Well, that was a wild ride! Supernatural’s ‘Form and Void’ (not the catchiest title – I miss Kripke’s provocative episode names) was nevertheless one of those episodes that seemed to fly by, keeping me on the edge of my seat and biting my nails when it wasn’t making me squee over how badass it looked – and sounded. The music was, as one fan put it, ‘jacked up’ – it wasn’t SPN’s usual fare, but it really worked to keep the pace quick throughout.
In fact, instead of dragging, there was so much going on that I felt like my head was spinning at times. And I’m not entirely sure I’m going to remember everything that happened after a single watch, but here are the things that struck me.
Creepy Creepy Creepy!
The good stuff first. This episode played like a true mini horror movie, complete with a terrifying evil baby spelling out ‘Feed Me’ in building blocks on the wall. I admit I started screaming when that happened – it was just so terrifying, seeing this tiny innocent looking baby gleefully flinging the blocks across the room and making a demand. It’s a horror movie staple, tapping into some deep psychological fear we have of those mysterious little beings who come into the world needing so much.
(I was momentarily distracted yelling at the grandmother that it’s no longer okay to put a baby down for a nap all swaddled and blanketed up like that, though, and that her old crib in the attic was probably no longer baby-safe….)
Anyway, creepy creepy creepy. Soon Amara is eating souls and growing up super fast like some demented combination of Little Shop of Horrors, The Omen and Rosemary’s Baby. Scary! And yes, some of that has been done before on Supernatural – flashback to the Slice Girls and little girl Lilith in her fancy dress. It’s inevitable that the Show will be somewhat derivative in its eleventh season, so I can handwave most of that easily enough.
And poor Jenna, she didn’t do soulless nearly as well as Sam Winchester. As someone on Tumblr noted:
Sam Winchester soulless: do you have bigger teacups?
Everyone else soulless: murder and mayhem
He really is SamFuckingWinchester!
Oh, Crowley!
The return of Crowley was oh so sweet. I was semi-unspoiled, so even though I knew that Crowley would of course be back, I wasn’t expecting him to be the ‘Father’ waiting for Dean. I actually squealed out loud when he said “Hello, son.” Dean’s face! Priceless.
Those two still have that sort of bitter exes vibe going, left over from their bromance breakup. I’m not entirely sure why Dean didn’t just try to kill him (or why Crowley merely tossed Dean into the closet…instead of killing him outright) but I’m putting both down to the lingering something or other that the two seem to have for each other.
As usual, Crowley (aka Daphne) gets the best lines.
I burst into laughter at his “Dean was a rather scrumptious young altar boy.”
Why yes, I’m sure he was…
And those weren’t the only ones. Sheppard gets to be the voice of the fandom at times, poking fun at the things we like to talk about – or quibble with – online. “The child likes you. No surprise, really. You’re very maternal.” “Agent Pathetic-Has-Been-Rockstar.” “Well hello, plot twist!”
Mark is fond of saying there should be a spinoff called “Oh, Crowley”. I’m beginning to think he’s right.
And while I love the leftover angstiness that Crowley and Dean’s failed bromance has left behind, I also loved seeing badass Crowley make a return.
“I’m not your bloody sidekick!”
First time I’ve been a wee bit scared of Crowley in a while. It felt good.
And his last scene, luring little girl Amara into his van with human soul ‘candy’? Both cheeky and chilling. Just like Crowley should be.
SamFuckingWinchester
Jared and Jensen had both talked about the changed stakes for the Winchesters this season – they can die now and not come back. In fact, they will apparently not get to go to heaven or hell, but will be sent out into the emptiness. What exactly is The Empty? Will we find out?
I suppose as long as they’re out there together, I can stand the thought, though I’d much prefer the soulmate-shared heaven that we were promised. I do like that we need to worry about Sam and Dean dying again though. And Billie the reaper sold the menacing seriousness of it. *shivers*
I loved Sam’s prayer in the hospital chapel. Loved that he prayed for Dean, asking for Dean to have a life, that he deserves that. I love that he thinks first of his brother, though I wish he wasn’t quite so quick to be okay with his own death. Jared did a fabulous job with that scene, and really sold Sam’s love as well as his desperation and guilt. It was the only time during this episode that I reached for the tissues. Sam just looked so beat up, so thoroughly damaged through and through. Not just physically, but emotionally. Is there anything the reaper could have said to him that would have cut more, considering his past?
“You’re unclean. In the biblical sense.”
Ouch. Just ouch. Sam’s deepest, longstanding fear, that he’s not worthy, that he’s somehow tainted and unclean.
I’m not even sure we know what this rabid plague thing is, and I didn’t think it was biblical, but I guess that means it’s tied to the Darkness? Hmm. Anyway, Jared made me cry. Kudos, Jared.
And I will never not love Smart!Sam, McGyvering himself weapons from the small town hardware store, and saving people (and himself) even when he’s looking like he’s just about to fall down and give up.
All the Pretty
Brilliant camera work on the scene afterwards, Sam on his knees in the hall amidst the dead bodies railing at God or whoever is sending him the visions, demanding “What does that mean?!”
(And what ARE those visions? What DOES it mean? Are Lucifer and Michael sending him visions from the cage??? What’s going to happen? AAAHHH!)
And was that VFX or does Jared need lots and lots of eyedrops after that scene?? It hurts just looking at that image, seriously.
There were a lot of interesting camera angles that made for extra dramatic scenes. And of course, as always, Show was beautiful. I don’t think Serge is capable of making it not look beautiful.
Great VFX throughout, including the creepy baby and blocks scene, the throbbing black veins in Sam’s neck and face, and the hospital scene when we see the shadow of the reaper’s hand reaching out for the dead Zompires. So chilling, and so well done!
And as I said before, I loved the instrumental music – it was much more rock and roll than we usually get, but it really worked. It kept a frenzied pace, and the hour seemed to fly by even more quickly than usual.
Boys and Girls and Angels and Reapers
I also liked the return of Hannah, with Lee Majdoub again doing a fabulous job of showing much more of the character than the dialogue provided. It seemed that there were still strong emotions between Hannah and Castiel, on both their parts, although they find themselves on opposite sides.
I liked that it was Hannah being attacked that finally compelled Cas to break free and take out those angels who were such DICKS. (I’m so over the angels – they used to be interesting characters, but recently they’re so one dimensional, all bad and no good, that they’re just boring.) Though I did like Psoriasis Angel’s snark.
I’m glad Show is playing a bit looser and less constricted with gender this season. Hannah in a male vessel but still very much Hannah is an interesting commentary on angels and gender, and opens up the question of Castiel’s as well. Erica Carroll has said that she didn’t play Hannah with a gender per se, although she was aware of and experienced some of the emotions of the woman who was her vessel. Lee seems to be playing the character in the same way. It was fun watching the two Hannahs (Lee and Erica) compliment each other’s performances on Twitter during the episode run. Though Erica did take time to bust Lee: I give you the character, and she gets killed??
I think most people were sorry to see Hannah go. Especially because Erica and Lee played her with so much nuance and made her feel so real.
I also loved the new reaper, Billie. Not only did she play that role with a menace that I haven’t felt about reapers in a long time, but she did it with a great singing voice. Her rendition of the Supernatural classic “Oh Death” was hauntingly beautiful. And she’s a woman of color who isn’t a size 0! Can we have more of her please?
ETA: Nearly forgot to say that I also liked the casual way we find out that Jenna isn’t straight and Dean’s non-reaction to that piece of information. Keep it up, Show. I feel like fandom is finally wearing off on you a little.
Badass Cas
Misha Collins got some scenes he could really sink his teeth into in this episode. He got to scream his voice hoarse being tortured once again, which can’t be a picnic, but it was an effective way of reminding us how much we care about Cas and how much he’s willing to endure not to give up the Winchesters. It was also a reminder of how much I hate every angel who isn’t Cas or Hannah. Misha sold the torture scenes, a little too much (which is a good thing). That is to say, I found them hard to watch, which is the reaction you want if you’re doing a torture scene.
Then Cas got to be a badass again (I miss badass Cas!) as he finally took out the dick Angels. I’m not entirely sure how much of that was Rowena’s attack dog spell and how much was Cas just having freaking HAD IT, but it was a great scene.
The ending scene, with Cas collapsed and bleeding and asking for the Winchesters’ help, was touching. So all three are back at the bunker. What now?
Dean Dean Dean
There were a few Dean moments that stuck with me, though a lot of his time onscreen was driving Jenna and Amara around or talking to Sam-who-wouldn’t-tell-him-he-was-dying on the phone. Pretty sure Crowley’s not the only one who has a thing for Dean’s maternal side. Watching him with that baby probably melted the majority of viewers, and it’s a nice call back to Dean’s role in ‘mothering’ Sammy throughout their childhood too.
I loved every single word (and look) exchanged between Dean and Crowley, and the show down between them was so quick and unexpected that it made me gasp. Crowley is Crowley again, tossing Dean across the room with a flick of the wrist.
And then we got some badass Dean, skewering Crowley to the wall and then stalking off down the hallway brandishing a knife to do what he had to do (or at least try). Give me badass Dean every day, please! Mmmm. Then he got to roll around on the floor with Jenna (Laci Mailey) (until she ended up on the ceiling, as women sometimes do on Supernatural).
Did Crowley really get bored, or is he less keen on seeing Dean killed than he lets on?
But Why?
So there was a lot I really liked. But there were a few things that bothered me. First and foremost, I’m never totally happy when Sam and Dean are separated for 97% of the episode. I know Jared and Jensen need time off, but I don’t have to like it. I will never like it.
I also felt a bit cheated out of the Croatoan-esque Sam rescue I was expecting. The entire episode, I kept wanting Dean to get in the Impala and get the hell back to Sam so he could help save him, and instead he kept turning the car around and heading back to save other people. (Of course, this is understandable since Sam didn’t bloody TELL Dean that he was infected….grrr).
I thought we were gearing up for a dramatic Dean races back and barely gets to a dying Sam in time scene, and instead Sam went from falling over almost-dead to OMG I’ve got it, let me just google biblically unclean and pull out my oh-so-rare jug of holy water and light something on fire! I actually said (to an empty room) Wait, is that it? Is he cured?
It was so quick, it felt thoroughly anti-climactic. I mean, I’m glad Sam showed off his smarts and all that, but really, just like that?
Erica Carroll tweeted: “Sam needs to join the World Health Organization with the rate he finds cures.”
Hehehe. But yes.
I am glad that Sam remembered to brush his fine fine hair out of the way before he put the flaming marshmallow to his neck, but mostly that scene just didn’t work for me. It seemed too quick and easy after all the build up.
And the fact that Sam apparently NEVER tells Dean how close he was to dying is really annoying. The Winchesters keep talking about changing, but secret-keeping is apparently not part of that resolve. Boo.
On the other hand, SamFuckingWinchester! Smart as hell and a big damn hero to boot. I’m glad he got to save people, reinforcing his new mantra of ‘we have to save as many of them as we can.’ I hope that went a long way to relieving that 500 ton burden of guilt that Sam is carrying around.
While I loved the way Lisa Berry sang it, I also didn’t entirely like the way ‘Oh Death’ was used in this episode. When Sam heard that song, I was momentarily very confused. It has never been used as part of the show, only as a soundtrack for Death – but Sam was *hearing* it this time. What?? The fact that a reaper was singing it doesn’t really make sense to me – it was written as a commentary ON the show, not to be sung as part of the show. That’s a sort of meta that doesn’t really work for me, and it threw me right out of the narrative with a WTF sort of jarring reaction. I love meta in the show, but this time, not so much. Though I guess it was an inexpensive way to use a great song if you have the rights and the actress happens to be able to sing it and sing it well.
We get about one minute of Winchesters together at the end of the episode, as the boys return home. They find an injured Cas collapsed amongst the books, asking for help. He’s still bloody, but he has taken the time to put his trench coat back on. I guess he’s grown attached to it. Unlike poor Misha. That was a nice moment, with Cas going to Sam and Dean for help. We’ll see just how much help the Winchesters can be with that ‘attack dog’ spell – clearly they’ll need Rowena’s help to remove it, which means yay, more Ruth Connell!
And just to make the evening sweeter, Jared posted some J2 manipped fanart on his Instagram, which just warms my heart.
I love this cast, and how much they appreciate fandom in all our creative glory.
All in all, I’m very excited for next week’s episode – especially because it’s the one directed by Jensen Ackles!
–Lynn
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“I do like that we need to worry about Sam and Dean dying again though.”
Do we really though? I feel like this will be something that will eventually resolved, and it’s not like Sam & Dean will die and stay dead and in the Empty. At least not while SPN is still on the air.
I too was frustrated by the lack of Sam & Dean on-screen together, especially as J2 keep talking up how the brothers are back on the same page & fighting together and S11 has a very S1-ish vibe.
But so what if the writers are going to continue to keep them separated with only a few phone calls sprinkled in here & there. That’s not what I signed up for. Like I’m not asking for them to be attached at the hip, but give us something.
I am also SO frustrated by the lack of communication & honesty between the brothers too. At this point, it just does not make sense. It is so repetitive and tiresome & is doing nothing for either in terms of character development.
I feel like we are seeing great character moments for other characters – Crowley in particular – but the writers are failing to do the same thing for Sam & Dean. It’s like the writers are letting the brothers hang out in a rut (where they have been for years) and putting all their creative, development efforts towards every other character but their leads.
While Jared ROCKED the church scene, I couldn’t help thinking “are we really back to Sam believing he has no self-worth / does not deserve to live??”
I want to see growth in the brothers, and I just don’t. It’s like their development is circular. It’s round and round of the same ‘ol.
I’m of the opinion that the boys don’t change because they can’t. They’re meant to fulfill a destiny and they just keep pushing it off instead of stopping it. The seeming spiral of “hey we’re back here again” is because the cycle can’t be broken. That said, I think the show could come up with some new ways of showing that and still having the characters evolve a bit more. Although I’d say letting them save themselves is a step in the right direction there.
What would Dean have done if Sam had told him he was infected? He’d have dropped everything and gone for him. Which is exactly what Sam was trying to avoid; them getting back to just saving each other rather than everyone. clearly there was a situation with the baby; but if Dean knew about Sam he’d have abandoned that whole scenario to go be with Sam. Sam had it covered. He didn’t need to be rescued. He got it. I think you should acknowledge that rather than wanting him to be a damsel in distress.
As for praying to God and saying he’s ready to die, what else was he supposed to say? You’re asking for help because you did some shit that brought an old evil back into the world; are you going to plead your case or say “I’m willing to take the consequences but please help me save everyone else…” It seemed the only logical thing for him to say to me. and he did say ‘if I HAVE to die, not I want to die.’
Well put, Amusawale. Personally I am darn glad to see this bit of change up, with Sam saving himself, and Dean actually listening to Sam and them both agreeing that “Saving people” needs to be back on TOP of the priority list, not just an afterthought. Amen, says I. They had lost their way, and glad to see them back to it. That’s part of why I didn’t mind the “separation” because it didn’t feel like they were separated, just temporarily doing two separate tasks, while keeping the same goal. Maybe they weren’t next to each other, but they were more together than they were all of S9.
I thought this episode was great, loved the new Reaper and her excellent rendition of the Death song. I’m VERY excited to see more of Sam’s visions and what they could mean- I suspect a warning of some kind, possibly to stay away from any crazy ideas about involving anyone in the Cage.
The only part that bores me (and is easily fixed with FF) is Castiel and his endless torture by the angels. This “spell” doesn’t really seem to be affecting him that much, maybe all he needs is some Visine?
Oh my God, High Five on that Castiel thing. I mean seriously; either he should be rabid or else we should fuggedaboutit
Is it next week yet?! S11 is keeping me impatient to find out what happens next. Really…how are they doing that after all this time?
The one thing that made me yell this episode was when the boys got back to the bunker, and you just KNOW Sam said nothing to Dean about being infected. Argh…these boys.
I’m really enjoying the new season so far- it feels like a turning point in Sam and Dean’s relationship. As for the lack of honesty, I have the feeling that that’ll be worked on during the season. It’d explain why they’ve set it up for Sam not to tell Dean about getting infected.
We had some nice Win-Synch walking at the end there. It’s a ‘WE’ moment. I like those.
Nice review. IA about Billy being fabulous. I also liked the music. Although if ‘Sugar Shack’ is on Sam’s playlist, I vote for him never driving the Impala.
I doubt it since that was a radio he was playing to attract the infected, not his Ipod.
I just wrote a very brief “What I liked” to another fandom site before reading your review and we are on the same page. The one thing that bothered me the most about the episode was the adrupt ending for the boys. Cas popping into the bunker (tie and coat made me laught a little) made sense. Crowley’s ending made sense too. But Sam and Dean clopping down the steps and talking about the mess didn’t make any sense. (It does a little if you saw deleted scenes on the S10 DVDs) I guess we just have to assume Sam and Dean had a nice long conversation in the Impala from Nebraska to Kansas.
I’m pretty sure that Superior, NE is only about thirty minutes away from the bunker. That actually isn’t a huge time jump in the episode. But I get what you mean, I know there have been episodes where they’ve crossed the country in around a day.
Minor but important note. It was holy oil, not holy water actually that he used. Water doesn’t burn like that. The only thing they have ever used holy oil on was angels, so that is actually a pretty big deal. This could hint at the genesis of the Darkness.
Secondly, I thought the Death song was making a point. The only other time it was used was when Death was gearing up for the Apocalypse, this is another Apocalyptic set up since the Darkness took God to get rid of it last time. It was a parallel.
Third. Sam will, always and forever, feel guilty. Just as Dean will. It’s who they both are. He also has a very valid point. The brothers place themselves over everyone else around them, it’s a Winchester trait. John could have killed Azazel instead of giving him the Colt and going to Hell which set up Dean choosing to save Sam instead of letting Sam stay dead ind therefore starting the Apocalypse. Sam could have not gone after Lillith, he did and ended up letting Lucifer out etc etc. They both, as Mark Sheppard pointed out at the con, have killed more people than even Crowley has. However, they try to do the right thing in the end which makes them characters we can love instead of see as evil.
Fourth. Why does Dean always need to rescue Sam? I loved the fact that finally Sam gets to save himself for once. They tend to underplay how capable Sam is, especially in the last few seasons. I understand why because they were switching the focus to a Dean heavy story line but Sam can and has survived without Dean just fine before. I was happy that we got to see Sam do what he does best, think things through and solve problems without dealing with Dean’s tendency to want to shoot first and sort it out later. The more panicky Dean gets, the less he thinks things through as evidenced by Gadreel and taking on the Mark.
Fifth. There was a time jump from when they dealt with Amara/Sam healing himself and saving the town to the Bunker, the trip back. When we see that pick up Dean is talking about Amara. It is possible Sam told him about the infection or not. Jared stated that Sam wasn’t so much keeping secrets as he was trying to solve a problem. Now that the infection was contained he may or may not talk about it. With the time jump we can’t be sure what they referenced or that it may be addressed in future episodes.
My opinion is this, showing them working apart showed that Dean is willing to show Sam the level of respect he deserves, that Sam is capable of handling things without Dean being there. That has always been a bone of contention between the two that was brought up a few times before. Season 9 I think it was when Sam came back and told Dean that they either are hunters or brothers. That was Sam calling Dean out on his over protective tendencies. It was brought up once or twice before then, even way back in the Kripke era. Sam has repeatedly pointed out that he can do things on his own, Dean, for many years, refused to let go and let him. Dean’s made enough major mistakes now that he’s finally ready to listen. Now that they are bringing the brothers back together as a team to hunt they need to address that disparity and I think this was how they were addressing it.
I believe it was Serge that made a twitter comment that the show has matured. The Boys solving things separately is one way to make that evident.
I agree with everything you just said.
Truer words never spoken.
I think what gets me the most about this episode is the inconsistency in lore. Like having to stab an Angel through the heart to kill them? Huh? While I am very interested in seeing what comes of Amara, I thought that the Mark couldn’t be transferred that easily? Like Cain had to touch Dean to transfer the Mark, but baby Amara was born with it? Huh? And this has been bothering me since season 9, I thought the bunker was the safest place on earth, warded from demons, angels, and everything in between. If that’s the case, how are Crowley, Gadreel and Cas just walking right in? I realize that Crowley has been summoned, but how does he get in and not get bit in the ass by warding sigils?
I must admit that when Reaper Billie told Sam he’s was unclean, I kinda tuned out for a second, having heard all that *bullshitcoughbullshit* before. But my bigger question about her is, who’s telling reapers who to reap if big daddy Death is really gone? Who’s in charge? Or is that something we will be finding out as the season goes on?
Kudos to casting for using an actress that is not, as you said, a size zero. I heard the first few notes, and thought, he’s back! One of our favorite men in black! And then there’s this beautiful woman crouched near a dead body. Not what I was expecting.
As glad as I am that Sam found his cure, and that Billie guided him in the right direction, I am surprised that he didn’t try to learn more about his infliction. Draw a syringe full of that stuff out to figure out how it was infecting people and where it originated from. Burning it with Holy Oil/Fire was smart because we’d been told before that fire is a pure cleanse. I also wasn’t surprised that the Holy Oil was in the bag of tricks. Dean grabbed an assortment of stuff when they went into the hospital.
I would give Jared a Jared sized hug for his performance last night. He was 500% on his A-game. I too also love Smart!Sam building himself a taser. As they showed the hand walking through the hardware store, the only thought that ran through my head – ‘you can always find what you need in a hardware store boys’. The scene or flashback or whatever you choose to call it, of Sam being tortured, um ouch and what the hell!? I read many a theory on that flash on twitter during the episode, but I want to see how they play it out.
Seriously – Sam fuckin Winchester. Thank you echoing the entire fandom’s sentiments” “What the hell does that mean!?”
So cool to see Misha getting a real fight scene, he did a kick ass job.
I too was unhappy with how much time the boys spent apart, but I will say this – Dean stayed with Jenna because he trusted/believed that Sam could handle himself. Granted, Dean didn’t have all the information, but we all know Dean would have fed Jenna to the wolves to save Sam. And in this instance, Sam knew where Dean was really needed.
So glad to see Crowley back and he absolutely needs his own show!
Angels have been tortured with angel blades before, Cas specifically, several times. Hannah and Cas fought Rogue angels and were both stabbed in non vital areas and survived. That is not out of canon, that has been well established in the past.
Oh, and the Mark of Cain and the Darkness. The Mark itself was possibly a sigil that contained the power to Bind the Darkness. The Symbol transferred the power but the Symbol itself could be referencing the Darkness. Often times binding spells have a link to the thing that it’s binding. Once one part of the binding is removed it frees whatever it bound. The Darkness was what was bound, but it still bears the Mark. God could have stuck the Mark on the Darkness when he locked it away.
Fairly standard witchcraft use lore.
I was thinking the same thing – the Darkness bears the original Mark. I remember this being mentioned, before in the speech Death gives Dean, but I haven’t had time to go back and search for that.
Also, I’m with you about the holy oil in the bag. While watching I blurted out, “You know, I truly believe that he would’ve had that in his pack.”
Reblogged this on Ana Fraser Lallybroch Blog.
I emphatically do not like the idea that Dean and Sam can die now. I could write chapters on how much I don’t like the idea but I won’t. You’re welcome.
I was loving the angsty goodness of Sam’s situation but hating that Dean was kept out of the loop. Shame on you Sam, and writers! Sam is going against his own edict here!! Communication, Honesty, Saving Everyone…these are the foundational things that Sam has been telling Dean. And now he lies by not sharing? Boo writers.
And the writers redeemed themselves with creepy creepy creepy baby!! Ergh, I was totally freaked by that. *shivers* And the fact that she is now a soul eater…yipes. This is going to get interesting.
My wish list for the season:
-the return of Death – cause hey, we love him! And the Reapers need someone to reign them in. Pfft, threaten our Boys with the Empty…the nerve!!
-that God shows up – now I’m not asking for the Big Guy to be cast and shown…just implied. Heal Cas, push back the Darkness, you know, tidy up. That would be great.
-that Dean and Sam get honest with each other. Enough lying writers! Let’s have some open, honest conversations about their crap. Thank you.
-a parade of our favorite characters! Be they dead or just MIA–bring ’em all back!! What a lovely thing it would be to see Ash just pop in! 🙂
I guess that’s enough for now. Don’t want to freak out the writers just yet. Maybe.
Thanks Lynn for an awesome-as-always look at our Show. You make me think and I appreciate that!
Jensen referenced an upcoming scene where the Boys are talking about their history in several interviews and a couple of times at cons. I don’t think Sam lied as just wanted to get a handle on what it was, just like Sam has always done in the past. If you noticed, Dean also left out a few key details about his vision, although we aren’t all that sure how much of it he remembers.
I should do a rewatch before writing here, but I also do not think Sam lied. If memory serves (and it may not!), when Dean called and asked Sam how he was doing, Sam said “about as you’d expect.” So, a sin of omission, maybe, but for a very good reason, and consistent with Sam’s don’t let’s only save each other speech.
I don’t think Sam or Dean would ever be sent to the empty because I don’t think reapers control where souls go, God does. A reaper just helps the soul along. I do think there was a point to billie though…Although neither Winchester would ever be thrown into the empty, it doesn’t mean the darkness couldn’t be contained there. If the darkness is a force that cannot be killed and the only option is to contain it, then I think the empty is where the darkness would be kept.
I think Sam getting infected was two fold, one he found a cure…didn’t bother me how quickly…getting sick also led him to the chapel to pray…and the sign he asked for was his memories of hell….that leads me to believe that the boys might actually need to seek the help of Lucifer in order to stop the darkness….as well as possibly finding a new place to contain her once defeated.
brilliant eppy….loved every minute of it.
I actually liked the title “Form and Void.” I’ve been wondering if the way the Darkness was initially bound was by making it incorporeal (as counterintuitive as that sounds.) Maybe that’s why it needs a vessel – it needs a way to contain itself to focus it’s… energy? Power? I also spent the show trying to figure out why “form and void” was ringing bells for me. Once again, thanks catechism! It’s Genesis – “The earth was formless and void; darkness was over the surface of the deep, and God was moving over the waters.” (I admit – I had to google the exact quote. Sorry, nuns.)
With that in mind, and the reference to the Empty this could be a terrifying season! Those are some heart stopping options. Also, do you think that the Empty is where John and Mary ended up? No one has seen them in Heaven or Hell. They have to be somewhere.
Both brothers having visions is interesting. Especially since Dean acknowledged that Amara might have been a vision not an entity, so maybe there is something to the idea that only Dean will see her in that form. Of course, the Slice Girls style age up didn’t give me much confidence in that theory, as much as I liked it. Although creepy little girl rocked that scene. She only had that one real look, but holy crap she nailed it.
Jared hit every possible nuance on the scene going from the prayer to the aftermath of the vision. I didn’t think Sam sounded particularly sincere in his prayer – but I assumed that was how that was meant to be portrayed. Why would Sam have any hope that God was listening at this point? Or even still around to listen? It was this combination of desperate and resigned that was so perfectly sad. But then when the vision hit, there was a true believer moment. The anguished “What does that mean?” tore at me a bit. And it also made me wonder the same thing. Lucifer fought the Darkness before… does he need to get sprung from the Cage? And while I would adore a Mark Pellegrino comeback, Sam already gave his consent once – can it be revoked? Would Sam have to fight off Lucifer again? Does Sam have to let Lucifer in to fight the Darkness? That would be so awful but so great.
I’m also thrilled that Sam saved himself. I don’t want Dean coming to his rescue all the time. I want them on the same side, and if Dean was in the same room I’d expect him to make an effort (and the vice versa if the situations were reversed) but Sam is a big boy – a really, really big boy. He is capable of taking down anything (see previous “fought off Satan” comment) and I like it when he goes brains and brawn in the same episode.
As for the souls, well, souls are tricky in Supernatural. It does make sense that Sam without a soul would be different because his situation was different. For one thing, who knows how that whole demon blood thing worked with the soul. To be honest, that is the writers’ get-out-of-jail-free card on the issue since there are no more Special Children to make a comparison. Also, Sam’s soul wasn’t ripped out of him while he was walking around as a normal living person. It was left behind after he had already died and had already moved on to another place. Another, horrifying, pain-filled place – but one of the normal destinations, so perhaps that factored in. But it is interesting that Sam goes cold and calculating in his murder spree instead of just deciding to find out what stabbing felt like. Then again, Sam already knew what stabbing felt like, so maybe he just didn’t have the murder itch everyone else apparently does. Original sin? Cain and Abel throwback? Poorly planned concept in the writers room?
As for Billie, I think she’s more complicated than just “I’m hoping I get to reap you.” She planted that “you’re unclean” idea in Sam’s head, and I don’t think that was just to reignite his issues. That’s what sparked (no pun intended) the holy fire search. She could’ve been helping there. Also, I loved that she was singing. It’s a throwback to a completely different type of episode, but it reminded me of my favorite funny Supernatural, Monster Movie. Throughout that episode whenever there is creepy horror movie music, it is actually playing in the scene and the people in the scene are hearing it. It’s one of my favorite gags of the entire series. Also, Oh Death is an an old-time mountain music song, a la Ralph Stanley. It fits the fire and brimstone nature of the episodes where it’s heard. Having her taunt Sam with it was beautiful and haunting.
As you can see from my review on LJ, I didn’t care for this episode.
http://cuddyclothes.livejournal.com/376088.html
This season hasn’t caught me at all. The parts I did enjoy were anything to do with Sam. I’m so glad to see the return of Smart, Proactive Sam I can almost forgive the rest of the episode for being derivative and once again using torture porn.
Almost.
I’m kinda there with you. These episodes, while good, are largely expositional in my eyes. I think part of my issue with them is that I so loved the Deanmon (sorry, Lynn & Kathy) arc we saw at the beginning of last season. Demon Dean was hotter than hot!
I did love seeing Dean with the baby girl, it left me with a happy feeling thinking about how Jensen must have been with JJ start at that age.
When a show has been on for over ten years, it is not in the least surprising certain themes, ideas, plotlines, etc., will be repeated. What SPN does wonderfully is find small ways to change things up, which is an extremely daunting task when you realize just how much the boys have been through. But the key is acknowledging it to viewers. It would have cost nothing to very briefly reference the Croatoan virus, which played a major role in two prior episodes, and was also part of the Dick Roman arc. This infectious zombification was too similar to not be remembered by Sam.
I found this to be an extremely strong and fast-paced episode that worked as a good follow-up to the premiere as well as setting up several issues that will challenge the boys. And while I, too, really dislike when the brothers are separated for so much of an episode, I felt the reasoning was justified; and I agree that Sam knew if he said anything about the infection, Dean would have dropped everything to get back to his brother. Sam wants to make saving people their mantra again, so he left Dean where he was to save the baby and the cop. And he certainly proved he was up to the task of figuring out a cure, just as he swore to do.
Predictions: Lucifer is going to play a role this season; and I think we’ll see the return of Death. I don’t think Death was stupid enough to risk his true vessel to a Dean Winchester powered by the MoC. I think we may see the brothers being at the very real risk of dying, but will be saved by Death. Because I don’t think the show will kill the boys. They’ll want to make a few TV movies after the series finale. 😎
Of course, I have my own thoughts about all of the things that were mentioned, but, after reading through these numerous reviews, all I’m going to say is I enjoyed the episode.
Oh, but I will share one prediction: when it’s all said and done, Crowley will be the last man standing.
What I find interesting is that if it weren’t for Dean being Mr. Proactive Hunter and packing that Holy oil not only would there not have been a cure but Sam would more than likely have ended up dead. It shows that they need each other. Sam saved himself but only because of Dean’s forethought and prior action. Granted if he didn’t have the Holy oil he could have called Dean to bring it to him but who knows if Dean would have made it in time?
As far as the comment by Billie about “The Empty”? I think she inadvertently? gave Sam the solution as to where they are going to shove The Darkness in the end. Hopefully without Dean attached. 😉 Speaking of attached, I love the protective connection thing he has going on with The Darkness. Cute while she’s a baby, it will be interesting to see how that impulse manifests itself in Dean as she grows older.
And if you will let me put out there – these fans that are guessing that Dean and The Darkness got busy and that’s where the baby originates from? No, just no. Please no. 😉