9.13 The Purge The episode begins (after the obligatory opener of murder) with Dean, deep in concentration on his computer. He hasn’t slept all night, and he’s not looking good. Though he brushes it away with an offhand comment about staying up to watch films, it’s patently clear that it’s something else that’s been eating away at him: his conversation with Sam in the preceding episode. Sam’s made it clear that he doesn’t’ see their relationship, or “family,” the way Dean does, and Dean’s taken it hard. But, in the true Dean Winchester way, he coldly pretends not to care, insisting to Sam “I don’t break that easy.” But it’s more than painfully obvious to anyone who knows Dean’s character that he’s hurting, and his tried-and-tested method of dealing with it is posturing and pretending. But, despite their falling-out, Sam and Dean are still engaged in the family business, so off on a hunt they go. This time, they’re confronting a monster who seems to be sucking the fat out of people. After doing some preliminary investigating, they discover that all the creepy supernatural murder stuff seems to be originating from Canyon Valley Spa, and off they head, going undercover as a fitness trailer and kitchen assistant. The episode quickly goes for the good old method of awkwardness-induced laughs, as Dean does his patently ridiculous act of faking enthusiasm for something he knows nothing about; since the plot requires the aforementioned spa owners to be absolutely unable to see through Dean’s obvious faking, they get the job. They’re in, and in between pretending to help people lose weight and trying not to starve themselves, they investigate. Eventually, following a trail of creepy-looking suction marks, Sam and Dean discover that the monster is Maritza, the spa owner. She claims to be a Pishtaco, and I admit, I actually Googled the name to see if this was an actual monster, of if Supernatural’s just given up and started making things up (with so many seasons, it wouldn’t be surprising). Pishtacos are actually a Peruvian mythological figure, which makes the episode just that much cleverer; one of the things I love about Supernatural is its ability to adapt ancient myths to modern-day America, and this is one of the examples in which it succeeds. This particular monster’s adapted quite well to modern-day society; she’s married to a human, eating just enough to get by without killing anyone (and there’s a beautiful irony in the monster being the one on a diet even as she helps other people lose weight), and is an all-around good person/monster. At the same time, this episode portrays the possibility of monsters being both good and evil with a lot more subtlety. Unlike the preceding Sharp Teeth, which bashed its viewers over the head with grey area, this one offers a more compelling portrait of coexistence that makes its own argument through its believability. The episode ends with another very important conversation between Sam and Dean; in a way, this one’s merely a continuation of the one they had at the end of last episode, because of course there can only be so many “chick-flick moments” in a single episode before they start to threaten the Winchesters’ masculinity. This conversation is painful – both for the viewer to watch, but also for Dean, who hears some of the most painful truths he’s ever heard. In short: Dean attempts to justify his decisions regarding Sam and saving his life by taking away his choice. Sam is family, his brother, everything Dean has, and saving him is “the right thing to do,” Dean insists. Sam disagrees: it’s not. Sam values his ability to choose above his life (how fitting in the context of Supernatural and its many-season battle for free will), and he says a very important truth. Dean saves other people for himself as much as for other people; he’s found a way to validate his existence only through his ability to care for and save other people. The result, of course, is his dependency on Sam for his own self-worth, his inability to live life for his own sake – and the great burden it places on other people to be the object of Dean’s sometimes-crushing need to express his affection. Watching Dean hear these truths is more than heartbreaking. Sam’s doesn’t mince words, and the bluntness of the truth he speaks Dean will doubtless see as rejection. Sam insisting he wouldn’t save Dean under the same circumstances will sound, to Dean, as if his own brother doesn’t love him back with the same strength – when really, Sam simply values choice above all. It’s obviously not true that when Dean makes sacrifices, other people get hurt more than he does (he did, after all, spend forty years in Hell for Sam’s sake), and that, too, will sound like a painful blow. But there’s a very large kernel of truth to Sam’s words. And, despite the pain and heartbreak, they’re words necessary for character development, and I revel in this fact. I’ve always loved Dean Winchester as a character – I’ve loved his complexity, his heroism, and his darkness, and I hope that one day Dean Winchester will learn to see that in himself as well, rather than validating his existence through others. I long for a healthy relationship for the brothers, in which they are able to love each other and yet respect each other’s choices, because they don’t cling to each other as their only reason for existence. Sam seems to have moved towards accomplishing this, finding ways to live without Dean’s existence completely defining who he is, and now it’s Dean’s turn. That makes this ultimately painful scene exactly what Supernatural needs, because it suggests that its many seasons of cycling through the same unhealthy interdependence that repeatedly sends the world to hell might actually transform into something newer and fresher. However, while all that stuff is happening, I’ve just got one question: where the Hell did Castiel go? Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
