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by Kate Blake – admin Multipleverses

Review and summary of Free to Be Me and You and The End

The last two weeks the Winchester brothers have been separated – both trying in their own ways to deal with their role in the world and determine what they need to do next.

Free to Be You and Me opens with a great side by side montage with Sam trying to go all normal and ordinary while things are life as usual with Dean in the Impala, wearing his suit, doing the men in black thing and ganking a vampire with a jab at Twilight.

Sam’s Story
Free to Be Me and You opened with Sam working at a bar, washing dishes, doing prep work and bussing tables in small town Oklahoma. He is going through the motions of life as we see by his very mechanical movements while cutting lemons which mirrors his robotic motions in the season 3 episode Mystery Spot where we saw Sam on his own without Dean. Sam has no direction, no purpose, he is laying low and trying to figure out what comes next. It is a good plan except that two things get in the way. First off- there is this little thing called the Apocalypse which he helped start. Omens start popping up in the town where he is. Sam calls Bobby and suggests he send some hunters down his way to deal with them. Bobby has issues of his own – we see him in a wheelchair at his house in his brief time on camera.

Sam is also dealing with two women in his life- one is a nosy co-worker Lindsey played capably by guest star Emma Bell. Lindsey really wants to know more about Sam and his life story. Sam initially is able to put her off by beating her in a challenge with darts- but she is not to be deterred. She pushes him and gets a grudging confession from Sam that he used to be in the family business with his brother before he did something that he is not proud of. She asks him what he did that could not be forgiven. Sam does not answer but that is the big question of the episode. Can Sam be forgiven by Dean? By the other hunters, by himself and by God? He is forced to face other hunters when Bobby’s team strolls in asking Sam what is going on. They bust Sam who is going by the name Keith-leading to an akward exchange with Lindsey over his name which he claims is Keith Samuel. The hunters ask Sam why he isn’t hunting and he dodge’s their question just has he has been dodging Lindsey’s questions. Later that night the hunters return- down to two with one of thier numbers taken out by the nest of demons in town. They confront Sam with the demon’s story that Sam drinks demon blood and can take out demons with his mind. They try to force blood into him while they hold Lindsey hostage. Sam fights back and gets them to leave while spitting out the blood. Lindsey looks on in horror but seems to be done asking questions.

Sam’s issue in this episode is all about self-determination and choice. He has free will and how he exercises it from here on out will be critical. How do you recover from making the biggest mistake in the history of mankind and letting yourself get tricked into allowing Lucifer to walk the earth? Can you make choices and are there any deeds to balance out that mistake? Some fans are saying Lindsey is actually God testing Sam- seeing if he can make the right choices. Dean was tested remember- and every time Dean chose others over himself. Sam chooses to save the girl and spits out the blood – he chooses to not hurt anyone. He chooses life over death. This is always a good choice.

That night Sam has a second dream. He had one in the opening with his beloved Jessica appearing as a gentle loving force wanting to look out for him. It was great to see Adrianne Palicki back- she and Jared have good chemistry and their scenes are very believable as something Sam would run in his own head – talking to the one person who is beyond being able to be hurt by him at this time. The second dream he turns to her-  but things are not so nice. In the middle of their conversation Jessica morphs into the human form that Lucifer is currently inhabiting and tells Sam that Sam has been chosen as Lucifer’s vessel. Sam springs up in horror and denies he will ever give in and allow that to happen. Lucifer assures him he will. We see that Sam is scared. He knows that he was fooled by Ruby and she was not Lucifer. She couldn’t get into his head and seduce him with fancy words and head trips. Lucifer’s promise is the push Sam has needed to push him back into action. Lucifer gives Sam a story about oh woe is me – I am the poor outcast angel and Sam recoils in horror but is not ready to fight a battle of words.

Dean’s Story
Dean gets a call from Castiel who has a plan for his next step in his search for God. Cas has been to Jerusalem for some special oil that is instrumental to his plan. He is ready to teleport Dean off to Maine where Raphael- the archangel who smote Cas has been seen. Dean puts the kabosh on that transportation plan- apparently angel travel causes humans some serious intestinal distress. They get in the car and head to Maine. The adventures of Cas and Dean take over from here. They go to speak to the sheriff in the town to get info and Cas has a straight forward plan ” We will tell him we saw an angel and he will tell us who he is” – Dean gives him a strange look and then tells him “We’re humans- if we want something – we lie”. They head in with Cas as the secondary, Dean taking the lead asking about the events in town that lead to the Archangel stepping into his vessel. They get the name of the man and his address which is the local mental hospital. The empty vessel is that- a shell without any real consciousness of his own. Once they see him, Cas gets a plan together in his head.

Back at the house they are squatting in Cas tells Dean he will most likely survive though Cas probably won’t. This leads Dean to contemplation ” You mean this may be your last night on earth?” When Cas says he plans to spend it in quiet contemplation, Dean has other plans. “I know two things- Bert and Ernie are gay and you are not going to die a virgin.” I think Dean is still feeling bad about poor little Nancy from Jus in Bello who did just that. Next stop- house of ill repute. It is in Maine so the place is pretty much a seedy bar with girls in skimpy lingerie. Cas is wide eyed and not sure of anything. This is not what he had in mind for the evening. Dean pushes him into the willing hands of a pretty blond and gives Cas a wad of money telling him to order off the menu- nothing extra. With Cas on his way he thinks things are fine until we hear a scream. Dean runs to the back- Cas has told the young woman it was not her fault that her father left because he was so unhappy working for the post office. Oy. The guys end up running out the back as the bouncers come looking for them. Dean runs out and realizes he is laughing. And comments that is the first time in a long time when has laughed at anything.

Dawn breaks and Dean and Cas perform a ritual at the hospital- seemingly without any results. They later head back to the house and soon after they walk in Raphael shows up in a blast of white light. He wants Cas’ head on a platter- and wants Dean to give in to Michael and end the Apocalypse. At this point Dean lights a match and we see that there is a ring of oil at Raphael’s feet and as it burn and flames- the angel is trapped. Cas asks him about God and does not get any real answers. The angels feel abandoned by their father and angry at the human beings and are tired of waiting for God- they want paradise and peace. Raphael threatens Cas that he will hunt him down if he doesn’t release him. Cas turns and says ” not today- today you are my little bitch”, and walks out. Dean is in awe and simply says ” what he said”. Back in the car later Cas is having issues- he does not want to believe God is gone. Dean tells him he knows all about looking for a missing father and that it takes real faith to know that your father is alive and out there and though all things over and over pointed out that his own father was gone- Dean never gave up, and Cas shouldn’t either. Dean tells Cas to do what he needs to do- Dean says he is ok without Sam and can’t believe how much easier it is being on his own without Sam and not worrying about him and that he is having fun with Cas- even though Cas is not too much fun.  With this Cas zaps out- leaving Dean eating his words as he drives on all alone.

END of Episode 503.

THE END begins pretty much where Free to Be You and Me ended. Dean is on the road and pulls into a hotel in Kansas City, parking the Impala outside the SRO. He has a bible thumper ask him if his soul is rapture ready and has he contemplated God’s plan for him. Dean answers ” way too much”. And heads upstairs as the young man looks up at him paying close attention to Dean.

Dean has just walked in the door when Cas calls telling him he has a lead on the colt and will be where Dean is instantly so they can go get it from the demons who have it- Dean protests- he needs sleep and food. Cas agrees to wait until morning. Dean is asleep when the phone rings and he answers it with “Cas I told you I need sleep!” But it isn’t Cas- it is Sam. On the road- running away from Oklahoma. Sam tells Dean about his visit from Lucifer and that he wants back in. He needs back in. Dean is not ready to reconcile. He suggests they need to each pick a hemisphere and stay apart since everything is their joint fault. I was thinking as he said this- yeah and they can do more damage that way……Dean basically blows Sam off before heading back to bed after sucking down a beer.

Dean wakes up and the room he is staying in looks worse than when he went to bed. The walls are crumbling and their are scorch marks everywhere. He heads outside to devastation and urban decay. He sees a little girl- our first creepy little girl of the season and when she pulls her head up she is holding a shard of broken mirror and comes at Dean.

He looks up to see the word Croatoan on a wall and then sees a bunch of zombied out guys coming down the street- and they are after him. He takes off running and escapes when two tanks full of marines pull up and open fire with the music ” Do You Love Me” blasting. The music is jarring as is the violence.

Dean escapes and sees a sign that says that the city has been in lockdown and the date is 2014. He needs a game plan, he hot wires a car and heads to Bobby’s house. He gets there and finds the remains of Bobby’s life including an empty wheelchair with a bullet hole in it. Dean pulls out the center stone in the fireplace and finds Bobby’s hunting diary which has a photo showing a camp. Dean has a place to look now for answers. He hits the road. He lands in the camp in the middle of the night and finds an horrible sight- the Impala is on blocks and rusting away. As he is leaning inside his baby he is clocked from behind and knocked out. 

Dean comes to and sees – himself. It is a reflection of himself. A dark reflection. Apparently Dean is the leader of a human resistance and trying to stop the inevitable. Future Dean needs to head out on a mission and leaves Dean handcuffed in a supply shed. This doesn’t last as Dean picks the lock and gets out- and finds that Zachariah is behind his crappy trip to the future. This is Zachariah’s object lesson showing Dean why he has to give in to Michael. He is leaving Dean here for three days to see the consequences of his actions.

Out of cuffs Dean explores the camp. He finds that Chuck  and Cas are there but nothing is as it seems. A woman Risa played by Stargate alum Lexa Doig ( who is married to Michael Shanks) gets after Dean for spending the night with another woman. Dean is being blamed for future Dean’s indescretions. On the road to weird he comes upon Cas sitting in a circle with a bunch of women who are looking to him as a guru- reminding me of Gauis and his hippy cult on BSG. Dean is shocked as Cas suggests the girls clean up before the orgy. If this isn’t disturbing enough, future Dean is back from his mission. No sooner have he and his men debarked from their vehicles than Dean grabs a gun and blows one of his own men away.

Dean is shocked. His future self claims the man was infected while on the mission and it was a mercy killing. Later there is a planning meeting and future Dean tells them he knows where Lucifer is and this is it. They are going to take the Colt which he has managed to get and kill Lucifer. Dean had asked about Sam earlier and was told Sam didn’t make it out of a fight in Detroit. Dean has been thinking his brother is dead. He sees his future self as this hard man without a soul and already doesn’t like what he is seeing. When Dean asks future Dean how do they know the intel is good, Cas says their fearless leader has his ways. Oh great- Dean is torturing demons again. Dean insists on going on the mission- future Dean tells him he wants him to so he can see what they are up against and that when Zach zaps him back he needs to say yes to Michael. The angels have now left earth and though future Dean has shouted yes to the heavens there is nobody left to hear him. Dean is suspicious of this. He knows Zachariah can control what he is seeing- he did it before when he dropped Sam and Dean into the ironworks without their memories.

The team is gearing up to go and before Dean gets into the SUV with Cas – Chuck pulls him aside for some words of wisdom. Toilet paper- hoard toliet paper like it is gold. I KNEW IT! I personally have a thing about TP – I get very nervous if the household supply is below a dozen rolls, now I know that there is good reason for this worry. Watch the clip below where Dean and Cas talk about where Cas is and his place in the universe of man.

Upon arriving at the demon stronghold where they have been told Lucifer is holed up Dean takes future Dean aside and discovers the real plan. Future Dean is sacrificing Cas and his friends including his lover to cause a distraction while he goes in the back way in order to get to Lucifer. Dean is horrified. He sees his own humanity stripped away. He protests and is knocked out. He comes to and runs to the back after he hears the guns inside stop- indicating all are dead. He sees then future Dean on the ground under Lucifers heel as Lucifer breaks his neck. The man in white turns- it is Lucifer wearing Sam’s meat suit. Future Dean warned Dean that Sam did not die- he did something worse- he said yes, but the full import of what that meant did not really sink in until he saw Sam/ Lucifer. Dean can’t believe he wouldn’t go after Sam or try to get through to him- that he would really let things go this far. Dean watches Sam/ Lucifer in horror, and Lucifer realizes that Dean is from the past and tells him a story about why poor little Lucifer was so upset and why it is ok that he is destroying the earth. This is pretty close to the tale he told to Sam the week before. He tries to make himself sound better than he is but Dean fights back with a great line that Lucifer is no different from every evil thing he has spent his entire life hunting and killing- evil, selfish and unnatural and he will not let him win. I was surprised that Dean did not comment on the Jim Baker tele-evangelist get up that Lucifer was sporting. I know Tammy Faye had to be around somewhere.

Zachariah pulls Dean out of the situation just in time- and then tries to give Dean a hard sell about why he needs to give in to Michael so this won’t happen. Dean is getting ready for a big argument when Cas pulls him out and zaps Dean to where he is waiting – as he said he would. Dean stops just short of hugging Cas and tells him that he doesn’t want him to change.

Together again.
The End ends with Dean and Sam meeting under the overpass that we last saw in Salvation when the Winchester men were formulating their joint game plan to hunt the yellow eyed demon. That I will point out right now did not go too well- the Impala was smashed, Dean almost died and Dad went to hell in a deal he made to keep Dean alive. The brothers have been through so much since then. Sam is scared and determined. Dean knows that they need to get past their issues and work toward a new plan. He is not sure what it is- Sam isn’t either but both know one thing- they do not want Lucifer to win and they can’t trust the angels to take care of things for them.

Where do things stand now? Lucifer is walking the earth and campaigning to get Sam to say yes. The angels want Dean to say yes. Dean Winchester is a man who has said yes to many things but he is determined not to give up himself unless he is certain of the outcome and right now he doesn’t trust the angels to do the right thing- after all they were as responsible for bringing on the end of days as anyone. Sam – well his new theme song should be ” Don’t get fooled again”. He is ready for a new path. This demon crap? He’s had enough. He doesn’t want revenge. He wants redemption. Dean is searching deep down for the same thing. He tells Sam that one thing he knows- the two of them together keep them both human. He saw what life without hope did to him- he was stripped as bare of his humanity as the demon version of himself he saw in his nightmares before hell. Sam knows what the consequences of his actions are and will now do all he has to to keep Lucifer from ever getting ahold of him.

The road so far has been rocky- but now our heroes are resolute. They are uncertain of their exact path or a game plan but they are in search of one- together. That is a good start. Humanity is depending on them! Castiel is searching for his father and is as determined as Sam and Dean to find him. Supernatural fans frequently question the producer’s vision for the show but personally I love the fact that both Dean and Sam have had their time apart to get their thoughts and feelings in order so that they can now go forward without any more lies. No more secrets. They can start building their trust and their way back to true brotherhood. I have a feeling that the Winchester family way of self sacrifice is not done and we will see more twists and turns all season. I can’t wait!

This entry was posted on Monday, October 5th, 2009 at 11:04 pm and is filed under Supernatural. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.