SUPERNATURAL: Jump the Shark
April 24, 2009 by Nicole
I think I’ve been spoiled a bit by SPN’s lightening-quick pace lately (or I am just really tired after a long week and need to re-watch the episode) but I was a little underwhelmed last night. Sure, we got to see that Sam is, in actual fact, much more similar to John Winchester than Dean will ever be, and we learned that there is a third Winchester son, although we won’t be seeing him around in the future. We had a battle of the siblings: kids of hunter vs. kids of hunted ghoul.
When Dean and Sam get a call on John’s cell phone from a kid named Adam claiming to be John’s son, they’re instantly suspicious. They meet with him and Dean hilariously sets trap after trap to determine if the kid is really a demon or shapeshifter in disguise. He passes all the tests, Dean puts his gun away and the next thing you know, Adam is regaling the boys with tales of John’s involvement in his life. I wasn’t feeling this Adam kid – he seemed clueless about how the things he was saying were affecting his new brothers, particularly discussing John’s active involvement in his life; taking him to ball games, showing up for all of his birthdays, etc. Plus, his mother was missing and he seemed to slip into happy mode way too easily given the circumstances.
Sam was ready right away to turn Adam into a hunter like them, saying that he needed to embrace his new life because he’s cursed with the Winchester name. Dean fervently argued that the kid should be able to live a normal life; it was too late for them, but he didn’t need to be dragged into it. I thought that this was interesting – not too long ago I think their positions would have been reversed, with Sam arguing for the kid to be given a shot at normalcy. Dean wanted to get the kid out of there so that they could fight whatever had likely killed Adam’s mom but Sam thought it would be more prudent to use him as bait for the vent monster (apparently Adam, his mom and another victim were all connected to a case John had worked on years ago where bodies were stolen from graves).
A quick aside on Sam: I love him dark and edgy. His character is much more interesting this way. Plus, I saw Kings of Leon in concert on Tuesday, and I must have them on the brain because Sam was really giving me Caleb Followill vibes…and I liked it. Okay, moving on…
Adam wants to be bait, so they go with that plan. Dean goes to investigate a tomb where bodies have been stolen to try to locate the thing that’s hunting Adam while Sam stays back with him at the house. He stumbles across the bodies of both Adam and his mother, who both happen to be at the house with Sam. Ruh roh. She shows up out of nowhere and Sam knows instantly that she’s not real. He tries to convince Adam to kill her, when Adam suddenly turns and knocks Sam out with his gun. Seems Dean was right after all, just not about the demon or shapeshifter theory. Adam and his mom are both ghouls, siblings disguised as their previous victims to lure the brothers out. I guess John hunted their parent years back and they wanted revenge by killing the boys.
Dean gets trapped in the tomb, while Sam is tied down and sliced up to draw out his blood. Pretty disgusting. Dean manages to get out in time to kill Adam and his mom and save Sam’s life. By the way, do we really believe that loosely wrapping a couple of dinner napkins around your arms would stop bleeding that severe? I’m not convinced. So, it seems that Adam was real and he really was their brother, but now he’s dead.
As I said, I wasn’t really feeling this ep – we really just got to see that Sam has changed a LOT since he initially started hunting. Okay, thanks for that. At least we got a sweet “jump the shark” shout out when the kids all met up at Cousin Oliver’s Diner (this was the name of a young character added to the Brady Bunch which most people marked the moment BB jumped said shark). That made me laugh out loud, as did Dean and Sam’s little game of rock, paper, scissors. Perfectly done.
So…am I just extra cranky? Did you guys like this ep? Did it signify more than I picked up on? What are your thoughts on Adam? Please feel free to correct me in the comments, because as I said, I’ve only watched once and I’m pretty beat this week. Let me know if I should re-watch.
New ep next week (with Castiel!) – see you back here!
Nicole is neither a Sam girl nor a Dean girl, because taking sides isn’t fair. But if she had to pick, cool cars and music will always win her favour.
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I need to rewatch for a couple of reasons.
I loved mean, cranky Sam and totally pissed off Dean. They both had PMS and you know what? I bought it. I’d be walking around pissed off too if I had to deal with everything they have to deal with.
I didn’t like Adam but I think that might have been the point. It was the ghoul the whole time. Like you said, he was just a little too gung ho on John the whole time and his mom was missing. The boys should have seen thorough this!
Best part – rock paper scissors – in my head I was “Dean, always with the scissors!” Did you see the little shout out to Kim Manners? I watch it twice to try and figure out what the box was but still couldn’t tell. I did notice the Cousin Oliver’s Diner sign and laughed out loud. How many people won’t even get that joke?
To wrap up – I think this was more of a transitional episode so that Sam could be super hurt and have to go back to Ruby to heal. That will set up the final couple of episodes I bet. They made such a point of showing how much blood he lost there has to be more of a point.
Patty, I TOTALLY missed the shout out to Kim Manners, but I’ve heard about it since. I also love your comment that they both had PMS – absolutely! And I do remember thinking while watching last night that if I suddenly discovered a new shiny half sibling that my dad had spent a lot of bonding time with, I would be snarky as all hell – I’m not going to lie.
From what I’m seeing online a lot of people liked or at least didn’t dislike the ep, so I’m going to have to give it another chance. I’ll have to re-watch tonight with a glass or two of red :).
I was just thinking how long it’s been since I have paid attention to the SPN fandom. I belong to a couple of lists but that’s about it. This spoiler ‘ho is almost spoiler free for the upcoming 3 episodes. Only what’s in the official descriptions.
That being said, I like that I am so “in tune” with the show/brothers that I almost feel like I am living all this stuff with them and maybe that is making me enjoy it more.
Nicole Great Write up! Thank you. Personally I didn’t like this ep, but I don’t think we were supposed to. It’s just too raw and painful. I’ve only watched it once as well, but will watch again this weekend, during the day, while letting sunlight stream in.
Okay. So. Yeah. At the end of Jump the Shard (JtS) all I could do was numbly reach for the Porzac. It was so deeply troubling. True, it did not have the witty repartee of previous episodes, but I think that that was by deliberate choice, because this part of the story was too important to wrap it with gaily colored bow.
John Winchester wins the Award for Worst and Absentee father of the Year, 28 years (how old is Dean-O?) in a row! Yeah. Yeah. So he sold his soul so Dean could live, big woop. From flashbacks, we have learned that Dean pretty much raised himself and Sam, as daddy was off on the perpetual hunt. Oh wait! He wasn’t always hunting, it seems he also found some time to get some and also to play daddy with his youngest son. There are even family photos of them at baseball games and out fishing to prove it.
This ep, drives home exactly how imperfect John was. We know he was absentee and emotionally unavailable. Now we know, He had a third son who he wasn’t there for, for the first 12 years. We know that something held him back from sharing that info with Sam and Dean. We know that he was careless, getting an ER nurse pregnant, but most importantly, careless to not finish a job properly. After all, he left those baby ghouls chomping at the bit for revenge. He also didn’t teach his youngest about the monsters, else, baby boy and mama would have known how to take care of themselves. Despite all he knew and how he met said ER nurse, what possessed him to not teach Adam? Hm, maybe it wasn’t carelessness as much as arrogance, the same arrogance that Sam seems to have developed this season. This point was brought home with a sledge hammer, when Dean points out how much Sammy was like daddy. It’s very sad to see that Dean’s hero worship for his father no longer exists, but it was important.
The other point that was driven home with this episode, is just how different and far removed form normalcy the boys are. While they battle the forces of evil, they can take no comfort in knowing there is a part of themselves out there, safely tucked away in Norman Rockwell’s America. They have a mission, and that’s it. There is nothing else for them but this existence.
Please, please, bring on the chocolate ice cream!
Oh I forgot to add, Patty. I think you may be right about the blood. They really did emphasize it, so maybe angst will be in will he or wont he go to her. Can he redeem himself from this at all? In this season’s time frame that is.
This episode just left me with a few more things to ponder upon. I definitely have to watch it again, cause I missed out on the Kim Manners shout too.
=D
Gee. I really need to proofread better before I post… sorry guys 🙁
I know I am a week late, but did anyone notice the Fonzarelli Waterskiing Championships poster right as they walked into Cousin Oliver’s? I tried to find more “Sharky” stuff but didn’t see anything else.
I liked this ep and am glad they didn’t keep baby brother “Shaggy Doo” around.