Supernatural - 7.03 - The Girl Next Door - Recap

Warning - When I recap I try not to be swayed by others' opinions. I never read other recaps before I publish mine and I typically avoid Supernatural-specific websites (except SPN Asylum) and reading SpoilerTV comments . However since I don't avoid all social media, some impressions get through and I know the fandom is divided here. This recap won't help because although I have several issues with this episode, Dean's reaction to Amy is not one of them. And no, I do not think the situation is at all like Lenore's. Sam was right with Lenore; Dean was right with Amy. Amy may be sympathetic, but she's a killer and in the hunting world that means she must die. Also fair warning, this will be a mostly negative recap especially in regards to the writing. In a word, it sucked!

Previously - season 7 rocked! Sam hellucinated Lucifer, Dean proved reality, Death exposited, Cas vomited his inner Leviathan, Leviathans possessed hospital people, Bobby's house blew up, LeviaDad didn't die when crushed (Darn!), Sam seized, Lucifer wouldn't leave, and Dean broke his leg and worried. And so starts episode 3 - The Girl Next Door: The One Where the Brothers Didn't Learn Anything in 6 Years! What? You didn't know this episode was subtitled? It has its own slew of nicknames and introduces a new fairy into the Supernatural world. Stu joins Annie, the fairy of contrivance, and Flo, the continuity fairy. Watch for him because he makes his entrance earlier and doesn't leave until the end. I dislike this episode, but on with the show.

Continuing where Hello Cruel World left off, Dean wakes as a doctor sets his leg. I wince in sympathy; Dean cries out in pain; she says relax. I glare at her for Dean as he explains that Sam and he have to go. Morphine drip says not happening. She tells him Sam is getting an MRI (after LeviaDad tire ironed his head), while Dean passes out. Next thing, he's in a hospital bed feeling no pain. Well, until he sees it's Sioux Falls General and realizes they have to scoot. It's an IV pullout and Dean back before he's flat on the floor. Trying to escape on morphine isn't the easiest plan. Also, he has a thigh high leg cast. Bobby enters to find Dean floored in more than one way. He's alive! But we already knew that. Dean exposits: "Hey look, a monster broke my leg." I laugh. Bobby helps Dean up but skips the reunion by mentioning their role as Leviafood. He hands Dean crutches and clothes and goes to find Sam. Dean and I are momentarily stunned by how quickly this wrapped up. Hey writers, you get an extra episode this year. No need to rush the action. LeviaDoc and LeviaNurse chat about dessert when a phone call informs them the Winchesters are in the house. It's a full course meal. Luckily Dean gets his pants on over a full leg cast while doped up on morphine all by himself. He's either talented or Annie dropped by. Bobby stops a Sam transfer by claiming his insurance lapsed (HA!) and speeds him away to an ambulance. Bobby: "C'mon sicko, let's get you healed up some place a little safer." Um, is Bobby okay because that's gruffer than usual? Meanwhile Dean hobbles around looking for the ambulance bay but avoiding hospital staff attention. Seeing double makes it harder, especially with LeviaDoc and LeviaNurse on the prowl. Bobby gets Sam in an ambulance as the Leviastaff come out. "Come on, Dean. Come on, Dean." Right when he's going to have to start shooting, Dean pops in the side door sans crutches and off they go. In a stolen ambulance. That should be inconspicuous when the Leviathans report it to the police.

3 weeks and 1 state later, the Winchester clan hides in Rufus' Montana cabin. Sam researches; Dean and Bobby are engrossed in a Spanish telenovela . Carlos dies on the screen, Dean speaks Spanish now, and I gasp from laughing. They must not get Dr. Sexy, MD. Bobby picked up the Impala, brightening Dean's day and mine. Sam asks how the world's doing and Bobby responds, "Weird with a side order of bloody." Apparently hunters find Leviathan sleeper cells all over but info is scarce. They shapeshift, eat people, "bleed black goo," and can't die. Goody! But we already knew that so time for a Sam hellucination. I'd tune out too Sam. The CW can only afford Mark Pellegrino's voice so we cut to Dean and Bobby trying to regain Sam's attention. He presses on his still-not-healed palm and says he's fine. The writers hire Stu, fairy of mental regression, to pop in as I eye roll. Bobby says, "Good." What in Hades in wrong with him? He's flippant and apathetic. I hope it's post-traumatic house demolishing not Bobby possession. Regardless, he's practical. He stashed copies of his books all over the country. I smell musty book road trip! Dean, desperate to talk to Bobby alone, sends Sam to get groceries and pie. Sam and I smirk. As he leaves, Dean worries but Bobby shrugs it off. "Before you bail again, Girl Interrupted over there - any thoughts?" Bobby figures Sam is improving since he only checked out once. "It seems to me that Sam's head ain't no different than your leg. People heal on a curve." Dean and I disagree. Dean's cast is off in five days. Sam's head won't be healed any time soon. Bobby: "It ain't like he's keeping secrets. What you see is what you get." If only that stayed true, Bobby. He calls it an upswing and I agree, but Dean thinks the other shoe will drop. I agree with that too. Still Bobby's right. "Look you sitting there wringing your hands ain't going to do nothing. Maybe he'll surprise you." Bobby leaves to get intel.

Cut to Sam at the Whitefish Mt Gas & Sip. That's one well-stocked gas station. Sam sees a newspaper headline: Ice Pick Killer Strikes Again. Down home country plays in the store but drums of foreboding pound my head. Sam hands over a platinum card for Lenny Kilmister, founder of Motorhead. Ha! Suddenly we switch to the fraud division of a credit card company. Someone visited Mistress Magda - BWAH!! Looks like Flo is visiting today. A red alert pops up for Sam's card and LeviaFraudGuy calls LeviaDad. Sorry you're not squashed like a bug. LeviaDad sends him after the brothers. Leviathans are smart. They tracked every major rock name. About time. Sam returns with groceries and Dean asks how he is. Another "fine" later, Dean presses and HonestySam admits Lucifer's still around. Good! Sam says he's fine although nothing's better because he can tell the difference and manage it. Not so good and likely not accurate. He bought Dean cake instead of pie. "It's close enough, right?" Hmm, definitely questioning Sam's reality now. Night falls. Dean snoozes, Sam surreptitiously reads the paper he bought, and Stu the mental impairment fairy walks in without knocking, takes a drink from the milk carton, and puts his stinky feet on the kitchen table. It's going to be a long unwelcome stay folks, so hold tight as this episode goes rapidly downhill. We sepia to Lincoln, Nebraska 1998. It's TeenSam! Always good to see you. He's talks on a giant cell phone about kitsune, a shapeshifting fox that appears as a female and whose tail creates fire or lightning. Awesome! According to TeenSam, they have claws and stab your brain. Er, maybe not. Dean and John are on a hunt so poor Sam is stuck with research duty. "Yes Dean, I realize killing them's important. Maybe if Uncle Bobby sent a book in ENGLISH." Bwah! I feel for you kid, especially when Dean puts John on the phone. Back at Rufus' cabin, adult Sam proves he's learned absolutely nothing in 6 years. He leaves Dean a note as he sneaks out in the middle of the night. URRRRGGHHH! I'm really sick of this.

I thought this year the brothers were supposed to cement their relationship and work together. Instead it's season 4 Sam acting like an obstinate teenager again. You suck Stu (I blame the writers for this mess!) If he wanted to hunt, why not talk to Dean. Yes, Dean would say no and Sam would threaten to go anyway. Dean would join him and they'd be in a crummy motel figuring it out together. Broken Leg Dean might be a grumpy pain-in-the-butt about staying in the motel, but at least Sam wouldn't act like a secretive bratty brother putting Dean and Bobby through round 976 of hide-and-seek AGAIN! I believe Sam learned it doesn't work from all the other times it failed miserably so why haven't the writers gotten the memo. Sam's almost 30. Let him grow up. (Huge sigh of exasperation.) At least I laugh in my disgust. As Sam sneaks out, a TV ad promotes My Bloodiest Valentine in Hellvision 3-D. Bwah! Thanks, Flo. You're the only fairy I want to stick around. Instead it's a graffiti-riddled park where a disgusting drug dealer wants an addict to trade sex for drugs. He's so sufficiently evil no one cares when the music of impending massacre plays. He should die. A siren scares them both off; Drug Dealer goes down hard. Good riddance.

In the morning the TV drones while Dean wakes stiffly on the couch. Doesn't Rufus have a bed? The fireplace blazes merrily though. He reads Sam's note: "Back in a few days. I'm fine. Sam" My blood pressure escalates again. Dean calls Bobby. "Other shoe!" Yep. Bobby thinks he needed me-time; I think Bobby's cloned. Dean: "Yeah, but his 'me time' ain't just him. I mean for all we know he's road tripping with Lucifer somewhere. Left me here like Jimmy freaking Stewart." Bonus for the Rear Window reference but why's Bobby so blasé? He knows what happened when Sam took off, albeit unintentionally, last time. Even if he wasn't in the warehouse with Dean to see how lost and vulnerable Sam was, he knows this isn't good especially since Sam won't answer Dean's calls and turned off his GPS. Bobby's plan: "Don't panic...Look he says he's okay so give it a couple of days. Just til you get the cast off and then hunt him down. 'Til then we'll both just keep calling." Really Bobby? Really? Dean's plan: Take a saw to the cast. Go Dean! 3 weeks ago Sam had a complete psychological breakdown. He was pressured to kill himself. He was hit in the head with a tire iron. He is still seeing and hearing Lucifer taunt him. He is not alright. He has no business hunting alone and Bobby of all people ought to know that. Urgh! I hate the writing in this episode. It's like the writers have never seen these characters much less written for them before. Meanwhile, Sam is in police mode checking out Drug Dealer's body. His phone rings with 3 missed calls from Lars Ulrich, aka Dean, but he ignores it. I throw a pillow at my TV. Dean proceeds in a station wagon to the Gas & Sip. Limping in he questions the attendant about "a big guy in here yesterday." Ha! He's wearing a Batman Under the Red Hood t-shirt. (Nice catch Sue.) Love the little meta. Dean gets a copy of the newspaper Sam bought. Viola, next move.

Back at Sam Solo, a coroner confirms missing pituitary glands and the screen goes sepia. TeenSam exposits the kitsune's pituitary diet as we flip between past and present a lot, reminding me of episode 2. I take a break to find that some of my least favorite Supernatural episodes were written by Dabb and Loflin. How could they get Weekend at Bobby's so right and create character assassination here? More on these two "writers" when I'm not throwing things at the screen. Both Sams track the victims, noticing a pattern. NowSam resignedly heads to the park where the next attack will occur. TeenSam heads to the coffee vendor outside the Lincoln Public Library to get a triple Red Eye. Sounds lethal. He notices an older blonde enter the library and does the middle school crush thing where he stares at her until she looks at him and then he quickly looks away. It's cute. Less cute is him yelling into the phone "You stab it in the heart" while the librarian shushes him. Shouldn't someone wonder about a kid who spends all his time in the library and yells stuff like that? TeenSam: "Ok, are you guys cool? Can I have a normal life for 5 minutes now?" Sorry - not in the cards, Sammy. "Oh, Dean, question. How do you talk to girls?" Awwww! This episode would be better with 30 minutes of flashback! He straightens his shirt, takes a deep breath, and is summarily shot down by Rude Blonde, who wears a moon and star necklace. She backs off a bit but poor Sammy is devastated. He gets a second chance when Rude Blonde is attacked by two teens. Lucas from Dead in the Water grew up, moved to Nebraska, and became a future rapist. Now I'm devastated. I really liked that kid. Sam takes them down with a few martial arts moves. Rude Blonde aka Amy is impressed.

Back at the state park of future serial murder, Sam follows a blonde and unless you took an unfortunately timed pee break, you know it's Amy. Sam's penchant for attractive monsters guarantees it. Snack, an extremely drunk guy in the middle of the woods reminds us that this script makes absolutely no sense. What is Snack doing in the woods in white khakis and brown dress shoes? Sam turns Blonde around. Aww, she's wearing the same necklace she did as a teen. It's either kismet or really sad. They exchange pleasantries but Sam holding a knife to her heart kills the mood. For reasons unknown, a woman and her dog run by….at night in a heavily wooded area. Amy distracts Sam with her boring picket fence life, but he's put off by the murder aspect of it. With no transition but sepia, we cut to TeenSam getting cleaned up by TeenAmy. She asks about the KungFu and Sam deflects, so she grabs him the last soda from behind the jars of brains. What's with monster girlfriends? At this point I suspect Jessica hid an interesting lineage too. They chat about Goo Goo Dolls vs. classic rock and for once John wins this one. Not that I don't enjoy the Goo Goo Dolls. Sam and Amy share a common past, traveling with a parent who just doesn't understand. Too bad this isn't 10 years earlier. Annie could have walloped us with DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. Instead Sam says life sucks as the freaky new kid, but Amy counters, "All the coolest people are freaks." No wonder he likes her. They kiss and we flip to current Murderer Amy. She claims she's managing; I heard that before. About 10 minutes ago. My brain hurts as the 10 ton anvil of "Amy and Sam are just alike" drops on me. I don't buy it here either. Neither does Sam. "You spiked 3 guys this week." She claims it was necessity not murder, but won't clarify. Sam has to kill her. Or not since she slams his head into a tree. It seems we all will suffer brain trauma this episode. I wonder if Sam's head is concrete or in tiny floating pieces by now. He was better off choked all the time in season 1. Amy's eyes go a cool red cat slit. Fortunately Sam picked up her litter as he lies back barely conscious.

In a great transition it looks like Dean standing over Sam, but he's really in the morgue with Drug Dealer's body. The missing pituitary gland makes Dean mutter "SOB" before telling Bobby about the '98 case. Kitsunes are rare. Dean: "They didn't make our highlight reel." Bobby's relieved Sam's on a job. I don't see the upswing Bobby. Solo hunting with hellucinations isn't a winning idea. Dean: "But why pull the Houdini act?' Neither Bobby or I have the foggiest. Perhaps the writers have a clue that isn't "We needed them separated to tell our awesome story and couldn't come up with a better reason so we shot character development all to hell." Bobby: "What are you going to do when you catch up?" Dean: "I have a few ideas." I bet you do. Sam has a few ideas too, given he got to Amy's shortly after she did. She's packing as Sam appears in her bedroom. Totally freaked me out. He found her through a receipt for Amy Pond she left behind. (Amy Pond is from Dr. Who.) He notices blood on her hand and Ms. Pond is at 4 kills. Sam: "I think you better tell me exactly what you are doing or I have to kill you whether I want to or not." Amy appeals to their history. You know the ONE day they knew each other. And flashback to kissing. Sam accidentally spills the soda. Amy freaks because her mom is abusive; Sam confirms John is an angry drunk. How that differs from any other day I'm not sure. Amy confesses her mom is evil and she thinks she is too. Sam reassures her. Sweet given he's known her 2 hours tops. "I've been around enough bad to know good when I see it." Aww. They bond further over the pressures of following in a parent's footsteps.

NowSam demands clarification. Amy has a son, Jacob. Sam is conflicted. Amy normally gets pituitary glands through her mortician job. "I know. Not sexy but you know, health benefits." HA! Jacob got sick and needed live glands. And here's the quiet kicker. After the last murder, his fever broke. Either she fed Jacob the new guy she killed that night and his fever instantly vanished or it broke before she killed the last guy. Given the murky time frame, either is plausible but given that she had to find a new victim, kill them, get home, prepare the pituitary gland, feed it to her son and start packing, I'm going with the later. If that's true, she killed victim 4 after her son improved. She promises not to kill anyone again and Sam responds, "You can't guarantee that." And that's the whole point! She wants Sam to walk away since she saved him once too. In sepia, car headlights shine so TeenSam hides in a closet. Is there no back door or window? Amy's mom rushes in talking about pros in a "piece of c** Impala." That's uncalled for lady. Listening in, Sam figures it out. Amy placates her mother by saying she will pack while her mom gets gas. Any parent would be suspicious. Without waiting to hear the car leave or refrigerate the jar of brains on the table, Amy pulls Sam out. He confronts her. Amy: "You're a hunter. So you're supposed to kill me and I'm supposed to kill you." Sam: "I guess." Me: "Sorry Sam, but your lot in life is killing girls you like when they turn out to be monsters." Amy's never killed anyone and Sam admits he doesn't want to kill her. She tells him to run before mom sees him, but no headlights or car noise means mom's still home. Sam puts his knife in the open pocket of his book bag where it can easily be seen or fall out. I suspect Annie at play.

All of a sudden we switch to NowSam at his motel. I'm confused and want to be in the flashback instead. He opens the door and a fist flies out knocking him backwards into bushes. BWAAAHHH!!! Dean: "Howdy Sam." I spit water the first time and it only gets funnier after the third viewing. Funniest thing all night. After an ad break, Dean says, "New rule. You steal my baby; you get punched." Good thing it wasn't a rule when Andy took her. He couldn't take a Dean punch. "What the hell were you thinking Sam running off like that? I mean for all I know, Satan could have been calling your plays." Sam: "Look. How many times do I have to tell you? I'm fine." Dean: "Oh yeah, no, you're a poster boy for mental health. You have any idea the kind of horror shows I had going on in my head?" Sam: "Dean, I left you a note. There was a job in town." (Begin rant) If I haven't already ticked off half the SPN fands, I'm doing it now. ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS, SAM? Your note said: "Back in a few days. I'm fine." How in Leviathan-filled Purgatory could that keep people from worrying? Saying "I'm fine" ten thousand times doesn't make it so. Dean can prove you're not fine. The spectacular warehouse meltdown is a shining example that not all is well in SamWorld. 3 weeks ago you were suicidal. You played with guns and listened to Satan say it would all end if you shot yourself. You still see Satan. You think you know what's reality and what's hellcuination and I hope you do, but the simple fact is you have voices whispering in your head, you're distracted, and sometimes you enter mini-comas like a stroke victim. These do not scream "good to hunt", much less solo. If roles reversed, you would tear Dean a new one and wouldn't trust his decisions one jot. Dean came back from hell without a Lucifer playmate and you decided he couldn't handle hunting since he was drinking far too much and having nightmares. Your situation is far graver and you go off on your own? Bah! I hate how these characters are written this episode. (End rant)

Back to the scene, Dean asks why Sam ignored his and Bobby's phone calls. I wait for a good answer but nada. Sam: "Because I wanted to take care of it." Thank you ToddlerSam, now go away and give us back the previously awesome HonestySam. Sam claims he fixed it but when Dean questions him, he admits letting Amy go. Dean's stumped. I'm excited for the flashback because life is much better there. Sam opens the door to a waiting Monster Momma. I'm not sure why he didn't see her through the glass in the door, but he just kissed his first monster and it's ending tragically so he gets a pass. Momma Monster is no dummy and I knew she didn't buy Amy's "I'll pack" plan. She is however a psycho. Barring her teeth, she practically spits that Amy cannot have friends. The song Momma Knows Best from Tangled suddenly pops into my head. She slaps Amy down and tries to make Sam brain food, fingernails turn into Elvira claws. Before she can strike, Amy plunges Sam's knife in her heart. Anyone not see that one coming? Nope? Didn't think so. Momma's shocked speechless as I cheer. Best thing that happened all episode. It's like viscerally getting my own frustration with this episode out.

NowSam never told anyone about Amy, which makes sense. Dean would have told John. John would have killed Amy. Amy hadn't killed anyone. He explains he took the case to clean up his mess and HonestySam is a thousand times more pleasing than the previous flippant remark. This is season 7 Sam and I have no idea why they wrote him out of most of the episode. Dean questions why he let Amy go and Sam says he owes her because she killed her mom to protect him. Dean: "I hear you Sam. I do. But look at her now. She's dropping bodies, man, which means we've got to drop her no matter how many merit badges she racked up when she was a kid. I'm sorry but it's that simple." Sam: "Nothing in our lives is simple." Very, very true! In our final flashback, Sam tells a shocked Amy to take whatever money she has and get out of town that night. He offers to dispose of the body and Amy asks him to go with her so they won't be alone. I'm shocked Sam didn't consider it. This flashback isn't that far removed from when Sam actually did run away according to Dark Side of the Moon. He was already frustrated with a belligerent, demanding John so the idea should have merit to him. Of course, running away with your monster girlfriend is not exactly the normal life he craved. For whatever reason, Amy leaves alone.

Dean's turn to regress. Thanks Stu! "Look man I get it. You meet a girl. You feel that spark. There's nothing better. But this freak.." Way to go Dean. Sam is being honest, something you say you want , and you throw "freak" in his face. At this point, I would understand if Sam threw a punch. Just like "fine", "freak" should be eliminated from the Winchester lexicon because unlike most people, it has charged connotations when Dean says it especially to Sam. Sam: "I see the way you look at me Dean. Like I'm a grenade and you're waiting for me to go off....I'm not going off. Look, I might be a freak but that's not the same as dangerous." Here we disagree Sam. You may not shoot bullets at hellucinations anymore, but you are still a danger in the hunting world mostly to yourself. We've seen over and over and over again that the merest drop in concentration can take a hunter down. Until you stop spacing out, you are a danger to yourself and the others you hunt with. It's not personal; it's practical. Sam: "I've spent a lot of my life trying to be normal. But come on, I'm not normal. Look at all the c** I've done. Look at me now. I'm a grade A freak, but I'm managing it and so is Amy." Aww Sam. You try so hard but the hits keep coming. I can't wait until managing is no longer the goal and thriving is. Sam explains how Amy works in a mortuary and that Jacob was dying. "Look. You don't trust her, fine, but trust me. Dean, please." If only it were that simple Sam, but you yourself said your lives are never simple and this is one of those times.

If the writers cared one iota about character growth, Dean would say "I'm sorry Sam" and explain why he can't let Amy go. He has valid reasons even if Sam (and many fans) don't see them. However, Dabb and Loflin couldn't write Dean if they were paid too (oh right, they are.) Instead, they throw it all away in one, "Okay." And there goes the brother relationship for another half season. Even Sam knows it's too easy. "Seriously?" Dean: "Gotta start some time, right?" (Begin rant) Now I'm saying, "Seriously?" What's up with that, writers? It sounds like Dean never trusted his brother before and sets up this great lie to be an even bigger fall. What the heck Dean? You preach that Sam needs to be honest with you and then you lie to his face. You say you want your brother back but do the exact thing that will destroy any trust he has in you. It's hard to say, "I'm sorry Sam. I know you believe in Amy but you are too close to the situation and I think your judgment is off." Go round after round if you need to. Take the punch, but for goodness sake, STOP LYING AFTER RANTING ABOUT HONESTY! The rules do not change because it is you. If you want Sam to be honest with you, start by being honest with him. Start by saying that while you trust Sam as a person, you don't trust his decisions while he's seeing Satan. Reasonable people understand that. It isn't personal like not trusting Sam at the beginning of season 5 because he chose a demon over you. This is common sense. You would not let a person with a concussion drive their car home just because they thought they were fine. Their brains are scrambled and they don't make good judgments. It's a health issue. The same thing is happening with Sam. His brains are scrambled and while he thinks he is dealing with it, and in some ways he is, it's only been 3 weeks since he broke down. He proved he wasn't thinking clearly when he ran off. Use your words, have the tough conversation, but don't freaking lie to his face. All that does is add more guilt, more secrets, and more issues to deal with later. Argh!!! Trust your brother enough to tell him the truth. (End rant)

In the parking lot of Biggerson's (hello Flo), Sam's got food while Dean talks new hideouts with Bobby. He tosses the keys to Sam, and frankly I think this is a bad idea too. Since when does Sam peel out? That's usually Dean's thing. At least we get a long overdue car porn shot. She's beautiful! They arrive in Spokane and Dean has Sam check them in while he refills his prescription. On second thought, perhaps Bobby should drive for awhile. He's the only one not broken, unless he's possessed or about to go psycho with PTSD. Forget it all! Protect the Impala; take the bus. We all know Dean is heading to Amy's motel, presumably also in Spokane, so I let out a huge sigh and wonder how long we'll be dealing with the fallout. Amy enters but Dean's already there. "Next time you run, you should change your license plates. Keeping the same tags makes you easy to track." So new plates for the Impala it is. She asks if Sam sent him and Dean tries honesty. Let's make that a trend. He understands she has a son, "But people, they are who they are. No matter how hard you try, you are what you are and you will kill again." Amy swears she won't but in the same situation, she would kill for her son every time. It is every animal's basic instinct to protect their children, including humans, and she's lying to herself if she thinks any different. Dean says it might be a year or ten, but she'll kill again eventually. He stabs her right then, apologizes, and places her on the bed. I'm not surprised he killed her. I'm shocked he does it with the door wide open. Are you trying to be convicted of murder?

Of course, Jacob watches the whole thing. For a kid who just saw his mom die, he's sure not screaming for 911 to come get her killer. I'll file it under shock instead of convenient writing device. Dean: "You got someone you can go to?" Jake nods. "You ever kill anyone?" He shakes his head. "Well if you do, I'll come back for you." It's harsh and designed to put Dean in the worse light possible, but in all fairness he said the same thing to Andy in season 2 and he wasn't wrong to say it then. Jake: "The only person I'm going to kill is you." Absolutely chilling! Kudos to the actor. Dean seems surprised but I have no idea why. If I were the kid, I'd be out for Dean's blood too. In fact if I weren't screaming for help, I might be attacking him. Dean: "Well, look me up in a few years. Assuming I live that long." Dean and the kid trade places and he looks on while Jake goes to his mom. Hunting is tough and days like this are the worst. Unfortunately we get no break to internalize the situation. Back at the Gas and Sip, LeviaFraudGuy guy watches Sam buy groceries a few days ago on the security feed. Unfortunately, the attendant won't make it. "You know what I find. Plain old people taste fine but everything is better with cheese." He picks up the nacho cheese sauce and dumps it over the attendant's head. With the sounds of screaming in the background and Leviaface in the foreground we end this episode. Thankfully!

But not this already too long recap because I need to explain why I agree with Dean killing Amy. I know many people are upset and I'd guess it mainly comes down to 2 reasons. 1. Amy is sympathetic. 2. Sam asked Dean to trust him and he killed Amy anyway. Here's my take. Amy is sympathetic. She had to kill for her son and she killed bad people because she targeted Drug Dealer. Both are assumptions; we don't have enough information. People with pituitary gland problems take hormones to counter the effects. Would that work for a monster? Would it help her son? Did she ever try that? We don't know. Who did she kill when she knew Sam would wake up soon and she had to get out of town fast? Was it a bad guy or the lady out walking her dog? Amy may be sympathetic but she is also practical and she will kill if she feels she needs to. And she will kill to save her son. People keep citing Lenore when saying Dean shouldn't have killed Amy. However, they are not the same. Lenore wasn't killing anyone. She refused to kill Sam even though hunters had killed her nest and Eli begged her. Amy killed 4 people in one week, one of which may have been after her son was recovering. When Lenore did start killing people, she begged Dean and Sam to kill her. Although Cas ended it, I believe Dean would have killed Lenore too. Look at his face in Mommy Dearest right after she says she killed a 16-year-old. Lenore asked to die to keep from murdering. Amy made excuses for why she killed to save her life. Yes, her excuse was excellent, but she was hardly noble. In the end though, Amy didn't become a monster when she killed those 4 people for me. She became a monster when she got pregnant and added to the monster population, increasing the risk to humanity. Think about it. If Lenore never killed but was making monsters, do you think even Sam would let her live? No way. Because she would be responsible for everything they did. Amy might think she could control her adult son by showing him a different way, but she had no idea if it would happen. She definitely skewed her loyalties. She put humans at risk when she created another monster, and while that seems harsh in the hunting world it is us against them. Amy already proved she was be a threat to humans, and she would kill again for her son. In the hunter world, that's about as clear as it gets.

The second reason is far more personal because it concerns the brother relationship and the hope fans have of building it back stronger than ever. Dean should never have lied to Sam. For me, that's a given. However, trusting Sam and not killing Amy is not the same thing. Sam is messed up right now. He is mentally ill. It's not his fault but it does mean his judgment is questionable. Dean was at that warehouse. He saw Sam's confusion and hurt and fear when Lucifer was talking to him. Sam might mentally realize that Lucifer is not real right now but he still has his voice in his head. That's enough to drive anyone over the edge. When you combine this with a case Sam is way too close to, it's easy to see why someone would question Sam's perspective, his judgment. He overidentifies with Amy. It's not that Sam needs to earn Dean's trust again like at the beginning of season 5. It's that Sam is mentally impaired right now and that makes it a whole different story. I wouldn't let someone who was drunk drive my kids home, even if I trusted them in other situations when they were not drunk. It's not personal. It's common sense.

Review - This is the hardest recap I have ever done. It was even harder than The Man Who Would Be King, because in that one I at least understood why I hated it. When I first watched this episode, I had worked back-to-back-to-back 14 hour days. I was tired, frustrated with technology issues, and just wanted Winchesters on my screen. Believe me when I say Bugs would have been good. At the end of the episode I thought it was fine, but not as good as the first two episodes. I had a hard time placing why I felt unsatisfied until I watched it a second time with a clear mind. This is why I should never vote on episodes right after they air. This episode gets exponentially worse after each viewing. At the third viewing, I can say that while there are some real plusses, the minuses are huge. For me, the writing is the worst problem. The characters show absolutely no growth and are in fact regressing at an alarming rate. Sam running away, Dean lying to Sam's face. They both need to end. What possible good did it do to portray adult Sam as less mature than teen Sam or to make Dean look like an evil tyrant? This episode now has the possibility of being long-reaching and go on to screw up the brother relationship again. Fans wanted a strong brother bond most this season and in one scene these writers tossed it out the window. This is one plot line I would love to see dropped. I am sorry that Jensen got stuck with this script because to paraphrase Guy Norman Bee, there's only so much you can do if the writing isn't there. (Just to clarify, he had nothing but positive things to say about Supernatural so he wasn't talking about anything he directed for them.) It has taking me weeks to figure out how the writers of Weekend at Bobby's could so completely train wreck a season in one script. How they could assassinate 3 out of 3 main characters! I think I've finally figured out my issues with Dabb and Loflin but that's an entirely too long other article best saved for later.

I also thought some of the scene jumps were strange. I would have preferred having scenes flow more instead of flashing back and forth from past to present. Speaking of the flash backs, they saved this episode for me. Yes, it is strange Sam had such a strong tie with someone he literally only spent maybe 2 hours with, but it served to show more about Sam's character and gave heart to the story. I firmly believe this story would have been better if they had focused exclusively on the flashback for the middle 3/4 of the episode. Kudos especially to Colin Ford, who did an outstanding job as young Sam. In the end, this episode is not in my top 5 worst episodes (thank you sepia), but I really hope it is my least favorite of season 7. This season started out very strong and I hope next episode gets us back on track.

Grade: D+, but only because of Colin Ford, the flashbacks, and I feel sorry Jensen Ackles had to direct this mess.

Best scene - Young Sam taking out the future rapists / Young Amy stabbing her mother
Best/Only (?) shock - Dean punching Sam when he opens the motel door
Worst shock - That Dabb and Loflin wrote this mess after scoring big with Weekend at Bobby's
Best line - Nothing really stands out. How sad is that?

Screencaps by Home of the Nutty, Screencap Paradise and Supernatural Fans Online.

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