Supernatural: My Heart Will Go On
September 11, 2021 5:13 AM - Season 6, Episode 17 - Subscribe
The Winchesters discover that Balthazar has changed the world in countless small and far-reaching ways by going back in time to 1912 and stopping a ship called the Titanic from sinking.
Quotes:
Dean: Why did you unsink the ship?
Balthazar: Oh, because I hated the movie.
Dean: What movie?
Balthazar: Exactly!
Sam: Wait, so you saved a cruise-liner because...?
Balthazar: Because that god-awful Celine Dion song made me want to smite myself!
Dean: Accidents just don't happen accidentally.
Sam: ...
Dean: You know what I mean.
Balthazar: Sorry, you have me confused with the other angel. You know, the one in the dirty trench coat who's in love with you.
Dean: Who's Celine Dion?
Balthazar: She's a destitute lounge singer in Quebec... and let's keep it that way!
Sam: So you just, what, unsunk a giant boat?
Balthazar: Oh, come on, I saved people. I thought you loved that kind of thing.
Sam: Yeah, but now those people and their kids and their kids' kids... They must have interacted with so many other people changed so much crap. You totally butterfly effected history.
Dean: Dude, dude. Rule one: No Kutcher references.
Balthazar: Yes, unfortunately, there's still an Ashton Kutcher. And you still averted an apocalypse and there are still archangels.
Balthazar: [to Fate] Uh, sweetie, before we go, um, I could remove that stick from your...
Fate: Don't try me.
Balthazar: Oh, we'll leave it inserted, then.
Dean: [asking about the Russo family] Was anyone ever killed or maimed in a war? Or, you know, some other violent thing?
Shawn Russo: What do you mean?
Dean: Like something so dark that it would sully future generations.
Shawn Russo: Uh, no.
Dean: Good. Good stuff. Anyone own a slave?
Shawn Russo: What?
Dean: Routine question. Any ties to the Nazi Party?
Shawn Russo: Excuse me?
Dean: Did Grandma ever piss off a gypsy?
Dean: So... wait, did -- did Balthazar really, uh... unravel a sweater over a chick flick?
Castiel: Yes. Absolutely, that's what he did.
Dean: Wow, well, might be time to take away his cable privileges. Besides, Titanic didn't suck that bad.
Sam: ...
Dean: Winslet's rack.
Castiel: [vanishes]
Dean: Well, I'll tell you one thing about Cass... he does not appreciate the finer things.
Dean: What'd she look like?
Sam: Kinda like a librarian.
Dean Your kind of librarian, or my kind of librarian?
Sam: Well, she was wearing clothes, if that's what you mean.
Sam: Ship almost hit an iceberg.
Dean: Almost? So?
Sam: So, uh, looks like the first mate spotted it just in time.
Dean: Good for him. There anything else?
Sam: Wait a second... Uh, this first mate. Mr. I.P. Freeley.
Dean: Well, that's not suspicious.
Balthazar: Let's agree I did a good thing. One less Billy Zane movie and I saved two of your closest friends.
Trivia:
The name of this episode is a nod to the 1997 movie Titanic. Back in his early modeling days, Jensen Ackles modeled for a company that made and sold a version of the "Heart of the Ocean" necklace from the movie. He was photographed holding the necklace in print ads.
This episode aired on the 99th anniversary of the Titanic sinking.
The name of the hotel Sam and Dean stay at is the White Star Motel, which is an allusion to the White Star Line, the shipping line that owned the Titanic.
The business cards and a book on the travel agents desk all feature the name "E.J. Smith", the name of the captain of the RMS Titanic.
The beer bottle in the first scene shows an image of an iceberg.
At the Travel Agency, there are posters on the wall for Detroit as "America's Top City" and one for Cuba. Since Detroit has been in decline for decades now and Cuba at that time was still under a trade embargo that barred tourist travel, this reflects differences in the new timeline.
Sam tells Balthazar, "You totally butterfly-effected history." He is referring to the chaos theory principle, that a small change in the initial condition of a system will result in larger changes in later conditions. He is also referring to the Ashton Kutcher movie The Butterfly Effect.
In the alternate timeline, there is a photo of Bobby and Ellen outside of Bobby's place by a sign that reads B & E Repair Shop (as in Bobby and Ellen) instead of the usual Singer Auto, which we see when the boys return the original timeline.
The number plate of the car Dean and Sam get into after being kicked out of Bobby's at the beginning of the episode is the old Impala number plate. KAZ 2Y5.
Eric Kripke, the show's creator, originally envisioned the Winchester boys driving a 1965 Ford Mustang. In the alternate timeline, they drive a 1967 Ford Mustang fastback.
The episode features many Final Destination references, whether intentional or unintentional. The plots both follow a group of people dying after escaping fate, and both even feature a character being run down by a bus right in front of the main characters as they stand by and watch in horror.
In the scene where Dean tries to stop the lawyer from being killed, the bus that kills the lawyer has a "bus number" that reads 666 in the back window above the advertisement of the lawyers' face.
The travel agent spills water into the back of the copier and it goes haywire. Even if that water had enough minerals in it to conduct, it would've blown the fuse for her office and turned the copier off (so it wouldn't have been able to do anything it did).
The travel agent's scarf was clearly still loose around the front of her neck, putting no pressure on either of the major arteries or her trachea. Not only was the scarf not strangling her, but her death happened in a matter of seconds, when strangulation takes minutes to kill.
Quotes:
Dean: Why did you unsink the ship?
Balthazar: Oh, because I hated the movie.
Dean: What movie?
Balthazar: Exactly!
Sam: Wait, so you saved a cruise-liner because...?
Balthazar: Because that god-awful Celine Dion song made me want to smite myself!
Dean: Accidents just don't happen accidentally.
Sam: ...
Dean: You know what I mean.
Balthazar: Sorry, you have me confused with the other angel. You know, the one in the dirty trench coat who's in love with you.
Dean: Who's Celine Dion?
Balthazar: She's a destitute lounge singer in Quebec... and let's keep it that way!
Sam: So you just, what, unsunk a giant boat?
Balthazar: Oh, come on, I saved people. I thought you loved that kind of thing.
Sam: Yeah, but now those people and their kids and their kids' kids... They must have interacted with so many other people changed so much crap. You totally butterfly effected history.
Dean: Dude, dude. Rule one: No Kutcher references.
Balthazar: Yes, unfortunately, there's still an Ashton Kutcher. And you still averted an apocalypse and there are still archangels.
Balthazar: [to Fate] Uh, sweetie, before we go, um, I could remove that stick from your...
Fate: Don't try me.
Balthazar: Oh, we'll leave it inserted, then.
Dean: [asking about the Russo family] Was anyone ever killed or maimed in a war? Or, you know, some other violent thing?
Shawn Russo: What do you mean?
Dean: Like something so dark that it would sully future generations.
Shawn Russo: Uh, no.
Dean: Good. Good stuff. Anyone own a slave?
Shawn Russo: What?
Dean: Routine question. Any ties to the Nazi Party?
Shawn Russo: Excuse me?
Dean: Did Grandma ever piss off a gypsy?
Dean: So... wait, did -- did Balthazar really, uh... unravel a sweater over a chick flick?
Castiel: Yes. Absolutely, that's what he did.
Dean: Wow, well, might be time to take away his cable privileges. Besides, Titanic didn't suck that bad.
Sam: ...
Dean: Winslet's rack.
Castiel: [vanishes]
Dean: Well, I'll tell you one thing about Cass... he does not appreciate the finer things.
Dean: What'd she look like?
Sam: Kinda like a librarian.
Dean Your kind of librarian, or my kind of librarian?
Sam: Well, she was wearing clothes, if that's what you mean.
Sam: Ship almost hit an iceberg.
Dean: Almost? So?
Sam: So, uh, looks like the first mate spotted it just in time.
Dean: Good for him. There anything else?
Sam: Wait a second... Uh, this first mate. Mr. I.P. Freeley.
Dean: Well, that's not suspicious.
Balthazar: Let's agree I did a good thing. One less Billy Zane movie and I saved two of your closest friends.
Trivia:
The name of this episode is a nod to the 1997 movie Titanic. Back in his early modeling days, Jensen Ackles modeled for a company that made and sold a version of the "Heart of the Ocean" necklace from the movie. He was photographed holding the necklace in print ads.
This episode aired on the 99th anniversary of the Titanic sinking.
The name of the hotel Sam and Dean stay at is the White Star Motel, which is an allusion to the White Star Line, the shipping line that owned the Titanic.
The business cards and a book on the travel agents desk all feature the name "E.J. Smith", the name of the captain of the RMS Titanic.
The beer bottle in the first scene shows an image of an iceberg.
At the Travel Agency, there are posters on the wall for Detroit as "America's Top City" and one for Cuba. Since Detroit has been in decline for decades now and Cuba at that time was still under a trade embargo that barred tourist travel, this reflects differences in the new timeline.
Sam tells Balthazar, "You totally butterfly-effected history." He is referring to the chaos theory principle, that a small change in the initial condition of a system will result in larger changes in later conditions. He is also referring to the Ashton Kutcher movie The Butterfly Effect.
In the alternate timeline, there is a photo of Bobby and Ellen outside of Bobby's place by a sign that reads B & E Repair Shop (as in Bobby and Ellen) instead of the usual Singer Auto, which we see when the boys return the original timeline.
The number plate of the car Dean and Sam get into after being kicked out of Bobby's at the beginning of the episode is the old Impala number plate. KAZ 2Y5.
Eric Kripke, the show's creator, originally envisioned the Winchester boys driving a 1965 Ford Mustang. In the alternate timeline, they drive a 1967 Ford Mustang fastback.
The episode features many Final Destination references, whether intentional or unintentional. The plots both follow a group of people dying after escaping fate, and both even feature a character being run down by a bus right in front of the main characters as they stand by and watch in horror.
In the scene where Dean tries to stop the lawyer from being killed, the bus that kills the lawyer has a "bus number" that reads 666 in the back window above the advertisement of the lawyers' face.
The travel agent spills water into the back of the copier and it goes haywire. Even if that water had enough minerals in it to conduct, it would've blown the fuse for her office and turned the copier off (so it wouldn't have been able to do anything it did).
The travel agent's scarf was clearly still loose around the front of her neck, putting no pressure on either of the major arteries or her trachea. Not only was the scarf not strangling her, but her death happened in a matter of seconds, when strangulation takes minutes to kill.
Those jewellery ads are just too much! Ackles is so achingly young in those pictures.
It was nice to see Ellen again in this episode. Especially since she seemed to be at the top of her game--sharp and intuitive--which is a nice tribute to her.
posted by sardonyx at 10:23 AM on September 11, 2021
It was nice to see Ellen again in this episode. Especially since she seemed to be at the top of her game--sharp and intuitive--which is a nice tribute to her.
posted by sardonyx at 10:23 AM on September 11, 2021
The show that gave me a dragon episode where the dragons are just Some Dudes did not let me down with the Titanic episode that does not get near the Titanic or a boat or even a body of water of any kind, sorry effects crew, if you want a Titantic you've got google and Photoshop, and you fucking better have pirated Photoshop. But they do a nice job of dropping you into the alternate universe thing at the beginning.
Between Atropos, Death, and reapers it is really getting to be a hell of a production to knock off one lousy meatsuit on this show. Anyway I hope Atropos and Tessa and Kali go out after work and shit talk monotheist dicksmacks till the cows come home. (And nope, we never see the other two Fates.)
I understand why, when they needed a historical incident with massive loss of life that does not have to be explained to the viewer, they would pick the Titanic, like I get it, but on no other level does the Titanic make sense and I don't understand how anything about this plan makes sense, but nice seeing Ellen again.
My mind knows that that last shot of the photo was just an effect to show reality changing back. But my heart. my heart can't express the joy I get from the idea that Bobby decorates his home with pictures of him standing by himself in various places around his property, like not even selfies, they're just all over the house and what can you say, he looks so happy in them, just let him have this, whatever the fuck it is.
posted by jameaterblues at 1:14 PM on September 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
Between Atropos, Death, and reapers it is really getting to be a hell of a production to knock off one lousy meatsuit on this show. Anyway I hope Atropos and Tessa and Kali go out after work and shit talk monotheist dicksmacks till the cows come home. (And nope, we never see the other two Fates.)
I understand why, when they needed a historical incident with massive loss of life that does not have to be explained to the viewer, they would pick the Titanic, like I get it, but on no other level does the Titanic make sense and I don't understand how anything about this plan makes sense, but nice seeing Ellen again.
My mind knows that that last shot of the photo was just an effect to show reality changing back. But my heart. my heart can't express the joy I get from the idea that Bobby decorates his home with pictures of him standing by himself in various places around his property, like not even selfies, they're just all over the house and what can you say, he looks so happy in them, just let him have this, whatever the fuck it is.
posted by jameaterblues at 1:14 PM on September 11, 2021 [2 favorites]
lol the Rube-Golderberg death in the cold open, and Dean wins a RPS against Sam... ah. The background music felt a lot more generic/ contemporary and a different style to SPN background music. On purpose, I assume.
Neat premise, but the execution was hit or miss.
Why is Atropos is cleaning house now?
(No, there is no good reason and if the causality of only being able to clean house at the point after where Balthazar goes back in time is all kinds of troublesome. Rule to writers; don't write time travel unless you're actually even more clever than you think you actually are, and you're not, so don't.
So, as written, I'm reading it as Castiel is gaslighting Sam and Dean by implanting false memories for purposes of manipulation - this "alternate timeline" never happened outside of Sam and Dean's memories. I wonder if Balthazar is ever asked to corroborate this?
"What? No. I love Celine. What are you talking about?")
I liked Sebastian Roché as Balthazar from the get go, wonder if his screen presence/ chemistry prompted a bigger role for Balthy than originally planned (if at all)?
Most of this episode was shot in North Van, my stomping grounds growing up, which didn't start catching up with the rest of the city development-wise until around when this season was shot - and has far surpassed development compared to the core of the city. Felt eerier than usual, especially given the theme of the ep.
Does Bobby marrying Ellen open up the possibility for a "what are you doing god-stepbrother?" flavoured alt-universe slash between Jo and Dean?
hope Atropos and Tessa and Kali go out after work and shit talk monotheist dicksmacks
The casting for Atropos was a big miss. Don't have a problem with the actor in particular (or even the mentally-stunted man-child conception of a "librarian" look), but Greeks (and Romans) of that era associated blondes with (non-Greek, non-Roman) slaves and slave prostitutes and wouldn't envisage their goddesses as looking like that. Katie Walder's surname is German - a significant source of slaves for Greeks/ Romans.
posted by porpoise at 6:15 PM on September 11, 2021
Neat premise, but the execution was hit or miss.
Why is Atropos is cleaning house now?
(No, there is no good reason and if the causality of only being able to clean house at the point after where Balthazar goes back in time is all kinds of troublesome. Rule to writers; don't write time travel unless you're actually even more clever than you think you actually are, and you're not, so don't.
So, as written, I'm reading it as Castiel is gaslighting Sam and Dean by implanting false memories for purposes of manipulation - this "alternate timeline" never happened outside of Sam and Dean's memories. I wonder if Balthazar is ever asked to corroborate this?
"What? No. I love Celine. What are you talking about?")
I liked Sebastian Roché as Balthazar from the get go, wonder if his screen presence/ chemistry prompted a bigger role for Balthy than originally planned (if at all)?
Most of this episode was shot in North Van, my stomping grounds growing up, which didn't start catching up with the rest of the city development-wise until around when this season was shot - and has far surpassed development compared to the core of the city. Felt eerier than usual, especially given the theme of the ep.
Does Bobby marrying Ellen open up the possibility for a "what are you doing god-stepbrother?" flavoured alt-universe slash between Jo and Dean?
hope Atropos and Tessa and Kali go out after work and shit talk monotheist dicksmacks
The casting for Atropos was a big miss. Don't have a problem with the actor in particular (or even the mentally-stunted man-child conception of a "librarian" look), but Greeks (and Romans) of that era associated blondes with (non-Greek, non-Roman) slaves and slave prostitutes and wouldn't envisage their goddesses as looking like that. Katie Walder's surname is German - a significant source of slaves for Greeks/ Romans.
posted by porpoise at 6:15 PM on September 11, 2021
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Interesting development that Balthazar prevented the Titanic from sinking under Castiel's orders, and that Castiel stopped Balthazar from killing Fate. Castiel is more powerful than your average angel, if not up to archangel standards.
There were three sisters of Fate in Greek mythology: Lahkesis, Atropos, and Clotho. Clotho weaved the Threads of Fate, beginning all life. Lahkesis would measure the threads, determining how long a mortal, God and Titan's life span would be. Atropos (the one in this episode) cut the threads, ending the life. I don't recall that we ever see the other two in the series...?
I guess I could see Bobby and Ellen together. That seems to be the one way hunters can have a family life... marrying another hunter.
This was Samantha Ferris's last episode of the series.
posted by orange swan at 6:05 AM on September 11, 2021