#2x14 born under a bad sign

[bloodfreak-boyking]

he's like a lamb trying to lead himself to slaughter with a shepherd who would rather fall on his own knife instead

[loversofthegrave]

remember when sam called dean scared and confused and dean immediately went to help him and he had someone elses blood on him and then they tried to retrace his steps and it lead them to a hunter who sam murdered and dean immediately tried to clean up all the evidence all without knowing sam was actually possessed 🤭😌😚

[spn20rewatch]

Season 2, Episode 14: Born Under a Bad Sign (November 26th)

After receiving a frantic call from Sam, who has been missing for over a week, Dean races to his brother's side. -Super-wiki

Originally aired on: February 8th, 2007

Written by Cathryn Humphris, directed by J. Miller Tobin.

Fun fact: Jared's performance in this episode is what inspired the writers to have him play Lucifer in later episodes. Robert Singer said in the DVD extras that Jared playing evil was a "card we didn't know we actually had" until 2x14.

Enjoy the re-watch and tag any posts with #spn20rewatch!!

[keen-eye]

i luv <3 meg

this post is catered to ME. iconic side eye. megjohn. dean getting beat up.

[shirtlesssammy]

Dean Winchester every day -- 36/326

Supernatural 2x14//Born Under a Bad Sign

[pagannatural]

2.14 Born Under a Bad Sign

-Meg possesses Sam which forces the brothers’ dynamic to develop. Dean really reclaims a sense of himself this episode after spending all season in various degrees and types of turmoil over what to do about Sam. I don’t think he ever really considered killing Sam, but he agonized over his role and what he should do. He lied to a drunk Sam in Playthings and said he would kill him.

- Dean has called Ellen multiple times about Sam going missing, so much so that Dean doesn’t even refer to him by name on the phone, he just calls asking Where is he. Dean says “I’m losing my mind here.” He’s desperate to find Sam. I wonder if Dean ever lost Sam when he was a baby, like at the store or something.

- Dean also says it’s like when John went missing all over again. Dean sought out Sam for help and comfort when that happened. It’s a little kernel of insight into Dean’s state of mind when he broke into Sam’s house in s1, he was probably a lot more afraid than he let on to Sam because he was trying to keep it together.

-when he gets to the motel room Dean kneels in front of Sam, who’s sitting on the bed. He’s off to the side rather than right in between Sam’s legs but when he zeroes in on the blood on Sam’s shirt, on his lower stomach, he starts moving aside Sam’s jacket and touching the bloody fabric. It looks very intimate. Dean reaches directly into Sam’s personal space and even moves his clothes aside to check for injury.

This quick shot of his fingers feeling Sam’s stomach is particularly intimate. Meg!Sam says that he doesn’t think it’s his blood. Dean certainly thought it was Sam’s blood, he wouldn’t have been considering other options at that moment. So Dean is touching Sam’s wound on his lower belly, as far as he and the viewer know. It’s a sexual and feminine image. Although he’s not actually injured, Sam’s body has been invaded and controlled by a demon. It’s a sexual assault parallel, a first taste of Sam’s fall from grace. Throughout the episode, Dean fights for him and refuses to harm him. As long as Sam is still in there somewhere, Dean will protect him.

-Meg is inside of Sam’s brain and body and she has a pretty good understanding of Sam. She’s acting the way she thinks he would and also in whatever way plays to her advantage with Dean, so she has a primary interest in the nature of their relationship. She knows about Dean’s promise to John and to Sam about killing him, so she must have some access to his memories. She plays up Sam’s pleading eyes more than anything, which means she knows Sam’s memories that this has worked on Dean in the past.

- Dean reacts with deep skepticism to the gas station clerk telling him that Sam was drinking, smoking, and behaving violently.

Dean has also picked up on a couple of other specifics that aren’t like Sam: the name he gave at the motel is the name of a Bon Jovi band member, which Dean doesn’t think Sam likes and isn’t one of the names they would recognize for each other; and if Sam did smoke, Dean seems convinced he wouldn’t smoke menthols. He knows Sam so well.

- Dean says that smoking and throwing bottles at people sounds “more like me than you” which tells us that Dean is sometimes an angry drunk and sometimes a smoker, both of which make perfect sense for his character. There’s a lot we don’t directly see on the show.

-Sam moves differently, seems more feminine, and when Dean continues to insist he might not be a murderer he looks annoyed and almost rolls his eyes. Jared Padalecki is so good at being Sam possessed by Meg.

-Meg is basically begging Dean to feel horror that Sam killed someone- a hunter! with a family! caught on camera!- but Dean is like Ah fuck okay I’ll just run through the crime scene cleanup checklist quick and then we can take a nap together at home before we go okay babe? Babe u okay?

- Meg!Sam asks Dean to kill him, kinda using the puppy dog eyes but not quite selling it because it’s not needy enough, and Dean says “I’ve tried so hard to keep you safe…I can’t. I’d rather die.”

This is Dean admitting outright that his promise was bullshit and that he will either save Sam or die trying, and he’s faced so many trials to be completely sure and ready to say it. It doesn’t matter what Sam does. Dean had to understand more consciously his feelings for Sam before he could commit to this because it’s a fundamental part of who he is and his love for Sam. He feels guilty about his love, but he can’t doubt the strength of it and I think this is where he first accepts his role as Sam’s savior. The way he looks at Sam here is with such open love and desire. He’s like Wesley looking at Buttercup.

-Dean calls the phone company to get Sam’s location by pretending Sam is his son. He says “my son” and calls him Sammy and fuck if it isn’t the cutest. Dean is Sam’s dad now. Succession.

-Meg!Sam is so irritated that Jo is carrying a torch for Dean. She seems to be using Sam’s real memories and feelings to get what she wants, and in this case I think Sam is probably annoyed by Jo’s crush and wishes she understood she doesn’t have a chance with Dean, so Meg is using her weaknesses. She really enjoys using Sam’s characteristics and twisting them. For example, after tying Jo up she uses the puppy dog face again and says “c’mon it’s me, you can tell me anything” which echos Sam’s role as sympathetic ear to the victims and other characters. So when she talks about Jo wanting Dean and Dean not wanting Jo and then attacks her in a very sexually charged way, it feels like she’s playing with both their desire for Dean and Sam’s desire to be more like him. She seems to be telling the truth in these scenes, just truths that Jo wouldn’t want to know. So telling her You want him but he doesn’t want you and aren’t I the next best, when Sam in reality does not want Jo, makes Jo into a proxy to act out unrequited love for (and from) Dean.

-Meg!Sam shoots Dean and he falls into the water from the dock and Jo finds him soaked and bleeding and you have three guesses as to the first words out of his mouth (“where’s Sam?”).

-Bobby asks where Dean is so Meg!Sam tells him Dean’s with a girl somewhere. Bobby asks if she’s pretty and Meg’s eyes go black and she says “if you ask me he’s in way over his head.” The visual cue and emphasis make it clear Meg is talking as herself here, not as Sam, and it seems like she’s talking about Dean’s situation with Sam. It’s also a pun because she thinks he’s underwater, but regardless she’s connecting Dean being with some girl and Dean being in trouble because of Sam.

-she also smirks at Dean pretty wickedly and tells him “you wouldn’t wanna bruise this fine packaging” ie Sam’s body that she knows Dean thinks is mighty fine. What I wouldn’t give for her to taunt him more in this way.

- she tells Dean he’s worthless, he can’t save Sam, and the people he loves would be better off without him. Which means his worst beliefs about himself (as far as Sam knows) are that he isn’t good enough and that he’s actually bad for Sam. Why? Why would Sam know that Dean fears he would be better off without him? He’s protected and cared for Sam his whole life, both Sam and John have explicitly told him that they’re grateful, and even Dean can’t blame himself for the way he and Sam grew up. It’s possible this is about the fact that Sam is in danger hunting with Dean, but he would’ve been in danger in law school too. It fits better with Dean’s guilt over his feelings for Sam and his knowledge that Sam is in love with him. Sam knows that Dean blames himself.

-Dean refuses to hurt Sam when Meg!Sam is punching him, and she punches him four or five times. Then when Sam is back unpossessed, Dean punches him in the face. When it was about saving Sam Dean refused to hurt him, but now that Sam is safe it’s like his anger at Sam comes pouring out. He needed some form of resolution for the fact that his little brother scared the shit out of him for a week straight going missing, murdered someone and didn’t even help clean up the crime scene, pistol whipped him, shot him in the shoulder, punched him, named his worst fears, threatened to bite his own tongue off, and pressed his finger into his wound and laughed. Obviously Sam did none of those things and it was all Meg, but I think it’s completely understandable that Dean reacted this way after not only keeping his shit together for Sam all that time but also actively protecting him. It’s a reasonable trauma response for him to have fought back. I’m not saying it’s ethical or anything just that it’s exactly what Dean would do and it gives his episode arc some catharsis.

-for his part, Sam isn’t upset with Dean for punching him. He never is. As evidenced by Sam’s little smirk when Dean makes joke about Bobby’s charms for keeping the demon from “getting back up in there.”

-Dean checks in with Sam in the sweetest way, gently prompting him to answer if he’s okay. Sam explains that what’s troubling him isn’t the memory of his own hands killing a man, it’s the knowledge that even then Dean wouldn’t kill him. They both know for sure now.

-Dean teases Sam about having a girl inside him and Sam grins. It’s just one of many references to Sam having someone inside him and otherwise sexually being referred to as the girl.

-Dean’s “if it’s the last thing I do I’m gonna save you” hits different when you’re on tumblr and you know the show ends 13 seasons later with Dean dying and Sam living out some kind of a life.

[arcanespillo]

TXF "Demons" s4e23

SPN "Born Under A Bad Sign" s2e14

[mishaesque]

Scenic Supernatural 2.14 Born Under a Bad Sign

[drasticemotions]

🎵 my daddy shot your daddy in the head 🎵

[soft-pine]

spn20rewatch: 2.14 born under a bad sign

well, the first thing dean does when he finally finds sam again is bring him some food...

but actually what i mostly want to talk about in this ep is how much i fUCKING hate meg! she assaults basically every character she comes into contact with and what she does to jo is truly awful!

it is also devastating when taken into context with 5.10. because meg is directly responsible for jo's death. and this is how, three seasons earlier, she describes jo's father dying:

MEG: You see, Bill ... was all clawed up. Was holding his insides in his hands. He was gurgling and ... praying to see you and Ellen one more time. So my dad ... killed him. Put him out of his misery like a sick dog.

all clawed up. holding his insides in his hands. that parallel kills me. my god.... you deserved so much better, jo.

i'm interested in the narrative that shows back up in season seven that says dean is a jerk to jo. i obviously don't agree with it but i wonder what the roots of it are? perhaps here when dean keeps her from coming after meg!sam with him? or when he says he'll call and she says to herself after he leaves that he won't. i understand she has a crush on him but there really isn't any evidence of him leading her on in any way.

there's also some interesting parallels to 1.22. when meg!sam is shouting for dean to shoot him, it sounds eerily like john in 1.22. and then of course we have dean aiming a gun that he ends up not being willing to fire.

lastly, it really is awful to hear this description of hell and torture so soon before...

MEG: You know there's a reason for that. Hell is like, um ... Well, it's like hell. Even for demons. It's a prison, made of bone and flesh and blood and fear. And you sent me back there.... By the way. I saw your Dad there - he says "howdy". All that I had to hold onto, was that I would climb out one day, and that I was going to torture you. Nice and slow. Like pulling the wings off an insect. But whatever I do to you, it's nothing compared to what you do to yourself, is it? I can see it in your eyes, Dean. You're worthless. You couldn't save your Dad, and deep down ... you know that you can't save your brother. They'd have been better off without you.

[bloodfreak-boyking]

things I don't think sam fully understands yet: the lengths to which dean will go to make sure he lives

[onespncap]

s02e14 -- "Born Under a Bad Sign"

[deanstudies101]

2x14, Born Under a Bad Sign

Critical theory: The monster within, the monster without. Self-worth and suicidal ideation. 

Discussion question(s): What do we think about the repetition of a scene in which Sam, possessed, attacks Dean? How do we feel about a suicidal Dean (which we have established he is) being goaded by a demon (possessing and therefore speaking ‘as’ Sam) telling him he’s worthless, and that his family would be better off is he was dead? 

Key quotes: Meg, posessing Sam, “But whatever I do to you, it’s nothing compared to what you do to yourself, is it? I can see it in your eyes, Dean. You’re worthless. You couldn’t save your dad, and deep down.. you know that you can’t save your brother. They’d have been better off without you.”

Sam, “Dean you promised him [John]. You promised me.” [Dean is the tool in his father's hand]

Dean, “I can't. I'd rather die.”

Sam/Mag, “Well, Dean's more like my father than I am.”

Sam/Meg “Come on, Dean! Are you that scared of being alone that you'd rather let Jo die?”

Dean, “if it's the last thing I'm gonna do, I'm gonna save you.”

Further reading: [Spoilers for S5] Jo was supposed to be a Winchester.

Dean's silly little face. (@bloodydeanwinchester)

Discussion: Kai knew it was a possession from the get go, Iga doubted. Iga is on team “Sam should kill himself.” But like… yeah? Why is he trying to force Dean to kill him? Putting that on Dean. 

Dean is the tool in his father’s hand, and that is so ingrained in them that Sam expects Dean to continue being that tool even now John is dead, that he then makes Dean the tool in his hand. 

John set Dean up to fail, because Dean is never going to kill Sam. Why do they keep putting this on Dean—the one person who can never do it? John spent Dean’s whole life making Dean Sam’s protector, and now is like… kill him by the way. We’ve talked about Dean’s deep knowledge that he will never be good enough for John, he will never be the man his father wanted him to be. And this is just confirmation of that. 

Re: repetition of the scene. It’s sad.  

Star student: Kai, John setting Dean up to fail. 

[seasononesam]

Stackednatural- 189/327

Born Under a Bad Sign (2x14) February 8th, 2007

[stonenumberone]

SUPERNATURAL 2x14 Born Under a Bad Sign

Sam, when Dad told me... that I might have to kill you, it was only if I couldn't save you. Now, if it's the last thing I do, I'm gonna save you.

[annazima]

Supernatural 2x14 Born Under a Bad Sign

"Sam, when Dad told me that I might have to kill you it was only if I couldn't save you. Now, if it's the last thing I do, I'm gonna save you."