4x21 "When the Levee Breaks"

Part one: Summary

When Dean and Bobby lock Sam up to keep him from consuming more demon blood to kill Lilith, the withdraw leads to some fever dreams that give the audience an insight into Sam’s inner demons. Meanwhile, Dean gets an offer from a changed Cas, after he returned from heaven, to give his vessel to the angels. Circumstances lead to Sam breaking out and meeting up with Ruby to get another fix before Dean finds him and gives Sam an ultimatum between his brother or a demon. Punches are thrown and hurtful things are said leading to a tragic moment where the brothers don't have any more hope to fix things.

Part two: Review

This episode was one of the hardest ones to watch when it comes to Sam and Dean’s relationship. Coming from a perspective of having seen all the available episodes multiple times, I felt that the end of “When the Levee Breaks” leaves on a discordant note that doesn't resonate with Winchester drama anywhere else in the series so far. The situation is worse than when one brother or the other has experienced some absence of morals and does or says something to the other that creates turmoil. At the end of this episode we have a worked up Sam and a worried Dean who simultaneous hit a nerve with the other that seems, in that moment, to entirely sever their relationship. Sure, Sam is hyped on demon blood and that makes him less sure of his reality but everything he says is true to how he's feeling and the writing for this episode shows you that by getting inside Sam’s mind when the levee breaks.

This precarious situation is outlined from the beginning of the episode where Sam and Dean are talking to each other through the cell door opening. Both of their faces are mostly obscured and illuminated in contrasting colors. Sam is cast in a red glow while Dean is in blue. The audience will notice throughout the episode that red is a symbol of Sam’s persona who’s drunk on demons’ blood. 

The camera shows Sam in a blurred and choppy window, indicating the beginning of his fever hallucinations and in comes Sam’s first inner demon: Alastair. Haloed in the red emergency light, Alastair begins to work on Sam causing him physical pain that, when the camera jumps away from the proximity, is entirely in his head.

Sam’s next inner demon is his self as a kid, voicing his self hate. Kid Sam harps on his older self about screwing up their dream of being normal. Sam repeats his apology multiple times, signifying his struggle to forgive his self for everything that happened with Jess and his shot at a normal life. Kid Sam then reveals his yellow eyes and Sam’s fear of what Azazel had done to him that made him a freak.

One of the crueler apparitions in Sam’s fever dreams is the visage of his mother. She begins by commending Sam for his choices and justifying his vengeance. She acts like the devil on Sam’s shoulder, telling him that Dean is weak and an obstacle to achieve the ultimate goal. She finishes off saying, “Make my death mean something.” which hurts the audience (and myself) more knowing that Sam blames himself for something like that.

After a fit of demon anti-gravity, Sam is confronted with a Dean that embodies his worst fears: the shame of his brother. The audience is clued into the fact that this image of Dean couldn’t be further from the truth with well timed cuts between the real thing and the hallucination. The true Dean expresses his worry for Sam and wants nothing more than to save his humanity while Sam’s vision denies that his brother ever was human; calling him a monster outright and stating that he's always been a freak.

Each of Sam’s demons were highlighted in red during their conversations with him and it’s useful to note that during these exchanges, and only these exchanges, Sam is absent of that red. While Sam is conflicted with the red and the demon blood, he’s still Sam as he has always been. The appearance of his younger self shows that he always felt that red inside him and currently he’s trying to make something good out of his infliction.

After being freed anonymously by Cas according to orders from heaven, Sam attempts to drive off only to be confronted by a shotgun-wielding Bobby. The exhaustion shows in Sam’s eyes when he asks Bobby to shoot him, only half-wishing that he wouldn't be able to. Sam knocks Bobby out and setting out to try to evade his brother as best as he can, telling Ruby, “he doesn't know me as well as he thinks…” 

Showing that he does in fact know him better than anyone, Dean shows up to the final scene as a last ditch effort to stop Sam. In the heat of the exchange, Sam exclaims that he’s the only one who can save the world which strikes a chord in Dean. Dean then bites back with the key word: Monster. 

The boys throw a flurry of physical affronts at each other, landing sickening thuds, but the worst punch were their final words to the other. Sam, comes out on top and tells Dean, “You don’t know me,” to which Dean replies, “If you walk out that door, don't you ever come back.” And he does. The screen cuts to black and the viewer is left with a pit in their stomach and the finality of those words.  

Part three: Questions, problems, concerns

My biggest issue with this episode is the scene where Sam is on Alastair’s torture device… completely clothed. Ok, I know how that sounded but don’t peg me as a crazy fangirl just yet. My problem doesn't lie with the fact that Sam wasn't naked beneath the leather straps but instead with the knowledge that all the female victims who've been in the same spot were. If Sam had been naked as well, the torture scenes with Alastair would've at least been coherent; He’s a douche who strips his victims naked as an added torture technique. Instead, this outlier in the torture method points fingers back to the writers as an external issue in the show. The objectification of women for their bodies is unacceptable.