I’ve been jumping around watching eps over the school break. Naturally I’m seeing them with the hindsight of new developments.

During the S3 Christmas episode the boys weren’t split up and they were together in enduring equal torture.  How is it that can feel like a good thing? I guess it shows how difficult the summer of hell was for me as well as for Sam and Dean.

1.09 Home – The Campbell and Winchester families have every right to be messed up, don’t they? Mary’s spirit greeting the boys is even more heartbreaking now that we’ve gotten to know her as a person. If 4.03 In the Beginning happened as we were shown, she recognized the grown man Dean as both her son and as the hunter who played a part in 1973 when her parents were killed and she made a deal to resurrect John, AND her “I’m sorry, Sam,” takes on specificity. If 4.03 didn’t actually happen, then Home provides the seeds for constructing a history Dean needs for finding his purpose in season four. Was this the first time the monkey motif is used? Gee, the cymbal monkey will forever give me the creeps in any context.

1.12 Faith – Oh, my! I expected to love hearing the “a young man with a purpose… a job to do” business, but there’s so much more to take note of. Nearly every exchange takes on a new significance.

  • The before the title card scene has Dean counting to three before opening the basement cupboard/closet to find the brother and sister. That’s so very much like Sam counting out the opening of the locker in 4.06 Yellow Fever and finding the cat. Was it 1.17 Hell House when the guys open a cupboard and find a rat when Dean would have preferred a ghost? (I swear it’s time to go counting closets soon. The one in Sari’s room was pivotal in Home, too.)
  • Dean says, “I know it’s not easy, but I’m gonna die, and you can’t stop it.” Sam’s reply is (of course!), “Watch me.” I’m excited about the “stop it” phrasing, though, and how that is echoed in 4.03 In the Beginning.
  • Sam’s voicemail to John is “I’m gonna do whatever it takes to get him back.”  Definitely not the last time he’ll say that line, is it?
  • Dean’s reaction to being brought to Nebraska? “You know what I got faith in? Reality. Knowing what’s really going on.” Sam: “How can you be a skeptic with the things we see every day?” Dean: “Exactly. We see them. We know they’re real.” Sam: “But if you know evil is out there, how can you not believe good’s out there too?” Dean: “Because I’ve seen what evil does to good people.” LAYLA: “Maybe God works in mysterious ways.” I had completely forgotten she says the line that Dean cuts Castiel off during in 4.02 Are You There, God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester.  Also? We get the business of reality and the idea that seeing is believing for Dean. This concept certainly factors into my theory that what we’ve seen in S4 is through Dean’s eyes and for his benefit.
  • Rev. Roy to the congregation about immoral unspeakable acts: “God is watching. God rewards the good, and He punishes the corrupt.”
  • Rev. Roy says, “I didn’t pick you, Dean. The Lord did.” ……. Dean: “Look, no disrespect, but I’m not exactly a believer.” Rev. Roy: “You will be, son. You will be.”
  • Sue Ann says, “A miracle is what happened,” when Dean comes asking questions.
  • Rev. Roy relates his backstory saying he woke up one morning “stone blind” and the doctors figured out he had cancer. His ability for healing came after his own recovery. S4 gives us a new explanation on sudden blindness though Rev. Roy’s eyes don’t appear burned out.
  • Dean: “Why me?… Why save me?” Rev. Roy: “The Lord guides me. I looked into your heart and you just stood out from all the rest.” Dean: “What did you see in my heart?” Rev. Roy: “A young man with an important purpose. A job to do and it isn’t finished.”  I had goosebumps when this was new news, and it’s only gotten more exciting!
  • Dean to Sam as they figure out the agent of his healing, “There’s only one thing that can give and take life like that. We’re dealing with a reaper……There’s nothing else it could be, Sam.” Oh, my. I guess I see reapers themselves as neutral on the evil scale. They’re just doing their jobs, right? Still, I’m so glad the Supernatural world has opened up allowing for good – even if S4′s angels turn out to be assisted by Sam controlling a trickster or tulpa or dreamroot to bring Dean back.
  • Sam and Dean discuss Roy and Sue Ann. Sam: “So Roy really believes?” Dean: “I don’t think he has any idea what his wife’s doing.”  Sam, shaking his head in disapproval, “To cross a line like that. A preacher’s wife. Black magic. Murder. Evil.” Dean: “Desperate. Her husband was dying. She’d've done anything to save him.” Dean: “May God save us from half the people who think they’re doing God’s work.” Goodness, I’m scared for Sam. I’m worried that we’ll find screwing Ruby is the tip of the line crossing iceberg once we really get around to seeing his point of view.
  • Sam to Dean about preventing Layla from being healed: “You can’t play God.”
  • Sue Ann claims (to Sam) that God chose her for doing God’s will to reward the just and punish the wicked. Sue Ann when Sam destroys her reaper control cross necklace: “My God.” Sam: “He’s not your God.”
  • The reaper originally came for Roy but was forced into trade after trade until, upon being released, it is Sue Ann’s life that is forfeited to satisfy the reaper’s job.
  • Layla’s well loved line of “If you’re going to have faith, you can’t just have it when the miracles happen. You have to have it when they don’t,” is followed up by the REPEAT of “God works in mysterious ways.” (! ! !)
  • Has anyone identified the necklace Layla wears? I assume it is a religious medal and would be beyond thrilled to find out whether it is of an angel.

    • null (image cropped from a cap by marishna.)

The big things catching my interest tie to the idea of what is REAL, anyway. I’m seeing Sam and Dean in Sue Ann and Roy’s positions. There’ve been multiple references throughout the series to the boys as a married couple, such as Bobby’s comment in S2′s Tall Tales and 4.03 In the Beginning naming the grandparents Sam(uel) and Dean(na).  The question is whether and how much Sam’s morals may have shifted under Ruby’s influence and since losing his brother to hell?
Wow. Ever since S4 premiered, I said Faith deserved a rewatch with hindsight. I’ve always loved it and had lots to say when Rico watched it during the spring of S3. Still, this posting grew so much longer than I expected I’ll save more rewatches for a part two entry.

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