Hello again! (with SPN spoilers--and non-SPN pics!)
Hiya. I know my posting frequency has been way down these past few months, but at least since SPN premiered, I'd been doing a decent job of posting episode reactions. Not so these past couple of weeks. The reason for that is I moved and was without internet until a couple of days ago. I'm still without television. But I'm practically used to that--the TV went out in my old place about a month ago, and because I was moving, I never got my act together and had it taken care of.
As I like to keep my online and offline lives separate as much as possible, and because I'm probably more forthcoming about my personal life in my fannish journal than I should be, I'm not able to tell you exactly where I now live. But I can show you this:
And this:
And even this:
Oliver, Dudley and I have moved downtown, or more accurately, to the Gulf. While I was happy in our little compound, the lease was up on my apartment, and I was given the option of moving to another property. This one is new (it's been open for two years, and as you can see from the photos, many of the towers are still under construction) and quite the luxury accommodation. As one of my coworkers likes to say, "You can buy a Maserati there, but you can't get a pint of milk."
While it's true, there is a Maserati dealership (as well as one for Rolls Royce--just for the record, I drive a Nissan Tiida, which is equivalent to a Versa--all I can do is window shop!), you can in fact also get a few basic essentials. Matters will improve greatly when the new mall opens near the entrance to this development. That's scheduled for between now and February. I figure I can find other grocery options till then.
My new apartment is smaller than the one I left, but very nice. This time of year, I could live outside on the balcony. Our temps are now in the 70's and 80's during the day, going down as low as the 60's in the evening. It's lovely. I really can't complain at all.
I'm pretty happy with Supernatural these days too. My silence on the past two episodes doesn't indicate some great dissatisfaction, though I would say The Mentalists and Time for a Wedding, for me, weren't the best eps of the year.
I'll address the most recent episode first--I'm not sure why, but the non-con stuff that bothers many people about this ep didn't hit me like I thought it might. Intellectually, it bugs me, but emotionally, I had no reaction. Maybe it was because the tone of the episode was farcical. Maybe it's because Becky is more pathetic than dangerous. What bothered me more was the performance of the actress playing Becky, Emily Perkins.
Ever since the character was introduced, I've commented to other fans that her performance style is way off. She was playing at being the nerdy super-fan, rather than just being real. She comes off as a caricature, rather than a three-dimensional human being. I feel certain that is intentional on the part of the director and, by extension, the performer. It worked okay (though I still found it annoying) in the earlier episodes, because Becky's main purpose was comic relief. But we were supposed to feel for her in this ep and find her actions, if not understandable, at least sympathetic.
She came close to that for me when she went to register for the reunion. You could see how this girl had been made to feel insignificant all her life; she was vulnerable in that scene in a way we hadn't seen before. But every eye roll and twitch that followed undermined any empathy I might have felt for the character. She kidnapped, drugged and abused (knocking him unconscious, stripping him of his clothes, tying him to a bed, etc.) a person she claims to have feelings for. Not cool. Not cool at all. That lessened my enjoyment of the episode, though I mostly liked the reunion at the end of the ep. More on that in a moment.
The Mentalists was fine as a season one style stand-alone, but it, coupled with a bit of what went on during Time for a Wedding, does raise a concern for me.
I say this as a bi-bro fan, not as a crazed Sam!girl, and I truly, truly do not want to get into Dean vs. Sam territory here, but: I would like to see the show do a better job of allowing Sam to be right every so often.
The writers used to be better at this. The first few seasons, there was a more evenhanded approach to things like Sam wanting to leave hunting behind and live a normal life. That wasn't seen as betrayal and abandonment; it was seen as a normal desire for any young adult. You understood why Dean looked at Sam's leaving as one of the worst days of his life, but you also understood why Sam felt like he needed to spread his wings.
Over time, that decision has become in the eyes of many fans just one more example of how selfish Sam can be. Dean began to claim the moral high ground in season four, and he's never really relinquished it. The show capitalized on the idea of Dean as good (with a very literal angel on his shoulder) and Sam as bad (with Lucifer claiming him as one of his own), even going so far as to include those images in their advertising campaign. And while the Winchesters ultimately circumvented that fate, that characterization has never really gone away.
Post Apocalyptic showdown, we had soulless Sam in season six, an arc I enjoyed, but one where many fans whipped themselves into a frenzy over episodes like Live Free or Twihard, where Sam betrayed Dean, who had selflessly given up his chance at happiness to hunt with his dick of a brother (I'm paraphrasing, but you get the drift). Sam having that wall in his head makes him fragile and fallible in a way Dean is rarely allowed to be. His psychic injury is a burden on Dean, a character who is used to carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, but who is also finally beginning to bow beneath that weight.
I'll jump ahead to this season, because I could write a dissertation on this topic and I worry about you guys nodding off. I loved the conflict set up between Sam and Dean in The Girl Next Door. I could see both sides of this--Dean, exhausted and soul-weary, making the decision he felt he had to make, and Sam, empathizing with the monsters as usual, believing in an individual's ability to change (because if they can, that means he too can be redeemed). I sided with Sam, not so much because I believed Amy would never kill again, but because Dean had looked him in the eye and lied to him (after going behind his back and killing Sam's friend). It was clear to me Dean had done some wrong here, even if it was for the very best intentions (much like Sam often does).
But in The Mentalists, we saw one very pissed off Dean telling Sam it was okay to be mad, just not mad in a way that annoyed Dean, even though all I saw Sam doing was needing some distance between his brother and the situation. We saw Dean justifying his actions by putting the blame on Sam ("I had to do what I did because you couldn't do it."), the implication being Dean was always forced to clean up Sam's messes.
Both actions were unfair. Yet at the end of the case, the brothers are reunited, with Sam saying, "You know what? You were right and I was wrong. You had to do what you had to do." Dean was forgiven and not called on any of his behavior. I might be okay with Sam forgiving and forgetting if Dean had earned his pardon in some way. But he hadn't. Sam's acquiescence felt like a whim. I think we were supposed to believe Sam had come to that conclusion after he'd needed to kill Jimmy Tomorrow. But there was no correlation--Jimmy had been armed and ready to kill Sam. His death was a question of self-defense. He wasn't killed like Amy was--defenseless and begging for her life.
Jump ahead now to this week--we have drugged Sam happily telling Dean that while it was nice the way Dean had looked out for him since they were kids, he didn't need that anymore. Yet at the end of the ep, an obviously abashed Sam tells Dean he was wrong, he clearly still needs Dean's help. On the one hand, I love Dean looking after Sam--so, shut up, Sam! :-) On the other hand, Sam very nearly got out of his predicament all on his own. It was his discussion with Becky that turned the tide (though admittedly Dean and Garth were great in assist). Yet it's made to look like once again Sam is the f**k up who needs Dean to bail him out of trouble.
I realize that one of Dean's arc this year is figuring out his own identity. I know from what I've read in interviews with some of the writers and from my own observations that Dean is struggling with his disappointment and sorrow, what he sees as Cas' betrayal, and what he perceives as Sam's diminished capacity in the wake of his fallen wall. Dean believes he can't fix Sam, and he also can't trust him, not to Dean's way of thinking, not completely.
Sam is actually dealing with his problems pretty well, but Dean doesn't see that, so the question of whether Sam needs Dean or not, and what Dean can actually do to address that need is a loaded one. Yet, this episode didn't go there. It only went so far as to have Sam apologize, yet again, for being wrong.
I would love to see a realization on the part of both brothers that while they do need each other (I don't want that to ever go away!), Sam isn't bad or less than Dean because of his decisions and his weaknesses. I don't want Dean to be seen as bad either. I just want them more equal. I want Sam's ideas to have weight and I want them to work, every so often.
I like this arc of Dean trying to figure out his place in the world. I want him to make mistakes and I want him to come out a stronger man at the end of it. That's what we've seen happen with Sam (despite his inner Satan). Dean should have that same privilege.
Jared and Jensen are often asked at cons how they see the show ending. They almost always answer they want Sam and Dean going out like Butch and Sundance. I would actually be okay with that if, when their stories ended, the Winchesters were bigger, better men than when they'd began. One of the long-time arcs of this series has been the maturation of the brothers. They're no longer boys, that's true. But neither of them are yet the men they could be. Give both brothers that opportunity, let both make mistakes, and let them learn and grow as a result. It'll keep the show fresh and more interesting.
::An steps off her soapbox and retreats into the darkness::
As I like to keep my online and offline lives separate as much as possible, and because I'm probably more forthcoming about my personal life in my fannish journal than I should be, I'm not able to tell you exactly where I now live. But I can show you this:
And this:
And even this:
Oliver, Dudley and I have moved downtown, or more accurately, to the Gulf. While I was happy in our little compound, the lease was up on my apartment, and I was given the option of moving to another property. This one is new (it's been open for two years, and as you can see from the photos, many of the towers are still under construction) and quite the luxury accommodation. As one of my coworkers likes to say, "You can buy a Maserati there, but you can't get a pint of milk."
While it's true, there is a Maserati dealership (as well as one for Rolls Royce--just for the record, I drive a Nissan Tiida, which is equivalent to a Versa--all I can do is window shop!), you can in fact also get a few basic essentials. Matters will improve greatly when the new mall opens near the entrance to this development. That's scheduled for between now and February. I figure I can find other grocery options till then.
My new apartment is smaller than the one I left, but very nice. This time of year, I could live outside on the balcony. Our temps are now in the 70's and 80's during the day, going down as low as the 60's in the evening. It's lovely. I really can't complain at all.
I'm pretty happy with Supernatural these days too. My silence on the past two episodes doesn't indicate some great dissatisfaction, though I would say The Mentalists and Time for a Wedding, for me, weren't the best eps of the year.
I'll address the most recent episode first--I'm not sure why, but the non-con stuff that bothers many people about this ep didn't hit me like I thought it might. Intellectually, it bugs me, but emotionally, I had no reaction. Maybe it was because the tone of the episode was farcical. Maybe it's because Becky is more pathetic than dangerous. What bothered me more was the performance of the actress playing Becky, Emily Perkins.
Ever since the character was introduced, I've commented to other fans that her performance style is way off. She was playing at being the nerdy super-fan, rather than just being real. She comes off as a caricature, rather than a three-dimensional human being. I feel certain that is intentional on the part of the director and, by extension, the performer. It worked okay (though I still found it annoying) in the earlier episodes, because Becky's main purpose was comic relief. But we were supposed to feel for her in this ep and find her actions, if not understandable, at least sympathetic.
She came close to that for me when she went to register for the reunion. You could see how this girl had been made to feel insignificant all her life; she was vulnerable in that scene in a way we hadn't seen before. But every eye roll and twitch that followed undermined any empathy I might have felt for the character. She kidnapped, drugged and abused (knocking him unconscious, stripping him of his clothes, tying him to a bed, etc.) a person she claims to have feelings for. Not cool. Not cool at all. That lessened my enjoyment of the episode, though I mostly liked the reunion at the end of the ep. More on that in a moment.
The Mentalists was fine as a season one style stand-alone, but it, coupled with a bit of what went on during Time for a Wedding, does raise a concern for me.
I say this as a bi-bro fan, not as a crazed Sam!girl, and I truly, truly do not want to get into Dean vs. Sam territory here, but: I would like to see the show do a better job of allowing Sam to be right every so often.
The writers used to be better at this. The first few seasons, there was a more evenhanded approach to things like Sam wanting to leave hunting behind and live a normal life. That wasn't seen as betrayal and abandonment; it was seen as a normal desire for any young adult. You understood why Dean looked at Sam's leaving as one of the worst days of his life, but you also understood why Sam felt like he needed to spread his wings.
Over time, that decision has become in the eyes of many fans just one more example of how selfish Sam can be. Dean began to claim the moral high ground in season four, and he's never really relinquished it. The show capitalized on the idea of Dean as good (with a very literal angel on his shoulder) and Sam as bad (with Lucifer claiming him as one of his own), even going so far as to include those images in their advertising campaign. And while the Winchesters ultimately circumvented that fate, that characterization has never really gone away.
Post Apocalyptic showdown, we had soulless Sam in season six, an arc I enjoyed, but one where many fans whipped themselves into a frenzy over episodes like Live Free or Twihard, where Sam betrayed Dean, who had selflessly given up his chance at happiness to hunt with his dick of a brother (I'm paraphrasing, but you get the drift). Sam having that wall in his head makes him fragile and fallible in a way Dean is rarely allowed to be. His psychic injury is a burden on Dean, a character who is used to carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, but who is also finally beginning to bow beneath that weight.
I'll jump ahead to this season, because I could write a dissertation on this topic and I worry about you guys nodding off. I loved the conflict set up between Sam and Dean in The Girl Next Door. I could see both sides of this--Dean, exhausted and soul-weary, making the decision he felt he had to make, and Sam, empathizing with the monsters as usual, believing in an individual's ability to change (because if they can, that means he too can be redeemed). I sided with Sam, not so much because I believed Amy would never kill again, but because Dean had looked him in the eye and lied to him (after going behind his back and killing Sam's friend). It was clear to me Dean had done some wrong here, even if it was for the very best intentions (much like Sam often does).
But in The Mentalists, we saw one very pissed off Dean telling Sam it was okay to be mad, just not mad in a way that annoyed Dean, even though all I saw Sam doing was needing some distance between his brother and the situation. We saw Dean justifying his actions by putting the blame on Sam ("I had to do what I did because you couldn't do it."), the implication being Dean was always forced to clean up Sam's messes.
Both actions were unfair. Yet at the end of the case, the brothers are reunited, with Sam saying, "You know what? You were right and I was wrong. You had to do what you had to do." Dean was forgiven and not called on any of his behavior. I might be okay with Sam forgiving and forgetting if Dean had earned his pardon in some way. But he hadn't. Sam's acquiescence felt like a whim. I think we were supposed to believe Sam had come to that conclusion after he'd needed to kill Jimmy Tomorrow. But there was no correlation--Jimmy had been armed and ready to kill Sam. His death was a question of self-defense. He wasn't killed like Amy was--defenseless and begging for her life.
Jump ahead now to this week--we have drugged Sam happily telling Dean that while it was nice the way Dean had looked out for him since they were kids, he didn't need that anymore. Yet at the end of the ep, an obviously abashed Sam tells Dean he was wrong, he clearly still needs Dean's help. On the one hand, I love Dean looking after Sam--so, shut up, Sam! :-) On the other hand, Sam very nearly got out of his predicament all on his own. It was his discussion with Becky that turned the tide (though admittedly Dean and Garth were great in assist). Yet it's made to look like once again Sam is the f**k up who needs Dean to bail him out of trouble.
I realize that one of Dean's arc this year is figuring out his own identity. I know from what I've read in interviews with some of the writers and from my own observations that Dean is struggling with his disappointment and sorrow, what he sees as Cas' betrayal, and what he perceives as Sam's diminished capacity in the wake of his fallen wall. Dean believes he can't fix Sam, and he also can't trust him, not to Dean's way of thinking, not completely.
Sam is actually dealing with his problems pretty well, but Dean doesn't see that, so the question of whether Sam needs Dean or not, and what Dean can actually do to address that need is a loaded one. Yet, this episode didn't go there. It only went so far as to have Sam apologize, yet again, for being wrong.
I would love to see a realization on the part of both brothers that while they do need each other (I don't want that to ever go away!), Sam isn't bad or less than Dean because of his decisions and his weaknesses. I don't want Dean to be seen as bad either. I just want them more equal. I want Sam's ideas to have weight and I want them to work, every so often.
I like this arc of Dean trying to figure out his place in the world. I want him to make mistakes and I want him to come out a stronger man at the end of it. That's what we've seen happen with Sam (despite his inner Satan). Dean should have that same privilege.
Jared and Jensen are often asked at cons how they see the show ending. They almost always answer they want Sam and Dean going out like Butch and Sundance. I would actually be okay with that if, when their stories ended, the Winchesters were bigger, better men than when they'd began. One of the long-time arcs of this series has been the maturation of the brothers. They're no longer boys, that's true. But neither of them are yet the men they could be. Give both brothers that opportunity, let both make mistakes, and let them learn and grow as a result. It'll keep the show fresh and more interesting.
::An steps off her soapbox and retreats into the darkness::