Supernatural 1.21 "Salvation"
First of all the cheezy recap vid at the beginning made me snorfle in front of my grandmother. I moved into my room after that.
Meg's back. And the priest... I didn't catch it at first but when he bars that door and then turns around so you see all those weapons? Pastor Jim! I liked Meg's all black eyes. It's an old school make-up effect, but a solid color eye is just creepy.
And we pick back up with John and the boys still in Manning. Nice touch. I love Papa Winchester so much. I love how the Truck O' Doom matches the Impala. These guys are so ready for their Road Warrior cameos, seriously.
And it was Pastor Jim! Watching John get upset. ♥ JDM is the shit. The fact that Caleb called leads me to believe he's next.
Dad's gone all hard line, even more so than before. He wants the demon dead. "I don't care what it takes."
Papa has tons of IDs in the truck just like Dean's cigar box in the Metallicar glove compartment! Hee!
And in the hospital, Dean fawning all over the pretty girl was cute. Yes, sweetheart, help him.
VISION! Finally. I was pissed that after "Nightmare" they just dropped this plot line. Not one of their cases after that was due to Sam's visions. They could have just mentioned that one of them was a dream he had had. So annoying. But at least they're bringing it back. Hopefully they'll also have him throwing around some TK in the finale.
And we get to see exactly what the demon does. Now we know what happened to Mary. I'm not sure I wanted them to show this. It's scarier when we don't know. Our minds fill in worse than any director could show. It's a horror staple. I wish that since they did show it, that they had chopped it up and made it all sketchy quick flashes instead of just showing it plain. Hell, I'd even prefer if Sam's visions were more metaphorical or something. It'd be more interesting if they had to figure out what the dreams/visions meant. Instead of their usual boring "this is what the MOTW is and how we kill it" exposition we get every week.
Dad blowing up with "Why didn't you call me?" about the visions. You just knew one of the boys was going to smack him down for that like he deserves, and I'm so glad it was Dean. He even seemed a little whiny when he brought up that Dad didn't answer when he was dying. Nice. Dad's reaction is good too. I think he knew it was a stupid thing to say the moment it left his mouth.
"... I'm not to crazy about this new tone of yours." Hee!
When Meg calls them and Sam hands the phone over to Papa. I just love his voice when he says, "This is John." And Caleb bites it. I knew it. Pastor Jim's last name is Murphy, we learn.
I'm surprised when John elects to give them the gun. I figure he's so gung ho that he would just say fuck you. The type of people he hangs out with deal with this stuff too. They know the risks. It was a nice surprise, but I suspect it had more to do with plot than with John's characterization. They needed to get him away from the boys again. (Really, the truth is, we all know he wants to protect his new girlfriend Izzy in Seattle.)
I love John's speech. "I want you to go to school, Dean to have a home. I want Mary alive." Beautiful and well acted. JDM is love, ya'll.
Dean's reply is almost as good. "Dad, promise me something... You're no good to us dead." Nice.
I love after Dean brings the fake gun John totally just hands down the responsibilty to the boys. That's what that scene was really about. It wasn't instructions or a farewell, it was John stepping back and giving the boys his burden. It's sad and touching and ultimately horrifying. I was pissed that there were no hugs as he leaves. They all think this is the big showdown (unlike us who know there's one ep to go) so there should have been hugs.
I was really hoping to see John kick some ass. This is the first time we've seen him on his own. He didn't fare so well against the vampires last episode, and considering how much the boys have built him up this season I was looking forward to something cool. I only got a bit of that. The way he disappears when we have that close up of Meg. That's a monster trick. He's learned from the things he hunts. Very nice. And blessing the water in the tower was just brilliant. So very cool. I thought that we'd get sprinklers or something.
The boys in the car was much less interesting. I really think they amped up everything and intercutting with Daddy in danger, the car conversations just fell flat. They should have just been getting on with it. Although the boys' "Nah" in unison about telling the family the truth was cute. And Dean wishing they were backing up dad and Sam wishing dad was backing up them was also a nice touch. Although it was trite and something I could see coming a mile away, but still cute. Sam going into the "Thank You" speech was such a jinx, I'm surprised Dean didn't out and out say so when he jumped on him.
Okay there's a new player with Meg. I know that actor. Ya'll, who is that guy? He looks so familar but I'm tired and I just can't place him at the moment. I love that he shot Meg. Yes, I could, again, see it coming. You know someone was going to have to get shot to prove the gun wasn't authentic, but still Nicki Aycox sold it with the "You shot me!" It was funny. That's probably the first time I really liked her.
John being all smug about the holy water. Oh I love you, man! I don't care what Meg says, it really was cute.
Boys in the car again and the radio is messing up. After this has happened plenty of times on the show, and the guys use the EMF reader every other ep, why are they always surprised when the ghost/demon/whatever interfears with the radios/lights/flashlights EVERY DAMN TIME? Honestly guys, you're supposed to be professionals.
Back to dad. Oh noes! They've punctured the tires on the Truck O' Doom. Bastards! And I yelled "Daddy no!" when John got slapped up against the wall. My mom must think I'm a nutcase. And that guy again. Who is he? In both the actor and plotwise respectively.
I love that the family's dad came after them with a baseball bat. Hee. Sam running in and shooting the thing. Very cool, but useless. :( 3 bullets left for those who are counting. The fact that the thing was still in the burning house was cool. Although I'm getting tired of Sams new death wish. I guess he figured he hadn't gotten beaten down by the MOTW like he has every ep so far, so he thought he had to run back in and get his licks. PS- Samuel Colt sucks. They better find a use for this gun next ep, I swear.
Sam and Dean again. This whole season is about Sam coming around to Dean and John's position about the family business and killing the demon. Now we see Dean slowly come around to Sam's position. "It's not worth your life." "If it means losing you, I hope we never find the damn thing." And then he echoes Sam's words from the pilot "Mom and Jess are gone and they're never coming back." That's some pretty decent writing for the WB, let me tell you. Dean has gone from Hunter with a capitol H, to just wanting his family to be safe and together. Now granted, he probably always wanted this, but now he's in a position where he's verbalizing it a lot. Dean from the pilot wouldn't have been able to do that. And Sam's gone from one end of the spectrum to the other. He was anti-hunting and wanting to get away from his family. Now he's all "We must destroy even if it kills us." I think Sam and John are more alike than either of them realize. At first glance Dean looks like a carbon copy of his dad, but I don't think he really is. Not in any of the ways that count. No, it's Sam that has that honor.
And Daddy's in peril. That preview better be misleading because I'm hoping they didn't spoil me for his fate. *crosses fingers for JDM*
Also GIP because I needed another picture of the guys together.