Tube Talk with Amy and Elizabeth

It's time for our weekly discussion of Supernatural - Amy and I are currently watching Season 2. Amy will be posting our thoughts about episode 17, Heart, and episode 18, Hollywood Babylon.


Episode 19 - Folsom Prison Blues

Recap - After hearing about a ghost that has been killing off inmates one by one, Sam and Dean decide the best way to investigate this spirit is from the inside and allow themselves to get thrown into the state penitentiary. However, after FBI agent Henricksen shows up to take over their case, getting out of prison becomes a bigger challenge than finding the spirit.

Our discussion - Amy's thoughts will be in red:

I bet there are some seriously scary ghosts in prison.

Yes most definitely. I thought the ghost in this one looked like an alien

Why would they get themselves arrested on purpose when they are wanted by the FBI? Just for a case?? I hate this plan.

The reasoning seemed incredibly weak to me as well. But it didn't really matter, because the episode was in many ways amusing.

I would really like to know how the relationships work between hunters. John kept so many of them hidden from the brothers, but some of them are nearly family to them, enough that Dean & Sam are willing to go to jail to help one. What do you think the deal is with that?

I think it's like being in the military or something, in a way they are doing something altruistic and risking their lives. I think that probably forms an incredibly tight bond.

What do you suppose Deacon did that the boys owed him so much? Do you think it involved their dad?

I think they said he saved their dad once didn't they? I don't think Sam really thought they should be there.

I'm pretty sure Agent Erickson is way scarier than any spirit the brothers have been up against.

I hate him.

Why do you think the ghost cared that Deacon had let the brothers go?

She probably recognized them as hunters. Or maybe she just hates prisoners.

Something I thought was interesting about this episode was when Sam asked Dean if it bothered him how well he fit in at the prison. In a way, Dean is like many of the prisoners...a person on the fringes of society. He is probably more comfortable in that environment than elsewhere, echoing Hollywood Babylon where Dean enjoyed being a part of a team.

That's an interesting insight - I think Dean does feel more comfortable with people outside the mainstream. Probably because he has spent so little time with "normal" people, he doesn't know how to relate to them.



Episode 20 - What Is, and What Should Never Be

Recap - While hunting a djinn - a genie - Dean is attacked and transported to a world where his mother is alive, Sam is in law school and engaged to Jessica, and Dean lives a very normal life with his girlfriend. However, after he starts seeing a strange girl and learns all the people he has saved in the past have died, Dean must decide whether he wants to stay in this new safe life where everyone he loves is alive, or if he should return to the hunt.

Our discussion -


I'm finding myself having trouble forming coherent thoughts, because this whole episode was so emotionally charged for me. I've watched all the way to the end of the season and this episode, for me, was the most affecting. These are just my thoughts about the episode, written as I was watching it.


I agree. It was the best of the season.

Dean's wish has always been to have a normal life, and the djinn gave it to him. This is heartbreaking. Watching Dean realize how his "perfect" life is not so perfect after all, and that he isn't the man he wants to be.

Very sad, but necessary. Sort of a lesson in why pain matters.

Realizing that all the people he'd saved in his other life are dead now. "But why is it my job to save these people? Why do I have to be some kind of hero? Why do we have to sacrifice everything?" This has a very "It's a Wonderful Life"-esque feel to it, because Dean realizes that he DOES have a purpose, even if he doesn't want it.

Yes, a very heartbreaking scene. You're right....kind of like It's a Wonderful Life.

The symbolism of him talking to his dad's grave & not getting a response - this was tragically similar to his real life, where his Dad was never able to say the things that Dean really needed to hear.

I was curious as to why their Dad was dead in the first place. I guess he didn't wish his dad would be alive and the whole family would be together?

I think his Dad died from a heart attack. I think the djinn gave him his ultimate wish - to have a normal life - but didn't really spend too much time on the details.


And despite their difficult relationship, Sam still gets into the car with Dean - because even in this alternate reality, they are still a team.

I loved that. The loyalty transcends.

How do you decide between real life and the most beautiful dream - the dream you've always wanted?

I think the dream wasn't everything that Dean ever wanted, though very close. Also, it wasn't real. And once you know it's not real, how can you ever live in that?

I'm not sure Dean thinks its worth it anymore - he made the right decision, but everything in him wanted to make the other one. How does he go on now that he knows he could have had another life?

Well, he still knows he needs to help Sam. That will give him an immediate purpose. I thought that was part of why he went back, as well, Sam still living in the other world. I have to admit when Dean saw a happy Sam is when I started crying. He constantly has so much weighing on him. I pretty much started crying in this episode and didn't stop until the end of the season.




Next week will be the last discussion about season 2 - what sort of cliffhanger do you think they'll come up with this time?