12.02 Mamma Mia - EPISODE NOTES
So, here we go! Second episode of the twelfth season of Supernatural. My twitter TL seemed to be VERY split on its feelings about this episode. I overall enjoyed it. There are some things specifically I'd like to discuss, which I will talk about after. But first, here are my [highly emotional] notes! ;)
Okay. Now for a few expanded thoughts, not necessarily in order.
A lot of people who didn't like something about the episode seemed to NOT like that there wasn't a hug between the brothers. While I would like to see this happen, I'm not overly upset about it for a couple reasons. One, when the brothers had their big "OMG, I FOUND YOU" "OMG WTF YOU'RE ALIVE" moment, they were a bit, er, tied up. Two, we did get some kick-ass family emotional moments this ep (Dean & Mary moments, Sam & Mary moments, all so good!), so I didn't feel slighted in that regard. And, as I said to some friends as we privately discussed the episode, I suspect we will get a LOT of emotionally rich and rewarding moments this season - they just may not happen when we expect/want them to. And I think I'm okay with that.
On the note of the brothers' reunion, I do have a bit of a bone to pick. Pretty much everything that happens after Dean is also captured and dragged into the 'dungeon'... I guess I found it a bit underwhelming in a lot of ways. I suppose I can write it off to Sam, having been horribly tortured for who knows how long, being in shock; he was rather...subdued? I guess, with as much mind-fucking (metaphorical AND literal, and OMG HOW BEYOND 'EW' WAS THAT (I mean, besides the undeniable hotness that is shirtless Sam)) as Sam had endured recently, I kind of expected him to be more dubious, to maybe even straight up reject the idea that Dean was there at all. But he instantly accepted that he was alive? I mean, did he just want that to be true so badly that he just decided to believe it? Or did he think, "There's no way I'm still hallucinating, because she just told me I was hallucinating, and everything is real again"? Were I in Sam's position, I feel like I would be so paranoid, questioning every fucking little thing.
Even after they were safely back at the bunker (??? too easy, imo), I was expecting something more extreme from Sam. Every time he looked at Mary across the dinner table (a scene which, while cute and full of fun-family-feels, felt a bit...off...) I expected him to, idk, suddenly push away from the table and pull a gun on Mary. Or when he brought her that tea/coffee/whatever in her bedroom, I fully expected it to be made with holy water, or poisoned or something. Like, seriously - with all that Sam's been through...all the mental torture and fucked up stuff that's been happening in his brain... That boy is due for a breakdown! And I don't mean a breakdown like "I'm going to spill all my secrets to Tori now", or "I'm going to devolve into a useless puddle of goo now" - no, Sam is still strong, but goddammit he's got to be needing to let off some steam! "I'VE HAD IT WITH THESE MOTHER F*CKING EVILS IN MY MOTHER F*CKING BRAIN!" You know, something like that. He's so very strong, almost stoic, so strong-willed to the point that it makes me want to cry with how beautiful it is... But really. How he's accepting all this so easily is a little off the mark to me. I hope that they come back to that, and give Sam that variant of emotional release. (On that note, I'm randomly excited that Lucifer is still around, because it gives them yet another chance to address/resolve? the long, long history between him and Sam that they started to touch on last season but kind of lost track of in the whole Chuck and Amara storyline. And I thought Rick Springfield did an outstanding job, so yay for that! :))
So, um... I'm sure there's a lot more I could say. Uh, the fight scene between Mary and Tori? KICK-ASS. AWESOME. Loved it! Still want that British bitch shot dead, but... c'est la vie. Also, I could have done without the last scene between Tori and Mac (?); it was clearly only exposition/foreshadowing/whatever, and it was meh. Especially compared with the absolutely soul-destroying final glances of the Winchesters, separate and alone in their thoughts back in the bunker (preceded by that phenomenal scene between Sam and Mary that made me cry actual tears).
ANYWAY, all in all I thought this episode was a good continuation of the season. And the preview for next week's episode looks very BROTHERS and *creepy*/MotW. I'm looking forward to it very much!! ♥
Okay. Now for a few expanded thoughts, not necessarily in order.
A lot of people who didn't like something about the episode seemed to NOT like that there wasn't a hug between the brothers. While I would like to see this happen, I'm not overly upset about it for a couple reasons. One, when the brothers had their big "OMG, I FOUND YOU" "OMG WTF YOU'RE ALIVE" moment, they were a bit, er, tied up. Two, we did get some kick-ass family emotional moments this ep (Dean & Mary moments, Sam & Mary moments, all so good!), so I didn't feel slighted in that regard. And, as I said to some friends as we privately discussed the episode, I suspect we will get a LOT of emotionally rich and rewarding moments this season - they just may not happen when we expect/want them to. And I think I'm okay with that.
On the note of the brothers' reunion, I do have a bit of a bone to pick. Pretty much everything that happens after Dean is also captured and dragged into the 'dungeon'... I guess I found it a bit underwhelming in a lot of ways. I suppose I can write it off to Sam, having been horribly tortured for who knows how long, being in shock; he was rather...subdued? I guess, with as much mind-fucking (metaphorical AND literal, and OMG HOW BEYOND 'EW' WAS THAT (I mean, besides the undeniable hotness that is shirtless Sam)) as Sam had endured recently, I kind of expected him to be more dubious, to maybe even straight up reject the idea that Dean was there at all. But he instantly accepted that he was alive? I mean, did he just want that to be true so badly that he just decided to believe it? Or did he think, "There's no way I'm still hallucinating, because she just told me I was hallucinating, and everything is real again"? Were I in Sam's position, I feel like I would be so paranoid, questioning every fucking little thing.
Even after they were safely back at the bunker (??? too easy, imo), I was expecting something more extreme from Sam. Every time he looked at Mary across the dinner table (a scene which, while cute and full of fun-family-feels, felt a bit...off...) I expected him to, idk, suddenly push away from the table and pull a gun on Mary. Or when he brought her that tea/coffee/whatever in her bedroom, I fully expected it to be made with holy water, or poisoned or something. Like, seriously - with all that Sam's been through...all the mental torture and fucked up stuff that's been happening in his brain... That boy is due for a breakdown! And I don't mean a breakdown like "I'm going to spill all my secrets to Tori now", or "I'm going to devolve into a useless puddle of goo now" - no, Sam is still strong, but goddammit he's got to be needing to let off some steam! "I'VE HAD IT WITH THESE MOTHER F*CKING EVILS IN MY MOTHER F*CKING BRAIN!" You know, something like that. He's so very strong, almost stoic, so strong-willed to the point that it makes me want to cry with how beautiful it is... But really. How he's accepting all this so easily is a little off the mark to me. I hope that they come back to that, and give Sam that variant of emotional release. (On that note, I'm randomly excited that Lucifer is still around, because it gives them yet another chance to address/resolve? the long, long history between him and Sam that they started to touch on last season but kind of lost track of in the whole Chuck and Amara storyline. And I thought Rick Springfield did an outstanding job, so yay for that! :))
So, um... I'm sure there's a lot more I could say. Uh, the fight scene between Mary and Tori? KICK-ASS. AWESOME. Loved it! Still want that British bitch shot dead, but... c'est la vie. Also, I could have done without the last scene between Tori and Mac (?); it was clearly only exposition/foreshadowing/whatever, and it was meh. Especially compared with the absolutely soul-destroying final glances of the Winchesters, separate and alone in their thoughts back in the bunker (preceded by that phenomenal scene between Sam and Mary that made me cry actual tears).
ANYWAY, all in all I thought this episode was a good continuation of the season. And the preview for next week's episode looks very BROTHERS and *creepy*/MotW. I'm looking forward to it very much!! ♥