Supernatural Think Tank - Anna's Thinky Thoughts on "First Blood"

Well I gotta say, I don't think there's a finer way to celebrate KM than by showing Episode #250 which totally kicked it in the ass.  I think Kim would've been so proud.  In my humble opinion, this episode was definitely worth our hellish wait.  What a great start to the second half of what I feel to be an amazing S12.   That People's Choice was most definitely well deserved. 🏅

Can I just say "finally".  I've been waiting 12 years to hear AC/DC's "If You Want Blood".  Thank you SPN, thank you for finally getting that song, which I find so very appropriate for the Winchesters.  My SPN I tunes playlist is so happy now.😊

I just finished my re-watch and I loved it just as much the second time as I did the first time. What an exciting hour of television.  Winchesters, the epitome of what heroic is all about. Everyone involved did a super job, but as I dip my feet in the shallow end of the pool, I want to say that the boys looked incredibly hot and were totally badass sexy.  I ogled my tv the entire time. 😍



The Best Lines:  Each guest had awesome one liners and I wish I could remember them all.  I did remember a few though and I just wanted to note them for this week's article, well because they were worth noticing  to be honest.

Crowley:  The Winchesters are like herpes.  Just when you think they're gone, they keep coming back. 😄  Though Crowley has basically gone back to his old, looking out for number one self, I did find it a testament to his character that he had absolute faith in the Winchesters.  He actually pitied the fools who had them. (a shout out to Mr. T himself.)

Mary:  Seatbelt on.  I drive fast. (like mother, like son).
Mary:  Suddenly the demon and his mommy don't look so bad.😈👰

Dean:  Looks like we have a failure to communicate. (Cool Hand Luke). We're not trapped out here with you, you're trapped out here with us. (Seriously Bad Ass)

Sam:  My favourite and oh so true quote of the night..."We're the guys who saved the world".   Damn straight...😎.

I was glued to my television from start to finish.  I was intrigued and engrossed and basking in every delectable Sam and Dean moment.  I loved the feel of the episode.  It was like watching a movie.  The boys did an incredible job.  I could feel the anguish in their solitude.  They never broke, but you can see that this time in total isolation was beginning to take it's toll.  Dean scratching off the days on the wall, the generic food, the grey walls and the steel toilet all creating such a dreary desolate atmosphere.  My heart ached for them with each passing hour.  They never showed them that the solitude was wearing them down.  They were stoic and brave and resolute, but in actuality, as Dean confessed to Mary at the end, this was much worse than any kind of hell he and Sam had endured. I totally understood and felt for them both.  It made total sense to me that Dean would wait no longer for a rescue that might not ever happen.  The Govt made it pretty clear that once they got what they needed, the boys were dead.  Talking, not talking, it made no difference.  The Winchesters wouldn't see the natural light of day again and they weren't haven't any of that.  The only one who decides how a Winchester will go, is a Winchester.  Calling Billie made total sense to me, but it seems that for a lot of people, it made no sense at all. 🤔


 The Great Debate

As I was reading through some posts after show had ended, there seemed to be some debate regarding the boys' decision to summon Billie.  There are those that feel, as I do, that it was a logical and typical Winchester move, while there are others who do not find it credible that the boys would surrender to a deal so soon, that they've suffered worse.  I  beg to differ.....

  I think it was significant that it was Dean seen as the one scratching the time passing on the wall. Many people have stated that it was OOC for Dean and Sam to make a deal to escape.  They have been tortured much worse in hell.  Dean said it during the last scene, he knew that the only way this would end for them is death. He also said that being alone, in solitude like that was, in fact, worse than hell was.  If we really take a good look at Dean Winchester, making a deal with Billie is definitely not out of character at all.   What has driven Dean since the pilot? Why did he drag Sam out of school when Dad disappeared? Why does he constantly keep bringing Sam back to life? Why is he always the one willing to go first? Dean's main issue, since Day 1 has been his fear of being alone. This is his own personal hell, worse than any physical torture that can be inflicted on him. It may seem simple. No physical torture was used. No knives. No water boarding. No pulling out the fingernails.  Being alone...knowing that he would never see anyone he loved again. Knowing he wouldn't see his brother again...each day passing and this belief coming to fruition because...six weeks and counting and no higher being or mother or anyone else for that matter coming to their rescue. Dean has always followed the "we're on our own" belief...even most recently in dealing with Amara. Unlike Hell, where the relief of his pain eventually came, when Dean said yes and tortured souls....in this locked room, other than killing himself then and there, which is not a Winchester thing to do, he most likely felt useless, which is something else that Dean cannot abide. So escape on his own terms, even if it involves a deal with Billie, is better than being treated like an unloved dog in a pound just waiting out it's days🐕.....as we know Dean couldn't even abide by that from Dog Dean afternoon. Besides, when have we seen Dean Winchester wait anything out? Dean couldn't wait in Skin when Sam asked him to...remember what he said, "Sorry Sam , you know me, I can't wait". The episode Long Distance Caller, again Sam begged Dean to wait til he got back, but nope...no waiting for Dean. Dean has never been shown to be able to just sit by and wait and he definitely isn't one to let someone else decide his fate/future as well. Remember Jus In Bello, when Henrickson gave that speech to Dean about never seeing Sam again? That look on Dean's face...I think Dabb remembered Dean quite well and used his history as  logical reasoning to summon Billie.
As for Sam, he might have tried to preoccupy himself with exercise to forget the fact that one, he won't see his brother again;  two he won't see his mom, whom he just got back and three, he won't see Cas either.  How much exercise can Sam possibly do, given that he's not so fond of the food, before he doesn't have the physical strength to keep himself distracted and occupied.  How long before he's left with nothing to think about but the memories of the cage.   Yes he survived Hell and solitude might seem like a cake walk.....or solitude might in reality be the worst thing for Sam....locked in a cage reliving the very moments he fought so hard to survive. How much does this man have to endure...when will it be enough?

So Sam agreeing to a deal makes perfect sense to me as well. Sam would much rather die on his own terms than have that choice be taken from him....after all, destiny and fate have been crammed up his beautiful Winchester ass his entire life.....not this time.....he's survived too much to take shit💩 from anyone at this point....he'll make his own destiny and choose his own fate..

Even if you take away the whole isolation thing, just consider how tall they are and how small the room is...I could only imagine at some point they would feel like they're suffocating. While it's true that both Sam and Dean were tortured in Hell....they were preoccupied. They weren't left to sit idly by with nothing to do....their minds were preoccupied, albeit not in a good way...but time passed. To sit in a room and do absolutely nothing.  Let's really think about that. They have no phone or computer. There are no books, magazines, a TV or a radio.  There isn't even a picture on the wall. They have no pen or paper, no crayons or even an awesome SPN colouring book. There is nothing, absolutely nothing and not just for hours, not just for days, not just for weeks, but going on two months now of absolute nothingness. I cannot even imagine such a horror. Hell, I don't even like being in my house all day...I need to get out, move around, feel like I'm accomplishing something...even if it's just walking around the block. The Winchesters weren't built with idle hands or minds....to wait it out....is essentially in Winchester world...giving up.....and the Winchesters don't give up.🐯

So I'm of the mind that.....yeah, the deal with Billie makes total sense to me and it didn't bother me at all.  From the way Sam had noted that there was only six hours til midnight and that they needed to talk, just makes me all that more sure that Sam never intended for Dean to go just as much as I have no doubt that Dean never intended to let Billie take Sam. My guess, Sam and Dean would've both been willing to go. I know, Sam told Mary that one of them would still fight and one of them would....Mary.  I'd bet my entire paycheck that the boys would've gone with Billie and left Mary to keep fighting.  I think it's one of the reasons that escape was so important to them.  I think the boys wanted to say goodbye to their mom and hand over the reigns.  Mary stepping in prevented us from ever seeing how it would've went down, but I can imagine it perfectly.

I was sorry to see Billie go, but I did enjoy Cas finally being Cas.  Looks like badass Cas has finally made his reappearance. 😇🗡Cas has been kind of floundering over the years.  I always feel like he's trying to find his place, his purpose.  I think maybe he finally found it.  Cas began his journey with the Winchesters by saving Dean from Hell. Dean had been his charge.  All these years later, with all that he's been through with the Winchesters, I finally think he found his true purpose for still being on Earth.  The Winchesters.  Cas is the guardian of the Winchesters....The brothers that Chuck/God Himself left the world to. My hope is that with this new found purpose, Cas will be get over feeling worthless and really start embracing the bad ass angel he started out as.

The BMOL.  Can I just say that I don't trust those smarmy Brits at all. My personal opinion.....The BMOL arranged the incarceration of the Winchesters so that they can recruit American hunters and basically rule over them. They play the friend and you can trust us card by assisting Cas and Mary in locating the secret base, which they just happened to know about. I'm still of the belief that Mick knew that the longer the boys were gone, the more desperate Mary and Cas would be to find them, so much so that they would go crawling to them....which they did. 😨  Let's no forget that Mick openly admitted that helping them would in fact make them look good. So not letting his openness distract me from how smarmy he actually is. Oh and the icing on the cake, the BMOL kills everyone.  So tell me, why would the BMOL care if the US Govt went after the Winchesters?  They would surely get rid of a problem the BMOL somewhat consider the boys.  What I think.....the BMOL killed everyone who would recognise them.  What if the Govt did come in contact with the boys again, go after them, what if they caught them and started asking questions about why the British want them locked up so badly?......I know it's all speculation....but I don't trust these guys.  I think they're up to no good and I think Mary might be thinking the same thing.

Mary willing to listen to the BMOL?  I know that she saw the pic of her and Dean and that must have gutted her, knowing that her boys are out there somewhere and she can't find them. Maybe she saw in that pic a life of normal and safe that her kids will never have because of her. Maybe she's willing to hear out the ones who can make the monsters go away.....nah......I think Mary doesn't trust the BMOL and it's more of a keep your friends close and your frenemies closer.

All in all, I think we're in for a very exciting and interesting second half.  Looking forward to every minute of it. 😁

Would love to hear what you all think.....Til next week.
-Anna

Read sweetondean's review here