Devil's Trap
Encyclopedia
"Devil's Trap" is the twenty-second episode of the paranormal drama television series Supernatural
s first season
. It is the season finale, and was first broadcast on The WB on May 4, 2006. The narrative follows series protagonists Sam
(Jared Padalecki
) and Dean Winchester
(Jensen Ackles
) as they search for their missing father
(Jeffrey Dean Morgan
), who has been kidnapped by demons.
Written by series creator Eric Kripke
and directed by Kim Manners
, the episode featured Nicki Aycox
's final portrayal of recurring villain Meg Masters, and also introduced Jim Beaver
as hunter and Winchester-ally Bobby Singer
. Morgan's busy schedule affected the episode's storyline, and the final scene—which sets into motion the events leading to his character's death in the following episode—involved one of the toughest special effects sequences of the series.
Giving generally positive reviews, critics praised the actors' performances and the twist ending, though some had minor issues with the plot.
's phone. The demonically-possessed Meg Masters (Aycox) answers it instead, and taunts him that his father has been captured. To determine a plan of action, Dean and his brother Sam (Padalecki) go to family friend and fellow hunter Bobby Singer (Beaver) for help. However, Meg tracks them down and attacks, but is quickly caught underneath a mystical symbol known as a "devil's trap" that the Winchesters and Bobby had painted on the ceiling; it renders demons immobile and powerless. Bobby informs the Winchesters that Meg is actually an innocent girl being possessed by a demon, so they begin to perform an exorcism. Dean promises to stop if she reveals the location of their father, and she relents, claiming he is being held in Jefferson City
. Despite Bobby's warning that Meg will die from previously sustained injuries if the demon is exorcised, Dean insists that they go through with it, as it would be better than allowing the demon to continue to use her as a host. After the demon is sent to Hell
, a dying Meg thanks them for freeing her. With her remaining strength, she warns them that the demons are setting a trap for them, and says, "By the river. Sunrise," before she dies.
This leads the brothers to the riverside Sunrise Apartments in Jefferson City, Missouri. The boys manage to overpower the demons guarding John, and rescue him. However, they are attacked by Meg's demonic brother Tom, and Dean is forced to kill him with one of the three remaining bullets of the Colt—a mystical gun capable of killing anything. When the Winchesters later find refuge in a secluded cabin, Azazel
reveals himself to be possessing John. Dean, while being tortured by the demon, begs his father to break free and save him. John is able to temporarily gain control, and then begs Sam to use the Colt to kill Azazel. Unable to bring himself to kill his father, Sam instead shoots him in the leg, causing Azazel to flee to safety. The Winchesters rush towards the hospital, but their car is rammed into by a semi-trailer truck
being driven by a demonically-possessed truck driver.
portrayed dual roles for the episode. He returned as Winchester patriarch John
, and was also the first to play the on-screen physical manifestation of the demon Azazel
—the character previously was only depicted in silhouette. Morgan was given free rein over the latter's traits, only being directed to "be different from John". He changed his voice and modeled Azazel's speech pattern after Jack Nicholson
's scenes in The Shining
in which he "gets all freaky". This "Nicholson-esque quality" continues in later depictions of the demon.
Hunter and Winchester-ally Bobby Singer
makes his debut, and is played by Jim Beaver. Beaver had previously worked with executive producer Robert Singer on the television series Reasonable Doubts
, and Singer gave him the part without viewing his audition tape. The episode also features the final appearance of the demonically-possessed Meg Masters as played by Nicki Aycox
. Director Kim Manners was sorry to see her go, as he felt Meg had the potential to become a "great nemesis" for the Winchesters.
, however, the writers realized that he would not be available long enough to be a main focus of the episode. It was thus decided late into production for John to be the one who is captured. With this finalized, Kripke found it rather easy to write the episode; he already knew that the key elements of the episode would be the exorcism of the demon possessing Meg, the death of the real Meg, and the apparent rescue of John Winchester. Kripke felt that it had to be John who was possessed by Azazel, as it united and completed the two main storylines of the season—finding their father and tracking down the demon—and it did so by finding both characters in one body. He found it a "happy accident" to be able to present the brothers with the opportunity to finally kill the demon, but at the cost of their father's life.
The writers believed John's separation from his sons throughout the season "split the show" by having him away "doing more interesting things than the boys are doing", with Kripke likewise feeling that John was keeping Sam and Dean away from the "front lines". His death was required to allow the brothers to "explore, investigate and confront the yellow-eyed demon directly". The writers originally intended for John to die at the episode's end, with Sam and Dean surviving the crash but John dying in their arms. His death, however, was pushed back into the second season premiere because the writers deemed it too dark to kill John after everything else the brothers had gone through in "Devil's Trap".
, British Columbia
, with the crash scene being filmed on an old airport space with flat roads. However, other key sequences occurred in the studio. Because the fight scene between the Winchesters and Azazel at the climax was meant to take place in a secluded, forest-enclosed cabin, production built the set on a sound stage
. Production designer Jerry Wanek felt the set was extremely important, as viewers would become uninterested if the forest looked fake. With Morgan rendered blind by the yellow contact lenses required to depict his character's demonic possession, the production crew placed sandbags on the floor to help the actor locate his marks.
According to Aycox, the exorcism of the demon from Meg Masters took two days to shoot; the first day of filming lasted 13 hours, while the second lasted for "about a half a day". Director Kim Manners
used 360-degree shots and close-up
s to make the sequence exciting. In the scene following the exorcism, in which Bobby is bent over a dying Meg, Aycox and Ackles read their lines off-screen so that Beaver's reaction could be shot. However, the two were "so slap-happy" to be almost done that they could not stop laughing; to everyone's surprise, Beaver was able to keep a straight face. The set—Bobby Singer's home—was filled with waist-high stacks of six thousand books.
.
For the interior scenes used to depict the first moments of the Impala being hit, the actors were required to sit in the car in front of a blue screen
; this allowed for the truck's headlights to later be added in with visual effects. The car itself was attached to a separate rig that was built to replicate the impact of the crash. As the scene was shot, the rig flipped the car onto its side. The passenger-side window was then shattered, though the actors were protected by a sheet of Lexan
that had been placed very close to the window; at the same time, cannons beneath the frame blew out pieces of rubber glass to give the appearance that the window had exploded onto them.
For the filming of the actual crash, the car and truck were cabled together by a winch
and driven toward one another. The intention was for a cannon to launch the Impala into the air at the collision point, causing the car to barrel roll
as the truck drives away. However, the car became stuck in the truck's bumper, forcing the cannon to fail and the truck to go out of control. The truck began to jackknife
, but the stuntman driving it saved it from flipping. The mistake ended up being beneficial for the scene, as Kripke and director Manners found it to look "pretty real".
Diana Steenbergen of IGN also praised "Devil's Trap", deeming it to be the episode that "moved Supernatural from the list of television shows that [she] liked to the 'must-see' list". Like Peterson, she cheered the twist ending, and was "completely taken by surprise". Steenbergen also felt that Jim Beaver as hunter Bobby Singer was "an excellent addition to the cast", and applauded Ackles, Padalecki, and Morgan for their performances in the episode's climactic confrontation between Azazel and the brothers. She found the possessed Morgan to be "menacing", and enjoyed his sadistic sense of humor; Padalecki to have done a "good job embodying the newfound strength" Sam develops in defying his father's order to kill him in order to stop the demon; and Ackles' defenselessness to be "affecting". However, she believed that Azazel's reference to having a family "[didn't] quite make sense", and noted that it seemed implausible for Sam and Dean—having been raised as hunters—to not have known that Meg was a demonically-possessed girl. Brian Tallerico of UGO also had issues with the plot, though mainly with the episode's outcome. He felt that the writers should have followed Buffy the Vampire Slayer' s pattern of killing off the season's foe, as "fans don't like villains to be strung out for too long". He also would have liked for John Winchester to have died in order to "free the brothers up for a little second season revenge and a little less family angst".
Supernatural (TV series)
Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
s first season
Supernatural (season 1)
Season one of Supernatural, an American television series created by Eric Kripke, premiered on September 13, 2005, and concluded on May 4, 2006 after 22 episodes. It focuses on the protagonists Sam and Dean Winchester as they track down their father, John, who is on the trail of the demon who...
. It is the season finale, and was first broadcast on The WB on May 4, 2006. The narrative follows series protagonists Sam
Sam Winchester
Samuel "Sam" Winchester is a fictional character and one of the two main protagonists of The CW Television Network's Supernatural along with his older brother Dean. He is portrayed by Jared Padalecki.-Background:...
(Jared Padalecki
Jared Padalecki
Jared Tristan Padalecki is an American actor. He grew up in Texas and came to fame in the early 2000s after appearing on the television series Gilmore Girls as well as in several Hollywood films, including New York Minute and House of Wax...
) and Dean Winchester
Dean Winchester
Dean Winchester is a fictional character from The CW Television Network's Supernatural, portrayed by Jensen Ackles. He hunts demons, spirits and other supernatural creatures with his younger brother Sam.-Background:...
(Jensen Ackles
Jensen Ackles
Jensen Ross Ackles is an American actor. He is known for his roles in television as Eric Brady in Days of our Lives, which earned him several Daytime Emmy Award nominations, as well as Alec/X5-494 in Dark Angel and Jason Teague in Smallville...
) as they search for their missing father
John Winchester (Supernatural)
John Eric Winchester is a fictional character on The CW Television Network's drama/horror television series Supernatural, and the protagonist of the comic book spin-off series Supernatural: Origins. Developed by series creator Eric Kripke, the character is mainly portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan...
(Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Jeffrey Dean Morgan is an American actor, best known to television and movie audiences as Denny Duquette on Grey's Anatomy, patriarch John Winchester on Supernatural, and as The Comedian in the 2009 superhero film Watchmen....
), who has been kidnapped by demons.
Written by series creator Eric Kripke
Eric Kripke
Eric Kripke is an American television writer, director, and producer. He is best known for creating the television series Supernatural.-Biography:...
and directed by Kim Manners
Kim Manners
Kim Manners was an American television producer, director and child actor best known for his work on The X-Files and Supernatural.-Early life:...
, the episode featured Nicki Aycox
Nicki Aycox
-Personal life:Aycox was born in Hennessey, Oklahoma. She has a younger brother, Steve. She speaks fluent German according to an interview in Jack magazine. She also comes from a Native American heritage.-Career:Aycox began performing at a young age...
's final portrayal of recurring villain Meg Masters, and also introduced Jim Beaver
Jim Beaver
James Norman "Jim" Beaver, Jr. is an American stage, film, and television actor, playwright, screenwriter, and film historian...
as hunter and Winchester-ally Bobby Singer
Bobby Singer
Robert "Bobby" Singer is a fictional character in The CW Television Network's drama/horror television series Supernatural portrayed by Jim Beaver. Chosen due to his working relationship with executive producer Robert Singer, Beaver made his initial appearance in the first season finale "Devil's Trap"...
. Morgan's busy schedule affected the episode's storyline, and the final scene—which sets into motion the events leading to his character's death in the following episode—involved one of the toughest special effects sequences of the series.
Giving generally positive reviews, critics praised the actors' performances and the twist ending, though some had minor issues with the plot.
Plot
Trying to locate his father, Dean calls John WinchesterJohn Winchester (Supernatural)
John Eric Winchester is a fictional character on The CW Television Network's drama/horror television series Supernatural, and the protagonist of the comic book spin-off series Supernatural: Origins. Developed by series creator Eric Kripke, the character is mainly portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan...
's phone. The demonically-possessed Meg Masters (Aycox) answers it instead, and taunts him that his father has been captured. To determine a plan of action, Dean and his brother Sam (Padalecki) go to family friend and fellow hunter Bobby Singer (Beaver) for help. However, Meg tracks them down and attacks, but is quickly caught underneath a mystical symbol known as a "devil's trap" that the Winchesters and Bobby had painted on the ceiling; it renders demons immobile and powerless. Bobby informs the Winchesters that Meg is actually an innocent girl being possessed by a demon, so they begin to perform an exorcism. Dean promises to stop if she reveals the location of their father, and she relents, claiming he is being held in Jefferson City
Jefferson City, Missouri
Jefferson City is the capital of the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Cole County. Located in Callaway and Cole counties, it is the principal city of the Jefferson City metropolitan area, which encompasses the entirety of both counties. As of the 2010 census, the population was 43,079...
. Despite Bobby's warning that Meg will die from previously sustained injuries if the demon is exorcised, Dean insists that they go through with it, as it would be better than allowing the demon to continue to use her as a host. After the demon is sent to Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
, a dying Meg thanks them for freeing her. With her remaining strength, she warns them that the demons are setting a trap for them, and says, "By the river. Sunrise," before she dies.
This leads the brothers to the riverside Sunrise Apartments in Jefferson City, Missouri. The boys manage to overpower the demons guarding John, and rescue him. However, they are attacked by Meg's demonic brother Tom, and Dean is forced to kill him with one of the three remaining bullets of the Colt—a mystical gun capable of killing anything. When the Winchesters later find refuge in a secluded cabin, Azazel
Azazel (Supernatural)
Azazel is a fictional character on The CW Television Network's drama and horror television series Supernatural. He serves as the primary antagonist during the first two seasons. A demon, he feeds his blood to infants so that they will grow up to develop demonic abilities. His endgame of using one...
reveals himself to be possessing John. Dean, while being tortured by the demon, begs his father to break free and save him. John is able to temporarily gain control, and then begs Sam to use the Colt to kill Azazel. Unable to bring himself to kill his father, Sam instead shoots him in the leg, causing Azazel to flee to safety. The Winchesters rush towards the hospital, but their car is rammed into by a semi-trailer truck
Semi-trailer truck
A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semi, tractor-trailer, or articulated truck or articulated lorry, is an articulated vehicle consisting of a towing engine , and a semi-trailer A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semi, tractor-trailer, or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) articulated truck...
being driven by a demonically-possessed truck driver.
Guest stars
Actor Jeffrey Dean MorganJeffrey Dean Morgan
Jeffrey Dean Morgan is an American actor, best known to television and movie audiences as Denny Duquette on Grey's Anatomy, patriarch John Winchester on Supernatural, and as The Comedian in the 2009 superhero film Watchmen....
portrayed dual roles for the episode. He returned as Winchester patriarch John
John Winchester (Supernatural)
John Eric Winchester is a fictional character on The CW Television Network's drama/horror television series Supernatural, and the protagonist of the comic book spin-off series Supernatural: Origins. Developed by series creator Eric Kripke, the character is mainly portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan...
, and was also the first to play the on-screen physical manifestation of the demon Azazel
Azazel (Supernatural)
Azazel is a fictional character on The CW Television Network's drama and horror television series Supernatural. He serves as the primary antagonist during the first two seasons. A demon, he feeds his blood to infants so that they will grow up to develop demonic abilities. His endgame of using one...
—the character previously was only depicted in silhouette. Morgan was given free rein over the latter's traits, only being directed to "be different from John". He changed his voice and modeled Azazel's speech pattern after Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
's scenes in The Shining
The Shining (film)
The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, co-written with novelist Diane Johnson, and starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and Danny Lloyd. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. A writer, Jack Torrance, takes a job as an...
in which he "gets all freaky". This "Nicholson-esque quality" continues in later depictions of the demon.
Hunter and Winchester-ally Bobby Singer
Bobby Singer
Robert "Bobby" Singer is a fictional character in The CW Television Network's drama/horror television series Supernatural portrayed by Jim Beaver. Chosen due to his working relationship with executive producer Robert Singer, Beaver made his initial appearance in the first season finale "Devil's Trap"...
makes his debut, and is played by Jim Beaver. Beaver had previously worked with executive producer Robert Singer on the television series Reasonable Doubts
Reasonable Doubts
Reasonable Doubts is a police drama broadcast in the United States by NBC that ran from 1991 to 1993.-Synopsis:Reasonable Doubts is primarily about the working relationship between Assistant District Attorney Tess Kaufman , a prosecutor very sensitive to the rights of the accused, and...
, and Singer gave him the part without viewing his audition tape. The episode also features the final appearance of the demonically-possessed Meg Masters as played by Nicki Aycox
Nicki Aycox
-Personal life:Aycox was born in Hennessey, Oklahoma. She has a younger brother, Steve. She speaks fluent German according to an interview in Jack magazine. She also comes from a Native American heritage.-Career:Aycox began performing at a young age...
. Director Kim Manners was sorry to see her go, as he felt Meg had the potential to become a "great nemesis" for the Winchesters.
Writing
The staff struggled throughout the writing process to decide which Winchester would be kidnapped and possessed, and were forced to revise the script multiple times to reflect the latest choice. Because of Jeffrey Dean Morgan's recurring role on Grey's AnatomyGrey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
, however, the writers realized that he would not be available long enough to be a main focus of the episode. It was thus decided late into production for John to be the one who is captured. With this finalized, Kripke found it rather easy to write the episode; he already knew that the key elements of the episode would be the exorcism of the demon possessing Meg, the death of the real Meg, and the apparent rescue of John Winchester. Kripke felt that it had to be John who was possessed by Azazel, as it united and completed the two main storylines of the season—finding their father and tracking down the demon—and it did so by finding both characters in one body. He found it a "happy accident" to be able to present the brothers with the opportunity to finally kill the demon, but at the cost of their father's life.
The writers believed John's separation from his sons throughout the season "split the show" by having him away "doing more interesting things than the boys are doing", with Kripke likewise feeling that John was keeping Sam and Dean away from the "front lines". His death was required to allow the brothers to "explore, investigate and confront the yellow-eyed demon directly". The writers originally intended for John to die at the episode's end, with Sam and Dean surviving the crash but John dying in their arms. His death, however, was pushed back into the second season premiere because the writers deemed it too dark to kill John after everything else the brothers had gone through in "Devil's Trap".
Filming
Principal filming took place in VancouverVancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, with the crash scene being filmed on an old airport space with flat roads. However, other key sequences occurred in the studio. Because the fight scene between the Winchesters and Azazel at the climax was meant to take place in a secluded, forest-enclosed cabin, production built the set on a sound stage
Sound stage
In common usage, a sound stage is a soundproof, hangar-like structure, building, or room, used for the production of theatrical filmmaking and television production, usually located on a secure movie studio property.-Overview:...
. Production designer Jerry Wanek felt the set was extremely important, as viewers would become uninterested if the forest looked fake. With Morgan rendered blind by the yellow contact lenses required to depict his character's demonic possession, the production crew placed sandbags on the floor to help the actor locate his marks.
According to Aycox, the exorcism of the demon from Meg Masters took two days to shoot; the first day of filming lasted 13 hours, while the second lasted for "about a half a day". Director Kim Manners
Kim Manners
Kim Manners was an American television producer, director and child actor best known for his work on The X-Files and Supernatural.-Early life:...
used 360-degree shots and close-up
Close-up
In filmmaking, television production, still photography and the comic strip medium a close-up tightly frames a person or an object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium shots and long shots . Close-ups display the most detail, but they do not include the broader scene...
s to make the sequence exciting. In the scene following the exorcism, in which Bobby is bent over a dying Meg, Aycox and Ackles read their lines off-screen so that Beaver's reaction could be shot. However, the two were "so slap-happy" to be almost done that they could not stop laughing; to everyone's surprise, Beaver was able to keep a straight face. The set—Bobby Singer's home—was filled with waist-high stacks of six thousand books.
Effects
The semi-trailer truck crashing into the Impala at the episode's end was deemed by special effects supervisor Randy Shymkiw to be, as of the third season's production, "probably the toughest 'gag' [he has] done". Many aspects went into creating the crash scene, with filming taking place both in the studio and on locationFilming location
A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage...
.
For the interior scenes used to depict the first moments of the Impala being hit, the actors were required to sit in the car in front of a blue screen
Chroma key
Chroma key compositing is a technique for compositing two images together. A color range in the top layer is made transparent, revealing another image behind. The chroma keying technique is commonly used in video production and post-production...
; this allowed for the truck's headlights to later be added in with visual effects. The car itself was attached to a separate rig that was built to replicate the impact of the crash. As the scene was shot, the rig flipped the car onto its side. The passenger-side window was then shattered, though the actors were protected by a sheet of Lexan
Lexan
Lexan is a registered trademark for SABIC Innovative Plastics' brand of polycarbonate resin thermoplastic. Polycarbonate polymer is produced by reacting bisphenol A with carbonyl dichloride, also known as phosgene. Lexan is the brand name for polycarbonate sheet and resin in a wide range of grades...
that had been placed very close to the window; at the same time, cannons beneath the frame blew out pieces of rubber glass to give the appearance that the window had exploded onto them.
For the filming of the actual crash, the car and truck were cabled together by a winch
Winch
A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in or let out or otherwise adjust the "tension" of a rope or wire rope . In its simplest form it consists of a spool and attached hand crank. In larger forms, winches stand at the heart of machines as diverse as tow trucks, steam shovels and...
and driven toward one another. The intention was for a cannon to launch the Impala into the air at the collision point, causing the car to barrel roll
Barrel roll
A barrel roll is an aerial maneuver in which an airplane makes a complete rotation on its longitudinal axis while following a helical path, approximately maintaining its original direction. It is sometimes described as "a combination of a loop and a roll"...
as the truck drives away. However, the car became stuck in the truck's bumper, forcing the cannon to fail and the truck to go out of control. The truck began to jackknife
Jackknifing
Jackknifing means the folding of an articulated vehicle such that it resembles the acute angle of a folding pocket knife. If a vehicle towing a trailer skids, the trailer can push it from behind until it spins round and faces backwards. This may be caused by equipment failure, improper braking, or...
, but the stuntman driving it saved it from flipping. The mistake ended up being beneficial for the scene, as Kripke and director Manners found it to look "pretty real".
Reception
On its initial broadcast, the episode was watched by 3.99 million viewers. It received generally positive reviews from critics. Karla Peterson of The San Diego Union-Tribune gave the episode an "A", deeming it "everything the season-closer needed to be". She noted that episode reveals why Azazel killed Jessica and Mary Winchester, and enjoyed the "creative way" Meg Masters was killed off, feeling the exorcism to be "amazing". Peterson also praised the cliffhanger ending, believing it to be "capable of pulling your eyeballs right out of your head". The acting was also praised, with Jensen Ackles being able to "wring every ounce of blood, sweat and torment out of Dean's photogenically haunted psyche", Jared Padalecki making Sam "real and conflicted", and Jeffrey Dean Morgan giving "his best and most believable performance of the season". Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune collectively referred to "Devil's Trap" and its two preceding episodes as a "really strong trilogy" of "must-see episodes". She found the possessed John to be "Morgan's finest work on the show to date", believing that he "was really on fire in that scene" and "brought a whole new intensity to his performance". She also thought that Bobby Singer's introduction and Meg Masters' exorcism were "well done".Diana Steenbergen of IGN also praised "Devil's Trap", deeming it to be the episode that "moved Supernatural from the list of television shows that [she] liked to the 'must-see' list". Like Peterson, she cheered the twist ending, and was "completely taken by surprise". Steenbergen also felt that Jim Beaver as hunter Bobby Singer was "an excellent addition to the cast", and applauded Ackles, Padalecki, and Morgan for their performances in the episode's climactic confrontation between Azazel and the brothers. She found the possessed Morgan to be "menacing", and enjoyed his sadistic sense of humor; Padalecki to have done a "good job embodying the newfound strength" Sam develops in defying his father's order to kill him in order to stop the demon; and Ackles' defenselessness to be "affecting". However, she believed that Azazel's reference to having a family "[didn't] quite make sense", and noted that it seemed implausible for Sam and Dean—having been raised as hunters—to not have known that Meg was a demonically-possessed girl. Brian Tallerico of UGO also had issues with the plot, though mainly with the episode's outcome. He felt that the writers should have followed Buffy the Vampire Slayer