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Dean keeps talking, speculating the demon has been in Sam since he disappeared. "You should have seen your face when you thought he murdered that guy. Pathetic." Okay, we think adorable, but lets move on. Dean wants why not!Sam didn't kill him. Not!Sam tells the dastardly plan. "Nah, that would have been too easy. Where's the fun in that? See this was a test. I wanted to see if I could push you far enough to waste Sam. Should have known you wouldn't have the sack. Anyway, fun's over now." Have I mentioned how much I'm loving evil Sam? He beats evil Kal-El from Smallville anyday.

Dean promises whoever is in Sam will pay hell for this. Not!Sam points out the obvious, Dean can't do anything without hurting his little brother. Dean accepts that point and puts away the gun. The plan is to kill Dean and every other hunter not!Sam can find. "One look at Sam's dewy sensitive eyes, they'll let me right in the door." Okay, that's a perfect point. Those eyes are hard to resist.
Dean pulls out the holy water, and not!Sam runs outside. Dean follows, and no one's visible in the dark night. He looks right, looks left, and then checks out the edge of the dock, where water sparkles from nearby lights below. Dean turns around and boom! Not!Sam fires his gun. Dean is hit and falls in the water. Whoa! Brutal! You know what else is whoa? When not!Sam checks out the water below. The wicked smirk on his face is mind-blowing. It's so weird seeing that look on Sam, especially when he thinks he just killed Dean.



Jo is now out on the dock with a flashlight and her cell phone. She isn't getting an answer. She tries again and finally hears in the distance Dean's rock and roll ringtone. Dean isn't answering. She follows the sound and finds Dean on a boat ramp, half submerged in the water, unconscious. She rushes to help and he comes to after she shakes him. As we can imagine, being shot and all, Dean's in complete agony, holding his shoulder. Dean asks where Sam is, but Jo's more concerned about him. She helps him up and he staggers his way up the ramp. Yes, I know, we're all bitterly jealous of Jo right now.



Back at the bar Dean grunts in pain while Jo digs the bullet out of his shoulder. Dean drinks whiskey, Jo patches up the wound, and as we can expect, Dean is pretty testy. Jo dishes it back, so no gentle mothering for Dean. Once Dean shuts up, Jo asks how did Dean know Sam was possessed. He didn't, he just knew it wasn't Sam. You know, he took hints, read the warning signs. It's what good hunters do.

Then she asks that even though demons lie, do they ever tell the truth? Oh yeah they do, especially if it messes with your head. So Jo, does the whole "answer the question" thing makes sense now? Dean asks why, but she won't tell him. Good, he's not exactly in the mood for sob BornUnderABadSign.

So where is not!Sam off to next? He's been going after hunters and the nearest one he knows of is South Dakota. Ooh, he's going after Bobby! Jo is eager to go with him, but Dean is so adamant that she doesn't, he threatens to tie her back onto that post. I wish he did just for fun. Dean is eager to leave, and Jo throws him some pain pills on the way out because she cares. "I'll call you later, okay," Dean says leaving. "No you won't," Jo says after he leaves. And that's the last we ever see of her. For the record I didn't hate Jo, but I didn't care for her either. She was just...there.

Dean, in his not!Impala, tries to call Bobby. No answer. Probably because a knife has just cut through the phone line. Not!Sam walks up to the front door and knocks. Bobby answers and is happy to see Sam. Sam gives him a dewy smile and Bobby lets him in. Drat those demons, always being right.

Bobby asks what brings him there. They're working a job nearby and he thought he'd stop and say hello. Conveniently, Dean is with a girl and a twelve pack and can't make it. Liar! Then not!Sam's black eyes flare while Bobby is in the kitchen, just to remind us he's still possessed.



Bobby comes back with two beers, and toasts to John. Not!Sam says with sentiment "to dad." That should be Bobby's biggest clue. Sam would clench his teeth or get all somber at the mention of John. Not!Sam drinks the beer and starts to sizzle. Bobby, being the totally cool person that he is, calmly continues to drink his beer and watches. "A little holy water in the beer. Sam never would have noticed. But then you're not Sam are ya? Don't try a con a con man." Bam! Not!Sam is knocked out cold. I love Bobby. Unlike Jo, he takes hints.



Ooh, ooh, another delicious scene!!! Yes, I know, this episode has one after another, but still! Time for another exorcism scene in Bobby's library under the devil's trap. Not!Sam is tied to a chair under it, and he's slapped awake by Dean! I guess Dean managed to arrive in his not!Impala. Not!Sam looks up at the devil's trap, and the camera angle is from his feet, showing the entire ceiling with not!Sam in the middle. Cool shot! Man the directing is so good.


Comments  

ATsRock
# ATsRock 2009-07-13 04:40
Alice, I see what you mean about the last scene, and the joke Dean made, but I love that scene, and I guess I'll always make allowances for the boys by assuming Dean wanted to lighten the mood between them. And it kinda worked. That joke is one of several scenes in which I always laugh, regardless of how many times I watch it. Another is in Lazarus Rising, when Bobby throws holy water at Dean. And, in Everybody Loves A Clown, when Sam makes the comment about the kid 'fingering the clown'. Dean's reaction is classic. But I digress...

I absolutely loved Jared in this episode. My favourite scene is when demonSam is taunting Jo. Brilliant, Jared. The facial acting and inflections in his voice, not to mention the body language. I wonder how much of that was written, and how much was Jared's addition. And his laugh when he's tied to the chair at Bobby's...that is one of (if not THE) best evil laughs I've ever heard.
Supernarttu
# Supernarttu 2009-07-13 06:25
Wow, this was a super review!! I loved it to bits.
And the ep itself is in my top5 too 'cause its' soo... fricking awesome!! I love every bit of it and while I too would have loved a some kind of ramifications on this (allthough I remember Kripke some time saying, this was going to be another reason for Gordons manhunt on Sam but it fell apart 'cause Sterling K. Brown was too much attached on the other show and the whole writers strike in S3 or something like that) but it still doesn't spoil this ep for me.
I loved both Jensen and Jared in this one but EvilJared was just creepy as hell! In the Jo-scenes I would have ran screaming esp. after the whole wrist-gripping scene... Jared hands are huge and I can imagine him grabbing my wrist that way and totally (i have teeny hands *grin*) just smother them... *shudders BIG time* Jared was just SO good, I'm kinda sad he didn't get to show this side sooner 'cause I know the boy can act his ass off. Jensen has been great from the start but I've always felt they both are great and their chemistry is just the best thing ever on TV.
I could watch this ep non-stop for days and never get tired... I usually watch certain scenes with constant rewinding :D like your fave scene and the Jo-scene just because it's so freaking creepy and I just for one sec actually feared that MeginSam might rape Jo... And I'm convinced nothing of that sort happened (I don't care if I'm proved wrong, I'm in Denial Land *laalalaalaalaa * ;-) ) but it still was one of my fave scenes 'cause I don't remember a scene where I've felt so uncomfortable and it was SAM (even though it wasn't). Oh, Jared is a god :P and I bet he was really sweet in shooting this, making sure Alona was ok every step of the way... He's just that kinda guy... But he 'sold' that scene, he should play psychos more :-)
Ok, Jensen was just heartwrenching with his freaking out 'n' suffering Dean. Nobody does those haunting looks better *love* And I too loved those Dean will have to kill Sam -themse that S2 gave us... And I too wll, never tire of those... as long as they don't go through with it :D
I didn't really care for Jo too, I liked her more in this one where they weren't trying to jam the Jo-Dean thing down our throats... She seemed too young to me and No exit was just *yawn* Dean usually seemed more uncomfortable than flirty with her... But that's just me, I don't like the guys hooking up *grin*
Ok, this is becoming longer than your review, so I better stop before I my keyboards explode.

ps. For little bits, I esp. loved the Timberlake-eye roll, the confused-Dean-w ith-the-hotel-m anager-by-the-d oor, and the Bobby-and-Sam-h oly-water-in-th e-beer -thingy and the Jo's "he was possessed?!", (I can't not eyeroll at that and say "No Jo, that's just Sam on Thursday nights" every single time :D ) and the scene in the gas station (I love how Dean says "This guy?!" like a million times, he's facial expressions *heart*) with the "Am I speaking Urdu?" with Sams over the top shocked puppy -look just cracks me up every single time.
Ok, I'll stop now, sorry for the length again :D
Bethany
# Bethany 2009-07-13 09:08
this episode was just awesome jared hit it out of the park. it was tense and thrilling and takes hold of the viewer, draws them in and doesn't let go. jensen was also brilliant (as always) he manages to keep dean stoic and relentless in his determination not to give up on sam and yet you can see dean crumbling and the fear he can't save his brother wells up inside him.

i also love bobby in this episode and i think you're spot on to say that bobby is a much better dad to them then their dad ever was. just that bit where he doesn't miss a beat as not!sam splutters over his holy water laced beer is just awesome.."don't con a conman" bobby has mad skills!
Bevie
# Bevie 2009-07-13 15:32
Wow Alice! What a perfectly awesome recap!

The acting was more than excellent, and kept me in twisted up tummy land all the way through.

My heart was aching for Dean, terrified of Sam and so grateful for incredible Bobby the conman.

I was truly worried that not/Sam would rape Jo I could hardly breathe through that scene. I don't think that happened off screen though.

I really liked Jo in this episode, even though she was a little slow in figuring out it was not/Sam, for a potential hunter. She'll have to improve in that area if she wants to survive in her chosen career. I liked her finding and patching up Dean and her resigned "No you won't". (I'd like to see Ellen and Jo again, also hoping Ash somehow didn't die in the fire. They do kill off so many interesting characters).

As I mentioned in another post, I would have liked to see a scene where Sam was really concerned about his brother's well-being and perhaps doing some first aid on the botched up job Jo did on his poor mistreated shoulder.

Love the way Bobby is with the boys, and how he shows his very real concern for their well being. I certainly hope that Bobby survives in this series. I don't think I could take it if they do him in. Let Bobby live I say!

I am babbling on here, so I better go. Agree with the posts above about this outstanding episode. Will always be at or near the top of my most gut-wrenching episodes. :sad:
elle2
# elle2 2009-07-13 17:54
Alice,

Awesome recap. THis is one of my favorite episodes all around. Both Jensen and Jared as well as Jim Beaver nailed it. I love the directing and the cutting back and forth to show how stressed and rattled Dean was -- it was also done quite well in DalDoM.

Jared was superb here, the whole... "My daddy shot your daddy in the head." As well as the look after he shot Dean and after he pistol whipped him -- fabulous.

All around it's a classic, one to come back to again and again and I never get tired of it.

REO's song is a bit upbeat although the lyrics fit what they're doing but it is a bit 'on the nose' as we know that they're back on the road again.

I do like Dean's little joke at the end because it sorta echoed Bobby's comment and Dean's joke back at his house. You are right though, Sam did not have any after effects that we'rea ware of other than his comment in JIB and that is a shame. Still, I like that they closed the loop of the whole hunters after Sam because like the FBI manhunt after Dean it would have just muddied the waters. They've got bigger fish to fry, such as angels and demons after them in Season 5...way cool.

Great recap. Thanks for delivering.
Suze
# Suze 2009-07-28 04:14
Great recap, I love this episode ...

I'm rather sorry they lost the Hunters hunting Hunters storyline though, I really fancied that! Not sorry we've seen no more of Jo, she was a bit too much of a standard permenatly imperilled yet spunky girl sidekick stereotype.

I'm glad Sam didn't spend ages having a crisis about being possessed ... We don't need any more angsty moments on the Impala! :lol:
CitizenKane2
# CitizenKane2 2010-10-08 10:38
Just a short note on "Born Under a Bad Sign", if this hasn't already been said.

According to the Supernatural Season 2 Companion, at the end, when Dean punches the no-longer possessed Sam, that wasn't scripted.

The Companion also points out the irony of that punch - all along Dean resisted attacking demon-Sam for fear of injuring his brother.