5.02 Good God, Y'All, part 2/3
Anybody like metal? It's kind of a theme around these here parts lately.
No one is safe from the poisonous plague that you breed / Masque, Masque of the red death / The price that you pay for your lust may be your life
Why is Sam always being choked? Why is he not allowed to have air like the rest of us? This is a very important question and I must have the answer, Show, seriously. SRSLY. Is it the sheer preponderance of Samness that precludes everyone from any other course of action than performing prestidigitation on this man's neck? Was that sentence hard enough to read? And why, when Sam has tried the exorcism words and the rock salt - enough that would normally bring a reaction from a field-level demon - does he then STICK the guy in the gut and NOT NOTICE that the light socket didn't make pretty sparkles? And he does it AGAIN?!
... oh yeah...
Dear Sam,
WELL, IT LOOKS LIKE A MEAT POPSICLE TO ME.
-Lid, who really didn't just say that
And he hears the door open again and his eyes flash yellow AGAIN and he actually looks EXCITED.
*facepalm*
OH, SAM.
dun dun DUN
You know why I like this cap? 'Cuz it's all faded out. There is no color in Dean's face - like he just saw something he thought he'd never see again and it was that look in his brother's eyes... that lust for blood - I mean bloodlust, I mean... *blinks* ... whuh? Anyway, it's so awesome how all the tones are completely desaturated except for the blue... because that's Dean's color, yo. He's a true blue-blood.
(Me? No. I really didn't just say that, er, again.)
It took me a while to realize that they're in the church. That they're in the basement. On supposedly holy ground. That should be safe... from all kinds of evil... RIGHT? Yeah, that's really not holding up so much right now, because remember Death Takes a Holiday? Or what about Lucifer Rising? And you know what? You know what makes a church consecrated, holy ground? It's obviously not just being built or having services there, now IS IT?
*ponders*
If there's anything that I learned from going to see Inglorious Basterds last night, it's that you never - ever - setup in a basement BECAUSE YOU DON'T WANNA HAVE TO FIGHT IN A BASEMENT BECAUSE IT'S A FRIGGING BASEMENT.
This is beautiful. The cross behind Dean, the symbolism of his sacrifice for Sam, while he tells Austin the Army Dude what it was like in the Great Basement in the Sky. Oh, and blue.
*nods*
Watching Austin take the rifle apart like that kinda made me sweat a little. Once upon a time, a guy this capable would have been their right-hand man within a matter of seconds... but they don't trust just anybody anymore. That's how old our boys are now, guys and girls.
*sad in the face*
Trouble / Been doggin' my soul since the day I was born / Worry / Just will not seem to leave my mind alone ... Trouble / Feels like every time I get back on my feet / She come around and knock me down again / Worry / Sometimes I swear it feels like this worry is my only friend
Dean: "Hey...wanna play Chutes and Ladders?"
The shadows and the doorway and the framing of the baby bump couple here...
*boggles at The Phil who says a lot for Sam and Dean without really saying anything at all*
Sam: "Don't be a douchebag, Dean. You know I like Scrabble. I just want to be able to use my Stanford vocabulary again."
Dean: "Oh, yeah? Okay, so, what would the triple word score be for 'MINOTAUR'? What about 'LABYRINTH'?"
Sam looks so worn down and useless. He doesn't WANT to kill... but it's creepy that he only gets this feeling afterward. There's too much adrenaline when he's out there confronted by the one thing he fears the most right now in so many ways. Dean, on the other hand, looks positively wired at the thought of going out there and killin' him some demon. Hello Yin, allow me to introduce your glowy-eyed brother Yang.
Once they had their supplies, they were supposed to go look for Rufus and Jo. What seemed interesting to me was that as soon as Dean saw what Sam was dealing with, he high-tailed it back to base with Sam in tow... and probably without any complaints from Sam.
This - once again - tells me that, on this Show, what we don't see is just as important as what we do see.
More sadly, that shift in the gameplan begets the next issue: when Sam no can has cheezburger, it makes him for to take invisbahl baffs in teh River De Nial.
Dear Dean,
Sam just wants to feel a) something b) useful c) cheezburger. Give him a chance, okay?
-Lid, who is really scared
Dean: "Why's it gotta be you?"
Sam: *Steve Martin Pink Panther voice* "DAH-AM-BUGGEEERRRR."
Dean: "You spick ze French tu mee?"
...just a walkin' down the street singin' do wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo I didn't start no Apocalypse I dunno whatchu talkin' bout Willis...
Dear Sam (and Ellen),
So... I imagine that being the good hunters that you are, you share new information about your enemy. Like, for example, that holy water doesn't work. Rock salt doesn't work. Exorcism doesn't work. Fancy knifework doesn't cause sparklemotion. And yet... you stare at the smoke in a chimney and think, "Huh, that's not normal; demons don't get cold".
REALLY?!
-Lid, who is looking for something to go on but didn't need to look that hard
Some girl on girl action, finally, and this is what we get? How incestuous, Show. That's not funny.
Jo: "Get outta my mom, you bitch."
Ellen: "My daughter just called me a bitch."
Dear Ellen,
You're not a bitch. You're bitchin'. But you're not a bitch.
-Lid
P.S. Hey... wait a minute... isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?
*groans* I don't wanna do this part. He's tied to a chair. Again. Arg.
Dear Show,
When I said the pot was calling the kettle black, I didn't mean this kind of black. I just meant black in general. You know, dark. But people are gonna see what they are conditioned to see... in this case, demons. I'm just sayin'... it is sad, Show. So very sad.
-Lid, who feels dark
P.S. I like Rufus. What's his story?
Tahiri: EEEEVOOOLLL!!!! *hisses*
Lid: Hush, kitty. *throws a blanket on your head*
OMG, gratuitous Sam cap! How did that get in here?
*stares at the wing-like formation behind Sam*
Hello there, subliminal messaging about the fruitlessness of this endeavor since Sam's not evil, even though they think he is or that something inside of him is and... *avoids further speculation on blood origins*.
On the other hand, I mean, I guess it's a given that demons torture people, but not like this... not like they're the righteous ones.
Don't they KNOW they're EVIL? *shifty eyes*
IT. BURNS. US. You try it, for realz. It burns, even if you're not evil. Now there's a mind-bender.
Dean, upon hearing from Ellen that Sam sacrificed himself so that Ellen could get away (which really amounted to him getting cracked one time by Rufus' rifle, which wouldn't normally take Sam down, but he feels weak right now without his omgwtfbbqsauce) he rushes to the door... and stops.
Dear Dean,
You have to save the world. You. That means not running after Sam anymore the minute he gets into trouble. If it makes you feel better, Sam's been taking care of himself for a long time now, without you. On the other hand, he asked for this, didn't he? On the other other hand, considering all your worries right now about Sam's state of grace, you're beginning to think that maybe he's not in so much danger as you would be in, given the same situation, huh? Isn't it strange, knowing that the very thing you hunt is possibly going to be less of a threat than the people you're with right now, who don't know anything? And so, Sam being able to possibly tame these legions into something less threatening might be what you're secretly hoping for? Isn't that WEIRD? ... Great, now I feel worse.
-Lid
P.S. I got you something. It's a sword. And a shield. It has the magical gnome tree on it. Also, I got you bucket. Notice how there are no eye holes. You don't wanna see what comes later anyhow. You know what you believe in, right? That love is blind? The horns are just a side effect. *handwaves* Maybe it'll come in handy as a get out of jail free card.
(This is a Munchkin. It's not much different from being a Winchester.)
This whole torture scene (why YES, Virginia, it is a torture scene) reminds me of that time in Born Under a Bad Sign because here he is, born into something new and ugly and 'evil' - people are telling him that he's something he's not... under a bad sign, if you will - and yet he's still. NOT. EVIL.
He looks up; he sees the Key of Solomon on the ceiling above him... and for a second I got the deepest chill because I've also seen Nightmare and I know that Sam has inherent telekinesis powerful enough to break that sigil like he did before, break the ropes, stand up, and walk right out of there. If he wanted to, he could do that no matter what they wereare.
Alternately, if he wanted to, he could take things at face value in this situation and act convincingly well to garner their demonic support just long enough to free himself. But he doesn't. Then, I realize that not only is he unconcerned about being a tortured hostage, he's already figured out something that could change how everyone handles this situation: he knows they're not demons... even though they look wrong evil to him.
He knows that it's all about perception and it's colored by what you came into the situation believing. In this case, Rufus thought he saw demons everywhere... and pretty soon, so did everyone else. It didn't mean that Rufus was wrong or a bad person or dumb... he was just... being traditional. Going on what he knows of the world.
So here is some traditional!Sam. We've seen this before. We've expected it, even. It's just prejudice, NOBODY PANIC. But that's not really what's going here, is it? This isn't as simple as that, is it?
Dear Fandom,
"And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all."
DO YOU SEE WHAT THEY DID THERE?
Okay, good. Because Sam would like a towel now.
-Lid, who felt a annoyingly, sunshine-coming-out-her-buttingly preachy when she got up this morning
Part Three