8.03 "Heartache" Discussion and Poll

[SoCal]

Episode #3, "Heartache" is directed by Jensen and features his father, Alan, in a supporting role.
We get to see how Sam spent his "year off."

[AntiArbitrator]

I'm glad you made this thread and reminded me to post the pic of Ackles and Ackles. I am looking forward to tonight's episode (3 whole hours before you ).

[SoCal]

Don't make me fly back there and TP your house....because I will do it!

[novemberschild]

I am interested in seeing what Sam was up to while Dean was away. I would really like to see how he learned that reverse exorcism.

[SoCal]

I think he just gave it a try. He seemed to shrug his shoulders as he said "I just said it backwards." Like he didn't know if it would work, but he'd give it a go.

I get the feeling he did nothing to do with hunting during his year off. But I'll find out in 3 1/2 hours.

[lemongrover]

Well, I understand what Sam did his year off so much better now?

Half way through the episode I got this image from Buffy stuck in my head where Vampire Willow says "Bored, now." That sums up how I feel about the season so far. It's still got a lot of potential, but they are waiting too long to use it. They need to start chowing down on some of the tough issues and start throwing some twists our way. Because right now, they are losing a lot of steam.

It wasn't the worst episode, but it isn't going to be remembered come best episodes picks. I really wished they had use some flashbacks to spice up the story. I liked that Sam and Dean worked together and did their own research, but with the absence of the creepy music of the first season, darkness, and suspense I'm not feeling it. So many elements that make stories like this one creepy and suspenseful are missing. If they want to try to go back to the first season, it would help if they watched the first season again and worked on making it scary and suspenseful.

I don't know how I feel about the brothers right now. Dean was in the right place, but Sam was so quiet. Something is up with him. I'm not feeling the normalcy story, but the show isn't selling it either. Sam is way too quiet, Dean's back from Purgatory (so Sam wanting to leave isn't exactly the most sympathetic move, it kind of does come across as Sam didn't look for Dean because he doesn't want to be around Dean), and they only keep telling what the brothers are feeling sort of, but they need to show it or at least get Sam to speak. ("Speak, Sammy. Speak!")

It's time to start showing us. Quit screwing around and show it. They don't need to wait until half time to start playing the game.

[Aeryn]

I liked the interaction between Sam and Dean, but I hated the writing. The story was awful.

And what's with the bad acting from guest stars this season? First Kevin's mother, and now Eleanor/Betsy...and that awful stripper chick.

[lala2]

I didn't like it. I would give it a 4 on a scale of 1-10.

The episode was boring to me. I found myself flipping the station during the commercial breaks and then missing some parts when I flipped back.

I just don't recognize this show anymore. I felt no chemistry between the brothers. They aren't connected at all, IMO. They feel, to me, even more disconnected this year than last year. Sam is not familiar to me at all. I'm not sure what is going on w/him, but he's been "off" since the premiere. If I had any faith in the writers, I would assume this was part of an arc for Sam, but I am not that faithful. I don't know what's up w/Sam, and I'm not sure if I'll get a satisfactory answer.

In any event, this story of Sam hating hunting and wanting out of the life is played out - mostly because we've been treated to this same story for the past three years w/Dean.

Now that Dean is finally on board w/hunting and happy w/his life, Sam isn't?!?!?! Why? What is the purpose of that conflict? Can't the writers start a season w/the boys being on the same freaking page anymore? IMO, this show does not work unless the boys enjoy hunting and each other's company. If one brother is miserable w/the other, then it is not fun to watch to me. I am not entertained by Sam's miserable sad sack face! Sam looks like he would rather be anywhere else than w/his brother., and if this were "real" life, that would be fine w/me, but this is a tv show that has been based on the deep, binding love btw two brothers . . . . I'm just not feeling the love nowadays. The last time I felt the love was HCW, and that was a long time ago. Sam's active hatred or distaste for hunting is throwing off the vibe of the show.

I feel as miserable as Sam and just wish Dean would drop Sam off at Stanford and go about his business. Sam is near 30-years old. If he doesn't want to hunt, then don't hunt. I felt the same way about Dean and his similar soul searching during S5, S6, and S7. There is no reason the boys have to stay together or hunt together. They're adults and can make their own decisions. This is why I wish the writers would leave the "I hate hunting" story at the door. It, IMO, does not play out well and does the character w/the arc no favors!

There are better ways to introduce conflict than this tired "I don't want to hunt" plot that is used up and played out! Sam's attitude and the crappy state of the brothers' relationship is ruining the show for me. It feels very generic. I'm not getting a "Supernatural" feel from the show anymore.

And I must address the FB. I was led to believe this episode was going to explore Sam's time w/Amelia, and all we got was that one lousy FB, which really did nothing to shed any light on Sam's "year off" or what was so great about Amelia. I hated the FB as it didn't advance the plot in any way, shape, or form. I also hated the weird lighting and bad dialogue.

And what about Jessica? Didn't Sam have normal w/Jessica? Why are the writers acting as if Amelia is Sam's first true love and his first shot at "normal?" Sam had "normal" w/Jessica for 2 1/2 years, and he pretty much lived normally while in college for 3 1/2 years.

[Aeryn]

I'm not a fan of flashbacks...they're crutches used by lazy writers.

[SoCal]

So the title of the episode refers to the fact that people are getting their hearts ripped out and eaten and doesn't really refer to Sam and Amelia.

I was waiting through the whole episode to see Sam's flashbacks to his year off but all we got was a, what, 30-second sequence with Sam running after his dog and finding Amelia waiting for him in a park with a picnic lunch to celebrate his birthday? She's knows his birthday? I felt a little cheated.

It took a while to figure out what exactly was happening.

Jensen and his dad were great together. You can see where Jensen is like his dad in his snarkiness. That was fun.

Didn't quite get the wife/mother thing. Didn't quite get the girl being in cahoots with the wife/mother.

Kind of a confusing episode.

[novemberschild]

I gave it a 2, it was OK, but not great and I agree with the "bored now" comment for this episode.

There were a few good spots, I liked Jensen's dad in it, he was funny and it was good to see someone give Dean a hard time.
I actually liked seeing them at the Farmer's Market because it was a change of pace from a hotel or a crime scene.
It is a little interesting to see Sam eat in 2 or the 3 episodes this season so far, we have hardly ever seen him eat in 7 seasons and now twice in 3 episodes.
I still have high hopes for this season but if the people that wrote this episode do anymore writing I may have to miss the episode.

What can you expect from Robert Singer's wife? I may spell it wrong but she is one half of the "writing team" who wrote this, Eugenie Ross ? something.

[ezpzy]

It started out interesting when the chubby guy outran the slender guy. No surprises after that.

Dean missed a clue of Sammy's state of mind while at the farmer's market. When Dean asked what the ripped out hearts said to him, Sam said "Stay out of Minneapolis". Dean and I both thought Sam was being cute, but Sam did not want to hunt. I do like the fact that Dean still uses an interesting choice of words like

"some sort of heart-sucking, possessed satanic crack whore bat".

"You mean he didn't fall to his knees and confess to gutting the guy?"

Daddy Ackles: "Forgive me if I didn't take him out back and shoot him."

"Too bad I dropped out of Lunatic 101."

Dean can still charm the ladies - his smile made the doctor happy to get information.

Time to do the math: 4 funny lines + 1 for charming the doctor minus 1 for the 30 sec. flashback and minus 1 for using the same type of picnic scene as Dean's fantasy about Lisa and minus another one for the downer about Sam wanting to leave hunting but add 1 for farmer's market scene = 3.

[AntiArbitrator]

Everything I read about this episode pointed to a reveal of Sam's life during the past year. What happened? Did they switch episodes? I saw nothing about Sam's life that was worth seeing. C'mon! If that picnic was supposed to demonstrate "normal" life, I don't know whose life they are modeling it on. So, Amelia went from being a bitch to being this soft, demure, young lady glowing on a blanket at a picnic. I'm not buying that.

This is the first time I have complained about Supernatural and I hope it is the last.

Lala2, I agree that Sam had a normal life with Jess; she even baked him cookies. I want him to be able to move on, but to say he never had something special is a mockery to Jess' memory. But, wait... perhaps we will learn that since his driving force to hunt was fury at Jess' death, when Sam got over it, his desire to hunt also left. Does anyone else have a thought on this?

Didn't quite get the wife/mother thing. Didn't quite get the girl being in cahoots with the wife/mother.

SoCal, when the wife/mother thing was being discussed, my thought was that someone on the staff likes stories about "true love" or long-lasting love. That theme was shown in the episode where the male witch gambled with Dean and caused him to age. When the "mother's" clothes were found in Brick's closet, that seemed strange until they realized Brick did not age.

I wonder if they failed to show us that at certain times the wife could communicate with Brick and that is the reason she seemed in cohoots with the other woman. I think it is amazing the wife could live in society while knowing what was happening to other people. I guess that is a question for that TV show "What Would You Do?"

[SoCal]

I just don't know. It was a bit confusing. I liked Jensen's direction but the story wasn't the greatest.

[evilsquirre1]

In my opinion the best episode of this season. But this season has had issues. The acting was much better in this episode then the last one. I thought the idea was unique and interesting. I don't really like the way Dean keeps nagging on Sam's year off. It's getting old for me. Especially if Dean really Sam to keep hunting with him. No one enjoys being nagged at, just ask my hubby. ;D

I'm still not feeling the heat between Sam and the vet chick what's her face. If her character gets interesting I will put in an effort to learn her name. Was it just me or did you guys also worry that the dog was going to get fur all over that birthday cake. It's a problem if I'm thinking that and not how sweet the vet is for surprising Sam. We haven't seen her enough to like her and they started out with her being a complete bitch, so now they have a lot of ground to cover so we'll like her.

BTW Brick Holmes sounds more like a porn star then a football player. But maybe the guy ran out of decent names after 900 years. Thanks to this thread because I had no idea Jensen's dad was in the episode or that Jensen directed it. That might be a good con question how was it directing your dad.

While I was watching the jogger run I could help but think of all the people on Supernatural killed while jogging. That creepy Doctor killed a jogger for his heart. In Faith a jogger was killed by a reaper. In red sky at night (I think that's the title) the chick was jogging when she saw the ghost ship. Jogging is dangerous to your health. I always suspected that.

[SoCal]

Oct 21, 2012 6:41:11 GMT -5 evilsquirre1 said:

While I was watching the jogger run I could help but think of all the people on Supernatural killed while jogging. That creepy Doctor killed a jogger for his heart. In Faith a jogger was killed by a reaper. In red sky at night (I think that's the title) the chick was jogging when she saw the ghost ship. Jogging is dangerous to your health. I always suspected that.

I hate jogging! It ruined my knees for life. Stupid jogging.

[waggy3015]

I too wish there had been more flashbacks between Sam and Amelia. I kept waiting for them and they never showed up until the end.

Maybe Sam told Amelia the truth about his past? He never did that with Jess, so that could be why he felt more normal with Amelia?

Though I will admit talking about all this normal stuff diminishes the Jess situation.

[SoCal]

Yup....they tricked us all with the title of the episode, "Heartache." We, of course, all thought it was about Sam's heartache about leaving his new girlfriend. Turns out, the heartache was in relation to the god ripping the hearts of it's victim.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

That 30-second look at the end of the episode was completely unsatisfying.

[novemberschild]

I had thought this episode would be more about Sam and what he did while Dean was gone, I guess we will have to wait a little longer to find out.

I also thought that Jess was part of Sam's "normal" part of life, we know she baked cookies, I am going to go out on a limb here and say she could probably bake cakes too. I am guessing we had our 30 second spot to show us that Sam wants a normal life now, even though in the past he has said he no longer wants that.

I did read a comment somewhere else that suggested that Sam may stay in hunting due to a traumatic event and they felt that Amelia's days were numbered.