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Recap of Supernatural
Season 6, Episode 13
Unforgiven
Written by Andrew Dabb and Daniel Loflin.
Directed by David Barrett.
Air Date: February 11, 2011.
While Sam starts to have flashbacks from his time soulless, the brothers receive a message leading them to Bristol, Rhode Island, where Sam worked a case with their grandfather, Samuel.
Body Count:
For this episode = 2 Arachnes.
For the series so far = At least 440 humans (of which 6 were witches), 77 demons, 33 ghosts, 26 vampires, 19 zombies, 14 gods, 11 angels, 9 hellhounds, 7 skinwalkers, 6 changelings, 5 shapeshifters, 4 ghouls, 3 djinn, 2 Arachnes, 2 dogs, 2 werewolves, 1 crocotta, 1 dragon, 1 fairy, 1 lamia, 1 okami, 1 rakshasa, 1 rawhead, 1 reaper, 1 rugaru, 1 shtriga, 1 siren, 1 wendigo, 1 whore of Babylon, and 1 wraith.
Tropes
- All Webbed Up: The victims of the Arachne.
- The Bait: How Soulless!Sam and Samuel used Roy.
- Big Bad: It's revealed that Souless Sam is responsible for all the terrible events to happen in this episode by using Roy as bait for the female Arachne, resulting in him being turned and wanting vengeance.
- Don't Sneak Up on Me Like That!Sam: I almost shot you! Again!
- Fate Worse than Death: "Do I kill you, or turn you?"
- The Fettered: Sam is determined to set things right to make up for the things he did while soulless.
- Fire and Brimstone Hell: Sam remembers himself burning in Hell.
- Guilt Complex: Sam feels terrible guilty for what he did when he was soulless.
- I Told You So:Dean: I hate to say "I Told You So".Sam: You love to say "I told you so".Dean: Actually, you're right. I do love to say "I told you so".
- Ironic Echo: Sam assures the sheriff's wife that her missing husband would have died a hero. During a flashback Sam tells the sheriff he's a hero for helping stop the Arachne before shooting him.
- Must Make Amends: Sam feels like he has to make up for his actions during the time he was soulless.
- Off with His Head!: "Well, I guess decapitation works." Unfortunately, Kill It with Fire doesn't.
- Person as Verb: "Let's Memento this thing."
- Really Gets Around: Soulless!Sam.
- Revenge: Turns out the sheriff is alive and wants payback.
- Shout-Out:
- The title is a reference to famous western Unforgiven about a former outlaw who ends up returning to his old ways for one last job and the consequences of doing so.
- Brenna asks if she's in an episode of Days of Our Lives when Sam says he can't remember anything from the last year of his life, lampshading how it sounds like a plot device from a soap opera.
- The black and white flashbacks are a homage to Memento which also featured a protagonist with amnesia and flashes of their life shown in black and white.
- Dean also makes the unavoidable comic-book connection, jokingly nicknaming Roy Spider-Man at the end of the episode.
- This episode drops the usual rockstar aliases and uses literary ones instead when Sam and Samuel go by the names Roark and Wynand - the protagonist (Howard Roark) and major supporting character (Gail Wynand) from The Fountainhead.
- Surprise Pregnancy: While chatting with Roy and Brenna, Samuel reveals that Deanna getting pregnant with Mary was this.
- They Were Holding You Back:Soulless!Sam: Family just slows you down.
- Whole Episode Flashback: Sam has various flashbacks to the time he was in this town while he was soulless, and at the end of the episode to his time in hell as well.
