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Thursday, 17 May 2012

Supernatural - 6.5: "Live Free or Twihard"



The one with the vampires and the Twilight references. The one where Sam lets Dean be bitten by a vampire as he stands by and smirks...no really! Then lies about not knowing there's a cure.

Bauhaus's 'Bela Lugosi is dead' plays in a bar, when a girl meets a boy, who is so obviously a vampire.   Her names is Kristen (Elise Gatien) and she posted her poems on the Net.   He says he knows who she is and she sucks her blood from her finger after a paper cut.   Yuk.   Kristen doesn't know him and she shouldn't either, but she's 17 and can make her own decisions.   Robert (Charlie Carrick) shows her his fangs and she fears she's just dreaming and will wake up in Math class.   In an alley Robert reveals his fangs again and the other big ugly mug of a vampire, going by the name of Boris (Joseph D Reitman) bites her.

Dean (Jensen Ackles) calls Lisa (Cindy Sampson).   Six girls in seven days have all disappeared.   Dean calls them cute, at least one of them.   Dean: "Ice cream comes in all sorts of flavours." Pick Kirsten to check her out.   Her room is full of all kinds of vampire posters and paraphernalia.   Dean: "These aren't vampires man, they're douchebags."  Sam (Jared Padalecki) finds her laptop.   Dean picks up the book, 'My summer of Blood' and comments on the cheesy vampire watching the woman sleep on the cover of the book.   He wonders; "How's that book not wrong."  Then reads an extract.   Dean suggests Sam should try 'Lautner' as a password.   Sam replies he's a werewolf.   How did Dean know that? Oh never mind. He's probably been watching a certain movie.   Dean adds that kid is everywhere. "It's a freakin' nightmare." Sam thinks of Pattin-son.   Sam discovers vampires are phishing for Vics.   They're easy prey, all that they need to do is to write bad poetry.

There's a raid on a blood van.   Samuel (Mitch Pileggi) thinks it's a pattern. He wants to be sure it's a vampire so they need to find the nest and work it out.   Dean: "You think she wears all that rubber to the beach?" commenting about a girl in the bar.   Dean asks about the last time they had a beer together.   There's three possible vampires and only two of them.   Dean suggests Sam takes Efron and he'll take Bieber.   That was so the wrong choice on Dean's part.   Sam lops the vampire's head off.   He's come a long way from 1.20 Dead Man's Blood when Dean had to do the culling and also Dad.   Now he's in his element and he doesn't care how he hunts.   It's getting the job done that matters.   Also a complete reversal of season 1.   Dean comes across fake vampire.   He's wearing glitter, which he does to 'get laid.'  Dean: "Does it work?" Boris calls Dean pretty and throws Dean back.   Dean doesn't play for his team.   He overpowers Dean and Sam just watches as he takes a bite into big brother;  not stopping him from biting and feeding on Dean.   Until he decides to stop it - by then it's too late.  Oi Sam!  Could have just punched Sam then.   He was so mesmerized by what he saw and that smirk!

Everything's heightened for Dean now and he didn't think he'd die like this.   Samuel will kill him cos Sam won't do it.   Sam says they can work it out and Dean asks why Sam isn't freaked out since he can hear his heartbeat and it's steady.   Sam insists he is freaking out, yeah in 'new' Sam mode.   Relishing every moment.   Dean is a monster and needs to be taken care of.   Sam asks how he's feeling.   Dean: "Now you want to talk about my feelings."  Dean can see a fang taking shape.   Dean: "vampire's pee" and he makes a break for it through the window.

He watches Lisa sleep just like the pervy vampire on the book sleeve, so much for his comment.   He can hear her heartbeat.  Dean can't bring his life home to her, it's "ugly and violent and I'm gonna die soon." Dean with fangs, something we never thought we'd see. Why's it always Dean who gets  to turn into a monster, or attacked by one, or the monster turns into him, a la shapeshifter?   Dean pushes Ben (Nicholas Elia) aside.   Dean returns to the motel and Sam and Samuel pull their knives on him.  He didn't feed but he came close.   Samuel can turn him back and save him.   Samuel's grandad's journal: a cure is an old Campbell recipe.   Wonder if he had one in there for werewolves too, harking back to 2.17 Heart and Madison.   If Dean drinks blood there's no going back.   They need the blood of the "fang who turned you."  Dean can get it and calls Sam a "walking hamburger." Actually Dean should have called him worse than that for what he let happen.   Dean knows where their lair is and takes dead man's blood with him.

Samuel tells Sam he knew about the cure but he denies it.   Sam did know it was like he wanted Dean turned to find the Alpha vampire.   Sam: "You really think I'd do something like that to my own brother."   Yes cos we know Sam isn't 'Sam' so he won't feel anything - no emotions and so he did stand by and watch just to find the nest.

Dean's met by Robert who gives him blood but Dean's already fed.   They don't kill people anymore but wants to know what it's like.   Dean hungers for blood now as opposed to food!  Dean asks what a hunter is and thinks he looks 33 (Jensen's age in 2011.)   Boris talks about their father, i.e Alpha vampire.   Drops fall from the syringe Dean is carrying and Boris hears it fall to the floor.   Father tells him to leave Dean, probably, and he falls to the floor as do all the girls and Dean too.  He has flashes: two girls, vampire twins, a cemetery, a house and 'Father.'  Boris releases the girls and Robert gets lopped.   Dean was doing a good job killing those vampires, vampire strength came in handy.   Boris tells him this is bigger than the both of them.   Samuel says Dean has Campbell in him and takes care of Boris too.   Sam is more interested in questioning Dean on what he saw in the nest and he can't hear him cos the sound of the blood in his ears is so loud.

Dean throws up and flashes back to everything.  Recalling Sam standing around and watching with that big grin on his face - like he planned it all and then used Dean as bait.   Sam again asks what Dean saw.   There's a psychic connection, the Alpha sends them messages, he's building an army.   The vampires aren't afraid of the hunters anymore.   Then Sam asks about Lisa, like he really cares.   Dean can at least can be assured Sam's got his back, "No matter what happens I can always count on you - right Sammy?"  Yeah just like he let Dean get turned.

For all its criticisms, I thought this episode of Supernatural was fantastic.   It shows it can still do 'monster' stories mixed with emotional highs and lows.   Just when you think you've got Sam pegged he goes and lets Dean fall prey to a vampire.   Shame on Sam (even if he is different.)  Also making light and poking fun at the Twilight saga, which admittedly isn't my cup of tea, but it has its fans.   With the two in the beginning being named for Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson.  Hey that was Stargirl from Smallville.  I enjoyed all that humour and comments about vampires in films and in books being 'douchebags' especially when referring to the number of vampire shows on the market.   (Though I do have a penchant for the Vampire Diaries and Ian Somerhalder! )

At least Dean's suspicions about Sam have been confirmed now as he recalled Sam at the end with that evil grin.   When Sam lies to Samuel about not knowing there's a cure for Dean!  How long has he been with Samuel now, a year and he feigns not knowing?   Samuel doesn't tell Dean that Sam knew of the cure either, whichh means this is one thing Dean doesn't know about Sam, so look a secret again in the show.   Used to love when they both had their secrets from each other and kept things to themselves.   Though if Dean put two and two together it wouldn't be so hard for him to figure out.

As for Dean being able to rely on Sam, he hasn't been able to do that for a long time, oh don't get me started.  Sam is vicious and cruel and tries so hard to cover it and his true intentions, no Sam can't cos he can no longer use that puppy dog act that people used to fall for in past seasons.   He saw Dean in trouble and watched him get turned as a chance to garner info on the Alpha - whereas he would have used some other poor bait - he finds the ample opportunity falls into his lap when Dean is in grave danger.   As for the vampire cure, well it was on the Campbell side of the family, so it's doubtful anyone else would have known of it, let alone Dad, who didn't really get on with anyone much, so he wouldn't have found out.   Also the way the Supernatural writers crawled out of a mire by ensuring no cure was known before this episode as it's in the Campbell family journal.   But hey, wouldn't Daniel Elkins have had an inkling about a cure, especially since he was around and knew of the Colt?

Sam was always destined to the 'dark' side and he clearly demonstrated that in this episode and season, and in seasons 4 and  5.   Dean was meant to be on the side of 'good' and this was shown by Castiel (Mischa Collins) being able to pull Dean out with his soul intact.  Kudos to Jensen.  This really was his episode and he played it to the hilt.

The title is an allusion to the Bruce Willis movie, Live Free or Die Hard, number 4 in the Die Hard franchise.

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