Supernatural: I Believe the Children are Our Future

Brotherly Brothers Being Brotherly
by Sylvia Bond
Supernatural Episode Review – Season 5, Episode 6
“I Believe the Children Are Our Future”

As plots go, this one was pretty cool, on account of it involved a whole bunch of urban legends come to life, including the fact that pop rocks and Coke combined will burn the lining of your stomach, that itching powder will cause you to scratch your brains out, and, last but not least, that if you make an ugly face, your face will freeze that way! Isn’t it wonderful? Remember when you were young enough to actually believe that load of bull? (Except for the pop rocks and Coke thing, that one’s totally true.)

I was full of joy at the inclusion of urban legends, which is Show’s mainstay for plot fodder. Though I longed for a mention of the Choking Doberman and the Cactus Full of Spiders, the only thing I didn’t buy was Amber the Babysitter falling asleep to white noise. Even in Alliance, Nebraska, they’ve got cable, and white noise (since there’s no longer anything not ever on) has gone the way of the Indian Chief Test Pattern. But no matter. Amber dies an ugly and unfortunate death and that’s enough of her.

Enter the boys wearing similar dark suits, and similar striped ties, with the white stripes going the same direction. I know it might seem like a small detail, but in the past those stripes have proven a valid indicator of the timbre of the relationship between the brothers. I noticed this particularly in “Sex and Violence” from Season 4, where Dean wore a tie that more matched The Siren’s tie than Sam’s. After that, it was downhill from there. (Purely subjective, but there you go.)

The boys visit a morgue, doing that morgue investigation thing they do, pretending to be FBI agents, and totally fooling the attendant with their casual, practiced, faux-FBI mannerisms. When the attendant mentions that he e-mailed the report about what really happened, and Sam covers by saying they had server issues, Dean totally goes with it, and both boys shrug, first Sam, and then Dean, in just about exactly the same way. That to me speaks very loudly and clearly about the tone of the ep and lays down the way it’s going to go. Their connectedness in this scene fully demonstrates that the boys are back together or at least trying. Boys! Brothers! What could be better?

This connectedness continues as the boys question the family who hired the Dead Babysitter. Only this time, we get the added attraction of Dean connecting with Young Child. Since Dean’s just a Big Kid himself, this trope is familiar, true to Dean’s character, and almost a requirement when there’s a child in the scene. Dean questions the kid and quickly figures out that what the kid needs is a dose of Stern FBI Guy. So Dean gives it to him. It was an interesting flavor of Dean, a threatening flavor that we don’t often see, especially not aimed at a kid. A tantalizingly sexy, adult flavor.

But what about Dean’s throwaway comments about his own babysitter: “Mrs. Chancy, who only cared about two things…Dynasty, and bedtime.” True? Or just some lie Dean’s flinging at the kid to make a connection? He also says, “Most of my babysitters sucked,” which sort of points to him having more than one. A babysitter for the Wee Boys? Seriously? Really? Do you see my problem here? In the past, we’ve only gotten The Dad Left the Boys Alone for Days concept, such as in “Something Wicked” and “A Very Supernatural Christmas“, which made me totally believe in the abandoned orphan feel to the Wee Boys’ past, and did not leave room for a babysitter.

But Show recently gave us the canonical fact that Dean got his G.E.D., so maybe Show is playing around with that trend and giving us more factoids, like this babysitter deal. However, since The Dad’s practice of moving his kids from pillar to post (“backwoods cabins and skanky motels”), and sheltering Wee Sam and Wee Dean from all but the most trusted of hunters (Bobby, Pastor Jim, Caleb) purports The Dad’s desire for less contact with the outside world rather than more, why on EARTH would The Dad leave his precious offspring in the hands of a veritable stranger? Like EVER? If there was a Mrs. Chancy (which I doubt) that woman must have been scrutinized and vetted, had her background checked, and her trash sifted through with the intensity of a Black Ops mission before The Dad let her anywhere near his boys. My jury is still out on this one.

The fact that itching powder is made of maple seeds is clearly known to Sam does not surprise me. The fact that his ginormous brain knows so many things is well known in canon and fandom. What is marvelous about the walk and talk scene between the brothers is, besides the brotherly DITHERING (which we’ve not seen in ever so long), is Sam’s Samhair in action. As with last week, there’s only a shy bit of forelock trying to make its way across Sam’s forehead. I’m fully comfortable in stating that Show is using Sam’s hair as a psychological marker on purpose because this week, it’s starting to swoop from its stern center part, and also, in delicious addition, there’s dips and curls peaking out from behind his ears, representing Sam’s struggle to escape from his past. Or maybe it’s just damn cute hair!!

The discovery of another urban legend (the hand buzzer that kills) sends the boys into the Testing of the Pig scene. They are delightfully boyish and earnest and, best of all, dressed in their flannel shirts and jeans. The scene reads like something from the TV show “Mythbusters,” and while I appreciate the humor of the large rubber gloves, and the eye protection and Dean’s utter joy at roasting a large joint of ham with only a hand buzzer (not to mention Sam’s utter amazement at big brother’s antics), I like my myths. I like to believe and pretend and enjoy the creepy feel of it all, and I do not like having my myths busted! So I don’t watch that show. But I liked this scene because the boys are talking like they always do, throwing ideas back and forth like one brain in two bodies. Like it should be, like it always should be. (Better yet, we get Eating Dean, a role I’m sure Ackles does not, um, relish at this point, but believe me, the continuity of character is totally worth it!)

The Conjurarium is the next stop, where the boys discover that the owner of the shop is not a powerful witch creating cursed objects out of joke toys. But the best part, really, is Dean’s pleasure at being in such a place. Of late there has been very little of anything fun in Dean’s (or Sam’s life), and the inner child in Dean rears up its adorable head and takes a look around. And what does he espy? Why a whoopee cushion, of course! The joy on his face is priceless, as is Sam’s obligatory eyeroll of disdain. Both are part and parcel of the boys’ method of communication, wide grins, shoulder shrugs, eyerolls. Why, pretty soon we’ll be seeing biffs to the back of the head and, if all goes well, the ever-loving wall slam!

Then follows a quick discussion at the hospital between the brothers, as they roll out a succession of urban legends, a veritable cornucopia: the tooth fairy, more about pop rocks, and weird faces that “froze that way.” Most adorable is Dean’s demonstration of said frozen face, and the young and open expression in his eyes as he explains the whole problem to Sam. Sam, meanwhile, is completely absorbed in Dean’s story, pointing even more towards brotherly togetherness. It can’t just be me enjoying the happy sight of the brothers getting along, now, can it?

Dean’s delightfully boyish non sequitur description about the Sea Monkeys (which are totally real, by the way) leads him to somehow believe that the urban legends are coming true because some kid believes them. Instead of thinking it’s a tulpa, like any sane hunter would (see “Hell House“), Sam immediately jumps to thinking it’s the Trickster, who is a demi-god that can shape reality as he sees fit (see “Tall Tales” and “Mystery Spot)”. While I like the idea of the boys Dithering in the hallway, I almost got whiplash trying to follow this particular train of thought. (Not to mention the heart attack I almost got thinking that this would turn out to be a Trickster episode! I love the Trickster, mostly because he gets the boys all twitterpated, and doesn’t take crap from anyone.)

There’s a cute throwaway scene where the boys map out the location of the house in the middle of all the trouble that’s been going on around town. When Dean asks where their run-down motel is in relation to the blast zone, and upon hearing Sam’s affirmation that it is indeed inside the lines, Dean shows Sam his hairy palm. Oh my word, the look on Sam’s face is priceless, as is Dean’s rather not-very-contrite grin; he was bored and the nurse was hot, so what’s a healthy red-blooded American male to do? Why, fap, of course. Sam points out that he could, in the current circumstances, also go BLIND, and enjoins Dean NOT to use his razor, which earns him another grin, and the whole scene was not completely necessary but totally fun, and a totally great way to show the brothers being brothers once more.

At which point, we begin the serious part of the episode, as the brothers, in suits once more, check out the house in the middle of the blast zone. They meet up with Jessie, who is making what I’d like to imagine is Chicken ‘n Stars soup, which is what all latchkey kids know how to make. That and Top Ramen. Sam and Dean start poking around, and oddly, it’s Sam who connects with this bright boy who knows all about urban legends and believes them, every single one.

More digging sends the brothers to visit Jessie’s biological mom, Julia, which turns into one of the more interesting demon encounters that Show has ever given us. The meet and greet with this secondary character is atypical in that the woman already knows all about demons long before Sam and Dean show up, and she throws salt at them to rebuke them and cast them out. Which leads to her telling the horrific story about being possessed and impregnated (with Sam and Dean listening and watching with astonished, open-mouthed expressions), and I’m still waiting for the Christian right and the Catholic church to rise up and storm the joint for Show assuming that Immaculate Conception could happen to anyone but the Blessed Virgin.

Still the fact that Julia cast out the demon (after giving birth to its child) by throwing salt in her own mouth – all without aid, and then lived to tell the tale, well, that speaks to a very strong character indeed. Moreover, she’s not dressed in damsel white, nor wicked black lingerie, no. She’s dressed in grey and faded blue and though her face is seared by years, underneath is the beauty of the woman who once was. I liked this character (and actress) a lot, though, sadly, the more I like of secondary characters, the less I ‘m apt to see of them, The Trickster and Chuck the Prophet notwithstanding. (P.S., the fly hopping about in the corner of the scene was a nice touch. But I’m wondering, what are the SAG rates for a role like that? And how do you hire a fly?)

Back at the skanky motel room, the Soap Angel shows up and promptly sits on Dean’s whoopee cushion, to demonstrate clearly and at some length how angels fart. Ha, ha, oh, my. Yeah, it’s a good joke, actually, giving some in-house levity to the very, ultra, uber serious discussion about killing Jessie. Since he’s half human and half demon, he’s got the benefit of both species, and supposedly, none of the weaknesses. Since Lucifer is free, he will soon find the child and twist the boy to his purpose.

It’s a huge plot point, and naturally Sam feels responsible for the Lucifer part. Cooler than that is Sam’s desire to tell the kid the truth, to give him the information he needs to make the right decision, even though he himself made the wrong decision. I can’t help but think Sam is speaking from his own experience, and the long-dead dream of feeling that if he’d known more, he’d have gone down a different path. I quite liked the vision of Sam standing up, all flash and fire and determination as he has that little staring contest with the Soap Angel. He’s got the courage of his convictions here, or at least he’s trying, and THIS is the Sam I miss. Not to mention the Padalecki we’ve been sadly seeing so little of.

Back at the big empty house where Jessie lives with no sign of his parents, the Soap Angel shows up with a knife in his hand. Yes, he intends to do the hard thing and kill the kid, but the kid turns him into a little statue that is sure to be the hit in the commercialization department of Show. (I like the actor who plays the kid, by the way; there’s just enough innocence and kid savvy mixed together in a realistic way to make him totally believable.) Entereth Sam and Dean to save the kid. Except Dean starts off by telling Jessie what he thinks Jessie wants to hear: A story about how Jessie is really a superhero who needs to be whisked off for training in a secret base in South Dakota, just like in the X-Men. Thus demonstrating how Dean is only able to relate to kids as kids, because, as I’ve mentioned, he himself is a big kid.

Along comes Julia, who alas, has been re-possessed, and the whumpage and thumpage part starts. But she can only whump Dean, because, oddly, her orders are not to hurt Sam because that’s been forbidden. By Lucifer, of course, because he doesn’t want that beautiful package damaged. (Well, you can’t blame Lucifer there!) There’s a longish discussion about what kind of truths a young child should be subjected to, which leads, luckily, to the kid deciding that he wants to hear what Sam has to say. Again, it’s Sam who relates to the child, and Sam who finally has a chance to speak his mind, and I got the very strong feeling that Sam was talking about himself as well: “You’ve got choices, Jessie, but if you make the wrong ones, it’ll haunt you for the rest of your life.” Poor Sam. Even if everyone else in the world forgives him, he’s going to be forever forgiving himself.

The boys convince Jessie to go with them, but naturally, the kid gives the boys the slip. Actually, Show packed the kid off to Australia, where he’ll stay until the plotline needs him. Maybe we’ll get to see a version of the Magic Growing Child, which is a staple of daytime soaps, when the need a particular newborn to suddenly and inexplicably be able to converse in meaningful ways with the adults around him.

There’s a final drive and dither along the damp streets as the boys discuss the case that they must totally feel they failed at. I mean, after all, yet another brick in the wall has been mounted on Lucifer’s side (I keep mistyping his name as Lucky, maybe I should just go with it), and they aren’t any closer to finding The Colt. At one point, we see the police sirens and flashing lights that aren’t for the boys; I don’t think we’ve ever seen this type of added nuance in any of the dithers and drives so it was a nice touch.

Then up comes the Car Dither as to why parents lie to their kids, and if how lying to them makes them feel safe, then maybe it’s a good thing. Dean even goes so far as to say it: “The more I think about it, the more I wish The Dad had lied to us.” Sam, after a nice dramatic pause, says, “Yeah, me too.” But this doesn’t make sense because only a scene or so ago, Sam was just saying all that stuff about having the right information, having the truth, helps a person make the right decision. So which is it? Either Sam wanted the truth from The Dad or he doesn’t believe a word he was saying for the entire ep, but both can’t be true.

What I loved in this ep, most of all, was Dean bouncing out of his skin, bright eyed with boyish joy, and Sam, with those scathing looks at older brother’s shenanigans, with each brother doing his part to take their old family role. If you’ve ever gone home for the holidays you’ll know exactly what I mean. You might be a highly-paid receptionist or an admin with supreme power over who gets to use the color copier. You might even be the Minister for Overseas Development, but within two seconds you will be shown your seat at the kid’s table, and you yourself will start squabbling with your table mates, ‘cause that’s your role and you’re bloody well going to do your best with it. Which is what Sam and Dean seem to be doing here, acting “as if” and hoping the rest of it will fall into place on its own. (Which isn’t a bad plan, actually.)

When I first watched this ep, I didn’t really like it. There were no big reveals (okay, the demon child was a big reveal, but not as it relates to the story I’m interested in), no really angsty or emo moments, not enough nekked nudity, and not enough of Sam’s Samhair in his face. You know, the stuff fangirls like. (And some wall-slamming wouldn’t have hurt either!) But sometimes shows we love are exactly what we want and need, and sometimes shows we love are what we make of them. In fannish terms, that means finding the Sam and Dean you are looking for exactly where they are, doing what they do, and taking what you need from that. Sam and Dean are together in this ep, behaving like the brothers of yore, but was this ep all it could be? Even though, sure, this ep can’t even come close to such gems as “Everybody Loves a Clown“, it’s still a quiet ep that has something to give, if you can take the time to dig deep enough.

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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