Two and a Half Men (Supernatural Style)
I guess I'll lead with...I liked it! I thought it had some funny lines (nearly all of them Dean's), the guys were working together, Lisa continued to be characterized well, and Dean uncovering the Impala made me all kinds of happy.
Some observations:
- I can't believe Samuel sent Sam off on his own to catch a baby-murderer. What the hell were the rest of Grandpa's merry band doing? They didn't think that was a two-person job? I thought overall Sam handled himself well. It just seemed like poor planning. On the plus side, I got a kick out of Samuel's ongoing battle with the internet.
- Poor Dean. Trying to do the right thing, yet not truly certain what the right thing is. I continue to feel for the guy, and JA's performance continues to be strong. My only issue here is what I made mention of in various LJ comments throughout this week. We're getting all kinds of insight about Dean's feelings and motivations, but virtually nothing about Sam's. Again. I'm not complaining about screen time. Honest to God, I'm not. And I do understand that keeping us in the dark as to what's going on with Sam is deliberate. But it's been done and done and done to death. What is more, I saw more purpose for it last week, when he seemed seriously off, as opposed to this week when he simply seems a little more ruthless than what we (or at least I) remember. I want to understand. Please show, help me to do that.
- That being said Sam's behavior was still kind of an issue for me this week. First off, I'm not sure I see the through-line between last week's Sam and this week's Sam. This week's Sam seemed more familiar. He's not quite "right", certainly, and I really don't like how we're seeing him choose to side with the Campbells rather than Dean (and by that I mean the secrets he's clearly keeping from Dean, yet sharing with the Campbells). I want to see an explanation for that and pronto. We haven't been given anything that explains why Sam as we knew him would believe or side with people he's known for less than a year as opposed to Dean, especially after the whole Ruby debacle. Dean hasn't changed; he's given Sam no reason to doubt him. It's not as if Sam is keeping things from Dean in order to protect him, not when he's basically pulling Dean back into the life. So what's going on with the younger Winchester? I hope we get some answers, and soon.
- I thought the baby monster was pretty damned cute, and the guys' reactions to him by and large worked. I thought the fart noise was a bit much, and I'm not sure I buy Sam and Dean coming close to panic at the checkout line, but otherwise I was amused. Especially when the baby's true nature was revealed. Plus, Dean concocting his own liquor pacifier, while certainly not good parenting, made me giggle. And Smoke on the Water as a lullaby? Priceless.
- I liked Sam pointing out, with a certain level of gentleness, that what Dean was attempting to do was exactly what John had spent their childhoods doing. It was difficult for Dean to hear, but it was the truth.
- In fact, I really liked all of the motel conversations between Sam and Dean.
- While I enjoyed the callbacks to former episodes last week, this week's Magic Fingers felt like too much.
- I really like Lisa. I don't want Dean and her to ride off into the sunset together. But I appreciate the way her character has been drawn so far. I like how she is acquiescing to Dean as the expert when it comes to hunting, but isn't panicking and isn't resentful about what he's brought into the life Ben and she had enjoyed. She's doing what she can to keep everyone safe, but she's not forgetting there's a life to be lived as well. I also liked the way she sent Dean back onto the road, calmly and kindly, and keeping the door cracked open for his return. Way to go, woman! I really hope the show doesn't wind up killing you.
- I understand Dean doesn't trust the Campbells. But what did he want to do with the baby? Both its parents were dead and it had crazy powers. It couldn't just randomly be put up for adoption. I actually felt as if taking him to Samuel was a smart move. Sam told him to offer up another option, and he couldn't come up with one. So the whole "No, I won't give up this child!" seemed as if it were there more for false drama than anything.
- Sam's "I wonder about me too" and his wanting to know how he got out of Hell? Heartbreaking.
- Corin Nemec and that female cousin just make my skin crawl. They remind me of the Benders from season one. They've got this creepy inbred vibe. I don't understand how Sam could feel comfortable with them.
- Again, I get that what we're going to see this year is monsters acting in new and unexpected ways. But Samuel better not have the easy answer every single week. Sure, this episode he lost to the baddie of the week, but he knew about the antidote for djinn poison last week and this week he had knowledge of the alpha shapeshifter, even though that's never been discussed before, and Sam and Dean knew nothing about it (Sam might have been in on it--but that had to be new knowledge, given to him by Samuel, not something he'd been aware of before). If they're going to go with the new and improved monster trope, I want everyone involved to have to figure out what's happening on the fly, not have the guys turn to Grandpa Samuel and have him explain it to them every single week.
- The shapeshifter didn't have the same malevolence for me that he did the first time we saw this creature. That version of the monster got a twisted pleasure out of hurting people. This one didn't seem to. However, he did remind me of Robert Patrick in T2 with his rapid shifts and the way he just kept coming, no matter what.
- Dean pulling the Impala out of storage? Epic.
All in all, yay! Good stuff. And next week is the infamous shirtless chin-up scene.
I believe those of you who frequent this journal know how I feel about that.
=8-D
Some observations:
- I can't believe Samuel sent Sam off on his own to catch a baby-murderer. What the hell were the rest of Grandpa's merry band doing? They didn't think that was a two-person job? I thought overall Sam handled himself well. It just seemed like poor planning. On the plus side, I got a kick out of Samuel's ongoing battle with the internet.
- Poor Dean. Trying to do the right thing, yet not truly certain what the right thing is. I continue to feel for the guy, and JA's performance continues to be strong. My only issue here is what I made mention of in various LJ comments throughout this week. We're getting all kinds of insight about Dean's feelings and motivations, but virtually nothing about Sam's. Again. I'm not complaining about screen time. Honest to God, I'm not. And I do understand that keeping us in the dark as to what's going on with Sam is deliberate. But it's been done and done and done to death. What is more, I saw more purpose for it last week, when he seemed seriously off, as opposed to this week when he simply seems a little more ruthless than what we (or at least I) remember. I want to understand. Please show, help me to do that.
- That being said Sam's behavior was still kind of an issue for me this week. First off, I'm not sure I see the through-line between last week's Sam and this week's Sam. This week's Sam seemed more familiar. He's not quite "right", certainly, and I really don't like how we're seeing him choose to side with the Campbells rather than Dean (and by that I mean the secrets he's clearly keeping from Dean, yet sharing with the Campbells). I want to see an explanation for that and pronto. We haven't been given anything that explains why Sam as we knew him would believe or side with people he's known for less than a year as opposed to Dean, especially after the whole Ruby debacle. Dean hasn't changed; he's given Sam no reason to doubt him. It's not as if Sam is keeping things from Dean in order to protect him, not when he's basically pulling Dean back into the life. So what's going on with the younger Winchester? I hope we get some answers, and soon.
- I thought the baby monster was pretty damned cute, and the guys' reactions to him by and large worked. I thought the fart noise was a bit much, and I'm not sure I buy Sam and Dean coming close to panic at the checkout line, but otherwise I was amused. Especially when the baby's true nature was revealed. Plus, Dean concocting his own liquor pacifier, while certainly not good parenting, made me giggle. And Smoke on the Water as a lullaby? Priceless.
- I liked Sam pointing out, with a certain level of gentleness, that what Dean was attempting to do was exactly what John had spent their childhoods doing. It was difficult for Dean to hear, but it was the truth.
- In fact, I really liked all of the motel conversations between Sam and Dean.
- While I enjoyed the callbacks to former episodes last week, this week's Magic Fingers felt like too much.
- I really like Lisa. I don't want Dean and her to ride off into the sunset together. But I appreciate the way her character has been drawn so far. I like how she is acquiescing to Dean as the expert when it comes to hunting, but isn't panicking and isn't resentful about what he's brought into the life Ben and she had enjoyed. She's doing what she can to keep everyone safe, but she's not forgetting there's a life to be lived as well. I also liked the way she sent Dean back onto the road, calmly and kindly, and keeping the door cracked open for his return. Way to go, woman! I really hope the show doesn't wind up killing you.
- I understand Dean doesn't trust the Campbells. But what did he want to do with the baby? Both its parents were dead and it had crazy powers. It couldn't just randomly be put up for adoption. I actually felt as if taking him to Samuel was a smart move. Sam told him to offer up another option, and he couldn't come up with one. So the whole "No, I won't give up this child!" seemed as if it were there more for false drama than anything.
- Sam's "I wonder about me too" and his wanting to know how he got out of Hell? Heartbreaking.
- Corin Nemec and that female cousin just make my skin crawl. They remind me of the Benders from season one. They've got this creepy inbred vibe. I don't understand how Sam could feel comfortable with them.
- Again, I get that what we're going to see this year is monsters acting in new and unexpected ways. But Samuel better not have the easy answer every single week. Sure, this episode he lost to the baddie of the week, but he knew about the antidote for djinn poison last week and this week he had knowledge of the alpha shapeshifter, even though that's never been discussed before, and Sam and Dean knew nothing about it (Sam might have been in on it--but that had to be new knowledge, given to him by Samuel, not something he'd been aware of before). If they're going to go with the new and improved monster trope, I want everyone involved to have to figure out what's happening on the fly, not have the guys turn to Grandpa Samuel and have him explain it to them every single week.
- The shapeshifter didn't have the same malevolence for me that he did the first time we saw this creature. That version of the monster got a twisted pleasure out of hurting people. This one didn't seem to. However, he did remind me of Robert Patrick in T2 with his rapid shifts and the way he just kept coming, no matter what.
- Dean pulling the Impala out of storage? Epic.
All in all, yay! Good stuff. And next week is the infamous shirtless chin-up scene.
I believe those of you who frequent this journal know how I feel about that.
=8-D