6.07 Family Matters
Title | Family Matters |
Episode # | Season 6, Episode 7 |
First aired | November 5, 2010 |
Directed by | Guy Norman Bee |
Written by | Andrew Dabb Daniel Loflin |
On IMDB | Family Matters |
Outline | Castiel helps find out what's wrong with Sam. Dean's suspicions lead to rising tension between him and the Campbells. |
Monster | Vampires Alpha Vampire Crowley |
Timeline | Immediately following the events of 6.06 You Can't Handle the Truth |
Location(s) | Calumet City, Illinois Lansing, Michigan |
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Contents
Synopsis
Directly following the events of 6.06 You Can't Handle the Truth, Sam wakes up tied to a chair. His face is still bloody from Dean's pummeling, and Castiel is there to examine him. What Castiel discovers is that Sam is no longer sleeping or feeling any emotions. After closer inspection, Castiel finds out that Sam's soul is missing and is likely still in Lucifer's Cage. Dean wants to keep him tied up, but Sam proves that he can't be held captive, and Dean agrees to stay with him and help him try to find his soul. They have no leads except one: Samuel Campbell was also resurrected a year ago. So Sam, Dean, and Castiel head to the Campbell Compound.
At the compound, Dean questions Samuel about his resurrection, but Samuel reiterates that he doesn't remember anything before waking up alive. Castiel tests Samuel to see if he still has a soul--he does--and Castiel leaves shortly after to get back to the angelic civil war. After he leaves, Sam and Dean learn that Samuel is preparing to attack the nest of the Alpha Vampire. Samuel seems reluctant to invite Sam and Dean along, but Dean convinces him to let them help. Still, Dean is suspicious of Samuel, and he tries to break into his office, but Christian waylays him and they trade insults and threats. Despite the altercation, Sam and Dean join the other hunters as they all head out to the Alpha Vampire's location at dawn. Samuel orders Dean and Gwen to stay back and "sweep any stragglers" they flush out, but after Gwen decapitates a stray vampire, Dean heads up to the house where shots are being fired. Bodies are strewn about and Dean recognizes a weathervane he saw in his vision from the Alpha vampire in 6.05 Live Free or Twihard. Dean goes around the back of the house and sees the hunters, including Sam and Samuel, loading the Alpha vampire (also from his vision) into the back of a van. He waits until he's alone with Sam to confront him about it, and learns that Samuel is taking the creatures he captures somewhere to be interrogated. Dean is furious with Sam for keeping this from him, and resolves to find out why Samuel is interrogating the Alpha vampire.
Sam helps Dean find out where Samuel is taking the creatures for interrogation by activating a GPS tracker in one of the his cell phones. They arrive to find Samuel torturing the Alpha vampire, but not getting anywhere. He leaves the room and Sam and Dean take the opportunity to question the Alpha themselves. The Alpha recognizes Dean. He also expresses an interest in Sam because of his soullessness. Eventually, he tells them that Samuel is trying to get information from him about Purgatory and where it is located, and that he's doing it on someone else's orders. Before they can learn more, Samuel, Christian, Gwen, and another hunter interrupt them and hold them at gun point. They're forced to disarm, but then the Alpha vampire escapes and they all join forces to try to kill him. In the fracas, Christian's neck is snapped and the Alpha tries to disable Sam so that he can take him with him--he thinks that a soulless person will make "the perfect animal." While he is choking Sam, Christian comes up behind him and injects him with dead man's blood. Christian's eyes are black, and several more demons show up and take the Alpha away with them, leaving just Dean, Sam, Samuel, Gwen, and Crowley.
Crowley, as the new King of Hell, had the power to resurrect Samuel and Sam, and says he did so because he wanted their help. Crowley reveals that Christian has been possessed for a while and serving as his mole, and that Samuel has been working for him, gathering high-ranking creatures and trying to learn the location of Purgatory because Crowley is interested in "developing" it. He tells them that if Sam ever wants the return of his soul, he and Dean need to help Samuel continue to capture creatures for him. Currently, they don't see any other option but to help Crowley, but Sam and Dean are determined to get him back eventually.
Characters
- Sam Winchester
- Dean Winchester
- Castiel
- Crowley
- Samuel Campbell
- Gwen Campbell
- Christian Campbell
- Alpha Vampire
Definitions
- Alpha
- Campbell (family)
- Campbell Compound
- Crossroads Demon
- Dead Man's Blood
- Demonology
- Hello Boys
- Hunters
- Impala
- Lucifer's Cage
- Monsters
- Purgatory
- Soullessness
- Souls
- Unconscious
- Vampires
Music
None
Quotes
Castiel: Somehow, when Sam was resurrected, it was without his soul.
Castiel: I'm in the middle of a civil war.
Dean: You better tear the attic up, find something to help Sam.
Dean: Wait, are you trying to tell me that you're a bigger knob than you've been letting on?
Dean: Ah, I've been called worse.
Gwen: Just, uh, get sick of getting left behind. Think it's probably 'cause I remind him of his daughter or something.
Dean: Well, you just speak your mind.
Gwen: I'll take that as a compliment.
Sam: Why?
Dean: What does that mean? And what's with the big surge of vamps lately? I mean, it's like--
Alpha Vampire: Oh, stupid cattle. Of course! And it is filled with the soul of every hungry thing like me that ever walked this earth. Now, where is it? That is the mystery. And that is what your kind-hearted granddaddy is trying to beat out of me.
Sam: Look, just till we find another way.
Dean: And then?
Trivia & References
Dean: Hello, Newman. Where's the man?
- This was a catchphrase of Jerry Seinfeld in the eponymous '90s sitcom. Jerry used it whenever his neighbor and nemesis Newman appeared.
- The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper in New York City, located on the east side of Manhattan in the Turtle Bay area at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. It is 319 metres (1,047 ft) tall.
- A probable reference to the lead character from Robocop.
- Velcro was manufactured in the United States beginning in 1957, but it's integration into the textile industry took time. It wasn’t until NASA began using Velcro in its bulky space suits in the mid 1960s that the fasteners began to appear in consumer products – first in snow skiing clothing, and then in SCUBA and marine gear. Samuel Campbell originally died in 1973, so it's likely that he would have at least heard of Velcro before his death.
- Club Med is a travel and tourism operator specializing in all-inclusive vacations.
- The Bat-Signal is a modified spotlight used by Gotham City Police to summon Batman.
- Fright Night is a horror comedy movie in which a kid discovers his next door neighbor is a vampire.
Dean: All right, enough with the sermon, freak.
Alpha Vampire: I'm trying to answer the question. Now, when we 'freaks' die... where do we go? Not Heaven, not Hell. So?
Dean: Legoland?
Alpha Vampire: Little rusty on our Dante, boys?
Sam: Purgatory.
- Legoland is a chain of Lego-themed theme parks all over the world.
- Dante Alighieri was an Italian poet whose most famous work is The Divine Comedy, which chronicles Dante's travels through the afterlife. The second book of the Divine Comedy is about Purgatory. Dante/the Divine Comedy were previously referenced in the episode title for 5.10 Abandon All Hope....
- A reference to the famous Muppet, but also a variation of the question of who's pulling the puppet's strings.
- A reference to the killer great white shark in the movie Jaws.
- John Wayne was a famous American actor, best known for starring in Westerns and war films.
- Crowley is insulting Samuel's baldness, but Professor Chromedome is also a character in the comic book series The Tick which was created by Supernatural writer and producer Ben Edlund.
- A reference to the popular TV show and movie Charlie's Angels.
- A cabana boy is a male attendant who serves the guests of a hotel or large private estate.
Minutiae
Crowley: Since... What's today, Friday? Since, let's see... Mind your business.
- A reference to the fact Supernatural aired on Fridays during season 6. Dean made a previous mention to the day of the week Supernatural aired in 5.15 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid.
Sides, Scripts & Transcripts
Promotion
- Episode Title from SpoilerTV
- Synopsis from SpoilerTV
- Promo Pics from KSiteTV
- Promo
- Space Promo
- Space Sneak Peek
- Interview with Director Guy Bee from Winchester Radio's Podcast
Episode Meta
- Ardeospina. 2010. A Visual Review -- Family Matters. The Winchester Family Business, November 15; archive link
- 6.07 Family Matters: You Pose An Interesting Philosophical Question by bardicvoice (November 2010); archive link
- Bond, Silvia. 2010. Brothers In Arms: "Family Matters" Season 6, Episode 7. Pink Raygun, November 9; archive link, spn-heavymeta
- Chan, Suzette. 2010. Supernatural Talk: Tarts talk about 6.07: Family Matters. Sequential Tart, December 20; archive link, spn-heavymeta