Supernatural: Asylum

Asylum Not Granted by Sylvia Bond
Supernatural Episode Review – Season 1, Episode 10

The current episode, though standard spooky fare in a lot of ways, reveals one of the veins of gold spidering through the rich, iron ore that is Supernatural. And that has to do with the relationship between the brothers and how they see their worlds in different ways. Overall, I wouldn’t say that this episode is particularly funny, or erotic, with near naked nudity abounding. Instead, it uses the standard plot of a haunted madhouse to show us key issues between Sam and Dean that they perhaps did not know about themselves. But let’s start at the beginning.

The episode begins in Roosevelt Asylum, which is tumbledown creepy with rust-covered metal doors and doorways, stained linoleum floors, mad scrawls on the walls, and so on. And it’s dark, of course, as all haunted places should be. Enter a bunch of daredevil kids (read idiots) with nothing better to do than to walk around at night in a dangerous, abandoned old building, simply because it is dangerous, abandoned, and old. Enter, also, Policeman #1 and Policeman #2, the former your Old Hand and the latter the New Guy, whose lack of knowledge about local legends gives the Old Hand an opportunity to tell him about the riots by the inmates that took place a while back and the fact that the body of the doctor in charge has never been found. Apparently, the good doctor was experimenting in rage therapy, and since none of this was mostly likely condoned by the AMA, the patients’ rage got out of hand, and voila, the doctor met his untimely, though not undeserved, demise. But wait! Policeman #2 has a strange look on his face and an elegant nosebleed, whatever could have happened to him in there? We don’t know! But then we see him at home with his wife, who just wants to continue an earlier argument. The sound of gunshot tells us he shot her. Later we learn that he also shoots himself.

This lovely cliffhanger of an intro leads us to the motel room du jour where everything that can be is red. The blankets are red, the curtains are red, something behind the room divider is red, hell, it’s like something out of Sixth Sense the way the red pops out from the screen. The phone rings, and the boys are hooked up with the coordinates, sent courtesy of the ever-absent Dad, to Rockford Illinois, where the asylum is located.

I would normally say that thus follows the usual dither about whether the boys will take the job or not, but in this case, the dither takes on a more interesting tone than usual. Dean is all for the job, whatever it is, simply because Dad wants them to work on it. He doesn’t care whether it is or isn’t their usual gig, he is happy to follow Dad’s orders. Sam has reservations about doing this for any number of reasons, none of which have to do with the job’s appropriateness. He feels that they’ve been working on their own long enough and can make their own decisions. You can see the distance between them at this point, and how different they are. In addition, you can almost physically see the relationship between them, which is so strong and so potent that it often becomes a third character in its own right. All is not well between the brothers as we have so often been led to believe. It’s not hearts and flowers all the time, and this is strongly played in this episode.

For example, in the next scene in a pub, Dean, playing the role of the nasty intrusive journalist just looking for thrills, talks to Policeman #1, who has just lost his partner. Sam, in the role of the good citizen, shoves Dean away and tells him to leave the cop alone. Then he says to the cop, “That guy’s a serious jerk,” and he sounds like he means it. He’s still mad, you see, about the fact that they are still blindly following Dad’s orders. Later, in the parking lot, Dean comments that the shove was rather hard, and Sam replies, that he was just playing the part. Or was he?

[nms:CW Supernatural,3,0]

The boys break into the asylum, crawling over the chin link fence (where Dean delivers a nice, quick bit of tummy porn), and then picking the lock. As they enter the asylum, it looks like a place that smells bad, where people have been doing who knows what on old bits of cardboard and perhaps even peeing in corners when the mood suited them. The boys are not creeped out, as they never are, and Dean plays it up by calling Sam Haley Joel, and asking him, Sam, who he thinks the hotter psychic Patricia Arquette, Jennifer love Hewitt or him, Sam? (I vote for the latter, of course.) Sam gives him a loving smack and off they go, deep into the bowels of the South Wing, where Policeman #1 told them they found those meddling kids the other night.

Now I did say that the boys are never creeped out, and indeed, they aren’t, though I have noticed that Sam seems to be more affected by things being creepy than Dean is. Or maybe it’s just that he lets it show, as in this case, when he takes in all of the nasty, old-fashioned lobotomy-type equipment left in the asylum’s cellar. Dean continues his comedy routine by pretending first to be “my man Jack in Cuckoo’s Nest,” and then “my man Jack in The Shining.” He does love his horror movies, our Dean.

Then Sam, who simply cannot let sleeping dogs sleep, brings up the whole issue of the fact that Dad is not there. Dean responds by saying that their Dad obviously sent them, and wants them there, and that the search for Dad will have to wait. Sam complains that Dad could be in trouble. Dean says, “I understand that, Sam, but he’s given us an order.” Sam snaps back, “So, what, we always gotta follow Dad’s orders?” Dean replies, “Of, course we do.” Whereupon Sam tilts his head, feeling that he’s made an important point. Which he has, even though it almost goes over Dean’s head. This particular conversation, which is keeping with the earlier one in the motel, isn’t really about who is Dad’s favorite son, although there may be strains of that running through it. To me, it seems more about who needs to be Dad’s favorite son. Dean tells Sam that his authority-questioning attitude is the reason why Dean always gets the extra cookie. It’s easy to see that he’s rather on the defensive and jealous of his role as the obedient one. Sam, on the other hand, was probably arguing with his parental unit from the moment he could talk. It’s not that he doesn’t respect Dad, but perhaps more that he feels that Dad doesn’t see all, know all, and isn’t all. This is basis for one of the biggest gaps between the brothers and shows itself in juicy exchanges like this one.

Even though nothing is agreed upon, the boys surface to go visit Dr. Ellicott the Younger, who is the son of the man formerly known as Dr. Ellicott the Elder, the man who ran the asylum and whose bones no one can find. Sam is chosen to pose as a patient so he can get in there and grill Dr. Ellicott the Younger. But here is where it gets interesting, because the doctor, unlike the world at large, can see that Sam is not talking about what he needs to talk about. First the doctor asks, what have you been doing, and Sam answers that he’s been on a road trip with his brother. The doctor then wants to know if it was fun. Sam, looking like he’d rather kiss a pig than answer, says that they met a lot of interesting people and did a lot of interesting things. Then, the doctor asks the question we all want to ask Sam, which is, “So, how do you feel about your brother?” Sam’s face freezes into a rictus that seems to tell us he’s about to puke. But we are not shown the scene that every fan wants to see, and that is Sam’s answer. I think, personally, considering the “who is the better son” flavor of this entire episode, that Sam gave the doctor an earful. Granted, he may not have mentioned the hunting for demons and stuff, but he most certainly mentioned that he thinks his brother Dean is a suck up where Dad is concerned. That Dean has no mind of his own where Dad is concerned. And that Dean drives Sam crazy by being so loyal and blind where Dad is concerned. Session two with Dr. Ellicott the Younger should see Sam talking a whole lot about Dad, I figure.

Outside, Dean is leaning against a post, waiting for his brother. How often the brothers do this for each other has never been counted, but it seems like an awful lot of their time, in addition to saving people and hunting things, is spent waiting. Outside. In the rain. Or the cold. Where do they get the patience for this is what I want to know. I speculate that their Dad taught them this, along with the use and care of very sharp weapons. Sam tells Dean what he learned about the South Wing, and on they go.

That night, some wiseacre named Gavin decides to treat his hot date, Cathryn (“Cat”) , to a trip to the asylum. How exactly does he think this is going to impress her? I mean, has doing that actually ever worked? Since she is far too sensible to venture beyond the inside of the front door, Gavin goes out on his own, breaking the most cardinal of rules that in a spooky place, parties should never separate from each other. He gets his though, and right quickly too, when he ends up kissing an ugly, disfigured ghost, Creepy #1, who he thinks is his girlfriend. Keep in mind that this is a very flashlight-heavy episode. They are in every scene and more often than not they go out. Plus, the quality of the air in the asylum is such that the beam from the flashlight practically makes whooshing sounds.

Dean and Sam go back to the asylum that night, as well (which makes it kinda like a date, right?) to look for Dr. Ellicott the Elder’s body. Since it is now dark, the flashlights whoosh nicely. The EMF reader gives big time readings and the Sam-Cam shows the place orbing like crazy. Sam’s neck in this scene looks particularly vulnerable as he checks out all the orbs and stuff. They encounter a ghost, are startled, Dean rescues Sam, and then they encounter Cathryn, who, hearing Gavin’s screams (he’s so pathetic, that Gavin), had ventured beyond the front door to rescue him. Sam and Dean introduce themselves, as they tend to do, as if making themselves known on a first name basis will induce those they meet to trust them. As they tend to do. She insists on helping them look for Gavin the Idiot, and, the lucky thing gets to go with Dean, though, actually, she’d be lucky either way. As they walk off, Dean makes a smart-alec remark about how if she hears a place is haunted, that she shouldn’t go in.

Sam, on his own, promptly finds Gavin, who tells them about Creepy #1, which, now that he thinks about it, was not trying to hurt him, but instead trying to tell him something.

Dean, walking with Lucky Girl, has a flashlight with old batteries. It’s either that or even Duracell can’t compete with the negative energy that an earthbound spirit produces. Suddenly, Lucky Girl gets snatched and locked into a room that has a door seal so tight that even Dean, with his powerful and masculine arms, can’t get it open. She’s trapped inside with Creepy #3. (Creepy #2 was somewhat nonsensical and doesn’t have any effect on the plot.) Of course, she’s scared, but Sam, using those sonorous tones of his, tones which he could, were he more wicked, use for ulterior motives of his own, convinces Cathryn to listen to what Creepy #3 has to say. She’s brave and obedient, and comes out of the room to tell everyone that the ghost whispered 137 in her ear.

Dean orders Sam to escort the cute couple out of the building in such a way as to cause Cathryn to ask him if Dean is his boss. You can almost see the smoke come out of Sam’s ears at this point, not only because there’s nothing he can say to her, but because it might possibly be true. Dean does tend to step into Dad’s shoes and captain her majesty’s crew, as it were, an awful lot in this episode.

Dean goes down to Room 137 and finds the briefcase with the journal of Dr. Ellicott the Elder. He reviews the creepy practices of the good doctor, and shakes his head. I noticed in this scene that Dean is very pale and that, in fact, he’s very pale throughout the whole episode. Is it the lighting? Is it the makeup? Is it on purpose? I’m distracted by this by the time I get to this point in the episode and have been known to fast-backwards to check out other scenes with Dean in them. Yep, he’s pale there too. Sometimes I even check other episodes to test my theory, and can never come up with any conclusions as to why he looks so pale in this episode and not in others, though I usually enjoy the hunt very much.

Upstairs, Sam cannot get the cute couple out of the building because everything is locked. He surmises, though based on what I do not know, that they can’t leave because something doesn’t want them to leave. Then he gets a call on his cell from Dean, who says he’s in the basement and sounds like he needs help. Now, for all the brothers fussin’ and fightin’, when one needs help, the other hesitates not and leaps into action. Sam tries to give the shotgun to Gavin, but he’s worthless from the get go. Cathryn, on the other hand, takes the shotgun, and in a very ballsy way, cocks it. She’s ready. Gavin’s a wimp.

Sam goes downstairs, looking for Dean and shouting for his brother full-throatedly. He enters the room that a lot of people have entered recently (the one that says “caution, do not enter,”) and lo, his flashlight goes out. (He shakes it and looks at the lens because that’s what all the guys in the horror movies do.) Worried now, shotgun in hand, he goes poking around, giving us his very cute nose wince, which means he’s either seen or smelled something bad. Again, I get the feeling that Sam’s more scared than he’d like to let on. He looks very young here to me for some reason, even though, once again, he is being called upon to rescue Elder Brother, who never seems to be aware of how often this happens. Maybe he’s in denial. Anyway, once downstairs, Sam bumps into the good doctor, who grabs his face with glowy fingers and explains that he doesn’t want to hurt Sam, just make him all better. Well, maybe he doesn’t know that hurting Sam is what makes this show fun. The limpage factor goes up several smart notches here, and although I know I shouldn’t enjoy it, I do.

We go back to the cute couple, in time to see Cat shoot at Dean, who suddenly appears upstairs. We soon learn that the phone call was a fake and most possibly a trap, and off Dean goes, flashlight waving and whooshing. He meets up with Sam and explains to Little Brother the whole plot about the rage therapy and the riot. Dean then, through sheer cockiness, leads the way to the secret and heretofore undiscovered room (where the bones to burn might be), even though Sam comments that he’s looked all over and couldn’t find it. He seems almost defensive that Dean shouldn’t waste his time looking. And then, he pulls out a rifle. His nose begins to elegantly bleed. Oh no!

Sam tells Dean that he, Sam, is tired of taking Dean’s orders. Dean, looking askance at the rifle, indicates that he’s not worried because the rifle is full of only rock salt and can’t kill him. Sam, pulling the trigger anyway, indicates that yes, he knows that, just like he knows how badly it will hurt.

Okay. We have to stop here for a moment and discuss. Remember the scene where the good doctor met up with Sam and told him he wanted to get Sam all better? Remember how the doctor put his hands on Sam’s face and induced limpage? The question fans discuss about this moment is whether Sam is possessed by the doctor, or merely experiencing rage therapy. The general consensus seems to be in favor of the latter, and that Sam, after some rage therapy, is expressing his already-in-place anger without reserve, as he was unable to do so before. Keeping that in mind, that he’s not possessed, we can see just how pissed he is at Dean. But what about? Well, he tells us, holding very little back. He brings up the original argument that took place in the motel, and he demands to know why the brothers are there. He calls Dean a soldier who just follows orders, and says that Dean always obeys without question and wants to know if Dean is really that desperate for Dad’s approval. He also says that he would rather use his own mind than be like Dean. He says that Dean is pathetic. And what’s more, they aren’t any closer to finding Dad than they were when they started.

I’m glad Sam doesn’t hold back. Who knows how long it would have taken before all that rage turned into a peptic ulcer, eh? But honestly, when I listen to him, yeah, Dean might be a little desperate wanting to be the favorite son all the time, so I can agree with his point. However, you’d think that if Sam was such an independent guy and all, that he really wouldn’t care that Dean needs what he needs. Seems rather co-dependant to me that Sam is furious that Dean wants this, rather more involved than he should be. And perhaps, rather more desperate than Dean is. Maybe he’s jealous that Dean better at playing the obedient one than Sam is, simply because Sam has such a contrary nature. Both brothers have issues with Dad, obviously, and this whole “who is the better son” deal is riddled with problems anyway, because, well, the parent is never supposed to say. And if you are the one who is not the favorite, or even if you think you are the favorite, then what does that say about the parent who allowed this knowledge to escape? I just gotta say, at this point, that it makes me very glad I’m not a Winchester.

Dean, on the floor, bruised from the rock salt, hands Sam his gun, saying that Sam could probably kill him faster with real bullets. Sam, an old hand at handling pistols, aims the gun at Dean, point blank. Then Dean asks, “You hate me that much?” To me, the whole episode is summed up in this question, and the scene reminds me of the one in Huckleberry Finn where Huck apologizes to Jim for all the crap that he pulled. That moment between Huck and Jim is the pinnacle of that novel, and this moment, Dean’s question, seems the pinnacle of this episode.

Sam pulls the trigger, but the gun does not go off. The look on Dean’s face tells me that Sam has just broken his heart. Sam, in disbelief, tests the trigger. Then again. Then again. But how many times he tests the trigger is not as important as the fact that he did intend to fire a killing shot. However, did Dean take out the bullets because he knew his brother hated him and would shoot or because he sensibly would have taken the bullets out before handing the gun to anyone behaving as erratically as Sam? We’ll never know, but some of his rage goes into the blow he delivers to Sam to knock him out, and I imagine it’ll be a long time before he truly heals from the memory.

With Brother Sam out for the count, Dean takes it upon himself to burn the bones (yeah, pyro Dean!), and then, when it’s all over, Sam wakes up, the lazy sod.

Upstairs, Cathryn tells Gavin they are breaking up. Dean and Sam escort cute couple outside.

As they go to the Impala, Sam, in his way, tries to apologize to Dean for he said. Dean asks him if Sam remembered what happened to him, and Sam says yes. This tells Dean the sad truth, confirming that his brother is so very angry at him for so many things he can’t even articulate them, but instead can only shoot pistols aimed at Dean’s head. Dean indicates that he’s not in the sharing and caring kind of mood and gets into the Impala.

The last scene in this episode takes place where it started, in the red, red motel room where the boys are sleeping. There’s a nice quick shot at this point, if you don’t blink and miss it, of Dean flat on his back asleep, with a muscular arm out of the blanket and bent across his stomach. The phone rings. Possibly because he’s riddled with guilt, Sam (and just how many pillows does that boy needs?) answers it himself instead of making Dean do it like his arms are broken. He is surprised, as we are, to find out that person on the other end of the line is Dad.

Technorati Tags: supernatural, horror, television

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Sylvia Bond is a ten-year technical writing veteran with too many degrees under her belt to count. She lives in Colorado, but does not ski, preferring instead to spend her money and time at the annual Great American Beer Festival, taking road trips across the United States, and reading historical fiction from the comfort of her fluffy green arm chair. She has been involved in fandom since 1993 and been writing fanfic since approximately 1993. What she finds most amazing about fandom (besides the open heartedness of fans and the sheer amount of creativity) is how visible fandom has become. “In my day,” she says, “we had to hide behind P.O. boxes to get fanfic. But nowadays, people wear t-shirts that shout their affiliation and share their shiny toys on the internet.” It’s a wonderful world.

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