SPN Ep: Swap Meat

[the_other_sandy]

Overall I liked it, but what a missed opportunity.

I'm so glad this didn't play out as a comedy episode. It was much more layered than I was expecting. I'm glad that the teens didn't cause the body swap by accident ("OMG, we were just reading from this dusty old book at our slumber party. I don't know what happened!"). I loved that they did it deliberately in order to get close enough to Dean to kill him (I guess the demons have heard about him being Michael's vessel by now). And what an interesting idea that it doesn't have to be Sam himself who gives Lucifer permission to enter, just whoever is controlling Sam's body at the time. That opens up all kinds of possibilities for Lucifer to take over Sam's body without Sam saying yes. Also? Jared playing Sam as inhabited by Gary was hilarious. I love that Jared was willing to make fun of his image by checking himself out in the mirror and being thrilled that he was so attractive.

As usual, the MOTW story paralleled what was going on with the Winchesters, specifically Sam. "The Plan" Gary was being forced to follow by his father sounded an awful lot like Sam and his destiny that he hates so much. Gary's feelings of helplessness to fight his future led him to the same place Sam's did: wanting to be so powerful he could do anything he wanted, including rebel against the future he was destined for. It's just kind of sad that Sam can't see himself married with a family anymore, when that used to be what he wanted more than anything. I think that's part of why Dean has been having such a hard time of it lately. The hunting life has always sucked, but Dean used to motivate himself by believing he was fighting for Sam's innocence and the innocence of those like him. Sam was kind of a light in the darkness for Dean, but things have changed, Sam isn't like that anymore, and all that's left is the dark for Dean right now. At least until he finds a new motivation.

My only real disappointment with the episode was that Sam swapped bodies with Gary and not Dean. Years ago, Stargate SG-1 did an episode called "Holiday" in which 3/4 of the main cast got to play musical bodies. Watching the actors play each other's characters right down to speech cadences and body language was great fun. Jensen and Jared are both terrific actors, and they know each other's characters better than probably any other co-stars on the planet. Even if it was only for one scene, watching them play each other's characters would have been a real treat. But body swap episodes are the kind of thing you can pretty much do only once per television series, so this was Supernatural's shot. As much as I liked it, I can't help but feel like the show passed up the opportunity of a lifetime.

Comments

[wilde-moon.livejournal.com]

But body swap episodes are the kind of thing you can pretty much do only once per television series, so this was Supernatural's shot. As much as I liked it, I can't help but feel like the show passed up the opportunity of a lifetime.
Exactly. And I can't enjoy the episode because of this. Those boys swapping would be fucking golden. How do you pass that up?

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

I would've loved to see that so much. I can't believe Show let that opportunity get away from them. But I still liked the episode. Maybe I just had lowered expectations because I hated "Sam, Interrupted" so much.

[seesmooshrun.livejournal.com]

Your first line kind of says it all, but I did enjoy the episode. And Jared as Gary/Sam was really good. Thanks for the review.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

Sam has been so dark for so long, it's nice to see Jared get to do comedy again.

[zanne68.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of irked by the twist that whoever is controlling Sam's body can say yes to Lucifer. That negates all the "it has to be you" stuff. If Lucifer just needs Sam's body, then why not any body? I was under the impression that it was more about Lucifer needing Sam's "Sam-ness" as well--his strength of character, passion, rage--and less about his physicality. And isn't someone else giving permission against the angel rules? Doesn't it have to be Sam's consciousness saying yes, and not just his mouth?

The dead kid in the basement doesn't bother me as much as this.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

Lucifer needs Sam's body because it's the only one that can physically contain him indefinitely without burning out. I just thought Lucifer needed Sam to be angry because he could use those emotions to manipulate Sam into saying yes.

[zanne68.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. That's a possibility. I also saw a theory elsewhere that the demon who passed on that tidbit of info might have been low in the heirarchy and maybe didn't have all the details quite right. But that's total meta, really.

All that stuff Gabriel was saying when paralleling Sam and Dean to Lucifer and Michael keeps popping up in my head, though, because he made it sound like their personalities were directly involved. Hmmm.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

Lucifer's relationship to Michael may be similar to Sam's relationship to Dean if you interpret things a certain way, but I don't think having that relationship has anything to do with their suitability as vessels. They were destined to be vessels from birth, long before anything happened in their lives that could parallel Lucifer and Michael.

[viridian5.livejournal.com]

It really bothered me that it took Dean so long to be sure it wasn't Sam. I mean, c'mon. Really? The only reason Dean didn't get killed was that the ghost inadvertantly saved him.

(Though maybe Satan just has to wait a little while for Dean's diet to kill him. Jeez.)

I also had problems with the episode's gender issues. Female magic users are automatically "bitches" but when it's guys calling up Satan and demons they're so sympathetic. Plus, how freakin' pathetic do you have to be to get and stay into Satanism only because you have a crush on one of the Satanists? This makes me really sad because I liked the actress.

You're right about the major missed opportunity here. That would have been golden.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

With as awkward as they've been with each other, I was willing to overlook Dean not catching on that something was wrong with Sam except for one thing--Sam suddenly not knowing how to drive. That scene never should've been in there. Also? I think Dean did catch on earlier than he showed, but he didn't let on because he was trying to figure out what he was dealing with before he acted.

Plus, how freakin' pathetic do you have to be to get and stay into Satanism only because you have a crush on one of the Satanists?

If you don't believe in Satanism and think the Satanists are just rebellious teenage boys goofing around? No more pathetic than pretending to like your crush's favorite band or learning to play his favorite video games just so you can spend time with him.

[viridian5.livejournal.com]

The not knowing to drive was a huge thing. I saw that Dean was suspicious a ways before he pounced, but he didn't exactly keep as careful eye on things as he should have. The ghost saved his life once and Gary's growing liking of Dean and enjoyment of Sam's muscular, woman-attracting, and bread-eating body saved him later. If not for all that, he would have been dead.

If it's all a goof, sure, though between my Catholic upbringing and Wiccan delvings the idea of playing with Satanism squicked me even as a teen. When a demon possessed Gary and made him draw a beautiful portrait of Dean when Gary can't draw at all, that's the time to find a way out.

[elliemurasaki.livejournal.com]

They were going up against a ghost. That shotgun was loaded with rock salt. Worst-case scenario, Dean's jacket woulda got marked up a bit. And because Sam shooting Dean is OOC for Sam unless Sam's spiked on something, and because Gary probably wouldn't have been able to hide his total shock at the shotgun having rock salt instead of buckshot or something, there's no way Dean wouldn't have clued in right then and there. Would probably have taken a while to come around to the idea of bodyswap if Gary hadn't cooperated, since shapeshifters and demons are considerably more likely in his experience than bodyswap--I'm thinking he tried silver and salt and so forth on Gary offscreen--but he still would've caught on sooner or later and gone looking for Sam. So I'm thinking the ghost slamming Gary into the wall was less to do with keeping Dean alive and more to do with keeping the plot going.

[viridian5.livejournal.com]

As the sister of a paintball enthusiast, I can tell you that the thought of getting hit with rock salt blasted out of a shotgun is nothing to sneer at, especially if it's a head shot.

I get what you're saying, but without being certain of Dean's inner thinking and only seeing him doing a "hunh?" grin over "Sam"'s antics--c'mon, the thing where "Sam" forgot how to drive??--I had to wonder if the writers were making Dean dumb again, which he isn't.

[elliemurasaki.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but (1) Dean's been shot with rock salt before (2) Dean is wearing his jacket this time and leather's pretty tough (and I don't think Gary was aiming for Dean's head, since the head's smaller than the torso and I don't think there's any chance Gary's ever fired a gun before) (3) Dean has definitely been hurt worse no matter where Gary hit him (4) rock salt is not fatal, which is the key point.

I spent most of the ep bitching at Twitter about Dean being an idiot, but on reflection I'm thinking Dean was thinking Sam was either high or happy and Sam being happy is such a rare event that he didn't want to chance ruining the happy by asking if Sam was high. So wishful thinking, and still a bit on the stupid side, but add the fact that Dean didn't know this was the bodyswap ep and his behavior makes sense to me. Though it wouldn't have hurt to pull out one of the exchanges they've had so many times they don't have to think about the responses. (When was the last time we heard the bitch-jerk bit, anyway?)

[viridian5.livejournal.com]

I could see the not wanting to jinx it thing. Though this thing with Gary is the second time in the last two seasons where Dean was much happier with someone not-Sam as a partner.

My "dumb Dean" thing might be exacerbated by how frustrated I've been with recent Supernatural. This episode and last episode in particular, I keep getting the feeling that the writers are working with the shallowest reads of the characters possible. Plus, most lackadaisical Apocalypse ever. Going from what looked like a cliffhanger before the hiatus to this is not making me happy.

[elliemurasaki.livejournal.com]

In fairness to Dean, Sam hasn't exactly been himself for seasons four and five. The specific ways in which Dean sees Nick and Gary as preferable to Sam haven't changed since the pilot and aren't likely ever to (says the girl who just wrote a 5x12 coda in which Sam shows Dean all the classic rock on his iPod), but the general idea of Dean preferring another brother to the Sam he's got makes sense because of course Dean would prefer original-model Sam. (Or, well, model 1 or model 2 over model 3, where model 1 is pre-Stanford and model 2 is between Stanford and hell and model 3 is post-hell. Or possibly post-Mystery Spot.)

[jensenrick.livejournal.com]

My disappointment had more to do with- when Dean got Sam back, it almost seemed like he would have been happier with Gary.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was kind of a sour note to end the episode on.

[cosmicviolet.livejournal.com]

That opens up all kinds of possibilities for Lucifer to take over Sam's body without Sam saying yes.
Yeah, and I find it kind of bothersome. If Lucifer can get a demon to possess Sam and rot him from the inside out, a) why wouldn't he have tried that first, and b) there's no reason for Sam to give his consent if it can be done for him. So it's just a bit too convenient for me.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

I find it something of a relief because I'm tired of Evil!Sam looming on the horizon.

Would the demon possession thing even work though? Sam still has that tattoo that protects him from being possessed. Even if he didn't, if Sam were possessed, he'd still be in his body with the demon. The demon would be in charge, but Sam would still be in there screaming "no" as loud as he could, even if no one could hear him. With the body swap, Gary was the sole occupant of Sam's body, and therefore the only one making decisions in it.

[cosmicviolet.livejournal.com]

Would the demon possession thing even work though?
*shrug* He's Lucifer - I'm sure he can be very persuasive. I was going to say the tattoo didn't seem to be helping to keep the demon out, but as you've pointed out, the rules of body swapping and possession are different.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

I'm sure Lucifer can be very persuasive too, but in that case he could just talk Sam into it himself without an interceding demon possession.

I'm just saying that I don't think Lucifer could possess Sam by way of a demon possessing Sam and saying yes for Sam if Sam were still in his body and saying no. The reason that Gary could give that permission was because he was the sole occupant of Sam's body at the time.

[samazon13.livejournal.com]

You wrote: "The hunting life has always sucked, but Dean used to motivate himself by believing he was fighting for Sam's innocence and the innocence of those like him. Sam was kind of a light in the darkness for Dean, but things have changed, Sam isn't like that anymore, and all that's left is the dark for Dean right now."

Yes - to me it seemed like when he asked that of Sam this time, it had nothing to do with Sam answering *that* question. He already knows the answer - he knew it in Wishful Thinking. I think it's *Dean* that really wants that life, either for himself or for Sam or both. I think he keeps asking because he wants it to be true, even though he knows it's not anymore.

-Samazon

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

In spite of everything Dean's said in the past, I think he's always wanted the family and white picket fence. Pretending he didn't was just a defense mechanism, like if he convinced himself bad enough that he didn't want that life, it wouldn't hurt so much that he didn't have it.