Review – “And Then There Were None”
This week’s episode “…And Then There Were None” really got the ball rolling for the last third of the season. We learned a lot of new information that is starting to tie up a few of this season’s loose threads.
The “mother of all” is back in the picture and it is not looking good. Eve is her name and apparently she has the power to create evil that this world has never seen before. And we thought Lucifer was bad. In a show like Supernatural, a name like Eve can’t go unnoticed. According to Judeo-Christian belief, Eve is the mother of humanity and also committed the original sin causing her to be separated from God. In this episode Eve makes a point to let the evangelizing trucker know that God has abandoned him and the human race, something a mother would never do. So if she is, in fact meant to be the Eve of the Bible then she was the first to sin against God, and the mother of all evil. And it seems this mother has a bit of an abandonment complex.
As part of her promise not to abandon her children, Eve creates a parasite that possesses its victim and forces them to kill. Unlike most demon possessions we’ve seen on the show, the vessel doesn’t seem to remember being possessed by the parasite. Word of Eve’s handiwork spreads and leads to the biggest hunter’s convention I think we’ve seen on Supernatural. Sam, Dean and Bobby cross paths with Rufus and then later with Gwen and Samuel. This encounter is one that we’ve been waiting for since “Caged Heat” when Samuel sold the boys out to Crowley. In that episode Dean made Samuel a promise that the next time they crossed paths, Samuel would die. A promise it seemed Dean intended to keep. When Sam stepped in and stopped Dean from killing Samuel I was reminded again of just how different soulless Sam was from the Sam we’ve known since season one. Soulless Sam wouldn’t have needed time to think, in fact, he probably would have shot Samuel dead before Dean even had a chance to make good on his promise.
Sam may have a soul again but he’s certainly not spineless and he can see just how dangerous Samuel really is. After Dean is possessed and kills Gwen Sam makes Samuel a little promise of his own.
“We’re gonna find him [Dean] alive, Samuel. Or I’m going to put a bullet in your head.”
What is interesting about Samuel is that he admits that he doesn’t blame Dean for wanting to kill him but refuses to apologize for what he did.
“I don’t cry over spilled blood”
I guess I always assumed that somewhere inside Samuel there was at least a shred of the Winchester moral fiber. I mean this deep appreciation for family and respect for humanity had to come from somewhere, right? But Samuel was so cold and unrelenting that he seemed barely human and he certainly didn’t care about family connections unless they somehow benefited him. I should add that this exchange between Samuel and the boys happened while Samuel was possessed but I’m not sure that his reaction would have been any different if he wasn’t. He was equally cold and calculated when he handed the boys over to Crowley earlier this season.
In the end though, Samuel gets what he was promised. Sam kills him in a scene that felt very reminiscent of “Fresh Blood” when Sam decapitates Gordon Walker. In both scenes Sam in separated from Dean in a booby-trapped warehouse and forced to kill the person hunting him. In this case, Sam warns Samuel repeatedly before pulling the trigger. And even after killing him, he questions what he did asking Dean what their mom would think. The line that Dean draws is a finite one.
“Just cuz you’re blood doesn’t make you family. You gotta earn that.”
Something Samuel never did.
Speaking of earning your family, a lot of interesting facts came to light about Bobby and Rufus’ past. We learned that Rufus was the hunter that saved Bobby when his wife was possessed and that they spent many years on the road as hunting partners; as family. But we also learned that Bobby made a bad call that broke that familial bond forever, something Rufus never forgave him for.
Forgiveness seems to be another recurring theme recently. Now that Sam is facing his past his guilt leaves him unable to forgive himself for his actions. Even Bobby resists forgiving Sam for what he did when he had no soul. And now Bobby finds himself unforgiven for what he did to Rufus and wracked with guilt over his death. But Dean reminds Bobby that at the end of the day, he and Rufus were a family, and Rufus should have put the past behind them and forgiven Bobby. Dean takes it one step further, making sure that Bobby and Sam know that whatever has happened in the past is forgiven and the slate is clean. Maybe this reminder is a good one for Bobby, since he still hasn’t forgiven Sam for what he did when he wasn’t really Sam. I’m hoping we get to see a conversation like this between the two of them soon.
So, what next? We know that Eve is cooking up a plan to rid the world of good; she sent the message along with her new creature.
“You’re all gonna die.”
But who, specifically, was this message for? Possessed Bobby tells us that this whole thing was a trap. But for who? Hunters in general or just Sam and Dean? And does Eve have anything to do with the civil war in heaven or are these two plot threads completely separate? What do you think?
There are a few more things that deserve mentioning…
*As much as I’m glad to have the Campbells out of our lives, I was sad to see Gwen go. The Winchesters don’t have many friends to turn to for help and I thought Gwen might become one of those people for them.
* Am I the only one who found it odd that Dean didn’t really beat himself up about Gwen’s death? He seemed almost unmoved by it. Maybe that’s something that will come up later or maybe he was just in shock. But either way it seemed uncharacteristic.
* I was also sad to see Rufus die. I really enjoyed his character and he and Bobby bickered like an old married couple, which I found hilarious. He was another one that could have filled the void left by Ellen and Joe’s death.
*I was a little confused when Samuel came back to life. A shot to the head would have definitely killed him so was his dead body simply possessed by the parasite?
*Was this the first time that we saw Bobby possessed? I tried to think back and nothing else came to mind. Either way, Jim Beaver’s performance was great.
This episode was a little low on humor, for obvious reasons but there were still a couple of gems worth mentioning.
*Dean: “Why don’t you buy me a drink first?”
Rufus: “Second date.”
*Dean: “Well hey there, you little herpe.”
Sam: “Why do you keep talking about herpes?”
So what did you think of “…And Then There Were None”? Did you have the same thoughts about Eve as I did? Do you think there’s any connection between her and the civil war in heaven?
I believe we saw Bobby possessed in the first episode of Season 6 (Sympathy for the Devil) ?
And yes, I am curious about how Eve is connected with the civil war in heaven – I think they must be, otherwise Season 6 would be too fragmented trying to deal wtih 2 major unconnected plot lines.
Oh, great punchy review, and I share many of your sentiments (re Gwen, Rufus). 🙂
I agree that this season would be fragmented without the connection. What I can’t figure out is how they are planning to connect the two stories so quickly when we know so little about what’s going on in heaven at this point. I’m sure they’ll find a way though because they always do!
Thanks for your comments.
You bring up some interesting points. I think there is room for people of all faith backgrounds in Supernatural. I’ve read countless articles about the show’s representation of religion, especially Christianity and the show’s stance on God/Jesus/Heaven/Hell/Angels can be argued in every direction. I do think we tend to use the lenses of our own experience to interpret what we see, and I think that’s great because it makes the story one that can be enjoyed by a vast group of people. By no means do I think the show is meant to represent one religion or belief system completely, at the end of the day it’s still fiction. (I know, I wish it was real too.) But that doesn’t mean it can’t be a source of great discussion. Thanks for your comments!
I agree with your assessment, Janible. Well said. I think it was written that way to allow just such an interpretation from varying points of view. I found it a little refreshing, since, in the past, I have found the writers too eager to portray Christians in an unflattering light and crossed the line a few times. Here, however, the POV came from evil itself, so, naturally, she had a bone to pick with her creator, but the trucker was not made to look foolish, thankfully. Eve holds the opinion of the demons, and even most of the angels; that God is absent. The whole theme of abandonment from a world-gone-evil, or, in Sam and Dean’s case, an emotionally, and sometimes physically absent dad. They were left on their own to battle an evil world.
I see the show taking this subplot to a mega-conclusion. I’ll be disappointed if God (and NOT Chuck) doesn’t show up to set things straight!
Interesting points Sofia.
Rufus may not have forgiven Bobby, but when Rufus needed help in “Weekend at Bobby’s”, he knew that he could rely on Bobby.
Let us not forget that in ‘Exile’, Gwen told Dean ‘my God, you have delicate features for a hunter’. Sorry, but I cannot mourn for her.
I am definitely doing the happy dance (on his grave) for Gramps. He deserved to die, for betraying Dean and the Soulless One. Then of course, he also insulted their father and their father figure.
I think that the parasite was lurking in the shadows, then when Sam killed Gramps ( 😀 ), it jumped in and got comfortable.
Somehow the two storylines, Eve and the battle for Heaven, will come together. There are still six episodes left, and it is usally the last two or three episodes were the threads start coming together.
I don’t think anyone would disagree that it’s a good thing Samuel is dead. He had a second chance at life and he wasted it scheming against the only family he had.
But I will say I was intrigued by where Gwen’s character was going. She seemed to be having a change of heart and was beginning to question Samuel and some of his motivations. I think she could have been a great ally for the Winchesters, they have so few to begin with.
How does everyone else feel about Gwen? Were you happy to see her go?
This was a great article.
I agree that I really like the stance the show has taken in regards to Christianity. They’ve also been able to include other beliefs as well and seem not to belittle any of them.
As for Gwen, I was sorry to see her go, too. I really do think she was having a change of heart since she first met Dean. At that time, she was going on things she had heard about him from Soulless Sam, who thought family just weighed a person down, and Samuel, who didn’t know Dean at all except for that brief meeting prior to his death so long ago. Now, she was actually seeing the real person and so her judgment and preconceived notions were changing. Samuel expedited this when she continually kept catching him lying to her. His creditability was fast approaching zero. I think Gwen would have joined Sam, Dean and Bobby and been an awesome ally for them to have.
I couldn’t agree more that soulless Sam was the reason for Gwen’s feelings about Dean. From what we heard, it sounded like soulless Sam shared a few very personal and private struggles that painted a skewed image of Dean, something souled Sam would never have done. But as she got to know Dean a little more I think she saw these images for what they were and was beginning to understand who Dean [i]really[/i] was. Oh well, I guess we’ll never know for sure!
Really good review Sofia!
I’ve also long wondered about the existence/nonexistence of Jesus in the Supernatural world … and found Eve’s statement a deliciously brazen (not to mention blasphemous) confirmation that he has no place in it.
Scarlotti, I wouldn’t be too hasty, up until recent seasons it seemed that Supernatural didn’t have a place for heaven, God or angels. I don’t think anything is off limits for Supernatural it just has to fit in with what the season is meant to accomplish.
Good review.
I liked this one but I wanted more info before someone killed Gramps but think it’s good it was Sam not Dean who shot him. TPTB missed the boat when Gwen was killed. She could have been so good. And Rufus well there’s no excuse for that. He should not have died period.
Bobby was possessed in 5X1 Sympathy for the devil. Meg wanted Bobby to kill Dean but Bobby fought the demon stabbed himself and was paralyzed rather than kill Dean
Of course! Sympathy for the Devil. How could I have forgotten that one?! Thanks for the reminder.
Great review Sofia,
I have had this feeling all season long that Crowley was just taking advantage of Samuel and Sam by claiming that he was the one responsible for the return of both of them to earth. I thought that only an angel could remove someone from hell – and I’m not sure that Samuel was in heaven. If that is the case, I’m going to postulate that Rafael was working with Crowley to drag both of them from where they were, it would explain why Castiel was able to enter the “alfa” prison with no consequence (ie:angels were allowed to enter). Anyway, I’ve no idea where this season is going but I’m entirely engaged in it’s resolution.
I’ve no idea where the Mother of All/Eve storyline leads but will happily watch and see where it leads. Thanks!
Libby
@Libbyc
This is a very interesting idea. I hadn’t thought of Rafael and Crowley working together but I don’t see why not. What do you think they are after that they would be willing to work together? Something to do with control of purgatory? I wonder if we’ll ever get a concrete answer to that question. I was also wondering if Samuel was in heaven or hell when he was brought back. Judging from the kind of man he was in “In the Beginning” I could see him going to heaven but that man was a lot different then the one we’ve seen this season so who knows? Great thoughts! Thanks for reading!