I know I hit the spoiler button, but I'm about to blow some plot-points for seasons 2 and 3, so if you haven't seen them yet, better quit reading this now. I don't want to spoil anything for people. Okay? Ready? Last chance?
Okay, "Faith" is a great episode. It builds on the fact that Dean isn't sure he believes in God, introduces the idea of Reapers, and establishes that Dean is somehow "special." It also is an episode that lays the ground work for episodes to come, like season two's "In My Time of Dying" and season three's "Mystery Spot." Mostly though this episode is like a preview of season three, where Sam will do pretty much anything to keep Dean alive and Dean isn't so sure he's worth the effort to save. You really shouldn't skip it.
"Faith" revolves around Dean getting hurt on a job. He electrocutes himself while tasering a monster and damages his heart. Sam is horrified when Dean's doctor tells them that Dean will die. Dean is willing to just accept his fate, but Sam refuses to give up. He researches and comes up with a faith healer, Roy LeGrange, who might be able to help. Sam tricks Dean into going to the man's revival meeting, where they also meet a sick woman named Layla. Layla has a brain tumor and is hoping that Roy can help her. Dean's skepticism and muttered complaints, seem to catch Roy's interest. (Plus, he sensing something special about Dean.) So Sam shoves Dean up on stage to be healed, but instead of being the fake that Dean expects, Roy actually cures him. The only problem is, when Dean gets better, another man dies.
Dean is sure that something is wrong and some investigating reveals that Roy's wife Sue Ann is controlling a reaper. It kills the people that she selects as sinners and then has the reaper trade their life force for some sick person, who Roy "heals." Sam and Dean have to stop her. But, if they do than Layla will die, because Roy won't be able to "heal" her. Dean is torn, feeling unworthy of being alive, when Layla is still sick. In the end, the boys stop Sue Ann and Lalya come to see Dean, telling him that she having faith mean believing even when miracles don't happen.
There's a lot to like about "Faith". The grey, washed out colors of it give the whole episode a cool, hopeless sort of look. And I like Dean's rant against the Snuggle Fabric Softener Teddy Bear and daytime TV. "I'm gonna hunt that little b*tch down." Then he tells Sam to just leave town without him and of, course, Sam refuses. Still, it shows how little Dean really thinks of himself. He has no idea how important he is to his brother. But Dean still breaks out of the hospital and going to be with Sam at the hotel, because he just can't stand being alone and away from his brother for long. It's sweet. And I like Dean's annoyance when he finds out that the "specialist" Sam is taking him to is really a faith healer. "You lying b*stard." He makes me laugh. Also, I like Layla. She's one of the more sympathetic people that the brother's meet. Finally, the scene with the reaper going after the jogger, while the brothers piece together that that a reaper is at work, and then "Don't Fear the Reaper" starts playing, is just one of the best scenes ever.
What I find most interesting about this episode, is the fact that out of everyone in the tent, Roy chose Dean to save. Roy says that Dean was the most deserving and that he still had a mission to complete. I think also it was because Dean was the only one there with an unselfish motive. He went to Roy to make Sam happy, he was only sick in the first place because he was helping to save children from a monster, and he would have given his life in the end to save Layla. Also interesting, is contrasting Sam in this episode with Sam in season three. Here Sam instantly contends that they can't kill Roy, who is a human and they can't allow anyone else to be healed by him, either. But, I sort of doubt that Sam would have that felt that way if Dean hadn't already been healed by Roy. Sam has coldness in him sometimes and it usually comes out when Dean's life is at stake. (see season three's "Fresh Blood" and "Mystery Spot") There's nothing either brother wouldn't do to save the other, and that included making some pretty tough choices.
On the down side, I wish that, since Sue Ann was going to be killed by the Reaper anyway, her life force could have been given to Layla, somehow.
My favorite part of the episode: Dean's whiny reluctance to get "healed" by Roy. Sam's so excited dragging him into the tent and forcing him to sit up front. Dean's batting Sam's arm away and urging Roy to pick someone else to heal. Dean's usually so in control of himself and the situation that seeing him suddenly pushed along by Sam makes me laugh.
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