vaznetti | SPN 2x12: Night Shifter

So I almost have thoughts about the larger structure of the episode, but there's mostly just the usual mess of commentary under the cut.

AAAHHHHH!!!!! I loved this episode so much -- solid MOTW with references to earlier episodes, but a break from the Sam's destiny sweepstakes. I have wanted an episode like this for a while.

Also, "Bonnie to Your Clyde" will never not be funny and awesome.

So this was mostly about identity, wasn't it? The way everyone is shifting in and out of a set of identities -- Ronald is a hunter, or starting to become a hunter, but not really, and it gets him killed. And Sam and Dean, playing at being FBI at the start and bank security in the middle, and part of the SWAT team at the end -- with the real FBI and the real SWAT team getting closer and closer.

And Agent Hendrickson (was that his name) is a hunter too, in a way -- he's put together some of the pieces, but not all of them. Like Ronald, but it won't be Hendrickson who gets killed because he doesn't know quite enough, not today. And he knows that there's a monster in there, but he doesn't know what it is. I wonder what he'll make of the hostages' stories.

So it was all about lies and disguise, and I really love it when Sam lies, because he does it so well, and he justifies it so well. That whole scene with Ronald was eerie, and his justification to Dean -- Dean, who did see Ronald as a potential hunter, I think, or someone who was close to that. (But by the way, what has Sam done to his hair?)

And the episode pushed Sam and Dean even farther from what might support them -- first from the other hunters, who may now see Sam, at least, as a monster, and now to have the long arm of the law after them. Not that they were ever quite on the same side, but Dean's line about the police doing their job was telling -- he thought that they were doing the same job, more or less. Not any more. Or at least -- not he knows for sure that they don't think so.

I just loved the exchange between Sam and the girl in the vault.
"Who is that man?"
"He's my brother," and Sam is so reluctant when he says it. And her "He's so brave," response. Sam's expression there just killed me. Beautiful.

I did have a couple questions, like how was Dean and Sam wandering off on their own to look for the shapeshifter not the stupidest idea ever? Especially because it seems that shapeshifters are clearly much stronger than human beings, and thus could overpower Sam or Dean and become them. Which is what I thought was happening at various points in the episode.

I think my "Oh, Dean" response is back on line, because oh, Dean. He just destroyed me in that phone call with Hendrickson, when he realized just how screwed he is, and Sam. And note that it's OK for him to criticize John in a moment of stress or anger, but no one else (and by the way, thank you, Agent Hendrickson, for providing a little more information on their childhood). Sniffle. You tell him, Dean.

And when he hangs up the phone, and he knows just how bad it is, now.

The end was wonderful -- Sam taking out the members of the SWAT team (which, whatever, handwave!), and just the boots, when Dean looks up after killing the shape-shifter. And the way they escaped, for not at least, but seriously, they are so screwed.

And I loved this episode so much.

Also, a totally appropriate icon!

Current Mood: excited

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

rosekay.livejournal.com

Sam's facial expressions throughout the episode were GOLDEN. He was totally playing Scully to Dean's Mulder in that first scene with Ron.

From:

vaznetti

I know! And the way they slammed the FBI badges up against the glass together cracked me up.

Both actors were really on tonight, I thought -- Dean's increasing panic, Sam's whole face, the way it can open up and shut down, all in a second.

From:

rosekay.livejournal.com

Omg haha the synchronized badge slamming. Sam's skeptical FBI Man voice was so. incredibly. funny. Trial lawyers are all about looking like you know your shit rather than actually knowing your shit - I'm starting to think Sam might have had something there in a different world. *g*

From:

vaznetti

Sam would have made an excellent lawyer, I have no doubt about that. But I think that being on that FBI database means that he'll never get the chance.

Poor Sam!

From:

barkley.livejournal.com

Oh, the badge slamming cracked me up too because my first thought was, "Ron, do you really know what an FBI badge should even look like?" But I loved the camera angle and the synchronicity.

From:

ageofaquarius.livejournal.com

As usual, you have much more to say than me. I loved this episode is all I got.

From:

vaznetti

SO MUCH LOVE. I just adored this episode. And I want to watch Sam taking out those SWAT guys over and over and over.

From:

hossgal.livejournal.com

Mostly with the yah and ITA, but yes, identity, and how much who we are is what we believe ourselves to be - crazy, helping people, right in our convictions, the sons of a good man, lost, on the job, undefeated.

- hg

From:

vaznetti

yes, identity, and how much who we are is what we believe ourselves to be - crazy, helping people, right in our convictions, the sons of a good man, lost, on the job, undefeated

Oh, yes. And this, I suppose, is how the episode will tie back to Sam and his destiny, and Dean and his choices: they'll both end up having to choose what kind of men they're going to be, what kind of men they're going to believe that they are.

From:

musesfool.livejournal.com

Wow, you're good at the immediate post-ep analysis. I'm still flailing from the awesome. But yes, identity and who we are v. how others see us, and the shifts between.

Plus, they have a nemesis now! I hope this Hendrickson guy shows up again.

From:

vaznetti

It came to me in and among the flailing over the awesome, of which there was a whole lot -- both of the flailing and of the awesome. I want to watch this episode over and over.

And I am quite sure we'll see Hendrickson again. That phone call with Dean was just amazing.

From:

dotfic.livejournal.com

We so need to see him again! He could actually be dangerous. Yet he is, in fact, a "good guy."

From:

se-parsons.livejournal.com

It really looks like they're setting up Hendrickson to be the big bad nemesis.

But I also wouldn't put it past this show to have HIM start to put the pieces together and turn into the Supernatural Agent Mulder. I am hoping they go there.

I am filled with love for Sam here. And Sherry or whatever her name was fangirling Dean was hilarious.

From:

e-juliana.livejournal.com

But I also wouldn't put it past this show to have HIM start to put the pieces together and turn into the Supernatural Agent Mulder. I am hoping they go there.

That would be for the win.

Loved.

From:

minim_calibre

That would be so awesome.

From:

vaznetti

But I also wouldn't put it past this show to have HIM start to put the pieces together and turn into the Supernatural Agent Mulder. I am hoping they go there.

I would be very, very happy if they did that, for a number of reasons. For one thing, it's the only way I can see that Sam and Dean might get out of the mess they've found themselves in -- otherwise it's jail and probably, for Dean, death row. And for another, I like to see people being smart, and there are already going to be questions raised by the witness statements.

From:

dotfic.livejournal.com

So this was mostly about identity, wasn't it? The way everyone is shifting in and out of a set of identities -- Ronald is a hunter, or starting to become a hunter, but not really, and it gets him killed. And Sam and Dean, playing at being FBI at the start and bank security in the middle, and part of the SWAT team at the end -- with the real FBI and the real SWAT team getting closer and closer.

Yes! With all of Sam and Dean's costume changes?

Also, there's no such thing as ignorant and safe in the SPNverse. It's more disguise, in a way -- pretend to Ronald there's nothing strange going on.

From:

vaznetti

Also, there's no such thing as ignorant and safe in the SPNverse. It's more disguise, in a way -- pretend to Ronald there's nothing strange going on.

And of course, it only makes him decide to take matters into his own hands, and leads to the whole tragedy.

I ronic that last week and the week before, Sam was angry about Dean and John keeping him ignorant to keep him safe.

From:

dotfic.livejournal.com

Ironic that last week and the week before, Sam was angry about Dean and John keeping him ignorant to keep him safe.

Oh, beautiful! Yes! It also shouts back to Something Wicked, where Sam wishes for that kind of innocence. But when he wishes that, his tone is of someone who *know* he no longer has it, and can't have it. He may be angry at them as much for the lying part as the trying to keep him ignorant and safe part, if not more. But yes, nicely ironic.

Also, Dean told Jo to stay out of the hunting life. Dean too would like to keep people safe and ignorant. But it's not possible.

There are consequences for John keeping Sam ignorant and "safe" (not!) and to Sam trying to keep Ronald ignorant and safe.

From:

vaznetti

And it's "safe" that Sam says is why he went to Stanford, isn't it -- not normal, the word he uses is "safe." I think this is one of those things running through the show, and of course the whole Winchester story makes it clear that ignorance is no protection. If it were, Mary would still be alive and maybe Jess as well.

But admitting that means, I think, coming a little too close to the idea that if John had known what was coming, he could have kept Mary safe. Which I think John believes even though he suspects it isn't true.

From:

coffeeandink.livejournal.com

Haha, yes, I was thinking "Hi, Sam! Or should we start calling you John, Jr.?" But it also goes back to "Something Wicked" and even the pilot, Sam's conviction that if you tell a kid to pull the blankets over his head, there's nothing in the dark to be afraid of.

From:

vaznetti

I was thinking "Hi, Sam! Or should we start calling you John, Jr.?"

Ha! I have to say that I find all the ways in which Sam is just like John incredibly amusing, even though I can see how it will lead to trouble.

And it's very weird that Sam should feel that ignorance will protect you, all things considered. And by weird I mean completely irrational.

From:

coffeeandink.livejournal.com

Completely irrational but completely in character!

Well, let's unpack it a little: There's a lot John and Dean *didn't* tell Sam when he was growing up (he didn't even know Dean had carried him out of the house until "Home") and clearly this was intended as a way to protect the baby. And it was a rule not to tell regular people about what they did or about the supernatural, a rule Sam clearly internalized much more severely than Dean did. And it fits into Sam's somewhat rigid view of the world: there's the regular, safe world and the world of hunting; there's being really good and being really bad; there's being absolutely opposed to his dad or absolutely obedient to him. Beneath that soft exterior, Sam's an extremist and an idealist, which is what makes him so very dangerous.

I really like how this episode balances the different smartnesses (and idiocies) of the brother: Sam is really good at manipulating people to get what he wants, and really good at thinking through the monster's strategy (which has its own potentially disturbing implications), but he's really bad at connecting to people and why they act the way they do. He is a way better fake FBI agent than Dean (oh, Dean), but Dean understands Ron and connects to Sherry in a way that's more than her being a pretty blonde--he connects to her because she's a victim and she's trying to suss out what's happening, which is more or less how he connects to Ron and connected to various children over S1. And he would have killed her without thinking about it.

From:

vaznetti

Beneath that soft exterior, Sam's an extremist and an idealist, which is what makes him so very dangerous.

What I find particularly disturbing here is the extent to which Sam seems incapable of change: he's set himself and the world into certain patterns, and will continue to operate as if those patterns are real even when they self-evidently are not. Someday, Sam will end up trying to change the world in order to fit it to his preconceived notions, and the result will not be pretty.

But you're right, of course: it's completely in character for Sam to believe that ignorance will keep you safe, even in the face of rather a lot of evidence to the contrary, at least in his case.

I also agree with your assessment of the brothers and the way they connect to other people, or fail to do so -- one of the things I like very much about the show is the way that Dean, who is so completely awkward and inadequately socialized, is in fact much better at understanding other people than Sam is, although Sam is a much better social operator. And yet as you say, once Dean had decided that Sherry was a monster, he would have killed her without a second thought.

From:

destina.livejournal.com

And Agent Hendrickson (was that his name) is a hunter too, in a way -- he's put together some of the pieces, but not all of them. Like Ronald, but it won't be Hendrickson who gets killed because he doesn't know quite enough, not today. And he knows that there's a monster in there, but he doesn't know what it is. I wonder what he'll make of the hostages' stories.

There are a number of questions he needs to be asking, logical problems that would strike a true agent right away, that I'd like to see played out over the course of his hunt for Dean and Sam. If it happens, it'll be most interesting to see.

From:

vaznetti

There are a number of questions he needs to be asking, logical problems that would strike a true agent right away, that I'd like to see played out over the course of his hunt for Dean and Sam.

I'd like to see that as well. Right now I like him, because he seems smart and able to put the pieces together. But there are a lot of pieces out there, and if he's going to stay a smart character, he's going to have to start looking at he way the pieces don't fit the picture he has.

I want to see him as a parallel for Ronald -- not quite there yet, but as he's still living, there's still time.

From:

sugareey.livejournal.com

Hendrickson better come back or else. It's fun when there's a nemisis, besides the occasional evil things like demons and spirits. I mean really. It'll only take time before Dean gets pissed off enough to show him what he's got. Muhahahaha.

The boys never fail to amaze us. With their actions or their hotness.

From:

vaznetti

I very much want them to do something interesting with Hendrickson. He's clearly very smart, which makes him much more of a serious threat to Sam and Dean.

From:

aliskye.livejournal.com

Thank you so much! I loved this episode but when I had the phone call with my best-est friend :) afterward to recap, he didn't like it and I couldn't articulate why I did. I'm just going to direct him to your review and go: there...that's why! :)

You don't mind if I add you to my friend list, do you?