Supernatural – Recap & Review – Unforgiven

photo: cw

Supernatural
Unforgiven

Original Air Date: Feb 11, 2011

Alyssa Silva – TwoCents Reviewer
alyssasilva@thetwocentscorp.com

This week we catch a glimpse of what Sam was up to while Dean was playing Soccer Mum. An old case Sam worked with Gramps comes back to haunt him and offers us a telling juxtaposition between RoboSam and Soul!Sam. Between sex, scratching and spiders the Great Wall of Sam begins to come apart and the results will shock you.

Interested? I know you are. Read on after the jump!

Bristol, Rhode Island is the setting for this week’s paranormal activity. Sam gets sent coordinates from an unknown source to his phone, which sends both Winchesters off to investigate a string of disappearances involving brunette women. It seems coming back to this particular stomping ground proves too much for Death’s wall and Sam begins to have flashes of what happened the last time he was around. What we learn is that basically RoboSam’s libido strikes again and every woman that disappeared knocked boots with the younger Winchester. Dean realizes that its a trap set up for Sam from whatever it is their hunting.

Which (drumroll please) is a giant spider. First dragons and now spiders. I feel like I’m watching an episode of Merlin. In any case Sam’s bait to lure the spider back in the day was to send poor ol’ Sheriff Dobbs in as an unsuspecting lure. Dobbs comes back as a pissed off arachnid and eventually gets his head chopped off by Sam.

The episode ends with Sam collapsing onto the floor because apparently Death can’t put up a mental wall to save his life. Seriously. You would think an all-powerful Horseman that was able to help stop the Apocalypse would at the very least try to help Sam not become a drooling zombie. Nope. That wall fell like a house of cards caving in. The last few seconds is an image of Sam in Hell, burning in the cage. Maybe its the fact that this might be the last season ever, but breaking the wall this fast on the heels of the Mother seems a bit…rushed.

I’m willing to ignore the lame Spiderman puns and hurried pace to focus on the meat of this episode, which involved both Winchesters dealing with the consequences of Castiel’s inadvertent slip the week before.

Sam

Oh RoboSam, you were one cold dude. I mean sure I’ve gone on about this before but this week…well, I wanted to hide my face behind the pillow. Watching him dispatch all those men without a second thought, beating that policeman bloody and unconscious on the side of the road…there was just something very disturbing on an entirely different level from when Sam wanted to kill Bobby. Alright maybe Sam did want to end their suffering, but he didn’t even flinch before he pulled the trigger for each and every one. After that it was all “Where’s the gasoline?” It turned my stomach a bit.

Contrast this with the new and improved ensouled Sam and you really do have to give kudos to Jared Padalecki for pulling off both extremes. Soul!Sam is softer, seeking forgiveness for the things he did when he didn’t have his soul. Also, his eyes always seem to be teary and angst-ridden. Just like the good ol’ days. This Sam also acknowledges the fact that everyone brushes aside, especially Dean – that even without a soul, he was still Sam. He was still aware of what he was doing on some level and he’s determined to set things right, damn the consequences to himself, reminding us that the Winchesters aren’t afraid to sacrifice for the greater good.

Dean

While this episode focused more on Sam, it did show Dean desperately trying to save his brother again. This time it was to get Sam the heck out of Bristol when the wall was being “scratched”. You could tell Dean doesn’t want to lose his brother (again for the…well, again) when he’s only just got him back. The Sam that he’s fought so hard to bring back doesn’t agree with him however (another hark back to the good ol’ days) and insists on staying, which ultimately results in Hell getting poured back inside his brain. You can’t help but think Dean is remembering Castiel’s words, about killing Sam outright rather than giving him back his soul, all through this hour.

What did you think of this episode? Did you enjoy the contrast between RoboSam and Soul!Sam like I did? Did you wish the big bad wasn’t a giant spider that resembled former hunter/vampire Gordon? Do you think having the wall broken is too much, too soon? Give me your TwoCents!

Also, a big shout out to Anne for covering last week!

Next Week: Mannequin 3: The Reckoning