"Dead Man's Blood"
--Robin's Rambles
--Robin Vogel
With the introduction of Daniel Elkins, a hunter who showed John the ropes, comes the introduction of the Colt, the gun that (supposedly) can kill anything. This gun, created along with 13 bullets by Sam Colt in 1835 during Halley's comet, will kill the demon who killed Mary, and John wants that gun!
John and Sam have a touching scene during which Papa W. explains why he didn't want him going away to school"he feared Sam being alone, away from the protection of the family. He did start a college fund for both him and Dean, but spent it on ammo. He and Sam have a big laugh over that, and it seems to bring the two of them closer. Meanwhile, Dean's been dispatched to a funeral home to pick up a jar of dead man's blood, which renders vampires unconscious if injected into them. There is also a lot of head-butting between John and Sam, who resents being told what to do without being given reasons and details. Unlike Dean, who's fine having John give them orders to blindly follow, Sam wants to know why they are doing what they're doing.
Vampires! Luther insists, "We have just as much a right to live as you do." Do they, given that they're murdering people, turning them into vamps? John thought them extinct, Dean and Sam thought there was no such thing. These badass vamps drink hard Jack; capture their victims by stretching out in the street and playing injured victim; kill the husband they don't like by feasting on his blood in front of his wife; have sex in front of the wife, then feed her vampire blood; kill hunter Daniel Elkins and steal the Colt from him; party hearty in subdued sunlight; sleep in hammocks; and mate for life!
John captures Kate, Luther's mate, by striking her with an arrow coated in dead man's blood. They capture another from the nest, and John beheads him. John tasks his sons to wipe out the rest of the nest while he exchanges Kate for the Colt. Then he wants them gone, and he will take the Colt and go after the demon alone. Losing Mary nearly killed him; he will not risk his children, too! Sam and Dean have a problem with this plan and tell him so. John, not used to mutiny from Dean, sends them on their way. John's plan goes awry, however. When the time comes, Kate, free of both the influence of the blood and her bonds, attacks John. The Colt spins away on the street. Dean and Sam appear and subdue two of the vamps with arrows coated in DMB, but Sam finds himself in Luther's chokehold and Dean is forced to lay down his sword. John shoots a bullet from the Colt into Luther's forehead. It kills him slowly, with great special affects.
John reminds his sons that they ignored his direct order. "Saved your ass," Dean reminds him. Much as he hates to admit it, Dean and Sam are all he's got"his family"and they'll go after the demon together. "Yes sir," says Sam. Both brothers are smiling.
Comments
I’ve always been a fan of vampire stories, in fact I’ve collected books on vampire lore and novels (if they were good – unfortunately there’s so much rubbish coming out lately, in the wake of the Meyer books) for many years. I liked that the show played with the cliché, but added its own flair to the myth.
The hurtful moments came with the boys’ encounters with John – there is so much in between the lines they don’t say, and, gosh, their hearts must have been broken so many times already in fights they had, respectively in fights Sam and John had, and Dean looking on, just lately beginning to show a glimpse of mutiny. I would like to take a look around Dean’s head and at his thoughts when he had to witness his brother and dad fight, taking no prisoners – he must have been torn, loving both dearly. Was he supposed to pick a side? Was there any pressure in regard to that? Sometimes I wish there were more flashbacks telling us about these personal issues John’s kids had with him.
Thanks, Jas
It's certainly implied in the Pilot that if Sam called Dean, he wouldn't have spoken to him, and vice versa, too. It appears that Dean definitely sided with John against Sam when he left the family to go away to college, which for any other young man, should have been a normal rite of passage.
Getting a full ride to such a prestigious college, given the ridiculous on-the-road life Sam was forced to lead? Miraculous. Any other father and brother would have been proud as hell, but not the Winchesters.
John probably already knew something about Sam's fate and feared letting him out of their sight, but didn't dare tell him. So why tell your youngest child to leave and never come back, then watch him quietly, without his knowledge? What sense does that make? John Winchester sense, I suppose, which is crazy sense in light of what happened to Mary.
Love, robin
He might have been too much under Dad's influence to actually act in a different way...
Now, this is something I usually don't do, but I would love to guide you to a couple of articles I wrote a while back, concerning the matter, because I'd be very interested what you might make of it - it's called 'A Father, two sons and a third brother' and 'Sam and Dean, guilty as hell?', filed under 'Mystery Spot'.
This is kind of embarrassing right now, but I'll give it a shot anyway, I'm not used to promoting myself... so forgive me.
Your opinion would mean a lot to me - and perhaps it might also add another aspect to your image of the Winchesters.
:oops:, Love Jas
That said, does it ever come up in Show that Dean wouldn't have spoken to Sam if Sam had approached him? He did comment that Sam could've picked up the phone. Sam, for his part, seemed to assume that Dean would follow his father's party line and not have anything to do with him even if he did try.
Sigh, tragic.
Just my penny's worth.
Jas, those articles were fantastic, don't be embarrassed about promoting them. Nor should anyone here feel that way about their own stuff.
Love, Robin
PS - I have to start dinner now, but I definitely plan to read your other article tomorrow! You write splendidly about our show!
I agree with your opinion, I also doubt they stayed in touch much. Perhaps sometimes (on birthdays,maybe ?), which might have been desastrous. I can imagine them having fights on the phone (for Dean to know that Sam probably would not pick up, I assume they might have heard each other a few times,but not enjoyed the contact).
I'd love to see a flashback in regard to that sometime (yeah, wishful thinking, Kripke is not going to give us that).
Thanks for your acknowledgement ,really. I'm always a little shy about that. Normally I have a fast tongue, but that somehow shuts me up.
Randal - you're sweet. Thanks.
;-), Jas
Thanks for the review.
I was always freaked out by Vampires and monsters growing up, thanks to those old movies with Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolfman. I know today they are quite mild, but they were pretty scary at the time.
I loved Dean’s comment how the word vampire got funnier every time he heard it.
My favourite scene is the one between Sam and John, finally having civil moment together and actually connecting with each other.