List of Love - Supernatural 1.05 Bloody Mary

A myriad of Things I love about Bloody Mary

In no particular order.

1. "I take it I was having a nightmare."
"Yeah, another one."
"Hey, at least I got some sleep."
"You know, sooner or later we're gonna have to talk about this."
"Are we here?"

I love that Dean is still treading so carefully with Sam in this episode, taking cautious, understated care of his troubled little brother, very concerned but not wanting to push too hard, so instead simply keeping a watchful eye on him and letting him know that if he wants to talk about his troubles, the door is open. We heard all about Sam's insomnia in Phantom Traveler; now we see Dean letting Sam catch up on lost sleep while he drives. Later he allows Sam to fall asleep in the middle of a research session, quietly carrying on with the work alone while keeping a concerned watch over his brother, aware that Sam's sleep is tormented by nightmares but not knowing what to do about it beyond simply being there. Sam might not thank him for the nightmares, but he needs the sleep, however disturbed it might be.

2. Watching the brothers climb through windows will never not be fun.


3. I love the way Bloody Mary appears in mirrors, visible only out of the corner of the eye. It's very creepy, very cleverly done, with that murky reflection following the victim around until they stop and actually look their own reflection in the eye, whereupon she strikes for the kill.


4. I love the throwaway, easily missed detail of Dean checking out the nameplate on an empty desk as the brothers enter the mortuary, trying to work out how to say the name, and then using it to spin a story in order to gain access to the corpse. Of course, although the story sells, the technician is having none of it – until Sam steps in and bribes him, much to Dean's disgust.

"Dude, I earned that money."
"You won it in a poker game."
"Yeah!"

From Dean's point of view, that is work – it's how he keeps both of them afloat. So far in the show we have never once seen Sam earning any money; Dean is the breadwinner of the family, and he shares his ill-gotten gains with his brother without hesitation.

5. I love that Sam has to ask Dean how to switch to night vision on the camcorder – just a tiny, throwaway moment, but it very subtly reminds us that Sam has been out of the game for years, and is still easing his way back into the swing of things now that he's back. The camcorder is probably a relatively new acquisition that Sam hasn't worked with before.


6. I really, really love the scene where Dean pulls the Impala over to the side of the road in the pouring rain and finally challenges Sam about his crippling Jessica-guilt.


Dean is so concerned about his little brother, so determined not to let Sam torture himself or place himself in danger of any kind, while Sam is so mulish and stubborn, so unhappily convinced that he is right, unwilling to explain why – even if keeping it secret wasn't important to his ability to summon Bloody Mary – and determined to go through with his plan whether Dean likes it or not. I love that Dean is prepared to shoulder the blame for Jessica's death himself, rather than let Sam carry it, and that Sam rejects the notion of holding his brother responsible out of hand. I love Dean's double-take at the notion that Sam is holding out on him, withholding what is clearly crucial information about his girlfriend's death, but that rather than being distracted by this he sticks doggedly to what for him is the central point: Sam's decision to place himself in harm's way for the sake of the case. And I love that Sam knows exactly which buttons to press in order to force Dean's agreement - the life of an innocent. It's very consistent characterisation for them both.



7. I love how gently the brothers deal with young Lily and her guilt – reassuring her that it isn't her fault her father died at the same time as carefully gathering information.

Of course, the kicker is that it really was because of Lily summoning Bloody Mary that Mr Shoemaker died, but she doesn't need to know that.

8. I love that both brothers look kind of grossed out by the eyeless corpse.



9. "Kinda feels like we're under-dressed."

It kills me that the brothers rock up to a wake in their street clothes, rather than making any effort to look like they belong with a funeral party.

10. There are some nice shots of the brothers in this episode.



11. "You're my brother, and I'd die for you, but there's just some things I need to keep to myself."

The Winchester Family Motto, in effect!

12. "You know what? I really don't have time for this."
I love that Dean so casually takes out two police officers, without so much as breaking sweat. Sam is in danger, and that is so much more important than expending time and effort on spinning out a convincing explanation of any kind, once the first effort has failed.


13. "We had to go to the bathroom."
Dean's lame explanation for why he and Sam are snooping around in Donna's house. And Sam's double take on hearing it. Fabulous.


14. I love seeing Dean getting on with the research alone after Sam has fallen asleep on the job, bored rigid but dedicated to the task, and quietly allowing his little brother to catch up on some much-needed sleep. It is so easy to pigeon-hole the brothers – Dean the muscle and Sam the bookworm – so it's important to take note that Dean is more than capable of researching a case on his own, whether he enjoys the task or not. The research crown for this episode definitely belongs to him – he does the lion's share of the bookwork by far this time around.

"So what'd you dream about?"
"Lollypops and candy canes."
It's just a shame Sam's sleep isn't more restful. He's is so unhappy still, tormented by the memory of his lost love and of what happened to her, with Dean unable to help because he doesn't know the full story of just why Sam feels so responsible for her death.


15. The scene where the brothers help Charlie take refuge in their motel room and cover up every surface that could possibly give a reflection is really effective, as is their very careful handling of her, gently and deftly extracting the full story of just why Mary has targeted her.


16. "Do I look like Paris Hilton?"
Hee. And that Sam just huffs, buttons successfully pressed, but Charlie is amused and therefore set a little more at her ease.


17. I love the way Dean roars as he smashes Bloody Mary's mirror, just in time to save Sam.


18. Dean looks good in blue.


19. I love the way Dean picks Sam up, and holds his face to get a good look at his brother's bleeding eyes, trying to assess how injured Sam is and how worried he needs to be. This is exactly why he didn't want Sam to do this in the first place.



20. "I take it back – this will be very annoying."
Researching public records in a library where all the PCs are out of order.

Sam looks absolutely huge alongside Dean in this shot.

21. Sam's confrontation with his mirror-self is really effective, a nifty means of providing viewers – but not Dean, not yet – insight into the real reason why Sam has been so tormented by guilt over Jessica's death.

This is our introduction to the concept of Sam's premonitions – we could never have guessed, back here at the start of it all, just how far this particular sub-plot would take us!

22. I really like the way the scene is set up when Charlie meets the brothers to tell them about Jill's death. It's hard to put into words, but move forward a couple of seasons and scenes like this feel more formulaic, while back here at the start of the show there was a kind of freshness and subtle nuance that has been lost as time has gone by, a difference in tone and atmosphere that's more obvious in some later episodes than others.

I think…they had more time to devote to episode plots in the early days of the show, whereas now there are far more constraints on the time available, with ongoing story and character arcs to deal with alongside the episode plot, not to mention frequent appearances by recurring characters.

23. The scene where Charlie starts seeing Bloody Mary in every reflective surface imaginable is really nicely done.


24. There's some very pretty cinematography as the brothers break into the antique store, with all those mirrors and reflections, use of light and shadows.


25. I kind of wonder what Dean and Charlie are talking about, as they wait for Sam to get back from doing the research thing.


26. I love Dean's quick thinking, turning the mirror against Bloody Mary in the end.

Yes, I can make even the most Sam-oriented of episodes all about Dean. I can't help wondering, though, if simply burning the mirror might not have destroyed the spirit's hold on this world just as effectively as this elaborate confrontation.

27. I love Sam reassuring Charlie at the end, assuring her that it wasn't her fault her boyfriend died and telling her she should try to forgive herself.

And I love Dean pointing out to Sam what good advice that was, wanting Sam to apply the same wisdom to his own tragedy.

But more than anything in this scene, I adore that little smile of surprised and half-embarrassed delight that flits across Sam's face in response, so pleased to be given his big brother's approval, whether he's ready to take his own advice or not.


28. One day we might find out why Dean's eyes bled as well, during that final confrontation with Bloody Mary.


29. The unexplained ghost of Jessica is very pretty.


30. Both brothers are looking mighty fine in this episode.



Wow, I went on and on and on for this one!