Usual Suspects Reactions
Usual Suspects Free-Association Reactions
There are so many things I love about this episode, it stuns me!
Alright, I will totally admit that I became instantly predisposed to loving this episode from the previously, because what they did in the "Then" part is pretty much what I was planning to do if I ever got around to figuring out how the whole 'making videos' thing worked. A montage of all their fake identities, names they introduced themselves as and so forth. Hehe, and nifty pacing on the "Now" part too. I mean, it's obvious the guy's talking to Dean, but that look was worth the wait.
Ooo! Show of hands! Who had the dark-haired guy cop pegged as the bad guy from the beginning! I thought to myself, "Oh, he'll be evil or something. He has Bester's hair from Babylon 5," the second he walked in. Of course I was only joking, but it's nice to have my shallow assumptions vindicated once in a while.
I totally expect that little 'custom made necklace' thing he was doing to come back somehow in a future ep, because that was waaaaay too organized for a guy trying to hide his own crimes. The whole "throat slashed to the spinal cord by unseen assailant" thing made me think of the Daevas in Shadow. So, maybe this guy with the evil hair had some kind of deal going on with somebody, gifts his targets with the symbol that summons the invisible throat-slashy critter and keeps his hands clean except for the part about selling his soul or whatever. His eyes were suspiciously black sometimes, but it was just a trick of the light. Anyway, enough crack-brained theory about a dead character.
Yay for canon backstory! "You moved around a lot but still managed to get straight A's." Even though it kills my pet "mostly homeschooled by Pastor Jim" theory. Some fanon just got validated there.
Sam turning away to face the wall when the female officer starts going on about how no one knows where Sam's dad is. Aw, Sammy! I'm a total DeanGirl, but that was just... aw! But then "Second largest ball of twine!" The facial expression that accompanies that line is just so gleeful! Sam's got some serious walls he can call on when he needs them.
Loved watching Sam spin-doctoring their activities ever so naturally. Made me all warm that he's so 'our job' about everything now. Also, over the freaking moon love that their stories matched even though they hadn't been in the same room together since Dean left to see, what's her nose. Second victim. They have all that stuff worked out in advance, or just automatically translate their activities into 'speaking to authorities' language the same way.
So much love for the simultaneous anagramming! And they have their own codes and fall-back positions! Eeeeee! Organized sneakiness!! This was I think the first episode where how just automatically organized some of their hunt activities are underneath. This is John's training showing through, I think, and it makes me so very happy, because that level of structure underlying a hunt unseen until needed is just So. Damned. Cool. I can't even begin to say how cool I found it! These things all just add into one big pile of 'these guys do know what the heck they're doing and have been doing this since they were kids' glee! (Also, yay for the return of the bizarre hotel room! Those beds looked teeny, like Sam's legs would hang off the end a good ways, but maybe that was an optical illusion.)
Heh. Dean's 'bored now, must annoy Sammy,' mouth noises! Words fail me! Yay for Dean being a hyperactive prat! I've missed that more than I thought. Also, thirty minutes, Sam? Couldn't you have set something up to work on the guy's password, (which, let's be honest, might be as simple as his wife's name and year of birth backward, law office or not) and have it run while you were both pawing through the dead guy's physical files? I guess maybe I had an inflated opinion of Sam's hacking ability, but anything that makes Dean make "bored now" mouth noises is fine by me.
How many 'seriously's and "Dude, seriously"s were there in this episode? I loved every single one! My internal monolog some days is 50 percent 'dudes' and 'seriouslys' so I couldn't stop grinning. Still can't. Hee!
Dean completely not meshing with the reality of the mundane world. Lawyer guy: "You could get the death penalty." Dean: "Yeah, whatever. Do any of these words mean anything to you?" (not exact quote) He's being held on suspicion of murder and he's still working the case. Fantastic!
Oh, and Dean's confession was sheer brilliance. He told them the absolute, unvarnished truth. So of course they think he's insane or playing with them. Awesome. Sunsets, long walks on the beach and frisky women. Heh. Wonderful. Also, an excellent distraction for Sam to escape during.
Dead guy's soon to be dead wife was pretty good, all things considered. I found her believeable. But what nearsighted person takes off their glasses to see what the thing across the room is? And then relaxes when the incomprehensible blurriness is non-threatening? Yeesh. If I took my glasses off and looked across the room, half a dozen werewolves could slip my notice.
I am gritting my teeth and steadfastly mentally inverting the light and shadow of the 'Ashland Sup' sign glowing on the wall. Sun shining brightly through the opaque letters and being blocked by the transparent window. Way the hell and gone on the other side of the room where the sun isn't shining even remotely near. Whatever. Gnf. (Am also finding myself disturbed by the concept of Ashland. It's like Disneyland, only it's all about Ash. You don't want to know about any of the rides.)
Good ghost girl, if rather gooshy. Was that another white nightie of doom? *facepalm* What the hell do Kripke and the wardrobe department have against white nighties? Can't a person be horribly murdered in a nice floral print? Gingham?
Loved the exchange of looks between Dean and Sam as the two cops are hashing things out. Dean all shackled up looks over at Sam, Sam is just bouncing ready to charge in and do something, and Dean just does this little 'Sh, it's alright, let them hash it out,' face and gesture, even though he's having a gun pointed at him with intent at random intervals.
Another really short night in the SPNverse. Yeesh. They sat out there with the cooling corpse how long? Although I guess they needed to provide sufficient time to cover for... Officer Ballard was it? For her having to find the vehicle and so forth. But if they had the LoJack activated, then any nearby police units with the right equipment could tell where it is. But I guess if the bad cop took Dean from the precinct at 2AM they could have driven for quite a while and parked closer to 4AM, 'coz Baltimore to St. Louis is a 15.5 hour drive, Google maps says, so... *sigh* I know, geography/time quibbles for Supernatural pave the road to madness.
What the heck the boys were still doing there at daybreak when they could have been getting a good head start on the whole escaping thing is beyond me.
Linda Blair... ehn, she did okay. She didn't shine, and her delivery in a couple spots was freaking painful, but she did okay. Nowhere near Kathleen from Benders, though, who I'd love to see come back sometime. Admittedly some of the writing was a little off or inconsistent (that 911 call that she was shouting about was not terribly notable.) Blair seems to be more the "speak and emote" school of acting than the "character" school of acting. And that whole peasoup business at the end was also freaking painful. Arg, trying to suspend disbelief here Kripke, keep the 4th wall references to a minimum, eh?
So, anyway, the boys have, what, a law enforcement contact now? That could be useful. Wonder what exactly will happen when the shifter's body is exhumed in St. Louis, though, and they do an autopsy. Hmm.
I liked it. This is my opinion before I read any other reviews, which may or may not make me reverse my opinion on any number of things stated above.
And with that, I'm off to sleep, since it's 2 AM.