10.16 poll and thoughts
Poll 10.16 episode reaction
Not gonna lie, that episode bored me to tears. I fast forwarded most of it and listened to it with the voices at 1.5 speed. It made the voices funny and high pitched, but I got the gist of it. I just wasn't interested in the other story lines. I mean, I'm sure they were interesting enough, but I just don't care enough about Crowley and Rowena and that other witch to sit and listen to it all. And I definitely wasn't interested in the love story of the make-up wearing nun (sorry, but nuns waking up and putting make up on? Do they? Am I behind the times here?).
Dean hitting on the nun made me cringe and Sam being off screen for 86.5% of the ep made me sad.
But. The little bit we did have (Dean's confession and Sam's smarts) did salvage it quite a bit. And the twitter conversation I had after the episode made me feel a qazzillion times better about it. Not because the episode was suddenly "good" (for me), but because it generated good discussion and some interesting thinky thoughts.
The thinky:
I mentioned last week that we're seeing a lot of S3 in Sam and Dean's story arc at the moment. That played out again in this episode with Dean confessing he's scared of dying and Sam pleading with Dean to talk to him. In S3 it was Sam Dean confessed his fears to. In this episode it was a priest. Dean is keeping Sam out of the loop again - trying to do this by himself. It's very Dean - wanting to "protect" Sam and also not show his weakness. I sincerely hope this is all part of the an arc that sees Dean realising that he HAS to involve Sam - not only in his own decisions (and thoughts), but in decisions that effect Sam. Dean deciding that he doesn't want them to look for an solution to the Mark involves Sam SO much - it could end up killing Sam, so he needs to include Sam in what's on his mind. The more he shuts Sam out, the more Sam will go off on his own (which, I think will drive Sam to do just that).
And we saw this happen in this episode. It was the best thing about the episode for me. Sam didn't listen to Dean when he gave him an order. He used his better judgement and saved the day. He saved the damn day! \o/ I'd like to think it's foreshadowing the future, but I can't hold out for that.
It felt like there was SO much going on in the very few scenes we had of the boys - but I find it hard to trust that they'll mean anything in future episodes (*hopes*). Sam is suddenly smart again (he can read ancient Italian it seems) and Dean is confessing that he wants to live (which, I'm afraid, is sigh-worthy to me because - what the hell? One minute he doesn't want a cure, then he does, then he doesn't and now he kinda does? Is this the Mark screwing with him? Is he battling an inner conflict that goes beyond just his own mind? How much is the Mark actually affecting him? (effecting? I have no idea which one…). Or is it just "dramatic" story telling? Or (as was suggested by bookdal on twitter) - did Dean absorb Cain when he killed him and is somehow being convinced that he doesn't need saving…??? Would make more sense of Dean's sudden change of mind maybe…?).
And something else that stuck me in this episode. It's highly contentious and yet I am going to post about it ('cause I trust you all…;D). I don't wear shipping goggles when I watch an episode. I look for all the awesome "more than brother" bits sometimes but I certainly don't look for destiel in episodes. I do, though, often see moments that will be interpreted for the destiel audience. I have no idea why (it drives me a little nuts because I can't EVER watch a scene between Dean and Cas and not think about it…). Aaanyway. Dean's "experience something for the first time" made me do a double take (I literally re-wound that moment). After him making up the lie about all the women he'd had at once (actually, this was a curious choice for Dean. He likes his one night stands, but he's honest about them. He doesn't "play" women. He never pretends he's anything other than he really is for them. It's an admirable quality), he then talks about being afraid of dying and wanting to experience something for the first time. I won't deny it, it made me think that maybe they are actually playing the long "Dean is bi-sexual" line. I've NEVER thought that it was a direction they'd take, but I confess it was massively heavy subtext in that direction.
I've since had chats about it and see that it's more about him wanting so many other things he's never had ("true" love, a non hunting life, self love etc), but I will not blame D/C fans for jumping on that one. I know show will never go there, but dammit if they ain't subtexting out of the water. AND with the recent Jensen and Misha sunset pic? As much as I hate the term "queerbaiting", if they're teasing this deliberately I will be bloody pissed at them. Mainly because it just isn't fair. Not to fans to are hanging out for this. Leaving interpretations "open" is well and good but would it actually hurt to be clear about some dialogue?! Or was it clear and I missed it?
So yeah. It was a strange episode. I really didn't enjoy it, but it generated some interesting thoughts. I probably need to watch it again and actually watch the bits I skipped.../o\
Not gonna lie, that episode bored me to tears. I fast forwarded most of it and listened to it with the voices at 1.5 speed. It made the voices funny and high pitched, but I got the gist of it. I just wasn't interested in the other story lines. I mean, I'm sure they were interesting enough, but I just don't care enough about Crowley and Rowena and that other witch to sit and listen to it all. And I definitely wasn't interested in the love story of the make-up wearing nun (sorry, but nuns waking up and putting make up on? Do they? Am I behind the times here?).
Dean hitting on the nun made me cringe and Sam being off screen for 86.5% of the ep made me sad.
But. The little bit we did have (Dean's confession and Sam's smarts) did salvage it quite a bit. And the twitter conversation I had after the episode made me feel a qazzillion times better about it. Not because the episode was suddenly "good" (for me), but because it generated good discussion and some interesting thinky thoughts.
The thinky:
I mentioned last week that we're seeing a lot of S3 in Sam and Dean's story arc at the moment. That played out again in this episode with Dean confessing he's scared of dying and Sam pleading with Dean to talk to him. In S3 it was Sam Dean confessed his fears to. In this episode it was a priest. Dean is keeping Sam out of the loop again - trying to do this by himself. It's very Dean - wanting to "protect" Sam and also not show his weakness. I sincerely hope this is all part of the an arc that sees Dean realising that he HAS to involve Sam - not only in his own decisions (and thoughts), but in decisions that effect Sam. Dean deciding that he doesn't want them to look for an solution to the Mark involves Sam SO much - it could end up killing Sam, so he needs to include Sam in what's on his mind. The more he shuts Sam out, the more Sam will go off on his own (which, I think will drive Sam to do just that).
And we saw this happen in this episode. It was the best thing about the episode for me. Sam didn't listen to Dean when he gave him an order. He used his better judgement and saved the day. He saved the damn day! \o/ I'd like to think it's foreshadowing the future, but I can't hold out for that.
It felt like there was SO much going on in the very few scenes we had of the boys - but I find it hard to trust that they'll mean anything in future episodes (*hopes*). Sam is suddenly smart again (he can read ancient Italian it seems) and Dean is confessing that he wants to live (which, I'm afraid, is sigh-worthy to me because - what the hell? One minute he doesn't want a cure, then he does, then he doesn't and now he kinda does? Is this the Mark screwing with him? Is he battling an inner conflict that goes beyond just his own mind? How much is the Mark actually affecting him? (effecting? I have no idea which one…). Or is it just "dramatic" story telling? Or (as was suggested by bookdal on twitter) - did Dean absorb Cain when he killed him and is somehow being convinced that he doesn't need saving…??? Would make more sense of Dean's sudden change of mind maybe…?).
And something else that stuck me in this episode. It's highly contentious and yet I am going to post about it ('cause I trust you all…;D). I don't wear shipping goggles when I watch an episode. I look for all the awesome "more than brother" bits sometimes but I certainly don't look for destiel in episodes. I do, though, often see moments that will be interpreted for the destiel audience. I have no idea why (it drives me a little nuts because I can't EVER watch a scene between Dean and Cas and not think about it…). Aaanyway. Dean's "experience something for the first time" made me do a double take (I literally re-wound that moment). After him making up the lie about all the women he'd had at once (actually, this was a curious choice for Dean. He likes his one night stands, but he's honest about them. He doesn't "play" women. He never pretends he's anything other than he really is for them. It's an admirable quality), he then talks about being afraid of dying and wanting to experience something for the first time. I won't deny it, it made me think that maybe they are actually playing the long "Dean is bi-sexual" line. I've NEVER thought that it was a direction they'd take, but I confess it was massively heavy subtext in that direction.
I've since had chats about it and see that it's more about him wanting so many other things he's never had ("true" love, a non hunting life, self love etc), but I will not blame D/C fans for jumping on that one. I know show will never go there, but dammit if they ain't subtexting out of the water. AND with the recent Jensen and Misha sunset pic? As much as I hate the term "queerbaiting", if they're teasing this deliberately I will be bloody pissed at them. Mainly because it just isn't fair. Not to fans to are hanging out for this. Leaving interpretations "open" is well and good but would it actually hurt to be clear about some dialogue?! Or was it clear and I missed it?
So yeah. It was a strange episode. I really didn't enjoy it, but it generated some interesting thoughts. I probably need to watch it again and actually watch the bits I skipped.../o\