Supernatural: The Prisoner
May 19, 2015 11:01 AM - Season 10, Episode 22 - Subscribe

Sam and Dean say good-bye to another member of their "family" with a hunter's funeral. Dean hunts down the Stynes to get revenge. When Sam realizes he has new information, he continues to work on trying to find a cure to the Mark of Cain through the Book of the Damned. Rowena renegotiates the terms of her deal with Sam.
posted by cfoxhi (12 comments total)
 
The Stynes were surprisingly short-lived characters, but perhaps we will see them again. I did like how they used the teenage Styne as a representation of Sam. Is it a precursor for Dean following in Cain's footsteps?

It was fun to see Crowley act all evil again. I almost believed he was going to kill Sam. I might have believed it if it wouldn't have interfered with the Mark of Cain storyline (if Sam dies, it has to be caused by Dean).

Sam seems to be underestimating Rowena, while Rowena is underestimating her son.

The fight between Castiel and Dean reminded me of the heartbreaking brawl between Sam and Dean in season 4. Dean must be getting really powerful.

Very excited about the season finale.
posted by cfoxhi at 11:10 AM on May 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


I was thinking Castiel got his ass kicked awful easy, and it seemed like he bled a lot. (Do angels bleed? Is that a thing we've seen before?) But then my girlfriend reminded me that Cas isn't back up to full power yet, if he ever will be, and when he got his grace back the shadow of his wings was all raggedy and missing feathers. So there's that, and maybe he was holding back a whole lot. I can see him being more ready to take abuse than to smack Dean around.

I was talking with the GF the other day, trying to figure out how this season will wrap up, and we had no idea. We had a suspicion Rowena dies, but maybe not. It seems like somebody's gonna die, and she'd be the only one they could kill off without radically changing the show. (Although they killed off Bobby, so maybe characters like Castiel or Crowley aren't really safe either.) It would seem logical for Dean to go full demon, but that's awful close to the LAST cliffhanger.

At least we know Death comes back. Yay for Death!
posted by Ursula Hitler at 5:41 PM on May 19, 2015


There was a lot to like in this episode but I just can't get over the fact that they fucking fridged Charlie. If nothing else Charlie of all people deserved a better send-off. Not as a passive victim. Ugh. I mean it's not altogether surprising, this being the show that it is, but still...
posted by brundlefly at 2:20 PM on May 20, 2015 [1 favorite]


I was an off and on again fan of Charlie. Sometimes I liked her character, sometimes it felt as if the writers were just waving a sign, "Look, it's Felicia Day!" I thought the farther we got away from her original appearance the more developed Charlie became as a character. That the writers went and killed her in a fairly unnecessary manner, ticked me off to no end. I get that there's this whole phenomenon of people who get close to the brothers meeting terrible ends, which they even raised in the season finale, but C'MON. They are aware of the running sadjoke that is the death is coming for any female character on the show, aren't they? It's a miracle they haven't killed off Sheriff Mills and I think that rests entirely on the premise that she hasn't appeared enough on the show.

I'm just completely disappointed by the killing off of Charlie. That burned up a lot of good will on my side.
posted by Atreides at 7:45 AM on May 23, 2015 [3 favorites]


So I am a Netflix watcher hence I am just getting to this episode. The main thing that annoyed me about this episode was Cas saying "the Dean I know wouldn't have killed that kid." And I call bull shit on that. Dean has like, no shades of grey when it comes to monsters v humans. The codes the ever got was dealing with Crowley - and even then he was basically a demon at that point. Jewel Staite was a kindly monster, and so was her kid - and they both had to go. Maybe Benny got a pass - but even Sam was questioning that decision. The Dean we know and love is not a nuance kind of guy and would absolutely kill the Styne kid just to be thorough.

Also - if Rowena's spells don't impact Crowley like they should - why did all of her hex bags work giving him nightmares and planting seeds of doubt when he was in hell?
posted by Suffocating Kitty at 12:10 PM on October 26, 2015


Good points. One must wonder if the effort to "de-monsterize" monsters was to help give acceptance to the whole Bloodlines or whatever it was called spinoff that spectacularly failed to take off that was set in Chicago.
posted by Atreides at 2:14 PM on October 26, 2015


That spinoff was such a botch job. It seemed pretty obvious that it was a totally unrelated script that somebody figured they could just plug into the Supernatural universe for a spinoff. But why the hell would you do that? Supernatural has a decade of lore and characters and settings to play around with! The monsters in the spinoff didn't even seem to work the same way as the monsters in Supernatural, the rules for shapeshifters and stuff seemed different. So, so odd.

Maybe I'm just bitter that we're probably never going to get a spinoff with the two lady sheriffs, or the Ghost Facers. The two lady sheriffs in particular really felt like a spinoff waiting to happen... and while it probably wouldn't play with the CW's teen-ish demographics, if they moved it to CBS a horror dramedy about an odd couple of middle-age policewomen who secretly slay demons might just be a hit!
posted by Ursula Hitler at 5:31 PM on October 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


"... a spinoff with the two lady sheriffs..."

My dream spinoff is the two lady sheriffs with Mrs. Tran running logistical support.
posted by brundlefly at 10:06 PM on October 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


And once every other season or so, the Ghost Facers could come through town and they'd all team up. And I forgot all about the brunette sheriff's adopted, recovering vampire daughter, who's sure to be a handful too! How is this not a show??
posted by Ursula Hitler at 10:40 PM on October 26, 2015 [1 favorite]


Quotes

Rowena MacLeod: An angel that rejected Heaven. That's like a fish that wants to fly or a dog that thinks he's people.

Castiel: What now?
Sam: I'm shutting this down. I promised Dean --
Rowena MacLeod: [calling from across the room] Eh, hello? Anyone want to tell me what's going on?
Castiel & Sam: No!
Castiel: What about her?
Sam: Guess.
Castiel: I'd be happy to kill her. She just called me a fish.

Monroe Styne: I guess you know what comes next.
Dean: You're gonna play "Operation".
Monroe Styne: It is my favourite game.
Dean: Don't do this.
Monroe Styne: Well, son, we are past the bargaining stage.
Dean: No, the Mark on my arm means that I can't die. I'm not bargaining. You flatline me, I will come back, but I'll come back with black eyes. And then you'll all die.
Eli Styne: And we'll let you go, then what? You'll just mosey on down the road?
Dean: No. But I will be human, so maybe a few of you live. Maybe.
Monroe Styne: You make a compelling case, and, uh, I hope you're right. Because a man that doesn't die, well that is a perfect lab-rat. All right. Let's crack this piñata.

Castiel: I think the Mark is changing you.
Dean: You're wrong.
Castiel: Am I? Because the Dean Winchester I know would never have murdered that kid.
Dean: Yeah, well... that Dean's always been kind of a dick.

Sheriff Landes: Oh, you can't take on the Stynes. They own this town. They're practically gods around here.
Dean: Yeah. Well, I kill gods.

Dean: Been looking for you.
Eldon Styne: Oh, yeah? Why's that? Oh wait, you're not still sore about, um... what's her name?
Dean: Charlie. Her name was Charlie.
Eldon Styne: Yeah, well... Chucky... she got what she deserved. You wanna know how I did her? It's a kinda funny story --
Dean: Shut up.
Eldon Styne: Straight to it then. I respect that. See, you got lucky before. This time I'm sporting some new upgrades. See, my old man --
Dean: Your old man is dead. They're all dead. So you can save me the speech on the three hearts, the two spleens, the seven nipples... for the ladies, or the fellas, I don't judge. But even with all that, you still only have one brain. [shoots Elden through the forehead]

Dean: I'm gonna find whoever did this, and I'm gonna rip apart everything and everyone that they've ever loved, and then I'm gonna tear out their heart.
Sam: Is that you talking or the Mark?
Dean: Does it matter?

Deputy #3: [looking at Dean's ID's] Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy Kilmister, Freddy Mercury. Damn. I mean, they said you were a pro, but, uh...
Dean: Who said that?
Deputy #3: I'll ask the questions here. Like, for example, you got 17 fake I.D.s and a trunk full of guns, knives, freaking ninja stars. I mean, who are you, man?
Dean: I'm the guy that's gonna get out of here in about... 30 seconds.

Monroe Styne: Well, I have to say I am impressed the way you charged in here all guns blazin'. I'd buy tickets to that show. You didn't think that was really gonna work, did you?
Dean: Usually does.

Jake: Me and my boys, we got a bet. How much of a virgin are you?
Cyrus Styne: What?
Jake: I mean, you ain't never got laid before, obviously, but you seen a boob, right? I don't mean on Game of Thrones. I'm talking about in the wild.

Cyrus Styne: [to Jake] You look like the kind of dude who wants people to think he's hood, but, no. See, the $100 haircut, the hybrid keys? I'd say you grew up in a white-bread wonderland. Your dad's probably a dentist, your mom's mostly Botox, and they both bang the pool boy. Oh, and you like rap, but you're scared of black people. Even Will Smith.

Crowley: You really think I'm frightened of that toothpick?
Sam: I don't care. [puts something in his pocket]
Crowley: A hex bag?
Sam: By the way... she said to tell you she should have taken the three pigs.
Crowley: Mother?

Crowley: You're right. I am a monster. And I've done bad. I've done things you can't even imagine -- horrible, evil, messy things. And I've loved... every... damn... minute. So, thank you, Sam, for reminding me who I really am.

Crowley: Working with my mother. Are you insane? You actually trust her?
Sam: Of course not. Not even a little.
Crowley: Then why? What has she got over you?
Sam: Will you just die already?

Inez: Dude, you still coming to L.A.?
Cyrus Styne: Hope so. It's just my family. If they found out I was moving, they'd kill me.
Inez: [laughs]
Cyrus Styne: No. *Literally.*

Eldon Styne: So, this is what I know about Dean Winchester... He's got crappy taste in music, got a hot mom. And he loves flannel.

Castiel: What have you done? You killed him.
Dean: I took down a monster because that's what I do. And I will continue to do that until --
Castiel: Until you *become* the monster.

Trivia

Dean uses the alias Ashley J. Williams. This the full name of Bruce Campbell's character in the The Evil Dead.

The Styne's house is the same one that is seen in "The Third Man" (ep. 6.3), when Sebastian Roché makes his first appearance as Balthazar. As Castiel, Sam and Dean approach his home Dean says "I was expecting more Dr. No, less Liberace."

Dean's contact name in Crowley's phone is listed under "Not Moose".

When Dean is arrested in Shreveport, LA, he calls the deputy "Cletus". Cletus Hogg was a deputy on the 1970's TV show The Dukes of Hazzard.

Various rock aliases found on Dean's fake IDs: Ozzy Ozbourne from Black Sabbath, Lemmy Kilmister from Motörhead, and Freddie Mercury from Queen.

The title of this episode is from the cult British TV show The Prisoner.

This is the first time we see Mark Sheppard's Crowley turn his eyes red as crossroad demons have red eyes instead of black. Crowley's eyes have changed before but with a different actor instead of Mark Sheppard.

The video game Connor is seen playing is called Dying Light.

This episode depicts cops breaking the law by pulling someone over without cause, breaking their property, threatening, assault etc. The other crime is taking a bribe. This would rightfully result in their being fired and arrested.

The patches on the sheriff and the deputy's shirt and jacket, as well as the decal on their SUV, read "Bleuclair Parish" which is incorrect. Shreveport, Louisiana would be in Caddo Parish.

When Dean throws Castiel to the floor, you can clearly see that it is not Jensen Ackles, but his stunt double.

The brothers are shown using a hatchet and an ax to cut wood for Charlie's funeral pyre. But the ends of all the logs we can see are clean cut by a chainsaw.
posted by orange swan at 6:46 AM on December 12, 2021


That cop was soooooooo dumb to go picking up the pens and pencils Dean knocked over. It was so obviously a ploy to get him into a position vulnerable to attack.

Why didn't Sam just stab Crowley with a demon blade while he had him immobilized? Using a hex bag to do the job seemed a little "sharks with frickin' laser beams coming out of their heads" to me.

It was so contrived that Castiel would let Dean beat him up.

Dean did everyone a favour by getting rid of the Stynes, but he did not have to murder that boy. Cyrus Styne showed promise of being a fun ongoing character, though I suppose without the surgery his family dabbled in, he was just a human teenager with no special abilities or attributes.

The main thing that annoyed me about this episode was Cas saying "the Dean I know wouldn't have killed that kid." And I call bull shit on that. Dean has like, no shades of grey when it comes to monsters v humans. [....] Jewel Staite was a kindly monster, and so was her kid - and they both had to go.

Jewel Staite's character had killed several people. Dean killed her because he didn't trust her to keep her word that she wouldn't kill anyone else in future. Dean then asked her son if he'd killed anyone, and the kid said he hadn't, so Dean let him live. Dean has let other monsters walk before if they demonstrate that they're ethical and can survive without killing anyone. Heavens, Garth is a werewolf now, and Sam and Dean let him live. So yes, normal Dean would not have killed a teenager who was guilty of nothing more than being born into a family of monsters.
posted by orange swan at 7:02 AM on December 12, 2021


Huh. It looks like the USA didn't implement digital IDs until 2017, and then only as a pilot in Colorado and Maryland. So I guess the boys could have gotten away with cheap fake IDs until 2021 or so, and REAL ID has even been pushed back to 2023.

Though those laminated paper IDs (fake - given the names - not stolen) wouldn't hold up to being run.

Connor Price (Cyrus Styne) was 21, so casting age wasn't bad. His bully was 24. Price is a little baby-faced, but he's got some massive arms on him. Dude's ripped.

Sam not shanking Crowley feels like an evil overlord moment (with a mild variation on the traditional monologuing), but I'm sure this was a case of Crowley being protected by plot armour.

It didn't occur to me that demon trap bullets shouldn't work until the closeup of Crowley showing it off - the deformation, even with wadcutters, ought to be more than enough to break the insignia. Abadon's was even more intact, which shouldn't be unless the bullets were cast in something other than lead, but then it'd be all that more difficult to carve a trap into the bullet. I guess the rounds could be loaded light, but you can only underpower a cartridge so much before it'll jam in an automatic pistol.

Dean killing Cyrus, I felt, was more the Mark getting to him than Dean's (admittedly very inconsistent) judgement.

Don't know if Angels can bleed, but their vessels certainly can (qv the angel that Crowley was sticking needles into his head). I think it's only angelic/ demonic weapons that cauterize/ vapourize the body - with the inconsistent exception of grace-letting with an angelic weapon. Think about how much a tiny nick on the face/ beck shaving bleeds compared to when Cas put a 0.5 cm deep slice just above Metatron's adam's apple.

But yeah, Cas' bleeding makeup when he's on the floor looks like something he had suffered an hour+ before, not minutes. Too crusty/ coagulated.
posted by porpoise at 7:02 PM on December 13, 2021


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