5.06 reaction post
Which I watched it in real time for the second week in a row-woohoo!
And which fell into a category of episodes I am apparently a big sucker for. Let’s just call them
The Winchester Brothers: They May be Freaks, but They’re Freaks with VALUES (goddamit).
And no little kids are going to die on their watch, even if it’s to the detriment of the greater good. And neither are (substitute one of the following): the inhabitants of small towns (cf. 4.07); virgins (cf. JiB); their buddies (cf. 5.04); or, you know, most of humanity (cf. 4.22).
Actually, in three of those examples, it’s only, or mostly, Dean who’s invested in this core value, so it was interesting how much on the same page in terms of both ends and means Dean and Sam were about this in 5.06-more so than in 4.07, in which they agree about saving the town, but Sam uses questionable methods to do so. That kind of mutuality was sweeter for me than the key toss in 5.05.
Overall, I liked the episode-and certainly the more so in comparison to last week. It had that signature SPN tonal switch-up, where it went from cracky to angsty without much warning-but I usually like that. I feel like these writers have gotten much better as they’ve gone on (over at TWoP they call them “the comic book guys,” ‘cause I guess that’s their background). They are responsible for the SPN episode I hate the most (“Yellow Fever”) and for “After School Special,” which I didn’t like as much as a lot of people did. But their last ep. For S4, “Jump the Shark,” was, like this one, not great, but quite good-decent story, characterization, nice moments.
Speaking of characterization, I think it’s funny that despite the wildly varying characterization, especially of Dean, over the last four episodes, the one directive that seems to have come down from on high is that Dean will resume the horndog ways we haven’t seen much of since mid-S2. In 5.03-6 we see him chatting up the ladies (or “ladies”) at least once an episode. I’m not objecting-it seems to be part of the return to Dean-ly health that includes eating and sleeping. And in this ep., his childlike glee in the joke-store jokes. I kind of hope he gets lucky-and not with an angel.
Fanon vs. Canon: This episode pointed up some interesting differences between fans’ views of the characters and Show’s.
A minor point: Sam used to make his own dinner too? Not if you believe 99.9% of fanfiction. Dean made him dinner! And if he had to be out, he left something in the fridge or the stove!
More majorly, if a brief survey of LJ is anything to go by: Castiel telling Sam he made the wrong choices is the pot calling the kettle black. I regret to say I can’t get too worked up over whether Castiel is a hypocrite or not, but I think it points to the way a lot of fandom wants Castiel to be a nice guy. Or, at the very least, a friendly alien unaccustomed to the ways of earth creatures (in his “the voice says I’m almost out of minutes” mode). But he’s neither particularly nice, nor is he a guy. Show introduced him a quite scary instrument of power, and at his best he goes back to that kind of fiery righteousness (IMHO, anyway). So we have fanon!Castiel, who is thoughtful, and loving (with Dean, anyway) and often kind of clueless vs. canon!Castiel, who is (often) the hard, cold sword of God.
I can’t say I don’t enjoy reading fic about the former, but in this case I’m glad Show stuck to its (darker-than-fandom) convictions. I liked the images of Castiel not only yelling at Sam, but also preparing to gank an eleven-year-old kid.
Fanwank:
Okay-I know this was probably a throwaway moment, but I loved the suggestion that the pain of childbirth allowed Julia to self-exorcise the demon inside her. I think it is canon that demons don’t like to stay in bodies undergoing extreme pain (ie, when Sam shoots YED!John in the leg, or Bobby stabbing himself in 5.01), but it was nice that she could do it without crippling herself. I truly doubt it was supposed to be a moment of womynly power, but hey, I’m just going to take it that way.
And while we’re on the subject of throw-away details, I also liked the un-remarked-upon singleness of the dad who was assaulted by the tooth-fairy, though I think it probably had to do more with budget restraints than with any social commentary.
Finally, I’d agree that Sam and Dean’s concluding conversation in the Impala didn’t really match up with either what they’d “learned” in the episode, or their actual life experience, but I thought it struck some interesting notes nonetheless. It’s kind of old news, but once again, Dean seems willing to question his father’s parenting choices, even disagree with them. Also, even though Dean acts like a parent all the time-has acted that way pretty much his whole life-it’s rare for him to actually think (out loud) about what it means to be a parent-the choices parents make. So that too was interesting-a moment of maturity, maybe.
And which fell into a category of episodes I am apparently a big sucker for. Let’s just call them
The Winchester Brothers: They May be Freaks, but They’re Freaks with VALUES (goddamit).
And no little kids are going to die on their watch, even if it’s to the detriment of the greater good. And neither are (substitute one of the following): the inhabitants of small towns (cf. 4.07); virgins (cf. JiB); their buddies (cf. 5.04); or, you know, most of humanity (cf. 4.22).
Actually, in three of those examples, it’s only, or mostly, Dean who’s invested in this core value, so it was interesting how much on the same page in terms of both ends and means Dean and Sam were about this in 5.06-more so than in 4.07, in which they agree about saving the town, but Sam uses questionable methods to do so. That kind of mutuality was sweeter for me than the key toss in 5.05.
Overall, I liked the episode-and certainly the more so in comparison to last week. It had that signature SPN tonal switch-up, where it went from cracky to angsty without much warning-but I usually like that. I feel like these writers have gotten much better as they’ve gone on (over at TWoP they call them “the comic book guys,” ‘cause I guess that’s their background). They are responsible for the SPN episode I hate the most (“Yellow Fever”) and for “After School Special,” which I didn’t like as much as a lot of people did. But their last ep. For S4, “Jump the Shark,” was, like this one, not great, but quite good-decent story, characterization, nice moments.
Speaking of characterization, I think it’s funny that despite the wildly varying characterization, especially of Dean, over the last four episodes, the one directive that seems to have come down from on high is that Dean will resume the horndog ways we haven’t seen much of since mid-S2. In 5.03-6 we see him chatting up the ladies (or “ladies”) at least once an episode. I’m not objecting-it seems to be part of the return to Dean-ly health that includes eating and sleeping. And in this ep., his childlike glee in the joke-store jokes. I kind of hope he gets lucky-and not with an angel.
Fanon vs. Canon: This episode pointed up some interesting differences between fans’ views of the characters and Show’s.
A minor point: Sam used to make his own dinner too? Not if you believe 99.9% of fanfiction. Dean made him dinner! And if he had to be out, he left something in the fridge or the stove!
More majorly, if a brief survey of LJ is anything to go by: Castiel telling Sam he made the wrong choices is the pot calling the kettle black. I regret to say I can’t get too worked up over whether Castiel is a hypocrite or not, but I think it points to the way a lot of fandom wants Castiel to be a nice guy. Or, at the very least, a friendly alien unaccustomed to the ways of earth creatures (in his “the voice says I’m almost out of minutes” mode). But he’s neither particularly nice, nor is he a guy. Show introduced him a quite scary instrument of power, and at his best he goes back to that kind of fiery righteousness (IMHO, anyway). So we have fanon!Castiel, who is thoughtful, and loving (with Dean, anyway) and often kind of clueless vs. canon!Castiel, who is (often) the hard, cold sword of God.
I can’t say I don’t enjoy reading fic about the former, but in this case I’m glad Show stuck to its (darker-than-fandom) convictions. I liked the images of Castiel not only yelling at Sam, but also preparing to gank an eleven-year-old kid.
Fanwank:
Okay-I know this was probably a throwaway moment, but I loved the suggestion that the pain of childbirth allowed Julia to self-exorcise the demon inside her. I think it is canon that demons don’t like to stay in bodies undergoing extreme pain (ie, when Sam shoots YED!John in the leg, or Bobby stabbing himself in 5.01), but it was nice that she could do it without crippling herself. I truly doubt it was supposed to be a moment of womynly power, but hey, I’m just going to take it that way.
And while we’re on the subject of throw-away details, I also liked the un-remarked-upon singleness of the dad who was assaulted by the tooth-fairy, though I think it probably had to do more with budget restraints than with any social commentary.
Finally, I’d agree that Sam and Dean’s concluding conversation in the Impala didn’t really match up with either what they’d “learned” in the episode, or their actual life experience, but I thought it struck some interesting notes nonetheless. It’s kind of old news, but once again, Dean seems willing to question his father’s parenting choices, even disagree with them. Also, even though Dean acts like a parent all the time-has acted that way pretty much his whole life-it’s rare for him to actually think (out loud) about what it means to be a parent-the choices parents make. So that too was interesting-a moment of maturity, maybe.