3x11: No Words Just Flaily Hand Gestures
You guys you guys you GUYS! OMFG! OMG. O. M. G.
----------- *beeeep*
That's my freaking heart flat lining. Jesus. This episode killed me. There are so many golden moments and lines soon-to-be indoctrinated into fandom's conglomerate of catch phrases, I don't know where to begin.
When Dean died on Wednesday and Sam closed his eyes and opened ( Read more... )
There's another Tuesday in there after Sam sees the strawberry syrup and actually confronts the trickster (we just didn't see Dean die that time). But I don't think that's what you're talking about...
You bring up an interesting point about what exactly Sam was stuck in. A dream? Different threads of an altered reality? Just a time loop? I found it interesting that the "THEN" intro featured djinn clips from "WiAWSNB", an obvious altered reality/dream state episode.
My inital thought was that Sam wasn't in a dream, but was trapped in a tangible repeating reality. One which had idential elements every single time that could be manipulated by Sam, but would refabricate themselves so Dean would always die (like fate).
So ... uh ... to me, that first Wed was still part of the altered reality, but with a evil twist. That last Tuesday, I thought the trickster just lied to lull Sam into a false sense of security. But by making it Wednesday also prevented Sam from finding the trickster again after Dean dies because it wasn't Tuesday and, therefore, the trickster couldn't be found eating pancakes in the diner. The fact that Wed doesn't repeat after Dean's death was, I think, the trickster's way of twisting the knife ... trapping Sam further and/or punishing him for the altercation outside of the diner (plus if Wednesday didn't repeat, it would be virtually impossible for Sam to reason out a pattern and find the trickster again). Also the whole point of the "trick" was to show Sam what life was like without Dean, having him live months alone was a poetic way of doing just that.
What I want to know is how the trickster knew about Dean's deal. Is there a demonic/supernatural hotline (1-800-wnchstr) that provides updates? ;)
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This has so many hallmarks of a dream! The inability to wake up ("I'm supposed to wake up!"). Never actually connecting with the voice on the phone. The fantastic dream "shortcut" visual segues (I'm such a sucker for those), like the fast camera movement from the table to Sam cleaning weapons. And then the end, when Sam wakes up..."It's Wednesday!" and Dean asking about the Tuesday, but not the Wednesday that preceded. And then "I just had a really weird dream."
I'm still thinking and thinking. Our show is so awesome!
ETA: There really must be a Demon Quarterly out there. :)
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Yes, our Show is awesome! :) And this fandom is also made of win because it's perfectly FINE to have different views and both be valid.
I've been thinking about the dream angle. It would explain a lot, like the fact Dean apparently didn't remember the first Wednesday when he got shot. However, Dean didn't remember any of the previous Tuesdays after a new Tuesday rolled around either (the joy of two non-mutually exclusive ideas *grins*).
For me, making the first Wednesday sequence a dreamstate shifts more of withoutDean!Sam's behavior off of Sam's shoulders. Being that it was a dream, it's easier for me to reason it was all a result of Sam's subconscious working away (perhaps under the direct influence of the Trickster for the whole duration, or perhaps it was similar to Dean's djinn journey where one thing was "altered" and the rest was a free progression through the mind) rather than Sam making conscious decisions and acting on them.
I suppose the implications of the dream vs. timeloop issue has more to do the perception of Sam's role in his "potential future" rather than the logistics and technicalities of the episode because it seems like both ideas stand up to plausibility critique.
So it's maybe a mater of: are we meant to see this as Sam being a more passive observer or an active participant in the sequence of events after the first Wednesday?
But either way, the effect is similar: chilling, alarming, and definitely something we don't want to happen to Sam.
the fast camera movement from the table to Sam cleaning weapons
Oo! I loved that. All of the other transitions in that scene were fade outs, so the quick pan was especially noticable. I'm still very disturbed by that entire montage. The way Sam stuffed his mouth full of food and then placed his hands on either side of the plate and stared at NOTHING while he chewed just ... ack ... makes me want to scream. He doesn't even sit like normal Sam; too straight, too stiff, too wrong.
There really must be a Demon Quarterly out there. :)
Maybe when/if Dean gets to Hell, he'll sign the black and white glossy fold-out of himself for his demon fans. ;)
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