1.21 "Devil's trap"
And so we come to the end of season one, with a two-parter cliffhanger to end on. Hearing the awful news about the capture of their father, Dean and Sam look for help from an old friend, Bobby, who gives them a flask of holy water and one of whiskey. Sam thinks John may be dead already --- would not put it past Meg --- but Dean thinks she would have been ordered to keep him alive until the demon has the Colt. Bobby tells the boys that the rate of demonic possession is increasing exponentially this year, and he fears there are far more demons walking the earth than ever before. He foresees a dark time ahead, and tells the brothers they are right in the middle of it. He gives them an ancient book called "The Key of Solomon", which is supposed to contain the incantation for trapping a demon.
Just then Meg bursts in and demands the Colt, but she has been outmanoeuvred, as the boys and Bobby have already inscribed a protection circle on the ceiling, and she is now trapped. They tie her up and demand to know if their father is alive, and if so, where he is, but Meg will not break. Bobby tells the boys that there is a real girl trapped inside Meg, that she is possessed by a demon, and they work an exorcism, trying to force the demon out. Under threat of losing its host body, the demon gives in and tells them that John is alive, in Jefferson, Missouri. Having got the information that they require, Dean tells Sam to finish the job, but he is reluctant, on two counts: one, he thinks they may be able to use the demon inside Meg to get further information and two, when Meg fell from the window in "Shadow" the only thing that saved her life was the demon's strength. If they exorcise it now, he reasons, Meg, the real Meg, will most likely die.
Dean understands but says he can't leave the demon in her, it just isn't right. If she's to die, let her at least have the dignity of doing so as a human. They complete the rite and the real Meg thanks them for freeing her, confirms what the demon in her told them was the truth, and then dies, with the word "sunrise" on her lips.
As the boys load up to make the trip to Jefferson, Sam draws some strange symbols on their car's boot (trunk, for you Americans), saying that he's making a "devil's trap". No demon can pass through a devil's trap, so he tells Dean to put the Colt in there while they go search for their father, but Dean is reluctant, thinking they might need it. He does however do as Sam asks. They discover an apartment block called "Sunrise Apartments", and believe this must be where their dad is being held. But there are families, including children around, so they can't just charge in. They set off the fire alarm and watch for the apartments to empty, knowing that the one that doesn't will be where their father is being held.
Appropriating two firemen uniforms they gain access to the building and go to the occupied apartment, where they break in and fight the couple holding John prisoner, using holy water they have loaded into the fire extinguishers. They trap them in a closet and pour salt outside so the demons can't get back out, and go to free their father. Finding him alive --- and checking to make sure he has not been possessed --- they head out until they are accosted by two other possessed people, who force them back into another room. Again securing the entrance with salt they make their way out the window, but once they reach the ground they are attacked by the male demon we saw with Meg in the previous episode. He starts to beat the crap out of Sam, but then Dean shoots him through the head: he brought the Colt despite what his brother said, and now out of four bullets that were left in the gun, but two remain.
As they take shelter that night, John notices the lights flickering and says that the demon has found them. He asks Dean for the Colt, but there's something in his eyes and his voice and Dean instead pulls the gun on his father, realising he has been possessed. When he can't get the gun by subterfuge he reveals his true identity and throws the boys across the room, grabbing the gun. Dean asks him why he killed their mother and Jessica and the demon, in John's voice, tells the boys that they were simply in the way of the plans he had --- has --- for Sam and the other children. He is however angry because the demon inside Meg and the one Dean shot were his own children.
When Dean then needles him about his offspring the demon begins to torture him, but John manages to gain control for a moment, just enough for Sam to grab the Colt. He is now faced with a dilemma: if he kills the demon, he will also kill his father. The demon knows this and laughs at the decision Sam must make, but Sam shoots his father --- in the leg. The shock jolts the possession for a moment and John begs Sam to shoot him, as the demon is still within him. Sam hesitates though, as Dean, badly wounded, begs him not to kill their father, and in that instant the demon takes his leave.
As the Winchesters rush Dean to the hospital their father berates them for being so soft: they had a chance to kill the demon and blew it. Now they have only one bullet left. As he says this, out of nowhere a semi sideswipes the car and it goes careening off the road, turning over and over and at the last moment we see the eyes of the driver of the truck, black and possessed.
The rest, to quote the Bard, is silence...
MUSIC
Triumph: "Fight the good fight"
Joe Walsh: "Turn to stone"
Creedence Clearwater Revival: "Bad moon rising" (again)
QUESTIONS?
The most immediate one that springs to mind is, are the Winchesters dead? Obviously you'd have to say not, because this is only season one and there are seven more to go, but the way Supernatural goes, you can't really be too sure.
The "WTF??!" moment
There could be only one. I tell you, it shocked me like nobody's business when I first saw it, particularly as it takes place just as the episode, and the season, is winding down, and you're expecting a sort of exit monologue to take us into the new season. Literally, out of nowhere. That's how to end a season on a cliffhanger!
PCRs
Bobby's mean old junkyard dog is called Rumsfeld.
You'd have to assume that refer to Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defence under George W Bush, and one of the architects of the Iraq war.
When Meg asks if they're really performing an exorcism, Dean snaps "Oh we’re going for it, baby – head spinning, projectile vomiting, the whole nine yards. "
Obviously a reference to the cult movie, "The Exorcist".
BROTHERS
Dean and Sam face one of the biggest challenges of their lives, as they fear for the safety of their dad, and wonder if he is even still alive. But he has trained them well, and they know who to go to for help. They're also wise to the tricks of the demon, evident when Dean realises his father has been possessed, and yet when it comes down to it and Sam is ready to shoot the demon by killing their father (well, he probably isn't; he hesitates) Dean is the one pleading for him not to do it. Dean also confides to John that he is concerned at just what he will do to save his family.
It's also interesting that things have almost reversed themselves. At the beginning, it was Dean who was the hunter, who wanted to chase down the demon and Sam who was reluctantly roped in, but who then became more determined after his fiancee was killed. Still, Sam has always been the one less enthusiastic about their mission. As time has gone on though, particularly as he has learned that so much of what happened back in Lawrence that night was as a direct result of the demon wanting to kidnap him, he has taken more of a personal interest in the quest. Now, as Dean worries about whether or not their father may still be alive, it's Sam who wants to finish the job while they can, and Dean for one who says "Screw the job!" For probably the first time since he took up the quest, it's not the most important thing to Dean. Reality has hit back hard, and he's having a hard time dealing with it. In some ways, he's back to being that scared little kid who couldn't shoot the Shtriga as it bent over his brother.
The demon, in John's form, baits Dean by telling him that despite everything he has done Dean is not his favourite, Sam is. This must hurt, as like I mentioned in my notes to "Home", the same thing happened when their mother's spirit appeared: she fussed over Sam but barely acknowledged Dean. At that time, it could be argued that Sam had nearly been killed, but then, Dean had been in danger too. Now his father (through the demon) tells him that all the years of following his orders, keeping Sam safe and hunting have been for nothing, that it's Sam who is the important one. Dean is singled out as the one most expendable, and it's him the demon turns his fury on, trying to kill him before John manages to intervene and the demon has to escape.
Dean also regresses a little here: we see him almost act as a child, as he interrogates Meg and she insists their father is dead, and he is only short of stamping his foot and covering his ears while shouting "HE'S NOT! HE'S NOT! HE'S NOT!" Whether he believes it or not the possibility scares him more than he can believe, and when they have a chance to rescue him he goes against Sam's instructions and brings the Colt, something that ends up saving his brother's life. Sam is now seen as the responsible, level-headed one and Dean the more impulsive, almost uncontrolled brother. And yet Dean is able to realise his father is possessed because he knows him well enough to realise that John would have "torn him a new one" for wasting a bullet; the demon makes a fatal mistake by brushing the incident off, and Dean knows he is not talking to his father.
WISEGUY
It's obviously a coping mechanism he uses to shield himself from the harsh realities of the world he moves through, but even so it's good to see that Dean can, even at this tense and worrying time, crack wise.
As they head into the building disguised as firemen, he quips " I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up."
The ARC of the matter
And so it all comes full circle. Well, not quite. In fact, not at all. If Supernatural had been (god forbid!) cancelled after season one we would have been left with an awful lot of unanswered questions, because to be fair even at this season finale there are still only the barest hints of what's truly going on, revelations which will shock and amaze us come later seasons. The power of the Colt to kill demons is no longer in question: in "Salvation" we saw it could certainly kill a vampire, but here Dean uses it to kill one of the minor demons, yet we still don't know for sure if it could take out the "big daddy". He does appear to want it though, whether to remove the possibilty of someone using it against him or for other, as yet unguessed-at reasons, is still unclear.
The idea of possession only comes into the story now. Up till now, we've seen demons as demons, but now we're told that they are, in the main, ordinary people under the power of demonic possession and as such compelled to do the main demon's wishes. It also seems that he can command as many people as needed --- or maybe not. After all, he didn't possess the entire population of the apartments, which would surely have made Sam and Dean's job harder. Perhaps he has limitations. But he can possess people without having to be present, and this will be a problem in future days.
Until now we've learned to hate Meg, initially thinking she was just a hot chick (which she is!) and then being shown she is a cold-hearted, murdering devil, but now it's explained that there is a girl in there, being possessed by the demon. She tells the guys when she is released that she's been possessed for a year, and for most of that time she was able to look out through horror-struck eyes and see the awful things the demon possessing her did in her form. In some ways, given what she's seen, it's probably a blessing for her to die. But it's also revealed that the demon inhabiting her was one of the big demon's children, as was the other, male one, and now Dean and Sam have killed at least one (with the Colt) and if not killed the other then at least sent it screaming back down to Hell. It would appear the fight has now got personal, and can only get bloodier.
Bobby tells the boys that "there's a storm comin'", echoing the words of Sarah Connor at the end of the first "Terminator" movie, and he has seen more possessions this year than any other. He knows something big is on the horizon, and there are more demons walking the earth than ever before. Sam is obviously a part of whatever plan the demon has in mind, he and the other children who have been selected, but what this is will have to wait for further seasons. Again, we see Sam's inability to move things by the power of his mind; the only time in fact he has managed this is the once, in "Nightmares". Perhaps the power was temporary, a once-off that will not be repeated? The demon certainly seems confident in his impotence, jeering him and daring him to take the gun by telekinesis, which of course Sam cannot.
The ending is of course dramatic and powerful, unexpected and heart-stopping, and we can only wait to see how, if and how many of the Winchesters have survived.