Supernatural: First Born
November 12, 2021 5:34 AM - Season 9, Episode 11 - Subscribe
Sam and Castiel believe that they found a way to track Gadreel. Dean and Crowley team up to find the First Blade, which is in the hands of the biblical Cain.
Quotes
Dean: Tara, listen, my, uh... associate...
Crowley: Friend. Besties, actually.
Dean: Not helping!
Tara: Not caring.
Castiel: [bites into a sandwich with a puzzled look] Hmm... Tastes like... molecules.
Sam: What? What are you talking about?
Castiel: When I was human, you know, I had to eat constantly. It was kind of annoying.
Sam: Yeah, a lot of human things are pretty annoying.
Castiel: But... I enjoyed the taste of food -- particularly peanut butter with grape jelly, not jam. Jam I found unsettling.
Sam: So, what? Now you can't taste PB & J?
Castiel: No, I taste every molecule.
Sam: Not the sum of its parts, huh?
Castiel: It's overwhelming. It's disgusting. I miss you PB & J.
Sam: What?
Castiel: Nothing.
Sam: You're a terrible liar.
Castiel: That is not true. I once deceived and betrayed both you and your brother.
Dean: Abaddon? Way worse. I'll deal with Crowley after. Trust me.
Tara: You sound just like your dad... when he said he'd call me.
Crowley: Kraken? I got a warehouse full of Kraken essence in Belize. Break the trap, I can be there and back before you say, "Presto."
Tara: Presto.
Crowley: ...
Dean: The rest of the file's empty, genius.
Crowley: What? Didn't they teach note-taking at Hunters Hogwarts?
Castiel: Sam, may I ask you a question?
Sam: You just did.
Castiel: Can I ask you another question?
Sam: Well, technically, you --- [sighs] Yeah, go ahead.
Sam: It's all right, Cass. You, uh... You were right. You were right about everything. [hugs him tightly]
Castiel: ...
Sam: Now's the part where you hug back.
Castiel: Oh. Right. Uh, sorry. [hugs Sam back]
Crowley: [searching Cain's place for the First Blade] Nothing. Not even porn.
Crowley: [at John's storage locker] So, what do you call this decor, anyway? Rustic obsessive? Paranoid deco?
Trivia
The role of Cain was written for specifically for Timothy Omundson.
During the fight scenes in this episode, Jensen Ackles did his own stunts. During one scene, Jensen Ackles accidentally cut the face of the man playing a demon. The demon was portrayed by his stunt double.
Cain tells Dean that Abel wasn't the favourite of God -- rather, that Abel was being tempted by Lucifer. This mirrors Dean and Sam's relations to Heaven and Hell -- only Dean was able to save his brother, whereas Cain killed his.
As Dean and Crowley enter her shop, Tara is reading "Welcome to Lovecraft", the first part of the Locke & Key fantasy/horror graphic novels series.
Opening scene shows Cain with the jawbone of some large grass eater. At no point does the Bible even hint at how Cain killed Abel -- no weapon is described. The common association of Cain and jawbones might simply be conflation with the tale of Sampson and Delilah.
Zachariah told Sam and Dean they were direct descendants of Cain and Abel, so the mark would naturally go to Dean, even though Cain makes Dean work for the mark.
Quotes
Dean: Tara, listen, my, uh... associate...
Crowley: Friend. Besties, actually.
Dean: Not helping!
Tara: Not caring.
Castiel: [bites into a sandwich with a puzzled look] Hmm... Tastes like... molecules.
Sam: What? What are you talking about?
Castiel: When I was human, you know, I had to eat constantly. It was kind of annoying.
Sam: Yeah, a lot of human things are pretty annoying.
Castiel: But... I enjoyed the taste of food -- particularly peanut butter with grape jelly, not jam. Jam I found unsettling.
Sam: So, what? Now you can't taste PB & J?
Castiel: No, I taste every molecule.
Sam: Not the sum of its parts, huh?
Castiel: It's overwhelming. It's disgusting. I miss you PB & J.
Sam: What?
Castiel: Nothing.
Sam: You're a terrible liar.
Castiel: That is not true. I once deceived and betrayed both you and your brother.
Dean: Abaddon? Way worse. I'll deal with Crowley after. Trust me.
Tara: You sound just like your dad... when he said he'd call me.
Crowley: Kraken? I got a warehouse full of Kraken essence in Belize. Break the trap, I can be there and back before you say, "Presto."
Tara: Presto.
Crowley: ...
Dean: The rest of the file's empty, genius.
Crowley: What? Didn't they teach note-taking at Hunters Hogwarts?
Castiel: Sam, may I ask you a question?
Sam: You just did.
Castiel: Can I ask you another question?
Sam: Well, technically, you --- [sighs] Yeah, go ahead.
Sam: It's all right, Cass. You, uh... You were right. You were right about everything. [hugs him tightly]
Castiel: ...
Sam: Now's the part where you hug back.
Castiel: Oh. Right. Uh, sorry. [hugs Sam back]
Crowley: [searching Cain's place for the First Blade] Nothing. Not even porn.
Crowley: [at John's storage locker] So, what do you call this decor, anyway? Rustic obsessive? Paranoid deco?
Trivia
The role of Cain was written for specifically for Timothy Omundson.
During the fight scenes in this episode, Jensen Ackles did his own stunts. During one scene, Jensen Ackles accidentally cut the face of the man playing a demon. The demon was portrayed by his stunt double.
Cain tells Dean that Abel wasn't the favourite of God -- rather, that Abel was being tempted by Lucifer. This mirrors Dean and Sam's relations to Heaven and Hell -- only Dean was able to save his brother, whereas Cain killed his.
As Dean and Crowley enter her shop, Tara is reading "Welcome to Lovecraft", the first part of the Locke & Key fantasy/horror graphic novels series.
Opening scene shows Cain with the jawbone of some large grass eater. At no point does the Bible even hint at how Cain killed Abel -- no weapon is described. The common association of Cain and jawbones might simply be conflation with the tale of Sampson and Delilah.
Zachariah told Sam and Dean they were direct descendants of Cain and Abel, so the mark would naturally go to Dean, even though Cain makes Dean work for the mark.
He's always a bit of a babe. I must admit, he was never on my radar screen until Galavant, but ever since then, he's become one of those actors I ways pay attention to when I come across them.
posted by sardonyx at 8:41 AM on November 12, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by sardonyx at 8:41 AM on November 12, 2021 [2 favorites]
I don’t always go for the fish out of water thing but I legit loled at Castiel’s affront at not having been advised of the guinea pig.
It's naive for me to even wish at this point Cain had a motivation other than Dead Wife #4,162, but again I'd love to know something more about this woman who hooked up with an arch-murderer from the dawn of time and was like "I can change him."
I guess it makes sense that if John knew some of the truth about Sam, it might have included him being Lucifer’s vessel, and from there he’d know Lucifer was an archangel and all that. I don’t love the retcon that John knew all about archangels and their weapons and am absolutely not doing the mental work of figuring out what that means for the first five seasons. The Cain and Abel thing is straight preposterous.
Tara breaking a devils trap by SHOOTING A HOLE in her own floor=same energy all hunters everywhere bring to slicing their palms to ribbons to get some blood.
Dean and Crowley probably net slightly more chaotic energy, that said Sam and Castiel were on their own for like five seconds before they were down in the dungeon doing weird old-timey experimental surgery.
posted by jameaterblues at 11:46 AM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
It's naive for me to even wish at this point Cain had a motivation other than Dead Wife #4,162, but again I'd love to know something more about this woman who hooked up with an arch-murderer from the dawn of time and was like "I can change him."
I guess it makes sense that if John knew some of the truth about Sam, it might have included him being Lucifer’s vessel, and from there he’d know Lucifer was an archangel and all that. I don’t love the retcon that John knew all about archangels and their weapons and am absolutely not doing the mental work of figuring out what that means for the first five seasons. The Cain and Abel thing is straight preposterous.
Tara breaking a devils trap by SHOOTING A HOLE in her own floor=same energy all hunters everywhere bring to slicing their palms to ribbons to get some blood.
Dean and Crowley probably net slightly more chaotic energy, that said Sam and Castiel were on their own for like five seconds before they were down in the dungeon doing weird old-timey experimental surgery.
posted by jameaterblues at 11:46 AM on November 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
Sam and Castiel were actually in a room that looked like some sort of surgery or infirmary, which is yet another resource that the magical bunker has.
posted by orange swan at 6:33 PM on November 12, 2021
posted by orange swan at 6:33 PM on November 12, 2021
"You're good. ... But I'm Crowley."
Is such a Crowley thing to say, and it was such a punk move, too.
Cain *and* Abel
Yeah, the writers already mucked up that particular bit of mythology already in s03e15 'The Song Remains the Same.'
I figure the Christian Bible is as much required reading for Hunters as other collected folklore documenting supernatural creepy crawlies - and how to dispatch them.
Rachel Hayward (Tara) and Timothy Omundson (Cain) are very attractive mature adults. I wonder if they made Ackles grow out those horrid cheekbone whiskers to make Omundson's facial hair (and that dropped swoop hank of hair) even more classy-looking?
The characterization of Tara having a "bum knee" whenever a demon was around is laughably stupid. It feels like the writers/ director are all sub 30yo and writing the "old injury" thing out of a game of telephone than ever actually having suffered from a long term effect of activity-related joint injury. I get why Hayward played along with the direction, but, shit.
This show's done Leinenkugel's beer before. I don't recognize the label (that Cain's drinking) - did they change it since 2000-ish? Yes, I guess they did. Looks stupid. Since it's an actual brand, I wonder who pushed for that, used the real label, and either recreated the labels or got some sent to Canada? I also haven't had a Leinies since 2000.
Dean saying "you never gave up on family before" to MF-ing Cain? lol
But that Cain flashback wasn't half bad. Relatively. Also the shorthand for the climax of a 80's HK heroic bloodshed action flick's climax in that farmhouse.
posted by porpoise at 7:40 PM on November 12, 2021
Is such a Crowley thing to say, and it was such a punk move, too.
Cain *and* Abel
Yeah, the writers already mucked up that particular bit of mythology already in s03e15 'The Song Remains the Same.'
I figure the Christian Bible is as much required reading for Hunters as other collected folklore documenting supernatural creepy crawlies - and how to dispatch them.
Rachel Hayward (Tara) and Timothy Omundson (Cain) are very attractive mature adults. I wonder if they made Ackles grow out those horrid cheekbone whiskers to make Omundson's facial hair (and that dropped swoop hank of hair) even more classy-looking?
The characterization of Tara having a "bum knee" whenever a demon was around is laughably stupid. It feels like the writers/ director are all sub 30yo and writing the "old injury" thing out of a game of telephone than ever actually having suffered from a long term effect of activity-related joint injury. I get why Hayward played along with the direction, but, shit.
This show's done Leinenkugel's beer before. I don't recognize the label (that Cain's drinking) - did they change it since 2000-ish? Yes, I guess they did. Looks stupid. Since it's an actual brand, I wonder who pushed for that, used the real label, and either recreated the labels or got some sent to Canada? I also haven't had a Leinies since 2000.
Dean saying "you never gave up on family before" to MF-ing Cain? lol
But that Cain flashback wasn't half bad. Relatively. Also the shorthand for the climax of a 80's HK heroic bloodshed action flick's climax in that farmhouse.
posted by porpoise at 7:40 PM on November 12, 2021
I haven't watched this run of episodes since they were new, so this may not be the best episode to note it, but I remember being quite impressed by Padelecki's impression of Tahmoh Penikett as Gadreel. Penikett doesn't seem like an actor who would be easy to impersonate, there's no obvious "hook" there, but somehow you knew instantly when Gadreel was speaking through Sam. It was like, Sam just switched off, and Penikett was there instead. I think Padelicki's an underrated actor in general. A lot of people dismiss his talents, and I never get that. He can't quite bring the fireworks the way Ackles can, but he sure knows what he's doing.
For an atheist (or at least, he was one until he learned otherwise), Dean seems to be quite familiar with the Bible. How would that have happened? I can't see John Winchester making his boys go to Sunday School.
I can buy that at some point in his childhood Dean was religious, only to turn his back on it in his teens. Living with the kind of constant fear that he did, surrounded by all that supernatural stuff, it's not too surprising that he might have sought solace in religion. It would also make sense that a lot of unanswered prayers would lead him to conclude that it's all a bunch of hooey. Alternately it may be that John was always drilling the boys on monsters, demons, angels, etc., which may have included some bible study. I'm not sure if John was aware that angels and God were real, but he sure knew demons were a thing.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 6:10 PM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
For an atheist (or at least, he was one until he learned otherwise), Dean seems to be quite familiar with the Bible. How would that have happened? I can't see John Winchester making his boys go to Sunday School.
I can buy that at some point in his childhood Dean was religious, only to turn his back on it in his teens. Living with the kind of constant fear that he did, surrounded by all that supernatural stuff, it's not too surprising that he might have sought solace in religion. It would also make sense that a lot of unanswered prayers would lead him to conclude that it's all a bunch of hooey. Alternately it may be that John was always drilling the boys on monsters, demons, angels, etc., which may have included some bible study. I'm not sure if John was aware that angels and God were real, but he sure knew demons were a thing.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 6:10 PM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
It's impossible for Sam and Dean to be the direct descendants of Cain *and* Abel.
Is this something in the lore? Because if you just mean genealogically, this isn't at all impossible, it just means John and Mary (or some other couple in their ancestry) were nth-degree cousins. Like sure if both your grandfathers were brothers, that'd be fucked up, but if two of your 128 great-great-great-great-great-great grandfathers were brothers, much less fucked up.
posted by solotoro at 10:11 AM on November 10, 2023
Is this something in the lore? Because if you just mean genealogically, this isn't at all impossible, it just means John and Mary (or some other couple in their ancestry) were nth-degree cousins. Like sure if both your grandfathers were brothers, that'd be fucked up, but if two of your 128 great-great-great-great-great-great grandfathers were brothers, much less fucked up.
posted by solotoro at 10:11 AM on November 10, 2023
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
For an atheist (or at least, he was one until he learned otherwise), Dean seems to be quite familiar with the Bible. How would that have happened? I can't see John Winchester making his boys go to Sunday School.
Speaking of John, he spent a "lovely weekend" with Tara. Seems like at least some of John's time away from his boys, who as we've seen spent a lot of time on their own in shitty motel rooms when too young to be left alone, was spent banging women.
Speaking of Tara, ever notice how female hunters are always attractive and look good in a tank top and skinny jeans, even though the male ones aren't much to look at?
Cain, like Death, is another remarkably well-cast role. Timothy Omundson has such an Old Testament look.
The Supernatural set designers seem to be fond of stained glass window accents in the houses and other sets on this show. The beehive stained glass window in Cain's house was a nice touch in Cain's house.
Cain stabbed his wife the instant *after* Abbadon left her...really? He doesn't seem like a guy with poor reflexes. That scene should have been better choreographed.
posted by orange swan at 5:40 AM on November 12, 2021 [2 favorites]