Next: Supernatural S 04 E 15 Death Takes A Holiday
Recap of Supernatural
Season 4, Episode 14
Sex And Violence
Written by Cathryn Humphris.
Directed by Charles Beeson.
Air Date: February 5, 2009.
Sam and Dean enter Bedford, Iowa, where three men have inexplicably beaten their wives to death. The guys realize that behind the murders is a Siren, a creature that can take different forms and desperately needs love, compelling people to kill others or themselves as a show of devotion. It looks however you want it to, but when the audience catches glimpses of its reflection, you can see how dead and ghoulish it really looks.
While investigating, the Winchesters bump into an actual FBI agent, who likes Dean's Impala, goes to the strip club with him, drinks with him and even knows his music. Sam is kept busy by a doctor, and ends up sleeping with her. Dean is convinced she's the Siren and refuses to meet up with Sam in case he's under her spell.
That whole sub-plot was a red herring however, as the FBI agent is the actual Siren. It eventually puts Sam and Dean under its spell and pits the two brothers against each other in a fight to the death. The winner will get to be with it forever.
During the fight, the brothers shout some harsh truths at each other. Dean says he's losing Sam, though whether it happened when he was in Hell or before his eyes, he doesn't know, but Sam's keeping secrets and he doesn't like it. Sam retorts that Dean is just angst-ridden, and all he goes on about is the souls he tortured in Hell, boo-hoo.
Dean is about to kill Sam with a fire ax when Bobby arrives and kills the siren.
Body count
For this episode = 2 humans and 1 siren.For the series so far = At least 295 humans (of which 5 were witches), 26 ghosts, 21 demons, 10 vampires, 6 changelings, 3 gods, 3 shapeshifters, 3 zombies, 2 werewolves, 2 dogs, 1 crocotta, 1 djinn, 1 rakshasa, 1 rawhead, 1 shtriga, 1 wendigo, 1 rugaru, and 1 siren.
Tropes
- Ambiguous Gender: The siren appears in both male and female forms, and in its natural form appears to either be non-binary or have No Biological Sex.
- Bavarian Fire Drill:
- The brothers' usual plan of impersonating federal agents appears blown when they meet an actual FBI agent who asks for their superiors' line...only to wind up calling Bobby who further sells the lie.
- Works both ways. The "real" FBI agent is the siren, and he fooled them completely. Bobby points out that a simple check would've exposed him as a fraud.
- Big Damn Hero/Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind: Bobby turns up in person just as Dean is about to ax Sam.
- Birds of a Feather: Dean finds Agent Monroe shares his tastes in music and cars.
- Blood from the Mouth: When the Siren dies, blood starts seeping from his mouth.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: The siren convinces its victims to kill the person closest to them to prove their love.
- Bros Before Hoes: Dean complains of being "c-blocked" by his little bro, because the Hospital Hottie is more interested in Sam than him. Becomes played for drama re: Dean's underlying resentment over Sam's involvement with Ruby.
- Cain and Abel: Once again, Sam and Dean are put at odds with each other, and the siren almost drives them to murder.
- Cultured Badass: Dean, who has read The Odyssey. Sam is surprised.
- Deadpan Snarker: Bobby's response to getting the phone call from Agent Monroe.
- Death Seeker: Adam Benson, who is pleading guilty and fully expecting to receive the death sentence.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Several re: the siren and relationships.
- Fatal Attractor: Lampshaded by Dean but subverted, for once, with Sam.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Adam bludgeoning his wife to death.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The siren dies when exposed to its own toxin.
- Hospital Hottie: Dr. Cara Roberts, a doctor who fills in as a medical examiner. She immediately starts hitting on Sam and is strongly hinted to be the siren, but isn't.
- Hypocritical Humor: Sam actually has to talk Dean into going to a strip club, so as to keep an eye on the FBI agent.Dean: I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing it for the girls.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Bobby eventually arrives and uses a knife to stab and extract poisoned blood from Dean, before throwing said knife into the Siren's back.
- Impersonating an Officer:
- When another FBI agent questions the Winchesters' authority, they give him the number of their "superior" to confirm who they are. Turns out, Bobby has a bank of phones in his home, each one used to impersonate a different agency (FBI, CDC, Homeland Security, etc).
- And then it turns out the Siren is impersonating the FBI agent.
- Improvised Weapon: Meat tenderizer, fireplace poker, fire ax.
- In the Back: Where Bobby bullseyes the Siren with the dagger that now has the Siren's own venom on it via Dean's blood.
- Indirect Kiss: Not used as ship tease (
probably), but rather as a way of infecting Dean. The siren infects its victims through her saliva, and generally, a normal kiss does the trick, but in Dean's case it did it by using his flask. - I Need a Freaking Drink: The brothers are puzzled when Bobby gives them soda.Bobby: You boys are driving, aren't you?
- It Amused Me: Why the siren is forcing people to kill their loved ones.
- Fanservice: Finally, a case involving strippers!
- Little Black Dress/Dress Hits Floor/Lingerie Scene: The Siren as Belle hits all the buttons.
- Fan Disservice: The siren revealed in the mirror having sex with Lenny.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places:
- Lenny and Belle have sex with Lenny's mom sleeping in the next room.
- Sam and Cara do it in her office without even adjusting the blinds.
- The Mirror Shows Your True Self: The siren's real form is shown in mirrors. One wonders why Dean didn't see it earlier.
- Not Staying for Breakfast:
- Belle slips out the moment she hears Lenny bashing his mother's brains out.
- At the end of the episode, Sam decides not to bother saying goodbye to Cara.
- Oh, Crap!: "Or she could be passing it through saliva."
- Our Sirens Are Different: The Monster of the Week is a siren who seduces men and then has them kill their loved ones.
- Person as Verb: The siren is making the victims go all "Manchurian Candidate".
- Red Herring Mole: Cara almost immediately hits on Sam, has hyacinths in her office, and her last husband died of a heart attack. She's not the siren, though.
- Rule of Three: The owner of the strip club tells Dean he can't keep track of his "exotic dancers"."Fake names, fake IDs, fake..." [gestures at chest area]
- Saying Too Much:
- This:
Dean: You're cool for a fed.Monroe: Aren't we both feds?Dean: ...yeah, but there aren't many as cool as us.- While under the influence of the siren, Sam and Dean let loose some things they really ought to keep to themselves.
- Sex Goddess: The Siren as Belle. Lenny is completely enthralled while having sex with her.
- Sexy Discretion Shot: Dean and Cara star making out and taking off their clothes when the camera cuts away.
- Shapeshifting Seducer: The siren can take the appearance of whoever its victims will find the most attractive.
- Shout-Out: The siren uses the names of Disney Princesses when posing as a stripper.
- Sound-Only Death: Lenny Bristol walks into his mother's bedroom, closes the door and kills her.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Dean, big time. Him incorrectly assuming that the Siren is the doctor leads to the real siren controlling both him and Sam.
