Things I Love About Season 1: Skin (Part 2)
Continued from Part 1
Or the shifter has become Dean. Symbolically, it’s a little of both. We will later learn that the shifter takes on the memories and persona of his victim, essentially becoming that person. It’s said that the eyes are the mirror of the soul, and the blank shifter eyes convey the idea that the shifter has no soul. As a projection of the shadow, the dark recesses of the unconscious, the shifter becomes a device for showing us what soulless Dean would be like, an early metaphor for soullessness that is eventually made literal in season 6.
SHAPESHIFTER: He’s sure got issues with you. You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home. With Dad. You don’t think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you?
SAM: Where is my brother? (The shapeshifter leans in close to SAM.)
SHAPESHIFTER: I am your brother. See, deep down, I’m just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I’m a freak. And sooner or later, everybody’s gonna leave me. (He backs away.)
SAM: What are you talkin’ about?
SHAPESHIFTER: You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothin’, just poof. Left me with your sorry ass.
http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/1.06_Skin_(transcript)
(I have to say, she seems to respond Dean’s appearance remarkably calmly
considering the last time she saw his face it was on her captor and torturer.)
Which he does surprisingly quickly considering the thickness of that rope;
it must be a very sharp knife! :P
SAM: No, that’s okay. You know, the truth is, even at Stanford, deep down, I never really fit in.
DEAN: Well, that’s ‘cause you’re a freak.
SAM: Yeah, thanks.
DEAN: Well, I’m a freak, too. I’m right there with ya, all the way. (SAM laughs.)
http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/1.06_Skin_(transcript)
NB:
I know these reviews are somewhat over-abundantly tagged. I do this in case anyone is interested in specific recurring themes and might wish to use the tags to follow how those themes are developed from episode to episode. However, if anyone is wondering which tag they need to bookmark in order to get an automatic notification each time a new review is posted, each post is consistently tagged "episode rewatch".
Thanks for reading. I look forward to hearing your thoughts . . . in the comments, I mean. Not in a creepy, shape-shifter way, right? ;)
.
WARNING: This is a very dark and confronting episode. It contains images of sexualized violence and deals with overt themes of misogyny and violence against women.
My review does the same.
My review does the same.
At the end of Part 1 we had paused at the disturbing discovery that Dean has become the shifter:
Or the shifter has become Dean. Symbolically, it’s a little of both. We will later learn that the shifter takes on the memories and persona of his victim, essentially becoming that person. It’s said that the eyes are the mirror of the soul, and the blank shifter eyes convey the idea that the shifter has no soul. As a projection of the shadow, the dark recesses of the unconscious, the shifter becomes a device for showing us what soulless Dean would be like, an early metaphor for soullessness that is eventually made literal in season 6.
Sam almost immediately senses the difference. He questions, then confronts the shifter who responds by laying Sam out with a tire iron in a split-second move that recalls Dean’s quick dispatch of the security guards in the previous episode. It’s significant that we’ve already been shown that original Dean is quite capable, physically, of pulling a move like this because there is no suggestion in the episode that the shifter’s chameleon abilities have also endowed him with any exceptional strength. I think we are meant to assume that the two Deans are physically alike in all respects, including their combat capabilities. This may be important later.
In the next scene, Sam awakens to find himself tied up in the shifter’s lair. I believe this is the first occurrence in the show of the infamous “rope trope”: a frequently recurring motif wherein Sam finds himself bound or chained by the show’s monsters and villains. This may, in part, be an extension of the cage imagery that suggests Sam is bound to his destiny, and it may be significant that Dean’s shadow self is the one responsible for this original manifestation of the trope. Also, note that the rope is wrapped around Sam’s neck. As we’ve discussed before, constriction of the throat implies constriction of the breath, and the breath is traditionally associated with the soul.
There follows a conversation in which a good deal of very interesting information is imparted. First Sam demands to know where Dean is, and the shifter responds “I wouldn’t worry about him. I’d worry about you.” We soon learn that the shifter needs to keep Dean alive to maintain his borrowed identity, but he clearly has plans for Sam that don’t require keeping him alive. Nevertheless Sam continues to worry about his brother (the bold print in the following passages is my emphasis):
There follows a conversation in which a good deal of very interesting information is imparted. First Sam demands to know where Dean is, and the shifter responds “I wouldn’t worry about him. I’d worry about you.” We soon learn that the shifter needs to keep Dean alive to maintain his borrowed identity, but he clearly has plans for Sam that don’t require keeping him alive. Nevertheless Sam continues to worry about his brother (the bold print in the following passages is my emphasis):
SAM: Where is he?
SHAPESHIFTER: You don’t really wanna know. (He chuckles.) I swear, the more I learn about you and your family—I thought I came from a bad background.
SAM: What do you mean, learn? (The shapeshifter stops. He grabs his head in pain and grimaces. A quick succession of audio clips from past episodes can be heard.)
http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/1.06_Skin_(transcript)
SHAPESHIFTER: You don’t really wanna know. (He chuckles.) I swear, the more I learn about you and your family—I thought I came from a bad background.
SAM: What do you mean, learn? (The shapeshifter stops. He grabs his head in pain and grimaces. A quick succession of audio clips from past episodes can be heard.)
http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/1.06_Skin_(transcript)
The creature is evidently drawing on Dean’s memories, and it’s clear that the assimilation process is painful. Since the shifter’s information about the Winchester family is based on Dean’s actual thoughts and memories, we can assume that his statements represent what Dean really believes, at least on some level. And the first thing he reveals is that some part of Dean doesn’t believe that Sam’s concern for him is genuine, which is very sad. It’s also deeply disturbing that a monster considers itself fortunate in comparison with the Winchesters!
Despite the oft-repeated mantra that “demons lie”, the show often employs demons, monsters and villains to be the “truth tellers” of the story, a device wherein an outsider pov is used to reveal secrets the protagonists typically conceal. In this case of outsider also has the benefit of insider information since he has access to Dean’s memories, and the shifter is used to overtly expresses the resentment that Dean generally represses:
Despite the oft-repeated mantra that “demons lie”, the show often employs demons, monsters and villains to be the “truth tellers” of the story, a device wherein an outsider pov is used to reveal secrets the protagonists typically conceal. In this case of outsider also has the benefit of insider information since he has access to Dean’s memories, and the shifter is used to overtly expresses the resentment that Dean generally represses:
SHAPESHIFTER: He’s sure got issues with you. You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home. With Dad. You don’t think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you?
SAM: Where is my brother? (The shapeshifter leans in close to SAM.)
SHAPESHIFTER: I am your brother. See, deep down, I’m just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I’m a freak. And sooner or later, everybody’s gonna leave me. (He backs away.)
SAM: What are you talkin’ about?
SHAPESHIFTER: You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothin’, just poof. Left me with your sorry ass.
http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/1.06_Skin_(transcript)
The shifter’s identity with Dean is emphasized (“I am your brother”), and this is later reiterated by Sam (“he didn’t just look like you, he was you, or he was becoming you), to make it clear that we should accept these revelations as authentic. At the primary level, the text is exposing a buried part of Dean that carries a lot of hate and anger, not to mention deep-seated abandonment issues.
“Still, this life? It’s not without its perks,” says the shifter, “I meet the nicest people.” Then he adds “like little Becky”, echoing the teasing epithet Sam used to greet Rebecca earlier, but repurposing it to de-age her in a way that is decidedly chilling in the context, as he reveals his plan to use Dean’s form to gain access to Rebecca, and his intent is emphasized by one of those creepy close ups:
“Still, this life? It’s not without its perks,” says the shifter, “I meet the nicest people.” Then he adds “like little Becky”, echoing the teasing epithet Sam used to greet Rebecca earlier, but repurposing it to de-age her in a way that is decidedly chilling in the context, as he reveals his plan to use Dean’s form to gain access to Rebecca, and his intent is emphasized by one of those creepy close ups:
At Rebecca’s place we get one of those convoluted scenes that the show enjoys playing with, where the shifter pretexts as Dean explaining about the shifter and speculating about its origin. “Evolution is about mutation, right?” he says. “So, maybe this thing was born human but was different. Hideous and hated. Until he learned to become someone else.” It becomes clear that the shifter identifies with Dean not just because it has assumed his form, but because it perceives them to be fundamentally similar . . . or it is channeling Dean perceiving the similarity. “It’s funny. I kind of understand him. He’s all alone, close to no one. All he wants is for someone to love him. He’s like me. You know, everybody needs a little human touch now and then. It’s so hard to be different.”
There’s more than one possible reading implicit in this conversation. The most obvious is that the shifter sees parallels between himself and Dean, but I’ll leave a discussion of the creature’s affinity with Dean to later and, for now, I’m going to examine a more oblique interpretation, because it actually fits better within the episode’s primary narrative.
We know that Sam saw himself as a freak in relation to society, so he tried to become a different person in order to blend in at college. Is it possible that the explanation of the shifter provided by this simulacrum of Dean is mirrored by an actual sympathy that Dean himself is beginning to acquire for Sam’s situation? As a lonely and isolated being who also has no place in society and feels deprived of acceptance and love, is Dean beginning to understand Sam’s need to go out and seek those things for himself?
Shifter!Dean, however, is merely using this conversation as an opening to make a move on Rebecca. When she vehemently rejects his advances, he becomes enraged and attacks her and, as she attempts to call the police, he throws her down on the floor and binds her with telephone wire. As he raises a fist to strike her. the action quickly cuts to the next scene where we find her bound to a chair. And we’re back at the point where the episode began.
As he approaches the now helplessly bound, gagged and bloodied Rebecca we see his image in a mirror. Mirrors and reflection are often used to indicate some kind of reversal is happening, and here it underscores the point that we are now seeing a reflection of the opening scene, but we are better informed now, and we know that this isn’t really Dean . . .
There’s more than one possible reading implicit in this conversation. The most obvious is that the shifter sees parallels between himself and Dean, but I’ll leave a discussion of the creature’s affinity with Dean to later and, for now, I’m going to examine a more oblique interpretation, because it actually fits better within the episode’s primary narrative.
We know that Sam saw himself as a freak in relation to society, so he tried to become a different person in order to blend in at college. Is it possible that the explanation of the shifter provided by this simulacrum of Dean is mirrored by an actual sympathy that Dean himself is beginning to acquire for Sam’s situation? As a lonely and isolated being who also has no place in society and feels deprived of acceptance and love, is Dean beginning to understand Sam’s need to go out and seek those things for himself?
Shifter!Dean, however, is merely using this conversation as an opening to make a move on Rebecca. When she vehemently rejects his advances, he becomes enraged and attacks her and, as she attempts to call the police, he throws her down on the floor and binds her with telephone wire. As he raises a fist to strike her. the action quickly cuts to the next scene where we find her bound to a chair. And we’re back at the point where the episode began.
As he approaches the now helplessly bound, gagged and bloodied Rebecca we see his image in a mirror. Mirrors and reflection are often used to indicate some kind of reversal is happening, and here it underscores the point that we are now seeing a reflection of the opening scene, but we are better informed now, and we know that this isn’t really Dean . . .
We get a repeat of the opening scene with the S.W.A.T. team’s invasion, but it’s extended to include the shifter’s escape and we see him flee back to his lair in the sewers . . .
. . .
Yes, we all know what happens next and I’m sure we’re all dying to talk about that scene, but it too belongs in a discussion of the episode’s darker aspects, so I hope you can be patient with me if I defer exploring it for the time being.
Following the attack on Rebecca, the brothers discover the police are hunting for Dean, and they need a plan for hunting and killing the shifter. This will require their weapons from the car, which they presume the shifter left at Rebecca’s.
. . .
Yes, we all know what happens next and I’m sure we’re all dying to talk about that scene, but it too belongs in a discussion of the episode’s darker aspects, so I hope you can be patient with me if I defer exploring it for the time being.
Following the attack on Rebecca, the brothers discover the police are hunting for Dean, and they need a plan for hunting and killing the shifter. This will require their weapons from the car, which they presume the shifter left at Rebecca’s.
We’re about ready for a lighter moment now, and Dean waxing possessive about the Impala provides a brief comic respite. Unfortunately, when they return to Rebecca’s to retrieve it, they discover the police are laying in wait. Once more the brothers are forced to split up as Sam surrenders himself to give Dean a chance to get away.
Dean waits until daylight but, when Sam still hasn’t returned, he becomes impatient and goes down into the sewers alone. Meanwhile Sam has been released by the cops but, for reasons that aren’t made clear, instead of finding Dean he goes to see Rebecca. While, back in the evil lair, Dean discovers Rebecca has once more become the shifter’s prisoner.
Dean waits until daylight but, when Sam still hasn’t returned, he becomes impatient and goes down into the sewers alone. Meanwhile Sam has been released by the cops but, for reasons that aren’t made clear, instead of finding Dean he goes to see Rebecca. While, back in the evil lair, Dean discovers Rebecca has once more become the shifter’s prisoner.
(I have to say, she seems to respond Dean’s appearance remarkably calmly
considering the last time she saw his face it was on her captor and torturer.)
But if Rebecca’s in the sewer, then guess who’s in the house with Sam . . .
Apparently, Dean knows where Sam is (again, it isn’t made clear how he knows this) but as he and Rebecca race to the rescue, the action cuts back to the house where, once again, we find Sam roped and troped:
The shifter is wearing Dean’s identity once more, and he reveals that he plans to frame Dean for his brother’s murder then move on, but he acknowledges, regretfully, “I will be sorry to lose this skin. Your brother’s got a lot of good qualities. You should appreciate him more than you do.”
I shudder to imagine what the shifter might classify as good qualities but, again, he has nothing on which to base his opinion than Dean’s own thoughts and memories, so we must assume that Dean genuinely feels under-appreciated by Sam. And he may have some grounds for feeling that way since there are times, especially in the early seasons, when Sam appears to underestimate his brother.
Perhaps it works both ways, though because the shifter makes the mistake of sticking a knife within reach of Sam, who takes the opportunity to kick the shifter away and cut himself free.
I shudder to imagine what the shifter might classify as good qualities but, again, he has nothing on which to base his opinion than Dean’s own thoughts and memories, so we must assume that Dean genuinely feels under-appreciated by Sam. And he may have some grounds for feeling that way since there are times, especially in the early seasons, when Sam appears to underestimate his brother.
Perhaps it works both ways, though because the shifter makes the mistake of sticking a knife within reach of Sam, who takes the opportunity to kick the shifter away and cut himself free.
Which he does surprisingly quickly considering the thickness of that rope;
it must be a very sharp knife! :P
There follows an extended fight scene, the first prolonged fist fight since the first episode. It’s beautifully choreographed and really showcases the characters’ martial skills.
At a moment when he has the upper hand, shifter!Dean makes a telling remark about the brothers’ shared history: “even when we were kids, I always kicked your ass”, he says, as if he’s proud of it. But there’s a four-year age difference between the brothers. When they were kids, Dean would have had a significant height and weight advantage. Yeah, that’s called bullying. The recurrent theme that has been playing through the previous episodes has now come home to the brothers.
It’s not such a big deal, I guess - older siblings commonly bully younger ones – but it’s a revelation that might explain a great deal: if young Sam’s memories were coloured more by a perception of Dean as the bossy and bullying older brother, policing their father’s law, than as the protective care-giver he tends to be painted as later; and if Dean, reciprocally, harboured resentment at being saddled with the responsibility of caring for a rebellious, and apparently favoured, younger son then the brothers’ estrangement at the start of the season becomes readily understandable.
The fight culminates in a moment that mirrors the combat scene from the pilot where Dean pins Sam on the floor and threatens to cut off his windpipe.
It’s not such a big deal, I guess - older siblings commonly bully younger ones – but it’s a revelation that might explain a great deal: if young Sam’s memories were coloured more by a perception of Dean as the bossy and bullying older brother, policing their father’s law, than as the protective care-giver he tends to be painted as later; and if Dean, reciprocally, harboured resentment at being saddled with the responsibility of caring for a rebellious, and apparently favoured, younger son then the brothers’ estrangement at the start of the season becomes readily understandable.
The fight culminates in a moment that mirrors the combat scene from the pilot where Dean pins Sam on the floor and threatens to cut off his windpipe.
But now the shifter is choking him for real. Will Sam be able to turn the tables, overpower the shifter and pin him as he did Dean in the original scene? The question is left unresolved since, at this point, the real Dean bursts in and confronts his dark double.
After a moment’s hesitation as he stares at his own face, he fires. And, in the act of killing his own image to save his brother, the dramatized inner struggle between good and evil is resolved. The anger and resentment manifest in the shape of the shifter dies along with it.
Dean has killed his evil alter ego, and his better self has prevailed.
And he reclaims his amulet with a satisfied nod. Was this simply an act of reclaiming his identity? Or had the show makers already decided at this stage that the amulet was going to be significant to the brothers’ relationship? Perhaps it was this moment that first put the idea into their heads or, at least, the heads of the viewers. Maybe we’ll never know for sure.
Afterward, Sam says his farewells to Rebecca who expresses her astonishment at discovering what Sam does, and that nobody at Stanford knows. She asks if Jessica knew, and Sam ruefully admits that she didn’t. “Must be lonely,” Rebecca remarks. “No, it’s not so bad.” Sam insists, but then adds, “anyway, what can I do? It’s my family,” implying he’s just making the best of it because he has no choice. She asks him to keep in touch, but he warns her it may not be for a while. It seems he’s taken on board his brother’s advice that he should distance himself from his friends.
He returns to Dean and exposits that Zach will soon be released as the cops are now blaming the murder on a certain Dean Winchester. It strikes me that he reveals this information, and Dean receives it, altogether too casually. Still, the police think Dean is dead, so I guess it won’t come back to bite them in the butt later . . .
Once the brothers are in the car and driving, Dean expresses sympathy for Sam:
Afterward, Sam says his farewells to Rebecca who expresses her astonishment at discovering what Sam does, and that nobody at Stanford knows. She asks if Jessica knew, and Sam ruefully admits that she didn’t. “Must be lonely,” Rebecca remarks. “No, it’s not so bad.” Sam insists, but then adds, “anyway, what can I do? It’s my family,” implying he’s just making the best of it because he has no choice. She asks him to keep in touch, but he warns her it may not be for a while. It seems he’s taken on board his brother’s advice that he should distance himself from his friends.
He returns to Dean and exposits that Zach will soon be released as the cops are now blaming the murder on a certain Dean Winchester. It strikes me that he reveals this information, and Dean receives it, altogether too casually. Still, the police think Dean is dead, so I guess it won’t come back to bite them in the butt later . . .
Once the brothers are in the car and driving, Dean expresses sympathy for Sam:
DEAN: Sorry, man.
SAM: About what?
DEAN: I really wish things could be different, you know? I wish you could just be….Joe College.
http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/1.06_Skin_(transcript)
SAM: About what?
DEAN: I really wish things could be different, you know? I wish you could just be….Joe College.
http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/1.06_Skin_(transcript)
Having killed his evil self, it seems he has let go of his resentment and now wishes his little brother could have the life that Sam has now accepted he must sacrifice. Sam is philosophical about it:
SAM: No, that’s okay. You know, the truth is, even at Stanford, deep down, I never really fit in.
DEAN: Well, that’s ‘cause you’re a freak.
SAM: Yeah, thanks.
DEAN: Well, I’m a freak, too. I’m right there with ya, all the way. (SAM laughs.)
http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/1.06_Skin_(transcript)
The word “freak” has been used a lot in this episode: to denote the brothers as hunters on the fringe of society, to express Dean’s personal sense of alienation, and also in reference to the shifter and other monsters. In time, the distinction between these uses will become blurred. Here, Dean is using it to claim kinship with Sam: they’re both freaks together . . . at least until down the track when Sam becomes the wrong kind of freak . . .
Their conversation ends with Dean quipping that he feels he’s missing out:
Their conversation ends with Dean quipping that he feels he’s missing out:
Yeeaaaahh . . . Doesn’t seem so funny now, does it, Dean?
Of course, the death of the shifter represents the defeat of his own dark side, a shedding of the negative traits embodied in the doppelganger metaphor . . . So here is the symbolic rejuvenation associated with skin shedding creatures that I mentioned earlier: a symbolic new beginning that presents Dean with an opportunity to become a new person, unencumbered with the baggage of negative feelings that have been impeding his relationship with Sam.
And the episode plays out with Free assuring us that everything is “all right now”. And maybe it is.
At least, for now . . .
So much for the primary story of this episode. But there's more! In the third and final part of this rewatch, I'll be going back to take a closer look at the subtext of "Skin" to examine what further secrets might be inferred about the darkest depths of Dean's psyche. Continue to part 3
.
And the episode plays out with Free assuring us that everything is “all right now”. And maybe it is.
At least, for now . . .
So much for the primary story of this episode. But there's more! In the third and final part of this rewatch, I'll be going back to take a closer look at the subtext of "Skin" to examine what further secrets might be inferred about the darkest depths of Dean's psyche. Continue to part 3
.
NB:
I know these reviews are somewhat over-abundantly tagged. I do this in case anyone is interested in specific recurring themes and might wish to use the tags to follow how those themes are developed from episode to episode. However, if anyone is wondering which tag they need to bookmark in order to get an automatic notification each time a new review is posted, each post is consistently tagged "episode rewatch".
Thanks for reading. I look forward to hearing your thoughts . . . in the comments, I mean. Not in a creepy, shape-shifter way, right? ;)
.