Pig In A Poke
I'm finally caught up on all the episodes of Supernatural season three. I know, it took a shamefully long time (there was much begging and prodding and disapproval from cadette in particular) but I think it was a good thing that I waited as long as I did to get back into it The writer's strike is over and the show will be back soon which means I've had the least amount of "hang time" before finding out what's going to happen next. Yes, I'm justifying my procrastination. Deal with it.
This season is really good. Like, really really good. Like, I'm hardly nitpicking on anything and that's pretty much an amazing compliment coming from me. Sure there are still some flaws in the mythology that they just gloss over and the show rushes to get to some resolutions too quick for my liking (like the manifestation of the seven deadly sins in the premier episode, I get that it was the dramatic introduction of Ruby but it seemed like they figured out what they were dealing with and cleaned that mess up in the last fifteen minutes of the episode and then that was that and those characters had so much potential... would it kill them to carry some storylines over a three episode arc every once in a while?) but overall the writing is better, the jokes are funnier, the plots are more riveting and Jensen and Jared are really smoldering up the screen with some superior acting abilities.
Firstly, OMG JENSEN! Holy hell! Dude is just on fire this season. The rabbit's foot episode? The creepy succubus kids episode? He's just doing a really good job making Dean seem like he's shrugging off his death sentence when really he's angry and scared and generally being how anyone would be if they've been given an expiration date. Watching him trying to keep his head together while struggling to still give a damn AND look after his brother is just gut wrenching and heartbreaking and mind-meltingly hot all at the same time. It's really a disjointed stew of emotions he's causing in me but really, he can do anything he wants to me and I would not complain. Not one bit.
Padelecki's doing pretty alright this season too, despite still being freakishly tall. He knows he's got to "man up" which means that he's whining less... though there were a few awkward episodes there where Sam was just harping on Dean to talk about his feelings and what not and then when Dean FINALLY starts talking about it, telling Sam that he's scared and that he doesn't want to die, all Sam has to say is "alright, we'll work on it." Uh, that's it?!?! Really?!?! What happened to "I want you to give a damn, Dean!" Other than that I got no beef with him. I did think it was mildly preposterous that he was able to kill vampire!Gordon with a bit of barbed wire and his bare hands.
Let's move on to the ladies, a hot topic of conversation in the SPN-verse. This season introduces Ruby, an ex-witch demon with the penchant for showing up just in time to save some Winchester butt and Bella, a thief/con artist who is basically the female version of Dean without the altruism. Compared to the last two seasons, these ladies a vast improvement over what we've been given preciously. I'm not saying that SPN has fixed their little problem of not being able to write for strong ladies because they so have not (both Bella and Ruby have yet to be fleshed out beyond rote two-dimensional characters) but I'm seeing effort to turn it around, like everything else they've made an effort with this season. Ruby is ok, she's not really around enough for me to find too many flaws in the little of her that they've shown us and the girl who is playing Ruby is getting steadily better in acting like a bad ass demon who still has a shred of humanity in her. Bella, I'll have to say, it took me a while to warm up to her. She's got that accent that may or may not be fake and that weird snaggletooth that is totally distracting when she talks... and she's constantly glowering when, frankly, I feel she's got nothing to glower about. Plus the hints they've given us about her back story are pretty weak. So she killed a member of her family, this season revealed that Bobby killed his wife when she was possessed and that's how he became a hunter. THAT was a well-done back story and the actor who plays Bobby was likewise brilliant in that episode. I do have to hand it to Bella, she got Dean in a tux and that was the moment I agreed to give her a chance and at least overlook the snaggletooth.
So what's going to happen next? They left it by introducing us to the big bad demon that wants to take over the planet and rid it of the scourge that is humanity, Lilly. Really, SPN casting director, that little girl was the best you could find? She was not even the least bit creepy, nor was I even thrown by the "twist" of the demon being a little girl. Eh. The bottom line here is that Dean's most likely not going to die (though, and I know I've pointed this out before, Buffy died several times so it is possible to come back from that and I would like to see SPN follow through on SOMETHING at least once). I think Sam should die instead. I mean, we had two or three episodes this season where other characters were trying to make Sam and Dean see the destructive pattern that they are caught in where they are perpetually sacrificing themselves for one another, and since they're men they are clearly not going to learn, let's keep it in that vein. Maybe Sam makes a deal with Lily and Dean is spared but Sam is cooked and then season four Dean brings Sam back and the cycle can repeat itself. It would be like some perverse game of round-robin until the show gets cancelled and at that point they can just kill everyone off.
Perhaps I should stick to my day job and not sign up for that night course on how to break into television writing...
This season is really good. Like, really really good. Like, I'm hardly nitpicking on anything and that's pretty much an amazing compliment coming from me. Sure there are still some flaws in the mythology that they just gloss over and the show rushes to get to some resolutions too quick for my liking (like the manifestation of the seven deadly sins in the premier episode, I get that it was the dramatic introduction of Ruby but it seemed like they figured out what they were dealing with and cleaned that mess up in the last fifteen minutes of the episode and then that was that and those characters had so much potential... would it kill them to carry some storylines over a three episode arc every once in a while?) but overall the writing is better, the jokes are funnier, the plots are more riveting and Jensen and Jared are really smoldering up the screen with some superior acting abilities.
Firstly, OMG JENSEN! Holy hell! Dude is just on fire this season. The rabbit's foot episode? The creepy succubus kids episode? He's just doing a really good job making Dean seem like he's shrugging off his death sentence when really he's angry and scared and generally being how anyone would be if they've been given an expiration date. Watching him trying to keep his head together while struggling to still give a damn AND look after his brother is just gut wrenching and heartbreaking and mind-meltingly hot all at the same time. It's really a disjointed stew of emotions he's causing in me but really, he can do anything he wants to me and I would not complain. Not one bit.
Padelecki's doing pretty alright this season too, despite still being freakishly tall. He knows he's got to "man up" which means that he's whining less... though there were a few awkward episodes there where Sam was just harping on Dean to talk about his feelings and what not and then when Dean FINALLY starts talking about it, telling Sam that he's scared and that he doesn't want to die, all Sam has to say is "alright, we'll work on it." Uh, that's it?!?! Really?!?! What happened to "I want you to give a damn, Dean!" Other than that I got no beef with him. I did think it was mildly preposterous that he was able to kill vampire!Gordon with a bit of barbed wire and his bare hands.
Let's move on to the ladies, a hot topic of conversation in the SPN-verse. This season introduces Ruby, an ex-witch demon with the penchant for showing up just in time to save some Winchester butt and Bella, a thief/con artist who is basically the female version of Dean without the altruism. Compared to the last two seasons, these ladies a vast improvement over what we've been given preciously. I'm not saying that SPN has fixed their little problem of not being able to write for strong ladies because they so have not (both Bella and Ruby have yet to be fleshed out beyond rote two-dimensional characters) but I'm seeing effort to turn it around, like everything else they've made an effort with this season. Ruby is ok, she's not really around enough for me to find too many flaws in the little of her that they've shown us and the girl who is playing Ruby is getting steadily better in acting like a bad ass demon who still has a shred of humanity in her. Bella, I'll have to say, it took me a while to warm up to her. She's got that accent that may or may not be fake and that weird snaggletooth that is totally distracting when she talks... and she's constantly glowering when, frankly, I feel she's got nothing to glower about. Plus the hints they've given us about her back story are pretty weak. So she killed a member of her family, this season revealed that Bobby killed his wife when she was possessed and that's how he became a hunter. THAT was a well-done back story and the actor who plays Bobby was likewise brilliant in that episode. I do have to hand it to Bella, she got Dean in a tux and that was the moment I agreed to give her a chance and at least overlook the snaggletooth.
So what's going to happen next? They left it by introducing us to the big bad demon that wants to take over the planet and rid it of the scourge that is humanity, Lilly. Really, SPN casting director, that little girl was the best you could find? She was not even the least bit creepy, nor was I even thrown by the "twist" of the demon being a little girl. Eh. The bottom line here is that Dean's most likely not going to die (though, and I know I've pointed this out before, Buffy died several times so it is possible to come back from that and I would like to see SPN follow through on SOMETHING at least once). I think Sam should die instead. I mean, we had two or three episodes this season where other characters were trying to make Sam and Dean see the destructive pattern that they are caught in where they are perpetually sacrificing themselves for one another, and since they're men they are clearly not going to learn, let's keep it in that vein. Maybe Sam makes a deal with Lily and Dean is spared but Sam is cooked and then season four Dean brings Sam back and the cycle can repeat itself. It would be like some perverse game of round-robin until the show gets cancelled and at that point they can just kill everyone off.
Perhaps I should stick to my day job and not sign up for that night course on how to break into television writing...