***SPOILERS UP TO EP 3.01***
OMG I downloaded this song *points to music entry* like a week ago! *is psychic*
Okay, getting the annoying stuff out of the way for starters:
Firstly, I'm annoyed that Ellen didn't even get a single line of explanation as to where she is and what she's doing. Grrrrr!!! Even just a "Ellen's on the West Coast keeping an eye on stuff out there" or something. They can keep the character present without the actress there for when she comes back. And they better bring her back. *is stern*
Secondly, random enigmatic blonde with the magic knife can go back to being Buffy's understudy, thanks. Or hook up with enigmatic trenchcoat guy from the comics, and they can go be total posers together. But who knows, when she actually starts interacting with characters, oh, I don't know, like a human being, she may turn out to be okay. Or goes evil. I'd like her loads more if she was an adversarial character. Until then, she can keep her enigmatic butt-kicking and magic knife off my screen. Because that? Was lame.
Thirdly... Why the hell was the salt-line on the outside of the door? There were a half dozen other weird little off things that the overall excitement blew out of my head, but salt-line on the outside of the main door is bugging me. How would they even do that? Go out the back door, around front, lay the salt and then back in through the back door again? And why?? Although they did have what looked like maybe a Cabbage Patch doll suspended on the hangers with their ritual stuff, so who knows, maybe that's just the way Tamara (Tamora?) and Isaac rolled.
Fourthly... Dean using his deal to manipulate Sam into letting him do stuff is really bugging me, and I'm gonna have to figure out how to reconcile that in my head before I can get comfy with it. Little conversation at the end, though, was a very nice little affirmation of the "Dean won't let Sam try" thing that's in like 90% of the post-AHBL2 fics out there. And Sam sitting in the car while Dean was *ahem* busy? Um. Ew. o.0
Now, stuff I liked and just general stuff:
-The Hells Bells promo was the Previouslies? Okay, yeah sure, anything that gets more kick ass music into the show. :-)
-New title screen with the demon eruption? I like it. I miss the fire belch, but this is neat.
-The house of the three dead couch potatoes was totally absolutely 100% the Bloodlust house. Absolutely.
-Isaac was doomed from the start. Poor Isaac. Sigh. Him and Sarge can swap stories about how much demons suck over some beers in the afterlife.
-Tama/ora can totally stay. Or come back. Or anything. I like her, she's not in my face, and she has a nicely independent (as in the character interacts with the canon characters but is not defined by her interactions with them) personality and backstory that doesn't barge in and go 'hey, look at me!' She can come back, with Ellen! *glee*
-Demon bar! I got my demon bar fight!! Sort of! *grin*
-Envy? My goodness what a yummy little morsel he was! Too bad they killed him off. He was working the evil creepy quite nicely without being over the top and could have been fun as a recurring villan.
-Bobby needs to yell more. 'Cause damn! Jim Beaver's got some bark to him.
-Lots of nice confirmations of fan-theory in this. Although... Prodigy? Boy-King? Sam is sooooo lucky Dean didn't hear that, because Dean would never ever ever let him live it down.
-Also, on a personal level? Sam suggesting they go to Louisiana? I may have made an embarrassing noise, considering that's where I've set the start of the crossover fic (which I'm working on part 2 of right now, I swear!!! Looking like tomorrow or saturday though, 'coz I suck. :-P) and about the right time. So, if it all works out the way I hope, I have an entry point into the canon 'verse!
Quick rundown of a couple noted datapoints:
-Date: One week after AHBL2. Still no actual date. Grr.
-Demon clouds sighted over 17 cities, one in Illinois (Chicago?)
-Bobby is driving a two-door... Charger? I miss the tow truck, but I guess for long hauls it's slow and gas guzzling due to the equipment on back. Sam crawling past Dean into the back seat? Hee.
-Sam and Dean and Bobby use a kind of combat hand-sign and whistle system, which is kind of "Um, of course they do, duh!" but I don't know if it's been used before as overtly as it is in this episode.
So anyway, that's my immediate reaction. I am indeed optomistic. And I may have danced a little. *nods*