spn 7.15
Ngl, that was without a doubt my favourite ep of the season so far.
I think the main reason I love Edlund so much as a writer on this show is that he always manages to hit just the right note of off-the-wall and disturbing while maintaining that thread of his trademark gallows humour (see also: 5.04, 5.14, 7.09), and it's a combination that just really works for me every time. Also, I have been missing the demons this season, so it was nice to have them feature heavily here -- but with a new, fresh angle that hasn't been covered before.
The Sam-Lucifer interactions were brilliantly executed; Mark Pellegrino is always perfect in that role, charming and amusing and a bit of a spoiled brat but really fucking sinister all at once. I loved the way that Lucifer kind of influenced Sam and encouraged him to let his dark side take over a bit -- I actually found that quite interesting because there have been a few times this season when it's seemed to me as though Sam was tapping into memories of robo!Sam (7.11 is a good example, when he was gloating to the MOTW about how he killed her sister) and I have to now wonder whether that wasn't down in part to Lucifer's influence. Also so clever how everything Lucifer told Sam was stuff that Sam would already know subconsciously -- because, of course, Lucifer is really just a figment of Sam's imagination (though I have actually seen people touting the theory that it's somehow an echo of the real Lucifer somehow reaching out to Sam from hell but... I'm not really sure I can buy that).
I see they are keeping up with the increasingly-more-blatant rape references, though. Not really sure how I feel about that :/
One thing I did love was how the episode also dealt with Dean's post-hell issues, albeit in a much more subtle way than Sam's. The constant theme of torture, the frankness with which Dean accepts what they did to Jeffrey. Also, I have seen a lot of people on Tumblr and the like talking about how Jeffrey's relationship with the demon parallels Dean/Cas -- and I do get where they're coming from, esp. with the whole "I lost him and I was drinking and depressed and suicidal" bit -- but I actually think it draws a far stronger parallel with Dean/Alastair. The elements of Stockholm syndrome, the student-teacher relationship... it just made a lot of sense to me, though I may be the only one.
Speaking of Jeffrey, he was a fantastic villain. I love it when the show plays around with the more human brand of evil, so I thought it was a nice twist for the MOTW to be a run-of-the-mill serial killer. I thought the actor playing him was really good, too -- very chilling. And the relationship with the demon was incredibly fucked-up and disturbing but so damn fascinating and is currently giving me a lot of meta-ish thoughts about the relationship between vessels/hosts and the entities that possess them.
Other random observations:
- The flashback at the beginning -- S4!feels!! Continuity points given for remembering Dean's amulet, but taken away again for Sam's hair.
- Nora was pretty cool. Liked that she was the one to exoricse the demon and wasn't just 'helpless victim of the week'.
- That headdesking hallucination in the library was both hilarious and absolutely horrifying. I actually cringed watching it, and I have a seriously strong stomach. It was just the utter brutality of it.
- They killed the dog!! I knew the thing was doomed from the second it came on screen being all fluffy and adorable, but still DDDD:
- "He was a psychopath, Sam. That's what they do all the time is act. Act like they're normal. Act like they're not balls-to-the-wall crazy." -- Dean, bb, tell me you're not talking about yourself here :(
- The ending scene gave me chills. Okay, the flame effects were beyond cheesy, but Lucifer's laughing... *shudders*. Oh, Sam.
All that said, I did have a few issues with this episode -- mostly to do with queer representation and the comments about the librarian's weight -- but for the most part, I loved it. Like, really, really loved it. A lot. I have ~feelings about everyone right now. Definitely need to rewatch.
Am irritated about yet another hiatus (because seriously, what the shit??) but that preview. Sweet mercy, the preview :DDDDDDDDDD Not sure how I will make it through to March, truth be told.
On a totally unrelated note, I survived my first week on the new job and managed not to be totally useless. Certain elements of it are enjoyable, and my co-workers seem pretty nice, but it is stressful. Still -- it pays the bills, so can't complain. Glad for the weekend, though.
I think the main reason I love Edlund so much as a writer on this show is that he always manages to hit just the right note of off-the-wall and disturbing while maintaining that thread of his trademark gallows humour (see also: 5.04, 5.14, 7.09), and it's a combination that just really works for me every time. Also, I have been missing the demons this season, so it was nice to have them feature heavily here -- but with a new, fresh angle that hasn't been covered before.
The Sam-Lucifer interactions were brilliantly executed; Mark Pellegrino is always perfect in that role, charming and amusing and a bit of a spoiled brat but really fucking sinister all at once. I loved the way that Lucifer kind of influenced Sam and encouraged him to let his dark side take over a bit -- I actually found that quite interesting because there have been a few times this season when it's seemed to me as though Sam was tapping into memories of robo!Sam (7.11 is a good example, when he was gloating to the MOTW about how he killed her sister) and I have to now wonder whether that wasn't down in part to Lucifer's influence. Also so clever how everything Lucifer told Sam was stuff that Sam would already know subconsciously -- because, of course, Lucifer is really just a figment of Sam's imagination (though I have actually seen people touting the theory that it's somehow an echo of the real Lucifer somehow reaching out to Sam from hell but... I'm not really sure I can buy that).
I see they are keeping up with the increasingly-more-blatant rape references, though. Not really sure how I feel about that :/
One thing I did love was how the episode also dealt with Dean's post-hell issues, albeit in a much more subtle way than Sam's. The constant theme of torture, the frankness with which Dean accepts what they did to Jeffrey. Also, I have seen a lot of people on Tumblr and the like talking about how Jeffrey's relationship with the demon parallels Dean/Cas -- and I do get where they're coming from, esp. with the whole "I lost him and I was drinking and depressed and suicidal" bit -- but I actually think it draws a far stronger parallel with Dean/Alastair. The elements of Stockholm syndrome, the student-teacher relationship... it just made a lot of sense to me, though I may be the only one.
Speaking of Jeffrey, he was a fantastic villain. I love it when the show plays around with the more human brand of evil, so I thought it was a nice twist for the MOTW to be a run-of-the-mill serial killer. I thought the actor playing him was really good, too -- very chilling. And the relationship with the demon was incredibly fucked-up and disturbing but so damn fascinating and is currently giving me a lot of meta-ish thoughts about the relationship between vessels/hosts and the entities that possess them.
Other random observations:
- The flashback at the beginning -- S4!feels!! Continuity points given for remembering Dean's amulet, but taken away again for Sam's hair.
- Nora was pretty cool. Liked that she was the one to exoricse the demon and wasn't just 'helpless victim of the week'.
- That headdesking hallucination in the library was both hilarious and absolutely horrifying. I actually cringed watching it, and I have a seriously strong stomach. It was just the utter brutality of it.
- They killed the dog!! I knew the thing was doomed from the second it came on screen being all fluffy and adorable, but still DDDD:
- "He was a psychopath, Sam. That's what they do all the time is act. Act like they're normal. Act like they're not balls-to-the-wall crazy." -- Dean, bb, tell me you're not talking about yourself here :(
- The ending scene gave me chills. Okay, the flame effects were beyond cheesy, but Lucifer's laughing... *shudders*. Oh, Sam.
All that said, I did have a few issues with this episode -- mostly to do with queer representation and the comments about the librarian's weight -- but for the most part, I loved it. Like, really, really loved it. A lot. I have ~feelings about everyone right now. Definitely need to rewatch.
Am irritated about yet another hiatus (because seriously, what the shit??) but that preview. Sweet mercy, the preview :DDDDDDDDDD Not sure how I will make it through to March, truth be told.
On a totally unrelated note, I survived my first week on the new job and managed not to be totally useless. Certain elements of it are enjoyable, and my co-workers seem pretty nice, but it is stressful. Still -- it pays the bills, so can't complain. Glad for the weekend, though.