“So, Rob tells me you boys hunt demons.” – Rev. Gideon
“Uh, yes sir.” – Sam
“You missed a few.” – Rev. Gideon
Maybe you can help me out here, because Deb and I are a little stumped. How does the title of “99 Problems” relate to this episode? I know it’s a Jay-Z song from a few years ago, so if that’s the case it must be the line “I’ve got 99 problems but the bitch ain’t one.” As in, this Whore of Babylon is but an insignificant spec when it comes down to the multitude of problems Sam and Dean are facing these days. Makes sense, right?
As soon as Rev. Gideon’s (Larry Poindexter) little posse showed up in the truck to save Sam and Dean, Deb noted how it reminded her of Gunn’s band of demon hunters from the early days of Angel. She’s right; they are a lot like that. Add some sharpened telephone posts to the front of that truck and the likeness would be uncanny.
Maybe you’ve heard this too often or I’m just preaching to the choir here, but Castiel has got to be my favorite character on the show right now. The more screen time he has, I’m happy. I really hope that when this season is over, and the inevitable season renewal comes down, Kripke will find a way to keep him on the show, at least making occasional appearances like Bobby Singer has been. Oh, and I especially like drunk Castiel. Drunken angel cast-offs are funny.
Dean seeing Lisa again wasn’t a huge surprise because of the “THEN” segment, which is one of the rare times I was disappointed to have seen those previews. That sort of thing used to piss off a lot of Battlestar Galactica fans, too, because it would heavily lead on how the episode was going to go and what characters were going to make an appearance.
The thing about the scene with Dean and Lisa that had me thinking was what Dean meant about her and her son being “taken care of.” Obviously Dean is hinting that he’s decided to try to make a deal with Michael in exchange for becoming his vessel, but what would that deal be? That they be granted their own special room in Heaven when the people of Earth start being extinguished?
That also brings up the question of why Dean was suddenly a suitable person to kill the Whore of Babylon. I have to say that, initially, I thought possibly Dean had already allowed Michael to take him over, and we all just didn’t know it yet … but then there was that talk with Lisa, so that was out. Still, it was nice to see Dean come back to her, because I secretly hoped she and her son would be back some day. Seems we’ll likely see them again.
Some other quotes I dug from this episode:
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Apr 08, 2010 @ 22:49 EST5EDT
*POST AUTHOR*
One final thought: Did they ever explain or find out how the demon-killing knife was created? We know a bit about the Colt’s history, and then Ruby appeared with the knife that does the same thing, only with infinite “ammo.” So how does it get made? And what about the Colt’s bullets — someone made more of those too. If they did explain where they came from, I’m wondering why they’re not out to find more of whatever it is that makes those items.
The creators of the show had said in the past that they wish to keep the secret of the knife a “mystery”. As for the Colt, it was never really explained. Rudy showed up and it was fixed. I do hope we get more information about the gun in future episodes.
Well, at first I thought it was homage to Luthers 95 Theses, being that it was a Lutheran church, but at the time I was thinking that it was 99 not 95, so not sure.
I was really hoping that Dean would hold out on saying ‘YES’ to Michael, however unrealistic that hope was. I worry that once Dean says ‘YES’ nothing is keeping Sam from doing the same. Like Sam said in the episode, Dean is pretty much the only one keeping Sam from falling apart. Although, this could reinforce Sam’s decision to continue to say ‘NO’.
The only bone I really have to pick with Supernatural and the minds behind Supernatural is that we only really see Dean’s continuous struggle. Not to discount Sam’s addiction and such, but most every episode lately focuses on Dean. I find it hard to believe that the Devil is just laying in wait for Sam to say ‘YES’. I would think that Lucifer would be visiting Sam’s dreams like he did in that one episode and messing with his head, pushing him to the point where he says ‘YES’ to stop it. Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely love Dean, but I think Sam deserves some screen time dedicated to what he’s going through too.
BTW, I also love a drunken Castiel. He brings so much to the show.
And maybe Dean became a suitable person to kill the Whore of Babylon because he decided, at that moment perhaps, to become Michael’s vessel. Just a thought.
Nice review.
Here’s a bunch of carrotts for your farm in Farmville.
*extremely wide grin*
*POST AUTHOR*
IGNORE!
You set me up for that one :-D
someone please remind me who Lisa is & her story with Dean. thanks
Lisa is an old girlfriend of Dean’s and when he encountered her again in an episode in season 4 I think, she had a kid who was exactly like Dean, so he was worried it was his kid (Ben they were referring to). Turns out it wasn’t, or so they say, but it was a really cute and poignant episode. OK, now I have to go get the title for you … season 3, episode 2, “The Kids Are Alright.”
Thanks Debbie
okay so here’s a thought, on imdb and spoilerfix, they talk about episode 19 being that dean and sam are captured by 3 random gods, so Dean’s not gonna say yes in the next episode but i guarentee you he’s gonna get a massive kick in the jewels, you got cass beatin him, sam unwilling to let him, not to mention on imdb you got sam and dean casted for season 6 episode 1, so i always thought that either dean would die out in the end of this season or get a massive kick in the pants to put him back on course. My thoughts are the colt didn’t work and you can’t exactly kill the devil on tv, that’d just be kinda lame, so i think they’ll find a way to exorcise lucifer back to heaven and let the boys duke it out up there or something. But it’d be far to tacky to just “kill” the devil
This one had me stumbling from the get go. I was sure that the prophet was a fraud from the moment we met her, but totally missed on what her end game was. I thought that she was setting up to turn the townspeople on Sam and Dean, with the idea being to capture one of them, depending on who she was working with, Lucifer or Zachariah.
Then I totally missed with what it meant when Dean was able to kill her. We seem to be waiting for that ‘kick in the pants’, as Someone puts it, that will get Dean back on board, and I thought that was it. Knowing that he is a true servant seems like the kind of thing that could have given Dean a whole new focus. Not so much.
Now I’m left wondering just what the hell is going on. Dean’s meeting with Lisa, especially the bit about her and Ben being taken care of, seems to suggest he’s ready to cut a deal. But then I’m left thinking, if that’s what I expect to happen, surely I’m wrong. Never knowing what’s coming is what makes it so fun.
I also agree with Keith, Castiel is awesome.
The preview at the end mentioned that next week’s episode is #100.
99 Episodes, 99 Problems… Sounds about right. :)
^ winner
I don’t think that Dean is gonna make a deal with Michael, bet that he will be meeting Lucifer instead, haven’t seen the previews yet, but i can’t wait for the next episode!!!
BTW, Why did Keith the review and not Brett???
*POST AUTHOR*
Hey, whatsamatta, I’m not good enough?!
Brett had something else going on, so I filled in this week.
lol, not at all!!! just curious! :)
Everyone forgets the lead-in for 99 Problems: If you’re having girl problems I feel bad for you son…