9.11, or, Pret-ty lame, Milhouse
So ... 9.11.
Wow. I used to think Robbie Thompson was one of the very best writers on the show, but most of the other writers' scripts this season have far outshined his, INCLUDING Ross-Leming/Buckner's. On Twitter he said he listened to the same song over and over while he wrote this script, which may explain why most of the time it hashes over tired cliches. He stopped killing because of LOVE! (Remind you of any southern vampires we know?) He goes to her grave to apologize! (Remind you of any brothers we know?) He kills her because she was possessed by a demon! (Remind you of any Bobbys we know?) I can see the outline of the script now: "Cain stopped killing because of ___[girl]___. Now he lives a quiet life on a farm, doing ___[beekeeping]___. The cost of the 'Mark of Cain' is ___[decide later]___."
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE BUNKER ... engage in shameless fan pandering. Sam removes his shirt. (Reason? Who needs one!) Cas is afraid to penetrate him too deeply. It's hurting Sam, but still, he begs Cas to do it, to push it all the way in, because he can take it! Sam gasps and groans and writhes, but when Cas tries to pull out, Sam holds it in place, telling Cas to take whatever he needs from him, to take it all! They end up with an appropriate amount of milky white fluid. (Ha ha--I just wondered if that last bit was too inappropriate, then I remembered, this is SPN fandom! There is no line that isn't crossed early and often. God bless this fandom .... ;-D ) Okay, actually, the Sassy stuff was pretty hot, but just because Jared's so goood.
How much ado about nothing can we come up with in a single episode? When you clear away all the shock and awe and shirt-removal, let's see what of substance actually happened:
1) Dean got the "Mark of Cain," which is only for people who are highly skilled and prolific killers.
2) Um ....
Okay, moving on to things we learned incidentally:
1) Crowley is obviously way too much fun to kill, so now we're going to kill Iraq Abaddon! Wait--I thought she couldn't be killed! Sure, we'll just make up some complicated mythology to make people feel like lots of important stuff is happening. "Knights of hell can be killed with a ___[First Blade or something]___."
2) You don't actually have to have Sam bare to the skin to achieve a similar effect just with him taking off his outer shirt. (NOTE TO OTHER WRITERS: SAM AND DEAN WILL TAKE OFF OUTER SHIRTS FROM NOW ON IN EVERY EPISODE.)
3) Turns out there IS such a thing as too much silly shippy innuendo. "I've been inside your brother; we're practically family!," repeat similar stuff 20 times.
4) Cain has many amazing magical powers--including the ability to keep corn exactly where it is on a small kitchen table upon which a fight is taking place inches away!
5) CROWLEY KNEW ALL ALONG ABOUT THE STUFF WITH CAIN, WHICH MEANS--gasp!--CROWLEY'S A LIAR! Oh, wait, that's old news.
6) Here's an interesting female character named Tara who--WHAT??!? THEY KILLED HER?!?! HOW SHOCKING, because that's never happened before in every single episode of the last two seasons!!!
Can't think of anything else that's likely to come back in a later ep and actually mean anything. I mean, if he can so casually retcon the ONLY BEING POSSESSED BY AN ANGEL CAN CURE HIM NOW! thing with, "I've healed you completely now, Sam" RIGHT after telling Sam he's in the same state he was in right before Gadreel had to possess him, can we take anything that happens seriously?
Anyway ... despite the very weak script, the direction was fine and the acting was incredible. To the degree the ep was saved, it was thanks to the actors. Wow, Omundson! He managed to deliver the cheesiest lines SOO well. Jensen, great, Jared, great, Tara, loved her. But aside from a few good lines, that script could have been cobbled together from old eps of this and a bunch of other shows of the last 40 years. Bees, though, we've never seen that before, right? Actually, we already went there with Cas. *sigh*
Wow. I used to think Robbie Thompson was one of the very best writers on the show, but most of the other writers' scripts this season have far outshined his, INCLUDING Ross-Leming/Buckner's. On Twitter he said he listened to the same song over and over while he wrote this script, which may explain why most of the time it hashes over tired cliches. He stopped killing because of LOVE! (Remind you of any southern vampires we know?) He goes to her grave to apologize! (Remind you of any brothers we know?) He kills her because she was possessed by a demon! (Remind you of any Bobbys we know?) I can see the outline of the script now: "Cain stopped killing because of ___[girl]___. Now he lives a quiet life on a farm, doing ___[beekeeping]___. The cost of the 'Mark of Cain' is ___[decide later]___."
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE BUNKER ... engage in shameless fan pandering. Sam removes his shirt. (Reason? Who needs one!) Cas is afraid to penetrate him too deeply. It's hurting Sam, but still, he begs Cas to do it, to push it all the way in, because he can take it! Sam gasps and groans and writhes, but when Cas tries to pull out, Sam holds it in place, telling Cas to take whatever he needs from him, to take it all! They end up with an appropriate amount of milky white fluid. (Ha ha--I just wondered if that last bit was too inappropriate, then I remembered, this is SPN fandom! There is no line that isn't crossed early and often. God bless this fandom .... ;-D ) Okay, actually, the Sassy stuff was pretty hot, but just because Jared's so goood.
How much ado about nothing can we come up with in a single episode? When you clear away all the shock and awe and shirt-removal, let's see what of substance actually happened:
1) Dean got the "Mark of Cain," which is only for people who are highly skilled and prolific killers.
2) Um ....
Okay, moving on to things we learned incidentally:
1) Crowley is obviously way too much fun to kill, so now we're going to kill Iraq Abaddon! Wait--I thought she couldn't be killed! Sure, we'll just make up some complicated mythology to make people feel like lots of important stuff is happening. "Knights of hell can be killed with a ___[First Blade or something]___."
2) You don't actually have to have Sam bare to the skin to achieve a similar effect just with him taking off his outer shirt. (NOTE TO OTHER WRITERS: SAM AND DEAN WILL TAKE OFF OUTER SHIRTS FROM NOW ON IN EVERY EPISODE.)
3) Turns out there IS such a thing as too much silly shippy innuendo. "I've been inside your brother; we're practically family!," repeat similar stuff 20 times.
4) Cain has many amazing magical powers--including the ability to keep corn exactly where it is on a small kitchen table upon which a fight is taking place inches away!
5) CROWLEY KNEW ALL ALONG ABOUT THE STUFF WITH CAIN, WHICH MEANS--gasp!--CROWLEY'S A LIAR! Oh, wait, that's old news.
6) Here's an interesting female character named Tara who--WHAT??!? THEY KILLED HER?!?! HOW SHOCKING, because that's never happened before in every single episode of the last two seasons!!!
Can't think of anything else that's likely to come back in a later ep and actually mean anything. I mean, if he can so casually retcon the ONLY BEING POSSESSED BY AN ANGEL CAN CURE HIM NOW! thing with, "I've healed you completely now, Sam" RIGHT after telling Sam he's in the same state he was in right before Gadreel had to possess him, can we take anything that happens seriously?
Anyway ... despite the very weak script, the direction was fine and the acting was incredible. To the degree the ep was saved, it was thanks to the actors. Wow, Omundson! He managed to deliver the cheesiest lines SOO well. Jensen, great, Jared, great, Tara, loved her. But aside from a few good lines, that script could have been cobbled together from old eps of this and a bunch of other shows of the last 40 years. Bees, though, we've never seen that before, right? Actually, we already went there with Cas. *sigh*