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Supernatural: In My Time of Dying

Dean: "Dude, I full on Swayzeed that mother."

Just excellent. In fact, this was my favorite episode so far.

The main reason it was so good, much like the finale, was that it was all about the Winchesters. It was even about their defining characteristics. Sam was determined to save Dean at any cost, constantly lashing out at John for not appearing to feel the same. John was preparing to sacrifice anything for Dean, but he kept all of his decisions, including the big one, to himself.

And then there was Dean. You gotta love a disembodied Dean stomping around, un-intimidated by death, bargaining with the Grim Reaper, trying repeatedly to get through to Sam. Dean wanted to live so that he could stay in the fight, but he wasn't afraid of dying. And even in his extremity, he still cared about helping other people. This episode made me love Dean even more, if that's possible.


I knew almost from the start that it had to end with John sacrificing himself for Dean; I could feel it coming. Dan did, too; he kept saying, "Yes, yes, kill him off!" But even though I was expecting it, it was surprisingly moving – especially the way John said his final goodbye to Dean. What deal did John make with the Yellow-Eyed Demon? What did John whisper to Dean, and why did he make Sam leave before he said it?

I hope the Impala isn't dead, too. I like that car; it's practically a cast member. And the cast is small enough, already. (Read my lips: add Bobby. He's terrific.)

Bits and pieces:


— Another great "previously on": "Then" and "Now" set to rock. And a new credit shot of the word Supernatural. Better. (I got this from a Supernatural wiki.)

— Loved all the touches of Ghost. Especially loved Sam buying a Ouija board to talk to the disembodied Dean. The Swayze line might be Dean's funniest.


— We finally have an actor playing the Yellow-Eyed Demon: Fredric Lane, who also played the marshal on Lost.

— Other names for out of body experiences are bilocation, crisis apparition, fetches. I didn't know that. Dean didn't remember being a spirit. Too bad.

— It was funny that Dean's reaper had the appearance of a pretty young woman. I suppose if I were lucky, mine might look like Jensen Ackles.

— John had an insurance card in the name of Elroy Mcgillicuddy and his "two loving sons."

— Bobby towed the totaled Impala back at his place. For Sam, salvaging the Impala was like salvaging Dean. Sam knew what losing that car would do to Dean.

— Dean was lucky he wasn't in the traditional open in the back hospital gown. Although that might have been a treat for some of us.

— The coffee cup that Sam dropped somehow landed straight up. Was it just a cool, visually interesting shot, or could we assign some symbolism to it? Take this cup away from me, glass half full, etc. The fact that the coffee wasn't all lost could mean that John will come back, too.

Quotes:

Dean: "Come on, you're the psychic. Give me some ghost whispering or something."

Dean: "Go find a hoodoo priest and lay some mojo on me. I'll be fine." Later, Sam practically repeated this sentence exactly, so he must have picked up on Dean without realizing it.

Dean: "You ever heard of an out-of-body experience?"
Tessa: "What are you, some new age-y guy?"
Dean: "You see me messing with crystals or listening to Yanni?"

Sam: (to the Ouija board) "Dean. Dean. Are you here?"
Dean: "I feel like I'm at a slumber party."

Reaper: "It's an honorable death. A warrior's death."
Dean: "I think I'll pass on the seventy-two virgins, thanks. I'm not that into prude chicks, anyway."
Reaper: "That's funny. You're very cute."

Definitely four out of four stars,

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

10 comments:

  1. I love this episode! This is really one of my favourite episodes and it´s in my Top 5. I still don´t have a Top 5 but someday I will and this will be on it. The reason I love this so much is because it´s all about them and I love seeing the three of them work together.

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  2. John's sacrifice always makes me cry.

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  3. WOW! Laughed out loud and wept - my favourite kind of show.

    I had a very similar conversation with my dad right before he died. This was one was so real! Well done to the writers for not going OTT.

    Can't wait to see what the whispering was about, but something tells me not to hold my breath.

    Finally, how can one not love a show that begins with 'Bad Moon Rising'???

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  4. Totally agree about John. He never really worked as a character for me, he was always more of a plot device. But still, his death made me sad, even though I really didn't think it would.

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  5. "Dean was lucky he wasn't in the traditional open in the back hospital gown. Although that might have been a treat for some of us."

    And this is why I love your reviews so much, Billie. You focus not only on the story elements of an episode but on the watching experience as a whole.

    The same thought may have c occurred to me whenever I first watched the episode and he was sitting up in bed. Great minds think alike, I guess!

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  6. This episode really solidified my love of Dean. His concern about protecting Sam rather than himself was just like him.

    I especially like the "Dude, I full-on Swayzed that mother." Also "Go find a hoodoo priest and lay some mojo on me" with Sam repeating it later. Although I interpreted it as Dean accurately predicting Sam's reaction because he knows him so well.

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  7. When you mentioned the actor for the demon, Fred Lane, I decided that I was hoping to hear you mention how you thought of his performance later on. Guess I'll see if it comes up in future episodes.

    Also, another fun fact (feel like I'll be doing these a lot, let me know if that's annoying, lol) Jared was asked who his favorite villain was and he went with the demon that killed Mary and Jessica, because he loved Fred Lane's chilling and charming portrayal.

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  8. Puppet James, the fun facts are great. I don't know a lot of this stuff.

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  9. I reeeeeeeeally love this episode. The one thing that annoys me though is that they never think to try the Ouija trick again. I can think of at least three episodes off the top of my head where they go "the ghosts are trying to tell us something!" and then the whole episode is them trying to figure out what that is, when one of them could conceivably just take out a board while the other acts as lookout. Oh well, I guess it would get goofy after a while.

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