Supernatural: Soul Survivor (10x03)

Where was my Winchester Bro hug?! I want it! I demand it! All I can say is, I want some angst and guilt from Dean in the next episode. It's necessary. But I should slow down and write out the plot first, yeah?

We see Sam dressed up as a doctor, procuring blessed blood to use in curing Dean. He injects Dean with blood in the bunker, but Dean is very resistant to being cured. He seems to be in a lot of pain as he's being cured, and he uses every trick in the book to get Sam to stop. He tells Sam that he might be killing his own big brother, and when that doesn't work, he tells Sam that he knows what he did when he was searching for him.

Turns out, Sam set up the crossroads deal with Lester, so that he could use Lester to track down Dean and Crowley. He never intended for Lester to truly sell his soul, but that's what happened. Dean gloatingly tells Sam that he killed Lester himself. Dean also says that he left Sam for a reason - he's tired of having to save him. Dean's mother would still be alive if it weren't for Sam. Sam tries not to let this stuff get to him. He continues injecting Dean with the blood. Sam goes into Dean's room in the bunker and looks at signs of his old life with Dean. When he comes back down to continue the cure, he sees that Dean has escaped from his bonds.

Meanwhile, Cas and Hannah are heading towards the bunker to help Sam out, but Cas is getting weaker and weaker because of his failing grace. On the way, Cas is sure to tell Hannah that they need to keep their priorities straight - getting to Sam and Dean has to be their focus, and there can be no distractions. Particularly not distractions of the "I have feelings for you" variety. When they stop for gas, they run into Adina, one of the angels who refused to go back to Heaven. She is out for revenge, because Cas killed her friend. Adina beats up Cas and threatens to kill Hannah.

Crowley has been dealing with some administration in Hell. When one demon offers to be his new wing-man, since Dean was so unsuitable, Crowley kills him. One of the demons says that Crowley has been a bad leader, and he burns himself to death to get away from Crowley. Crowley asks another of his minions to keep an eye on Cas and track his movements. So, when he learns that Cas is in trouble, he tracks him down. Crowley kills Adina and puts her grace into Cas, so that he's recharged and healthy again, at least for the time being. Crowley tells Cas that Dean as a demon is too much trouble, and that he has to go and help cure him. Or, if need be, get rid of him.

Dean is hunting for Sam in the bunker. Sam has a knife, Dean has a hammer. Dean knows that Sam won't have the guts to kill him, but Dean says he's still demon enough to kill Sam. See, the cure was working. He was becoming less of a demon, so he was able to escape from the devil's trap. But, he still has no qualms about killing his brother, apparently. Just when Dean is about to kill Sam, Cas shows up. He is able to grab Dean, and therefore subdue him. Sam and Cas tie Dean back up and continue the treatments. Sam wonders why they're doing this. Even after giving him a lot of the blood, Dean still said he didn't want to be cured. Cas says he understands - humans can feel the greatest joy, yes, but also the worst pain.

Dean wakes up. Some Holy Water to the face confirms it: he's no longer a demon. Sam goes to buy Dean some food, after Cas reminds him that their problems aren't over yet. Dean still has the Mark of Cain, after all. Sam says he doesn't want to worry about it right now. Cas talks to Dean in in Dean's bedroom. Dean wonders if Sam can ever forgive him, and Cas says he's sure Sam won't leave just because Dean tried to kill him. Dean says he's glad Cas is there, and that Cas looks good, now that he's gone some fresh grace in him. Cas suggests that maybe Dean should take it easy for a while, since everything seems pretty calm in Heaven and Hell for the time being.

In our final scene, we see a mysterious red-headed woman nonchalantly sitting on a chair in a fancy room, with corpses pinned to the ceiling above her head.

Do I have things to complain about?

Well, first of all, everyone needs to stop complaining that the Demon!Dean arc was so short. It makes sense: you can't do C-plot episodes with Demon!Dean, right? And what sort of A-plot episode would it be if there was no Cas or Crowley? And I'm guessing they can't afford Misha and/or Mark for every episode, so they needed some C-plot. Obviously, the threat of Demon!Dean is not gone. He still has the Mark of Cain, which was what got him into this mess in the first place. So. That's not a complaint about the episode. It's a reminder to everyone else that we're not in the clear yet with this whole Demon!Dean thing. Okay?

The second thing that people were complaining about on tumblr is one that I sort of agree with a bit more. The Hannah issue. Now, I'm not complaining about Hannah as a character, per say. I still find myself liking her just fine. And I don't object to Cas having a love interest other than Dean, in theory. But is anyone else totally baffled by the romance stuff between them? I don't think they have any chemistry at all! And trust me, it has nothing to do with shipping Destiel. I sort of figured maybe Cas/Hannah was going to be a thing, but if they're going that route, of showing that Hannah is interested in him, I wish we could get a bit more of why. I just don't see the connection between them! Does anyone else see them together? Even without Destiel-goggles on?

The only other complaint that I have is that Dean and Sam didn't get a reconciliation scene. I loved the Dean and Cas scene, of course, but I really wanted to see Dean apologize to Sam, after all the hell of the past few episodes. But maybe we'll get that in the next episode? I certainly hope so, or I'm going to feel very robbed.

But let's not dwell on the negative. These first three episodes of Season Ten have been, all around, excellent, and this third installment was an incredibly strong tie-up of this plot thread.

First, you've got Dean. Whatever's going on with him, and his demonic state, it's definitely out of the ordinary. The fact that he could still want to kill Sam, even though killing Sam wasn't necessary for escaping, after being mostly cured is a huge red flag. Even Crowley, who doesn't have a deep and abiding love for Sam like Dean does, probably wouldn't have been gung-ho about killing Sam when he was at the mostly-cured stage. It's so fascinating, and scary, and wonderful.

Great acting from Jensen, and great directing, too. I was so proud of him in this whole episode. Demon!Dean was hard to watch, but so fantastically fascinating at the same time. And let's just talk about the stuff he was saying to Sam... because, like, ouch. I guess this just proves that Dean knows Sam really well, because he knew exactly where to dig in the knife. First, that Sam's a monster. That he's no better than the things he hunts. How many times has he been afraid of that? He had demon blood in him, he's been possessed a bunch of times, and even after jumping in the pit and saving the world, he still thought of himself as broken. Even after the trials, which were supposed to "purify" him, he still has to live with the guilt of his hands killing Kevin. For Dean to point out that he condemned Lester's soul to Hell was... well, it was evil. But at the same time, the fact that Sam would do something like that was pretty despicable in the first place.

Of course, Dean's second tactic was even more heartbreaking. Sam's fear of being a monster is one thing. His fear of being a burden is something else. For Dean to say that Sam's very existence was what made his life so miserable... well, it was just awful. I want Dean to apologize to Sam for that, more so than for the whole trying-to-kill-him thing.

I think my favorite moment of subtle acting come later in the episode. When Dean first wakes up as a human, no longer demonic, he doesn't realize it at first. He makes a flip comment, and then he sees the looks on Sam and Cas' faces, of relief, and hears Sam say "welcome back, Dean." Then he gets this look on his face, like it's all sinking in. Like - Oh, God. What did I do? And why do I still feel so out of control? My theory is that late-demon!Dean and newly-human!Dean are a lot more similar than any of us would like to be comfortable with.

Then there's Sam. He was so close to breaking down during this whole episode. It broke my heart. The poor puppy dog. And yet he kept going. He had to live with the fact that he could be killing Dean, but at the same time, he knew it was the only way. When he went into Dean's room and saw the photographs, I thought I was going to cry. Poor thing! And then after Dean was cured, he just immediately wants to get wasted. I don't blame him. Even with Dean back to being a human, it's probably going to take some time to get over the experience.

I particularly admired the editing and tension in the hide and seek scene. I was definitely expected a "Heeeeeeeere's Johnny!" reference when Dean was bursting through the doors. My heart was in my throat during that entire sequence. Great editing, great acting from the guys, great script. Seriously.

Then of course we must discuss Crowley. I'll admit, I'm a bit confused about the suicidal demon thing. Hopefully we'll get more on that later. I love that Crowley has the eternal line still going. Of course that would be his Hell. He's still pining over Dean, majorly, and he actually kills a demon for insinuating that Crowley was wrong to spend time with him. I like seeing him in this odd paradoxical spot. He's powerful. He has what he supposedly wants. And yet, he's profoundly unsatisfied. The fact that he would bother to heal Cas is proof of that.

Speaking of Cas... Cas and Hannah. I know I was saying the romance angle wasn't working for me, but I still enjoy them. I enjoy seeing Cas teach Hannah about humanity. I think it's important for his character growth to discuss the good and the bad of being human, and try to share that with his fellow angels.

Of course, this episode was Destiel-like-woah all over the place. The conversation with Hannah about priorities can most definitely be read as Cas letting down Hannah easy, and also informing her, in no uncertain terms, that Dean is his first priority. In fact, it's more than just a possible reading of the scene... it's exactly what happened. Seriously. I can hardly believe it myself. Obviously we're supposed to think that Cas is avoiding the distractions of emotions by not letting himself get close to Hannah, and yet in the very act of letting her down, he's reinforcing Dean's importance to him.

Cas and Dean's last scene together, with all of its deliciously lingering glances, was particularly lovely. We got hints of Dean's guilt over what he did to Sam, which I loved, but mostly we just got a lot of Cas and Dean being super relieved to be together and safe. Dean says "you're looking good," which is fantastic, and Cas told Dean to take some time off. There was sappy music and half-smiles and just so much adorable-ness that I cannot stand it. Oh, and I can't forget to mention that Dean was looking at the family pictures before Cas came in. Did I mention that I'm really looking forward to the Winchester Bro angst-fest? It better be coming up soon.

9/10