Supernatural (TV Series) First Born (2014) User Reviews

Where has THIS been all season long?!

[Shane3182 · 9/10 · 21 January 2014]

It's no secret that some fans have been disappointed by several episodes in the first half of season 9. We've had some let-downs and unfortunate character "progression" that ultimately ended up upsetting people. I know that the Supernatural writers are capable of writing great stories and holding my interest, but I haven't really had that happen a whole lot this season...until this episode.

Honestly, where the heck was this story all season? It was fantastic!

To summarize: last week we saw Dean say goodbye to Sam and Castiel and take off on his own, not wanting to be around them because he believed himself to be a curse, and that anyone near him would be killed or hurt. This week, we have Sam and Castiel at the bunker healing Sam, and Dean is (a bit reluctantly) working with Crowley to find a way to kill Abaddon.

I didn't have high hopes for this episode simply because this season hasn't impressed me much so far.

In all honesty though, I loved this episode. There were no weak characters in this. We have Timothy Omundson guest starring as Cain, and wow he does a great job! I truly enjoyed watching him on screen. I was actually expecting him to be a throw-away character, but I think he really brought a lot to the story, and hopefully the writers will use this opportunity to further the plot.

Crowley and Dean working together was amusing and much more than I could have asked for. Dean is clearly still not trusting Crowley (with good reason of course) and their 'teamwork' or lack thereof was a highlight for me. Same goes for Sam and Castiel at the bunker. They shared some good moments; though if I could choose, I would have wanted to see a bit more of them together. Sam and Cas rarely have any bonding moments, and it's unfortunate we couldn't see more of that.

Whoever directed this episode (John Badham) needs to come back. He did an excellent job of directing it to near flawlessness. There was a sequence where Dean is fighting demons, and it was probably one of the best fighting scenes I've had the privilege of watching this season. Very intense and exciting.

Without giving away any spoilers, I'll just say that I am SO glad Dean is getting to play a part in the story now. All season it has been a never-ending loop of Sam possessed and taken over by Gadreel, with Dean just running around spewing lies every which way. Dean is now being given an opportunity to really play a part this season, and the writers would be insane to not go through with it.

All together, outstanding job by the actors and certainly a round of applause to the writers for keeping me interested from start to finish!

9/10

Interesting episode!

[mm-39 · 8/10 · 22 January 2014]

Two main stories run in First Born. One story involves Sam and Castiel teaming up to find the Angel which killed Kevin. There is a nasty experiment which Sam endures. The second story involves Dean teaming up with Crowley. Dean needs to find a special knife with Crowley's help. Dean is the go at it worry later type guy who gets this special mark (The Mark of Cain). I believe Dean is being played by Crowley! I believe the two stories will meld into one. Great acting, and directing. The Crowley/Dean comedy is going well. Is the Mark of Cain going to change Dean? Will he become the evil one? Will Sam have to battle Dean in the end? What is Crowley's angle?

Cain is Awesome

[danajs24 · 10/10 · 13 September 2016]

Well Cain is awesome. I really enjoy the Bible cameos, and as I feel this episode was very well received, hopefully that means that the show will continue to do this in the future. Cain absolutely destroying the demons and turning out to be the trainer and downfall of the knights of hell was great. I wish they would have shown Cain destroying an entire house full of demons, but it was good the way it was regardless. I'm a little bummed Crowley wasn't actually scared of Cain, and I hope Cain comes back and gives Crowley something to be scared of. The first blade was found and lost quite quickly, but I have a feeling the mark is going to be a big problem for Dean in the future.

The perfection of the Dean-Crowley teamup

[jackiehedstrom · 10/10 · 3 January 2023]

An episode about as perfect as it gets. The first one where the Dean-Crowley team begins to operate, and that was always a recipe for perfection (I am rewatching the whole thing, so I got some perspective). There is no doubt that both Jensen Ackles and Mark Sheppard are excellent actors, and that makes their scenes together rise to perfection every time (and is also why the whole demon-Dean era was really good).

Perfectly written and cast (the guy playing Cain is so well chosen!), this episode is Supernatural perfection - drama, a good story, humor (Crowley's dialogue in particular) and even the fight-scenes are good! But I suddenly had the thought... why are the demons always nice enough to bring only fists or knives to fight our heroes? I mean, if they brought a gun, just once, the demon blade wouldn't even get close ;) Not that I'm complaining - we are very grateful our boys made it through all 15 seasons! I bet they could make it through some movies too...

I guess if a show goes on long enough they will final reach the most obvious ideas

[CubsandCulture · 10/10 · 18 September 2020]

This is one of the truly outstanding episodes of season 9. Everything about it is wonderful. Sam bonding with Cas and him processing the events of the first half of the season is a B story that works well with Dean, Crowley tracking down Cain. But I am not sure why it took 4 seasons before the writers decided flip Sam-Hell, Dean-Heaven to introduce new dynamics into the show but thank Chuck the thought finally occurred to them. It really helps to have the brothers take on different roles and the Mark of Cain storyline ends up *finally* getting Sam, Dean into a different dynamic. It keeps the back half of the show going.

Likewise I am not entirely sure why it took 4 additional years to get to the Supernatural version of Cain-Abel as I would thought the writers would reach for the most famous pair of brothers in the bible after they wrapped up the apocalypse story is season 5. In any case, Cain is a great side character and Omundson brought a different vibe to the few episodes he was in. There's a poignancy to Cain's story that the writer, director and actor manage to tell in 20 minutes or so. It's a great mythos extension.

Brilliant and new

[blackmagpie-62368 · 10/10 · 27 May 2018]

Wow, the opening scene tells me this will be a good one. Cain is awesome, the actor is great, the first blade story is gripping. At long last an episode that truly captures the imagination and well worth watching. Not a big fan of Crowley but he is great in this episode. Dean and Crowley do the friend/enemy thing really well. Very promising for the future.

Superb episode

[hnt_dnl · 10/10 · 19 April 2022]

Season 9 continues to amaze me. It's like SPN has reclaimed it's early season glory. After all the bargain basement guest actors from Season 8, the show has really stepped up it's game this season. Featuring 2 unlikely team ups of Dean-Crowley and Sam-Castiel, this episode was awesome start to finish. For some reason, I wasn't the biggest fan of Crowley in prior seasons, but Mark Sheppard is killing it in Season 9. Now that Crowley's been humbled and compelled to work with the Winchesters to defeat Abaddon, his dialogue is laced with just the right amount of sarcasm and wit when in earlier seasons I felt he was a bit over the top. This is one of the rare times when I actually thought the person that Dean was paired off with was funnier than him. In fact, Dean was pretty serious for the entire episode. The A plot was Dean and Crowley teaming up to find the First Blade, the object that could kill Abaddon keeping her from opening the gates of Hell. Their journey leads them to Cain...yes, THAT Cain! Lol Timothy Omundson is utterly brilliant as Cain, like this actor makes you believe that he is actually the infamous biblical figure. Omundson's build and presence screams powerful and intimidating. Then there was the compelling B plot of Sam and Cas working together to siphon Gadreel's leftover grace in Sam in order to track him. This must be one of the rare episodes where Sam and Dean did not share a second of screen time, yet the episode was still solid gold. Tha's a rarity in the SPN universe.

Mark of Cain

[shwetafabm · 8/10 · 30 June 2020]

Though i haven't seen much of this storyline i know a lot of spoilers from edit vids. The whole Cain and Abel thing was clearly related to Sam and Dean and in this show where Michael and Lucifer had their story repeated it uis foreshadowing. Strange in a way since it is in reverse of 1-4, we get a sneak peak of what the future might hold Dean taking the mark seems stupid but unfortunately in character for Dean, that's an annoying ass character sometimes but if its fits the character then its ok. I was more annoyed at Sam's Kevin guilt, makes no sense. I think his regretting not shutting gates makes sense tho. Cass's thing didn't make too much sense to me honestly but ok. He'll senselessly kill later on probs, they all will. Also ya spn promoting su***de since 2005... At some point it just gets annoying and depressing I am pretty sure this show is trauma bonding with us or something. There is no need for pain or torture scenes to this extent imo, they are disgusting and annoying. Crowley was definitely the best part of the show. Cain was fine. Why would he not kill Abadon tho after what she did especially when he kills all those demons anyway... And when did exactly Crowley get so obsessed with Dean, is it an act that overtime solidifies? Idk. Seems to me he spent more time bonding with Sam in the bunker. Maybe he's a fan, common problem from reading the book series perhaps, and we know he thinks Dean is cool since he said he could play fake Dean for Kevin. That's quite interesting but sort of a leap i feel. Or it's an act and he just likes knowing his little plot will turn a Winchester or something.

It should've been renamed Celestial.

[m-47826 · 5/10 · 14 August 2023]

It's unbelievable how far from its title the show became after season 5. It's all about Heaven and Hell, and everything in between. And like I dreaded, season 9 is barely an improvement from season 8. The brothers keep making the same mistakes, Crowley is shoved down our throats too often and the story completely lost its moral compass. I really don't get why everyone seem so eager to kill Abaddon, when Crowley is there for the taking, and clearly a bigger threat than she is. Fan fictions and stretched out storylines clearly killed this show, that is basically milked dry at this point. Also, after finishing the Smallville series, I can notice all these Canadian actors. And I don't know if the direction is to blame for that, but their acting got very rudimentary on Supernatural. The introduction of Cain in this episode was interesting, so was his backstory, but to me the show strayed too much from its premise there. And regardless of good plot points like Gadriel taking over Sam's body, and killing the prophet (finally) to further Metatron's plan. The new show runners completely dropped the horror/mystery I used to love, with their lighter and more politically correct tone.

Good episode. But sometimes the stupid thing take over.

[p-konings47 · 4/10 · 19 April 2021]

It is a good episode. But sometimes the stupid things take over. And they mainly stick. Why Tara shoots her own floor for example I never know. It was just stupid and very irritating.