This is an episode that builds off of Dean's grief over John's death and sets-up a lot of stuff for the season finale and season three. Dean's emotions come to a head in "Children Shouldn't Play with Death Things." Where he finally admits that he believes that John traded his life and the Colt to the YED in order to bring Dean back. The guilt from that is eating Dean alive. All in all, this is a good episode that uses the monster-of-the-week to tell a deeper story about the characters. You shouldn't skip this episode if you're watching the season on DVD.
"Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things" revolves around a zombie girl named Angel, coming back from the dead and killing people. Sam & Dean come to town to visit Mary's grave. Well, Sam wants to visit it, Dean insists that it's a waste of time since Mary isn't even buried there. It's just a marker. Still, he goes along with Sam and while he's in the cemetery, he notices that the earth around one of the graves is all dry and dead. He's instantly suspicious that something supernatural is going on. Sam thinks Dean's just looking for a way to distract himself from his own grief.
Dean ignores his brother's skepticism and investigates the grave. It turns out that a girl, Angela, died in a car accident and was brought back by her dorky friend. He had a crush on her and didn't realize that bringing her back would mean she'd be evil. Angela kills her old boyfriend who cheated on her and then goes after her roommate who he cheated with. Sam and Dean have to stop her. The only problem is, there's so much zombie lore out there that they're not sure what will work. They try some different stuff, (Luckily not the feeding her heart to wild dogs thing, though.) They finally end up staking her into her casket, which seems to work, but Sam breaks his hand in the fight. (Dean says he's too fragile.) After the leave, Dean finally opens up to Sam about how guilty he feels over John dying and how he know that John gave up his life to save Dean.
There are some good parts to this episode. I really enjoy Dean summing up Neal's feelings for Angela as "unrequited Ducky love." And when he confronts Angela's father because Dean thinks that he's the one who's brought her back he ends up shouting "Haven't you seen 'Pet Semetary?'!" It makes me laugh. And I like the beginning of the episode, where Dean won't even let Sam out of his sight for one night. He'd rather go to visit Mary's grave, which he REALLY doesn't want to do, than be separated from his brother even temporarily. He's so cute when he's over protective. I also like how committed Dean is to investigating this case as an outlet for his pain. Sam keeps trying to talk to him about his emotions, which just makes Dean angrier. Then, at the end of the episode, Dean finally breaks down and tells Sam how horrible he feels. He's blaming himself for John's death. Sam and John are the only people Dean has in the world and having John sacrifice himself like that is tearing Dean apart.
I like Dean's dread of the grave yard, too. He can't get near Mary's grave, his eyes linger on a tombstone dedicated to someone's "loving father," he'd rather focus on anything than the death of his parents. Dean's obsession with Angela is all about himself. He keeps repeating that, "What's dead should stay dead." As the episode moves along, it becomes clear that he isn't talking about the zombie. It's all about how John shouldn't have saved him. Dean feels John's choice was wrong and not something that Dean would ever have wanted his father to do, no matter how selfless John's motives. This also ties in with "All Hell Breaks Loose" later in the season. Where Dean's convictions are shaken to their core and he has to make some impossible decisions of his own.
On the down side, Sam really could have said something at the end to make Dean feel better. How about, "It was dad's choice and he wanted you to live more than anything, Dean." Plus, that might have had some interesting connections down the road, too, especially in season three.
My favorite part of the episode: Dean breaking into Neal's house and calling, "Neal! It's your grief counselors. We're here to hug!" Then he pulls out a gun.
"Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things" revolves around a zombie girl named Angel, coming back from the dead and killing people. Sam & Dean come to town to visit Mary's grave. Well, Sam wants to visit it, Dean insists that it's a waste of time since Mary isn't even buried there. It's just a marker. Still, he goes along with Sam and while he's in the cemetery, he notices that the earth around one of the graves is all dry and dead. He's instantly suspicious that something supernatural is going on. Sam thinks Dean's just looking for a way to distract himself from his own grief.
Dean ignores his brother's skepticism and investigates the grave. It turns out that a girl, Angela, died in a car accident and was brought back by her dorky friend. He had a crush on her and didn't realize that bringing her back would mean she'd be evil. Angela kills her old boyfriend who cheated on her and then goes after her roommate who he cheated with. Sam and Dean have to stop her. The only problem is, there's so much zombie lore out there that they're not sure what will work. They try some different stuff, (Luckily not the feeding her heart to wild dogs thing, though.) They finally end up staking her into her casket, which seems to work, but Sam breaks his hand in the fight. (Dean says he's too fragile.) After the leave, Dean finally opens up to Sam about how guilty he feels over John dying and how he know that John gave up his life to save Dean.
There are some good parts to this episode. I really enjoy Dean summing up Neal's feelings for Angela as "unrequited Ducky love." And when he confronts Angela's father because Dean thinks that he's the one who's brought her back he ends up shouting "Haven't you seen 'Pet Semetary?'!" It makes me laugh. And I like the beginning of the episode, where Dean won't even let Sam out of his sight for one night. He'd rather go to visit Mary's grave, which he REALLY doesn't want to do, than be separated from his brother even temporarily. He's so cute when he's over protective. I also like how committed Dean is to investigating this case as an outlet for his pain. Sam keeps trying to talk to him about his emotions, which just makes Dean angrier. Then, at the end of the episode, Dean finally breaks down and tells Sam how horrible he feels. He's blaming himself for John's death. Sam and John are the only people Dean has in the world and having John sacrifice himself like that is tearing Dean apart.
I like Dean's dread of the grave yard, too. He can't get near Mary's grave, his eyes linger on a tombstone dedicated to someone's "loving father," he'd rather focus on anything than the death of his parents. Dean's obsession with Angela is all about himself. He keeps repeating that, "What's dead should stay dead." As the episode moves along, it becomes clear that he isn't talking about the zombie. It's all about how John shouldn't have saved him. Dean feels John's choice was wrong and not something that Dean would ever have wanted his father to do, no matter how selfless John's motives. This also ties in with "All Hell Breaks Loose" later in the season. Where Dean's convictions are shaken to their core and he has to make some impossible decisions of his own.
On the down side, Sam really could have said something at the end to make Dean feel better. How about, "It was dad's choice and he wanted you to live more than anything, Dean." Plus, that might have had some interesting connections down the road, too, especially in season three.
My favorite part of the episode: Dean breaking into Neal's house and calling, "Neal! It's your grief counselors. We're here to hug!" Then he pulls out a gun.