“Fresh Blood”
“Whoever
fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a
monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back
into you.” Friedrich Nietzsche
Synopsis:
In this episode, Gordon
Walker, a psychotic hunter who believes Sam is the anti-Christ, is back and
wants Sam dead. He first threatens then bribes Bela to divulge where Sam and
Dean are then he sets a trap the brothers. His plan goes awry when the vampire
the Winchesters are hunting captures Gordon and makes him a vampire – Gordon’s
biggest fear. Despite being a blood thirsty vamp, Gordon is still intent on
killing Sam. The brothers have to stop both monsters before anyone else dies.
Review:
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| Yes, I am. You're really not pertinent to the story. |
Directed
by Kim Manners and written by Sera Gamble, this episode uses a MOTW (monster of
the week) as a subplot to the main story. Gordon Walker, a frightening,
cold-blooded hunter is obsessed with Sam and convinced that only he can prevent
Sam from destroying the world. Gordon tracks down Bela Talbot and trades her a
century old mojo bag for information on the whereabouts of the Winchesters.
Bela Talbot has always seemed a weak character within the Supernatural world
and in this episode she is merely a poorly contrived minor plot device. She
serves no real purpose. She could have been removed from the story entirely and
the viewer would have been none the wiser.
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| There's no such thing as a free lunch |
Sam
and Dean are hunting a vampire who is dropping bodies. Dean manages, through
extreme recklessness, to capture a female vamp who does not realize the drug
she thought she was taking is actually vampire blood. They kill her and find
the vampire, Dixon, who is making new vamps. However, Gordon shows up with a
buddy to kill Sam and interrupts the hunt. Dean makes a crazy sacrificial charge
in order to draw fire so Sam can get away. Gordon is knocked out and captured
by the vampire, Dixon, who then takes the hunter back to the nest and turns him
into what Gordon has always been so good at hunting - a vampire. Gordon, after
being turned is stupidly left unsupervised in the nest. Gordon escapes his
restraints and slaughters Dixon’s fledgling vamp family. He then uses his new vampire
strengths to go after the Winchesters, killing a few people along the way.
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| Who's the monster now? |
Gordon,
a hunter, is now a monster. Sam, a
hunter with demon blood is in danger of becoming a monster. Dean, a hunter, is
rapidly approaching his date with hell. The Nietzsche quote above fits so
perfectly with this episode. Gordon, a relentless vampire hunter, became the
type of monster he always hunted. Sam is trying hard not to become the monster
he fears he is becoming and Dean is staring into the abyss of hell.
What has been subtly unfolding
in the midst of all this drama, is how careless Dean is being with his own life
but not why he is behaving in such a way. Once Sam and Dean locate the vampire
nest, Dixon gives a speech that gives insight into Dean’s mindset about his
looming date with hell. This serves to draw another parallel to how similar the
hunters are to monsters.
Dixon:
I’m staring down an eternity alone. Can you think of a worse hell?
Dean:
Well, there’s hell.
Dixon:
I wasn’t thinking. I just didn’t care anymore. Do you know what that’s like?
When you just don’t give a damn? It’s like…it’s like being dead already. (Looks
at Dean who is holding a machete) Go ahead. Do it.
Interestingly, it leaves
some ambiguity as to whether Dixon means for Dean to “Go ahead” and kill Dixon
or whether Dean should “Go ahead” and kill himself.
It’s not until Sam and Dean
get back to the hotel and Dean says he going after Gordon alone that forces Sam
to confront Dean on his cavalier behavior. Dean knows he’s going to hell soon.
He’s scared but he’s behaving like he’s not and Sam calls him out for it. Dean,
of course, plays it off like his brother doesn’t know how he is feeling.
Sam:
Yeah,
because I’ve been following you
around my entire life. I mean, I’ve been looking up to you since I was four
Dean. Studying you. Trying to be just like my big brother. So yeah, I know you.
Better than anyone else in the entire world and this is exactly how you act
when you’re terrified and I mean, I can’t blame you. It’s just…
Dean:
What?
This entire scene between
the brothers is so beautifully written. Jared’s acting is so heart felt. It’s
moments like this that give the characters depth and complexity.
The boys decide to wait
out the night together but Gordon calls to tell them they better come to him
and reveals he has a female victim. The boys, ever the heroes, race to rescue
her but they get separated. As a twist, Gordon has turned the “damsel in distress” into a vamp! She attacks Dean who shoots her with the Colt,
using up the last special bullet. Meanwhile, Sam takes on Gordon and manages to
use razor wire to slice Gordon’s head off. Impressive and inventive!
Of course the episode
closed out with a touching broment with Baby. Dean teaching Sam about how to
fix the Impala. When Sam questions why, Dean responds with “You should know how
to fix it. You’re gonna need to know these things for the future. Besides, it’s
my job right? Show my little brother the ropes.”
There isn’t much that
didn’t work in this episode other than the insertion of Bela. As I said before,
her character felt so contrived. As did the scene with Gordon’s hunting
partner. They felt like filler scenes.
The episode’s main
purpose was to draw Dean back from staring into that abyss of his eminent
demise. The boys reconnected, and two scary threats were handled. Nicely done
Sera Gamble!
