List of Love - Supernatural 1.06 Skin

Too many Things I Love about Supernatural 1.06 Skin
…and other standout moments

In no particular order, as usual.

1. I love that this episode has a very different kind of teaser than we've seen in the previous five episodes, starting right in the middle of the adventure and presenting us with what looks like Dean being Very Bad Indeed. And it's all with the armed police and the music, and the blood-stained girl, and getting cornered at gun-point with the bloody knife, and all kinds of tension, before turning the clock back to show us the events leading up to this shocking and dramatic scenario.

It's always fun when they mix things up a little, and keep us on our toes.

2. Dean is so not a morning person. His grumping about Sam dragging him out at the crack of dawn to look for clues is great, and I love the way he leans against the car, sipping at his coffee, and just uses his eyes to scan the area while Sam scurries around so busily and earnestly. He allowed Sam to drag him out of bed at this hour, though, for all his complaints. He might not yet be fully convinced that this is a genuine case, but that doesn't mean he won't give it his full attention for Sam's sake until it is proved either way.


And I love when Sam is so earnest.

I also love the suspicious side eyes the brothers shoot at one another from opposite sides of the road on seeing an ambulance speeding past. Potential clue!



3. Stopping for gas! I love throwaway little domestic scenes like this as the backdrop for conversation. It isn't commented on – the boys just continue their conversation around Dean's activity – but tiny details like this really help to ground the show in reality. It reminds us that the Impala doesn't run on thin air, but that Dean, like every other car owner out there, has to take care of mundane, every day details such as making sure he has enough gas to get where he's going while he goes about his demon-hunting business.

Plus, he looks good leaning against the car!


4. Oh, Sammy. He looks so enormously shifty, hurrying along trying to keep his weapon hidden while searching crowded streets for the shapeshifter.

Dean, on the other hand, carries his gun openly as he stalks the streets, looking so completely professional that no one would dream of questioning him, positively radiating competence and assurance. Confidence is key. If you look like you are supposed to be doing whatever you are doing, no one will challenge you!

Kinda makes you wonder just how the shapeshifter manages to bring him down, though. Eh, now I'm longing for random missing scene fic…

5. "Look, it sucks, but in a job like this, you can't get close to people, period."

"You're kind of anti-social, you know that?"

This exchange totally lays out for us the very different and opposing philosophies of the two brothers. Where Sam clings to any scrap of normality he can salvage from his life – in this instance the friends he made during his time away, which can hardly be described as unreasonable – Dean, who has had his fingers burned once too often, rejects even the concept of trying to form meaningful bonds with anyone outside of his immediate inner circle. And yet…of the two, Dean is the more sociable by nature, and the one we most often see actually connecting with the people they encounter from week to week, far more readily than Sam. Maybe the fact that Sam draws such a clear and distinct demarcation between work and 'real life' is what causes this disconnect for him, a never the twain shall meet kind of deal. He struggles with transient acquaintance, needing either all or nothing, no half measures. For Dean on the other hand, work is his life; the people he meets from job to job are all the social connection he has or can look forward to, and he enjoys the time he gets to spend with them, for all that he can't allow anyone too close. It's wonderfully complex character work!

6. I love that while Sam is still puzzling over the mystery of how the shapeshifter could have vanished into thin air and the chances of it being able to fly, Dean is rather quicker on the uptake and realises that it went the other way, down into the sewers.




7. "Oh, so you lie to 'em."
"No. I just don't tell them…everything."
"Yeah, that's called lying."

Sam's efforts to remain in touch with his university friends are so telling, highlighting how temporary he considers his life back on the road to be. He's still trying to straddle both worlds and is determined to succeed, despite Dean's scepticism – he needs to keep those lines of communication open to reassure himself that he can still go back, that his life at Stanford will still be waiting for him when all this is over, that everything he worked so hard to have can still be his again one day.

8. "He's sure got issues with you. You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean I had to stay home. With Dad. You don't think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you?"

"See, deep down, I'm just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I'm a freak. And sooner or later, everybody's gonna leave me."

I really like the way the show uses the shapeshifter and its mind-link with the people it impersonates to give us, and Sam, insight into Dean and his insecurities that we might not otherwise have received. This is the first time in the show it has been suggested that Dean – who has always been such a staunch supporter of the hunting lifestyle and loves what he does – may once have had other ambitions that were given up for the sake of his family, putting their needs ahead of his own desires, only to have that sacrifice trampled upon when they each, in turn, up and abandoned him. It's fascinating because…it is clear that the shapeshifter is trying to undermine Sam, and there is no doubt that it is projecting its own issues onto the brothers, as it does all its victims. But monsters on this show use the truth as a weapon more often than not, and the seasons that have followed this episode have made it clear just how much truth lies behind the shapeshifter's presentation here of Dean's issues with his family and lack of self-worth.

9. "Dude, what kind of people are you hangin' out with?"

This is the first time in the show that we've seen Sam instigate a hunt and pursue it so doggedly, his fervour coming from the fact that it's a friend of his that's in trouble, a potential blurring of the boundaries between his two worlds that has to be straightened out, both for the sake of that beleaguered friend and for Sam's own peace of mind.

10. I love how observant Sam is, his sharp eye for miniscule detail that just about anyone else would overlook.

And I love that Dean knows this about his brother so very well. When Sam sends Rebecca out of the room to fix a snack, Dean instantly knows that it's because he has spotted something on the security tape that he can't talk about in front of her.


11. Sam has got Dean wrapped around his little finger. For all Dean's argument against this being their kind of gig, and for all his scepticism of Sam's efforts to keep in touch with his old college friends, he just can't say no to his little brother when Sam turns on the pleading puppy dog eyes. So he turns the car around to travel hundreds of miles out of their way to St Louis.

It's a fateful decision, of course, as the outcome of this case will continue to dog Dean's footsteps two full seasons later.

12. I love that not a single passer-by stops to comment on, stare at, or even acknowledge the stream of people randomly crawling out of a manhole for no apparent reason.




13. Directed by Robert Duncan McNeill!

Man, Star Trek: Voyager was so bad, and yet I have so much geek love for it. So much unrealised potential. McNeill's character Tom Paris was my favourite, so seeing his name here always gives me a thrill.

14. "Hey. Remember when I said this wasn't our kind of problem? […] Definitely our kind of problem."

Dean is never afraid to admit to being wrong, and I love that about him.

15. Sam completely forgets to introduce Dean when they first get to Rebecca's house, so that Dean has to make shift, burst the bubble of awkwardness, and introduce himself.

There's a fair bit of initial discomfiture about Sam's reunion with this old college friend, and I don't think it's just about the fact that her brother has been arrested for murder and that this really isn't a social visit – we saw back in the Pilot how uncomfortable Sam was with the notion of his two worlds coming together. He believes Rebecca's claim that her brother is innocent, strongly suspects there's a supernatural explanation that he is almost uniquely equipped to help with, and coming here to offer support was his idea, because she's a good friend and he's worried about her and her brother…but that doesn't make it any less difficult to be visiting under these circumstances, with all the subterfuge that will inevitably result.

16. NotDean! Shapeshifter! Evil!



17. I love Dean's reaction, all taken aback and caught on the hop, when Sam starts spinning stories to Rebecca about him being a cop and therefore qualified to help with Zack's case.


But playing along with impromptu subterfuge is something Dean is very good at, of course, so he barely skips a beat as he backs up Sam's story.


However, he has a very valid point to make the moment the brothers are alone.
"Oh, yeah, man, you're a real straight shooter with your friends."


It's an impossible conundrum for Sam, of course: how to be friends with people who can't ever know who he really is, how to strike some kind of balance between his world and theirs, how to deal with the importance of honesty versus the need to protect and fear of rejection. Dean's solution is to avoid the problem by simply not getting involved – and it's a policy that Sam increasingly makes his own hereafter, for better or for worse.

18. Bondage! Sam!



Bondage! Dean!



19. Even though Dean really doesn't believe there's a case for them here, just wishful thinking on Sam's part, he still keeps an open mind and stays alert for potential clues, such as the freaked out dog. Professional. I like that.


20. Sam seeing the shapeshifter pop up behind Dean is a fabulous shock moment.



21. I love that random bystanders are always so happy to make with the gossip and pass on useful tidbits of information.


22. Shapeshifter striptease! Skin!





23. I'm pretty sure this is the same sewer set JA so regularly crawled around in on Dark Angel.

Vancouver must feel like a home from home, he's worked on so many shows that film there!

24. "I hate to say it, but that's exactly what I'm talkin' about. You lie to your friends because if they knew the real you, they'd be freaked. It's just – it'd be easier if –"
"If I was like you."

"Hey, man, like it or not, we are not like other people. But I'll tell you one thing. This whole gig – it ain't without perks."

Looking back, this episode, Sam's experience with trying to work the case at the same time as hiding the truth from his friend Rebecca, marks a turning point – from this point on we never hear of him trying to keep in touch with his old friends again, and he increasingly adopts Dean's philosophy of not getting close to anyone, becoming ever more aloof as time goes by. And that's sad, because having those friends and that connection to another life was so important to him, and he doesn't seem to have Dean's ability to connect on a more fleeting level. But his priorities have changed an awful lot over the course of the show.
And, of course, this scene also gives us the delightful shot of Sam tucking a gun into the back of his jeans…


25. Dean is just so dismayed and sooo agitated about being wanted by the police, with Sam doing his best to soothe. And as for the shapeshifter taking his car…talk about adding insult to injury!

"I wanna find that handsome devil and kick the holy crap out of him."
"We have no weapons. No silver bullets."
"Sam, the guy's walkin' around with my face, okay, it's a little personal. I wanna find him."

"The thought of him drivin' my car."
"All right, come on."
"It's killin' me."
"Let it go."

Hee! I love it.

26. This is the first time we see Dean tapping the clip against the gun, a gesture he will repeat numerous times in future episodes.

And…tongue!

"I'm sorry, Sam. But you know me – I just can't wait."
I love gung-ho Dean going it alone against all advice, and operating off sheer instinct – and making absolutely the right call. And I love his habit of talking to himself when he's alone!

27. Flashlight Fu!


28. I love that Dean makes sure to retrieve his amulet from the shapeshifter at the end.

It's another two full seasons before we find out the full significance of that amulet, but even as early as this we already know that Dean never takes it off; this episode is the first time we have ever seen him without it. Seeing him make sure to reclaim it only adds to the conviction that it is very special to him. Hindsight adds so much meaning to this scene, knowing from A Very Supernatural Christmas in season three that the amulet was a gift from Sam, a gesture that both acknowledged and thanked Dean's efforts to make up for their father's frequent absences during their childhood.

29. I love that Sam figures out in about two minutes flat that the shapeshifter isn't Dean.

Even if he isn't certain enough to actually pull the trigger, and pays the price for that hesitation with his capture, no one in the world could blame him for faltering.

30. "Well, he's not stupid. He picked the handsome one."

Over and above what the shapeshifter reveals of Dean's inner psyche, this is the episode where it first starts to become clear just how much of Dean's braggadocio is a front to hide more fundamental insecurities. People who big themselves up as much as he does often do so to cover up low self-esteem.

31. I love Sam's quick thinking, surrendering himself to the police as a distraction to allow his brother's escape, knowing that they won't be able to hold him – and knowing Dean well enough to warn him against going back into the sewers alone.

Plus: Dean jumping over fences will always be of the good!

But still, as a former pre-law student, getting arrested – I think this is his first time since leaving college – must really freak Sam out in terms of what it could do to that future career he wants so badly to make real one day, no matter how confident he might be of escaping charge.


32. HurtDean!

No wonder he hates shapeshifters. They bring him nothing but bad luck, ever.

33. This is one of those episodes where I really long for a pair of scissors with which to attack Sam's hair and get it out of his eyes!


34. I love how relieved and delighted Sam is when he realises that his brother is still alive and close by, albeit also a prisoner. He's been afraid for Dean's safety ever since he realised he was in the company of a shapeshifter wearing his brother's face, and kept asking over and over where Dean was, returning to that crucial point again and again as the shapeshifter kept changing the subject and ranting at him. So then when he hears Dean waking up and calling out nearby, the way he laughs out loud with pure relief is beautiful.


35. "Sam wears women's underwear…"
"I've been listening, I'm just busy."
Ah, Dean. His teasing jibes at Sam really haven't changed since he was 12, have they? And that whole not acknowledging that you've even spoken thing is something my own brother is very prone to, and is always annoying…


36. Brother-brother fight! Except not, because it's the shapeshifter: still trying to mess with Sam's head by wearing Dean's face. But still. Fight!

"Murder in the first of his own brother? He'll be hunted the rest of his life."
The sad thing is that in a way, the shapeshifter gets what he wanted – his impersonation of Dean leads directly to the escalating legal troubles that will follow him around for the next two seasons.

37. It kind of kills me that Dean is unconscious a lot longer than Sam, who therefore has a lot more time to try to free himself, but Dean is the one who manages to break out of his bonds and then has to go and untie his brother.

Plus: biceps! Arms! Wooo!


38. The plotting and timeline of this episode get really screwy toward the end. It's best not to think about it too deeply.


39. Hero!Dean to the rescue! How weird it must be to shoot dead a creature that's wearing your own face.

For once he doesn't rush straight to his battered little brother's side, since Rebecca is there to take care of that, and Dean's got the weirdness of the dead creature wearing his face to confront.


It bugs me, though, that they allow the shapeshifter to be identified as Dean. I mean, how hard would it have been to remove all identification and have Rebecca edit her story to tag it as a random John Doe, rather than someone whose name she knew?

40. "Cops are blamin' this Dean Winchester guy for Emily's murder."


I really hate that Sam makes a joke of Dean going on police record as a dead suspected serial killer, with absolutely no acknowledgement of how serious the implications are for his brother's future – it isn't until season two that the true ramifications of this outcome really hit them.

41. "Must be lonely."
"Oh, no. No, it's not so bad. Anyway, what can I do? It's my family."
Given the opportunity to whinge and express regret, Sam stands by his decision to leave school and go back on the road, even if he is being a little ambiguous here, passing it off as something he has to do for the sake of family commitment rather than his own choice. He's still hunting with a very definite objective in mind at this stage, still regarding it as a temporary arrangement. But his goodbye to Rebecca makes it clear that he doesn't expect to be getting back to his other life any time soon, is fully prepared for the long haul, and now intends to give up the contact he has maintained with his Stanford friends as a complication he can't afford. Sam is nothing if not decisive. Once he has chosen a path to follow, wow is he committed to it!

It is comforting to know, though, that Sam now has at least one person from his other life that knows the truth and hasn't freaked out and rejected him out of hand. It would be nice to think that Dean has noticed this and understood that it is possible, sometimes, to tell the truth without rejection.

42. "Sorry, man."
"About what?"
"I really wish things could be different, you know? I wish you could just be…Joe College."

I really love that Dean tries to reach out to Sam when it's all over, offers regret for not being able to give his brother the kind of life that he wants. It says everything about Dean, though, that he takes on his own shoulders responsibility for things that are completely outside of his control. And I appreciate that, with Dean having made this effort, Sam is now able to meet him halfway.

"No, that's okay. You know, the truth is, even at Stanford, deep down, I never really fit in."
"Well, that's 'cause you're a freak."
"Yeah, thanks."

"Well, I'm a freak, too. I'm right there with ya, all the way."

Oh, boys.

Wow, I came up with a lot of points for this episode! This is kind of a thinky episode for me, rather than one I'll re-watch over and over for the sheer joy of its existence. There's all kinds of significant early character work and movement that make it an important episode, and I'm pretty sure there's a lot more I could have said, despite my wordiness, since it's one of the early season one episodes that I never recapped in any real depth, but I've said more than enough here already!