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Supernatural: Fresh Blood

Dean: "You just charged a super vamped out Gordon with no weapon. A little reckless, don't you think?"

Touching, as well as heavy. Also scary. This one was so intense that it had me talking out loud to the television.

I was almost sorry to see Gordon go. He was a great character: very scary, totally psycho, and that was even before he became a vampire. Which was unexpected, and actually shocked me. It made sense that he would implode in an orgy of self-hate, that he wouldn't be able to bear being one of the monsters he hunted.

Although if Sam hadn't taken him out, I wonder if that would have changed. Maybe Gordon would have accepted what he was, rationalized it somehow. He could have been a vampire opponent extraordinaire, too.

Sam didn't just kill Gordon; he did it in an intensely close-up, messy way without so much as flinching. That, and the way Sam confronted Dean so effectively about his fear, finally made Dean treat Sam like an adult and an equal. That final scene where Dean started teaching Sam to fix the Impala was touching in an understated way, because it was Dean's way of acknowledging that Sam was right. Dean really is terrified about what is going to happen to him. He's reckless and out of control because he wants to just die and get it over with.


(Brief aside. I've always been more into Dean than Sam, but the balance is shifting a little closer. I like Sam like this. A lot.)

Bela made a brief, long distance appearance: first, to rat out the boys, and second, to make it up to them. Even though she gave them up for a good reason – to save her own life – she also faced down Gordon Walker without turning a hair. She doesn't lack for nerve, I'll give her that.

Did Gordon die because he literally lost his mojo to Bela?

Bits and pieces:

— Mercedes McNab, who played ditsy vampire Harmony on both Buffy and Angel, gave a good performance as the confused victim-turned-vampire in the opener. This was the second time they brought in a Buffy actor to play a vampire. I like it. It's like an unspoken tribute. Or maybe they just know their audience. Or both.


— Apparently, being a vamp is like a permanent acid trip. You just never come down.

— I laughed when Gordon and Kubrick showed up in that hospital room in nice suits and badges. Masquerading as FBI agents must be a hunter thing. I was sorry to lose Kubrick, too: he was a hoot.

— Lots of arm-cutting with great big knives: Dean, Gordon, Dixon the vamp. Did it symbolize something? That they're all bleeding, all doomed? Dean got bitten twice, too.

— They set up their latest local motel like a bunker, with mattresses blocking the windows. That was different.

— Last week's episode was in Massachusetts. No clue about where this one took place.

— In that final battle scene, after Sam killed Gordon in such a gory way, there was one of those industrial signs in the background about how long it had been since the last accident on the job: 183 days. Nice touch. I don't suppose "183" means anything? I've been watching Lost too long.

— Not that I'm not enjoying the past few episodes, because they've all been great. But where are all the demons that escaped from the Hellmouth? I thought they were going to be sort of important this season.

Quotes:

Gordon: "Sam Winchester is the Antichrist."
Bela: "I heard something about that..."
Gordon: "It's true."
Bela: "...from my good friend, the Easter Bunny. Who heard it from the Tooth Fairy. You're off your meds."

Dixon: "I've lost everyone I've ever loved. I'm staring down eternity alone. Can you think of a worse hell?"
Dean: "Well, there's Hell."
Dixon: "I wasn't thinking. I just, I didn't care anymore. Do you know what that's like? Where you just don't give a damn? It's like being dead already." Dixon was, of course, saying exactly what Dean was feeling.

Dean: "It's just another day at the office. It's a massively dangerous day at the office."

Sam: "I'm sick and tired of your stupid kamikaze trick."
Dean: "Whoa, whoa, kamikaze? I'm more like a ninja."
Sam: "It's not funny."
Dean: "It's a little funny."

Gordon: "You're not human, Sam."
Sam: "Look who's talking."

Another excellent episode. This show just keeps blowing me away,

Billie
---
Billie Doux adores Supernatural which is a good thing since apparently, it's eternal.

11 comments:

  1. Very good episode. Loved the last appearance of Gordon but it was also moving with Dean teaching Sam how to work his car and how Dean is finally admitting his fear of going to Hell.
    Season three is just amazing and my number one season!

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  2. Love this episode! You're right. Gordon was awesome and would have made a great recurring vampire villian. But I was confused by Dean not acknowleding that Gordon was right about Sam, and then defending Sam because of his actions. I remember that in Gordon's first appearance they showed the parallels between Gordon and Dean, one of them being that Gordon had a sibling who was changed, through no fault of her own, into a monster. I wish they had at least referenced that in this episode.

    Also, when did Gordon become a garden variety psychopath? It just seems to be accepted by Sam and Dean, but it looks to me like Gordon is just a pure hunter who hunts those who are not human. How does that make him a psychopath?

    Has anyone they've encountered later in the series who doesn't like Sam said anything like "Gordon was right"?

    I'm going crazy today. I was looking forward to Supernatural's return; not having any Supernatural tonight is driving me insane!!! SL

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  3. I continue to be astounded by this show. The writers manage to avoid falling into a pattern, so every story is different, yet they manage to hold together as a whole.

    I'm finding it difficult to feel anything for Bela other than disgust. Her conversation with Dean where she was laughing about setting them up made me want to reach into the screen and slap her. Yes, she does help them but only when Dean, quite rightly, threatens to kill her. She wouldn't have a done a thing otherwise. Another thing bothered me. When she called Dean and asked him where he was, why did he tell her? It seemed out of character.

    What a treat seeing Mercedes McNab again. Always loved her as Harmony.

    I'm not sorry to see Gordon go. He was never one of my favourite characters and his obsession with Sam was beginning to feel a bit off. Having said that, I think Brown gave an incredible performance in this episode. Sterling, even. Sorry - had to be done.

    I continue to worry about Sam. He shrugs off the fact that they might have to kill a human (even Dean noticed) and his killing of Gordon was so extreme. Did it seem to anyone else that he was able to get beyond it with unsettling ease?

    I agree with Billie that the boys' relationship shifted this week. Sam's confrontation appeared to have the desired effect. Dean stayed put instead of running headlong into a suicide mission and he does seem to be treating Sam more as an equal. As an older sibling, it can be very difficult to stop treating the youngers as children - especially when, like Dean, you practically raised them. The scene at the end with the car was very moving for just that reason.

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  4. I think I have to finally admit that this show has moved in front of Angel and even Buffy (gasp) for me. Maybe it was the Bad Company at the end...seriously though, I just love these two guys.

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  5. We did it! We got another one. Sooze is a convert, too! :)

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  6. Sooze -- it may be blasphemy, but I'm with you. By far, my favourite thing on the telly right now.

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  7. So apparently being a vamp in this verse is akin to having a really bad migraine. That sucks. Pun intended. I like that this shows pays their Buffy dues. All vampires on every show should be Buffy alums.

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  8. Whew that final scene was intense! Both the kill and the car talk. If it is truly so easy to become a vampire, how did Sam holding tightly onto barbed wire manage to not cut his hand and get Gordon's blood on himself?? Loved seeing Harmony. And I must say I like Bela. I partly wonder if its because she's Maggie on TWD. I like her here because she's her own person and does what she needs to get by. If Dean or Sam were alone they'd be in the same boat, it's only slightly different because they have each other to depend on. I mean they wreak havoc on people's credit scores and financial well being and don't feel too badly about it. Defense rests ;)

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  9. I always talk too the screen when watching TV

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  10. I have to admit, I'm a bit relieved to find that I'm not alone in this boat. I was wondering if the Buffy fandom would think of me as a betrayer! for deciding - within months - that I favored SPN over Buffy, the latter of which has been my favorite show for twenty years. Phew, good that there are others out there :)

    Also, having read your review of (was it Bad Blood?) the episode with Amber Benson that first introduced the vampires, I wonder if your opinion on SPN vamps have changed at all or?

    I personally love this show's vampires, partly because they aren't rehashing old ideas. These vampires are nothing like, for example, Buffy and Angel's vampires. We don't even know if they have their souls or not. I like that it's just SPN's and not, as I said, rehashing of the old, perhaps even stale at this point.

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  11. Pretty awesome ep. From his appearance I could not remember how the Gordon subplot ended and was wondering how long that thread would last. It was cool to see Kubrick actually turn on Gordon, sad that he didn't pull it off. There's something really badass about Gordon taking advantage of his turning and making it his final mission to take Sam and then himself out. Such a shame he was a bad guy.

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