Recap / Supernatural S 08 E 01 We Need To Talk About Kevin

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Recap of Supernatural
Season 8, Episode 1

We Need to Talk About Kevin

"The rules are simple, Sam. You don't take a joint from a guy named Don and there's no dogs in the car!"

Well, I guess standing too close to exploding Dick sends your ass straight to Purgatory.

—Dean

Written by Jeremy Carver.

Directed by Robert Singer.

Air Date: October 3, 2012.

One year after killing the leader of the Leviathans, Dick Roman, Dean emerges from Purgatory, with a vampire, Benny, in tow. The two part ways, and Dean quickly reunites with Sam; however, he's surprised to find out that in their year apart, Sam has stopped hunting. They soon discover that Kevin has escaped Crowley's clutches, and Sam agrees to drop everything to help Dean find him. In order to find Kevin, they visit his old girlfriend, Channing, who has actually been possessed by a demon and alerts Crowley. When they track down Kevin, he has learned a lot about defeating Leviathans and demons and escaped from Crowley on his own. He's also learned how to close all the gates to Hell forever, but the tablet with this information was left in a safe place. Two demons arrive at the church where Kevin is hiding. After Sam and Dean kill them with Ruby's knife, Crowley and the possessed Channing arrive. Crowley offers to spare Channing's life if Kevin is willing to work for him. Kevin agrees and says he needs to get his things. Dean tries to attack Crowley, but Crowley makes Ruby's knife become too hot for Dean to hold. When Crowley goes to look for Kevin, he is doused with holy water Kevin had rigged above the door. This allows Kevin and the Winchesters to escape, but Crowley kills Channing in retaliation. Throughout the episode, we see flashbacks of how Sam met a veterinarian, Amelia, after hitting a dog with his car, and how Dean met Benny in Purgatory.

Body Count:

For this episode = 6 humans, 2 vampires, and 4 demons.

For the series so far = At least 814 humans (of which 6 were witches), 103 demons, 58 angels, 47 ghosts, 36 Jefferson Starships, 28 vampires, 19 zombies, 15 gods, 9 hellhounds, 7 skinwalkers, 6 changelings, 5 shapeshifters, 4 ghouls, 4 Leviathan, 3 djinn, 3 dogs, 2 Amazons, 2 arachnes, 2 kitsunes, 2 vetalas, 2 werewolves, 1 crocotta, 1 dragon, 1 fairy, 1 Khan worm, 1 lamia, the Mother of All, 1 okami, 1 phoenix, 1 Purgatory creature, 1 rakshasa, 1 rawhead, 1 reaper, 1 rugaru, 1 shojo, 1 shtriga, 1 siren, 1 wendigo, 1 whore of Babylon, and 1 wraith.

Tropes

• 10-Minute Retirement
• Action Survivor: Kevin.
• Adopt the Dog: Quite literally for Sam. Although one has to wonder about a veterinarian who forces a person to adopt a recently-injured dog, when the person admits they do not want and are not equipped to take care of a dog.
• Artistic License – Traditional Christianity: Purgatory is generally portrayed as a place where souls which are still impure can undergo redemption and enter Heaven, but this is an Averted Trope in Supernatural. Purgatory is where God imprisoned the Leviathans and then decided to use it to contain the souls of other monsters, instead of sending them to Heaven or Hell.
• Asian and Nerdy:
  Sam: Maybe we should split up, ask around, see if anybody's seen him.
  Dean: Yeah, Asian kid, yea high, at a university. That should be easy.
• Attack Hello: Dean's greeting for Sam.
  Sam: Dean, can I just say "hello"?
• Black Eyes of Evil: Channing's eyes flash when she reveals herself as a demon and kills her roommate.
• Blood Magic: The demon possessing Channing kills Channing's roommate and uses the Goblet of Blood to communicate with Crowley.
• Blood-Splattered Warrior: Dean's first appearance.
• Bucket Booby-Trap: Holy water over the door by Kevin.
• Bullet-Proof Fashion Plate: Besides blood splatter, Dean's neatly-trimmed hair and clothes survive Purgatory fine. Actually, none of the creatures in Purgatory seem to suffer from Clothing Damage, despite the clothes seeming to date from the era they died in and having a Limited Wardrobe.
• Catchphrase: Crowley's "Hello, Boys."
• Circling Monologue: Benny and Dean's first meeting.
• Colonel Kilgore:
  Dean: It was bloody, messy; 31 flavors of bottom-dwelling nasties. Hell, most days felt like 360-degree combat. But there was something about being there...felt pure.
• Continuity Nod:
  • When Dean sees the Impala he says, "No visible signs of douchery" recalling the iPod in "Lazarus Rising" (S04, E01).
  • The demon possessing Channing communicates with Crowley using a goblet filled with blood, a form of communication we have seen between demons and other non-demon supernatural characters before:
    • Meg talks with the Yellow Eyed Demon in "Scarecrow" (S01, E11) and "Shadow" (S01, E16).
    • Duane Tanner contacts the Yellow-Eyed Demon in "Croatoan" (S02, E09).
    • Brady contacts Pestilence in "The Devil You Know" (S05, E20).
    • Misha Collins' blood is used by Virgil to contact Raphael in "The French Mistake" (S06, E15).
    • Ellsworth uses multiple goblets to talk to his hunters in "The Man Who Would Be King" (S06, E20).
• Cryptic Conversation: When Sam asks about Purgatory, Dean is rather vague and avoids many of Sam's questions in a manner combining Aloof Big Brother and Shell-Shocked Veteran.
• Cue the Flying Pigs: "Yeah, and Sasha Grey's gone legit."
• Daywalking Vampire: Benny, like most of Supernatural's vampires.
• Deadpan Snarker:
  • Kevin.
  Dean: How many Words of God are there?
  Kevin: I just became a prophet like a year ago.
  • Amelia.
  Amelia: There's my hero.
• Demonic Possession
• Despair Event Horizon: Sam; after everyone in his family is presumed dead, he stops hunting.
• Don't Go in the Woods: The two campers in the opening scene are lucky this is a Subverted Trope.
• Double Entendre:
  Benny: Suit yourself. Maybe you've gone native. Maybe you like being man meat for every Tom, Dick, and Harry.
• Deus Exit Machina: Castiel did not return from Purgatory.
• Easily Forgiven: Sam. Neither Dean nor Kevin spend all that much time angry at him for walking away.
• Enemy Mine: There seems to be true affection in the banter and hug between Benny, the vampire, and Dean, suggesting they are Fire-Forged Friends.
• Everything Trying to Kill You: Dean in Purgatory.
• Fangs Are Evil: Dean calls Benny a dental apocalypse.
• The Fellowship Has Ended: Sam assumed everybody was dead and went on to a new life.
  Dean: So you turned tail on the family business?
  Sam: Nothing says family quite like the whole family being dead.
• Flashbacks
• Gilded Cage:
  Crowley: Look at you. Haircut, manicure, pedicure. Like a new penny.
  Kevin: Will there be torture now?
  Crowley: Torture? Heavens, no. No, quite the opposite, my young prince. Sky's the limit for you and I.
• Gold Digger: Channing and her roommate, who says the status of Princeton was why she was dating Kevin. Although it's possible Channing's demon is doing the talking to mislead Sam and Dean.
• Hell Gate
• Heroes Love Dogs: Well, at least Sam. It's an Averted Trope for Dean, who isn't thrilled with them (especially after the hellhounds at the end of season 3).
• Hollywood Hacking:
  Sam: I went to the computer lab and found the computer he was on. And found the website he was visiting, found his account username, hacked into the website, found when else this username logged in, and then I reverse-tracked the IP address back to the original user, Kevin, who has been apparently using the same wireless router for the past two months.
• Hug and Comment:
  Sam: I don't know whether to give you a hug or take a shower.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Dean threatens the campers at gunpoint and steals their backpack. Although after a year in Purgatory the gun probably was not loaded.
• I Have Your Ex-Girlfriend
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Sam is reluctant to leave Home Sweet Home and Love Interest, but does meet Dean at Rufus's cabin and agree to help him.
• Important Haircut: Kevin's shorter hair reflects his new, harder personality.
• Impostor-Exposing Test: Dean puts Sam through a barrage of these and then insists Sam do the same to him.
• In-Series Nickname: Crowley continues to refer to Sam as "Moose".
• Ironic Echo:
  • Compare this line from "The Benders" (S01, E15):
  Dean: All I'm sayin' is, you vanish like that again, I'm not lookin' for ya.
  • To what Dean says in this episode:
  Dean: Good. No, that's good. We always told each other not to look for each other. That's smart. Good for you. Of course, we always ignored that because of our deep, abiding love for each other. But not this time, right, Sammy?
• Kick the Dog: Crowley kills Channing to remind the audience that while he may be Affably Evil, he is still Evil.
• Kindly Vet: Amelia.
• Literary Allusion Title: We Need to Talk About Kevin.
• Machete Mayhem: Dean snatches a handmade machete off of one of Purgatory's locals.
• Meal Ticket: Benny refers to himself as this, as he has a way out of Purgatory, although it comes out a little like a Double Entendre.
  Dean: [holding up his new machete] I won't shove this up your ass.
  Benny: Awful strange way to punch a meal ticket, friend. I got something you need.
• Monogender Monsters: All of the monsters we see in Purgatory are male.
• Neck Snap: Channing's death.
• Never Found the Body: Dean says that Cas did not make it, but does not say he saw him die.
  Sam: Did you see him die?
  Dean: I saw enough.
• No One Gets Left Behind: Dean insists they find Cas before leaving Purgatory.
• Noodle Incident: "The rules are simple, Sam! Never take a joint from a guy named Don, and no dogs in the car!"
• Not Staying for Breakfast: Sam packs and leaves while Amelia remains in bed.
• Ominous Latin Chanting:
  • Anima. Corpori. Fuerit corpus totem resurgent. Which translates as "Soul. Body. Whole body shall be raised."
  • Inferni clamavi ad te regem sermonos meos. Which means "I have cried to you king of hell, my word."
• One-Steve Limit: We already had Amelia Novak.
• Our Souls Are Different/Our Vampires Are Different: Generally, vampires are portrayed as having no souls (which is often why they don't have shadows or reflections), but Benny's soul is seen as a rosy glowing light writhing under the skin of Dean's arm. Once Dean opens Benny's grave, Benny's soul is reunited with his body.
• Our Vampires Are Different/Our Zombies Are Different: Since Benny is a vampire brought back from the dead, does that make him a vampire-zombie?
• Perma-Shave: Dean's hair looks very well-kept for someone in Purgatory for a year.
• Perp Sweating: When Kevin is trying to translate the tablet, he mentions that it's too hot. Crowley responds with "is it? Our mistake" and silently mouths "turn it up" to one of the demons guarding Kevin.
• Point of No Return: Kevin struggles with realizing he has reached this point throughout the episode, but it is brought home after Channing's murder.
• Power Ballad:
  • "A Man in the Wilderness" plays as Dean leaves the 100-Mile Wilderness in Maine and travels to Louisiana.
  Another year has passed me by
  Still I look at myself and cry
  What kind of man have I become?

  —Styx
• Prisoner Exchange: When Kevin refuses to play along, Crowley snaps the neck of his ex-girlfriend just to Kick the Dog.
• Properly Paranoid: First rule of Purgatory, according to Benny: "you can't trust nobody."
• Pure Is Not Good:
  Dean: Hell, most days felt like 360-degree combat. But there was something about being there...felt pure.
• Putting the Band Back Together: The Winchester brothers and the Impala are reunited.
• Race Fetish: Invoked Trope.
  Channing's Roommmate: Okay, this guy is Kyle. He's Jewish. Um, I'm pretty sure he has an Asian thing.
• Refusal of the Call: Sam didn't even check his messages to hear the call, but realizes he Can't Stay Normal.
• '70s Hair: Sam's locks have become even longer. Lampshaded by Crowley:
  Crowley: Moose, still with the pork chops. I admire that.
• Sharing a Body: Dean transports Benny out of Purgatory this way.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Dean is clearly exhibiting symptoms of PTSD, even more so than before.
• Shout-Out:
  • To The Girlfriend Experience:
  Dean: Yeah and Sasha Grey's gone legit.
  Sam: Huh.
  Dean: What?
  Sam: Nothing...she did a Soderbergh movie...
  • The scene where Dean is standing in front of the vending machine and has a Flash Back to purgatory when some kids are playing with a toy gun, is reported to be an homage to The Hurt Locker.
  • Dean describes "31 flavors of bottom-dwelling nasties" in Purgatory, referencing Baskin Robbins.
  • Dean asks Sam, "So, what? You dropped your peanut butter in her chocolate?" This recalls the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup commercial from the 1980s.
  • Dean asks Benny, "So, you're looking for a soul train?"
  • It Gets Better Project:
  Sam: You know, it gets better.
  Kevin: You know I'm not gay, right?
• Sinister Silhouette: A shadowed figure is seen from behind watching Amelia's house as Sam leaves.
• Skewed Priorities:
  Channing: ...Kevin? What's going on?
  Kevin: There's a demon in you, and you're going to your safety school.
  Channing: What?
• Slashed Throat: How the demon possessing Channing kills her roommate.
• Sucky School: Centerville State College in Centerville, Michigan.
  • Crowley refers to Channing's school as "What's the Point U".
  • When the demon allows Kevin to talk to the real Channing, he explains, "There's a demon in you, and you're going to your safety school."
• Swirly Energy Thingy: Appears in the 100-Mile Wilderness in Maine and was presumably Dean's portal out of Purgatory.
• Time Skip: This episode is set 1 year after "Survival Of The Fittest" (S07, E23). This is similar to the premiere of Season 6, "Exile On Main St.", where Sam reunites with Dean after Sam had been thrown in the Cage with Lucifer and Michael and Dean had given up hunting.
• Tomes of Prophecy and Fate: The tablets, which are the Words of God.
• Took a Level in Badass: Kevin. He's using Super Soakers to shoot Borax at potential Leviathans, and managed to outsmart Crowley. Twice.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Dean and his burgers.
  Sam: Dude, it's a burger.
  Dean: It's a treasure.
• Trust Me, I'm an X:
  Crowley: Chin up, gentlemen. I'm a professional.
• Weirdness Search and Rescue: Benny offers to be Dean's guide out of Purgatory.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Dean gives one to Sam for not trying to find him and not helping Kevin.
• What Year Is This?: Dean demands of the campers, "Where am I?", a valid question seeing as he's no longer at Sucrocorp headquarters, where he originally came from. Other than that, the wild-eyed crazy look and the confused locals are played straight.
• Who Writes This Crap?!:
  Crowley: Really, Dean. Who writes your stuff? A marshmallow.
• Wild Card: Benny.
  Benny: [looking at the vampire he just killed] He was my friend. Now you are.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
  Crowley: [to Kevin] Feel like a winner. Be a winner.
• Your Mom: When Crowley engages in a little Trash Talk, Dean uses this.
  Crowley: Where's your angel?
  Dean: Ask your mother.
  Crowley: There's that grade school zip. Missed it. I really did.

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