<P> To lend a strong air of realism to Gordon's death, the scene was created by combining various special effects during filming with post-production visual effects . Plastic razor wire with blood tubing aided in the initial phases of the decapitation; it would slightly sink into Brown's neck as pressure was applied, forcing out the fake blood . For the aftermath, Brown laid down on the floor, and the visual effects department removed his head from the shot and recreated it as a three - dimensional model . The department decided to "push it a little bit farther" by having the head rocking into place and the mouth twitching, but Standards and Practices found it too graphic and forced them to remove the motion . Established in the first - season episode "Dead Man's Blood" were the shark - like teeth of vampires, and the design has been subtly improved with each vampire episode . Though the special effects makeup department used molds of the actors' mouths to create the fanged acrylic dentures, McNab noted that it was very difficult to speak while wearing them . Blood - like makeup around the actors' mouths helped to round out the vampiric visages . </P> <P> The synthesized orchestral score of the episode was written by Christopher Lennertz . He feels that "people associate the sound of violins with vampires" due to the "connection with Eastern Europe and counts", and thus used a "very violin - heavy" score for the episode, avoiding woodwinds, brass, and piano . </P> <P> In its original broadcast, "Fresh Blood" was viewed by an estimated 2.88 million viewers . The episode received generally positive reviews from critics . Tina Charles of TV Guide praised the episode, commenting that "it was really nice to get an enjoyable episode high on intensity, brotherly interaction, blood and gore". Although she had grown a "tad bit weary" of the character's continuous attempts to kill Sam, she was still "really sorry to see Sterling and Gordy go". Charles felt that his transformation was a "good twist", and liked that his "black - and - white beliefs" remained the same even after becoming a vampire . She also enjoyed the character of Lucy and her "really sad" ending, and wished that McNab's role had been larger . It was noted that the "brotherly interaction was front and center", and Charles was "beyond happy" that Sam confronted Dean about is behavior . The "moment that (she had) been waiting for all season long" finally came to be when Dean took Sam seriously and actually listened to him instead of replying with sarcasm . Charles also deemed the final scene with the brothers to be "just heartbreaking". Likewise, Karla Peterson of The San Diego Union - Tribune not only gave the episode an A+, but ranked it as the sixth - best episode of the 2007 - 2008 television season . She praised writer Sera Gamble and director Kim Manners for "creating the best bonding scene we've had all season", and lauded Padalecki and Ackles for "making us care so much and believe so fully that a scene like this can leave us gasping". </P> <P> Brett Love of TV Squad posited that Gordon's return in the "great" episode was "well worth the wait". He noted that the revelation that Lucy was just an innocent girl was a "nice twist", and deemed it a "great choice" to have Gordon turned into a vampire . Love was sad to see Gordon depart from the series, finding the "outstanding" Brown to be "so intense and committed" to the role . However, he considered Bela's appearance to be unnecessary, and pointed out the implausibility of it being easier for Gordon to track down Bela than it would have been to just track down the Winchesters . Like Love, Julie Pyle of Airlock Alpha believed Bela's appearance "(felt) forced". She was saddened by the deaths of Gordon and Kubrick, and had hoped that their storylines would have been further explored . Pyle also criticized the episode's lighting, commenting, "With the added gore this season, the show should seem darker . Instead, it's like' Supernatural Lite' ." While Maureen Ryan of Chicago Tribune found the concept of Gordon hunting down Sam to be "inspired", she noted that "' Fresh Blood' didn't do much for (her)". </P>

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