Supernatural – Recap & Review – Appointment in Samarra

photo: cw

Supernatural
Appointment in Samarra

Original Air Date: Dec 10, 2010

Alyssa Silva – TwoCents Reviewer
alyssa@thetwocentscorp.com 

Now everyone, we have to savour this soul-tastic cliffhanger. Yes I said cliffhanger. Why? Because (wax on, wax off) there isn’t going to be any new episodes until 28 January 2011. The year is not a typo.

So what did Sera Gamble and Co leave us with? Well for one thing I had a persistent question answered – whose face would I like to see before I’m reaped? Also old friends wander back in and RoboSam suddenly becomes a lot more…well, scary in a bad way.

Intrigued? I am too! So read on after the jump!

This episode was split between both Sam and Dean so this review will focus on both separately. It’s what I do.

Dean

Let’s face it. These past five seasons we’ve seen Dean die. A lot. We already know he’s going to come back so the writers of course added a twist. Dean seeks out Dr Robert, who touts his 75% success rate, and asks the family doctor to stop his heart so he can have a little chat with Death. Yes the Death. Seems like Dean hasn’t given up on getting Sammy’s soul back, no matter what little bro says. A deal is made – Sam’s soul in exchange for Dean wearing Death’s ring and shouldering that particular burden. Catch is he has to have the ring on for 24 hours uninterrupted – take it off before the deadline and the deal is off.

Tessa (remember her? The reaper from In My Time of Dying and Death Takes a Holiday? Also one of my favourite female characters to muscle in on the boys club) tells Dean that he has to follow the rules. The slack-jawed haircut apparently likes to throw a wrench in the works. Our boy deals with the mugger and triple-cheese induced heart attack with ease. When he’s asked to take a 12 year old girl, however, he resists. It sets in motion a domino effect that eventually makes him TAKE OFF THE RING. He sees firsthand the pain and destruction that happens when he doesn’t kill the little girl, and it doesn’t sit well with him at all. With the deal off he still drags Tessa back to the little girl and finishes the deed.

The moral of the story? Death wanted Dean to realize that there is a natural order of things. The Winchesters have a tendency to deal with their souls and lives like they can just rubberball back. Death doesn’t take too kindly to this. “You and your brother keep coming back. You’re an affront to the balance of the universe and you cause disruption on a global scale.”

Preach brother. Also? LOL.

Maybe it was just me but perhaps this was some kind of analogy to the pain and suffering that have inflicted both Winchesters whenever they’ve meddled with the balance of the universe. Like Dean is raised from Hell but then is slapped in the face with a prophecy where he has to kill Sam and wait, there’s an Apocalypse?

Nonetheless Death agrees to return Sam’s soul to sender. But in order to stop the mutilated part of Sam’s soul from breaking him, he’s going to erect a wall in Sam’s mind to stem the tide so to speak. Very Prof X and Rogue right?

He also tells Dean (the intrepid reporter) that he’s digging in the right direction with regard to souls. Dean is just as confused as I am but Death assures him that when the time is right, it’ll click into place.

Sam

See Sam doesn’t want his soul back just as much as me. So when Dean tells him about Death’s deal, he summons Balthazar for a little angelic advice about how to make his body soul repellant. Balthazar agrees – because he doesn’t like Dean – and lists the key ingredient in the spell: patricide. Also known as Kill Bobby.

What follows scared the living beejesus outta me. Don’t ask me why. Maybe it was the chilling thought that if Sam had a soul he never would have contemplated killing Bobby. But because right now all he can think about is his own survival, offing Bobby seems like a small price to pay for self-preservation. The music and lighting all contribute towards a kind of helplessness and resignation that Bobby feels. It was surprising to see that Bobby had anticipated Sam killing him, rigging that trap door to the panic room and barricading Sam inside.

Dean comes back in time to stop Sam slicing Bobby’s throat and it was heartbreaking to hear that both Dean and Bobby no longer know what to do with Sam. Dean’s right. They can’t keep locking him up because their not sure what Sam will do next. It was like a repeat of the demon blood detox, except this time Sam doesn’t have a soul to fall back on.

Oh wait. He does. Despite Sam begging Dean not to let Death return his soul, we end with Death shoving Sam’s soul back inside his body, Sam screaming in pain. Everything he had done to avoid this very thing has come to naught, and we can only hope that that wall stays put. Otherwise Dean’s just made a terrible mistake for a very selfish, personal reason.

What did you think? Were you surprised they gave Sam his soul back so early? Do you think Dean was justified in forcing Sam to accept his soul against his…will? Did you enjoy seeing Dean play Death? Did you cry when you realized that these burning questions (what will happen now that Sam has his soul? Murder and mayhem, or the return of emo!Sam?) won’t be answered until 28 January NEXT YEAR? Give me your TwoCents!

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