontations, get to a corner and count backwards from 100, take the time to cool off – it would make some lives easier. But, I don't think that is why Sam walked away. I think he simply walked because he really was disgusted with his brother. Dean lied and killed a friend of his, so he's upset, true. Amy needed to die, but Dean shouldn't have lied, period. If Sam really wants Dean to open up, if he really wants to connect with his brother, then he has to learn to stop running away. Why would Dean open up? Every time he does it upsets Sam and Sam ends up either running off or pulling away from his brother. He gets frustrated with his family and he takes off:
before the show began – John wants to control him so he goes to Stanford,
season 1 – Dean won't do what Sam wants so he goes off on his own to find John
season 2 – Dean kept secrets about him, but finally opens up and he doesn't like what he has to say, so he takes off to find the rest of the psychic kids
season 3 – Dean tries ignore the whole going to hell thing which irritates Sam who goes and shoots a cross-roads demon and starts working with Ruby, a demon
season 4 – Dean was being bossy, doesn't trust him as much as he'd like so he goes off with Ruby
season 5 – Dean doesn't trust him around demon blood so he goes to work at bar
season 6 – even as Soulless Sam he has this issue: he avoids dealing with Dean at all and hunts with the Campbell's and later when he doesn't like what Dean says or is trying to do, instead of sitting down and talking or dealing with the situation, he takes off, and in this case nearly kills Bobby
season 7 – now Dean's kept another secret so he stomps off in a huff
And those are just the times he physically runs away. He pulls away from his brother emotionally often when things don't go his way. Sam is runner, and he needs to stop doing that as much as Dean needs to let go of some of his issues.
I do not want to start anything but some of this wrong, Melody. Sam went to college to have a normal life in the pilot. In season 1 Sam was trying to find John. He wasn't rejecting Dean or walking off in a huff these are brothers not lovers. Season 2 Azazel (the Yellow Eyed Demon) abducted Sam from that diner when he went there to get Dean's cheeseburger with extra onions. Azazel abducted all the psychic kids including Jake who was in Afghanistan and Azazel transported them to Frontierland as Andy Gallagher called it. Season 3 Sam tried to make a deal with the crossroads demon to save Dean. He shot the demon out of frustration. Season 4 Sam was seduced by Ruby cause all straight men are need and want women. Season 5 they split up because Sam didn't trust himself and Dean agreed. Season 6 Sam was soulless and it is the soul that tells use if we are behaving ethically and morally. Sam wasn't even in his body his soul was in the cage. We don't know what is going to happen in the nex episode. We only know that they're working together again. Neither one of the brothers are without issues as we heard from their clones in the diner. I like both the brothers and it's bothers me when some fans hate one of the guys. This is a journey they're on together as brothers.
I understand what you're saying, Melody. And I think you're right that running away (be it physically running or emotionally running) never solves anything. And I agree that Sam was kind of running off in some the examples you gave. I disagree with you about Sam running in S4-6 though. S4 was about Sam making bad choices and allowing himself to be seduced by evil. His excuse was that Dean didn't trust him and was too controlling, but the truth of the matter was, Sam liked the feeling of being high. As do all addicts. S5, it wasn't so much about Dean not trusting Sam around demon blood as it was Sam not trusting himself. Sam made the decision to step back from hunting and Dean simply supported that decision. S6 Soulless Sam I don't really count as Sam because I'm of the opinion that your soul is really what makes the man. Plus, Soulless Sam considered himself someone completely independent of Real Sam, so I have to disagree with you on those. But this instance, I really don't see as running. Sam needed time to essentially go into the other room and cool off. But since they basically live in the car, having Dean leave him there was the equivalent of doing just that. It's not like he could just build a cone of silence in the car. He needed time to be out of Dean's presence so he could calm down. Furthermore, I don't think that scene was just about Sam leaving so much as it was about Dean's response to Sam leaving. In the past, Dean would've basically begged Sam to stay, but this time, Dean responded differently. He knew Sam was mad. He knew why, and although it was painful for him, he let Sam walk away without protest. That shows a kind of growth and maturity on the part of Dean that we haven't seen in the past.
I'm really not sure how being angry that someone lied to him equates to Sam acting like a child. And walking away for a cool down period is probably the most adult thing a person can do when they are angry. It prevents people from saying things in the heat of the moment that can never be unsaid. Sam said several times that he couldn't deal with this "right not". He wasn't taking off on a permanent basis.
I was thinking that Crowley and the Leviathan boss were gonna work together. I wonder what will be Crowley's next move? An alliance with the brothers please!!
This Dick Roman is just like Lucifer but smarter.
It was a great episode overall, nice to see the boys being all evil and Bobby/Jodie is definitely on my list of awesome, but the Leviathan Boss, I'm gonna be honest, I couldn't have been more bored if I was watching a sponge. Yeah it's understandable that Leviathans with their strategies and smarts would target higher level power influence people to play the bosses, but this guy, I couldn't have been more intimidated he was yelling in my face, that whole speech he gave about hating the demons, no bite, no menace, and no screen-presence. A LOT was lacking in my opinion, I couldn't feel any excitement other than simple boredom and eye-rolling at that posturing speech. Crowley might have been put in his place but I sure wasn't and I didn't find him anymore interesting. I feel like this is another one of those Eve-miscast like from last season, I don't feel this big bad carrying any weight, honestly I was more freaked out by Misha Collins' performance from those last few seconds in the premiere than what I got from this whole monologue this episode, and maybe it's selfish and bias but I rather have seen Misha in this role.
Misha was definitely great playing the leviathans :) But I thought this Roman guy was kind of fun and I'd like to see him again, for sure.
I really wish that Michael Hogan didn't get killed in the end. Always been a fan of his, though he needed an eye-patch (like on BSG and Smallville). Plus I think Crowley might end up allying with the boys again to take down the Leviathans.
I liked this new writers; tight, action script and very witty, and I've always liked John Showalter (the director). Nice gritty feel to it. I'm thinking this is probably the best episode we'll see this season. If I pretend the ending didn't happen, it was great. It's hard to have sympathy for Sam, given his history, when he takes a non-significant, un-compelling killing of a murdering demon-fox and turns it into a "If you kill Amy, this is what you think of me" argument. (And, yes, I do realize he knew the girl for a few hours like a hundred years ago). I do like a good massacre, though. Loved the Borax solution, Dean's little song, and the pro-active LeviDean and LeviSam.
I liked Dick Roman, although he is no Zachariah. I'm interested and hope that his story is executed in a good manner. Haven't had too good of luck on in the good execution department in the last year or so, so I'm withholding judgment for the time being. Crowley is always fun, and I hope he, too, fits into the story in some logical sense this year and isn't just around because the fans like Crowley.
Nice to see Bobby's background. He finally got membership in the Daddy Issues Club. I don't feel like they have advanced the brothers characters all that much, so good for Bobby.
I didn't like them turning Sheriff Mills into a romantic interest. Tracking Bobby across several states and taking vacation time (apparently) for the pleasure of cooking and cleaning for him. No thanks. The character is now ruined for me (and I always liked her character).
Anyway, great fun and I liked it.
Finally!! Well done mate, I loved that scene too!! I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere!!
Dean's lip-synching saved me from despairing of the season! The ep was so good!
I wish Dean would stop hiding things, and I wish Sam wouldn't emotionally blackmail Dean by always leaving when he doesn't like what Dean's done. No wonder Dean hides everything from him. I wish the writers would break out of that old cycle though. They're both evolved from that.
I just wish the shariff had lived. No one survives anymore and it's starting to bug me.
Is it so hard to understand Sam's side? Irrational, really? It's not Amy, it's the fact that Dean told him to his face that he trusted him and then act ed behind his back. Isn't he supposed to feel hurt? What was he supposed to do then? Punching Dean? He would have been crucified by fandom, because only Dean has this right.. Being a good and forgiving boy, just like he did with the entire Castiel crap? Maybe Sam should apply for sainthood.
I think Sam's actions were understandable. I mean, it's a bit of manufactured drama from the writers, but given everything, I think he's right to be angry with his brother for keeping this secret from him, especially considering Dean wants Sam to be honest with him. I think his anger was immediate and that he'll probably forgive his brother once he's had time to calm down, but I don't think he was irrational.