Entries by tag: dean
Supernatural, Season 1
Episode 12, “Faith”
Written by Sera Gamble and Raelle Tucker
Directed by Allan Kroeker
Warning: image heavy post.
(Continued from #4)
Episode 12, “Faith”
Written by Sera Gamble and Raelle Tucker
Directed by Allan Kroeker
Warning: image heavy post.
(Continued from #4)
Back at their motel, Sam shows Dean the book he found at the house. (By the by, the walls of this room have always troubled me. It strikes me they have the texture and colour of congealed blood . . . not unlike the colour of Dean’s lucky red shirt, in fact. I can’t help feeling this is all very meaningful. Maybe they reflect the state of Dean’s mind because he feels tainted by the blood of Marshall Hall and now, perhaps, Layla’s as well.)
I'm planning to take a little break from posting these reviews for a while. I'm very grateful to my regular commenters for all your feedback and support. If you're a reader who doesn't usually comment but quietly enjoys these posts and you're keen for them to continue, please let me know with a quick comment or like. I really would appreciate having a clearer idea of how much interest there is for this series. My thanks to you all.
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Supernatural, Season 1
Episode 12, “Faith”
Written by Sera Gamble and Raelle Tucker
Directed by Allan Kroeker
Warning: image heavy post.
(Continued from #3)
Episode 12, “Faith”
Written by Sera Gamble and Raelle Tucker
Directed by Allan Kroeker
Warning: image heavy post.
(Continued from #3)
As the next scene opens, the brothers are researching reaper lore. It’s an interesting camera angle that suggests the boys are being watched over from above. God moving in his mysterious ways, perhaps?
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Supernatural, Season 1
Episode 12, “Faith”
Written by Sera Gamble and Raelle Tucker
Directed by Allan Kroeker
Warning: image heavy post.
(Continued from #2)
Episode 12, “Faith”
Written by Sera Gamble and Raelle Tucker
Directed by Allan Kroeker
Warning: image heavy post.
(Continued from #2)
Two doctors appear in this episode. One is played by a black actor, the other by a woman. Supernatural has often been accused of lacking representation but I feel, in the first season at least, it made more effort than many other shows of its time. I’m probably opening a can of worms by raising this subject, but it’s important and will become an especially big issue next episode, so I’d really appreciate hearing other people’s thoughts on the matter.
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Supernatural, Season 1
Episode 12, “Faith”
Written by Sera Gamble and Raelle Tucker
Directed by Allan Kroeker
Warning: image heavy post.
(Continued from #1)
Episode 12, “Faith”
Written by Sera Gamble and Raelle Tucker
Directed by Allan Kroeker
Warning: image heavy post.
(Continued from #1)
The next scene opens with a panning shot over Sam’s research: chakra maps, medical journals, diagrams and photos of hearts and cardiac anatomy. Again, I’m reminded of John’s motel wall. Now, more than ever, we see John’s obsessive search for answers after Mary’s death reflected in his son’s behaviour now that Dean’s life is on the line.
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Supernatural, Season 1
Episode 12, “Faith”
Written by Sera Gamble and Raelle Tucker
Directed by Allan Kroeker
Warning: image heavy post.
Episode 12, “Faith”
Written by Sera Gamble and Raelle Tucker
Directed by Allan Kroeker
Warning: image heavy post.
This episode marked another major turning point for the show, both dramatically and for many viewers. “Faith” quickly established itself as a fan favourite, and Eric Kripke himself named it as his favourite episode from the first season.
"It's when I first realized what the show was capable of,” he said. “Is there a god? What's meant to be? And is there free will? And is your life worth the cost of someone else's life? It's a metaphysical and moral study of the boys' universe.”
From Nicholas Knight’s Supernatural: The Official Companion Season 1
For those still sitting on the fence about the series, this episode would see them finally and thoroughly hooked and ensure that they were committed for the long haul. While the metaphysical and moral elements Kripke mentions certainly played their part in that, for many the ingredient that turned casual viewing into obsession distilled down to something much more personal:
And so, it begins.
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Supernatural, Season 1
Episode 11, “Scarecrow”
Teleplay by John Shiban
Story by Sean Patrick Smith
Directed by Kim Manners
Continued from #4
Warning: image heavy post
Episode 11, “Scarecrow”
Teleplay by John Shiban
Story by Sean Patrick Smith
Directed by Kim Manners
Continued from #4
Warning: image heavy post
In the next scene we find the town folk discussing the necessity to sacrifice Dean and another victim, who turns out to be Emily. It’s raining, and the scene closes with a striking overhead shot of the conspirators gathered under their umbrellas.
In the “Then and Now” podcast, Robert Singer and Jerry Wanek explained this was an homage to Hitchcock’s Foreign Correspondent. It’s an interesting tidbit for two reasons: first, it isn’t a typical SPN pop culture allusion, being a wartime espionage thriller rather than the usual horror movie (but the war reference may not be as utterly random as it first appears); secondly, the movie features a climactic scene where an antagonist sacrifices himself so the heroes may live. It may be the allusion is being used to contrast that act of self-sacrifice with the act of murder that the town folk are calling sacrifice. It may also be an ironic nod forward to the episode’s resolution where Dean and Emily are saved when the scarecrow takes two of the conspirators in their stead.
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Supernatural, Season 1
Episode 11, “Scarecrow”
Teleplay by John Shiban
Story by Sean Patrick Smith
Directed by Kim Manners
Continued from #3
Warning: image heavy post
Episode 11, “Scarecrow”
Teleplay by John Shiban
Story by Sean Patrick Smith
Directed by Kim Manners
Continued from #3
Warning: image heavy post
Despite the young couple’s reservations, and the townsfolk’s machinations, Dean rescues the prospective victims from death by scarecrow and the next scene opens with Sam at the bus stop, and a phone call between the brothers is already in progress.
It’s a clever device because we don’t know who made the first move. We’re not meant to know; we’re meant to imagine a universe in which it’s possible for both of them to call and be connected at the exact same moment. The dramatic intent is that we should understand there has been no moral victory or defeat on either side, only the mutual desire to reconcile fulfilled.
( Read more...Collapse )Supernatural, Season 1
Episode 11, “Scarecrow”
Teleplay by John Shiban
Story by Sean Patrick Smith
Directed by Kim Manners
Continued from #2
Warning: image heavy post
Episode 11, “Scarecrow”
Teleplay by John Shiban
Story by Sean Patrick Smith
Directed by Kim Manners
Continued from #2
Warning: image heavy post
“We’re famous for our apples,” says Scotty, plying a young couple with free pie as Dean enters the café.
“Oh, hey, Scotty. Can I get a coffee, black?” Dean asks. “Oh, and some of that pie, too, while you’re at it.” He never gets the coffee, or the pie, and Scotty seems keen to discourage him from talking to the young couple.
It becomes a running gag in Supernatural that Dean repeatedly asks for pie but, for various reasons, he never gets it. I believe it’s more than a simple gag though. Beginning with this episode where apples and apple pie are a clear symbol of the wholesome American lifestyle the town initially appears to represent, I believe the pie that Dean is continually denied symbolizes the “apple pie life” that he secretly craves but feels he can never have.
As he attempts to engage the couple in conversation, we get another brilliantly filmed and edited scene. Manners is a master of using facial close ups to create atmosphere and tone, and here we get an increasing sense of unease as we focus on Dean.
“Oh, hey, Scotty. Can I get a coffee, black?” Dean asks. “Oh, and some of that pie, too, while you’re at it.” He never gets the coffee, or the pie, and Scotty seems keen to discourage him from talking to the young couple.
It becomes a running gag in Supernatural that Dean repeatedly asks for pie but, for various reasons, he never gets it. I believe it’s more than a simple gag though. Beginning with this episode where apples and apple pie are a clear symbol of the wholesome American lifestyle the town initially appears to represent, I believe the pie that Dean is continually denied symbolizes the “apple pie life” that he secretly craves but feels he can never have.
As he attempts to engage the couple in conversation, we get another brilliantly filmed and edited scene. Manners is a master of using facial close ups to create atmosphere and tone, and here we get an increasing sense of unease as we focus on Dean.
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Supernatural, Season 1
Episode 11, “Scarecrow”
Teleplay by John Shiban
Story by Sean Patrick Smith
Directed by Kim Manners
Continued from #1
Warning: image heavy post
Episode 11, “Scarecrow”
Teleplay by John Shiban
Story by Sean Patrick Smith
Directed by Kim Manners
Continued from #1
Warning: image heavy post
Next morning Dean drives into Burkitsville and we see him open his phone and pull up Sam in his contact list, but he changes his mind and doesn’t call him.
Dean’s list is basic; it lists his contacts in alphabetical order. (On the “Then and Now” podcast it was mentioned that the names on the list – apart from Dad and Sam – were all poached from the SPN art department crew.)
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Supernatural, Season 1
Episode 11, “Scarecrow”
Teleplay by John Shiban
Story by Sean Patrick Smith
Directed by Kim Manners
Warning: image heavy post
Episode 11, “Scarecrow”
Teleplay by John Shiban
Story by Sean Patrick Smith
Directed by Kim Manners
Warning: image heavy post
Like “Phantom Traveler”, “Scarecrow” is a season arc episode masquerading as a standard monster of the week. John’s appearance early in the episode should have been a clue since he has had some form of presence in each of the demon arc stories so far, even if only as a voicemail, but the episode’s status is only fully confirmed in the final scene when Meg Masters is revealed to be more than a chance meeting for Sam, and actually a part of some sinister plot against the brothers.
The episode represents a major point in the hero’s journey myth, where the hero is tempted from his true quest by the seductress and must choose between two paths: whether to follow the temptress or to commit to the quest.
The episode opens with a man filling up a car in a pleasant seeming small town main street. Alas, this apparently mundane image isn’t as innocent as it appears.
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Comments
Thanks so much for your continuing support 😊
Yes, I would be interested in an in-depth Campbell post.
I find it interesting that while both Dean and Sam compare Sam to John, John doesn't. In this scene…