Thanks so much for the kind words. Yes, I was very stressed. Four days without power was very unpleasant and I was really stressing out about the possibility of not being able to see my boys tonight.

I am beyond happy. I haven’t read any spoilers but I have heard tonight’s episode is supposed to ROCK our world.

Joan

Power outage, oh no! I hope you and yours are safe and well, and thank goodness it’s come back on for you because tonight is the NIGHT! We have boys and premiere and SUPERNATURAL!!! Yeah, I’m excited!!

As for this review and this ep, yeah, it was one of the VERY good ones. I have had many write me since I posted this to go yeah, THIS one is a key ep, and the agreement was that it should have been given more press when it came out because Padalecki outdid himself.

Take good care of yourself, okay?

Best Regards,

Sylvia

Sorry for the delay in responding. I live in the state of KY and we just got our power restored late yesterday afternoon. We are one of the lucky ones. There are quite a few folks still in the dark.

Anyway, this episode was so unbelievably awesome. The end destroyed me. DESTROYED ME!

Poor Jared! Poor Dean! I never knew one, lone tear could do that much to me.

This is one of my all-time fav episodes. I am so happy you are in agreement with me and that this particular episode is what made you love our SHOW and turned you into a fan. I can understand why it affected you so deeply because it did the EXACT same thing to me.

Well, today is Thursday so I am doing a happy dance.
Our boys are back!

Joan

Yeah, it seems like your average ep, doesn’t it, and then WHAM! I think that was one of the hardest things Sam ever did, taking care of Madison. And yeah, the hotty hot of this ep has not been topped in my book!!

Best Regards,

Sylvia

I’m so glad you liked the review and that you took the time to stop by and SQUEE with me about Padalecki and SAMMY!!! I too have been a Deangirl from the start, Ackles is so pretty it’s really hard to look away. Yet at the same time, there’s something raw and vibrant, and like you say, tan and buff about Padalecki, and if looking at Ackles is like staring into the sun, then Padalecki is the earth, so roll me in the dirt baby, and cover me over!

I like your comparison to Mystery Spot, which is one of my top faves of Season 3 (the other one being A Supernatural Christmas, on account of the flashback, and Fresh Blood, because Sam was so superhuman and deadly), because yeah, it starts off all funny and brotherly and then WHAM, it gets serious and life altering. What Sam had to do internally to decide that yeah, no do overs, it changed him forever, and it was Dean’s mantear of pain that showed me that. I don’t think Sam can take much more like this one, but don’t you know he’s going to have to.

Best Regards,

Sylvia

Padalecki grabs the screen and KEEPS it! He was marvelous all the way through, and it was nice to see him be able to stretch his wings, as it were. I love your descriptions of his scenes, and the details you mention, YES! He does have this fluidity about him, which is good because Sam is a character of contrasts, moving from one aspect of himself directly to another, without stopping. I have a particular fondness for his transition from Good!Sam to Dark!Sam, there’s something sexy there about the ease with which he slips into it. He’s one of the few actors who can make snot look good. As for the sex scene, we need MUCH more like this, MUCH more. I don’t think we’ve seen half of what Padalecki can do, frankly.

Best Regards,

Sylvia

Heart was definately a Sammy ep, and a TERRIFIC one at that. Both boys are damaged so terribly much, their lives are so hard, this is true; I don’t really see that fangirls forget that Sam suffers as much as Dean, truly.

Best Regards,

Sylvia

It was a weeper, wasn’t it? I was amazed at how hard it hit me then, and how hard it hits me now, having seen every other ep and knowing what happened to the boys before and since. Some fans speculate that there’s no way Sam could go without sex for so long, but I’m with you. He seems the type to want to relate to a girl fully before jumping in the sack with her. Poor Sammy! He grew up so fast during this ep.

Best Regards,

Sylvia

It was my absolute pleasure! I know what you mean about Dean-centric episodes being favored, and there’s lots of reasons for that, I guess. I tend to think that this ep might be more ignored than disparaged, or passed by simply because it’s so sad. I once asked a group of fangirls at a convention why there wasn’t more fanfic about the events with Madison. Everyone was very drunk at the time, so I fully expected a bunch of loving feedback, but what I got was silence. After I poked some more, and prodded, I finally got an answer, which was that it was just too durn SAD. Fanfic tends to ramp up the angst but if it’s already there, any more would be overkill. Seems to me there is lots that could be done about Sam’s recovering from grief, how the brothers deal with it and help each other out. Ah, well.

Yeah, I heard that story about Ackles as well, it’s amazing to get these kinds of stories coming out of the production of Show, not just the chemistry between the actors, but also their dedication to their characters. For me, that was the money shot!

Best Regards,

Sylvia

This was definitely the episode where Sam had to step up to the plate, no going back, no do-overs. The fact that they went there, that Jared had to kill this sweet girl that he’d been so close and intimate with… Gah. Heart rending! And along with Born Under a Bad Sign, these episodes really made me sit and take notice of Sam/Jared. I almost feel bad that it took until past mid-season 2, but yeah, I was smitten with Dean from the start. What can I say?

On a completely shallow note – because with SPN there always is one – this is also the episode that opened my eyes to the hotness of Padalecki. His hair was perfect, his skin bronzed, his body BUFF and my god they have to dress him in v-neck shirts more often. The boy’s neck!! And the hollow at the bottom of his throat… Gah! Too lovely.

Excellent review, Sylvia!

I felt the change from puppy in love to watchful hunter. It spread through his body, unmistakably. The awesome changes he can do from emotion to emotion in the same scene is stunning. There’s no big moves or words, just a fluid transition. It’s natural, like the rawness of his desperation when he tries to convince, mostly himself, that there’s another solution, it comes through the screen and slits your heart in two.

And then that scene at the end, when he steps into manhood, steps into the life that he never wanted. That naked crying, harsh and in no way beautiful or romantic, but raw and realistically ugly with red eyes, snot and face crumpled up. Padalecki doesn’t care how he looks, he goes there, he truly cries full out and you can’t but live the emotion with him. It always floors me.

And the sex-scene, as you write, holy! It really reveals hunger, passion and yes, that sex is beautiful. And Padalecki takes it all the way; the lust/pain smirk when Madison nibbles his earlobes, the bites and the close-ups make the scene so intimate and sizzling you junt can’t look away.