Supernatural: Faith
May 24, 2021 7:58 AM - Season 1, Episode 12 - Subscribe
After Dean is injured on a case and told the physical damage he sustained will kill him within a month, Sam thinks he's found a cure in a preacher who performs miracles. However, after they discover that these miracles are not as "holy" as advertised, the brothers race to stop them before another innocent life is sacrificed.
This is probably one of the strongest early episodes.
posted by sardonyx at 12:51 PM on May 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by sardonyx at 12:51 PM on May 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
I don't mind that eventually reapers just look like normal people, but even with the extremely over the top Don't Fear The Reaper montage the monster design they had in this episode worked really well for what it was.
Though, now that I'm saying that, with some notable exceptions future reapers are mostly pretty nice to people. That's okay too, but the implication here that the last thing everyone is going to see before they die is some silent terrifying old man coming to suck their life out somehow fits the sensibility of this universe better.
I think Dean's understanding and acceptance that one day he'd probably get unlucky and die in a stupid hunting accident for no reason is sincere, and also absolutely part of why Sam felt like he had to get the hell out of that house.
posted by jameaterblues at 7:15 PM on May 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
Though, now that I'm saying that, with some notable exceptions future reapers are mostly pretty nice to people. That's okay too, but the implication here that the last thing everyone is going to see before they die is some silent terrifying old man coming to suck their life out somehow fits the sensibility of this universe better.
I think Dean's understanding and acceptance that one day he'd probably get unlucky and die in a stupid hunting accident for no reason is sincere, and also absolutely part of why Sam felt like he had to get the hell out of that house.
posted by jameaterblues at 7:15 PM on May 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
The writing for this episode was stellar. Discussion of the ethics of how to go about rebalancing a supernatural situation without being boring.
posted by porpoise at 7:31 PM on May 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by porpoise at 7:31 PM on May 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
When I attempt to introduce people to Supernatural, I tell them to skip most of season 1. But this episode is always one I tell people to watch. What a great episode.
posted by lilac girl at 9:06 PM on May 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by lilac girl at 9:06 PM on May 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
Layla is such a great character, partly due to the actor's screen presence (Darla, my heart forever).
This starts both Supernatural's tradition of killing gay characters with the man dying for Dean and the start of the brothers bargaining with the supernatural to prevent the death of the other.
Death's nihilism is I think his great character arc (don't talk to me about the last episode, la la I can't hear you la la) over the entire show, moving from someone who starts of with an absolute belief and acceptance that he will die young, and the conflict that drives/drags the show on and on - that each brother will die to keep the other one alive.
I wish they'd stuck with the creepy reapers though, such a great design choice.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 11:53 PM on May 25, 2021
This starts both Supernatural's tradition of killing gay characters with the man dying for Dean and the start of the brothers bargaining with the supernatural to prevent the death of the other.
Death's nihilism is I think his great character arc (don't talk to me about the last episode, la la I can't hear you la la) over the entire show, moving from someone who starts of with an absolute belief and acceptance that he will die young, and the conflict that drives/drags the show on and on - that each brother will die to keep the other one alive.
I wish they'd stuck with the creepy reapers though, such a great design choice.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 11:53 PM on May 25, 2021
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Sam: I talked to your doctor...
Dean: That fabric softener teddy bear... oooh, I'ma hunt that little bitch down.
Dean: Hey. You better take care of that car. Or I swear I'll haunt your ass.
Sam: What the hell are you doin' here?
Dean: Checked myself out.
Sam: Are you crazy?
Dean: Well, I'm not gonna die in a hospital where the nurses aren't even hot.
Sam: But if there was something there Dean, I would have seen it too. I mean, I've been seeing an awful lot lately.
Dean: Oh, excuse me, psychic wonder!
Dean: God save us from half the people who think they're doing God's work.
I had never seen this episode before!! I must have missed it on my first run through last fall. It makes me wonder if there are any others I inadvertently skipped over. This episode includes an explanation of what reapers are and what they do, so I missed out on that, but it's not like that's not intuitive. This was also the first time the Winchester boys cheated death.
Even after a massive heart attack, and almost too physically weak to walk around (realistically, he would be too weak even to do that so soon after his heart attack), Dean is still checking out women.
Layla's situation was so sad. Sam and Dean's work is pretty heartbreaking at the end of the day, even when they succeed in their hunt. All they do is kill evil supernatural beings before they kill more people than they already have -- there is so much they can't fix.
posted by orange swan at 8:15 AM on May 24, 2021