Supernatural 5.14
PLEASE NOTE. This is a jumble of thoughts/observations made a bit after the fact. I didn't have my computer with me at flurije's house, and I still have papers to grade tonight, so I don't have the time or brain power to make anything smooth and pretty. Last week I got into a bit of an argument with another SPN-fan about a very minor comment I made (that Anna should have gone back earlier in time, before 1978, so that Mary couldn't be pregnant) and it was a totally unimportant, throwaway observation, and I think the confusion may have come about because of my just throw-it-out-there style of commentary. This week's is bound to be even more haphazard, yet even less detailed. Fair warning. :)
In general, I really liked the episode. Maybe not quite as much as last week's, but still. And I liked it better that the first Horseman episode ("Good God, Y'All").
In no particular order, except kind of vaguely a little chronological (with the exception of my very last comment, which is very chronological, 'cause it wash was made at the credits)...
Dude! The opening?! DUDE. Not much squicks me about television shows. There is very little in all five seasons thus far of Supernatural that makes me go, "Eewwww," to the point of revulsion. I'm perfectly content eating my dinner while watching the gore of Supernatural, Law & Order, Bones, House, etc. That said? Tonights cannibalistic couple? Holy carp, eeeeewwwwwwwww. Gross, nasty, ew ew ew ew ew ew ew. Flurry had to tell me when it was okay to look again. I can't remember the last time I had to be the one told when it was safe. Also? I was eating dinner while watching, and totally had to stop. So much for the last of my burrito. (I had a similar reaction to the cook in Biggerson's scooping the fries out of the fryer and eating them, his hands all blistered and cooked.)
Dean's "Be my valentine," to Sam over the hearts was a nice shout-out to, well, My Bloody Valentine.
(Anyone catch the location of this episode?)
Biggerson's!! Shout-out to "Bad Day at Black Rock"!! ("I lost my shoe.")
Anyone notice that the SPIKEY CLOCK was visible in Biggerson's? HEEE.
Cupid was awesome. As was the whole conversation with Castiel about him, although now I can't remember any of it except, "He's not incontinent." Flurry and I kept going, "awwww!" when Cupid was there. I was crocheting (working on the newest Yarn!Chester, actually, since I pretty much finished ami!Flagg yesterday) and was thinking, it'd be really funny to make a yarn!Cupid.
Flurry: You know, you're going to have to make a Cupid doll.
Me: I was just thinking that... but, NO! That would make me break two of my rules.
Flurry: Which are?
Me: No naked people amigurumi, and only recurring characters.
I totally understand why Cupid's spilling that Mary and John getting together was part of Heaven's plan would make Dean upset (Faaaate, DENSITY, etc.) but I really think it was when he started singing that Dean got angry and hit him. And I could be totally wrong, but the song that Cupid was singing, at least the "Heaven, heaven" bit, sounded a lot like the song that Alistair sang when Dean tortured him in "On the Head of a Pin". If I'm right, it would be foreshadowing for Famine's comments later.
Dood, all that eating must have sucked for Misha. And I bet Jensen was all, Thank god this time it's not me. Heh.
Famine's personification worked really well. I like that he was a powerful yet weak petulant old man surrounded by secret service style demons.
I thought it was really interesting that when Famine tore the demon out of the guy that Sam cut, it was just like Sam taking demons out of possessed people. This call back was, of course, actually foreshadowing, given the ending.
I wish that they'd made a bigger deal out of the fact that when Famine offered an all you can eat buffet of demon possessed humans for Sam to snack on, he said No, and exorcised them instead. But of course it's a double-edged sword, given that he can only do that (apparently) when he's been drinking blood...
Speaking of which, I was so impressed by how hard Sam fought not to drink blood-- admitting to Dean that he couldn't be a part of the hunt, getting handcuffed, etc. Then again, how many Thursdays in a row has Sam been tied up in some fashion lately? Maybe he really does just like it.
And then there's Dean... Sera Gamble said, at the end of last season (post "It's a Terrible Life") that they weren't going to be dealing any more with the effects and leftovers from Dean's time in Hell because, what with the apocalypse starting, Dean has more immediate things on his mind. But it seems to me that Famine's comments about Dean being empty inside make the most sense when linked back to his time in Hell. Sure, one can be hopeless about the apocalypse, the responsibility, etc., but it fits better with the fear of what he himself was forced to become.
!!! THOUGHT
Okay, so I totally understood Dean's revulsion for what Sam was doing, and hiding, back in last season's "The Rapture," especially upon seeing Sammy snack on a possessed human right in front of him. But I've had trouble accepting Dean's overall reaction to Sam's addiction since it is, in fact, an addiction. Yes, Sam's actions as semi-separate from it are deplorable, but I've already hashed out in a previous meta about why Sam's actions, when taken from his point of view, make sense. And don't get me wrong, I understand why for Dean, Sam's betrayal of him, and his seeming to choose Ruby over Dean, and lying, etc., is all hugely, hugely problematic, atop the fact that Dean went to Hell for Sam. I get all that. That said, I don't-- perhaps didn't-- get Dean's reaction to Sam's craving for the blood. It seems to me that Dean can compartmentalize fairly well, and as long as Sam didn't act on it, it shouldn't cause such disgust for Dean. (Yes, there's more to it, I realize, as I sit here typing. There's the fact that Dean, until Sam started having psychic powers, was very much of a Black and White mentality (Monsters BAD. People GOOD...ish). BUT GO WITH ME HERE ANYWAY.
(Yes, I'm arguing with the ether. Oh, Eilonwy.)
WHAT IF, instead of seeing Sam as strong for resisting the blood, for overcoming it, etc., he sees Sam's craving for it (even when he's not always doing so post 5.01) as analogous to his own actions in Hell (and in "On the Head of a Pin")? Something that is wrong, and yet something each brother was driven to for seemingly right (or at least inescapable) reasons.
Okay,we now return to our regularly scheduled summing up before I go back to grading sonnet explications (and omygod, if I read one more paper about sonnet 116 I WILL SCREAM.)
SO. The end sequence. Sam in the panic room, detoxing. I'm glad that there was no drama about it. I like to think that it was Sam who turned to Castiel and Dean and said, "I'm going to have to detox, please take me to the panic room," but I guess we won't know.
IF MY ABOVE THOUGHTS ARE CORRECT, it makes Dean's reaction to Sam's detoxification even more sensible.
Anyway, Dean going outside and asking for help from... God, I assume...? PROVES that he's not as empty as Famine thought/said. If he were, he'd not be asking for help. And so, even though the show ended on Dean unanswered, show also ended on a moment of hope.
Still, upon seeing the credits and knowing that there is 6 weeks 'til the next episode? DAAAMN YOOOOU, KRIIIPKEEEEEE!!! I literally shook my fist at the television.
Not a spoiler or related to tonight's episode, just funny. Flurry picked up Yarn!Castiel (as I always bring Sam, Dean and Castiel with me, or I get in trouble with Flurry) and started swinging him about and singing, somewhat hight pitched, "Swiiiiing looooooow, Sweeeeet Chaaaaariot..." Well, *I* thought it was funny. Mind you, that was partly because last week when going to the Dreaded TA Meeting, Flurry, Wild_donkey_man and MM sang it (and other spirituals) as a protest to having to go to said meeting. Also, WDM brought his fingerpuppet of Walter Benjamin with him, and he also sang. (I made a hat for Walter Benjamin out of an index card. It was the most productive part of the entire meeting.)
I love comments, as well you know. But I can't guarantee just now when I'll get around to responding. My life is booked up from now 'til sometime on Saturday... I haven't even decided if I'm taking my laptop to campus tomorrow 'cause I have reading I have to do before 3pm, and if I take my laptop I probably won't so much do the reading...
In general, I really liked the episode. Maybe not quite as much as last week's, but still. And I liked it better that the first Horseman episode ("Good God, Y'All").
In no particular order, except kind of vaguely a little chronological (with the exception of my very last comment, which is very chronological, 'cause it wash was made at the credits)...
Dude! The opening?! DUDE. Not much squicks me about television shows. There is very little in all five seasons thus far of Supernatural that makes me go, "Eewwww," to the point of revulsion. I'm perfectly content eating my dinner while watching the gore of Supernatural, Law & Order, Bones, House, etc. That said? Tonights cannibalistic couple? Holy carp, eeeeewwwwwwwww. Gross, nasty, ew ew ew ew ew ew ew. Flurry had to tell me when it was okay to look again. I can't remember the last time I had to be the one told when it was safe. Also? I was eating dinner while watching, and totally had to stop. So much for the last of my burrito. (I had a similar reaction to the cook in Biggerson's scooping the fries out of the fryer and eating them, his hands all blistered and cooked.)
Dean's "Be my valentine," to Sam over the hearts was a nice shout-out to, well, My Bloody Valentine.
(Anyone catch the location of this episode?)
Biggerson's!! Shout-out to "Bad Day at Black Rock"!! ("I lost my shoe.")
Anyone notice that the SPIKEY CLOCK was visible in Biggerson's? HEEE.
Cupid was awesome. As was the whole conversation with Castiel about him, although now I can't remember any of it except, "He's not incontinent." Flurry and I kept going, "awwww!" when Cupid was there. I was crocheting (working on the newest Yarn!Chester, actually, since I pretty much finished ami!Flagg yesterday) and was thinking, it'd be really funny to make a yarn!Cupid.
Flurry: You know, you're going to have to make a Cupid doll.
Me: I was just thinking that... but, NO! That would make me break two of my rules.
Flurry: Which are?
Me: No naked people amigurumi, and only recurring characters.
I totally understand why Cupid's spilling that Mary and John getting together was part of Heaven's plan would make Dean upset (Faaaate, DENSITY, etc.) but I really think it was when he started singing that Dean got angry and hit him. And I could be totally wrong, but the song that Cupid was singing, at least the "Heaven, heaven" bit, sounded a lot like the song that Alistair sang when Dean tortured him in "On the Head of a Pin". If I'm right, it would be foreshadowing for Famine's comments later.
Dood, all that eating must have sucked for Misha. And I bet Jensen was all, Thank god this time it's not me. Heh.
Famine's personification worked really well. I like that he was a powerful yet weak petulant old man surrounded by secret service style demons.
I thought it was really interesting that when Famine tore the demon out of the guy that Sam cut, it was just like Sam taking demons out of possessed people. This call back was, of course, actually foreshadowing, given the ending.
I wish that they'd made a bigger deal out of the fact that when Famine offered an all you can eat buffet of demon possessed humans for Sam to snack on, he said No, and exorcised them instead. But of course it's a double-edged sword, given that he can only do that (apparently) when he's been drinking blood...
Speaking of which, I was so impressed by how hard Sam fought not to drink blood-- admitting to Dean that he couldn't be a part of the hunt, getting handcuffed, etc. Then again, how many Thursdays in a row has Sam been tied up in some fashion lately? Maybe he really does just like it.
And then there's Dean... Sera Gamble said, at the end of last season (post "It's a Terrible Life") that they weren't going to be dealing any more with the effects and leftovers from Dean's time in Hell because, what with the apocalypse starting, Dean has more immediate things on his mind. But it seems to me that Famine's comments about Dean being empty inside make the most sense when linked back to his time in Hell. Sure, one can be hopeless about the apocalypse, the responsibility, etc., but it fits better with the fear of what he himself was forced to become.
!!! THOUGHT
Okay, so I totally understood Dean's revulsion for what Sam was doing, and hiding, back in last season's "The Rapture," especially upon seeing Sammy snack on a possessed human right in front of him. But I've had trouble accepting Dean's overall reaction to Sam's addiction since it is, in fact, an addiction. Yes, Sam's actions as semi-separate from it are deplorable, but I've already hashed out in a previous meta about why Sam's actions, when taken from his point of view, make sense. And don't get me wrong, I understand why for Dean, Sam's betrayal of him, and his seeming to choose Ruby over Dean, and lying, etc., is all hugely, hugely problematic, atop the fact that Dean went to Hell for Sam. I get all that. That said, I don't-- perhaps didn't-- get Dean's reaction to Sam's craving for the blood. It seems to me that Dean can compartmentalize fairly well, and as long as Sam didn't act on it, it shouldn't cause such disgust for Dean. (Yes, there's more to it, I realize, as I sit here typing. There's the fact that Dean, until Sam started having psychic powers, was very much of a Black and White mentality (Monsters BAD. People GOOD...ish). BUT GO WITH ME HERE ANYWAY.
(Yes, I'm arguing with the ether. Oh, Eilonwy.)
WHAT IF, instead of seeing Sam as strong for resisting the blood, for overcoming it, etc., he sees Sam's craving for it (even when he's not always doing so post 5.01) as analogous to his own actions in Hell (and in "On the Head of a Pin")? Something that is wrong, and yet something each brother was driven to for seemingly right (or at least inescapable) reasons.
Okay,we now return to our regularly scheduled summing up before I go back to grading sonnet explications (and omygod, if I read one more paper about sonnet 116 I WILL SCREAM.)
SO. The end sequence. Sam in the panic room, detoxing. I'm glad that there was no drama about it. I like to think that it was Sam who turned to Castiel and Dean and said, "I'm going to have to detox, please take me to the panic room," but I guess we won't know.
IF MY ABOVE THOUGHTS ARE CORRECT, it makes Dean's reaction to Sam's detoxification even more sensible.
Anyway, Dean going outside and asking for help from... God, I assume...? PROVES that he's not as empty as Famine thought/said. If he were, he'd not be asking for help. And so, even though the show ended on Dean unanswered, show also ended on a moment of hope.
Still, upon seeing the credits and knowing that there is 6 weeks 'til the next episode? DAAAMN YOOOOU, KRIIIPKEEEEEE!!! I literally shook my fist at the television.
Not a spoiler or related to tonight's episode, just funny. Flurry picked up Yarn!Castiel (as I always bring Sam, Dean and Castiel with me, or I get in trouble with Flurry) and started swinging him about and singing, somewhat hight pitched, "Swiiiiing looooooow, Sweeeeet Chaaaaariot..." Well, *I* thought it was funny. Mind you, that was partly because last week when going to the Dreaded TA Meeting, Flurry, Wild_donkey_man and MM sang it (and other spirituals) as a protest to having to go to said meeting. Also, WDM brought his fingerpuppet of Walter Benjamin with him, and he also sang. (I made a hat for Walter Benjamin out of an index card. It was the most productive part of the entire meeting.)
I love comments, as well you know. But I can't guarantee just now when I'll get around to responding. My life is booked up from now 'til sometime on Saturday... I haven't even decided if I'm taking my laptop to campus tomorrow 'cause I have reading I have to do before 3pm, and if I take my laptop I probably won't so much do the reading...