Summaries: In “Love Hurts,” Sam and Dean investigate
multiple Valentine’s Day murders that center upon a husband having an affair
with the babysitter. They soon discover that the murders are a result of an
ancient curse that has been misunderstood by the man’s wife, Melissa, and cast
by her hairdresser. Dean saves her from the effects of the curse turning upon
her when he kisses her, thereby casting the curse on himself. Sam and Melissa
kill the witch just as Dean’s heart is almost ripped out by the curse’s
imitation of his heart’s true desire, Amara. Dean realizes that he will be
unable to kill Amara, leaving the task up to Sam.
“Safe House” contains two stories
in one: that of present day Sam and Dean as well as Rufus and Bobby from years
earlier, both pairs working together to solve the same case. The hunter duos must
discover the weaknesses of a soul eater that is consuming the souls of anyone
who enters the house. Dean and Bobby are taken into the nest of the soul eater,
which is located outside of space and time. When Dean and Bobby’s bodies become
possessed by the monster, Sam and Rufus fight off their attacks while finishing
the painting of symbols on the house’s living room wall. For Rufus, this
restores Bobby’s soul and locks away the soul eater, which is unleashed in the
present day view of the audience. Sam is able to restore Dean’s soul and kill
the creature, thereby finishing the job permanently.
Review: “Safe House” and “Love Hurts” are two episodes from Supernatural’s season 11 whose
similarities exemplify the season’s major themes and possibly foreshadow its
outcome. Season 11 hinges on the notions of romantic desire, teamwork, and distortion
of reality and time. However, it is ultimately the reoccuring themes of recklessness,
chance, and fate that suggest that the season’s plot will end in a bout of
unplanned, last minute decisions or events, completely outside the control of
the boys, no matter what martyrdom Dean might put forth.
Another
prevalent theme is that of perceptions of reality becoming distorted. The
monsters are not the actual people who they take the form of in the “Love Hurts”
episode. They are only illusions that have been upheld by the curse. In “Safe
House,” the dream-like state that the assaulted individuals find themselves in
presents them with illusions that tug at their heartstrings. The mother who is first
affected by the curse describes seeing her dead husband, and that the house she
was in during her coma was not quite the actual house. Bobby sees Sam and Dean
on the floor, dead, as he enters the first room while in the nest. When Dean is
pulled in by the soul eater, too, he sees Sam lying on the floor. Additionally,
perceptions are further skewed as some individuals are unable to see the
terrifying “sad people” in the nest with them, while others can. Eventually,
though, at some point the individuals captured become enlightened and aware
that these souls surround them.
This theme is furthered when the brothers
are incorrect in their assumptions of what the monsters actually are in both episodes.
In “Love Hurts,” the Winchesters believe they are confronting a shapeshifter, only
to discover that the monster was created by a curse. In “Safe House,” the boys
realize that their supernatural creature is not a ghost, but a soul eater. This
trend may foreshadow that Amara, the sister of God, is not the type of
supernatural being that the Winchesters understand thus far.
Similar to
the concept of distorted realities and visions, the dead are consistently brought
“back to life” both episodes, in varying ways. In “Love Hurts,” the curse draws
upon images of soon-to-be-dead or recently-deceased lovers to kill its targets.
The visions of dead loves ones in the nest in “Safe House” occur to all
characters who enter the coma-like state. Furthermore, the flashbacks with
Bobby and Rufus allow those characters to metaphorically return from the dead from
the audience’s perspective. The dead are unable to stay dead, and there is a
sense that time is colliding upon itself. This notion extends to Dean as well,
when he sees Bobby’s soul in the nest, just before they are both returned to
their respective periods in time. It would not be far-fetched to posit that
Bobby or another character with a familial importance to the brothers will make
a more prominent appearance by the season’s climax.
The idea of
desire is also imbedded in each episode. Dean admits to Sam in “Love Hurts” that
when he is near Amara, he is unable to kill her. Both acknowledge the desire
that is felt between Dean and Amara, when Dean is forced to confront the image
with which the curse presents him. The soul eater in “Safe House” is obsessed
with consuming its victims’ souls. It puts them into a coma-esque state and
displays the deepest, darkest desires of the individual’s heart, showing them
false images of people that would cause them distress in some manner. Desire
plays a fundamental role in season 11, but might it prove to be the downfall of
Amara herself?
Ultimately, it is recklessness,
chance, and fate that are the most prominent motifs, reinforcing the notion
that the season-long conflict will end in a bout of unplanned, impromptu decisions
and events that are completely outside the Winchester’s control. In “Love
Hurts,” Dean kisses the cursed widow, putting himself at risk of death without allowing
himself time to think it through. Sam serves as the sane individual who is in
disbelief that Dean would do something so “stupid.” He exclaims to his brother,
“You don’t have to do this, be the guinea pig!” Dean is demonstrating a
continuous flirtation with chance; a trial and error through martyrdom. On the
other hand, teamwork is vital to the success of both hunts. Sam saves Dean at
the last second in “Love Hurts,” just before the false Amara rips out his heart.
However, this only occurs after he has been aided by the sudden appearance of
the brave widow, Melissa, who confronts her former hairdresser. In both
episodes, its ultimately teamwork that allows the hunts to be concluded in the
favor of the hunters. This brings us to the Devil himself. Lucifer is a
secondary concern in these episodes. The primary focus is clearly upon killing Amara.
The notion of recklessness might come into play if the Winchesters are forced
to unite with Lucifer for the “greater good” of killing The Darkness. However, depending
on the episode in which Amara is possibly killed during this season, that would
leave the plot of the next season, the next season’s first episode, or possibly
the last few episodes of this season itself to deal with the Winchesters’ new
confrontation with Lucifer, if he is not killed in the process of defeating
Amara.
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