Recap of Supernatural
Season 3, Episode 4:
Sin City
Casey: Kind of funny, don't you think? You and me sitting here like a couple of regular folk.
Dean: Yeah, it's hilarious. You know, in that apocalyptic sort of way.
Written by Robert Singer and Jeremy Carver.
Directed by Charles Beeson.
Airdate: October 25, 2007.
Sam and Dean investigate a once-reputable town, Elizabethville, Ohio
, whose citizens have turned to drinking and gambling. They search for demonic activity, but find out that this time it's the humans who are corrupt.
Body count
For this episode = 4 humans and 2 demons.For the series so far = At least 218 humans, 15 ghosts, 7 demons, 6 changelings, 5 vampires, 2 shapeshifters, 2 werewolves, 1 djinn, 1 god, 1 rakshasa, 1 rawhead, 1 shtriga, 1 wendigo, and 1 zombie.
Tropes
- Anti Anti Christ: Sam. Turns out he was supposed to lead the demon army after Azazel (the Yellow-Eyed Demon) bought it.
- Archangel Lucifer: Satan's real identity is revealed to be this. Casey is insulted by Dean's concept of her God as the Devil, and describes him as more an example of this trope.
- Batman Gambit: Dean pulls off a nice one. He finds Richie's body, draws a devil's trap in the ground, and pretends to be lured into a trap with Casey. It only fails and actually traps him as well because Dean didn't expect her to be so powerful.
- Black Eyes of Evil: There are three demons in this episode, and all three have black eyes.
- Call-Back: Dean tells Bobby about the Yellow-Eyed Demon's insinuation that Sam Came Back Wrong, and asks if Bobby thinks that Sam seems different, showing that Dean is beginning to worry that Yellow Eyes wasn't just saying that to screw with him.
- Chekhov's Gun: Literally, with the Colt making a reappearance.
- Continuity Nod: Like the Yellow-Eyed Demon, the demon in Casey says the Apocalypse would be the beginning, not the end.
- Creepy Basement: Casey kills hunters in hers.
- Dark Is Not Evil:
- Played with with Casey, but ultimately subverted. The demon Dean gets trapped with claims she just wants to carry out her life the same as anyone, she has some valid points about the human race, and she truly seems to like Dean... but, then again, she could be lying. Even if she's not, despite how likable she seems when she is having a heart-to-heart with Dean, Casey still lured Richie into her lair so she could terrorize and kill him without provocation, had tried to do the same to Dean before she got trapped, and reveals that she has manipulated the townspeople into damning themselves to Hell to get in a bit of subtle Evil Gloating.
- There is still an element of this trope being played straight in the form of the rebel demon Ruby.
- Additionally, Casey is quite insistent that Lucifer is far from the Satanic figure Dean and the rest of humanity think he is.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Dean gets caught flat-footed by Casey when she is lounging on the floor in a sensual manner.
- Driven to Suicide: A distraught man shoots himself in church in the episode teaser.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The demon couple genuinely love each other.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Casey is disgusted by how badly humans and God have messed up so far, listing off genocide and war as two of their creations and saying that over the past century, humans have "racked up a body count" that surprised even demons.
- Evil Power Vacuum: According to Casey, with Yellow Eye's death and Sam having rejected his role as Hell's General the demon army that came through the Gate are now leaderless and there is infighting going on to decide who will come out on top.
- Fallen Angel:
- The Archangel Lucifer, this universe's incarnation of Satan, was cast down from Heaven by God after refusing to bow to humanity.
- Ruby refers to herself as this.
- Famed In-Story: The Winchesters (especially Sam) are revealed to be "famous" even among demons who've been trapped in Hell for centuries.note
- Fantastic Racism: Casey believes that humans are inferior to angels as well as to demons, because she sees them as much too weak and easily led astray. For this reason, she believes that her kind will eventually win out.
- Femme Fatale / The Vamp:
- Casey.
- Ruby gets in on the act in the ending scene.
- Foil:
- Richie to Dean. Both are hedonistic, Casanova-type hunters. Richie isn't as well trained as Dean, however, and takes the job much less seriously. In short, Richie is Dean without his hidden depths.
- Casey to Ruby.
- Foreshadowing:
- In the beginning, a nun is placing Bibles in the pews when ominous music plays. She turns around to see the priest. The audience thinks it's only a Cat Scare, especially when a man kills himself shortly after, but then we find out that the priest is possessed.
- The confirmation that Lucifer exists is one for the existence of angels, whose existences are revealed next season, as Lucifer is a fallen archangel.
- Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: The demons Casey and Ruby are presented as possibly being more benevolent than the rest of their kin. Casey is a subversion, but how Ruby will turn out remains to be seen thus far in the series.
- Good Angel, Bad Angel: Ruby calls herself a little Fallen Angel on Sam's shoulder. While it's probably just a joke, it could be an indication that she will be neither a wholly right and good ally nor a purely bad influence but instead the morally gray character she has been built up as for the past few episodes.
- Have You Seen My God?: Casey insinuates that God is missing.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: Casey attempts to convince Dean of this.
- Knight Templar: Casey comes off as this because of her beliefs, particularly on demons versus humans. Assuming that she was sincere, it is possible that there are other demons out there with the same beliefs, turning demons into a race of Knight Templars. She refers to the Apocalypse as, "It's our turn now, and we're gonna do it right this time."
- Known Only by Their Nickname:
- The demon couple are referred to by their hosts' names outside of the series. Inside it, too, as Sam will later mention the female demon by Casey's name.
- Discussed with the reveal of Yellow Eye's true name as Azazel. As Casey points out the rest of the demon host didn't just refer to him by Yellow Eyes.
- Lady in Red: Casey's top, which is a bold, rich red.
- Morality Pet: Although Casey is a villain, she comes to genuinely like Dean through their conversation together and tries to save him from her lover.
- Neck Snap: Casey reaches out and breaks Richie's neck with her bare hands after she flashes her demon eyes and he pulls out a knife.
- No Name Given: Casey and Father Gil are not the names of the demons, but rather the names of the people the demons are possessing. The demons' own names go unrevealed (as do many one-off demons). However, this is finally subverted with the Yellow-Eyed Demon; Casey discloses that his true name was Azazel.
- Satan: Here named Lucifer. He does not appear in the episode, but Casey discusses him with Dean. She reveals that he is the God of demons and that they have not been able to find him in Hell or Earth, but that they still believe that he will one day return.
- Shout-Out: To Jimmy Buffett:Sam: Two months ago, we open up the devil's gate, all of a sudden this town turns into Margaritaville?
- Sinister Minister: Father Gil is possessed by a demon.
- Take That!: Casey tells Dean that Dick Cheney "has a parking spot reserved for him" in Hell.
- This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!:Dean: What are you laughing at bitch, you're still trapped.Casey: So are you...bitch.
- Together in Death: After Sam shoots and kills Father Gil and Casey both with the Colt, the camera lingers on a shot of their corpses lying beside each other, almost holding hands.
- Unholy Matrimony: Casey and Father Gil. They have been in love for centuries. Not that it makes them any less cruel to people they don't care about.
- Villains Never Lie: Although Casey admits that some demons do lie, she suggest that some do not because they are "true believers" in Lucifer and won't lie out of religious faith in him. Her dialogue seems to imply that she is including herself as one of these non-lying demons.
- Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Dean doesn't exactly take being liked by a demon as a compliment.
