Salvation recap
Aug. 23rd, 2006 11:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fairyd123So a while ago spurred on by my dislike of Television Without Pity's recaps of the show I decided to have a go at writing a recap of Salvation. Real life intervened and I never managed to finish it but I did get about three quarters of the way through the episode. So I figured I may as well post what I'd written so far. Hope you enjoy it unfinished as it is:
As the strains of Carry on my Wayward Son by Kansas begin to play we are treated to an 80 second montage of the Winchesters' life so far covering Mary's death, the demon, Jess, Meg, Sam and Dean's wacky weekly adventures, Sam's visions, the Colt etc. I confess the first time I saw this I was a bit taken aback at the sheer cheesiness of starting the show with a musical montage but the more I watch it (not that you know I've watched it more than once….O.K. ten times) the more genuinely affecting it becomes. The montage ends with Kansas crooning "Don't you Cry No More" as the Winchester boys decide to go and hunt the demon down together. I have a horrible feeling that there will definitely be tears before this story arc is done.
Blue Earth, Minnesota. Fade in on a beautiful church set and a tall, greying priest leafing through a bible. Oh happy day it's Pastor Jim! I've been waiting for him to show up. The church doors open and a gust of wind causes the thousands of candles in the church to flicker violently. The set designers clearly had an absolute field day on this episode. My jubilation at seeing Pastor Jim is pretty fucking short lived as we see that the young woman entering the church is none other than that murderous minx Meg. Meg is rocking a gorgeous red leather jacket but girlfriend seriously needs to do something about her hair. She's gone from the pixie cute look she was sporting in Scarecrow when we first met her to a hideous blonde bowl cut which reminds me of Jensen Ackles' baby photos. Truly nasty stuff.
Meg tells Pastor Jim that she needs to talk and he sweetly tells her that's what he's there for. Meg is there to confess telling Pastor Jim that she's done bad things (No shit!) Jim who is clearly awesome at his job kindly tells Meg that "There is always forgiveness for those who seek it". Meg who is kind of dead eyed in this scene looks calculating at Jim and replies "For everyone? Are you sure?" I can't tell whether it's simply that Nicki Aycox isn't a good enough actress to pull off the switch between sweet and evil but honestly the way she is acting here should have tipped Jim off that he is in serious danger. Jim obligingly gives us the title of the episode by saying "I like to say that salvation was created for sinners." Meg begins her confession. She's lied a lot, stolen, lusted (well she has been hanging out with the Winchester boys I think she can be pretty much forgiven on that score), oh and the other day she met this really nice guy and slit his throat and ripped his heart out through his chest. Yikes! Meg's eyes go completely black a la the possessed passengers in Phantom Traveller indicating (if the fact that she survived the seven story fall in Shadow wasn't proof enough) that little Meg is indeed possessed by a nasty demon. "Does that make me a bad person?" demon Meg purrs. Hee! It's a cheesy line but I really loved the delivery.
Jim has finally realised that he is in deep shit and starts backing away from the crazy girl. He tells Meg that she can't be there as the church is hallowed ground. Meg contemptuously replies that that might work in the minor leagues but that it doesn't work on her. I appreciate that expecting a show as frequently silly as this to be consistent is asking a lot but I would have liked a little more explanation as to how Meg can walk on sacred ground without it affecting her. We've seen in Route 666 (damn just saying the name of that episode makes me want to spit three times!) that a malevolent spirit can be vanquished simply by it setting foot on holy ground. You could argue that the fact that the demon is effectively wearing Meg as a suit could protect it from hallowed ground but then later on in the episode that doesn't protect either Meg or her demon pal from the effects of the holy water that John sprays on them. A little explanation there would have been nice!
Pastor Jim sensibly realises that it is past time to haul ass and barricades himself in a bunker lined with weapons which make John's stash look like kid's toys. This is one seriously well armed priest! Unfortunately Meg manages to kick the door in as if it's made of kindling. I love the shot of her here as she enters the bunker with the light from the stained glass window streaming above her. Pastor Jim throws a knife at her which she easily catches. "You throw like a girl" Hee again! At least they're giving her some decent lines in this episode. Meg advances on Jim with the knife in her hand. It's very hard to make someone as petite as Aycox look threatening but she's doing a nice job here. Meg tells Jim that she wants the Winchesters. Jim tells her that he hasn't spoken to John in over a year (John sure does seem to fall out with everyone he knows!) Jim who's got balls of steel tells Meg that even if he knew where the Winchesters were he would never tell her. Aycox ruins what had been a perfectly decent performance up until then by intoning "I know" in a ridiculously over the top fashion. With one move Meg slits Jim's throat and stands as watches as he bleeds to death. It's just horrible. Bye Jim we barely knew thee. May you live forever in fanfiction.
Manning, Colarado. All hail the continuity fairy as we pick up with the Winchesters right where we left them at the end of Dead Man's Blood. It looks like the boys have let an escaped lunatic do a bit of interior decorating for them. The walls of their motel room are covered with scraps of paper. We see US weather reports, maps of the US, sections of parchment, John's handwritten notes (one section reads "Temperature differences range by several degrees. Demon alters temperature as it enters area"), images of black demonesque figures terrorising a mother and child and truly disturbing hand drawn pictures of a black figure standing in a burning window. There are also some rather eclectic books strewn about the place with the titles "Principles of Data Protection", "Secrets" and my personal favourite "Air Force One is Haunted".
A very haggard looking John is sitting at a desk with the Colt in front of him. John tells the boys that they've spent their whole lives looking for the demon and that there hadn't been a trace until a year ago. You've got to be kidding me right? Mary died what? 22 years ago? And for nearly all that time John never heard hide nor hair from the demon that killed her? Damn that must have been soul destroying for him - to keep continually looking for something that wasn't there. I had rather assumed that the Winchesters had been following the demon their whole lives, hunting in between chasing down leads on the demon's new whereabouts. I hadn't realised that it had been dormant for the best part of two decades. It speaks a lot about John's drive and his desire for revenge that he has never stopped actively looking for the demon even though it hadn't gone anywhere near his family for over 20 years. So why did it come out of hibernation? To fulfil some nefarious plan? Because little Sammy had come of age? Because Jess was pregnant? Or simply because it realised John would never rest until he had hunted it down?
John tells the boys that he had picked up the demon's trail. It started in Arizona, moved to New Jersey and then California (Jared does a nice job of looking pained here at the mention of California). John tells Sam and Dean that everywhere the demon appears houses burn to the ground. That the demon goes after families with infants the night that the infant turns six months old. And Jessica fits into this pattern how exactly? Jess didn't have a six month old child. (At least I hope to god she didn't - I do not want a storyline where Sam discovers he had a child he didn't know about). Silly writers did they think we wouldn't notice the rather large plot hole here? I'm hoping next season that they properly explain why the demon killed Jess but right now I'm kind of assuming that it killed her purely to fuck with the Winchester family.
Sam realises that he was exactly six months old the day that the demon killed Mary. "So Mum's death, Jessica it's all because of me?" Geez Sammy it's all me, me, me with you isn't it? Dean who has had more than enough of Sam's sack, cloth and ashes routine firmly tells him that what happened to Mary and Jessica wasn't Sam's fault. Sam is determined to wallow in self pity however and starts screaming that what happened to them is his problem. A very pained John calmly interrupts the screaming match and tells them both to knock it off. Sam wants to know what the demon wants. John (who is looking more exhausted by the minute - not sure if this is an acting choice or if JDM was really ill when he was making this episode) wearily tells Sam that he doesn't have any answers for him but that he wishes he did. John tells Sam that he has always been one step behind the demon and that he has never gotten there in time to save… His voice trails off. Man it must be sheer agony for John to be able to do nothing but watch as family after family are decimated by the thing that ruined his life. Dean asks John how they can find the demon before it hits again. John tells the boys that before the demon appears signs crop up in that area. There are cattle deaths, temperature fluctuations and electrical storms. (Must be one bad ass demon to affect the surrounding area so significantly days before it even appears). John says that the same signs happened in Lawrence a week before Mary died and again in Palo Alto before Jessica was killed. The signs are starting again…in Salvation Iowa.
Cut to the Impala and Papa's monster truck driving along. They pass a sign "Leaving Salvation. The Heartland of America. Are you ready for Judgment Day? JW 2:27". (Cute reference to John or a bible reference?) Salvation's town planner is clearly psychotic. Who the hell puts up a creepy sign like that? It freaks me out just looking at it. Papa's truck suddenly veers off the road and the boys follow. A highly agitated John gets out of the truck swearing up a storm as he does so. John tells the boys that he just got a call from Caleb (their munitions guy) who told him that Pastor Jim is dead. John says that Caleb told him that Jim's throat was slashed and that he bled out. Caleb is clearly a ghoulish guy as there were far nicer ways of putting that. John looks devastated and poor Sam and Dean just look beat down at the news. John says that Caleb found traces of sulphur at Jim's place. Dean is furious wanting to know if "the" demon killed him. John doesn't know saying that it could just be that Jim got careless (does that mean that Jim was an active hunter too?) or maybe the demon knows that they're getting close. Dean, ever the good soldier asks Daddy for orders and duly receives them. John tells them that they have to act as if every second counts. He tells the boys that there are two hospitals and a health centre in this county and that they should split up and obtain records of every infant who is going to be six months old within the county in the next week. Sam points out that there could be dozens of kids. How are they going to know which one is the right one? I'm with you Sammy but you know what? One of your Daddy's closest friends just got brutally murdered. This is really not the best time to be questioning his every move. John testily replies that they will check all of the kids and asks Sam whether he has any better ideas. Sam finally realising that this is not the best time to be arguing with his father gently concedes "No sir."
They all move to get into their respective cars but the grief is finally too much for John to bear and he bows his head. Dean realising how upset his father is calls his name. John chokes up "It's Jim. I can't…." Sam and Dean who are clearly not used to seeing their father so open and vulnerable like this look absolutely stricken at John's tears. Anger overwhelms John's grief and looking resolved he turns to the boys and says "This ends now. I'm ending it. I don't care what it takes." They all get in their cars and drive off. Really nicely acted scene by all of them.
Salvation Hospital. John pulls up in his truck and rummages through his fake ID's, finally finding one that will allow him to get the records he wants unnoticed. Meanwhile, a nurse hands Sam a stack of files with "There you go Officer." Officer. Are you kidding me? He's wearing the same scraggly clothes he always wears and Jared looks about 12 in this scene. That must have been one hell of a fake ID. Dean at his clinic walks up to the very pretty busty brunette behind the counter. Appreciating the pretty that is the Ackles Busty Brunette asks if there is anything she can do for Dean. Dean, being Dean, grits out "Oh God Yes." causing BB to beam shyly. Dean then shows her a particularly fake looking police badge and reluctantly tells her that he's working.
Salvation Iowa Medical Centre. Sam emerges from the clinic checking his notes. He grimaces with pain as he gets a vision. We get a very quick hazy flash cut of a softly lit room with a bright pink lamp with revolving figures on it. Sam has barely recovered when he gets another flash - the same room and a jester figure hanging from a mobile. The vision gets into full swing and we see a woman clad in white (what else!) rocking her child before placing the baby gently in the crib in front of her. The woman whips her head around quickly, agitated. There's a sound of a train in the background. Sam is now staggering in agony, clutching his head and I love how he's having this mini collapse right in front of a medical centre and not one person is trying to help him. Back to the vision we see that the pink revolving light has cute little ballerina figures on it which revolve making them look as if they're dancing. There's a sound of a ticking clock and we cut to a cute wall clock (a bear fast asleep on a moon) which shows the time to be 8:04 p.m. The woman pushes open the door to the nursery to see a black clad figure hunched over the crib (just as poor Mary did in the Pilot). Further train sounds and the woman goes to look out the window.
Not much gets past our Sammy and he realises that the highly audible train sounds in his vision were a clue! Dude these visions are helpful. He starts mumbling "train" to himself like a madman while he frantically opens his backpack and pulls out a map of the area. Our intrepid Sammy then heads in the direction of the neighbourhood bordering the route of the train. He jogs through a park and then the visions start up again. We get a replay of what we've already seen with a slighter longer shot of the soon to be dead mother discovering the black clad figure in the nursery. There's a slightly bizarre shot of Jared looking around furtively while he clutches his jacket closely to him. He's looking a tad frazzled in this sequence. He continues walking forward and then there lo and behold is the very house he's looking for - right in front of him! Frankly it is a little painful that Sam manages to find the very house he's looking for after approximately 30 seconds of serious searching but there's a hell of a lot of story to pack into this episode so I guess I can just about forgive the writers from wanting to go from A to B in the quickest possible time.
So anyway the gods have decided to be extra specially kind to Sam today because not only has he managed to find the house without breaking a sweat but look there's the woman from the vision walking down the road with stroller in one hand and an umbrella in the other. I decide not to focus on how convenient this is lest my goodwill towards the writers evaporates. Sam races straight over to the woman and begins the world's most awkward conversation ever. I appreciate it's not exactly easy to say to someone you've just met "Hi my name is Sam and by the way just to let you know a killer demon was planning to eviscerate you and burn you to a crisp tonight but not to worry because I'm here now!" but seriously if I were her I would have whacked Sam over the head with my shopping and run like hell because Sam in this scene is seriously goddamn freaky.
So anyway Sam compliments the baby (always a good play) and tells the woman that he's just moved in down the block. The soon to be barbecued girl introduces herself as Monica and the baby as Rosie and welcomes Sam to the neighbourhood. Sam comments on what a good (and quiet) baby Rosie is. Monica tells Sam that sometimes Rosie looks at people and it's like she's reading your mind. I guess this is the writers' hamfisted way of suggesting that all the kids the demon goes after have powers. Sam looks slightly aghast at the prospect of telepathic Rosie and asks Monica how long she's lived in the neighbourhood. Monica tells Sam that they moved in just before Rosie was born. Guess how old little Rosie is today? Sam starts to freak and the boy is not doing a good job of hiding it. It's nice to see that he's just as hopeless on his own sweet talking the civilians as Dean was shown to be in Scarecrow. Sam freaks out and then freaks out some more clearly having no idea how to warn Monica of the danger she's in. Monica, instead of hightailing it away from the completely unhinged stranger that's flagged her down in the street displays all the self-preservation skills of
a blonde big chested bimbo in a horror movie and just stands there looking uncomfortable. The agonisingly uncomfortable silence continues for a few more beats until Sam, realising that there is nothing he can say to this girl that won't result in him being locked in a padded cell, simply tells her to take care of herself. Monica breathing a sigh of relief that the weirdo cute guy is moving away from her returns the compliment and continues to her home beaming as her husband pulls up in his car. We get a nice shot of Sam looking pained as he looks at the happy, pretty family. I get the impression Sam is so used to dealing with his grief addled hunter of a father that it's never occurred to him that decades ago that cute happy, blissfully ignorant family was his own.
Sam then gets another vision - more powerful than the previous ones. We see the crib go up in flames before lingering on shots of the ballerina lamp and the eerie mobile with the jester figure hanging from it. Never been a big fan of clowns (thank you Stephen King!) so the repeated shots of the clown/jester figure are kind of creeping me out more than the shots of the burning crib. Music from the child's mobile plays until suddenly everything including the clock on the wall stops dead. A black shadow looms into frame completely covering the crib. Monica pushes open the door of the nursery and finds the demon stood there. I'm convinced that they're using JDM for the shots of the demon - the silhouette looks exactly like him. Monica barely gets out "What are you…." before she is flung back against the wall. She is dragged up the wall and onto the ceiling by an unseen force while her baby reaches for her from the crib below. Monica screams stuck to the ceiling while a huge gash opens up on her stomach. The vision ends with a wall of fire coming straight for her.
Back in the Winchester boys' motel room. Sam is sat in a chair rubbing his aching head while John and Dean sit next to each other on one of the beds. "A vision?" The degree of disbelief and contempt that JDM manages to infuse those two words with is impressive. Sam's not really in the mood to be explaining himself to doubting Thomases and wearily tells his father that he saw the demon burning a woman on the ceiling and that things always happen exactly the way he sees them. Dean's got Sam's back (when hasn't he?) and explains to their father that Sam's visions started out as nightmares but then he started having them when he was awake. Sam says that the visions get stronger whenever he gets closer to anything to do with the demon. John isn't happy about being left out of the loop and starts with the self righteous anger "When were you going to tell me about this?" Sam and Dean share understandable looks of "WTF?." But John's not done yet. "Something like this happens to your brother you pick up the phone and you call me." John you've been virtually incommunicado all season and now you have the audacity to give the boys grief about not calling you.Are you fucking kidding me? Dean and I are clearly on the same page here and he's finally had enough of his father's crap. "Call you? Are you kidding me? Man, I called you from Lawrence. Sam, called you when I was dying. But getting you on the phone - I gotta better chance of winning the lottery." John has the sense to look truly ashamed of himself before replying "You're right. Although I'm not crazy about this new tone of yours You're right. I'm sorry."
I'm happy that the writers are increasingly showing Dean to be his own man rather than daddy's little soldier and that the continuity fairy decided to pay another visit here regarding John's absence in Faith but it's not enough. John apologising to the boys here isn't enough to make up for the fact that he didn't phone or visit his eldest son when he was aware that Dean was dying. I like John and love JDM but they really do need to come up with a very solid reason in season 2 why John didn't pick up the phone to speak to his terminally ill son in Faith. Otherwise it's going to be impossible to ever truly like John because the viewers will always be aware that he abandoned Dean and Sam at a time when they needed him the most.
Dean doesn't exactly accept his father's apology ( I imagine the no-show in Faith still hurts him desperately) but he does back off. Sam decides to gloss over the gaping wound by refocusing everyone's attention on the job at hand namely the fact that the demon is going to attack Monica tonight. Sam's phone then rings. When he answers he's greeted with Nicki Aycox's bizarre slurring delivery. Sam's a little shocked that Meg's still alive considering the seven storey swan dive she took out of the window in Shadow. Meg's unperturbed and tells Sam that the fall "really hurt her feelings." She asks to speak to Sam's father and when Sam plays dumb barks at him "Sam it's time for the grown ups to speak put him on the phone." I feel deeply ashamed but I'm kind of digging Meg in this episode. Sam reluctantly hands the phone over to John.
"Howdy John" Meg chirps. "I'm a friend of your boys. I'm also the one who watched Jim Murphy choke on his own blood." Oh this bitch is going down. John struggles but doesn't respond to Meg's obvious taunt. Unfortunately Meg's not done yet. She tells John that she is in Lincoln visiting an old friend of John's. The camera pans over to reveal a skinny, shaven haired guy tied to a chair with a gag in his mouth. Meg removes the gag and hands the phone to him. "John whatever they do don't give…" he blurts out before Meg grabs the phone away. "Caleb?" John asks in distress. Aw crap there goes their munitions guy. John unwisely tries to reason with Meg telling her that Caleb has nothing to do with their situation and she should let him go. "We know you have the Colt John." Meg purrs. John plays dumb and Meg responds by slitting Caleb's throat with an itty bitty knife. Girl doesn't mess around. Meg tells John that as far as they're concerned John retrieving the Colt was an act of war against them and that war has casualties. The camera shows poor Caleb lying with his eyes open, throat gaping. It's an extremely unpleasant image. John's pissed and tells Meg that he's going to kill her. "Oh John please. Mind your blood pressure." She retorts. Meg tells John that unless he hands over the Colt the demons will kill everyone who has ever helped the Winchesters one by one until everyone John has ever loved is dead. Of course if he hands it over they'll probably kill them anyway and the Winchesters will be powerless to stop them. Pretty much a lose/lose situation. "I'm waiting Johnny better answer before the buzzer." John grits out "OK" and Meg being the sadistic bitch that she is makes him repeat it because she likes hearing him beaten. Meg tells John to leave the boys and meet her at a warehouse in Lincoln at midnight for the hand over.
For the sake of the audience members that weren't paying attention earlier Sam and John exposit that Meg is either a demon herself or possessed by a demon. John tells Sam and Dean that he's heading to Lincoln to meet Meg because if he doesn't their friends will die. Sam is incredulous. The demon is coming to kill Monica tonight and if they hand over the gun she'll die. John however isn't planning on handing the real gun over. He points out that apart from them and a couple of vampires no one knows what the Colt looks like. "So you're just going to hand over a fake gun to Meg and hope she doesn't notice?" Dean asks. There are so many ways that "plan" could go wrong I don't even know where to start. John's determined however. "As long as it's close she shouldn't be able to figure it out." I think its beginning to dawn on Dean here that daddy might not be quite the master strategist he's always believed him to be. John's basically signing up for a suicide mission - taking the fake gun to Meg, thereby buying Sam and Dean time to kill the demon with the real Colt. Sam can't quite believe that John wants them to stay there and kill the demon all on their ownsome.
JDM then knocks it out of the park with a speech that breaks my heart a little. "No Sam I want to stop losing the people we love. I want you to go to school. I want Dean to have a home." And how much do I love that despite Dean's protests in Bugs about how if he had to live a suburban life he'd kill himself John sees through all that bullshit and knows that the one thing Dean wants above everything else is a stable home and a family. John's voice softens and he turns away so the boys can't see him grieve "I want Mary to be alive. I just…I just want this to be over."
Sam watches John retrieve items from the weapons stash in his trunk as Dean pulls up with the fake gun he's scored from an antiques dealer. Dean hands it over although its clear he's not exactly happy about it. Just in case it wasn't blindingly obvious to John Dean points out that the meet with Meg is a trap. John confidently says that he can deal with her. Dude you couldn't even handle the Lost Boys rejects in the last episode how the hell are you going to deal with Meg? Dean's clearly panicking about the prospect of the old man getting hurt and asks John to promise him that if things go south he'll just get the hell out. "Don't get yourself killed alright? You're no good to us dead." John nods "Same goes for you." I think that's about as close to a mutual declaration of love as John and Dean are ever going to get. John tells the boys that there are only four of the specially designed bullets left and that without them the Colt is useless so they need to make every shot count. John then makes like Yoda addressing his young apprentices "Been waiting a long time for this fight and now that it's here I'm not going to be in it. It's up to you boys now. It's your fight. You finish this. You finish what I started you understand." Sam and Dean can't quite bring themselves to speak but both nod as John hands Dean the Colt. Very nice passing the torch moment there. Sammy, ever the optimist says "We'll see you soon Dad" as John smiles. Dean and Sam stand resolved, side by side as John's truck heads off into the distance. Only when John is way out of hearing distance does Dean murmur "Later" to his father's retreating form.
John is clearly super speedy as in the next scene we cut to him at night at the agreed meeting place. There are a lot of atmospheric shots of the warehouse at night, smoke billowing. It's all very nice but it only serves to slow the pace of the episode down to a crawl. Lots of very long shots of John running around darkened corridors.
We cut back to Monica's place as we see her silhouetted at the window. Sam and Dean are sat in the Impala with the Colt between them. "Maybe we could tell them it was a gas leak might get them out of the house for a few hours." Sam suggests. "Yeah and how many times has that actually worked for us." Dean wearily replies. Hee! "Could always tells them the truth" Sam says. The boys look at each other before simultaneously dismissing the idea. These two have got great comic timing. Sam's worried about Dad. "I'd feel a lot better if we were there backing him up." Dean agrees. "I'd feel a lot better if he were here backing us up." Sam replies. Hell yeah - the demon is way more scary than little 5 ft 2" demon Meg.
Back with more smoke filled shots of Papa Winchester skulking around the warehouse set as Meg comes into view. She looks up at the spot where John was standing and he's gone. Meg stalks off while we cut to John hiding behind the wall of what looks like a water tower. John climbs the iron rungs set into the tower. He lifts the lid and then holding what looks like a set of rosary beads, starts to recite an incantation in Latin. When he's finished he drops the beads into the water.
Back at Monica's Sam and Dean are still waiting for the demon to show. Sam can't quite believe that after all these years the moment of truth is nearly here for them - they get to confront the demon. Dean says that they just need to keep their heads and do their job like always. Sam's not interested in Dean downplaying the importance of the fight and gets him to admit that confronting the demon isn't like any other job. Sam's clearly worried about the prospect of dying with things left unsaid and so decides that now would be a good time to go all emo on Dean. "Dean I want to thank you." "For what?" a very twitchy Dean replies. "For everything. You've always had my back you know. Even when I couldn't count on anyone I could count on you. And uh…I just wanted to let you know. Just in case." Dean's not exactly good with genuine emotions at the best of times and his flight response kicks into overdrive here. "Are you kidding me? Don't say just in case something happens to you. I don't want to hear that friggin speech man. Nobody is dying tonight. Not us. Not that family. Nobody except that demon. That evil son of a bitch ain't getting any older than tonight you understand me?" Damn I love me some hard ass Dean but the boy is hard work. All he wants is for his family to love him and yet whenever Sam tries to express how much Dean means to him he runs a mile.
Back at the warehouse Meg and John meet. "John you made it." Meg beams. "Too bad really. I was hoping to kill more of your friends." Isn't about time you died already bitch? "Sorry to disappoint." John deadpans. Meg babbles on some more about how she can see where the boys get their good looks while John just glares daggers at her. Realising that John isn't really interested in small talk Meg gets down to business and asks him to hand over the gun. John says that if he hands over the gun how does he get out of there without Meg killing him. "If you're as good as they say you are I'm sure you'll figure something out." Meg purrs while I start to worry about John's longevity.
As the strains of Carry on my Wayward Son by Kansas begin to play we are treated to an 80 second montage of the Winchesters' life so far covering Mary's death, the demon, Jess, Meg, Sam and Dean's wacky weekly adventures, Sam's visions, the Colt etc. I confess the first time I saw this I was a bit taken aback at the sheer cheesiness of starting the show with a musical montage but the more I watch it (not that you know I've watched it more than once….O.K. ten times) the more genuinely affecting it becomes. The montage ends with Kansas crooning "Don't you Cry No More" as the Winchester boys decide to go and hunt the demon down together. I have a horrible feeling that there will definitely be tears before this story arc is done.
Blue Earth, Minnesota. Fade in on a beautiful church set and a tall, greying priest leafing through a bible. Oh happy day it's Pastor Jim! I've been waiting for him to show up. The church doors open and a gust of wind causes the thousands of candles in the church to flicker violently. The set designers clearly had an absolute field day on this episode. My jubilation at seeing Pastor Jim is pretty fucking short lived as we see that the young woman entering the church is none other than that murderous minx Meg. Meg is rocking a gorgeous red leather jacket but girlfriend seriously needs to do something about her hair. She's gone from the pixie cute look she was sporting in Scarecrow when we first met her to a hideous blonde bowl cut which reminds me of Jensen Ackles' baby photos. Truly nasty stuff.
Meg tells Pastor Jim that she needs to talk and he sweetly tells her that's what he's there for. Meg is there to confess telling Pastor Jim that she's done bad things (No shit!) Jim who is clearly awesome at his job kindly tells Meg that "There is always forgiveness for those who seek it". Meg who is kind of dead eyed in this scene looks calculating at Jim and replies "For everyone? Are you sure?" I can't tell whether it's simply that Nicki Aycox isn't a good enough actress to pull off the switch between sweet and evil but honestly the way she is acting here should have tipped Jim off that he is in serious danger. Jim obligingly gives us the title of the episode by saying "I like to say that salvation was created for sinners." Meg begins her confession. She's lied a lot, stolen, lusted (well she has been hanging out with the Winchester boys I think she can be pretty much forgiven on that score), oh and the other day she met this really nice guy and slit his throat and ripped his heart out through his chest. Yikes! Meg's eyes go completely black a la the possessed passengers in Phantom Traveller indicating (if the fact that she survived the seven story fall in Shadow wasn't proof enough) that little Meg is indeed possessed by a nasty demon. "Does that make me a bad person?" demon Meg purrs. Hee! It's a cheesy line but I really loved the delivery.
Jim has finally realised that he is in deep shit and starts backing away from the crazy girl. He tells Meg that she can't be there as the church is hallowed ground. Meg contemptuously replies that that might work in the minor leagues but that it doesn't work on her. I appreciate that expecting a show as frequently silly as this to be consistent is asking a lot but I would have liked a little more explanation as to how Meg can walk on sacred ground without it affecting her. We've seen in Route 666 (damn just saying the name of that episode makes me want to spit three times!) that a malevolent spirit can be vanquished simply by it setting foot on holy ground. You could argue that the fact that the demon is effectively wearing Meg as a suit could protect it from hallowed ground but then later on in the episode that doesn't protect either Meg or her demon pal from the effects of the holy water that John sprays on them. A little explanation there would have been nice!
Pastor Jim sensibly realises that it is past time to haul ass and barricades himself in a bunker lined with weapons which make John's stash look like kid's toys. This is one seriously well armed priest! Unfortunately Meg manages to kick the door in as if it's made of kindling. I love the shot of her here as she enters the bunker with the light from the stained glass window streaming above her. Pastor Jim throws a knife at her which she easily catches. "You throw like a girl" Hee again! At least they're giving her some decent lines in this episode. Meg advances on Jim with the knife in her hand. It's very hard to make someone as petite as Aycox look threatening but she's doing a nice job here. Meg tells Jim that she wants the Winchesters. Jim tells her that he hasn't spoken to John in over a year (John sure does seem to fall out with everyone he knows!) Jim who's got balls of steel tells Meg that even if he knew where the Winchesters were he would never tell her. Aycox ruins what had been a perfectly decent performance up until then by intoning "I know" in a ridiculously over the top fashion. With one move Meg slits Jim's throat and stands as watches as he bleeds to death. It's just horrible. Bye Jim we barely knew thee. May you live forever in fanfiction.
Manning, Colarado. All hail the continuity fairy as we pick up with the Winchesters right where we left them at the end of Dead Man's Blood. It looks like the boys have let an escaped lunatic do a bit of interior decorating for them. The walls of their motel room are covered with scraps of paper. We see US weather reports, maps of the US, sections of parchment, John's handwritten notes (one section reads "Temperature differences range by several degrees. Demon alters temperature as it enters area"), images of black demonesque figures terrorising a mother and child and truly disturbing hand drawn pictures of a black figure standing in a burning window. There are also some rather eclectic books strewn about the place with the titles "Principles of Data Protection", "Secrets" and my personal favourite "Air Force One is Haunted".
A very haggard looking John is sitting at a desk with the Colt in front of him. John tells the boys that they've spent their whole lives looking for the demon and that there hadn't been a trace until a year ago. You've got to be kidding me right? Mary died what? 22 years ago? And for nearly all that time John never heard hide nor hair from the demon that killed her? Damn that must have been soul destroying for him - to keep continually looking for something that wasn't there. I had rather assumed that the Winchesters had been following the demon their whole lives, hunting in between chasing down leads on the demon's new whereabouts. I hadn't realised that it had been dormant for the best part of two decades. It speaks a lot about John's drive and his desire for revenge that he has never stopped actively looking for the demon even though it hadn't gone anywhere near his family for over 20 years. So why did it come out of hibernation? To fulfil some nefarious plan? Because little Sammy had come of age? Because Jess was pregnant? Or simply because it realised John would never rest until he had hunted it down?
John tells the boys that he had picked up the demon's trail. It started in Arizona, moved to New Jersey and then California (Jared does a nice job of looking pained here at the mention of California). John tells Sam and Dean that everywhere the demon appears houses burn to the ground. That the demon goes after families with infants the night that the infant turns six months old. And Jessica fits into this pattern how exactly? Jess didn't have a six month old child. (At least I hope to god she didn't - I do not want a storyline where Sam discovers he had a child he didn't know about). Silly writers did they think we wouldn't notice the rather large plot hole here? I'm hoping next season that they properly explain why the demon killed Jess but right now I'm kind of assuming that it killed her purely to fuck with the Winchester family.
Sam realises that he was exactly six months old the day that the demon killed Mary. "So Mum's death, Jessica it's all because of me?" Geez Sammy it's all me, me, me with you isn't it? Dean who has had more than enough of Sam's sack, cloth and ashes routine firmly tells him that what happened to Mary and Jessica wasn't Sam's fault. Sam is determined to wallow in self pity however and starts screaming that what happened to them is his problem. A very pained John calmly interrupts the screaming match and tells them both to knock it off. Sam wants to know what the demon wants. John (who is looking more exhausted by the minute - not sure if this is an acting choice or if JDM was really ill when he was making this episode) wearily tells Sam that he doesn't have any answers for him but that he wishes he did. John tells Sam that he has always been one step behind the demon and that he has never gotten there in time to save… His voice trails off. Man it must be sheer agony for John to be able to do nothing but watch as family after family are decimated by the thing that ruined his life. Dean asks John how they can find the demon before it hits again. John tells the boys that before the demon appears signs crop up in that area. There are cattle deaths, temperature fluctuations and electrical storms. (Must be one bad ass demon to affect the surrounding area so significantly days before it even appears). John says that the same signs happened in Lawrence a week before Mary died and again in Palo Alto before Jessica was killed. The signs are starting again…in Salvation Iowa.
Cut to the Impala and Papa's monster truck driving along. They pass a sign "Leaving Salvation. The Heartland of America. Are you ready for Judgment Day? JW 2:27". (Cute reference to John or a bible reference?) Salvation's town planner is clearly psychotic. Who the hell puts up a creepy sign like that? It freaks me out just looking at it. Papa's truck suddenly veers off the road and the boys follow. A highly agitated John gets out of the truck swearing up a storm as he does so. John tells the boys that he just got a call from Caleb (their munitions guy) who told him that Pastor Jim is dead. John says that Caleb told him that Jim's throat was slashed and that he bled out. Caleb is clearly a ghoulish guy as there were far nicer ways of putting that. John looks devastated and poor Sam and Dean just look beat down at the news. John says that Caleb found traces of sulphur at Jim's place. Dean is furious wanting to know if "the" demon killed him. John doesn't know saying that it could just be that Jim got careless (does that mean that Jim was an active hunter too?) or maybe the demon knows that they're getting close. Dean, ever the good soldier asks Daddy for orders and duly receives them. John tells them that they have to act as if every second counts. He tells the boys that there are two hospitals and a health centre in this county and that they should split up and obtain records of every infant who is going to be six months old within the county in the next week. Sam points out that there could be dozens of kids. How are they going to know which one is the right one? I'm with you Sammy but you know what? One of your Daddy's closest friends just got brutally murdered. This is really not the best time to be questioning his every move. John testily replies that they will check all of the kids and asks Sam whether he has any better ideas. Sam finally realising that this is not the best time to be arguing with his father gently concedes "No sir."
They all move to get into their respective cars but the grief is finally too much for John to bear and he bows his head. Dean realising how upset his father is calls his name. John chokes up "It's Jim. I can't…." Sam and Dean who are clearly not used to seeing their father so open and vulnerable like this look absolutely stricken at John's tears. Anger overwhelms John's grief and looking resolved he turns to the boys and says "This ends now. I'm ending it. I don't care what it takes." They all get in their cars and drive off. Really nicely acted scene by all of them.
Salvation Hospital. John pulls up in his truck and rummages through his fake ID's, finally finding one that will allow him to get the records he wants unnoticed. Meanwhile, a nurse hands Sam a stack of files with "There you go Officer." Officer. Are you kidding me? He's wearing the same scraggly clothes he always wears and Jared looks about 12 in this scene. That must have been one hell of a fake ID. Dean at his clinic walks up to the very pretty busty brunette behind the counter. Appreciating the pretty that is the Ackles Busty Brunette asks if there is anything she can do for Dean. Dean, being Dean, grits out "Oh God Yes." causing BB to beam shyly. Dean then shows her a particularly fake looking police badge and reluctantly tells her that he's working.
Salvation Iowa Medical Centre. Sam emerges from the clinic checking his notes. He grimaces with pain as he gets a vision. We get a very quick hazy flash cut of a softly lit room with a bright pink lamp with revolving figures on it. Sam has barely recovered when he gets another flash - the same room and a jester figure hanging from a mobile. The vision gets into full swing and we see a woman clad in white (what else!) rocking her child before placing the baby gently in the crib in front of her. The woman whips her head around quickly, agitated. There's a sound of a train in the background. Sam is now staggering in agony, clutching his head and I love how he's having this mini collapse right in front of a medical centre and not one person is trying to help him. Back to the vision we see that the pink revolving light has cute little ballerina figures on it which revolve making them look as if they're dancing. There's a sound of a ticking clock and we cut to a cute wall clock (a bear fast asleep on a moon) which shows the time to be 8:04 p.m. The woman pushes open the door to the nursery to see a black clad figure hunched over the crib (just as poor Mary did in the Pilot). Further train sounds and the woman goes to look out the window.
Not much gets past our Sammy and he realises that the highly audible train sounds in his vision were a clue! Dude these visions are helpful. He starts mumbling "train" to himself like a madman while he frantically opens his backpack and pulls out a map of the area. Our intrepid Sammy then heads in the direction of the neighbourhood bordering the route of the train. He jogs through a park and then the visions start up again. We get a replay of what we've already seen with a slighter longer shot of the soon to be dead mother discovering the black clad figure in the nursery. There's a slightly bizarre shot of Jared looking around furtively while he clutches his jacket closely to him. He's looking a tad frazzled in this sequence. He continues walking forward and then there lo and behold is the very house he's looking for - right in front of him! Frankly it is a little painful that Sam manages to find the very house he's looking for after approximately 30 seconds of serious searching but there's a hell of a lot of story to pack into this episode so I guess I can just about forgive the writers from wanting to go from A to B in the quickest possible time.
So anyway the gods have decided to be extra specially kind to Sam today because not only has he managed to find the house without breaking a sweat but look there's the woman from the vision walking down the road with stroller in one hand and an umbrella in the other. I decide not to focus on how convenient this is lest my goodwill towards the writers evaporates. Sam races straight over to the woman and begins the world's most awkward conversation ever. I appreciate it's not exactly easy to say to someone you've just met "Hi my name is Sam and by the way just to let you know a killer demon was planning to eviscerate you and burn you to a crisp tonight but not to worry because I'm here now!" but seriously if I were her I would have whacked Sam over the head with my shopping and run like hell because Sam in this scene is seriously goddamn freaky.
So anyway Sam compliments the baby (always a good play) and tells the woman that he's just moved in down the block. The soon to be barbecued girl introduces herself as Monica and the baby as Rosie and welcomes Sam to the neighbourhood. Sam comments on what a good (and quiet) baby Rosie is. Monica tells Sam that sometimes Rosie looks at people and it's like she's reading your mind. I guess this is the writers' hamfisted way of suggesting that all the kids the demon goes after have powers. Sam looks slightly aghast at the prospect of telepathic Rosie and asks Monica how long she's lived in the neighbourhood. Monica tells Sam that they moved in just before Rosie was born. Guess how old little Rosie is today? Sam starts to freak and the boy is not doing a good job of hiding it. It's nice to see that he's just as hopeless on his own sweet talking the civilians as Dean was shown to be in Scarecrow. Sam freaks out and then freaks out some more clearly having no idea how to warn Monica of the danger she's in. Monica, instead of hightailing it away from the completely unhinged stranger that's flagged her down in the street displays all the self-preservation skills of
a blonde big chested bimbo in a horror movie and just stands there looking uncomfortable. The agonisingly uncomfortable silence continues for a few more beats until Sam, realising that there is nothing he can say to this girl that won't result in him being locked in a padded cell, simply tells her to take care of herself. Monica breathing a sigh of relief that the weirdo cute guy is moving away from her returns the compliment and continues to her home beaming as her husband pulls up in his car. We get a nice shot of Sam looking pained as he looks at the happy, pretty family. I get the impression Sam is so used to dealing with his grief addled hunter of a father that it's never occurred to him that decades ago that cute happy, blissfully ignorant family was his own.
Sam then gets another vision - more powerful than the previous ones. We see the crib go up in flames before lingering on shots of the ballerina lamp and the eerie mobile with the jester figure hanging from it. Never been a big fan of clowns (thank you Stephen King!) so the repeated shots of the clown/jester figure are kind of creeping me out more than the shots of the burning crib. Music from the child's mobile plays until suddenly everything including the clock on the wall stops dead. A black shadow looms into frame completely covering the crib. Monica pushes open the door of the nursery and finds the demon stood there. I'm convinced that they're using JDM for the shots of the demon - the silhouette looks exactly like him. Monica barely gets out "What are you…." before she is flung back against the wall. She is dragged up the wall and onto the ceiling by an unseen force while her baby reaches for her from the crib below. Monica screams stuck to the ceiling while a huge gash opens up on her stomach. The vision ends with a wall of fire coming straight for her.
Back in the Winchester boys' motel room. Sam is sat in a chair rubbing his aching head while John and Dean sit next to each other on one of the beds. "A vision?" The degree of disbelief and contempt that JDM manages to infuse those two words with is impressive. Sam's not really in the mood to be explaining himself to doubting Thomases and wearily tells his father that he saw the demon burning a woman on the ceiling and that things always happen exactly the way he sees them. Dean's got Sam's back (when hasn't he?) and explains to their father that Sam's visions started out as nightmares but then he started having them when he was awake. Sam says that the visions get stronger whenever he gets closer to anything to do with the demon. John isn't happy about being left out of the loop and starts with the self righteous anger "When were you going to tell me about this?" Sam and Dean share understandable looks of "WTF?." But John's not done yet. "Something like this happens to your brother you pick up the phone and you call me." John you've been virtually incommunicado all season and now you have the audacity to give the boys grief about not calling you.Are you fucking kidding me? Dean and I are clearly on the same page here and he's finally had enough of his father's crap. "Call you? Are you kidding me? Man, I called you from Lawrence. Sam, called you when I was dying. But getting you on the phone - I gotta better chance of winning the lottery." John has the sense to look truly ashamed of himself before replying "You're right. Although I'm not crazy about this new tone of yours You're right. I'm sorry."
I'm happy that the writers are increasingly showing Dean to be his own man rather than daddy's little soldier and that the continuity fairy decided to pay another visit here regarding John's absence in Faith but it's not enough. John apologising to the boys here isn't enough to make up for the fact that he didn't phone or visit his eldest son when he was aware that Dean was dying. I like John and love JDM but they really do need to come up with a very solid reason in season 2 why John didn't pick up the phone to speak to his terminally ill son in Faith. Otherwise it's going to be impossible to ever truly like John because the viewers will always be aware that he abandoned Dean and Sam at a time when they needed him the most.
Dean doesn't exactly accept his father's apology ( I imagine the no-show in Faith still hurts him desperately) but he does back off. Sam decides to gloss over the gaping wound by refocusing everyone's attention on the job at hand namely the fact that the demon is going to attack Monica tonight. Sam's phone then rings. When he answers he's greeted with Nicki Aycox's bizarre slurring delivery. Sam's a little shocked that Meg's still alive considering the seven storey swan dive she took out of the window in Shadow. Meg's unperturbed and tells Sam that the fall "really hurt her feelings." She asks to speak to Sam's father and when Sam plays dumb barks at him "Sam it's time for the grown ups to speak put him on the phone." I feel deeply ashamed but I'm kind of digging Meg in this episode. Sam reluctantly hands the phone over to John.
"Howdy John" Meg chirps. "I'm a friend of your boys. I'm also the one who watched Jim Murphy choke on his own blood." Oh this bitch is going down. John struggles but doesn't respond to Meg's obvious taunt. Unfortunately Meg's not done yet. She tells John that she is in Lincoln visiting an old friend of John's. The camera pans over to reveal a skinny, shaven haired guy tied to a chair with a gag in his mouth. Meg removes the gag and hands the phone to him. "John whatever they do don't give…" he blurts out before Meg grabs the phone away. "Caleb?" John asks in distress. Aw crap there goes their munitions guy. John unwisely tries to reason with Meg telling her that Caleb has nothing to do with their situation and she should let him go. "We know you have the Colt John." Meg purrs. John plays dumb and Meg responds by slitting Caleb's throat with an itty bitty knife. Girl doesn't mess around. Meg tells John that as far as they're concerned John retrieving the Colt was an act of war against them and that war has casualties. The camera shows poor Caleb lying with his eyes open, throat gaping. It's an extremely unpleasant image. John's pissed and tells Meg that he's going to kill her. "Oh John please. Mind your blood pressure." She retorts. Meg tells John that unless he hands over the Colt the demons will kill everyone who has ever helped the Winchesters one by one until everyone John has ever loved is dead. Of course if he hands it over they'll probably kill them anyway and the Winchesters will be powerless to stop them. Pretty much a lose/lose situation. "I'm waiting Johnny better answer before the buzzer." John grits out "OK" and Meg being the sadistic bitch that she is makes him repeat it because she likes hearing him beaten. Meg tells John to leave the boys and meet her at a warehouse in Lincoln at midnight for the hand over.
For the sake of the audience members that weren't paying attention earlier Sam and John exposit that Meg is either a demon herself or possessed by a demon. John tells Sam and Dean that he's heading to Lincoln to meet Meg because if he doesn't their friends will die. Sam is incredulous. The demon is coming to kill Monica tonight and if they hand over the gun she'll die. John however isn't planning on handing the real gun over. He points out that apart from them and a couple of vampires no one knows what the Colt looks like. "So you're just going to hand over a fake gun to Meg and hope she doesn't notice?" Dean asks. There are so many ways that "plan" could go wrong I don't even know where to start. John's determined however. "As long as it's close she shouldn't be able to figure it out." I think its beginning to dawn on Dean here that daddy might not be quite the master strategist he's always believed him to be. John's basically signing up for a suicide mission - taking the fake gun to Meg, thereby buying Sam and Dean time to kill the demon with the real Colt. Sam can't quite believe that John wants them to stay there and kill the demon all on their ownsome.
JDM then knocks it out of the park with a speech that breaks my heart a little. "No Sam I want to stop losing the people we love. I want you to go to school. I want Dean to have a home." And how much do I love that despite Dean's protests in Bugs about how if he had to live a suburban life he'd kill himself John sees through all that bullshit and knows that the one thing Dean wants above everything else is a stable home and a family. John's voice softens and he turns away so the boys can't see him grieve "I want Mary to be alive. I just…I just want this to be over."
Sam watches John retrieve items from the weapons stash in his trunk as Dean pulls up with the fake gun he's scored from an antiques dealer. Dean hands it over although its clear he's not exactly happy about it. Just in case it wasn't blindingly obvious to John Dean points out that the meet with Meg is a trap. John confidently says that he can deal with her. Dude you couldn't even handle the Lost Boys rejects in the last episode how the hell are you going to deal with Meg? Dean's clearly panicking about the prospect of the old man getting hurt and asks John to promise him that if things go south he'll just get the hell out. "Don't get yourself killed alright? You're no good to us dead." John nods "Same goes for you." I think that's about as close to a mutual declaration of love as John and Dean are ever going to get. John tells the boys that there are only four of the specially designed bullets left and that without them the Colt is useless so they need to make every shot count. John then makes like Yoda addressing his young apprentices "Been waiting a long time for this fight and now that it's here I'm not going to be in it. It's up to you boys now. It's your fight. You finish this. You finish what I started you understand." Sam and Dean can't quite bring themselves to speak but both nod as John hands Dean the Colt. Very nice passing the torch moment there. Sammy, ever the optimist says "We'll see you soon Dad" as John smiles. Dean and Sam stand resolved, side by side as John's truck heads off into the distance. Only when John is way out of hearing distance does Dean murmur "Later" to his father's retreating form.
John is clearly super speedy as in the next scene we cut to him at night at the agreed meeting place. There are a lot of atmospheric shots of the warehouse at night, smoke billowing. It's all very nice but it only serves to slow the pace of the episode down to a crawl. Lots of very long shots of John running around darkened corridors.
We cut back to Monica's place as we see her silhouetted at the window. Sam and Dean are sat in the Impala with the Colt between them. "Maybe we could tell them it was a gas leak might get them out of the house for a few hours." Sam suggests. "Yeah and how many times has that actually worked for us." Dean wearily replies. Hee! "Could always tells them the truth" Sam says. The boys look at each other before simultaneously dismissing the idea. These two have got great comic timing. Sam's worried about Dad. "I'd feel a lot better if we were there backing him up." Dean agrees. "I'd feel a lot better if he were here backing us up." Sam replies. Hell yeah - the demon is way more scary than little 5 ft 2" demon Meg.
Back with more smoke filled shots of Papa Winchester skulking around the warehouse set as Meg comes into view. She looks up at the spot where John was standing and he's gone. Meg stalks off while we cut to John hiding behind the wall of what looks like a water tower. John climbs the iron rungs set into the tower. He lifts the lid and then holding what looks like a set of rosary beads, starts to recite an incantation in Latin. When he's finished he drops the beads into the water.
Back at Monica's Sam and Dean are still waiting for the demon to show. Sam can't quite believe that after all these years the moment of truth is nearly here for them - they get to confront the demon. Dean says that they just need to keep their heads and do their job like always. Sam's not interested in Dean downplaying the importance of the fight and gets him to admit that confronting the demon isn't like any other job. Sam's clearly worried about the prospect of dying with things left unsaid and so decides that now would be a good time to go all emo on Dean. "Dean I want to thank you." "For what?" a very twitchy Dean replies. "For everything. You've always had my back you know. Even when I couldn't count on anyone I could count on you. And uh…I just wanted to let you know. Just in case." Dean's not exactly good with genuine emotions at the best of times and his flight response kicks into overdrive here. "Are you kidding me? Don't say just in case something happens to you. I don't want to hear that friggin speech man. Nobody is dying tonight. Not us. Not that family. Nobody except that demon. That evil son of a bitch ain't getting any older than tonight you understand me?" Damn I love me some hard ass Dean but the boy is hard work. All he wants is for his family to love him and yet whenever Sam tries to express how much Dean means to him he runs a mile.
Back at the warehouse Meg and John meet. "John you made it." Meg beams. "Too bad really. I was hoping to kill more of your friends." Isn't about time you died already bitch? "Sorry to disappoint." John deadpans. Meg babbles on some more about how she can see where the boys get their good looks while John just glares daggers at her. Realising that John isn't really interested in small talk Meg gets down to business and asks him to hand over the gun. John says that if he hands over the gun how does he get out of there without Meg killing him. "If you're as good as they say you are I'm sure you'll figure something out." Meg purrs while I start to worry about John's longevity.
