SPN 2.09 Croatoan
power outage + new episode of SPN = much frustration Thursday night
...
Okay, I watched it twice just to be sure, but this episode still doesn't make any sense to me. The idea that innocent people have a virus that turns them into ... what? Violent murderers? Not so much. Violent, yes. Murderers? No. Their goal was to infect the people around them. The infected people all seemed to share the same groupthink, and they kind of took over the town.... But it was hardly a scene out of a zombie movie. The most anyone did after the Good Guys barracaded themselves in the clinic was to stand around threateningly on the street. It would be Bad to be infected, but....
I don't get why everyone felt it necessary to kill the infected people. From the promos, I was expecting a story that laid out a premise where that was the case, and a plot that wrestled with the ethical implications of such a situation.
Did not see that.
Instead, I saw some people go berserk. And that was basically it. It was clear they were all tapping in to something evil, possibly following orders from a demon... but I just don't get the logical/rational jump from "she's infected" to "we need to euthanize her."
It's not that I necessarily disagree with their way of dealing with the problem. It's that I didn't get a sense of what the problem actually was. Because, basically, the problem was lame. The infected people were creepier than they were scary, the whole "Stepford" thing Dean mentioned. But not that creepy at all, actually. And when they attacked? They were easy for Sam and Dean to defeat. I never got a sense of them being in danger. Not even when Pat(?) got to Sam.
So if they're not in real danger, why would they shoot a woman cowering in a corner and begging for her life? I don't buy it, not even from this season's cold-as-ice Dean.
Another thing that prevents the sell is the lack of emotional content in the lead-up. Take Asylum, if you will. I believed it when Sam shot Dean, in part because we saw his frustration and his problems with Dean through the whole episode (I mean, they sent him to a psychiatrist, for Pete's sake). We also saw that cop go home and shoot his wife at the very beginning, which lent credibility to the idea that Sam could shoot his brother. In Croatoan, I don't see the emotional evolution from Dean's claim that he wouldn't waste an innocent guy, to the moment when he wasted an innocent woman.
I mean, there was no moment that struck me as the turning point for Sam and Dean, no moment of horror or realization of the absolute EVIL inherent in every single infected person. You had the bloody car, but Dean inspected it kind of clinically. He took it in, then went on with his trip. His experience with the roadblock wasn't much either. And somehow, I don't see the rescue of Duane's mom as something that would motivate them to even consider killing someone who's no immediate danger.
I'm disappointed. It seems like the entire premise was thrown together to facilitate the scene where Dean decides to stay and die with his brother. It was a great scene, the most true one in the whole episode. In fact, I think it probably saved the episode in a number of ways. I'm just disappointed that they couldn't work harder to put together a coherent plot. Not only that, but they usually do such a nice job dealing with these ethical conundrums (Trading a life for a life in Faith, Sam's decision not to shoot his dad in Devil's Trap, the deals made in Crossroad Blues, etc.), but this time they just got lazy. Instead of confronting a dilemma and making a hard decision, Sam and Dean shoot that lady (because Sam let Dean without any argument) and don't worry about it later.
(And by the way, what's with shooting them to death in the first place? Wouldn't the blood spatter spread the contaminant all over the place?)
Okay. It's clear I'm in a really bitchy mood. But there were some cool parts:
- The Sarge. Did we ever learn his name? I loved his interplay with Dean, from the moment Dean notices his tattoo and gets to mention his dad in a fond way, to the part where they're pointing guns at each other and wanting to establish some trust. It's not often Dean makes an instant connection with someone, so I'm sorry the character didn't live.
- The part where Duane kills the Sarge. Had to laugh at the nod to that Scarecrow scene.
- Dean's "Awkward." Nothing like a little dark humor, eh?
- Dean and Sam's round of "Fine" in the beginning. They are truly cute.
- The doctor's "um...Oh." when Dean tells her they aren't really marshalls. Although, why she couldn't figure that out after Dean kept referring to Sam as his brother a minute before....
- The idea that Croatoan is a demon's name. I love this addition to the mytharc. It's simple, believable, fits well with the rest of the mythos. I also like the idea that the demon responsible would leave his name behind so everyone knows who did it.
- eta: Sam lying on the floor, breathing hard reaching for Dean, and Dean instinctively reaching for him. Such a little brother-big brother moment. Possibly my favorite interaction of the episode.
- Great acting from all the guests. Also from JA, with good bits from JP.
Am I the only one who thinks this would have been a good episode in which to focus a little more on Sam? Most of this season, I've had a very detailed view of Dean's headspace, but I am lost when it comes to Sam. The fanfic is spoiling me, I think. So much of it is way better than this season has been. I still love the show, but episodes like this make me frustrated, knowing how much better they can be.
...
Okay, I watched it twice just to be sure, but this episode still doesn't make any sense to me. The idea that innocent people have a virus that turns them into ... what? Violent murderers? Not so much. Violent, yes. Murderers? No. Their goal was to infect the people around them. The infected people all seemed to share the same groupthink, and they kind of took over the town.... But it was hardly a scene out of a zombie movie. The most anyone did after the Good Guys barracaded themselves in the clinic was to stand around threateningly on the street. It would be Bad to be infected, but....
I don't get why everyone felt it necessary to kill the infected people. From the promos, I was expecting a story that laid out a premise where that was the case, and a plot that wrestled with the ethical implications of such a situation.
Did not see that.
Instead, I saw some people go berserk. And that was basically it. It was clear they were all tapping in to something evil, possibly following orders from a demon... but I just don't get the logical/rational jump from "she's infected" to "we need to euthanize her."
It's not that I necessarily disagree with their way of dealing with the problem. It's that I didn't get a sense of what the problem actually was. Because, basically, the problem was lame. The infected people were creepier than they were scary, the whole "Stepford" thing Dean mentioned. But not that creepy at all, actually. And when they attacked? They were easy for Sam and Dean to defeat. I never got a sense of them being in danger. Not even when Pat(?) got to Sam.
So if they're not in real danger, why would they shoot a woman cowering in a corner and begging for her life? I don't buy it, not even from this season's cold-as-ice Dean.
Another thing that prevents the sell is the lack of emotional content in the lead-up. Take Asylum, if you will. I believed it when Sam shot Dean, in part because we saw his frustration and his problems with Dean through the whole episode (I mean, they sent him to a psychiatrist, for Pete's sake). We also saw that cop go home and shoot his wife at the very beginning, which lent credibility to the idea that Sam could shoot his brother. In Croatoan, I don't see the emotional evolution from Dean's claim that he wouldn't waste an innocent guy, to the moment when he wasted an innocent woman.
I mean, there was no moment that struck me as the turning point for Sam and Dean, no moment of horror or realization of the absolute EVIL inherent in every single infected person. You had the bloody car, but Dean inspected it kind of clinically. He took it in, then went on with his trip. His experience with the roadblock wasn't much either. And somehow, I don't see the rescue of Duane's mom as something that would motivate them to even consider killing someone who's no immediate danger.
I'm disappointed. It seems like the entire premise was thrown together to facilitate the scene where Dean decides to stay and die with his brother. It was a great scene, the most true one in the whole episode. In fact, I think it probably saved the episode in a number of ways. I'm just disappointed that they couldn't work harder to put together a coherent plot. Not only that, but they usually do such a nice job dealing with these ethical conundrums (Trading a life for a life in Faith, Sam's decision not to shoot his dad in Devil's Trap, the deals made in Crossroad Blues, etc.), but this time they just got lazy. Instead of confronting a dilemma and making a hard decision, Sam and Dean shoot that lady (because Sam let Dean without any argument) and don't worry about it later.
(And by the way, what's with shooting them to death in the first place? Wouldn't the blood spatter spread the contaminant all over the place?)
Okay. It's clear I'm in a really bitchy mood. But there were some cool parts:
- The Sarge. Did we ever learn his name? I loved his interplay with Dean, from the moment Dean notices his tattoo and gets to mention his dad in a fond way, to the part where they're pointing guns at each other and wanting to establish some trust. It's not often Dean makes an instant connection with someone, so I'm sorry the character didn't live.
- The part where Duane kills the Sarge. Had to laugh at the nod to that Scarecrow scene.
- Dean's "Awkward." Nothing like a little dark humor, eh?
- Dean and Sam's round of "Fine" in the beginning. They are truly cute.
- The doctor's "um...Oh." when Dean tells her they aren't really marshalls. Although, why she couldn't figure that out after Dean kept referring to Sam as his brother a minute before....
- The idea that Croatoan is a demon's name. I love this addition to the mytharc. It's simple, believable, fits well with the rest of the mythos. I also like the idea that the demon responsible would leave his name behind so everyone knows who did it.
- eta: Sam lying on the floor, breathing hard reaching for Dean, and Dean instinctively reaching for him. Such a little brother-big brother moment. Possibly my favorite interaction of the episode.
- Great acting from all the guests. Also from JA, with good bits from JP.
Am I the only one who thinks this would have been a good episode in which to focus a little more on Sam? Most of this season, I've had a very detailed view of Dean's headspace, but I am lost when it comes to Sam. The fanfic is spoiling me, I think. So much of it is way better than this season has been. I still love the show, but episodes like this make me frustrated, knowing how much better they can be.