Supernatural ramblings, part 2 -- (tl:dr)
Part one of my SPN ramblings can be found here.
One of my favorite things about SPN was the trouble brother.
Each season had what I started calling problem brother or trouble brother. Figuring out who the trouble brother was became probably the wrong kind of fun, but it kept me amused. One Winchester would have some kind of problem, sometimes revealed early in the season, sometimes it didn’t show up till later, but whatever it was - weird powers, sold his soul, drank too much demon blood (gross), etc etc - it usually became the entire point of the season.
Castiel occasionally took the burden off the brothers for a bit, but he's like disaster angel every season, so I'm not sure if he's really helping or not lol.
It went something like this:
Apocalypse the First
Season One: John Winchester starts things off, taking the first turn as problem father. He's missing, and they gotta find him. JDM is hilariously young to be either Dean or Sam's dad but who cares. There are ghosts! One that explodes eyeballs. Gross. And another one that is Mary Winchester, which is weird. And vampires. And a bug episode. There's always a bug episode in these kinds of shows. Why? No one knows. Dean suddenly has a weak heart but it's okay, a Reaper fixes him. I'm ignoring the first Meg. Dean is good with kids. It's too bad no one has those anti-possession tattoos yet. The brothers make a lot of funny expressions and it makes me fond. I do appreciate all the ghost stories in season one. The episode that fully engages me is The Benders, because I liked that there were no fake monsters, just real ones. Favorite Episodes: The Benders, Faith, Hell House. I'm going to ignore the camera operator stepping into frame in Hell House haha.
Season Two: Sam is next as trouble brother, developing weird powers. John really starts his sons down a particular path by selling his soul to save Dean. There's a Bobby, an Ash, an Ellen, and a Jo. I try to like Ash and Ellen. Jo and Dean should have had sex and then agreed to be just friends. There are clowns! And brother angst because of John and his secrets. I enjoy the hollywood episode immensely. Anyone who's ever tried to have a conversation with someone on headset on a film set knows. haha. I feel for Sam and Dean this season. They have no idea what's happening, and do not have any of the tools they later develop to deal with it. They find the other YED kids and then have YED Hunger Games. There's a surprise Aldis Hodge! Sam dies. But it's (not) okay because Dean sells his soul to get him back. Boo. Not like that was manipulated out of him or anything. And then the gates of hell are opened. Oops! Favorite episodes: No Exit, Crossroad Blues, Tall Tales, Hollywood Babylon.
Season Three: Dean takes a turn as trouble brother. He sold his soul to save Sam, and now he's got a hellhound after him. There's a lot of, "Dean, what have you done?!" happening. A creepy little kid named Lilith is on their tail. Actually, there is a lot of creepy kids. I'm ignoring Ruby. In these early seasons, demons mostly possess hot girls and I'm not into it. Lisa Braeden is way too good for Dean, but that's totally his kid. It's only my fondness for Sterling K. Brown that allows me to tolerate Gordon Walker. I don't like Bella much, but her back story is tragic. Agent Henrickson is killed for no reason. I love the stupid Ghostfacers. Did Mystery Spot have to go so dark wtf? Dean's desperate cries for Sam when he's in hell are really uncalled for! My job is totally responsible for the short season, whoops. Favorite episodes: Ghostfacers, Jus in Bello despite Agent Henrickson's being killed, Red Sky at Morning (ghost ship!)
Season Four: Sam's turn again as trouble brother. Obviously, he's not doing well after losing Dean. He's drinking demon blood (gross) and sleeping with Ruby. That demon blood must be doing something because Sam is suddenly huge this season. Dean is back, saved by a handsome Angel of the Lord. There's a lot of burned-out eyes from now on. Suddenly there's time travel! Young John Winchester is ridiculously handsome wtf. Dean is kind of gross this whole season, but then I loved him a lot in Family Remains when he psyches himself up to go into the creepy crawl spaces of that house. How do those feral kids know how to spell and use "too" correctly? There is needless torture (could be said for the entire series). Chuck makes me laugh. "Obviously I’m God," HAHAHHA. "That sounds…moist." You know, if anyone had been thinking properly they would have asked Chuck how he didn't recognize Sam and Dean at his door if he's been having visions of them and wrote all those books. I'm ignoring Anna. My question is, did she ask permission of the dying fetus before taking it as a vessel? Angels apparently really love to wear suits. There are seals. Many break. Then Lucy is set free. Boo. Favorite episodes: Family Remains, The Rapture (tiny Claire!).
Season Five: Both Sam and Dean take turns as trouble brother. First it's Dean since he's the Michael sword, then it's Sam as the Lucifer vessel. That's not prophetic at all. They're suddenly on a plane. Castiel explodes all over Chuck but never fear he is reassembled. There's a zombie apocalypse! Sort of. Chuck sees into the future (naturally) and told everyone to hoard toilet paper. There's a fan convention and I think I'm supposed to be insulted by it? but it mostly just made me laugh? Also ghosts! Becky's actress is from that film Ginger Snaps which I loved. I'm with Dean -- a salad shake sounds vile wtf. More time travel! "Six degrees of Heaven Bacon," hahaha. We get a Jody! <3 There's a ton of brother angst. :/ It's their first apocalypse, they’re allowed to be freaked. Bobby's great. Pestilance is the grossest Horseman ew. My boyfriend Death shows up and he and Dean go on a pizza date. They even exchange rings. I know the lead up to the apocalypse is supposed to be bad but it looked like some bad weather and a lot of traffic to me. Loki is Gabriel is Loki…I don't know. There's an attempt to make the show less judeo-christian but I don't think it worked very well. Everything goes down in a random graveyard. Baby saves the day. But Sam goes into the cage. Boooo. Chuck pats himself on the back and then vanishes because he goes on vacation or something. Favorite episodes: Free to be You and Me, The End, Changing Channels, The Real Ghostbusters, Two Minutes to Midnight.
Apocalypse 1.5: The Middling Years
Season Six: Soulless Sam is the trouble brother because he's soulless. At least he's not drinking demon blood anymore. I love Lisa and Dean, no matter how it ended. There's a Two Men and a Baby episode! Castiel is busy fighting a war and is very grumpy about it. He has secrets. He’s in cahoots. Bobby makes the brothers fly all the way to Scotland! Do they have passports? Samuel is HORRIBLE. He is the worst grandfather EVER. I'm relieved that Mary never reunited with her father yikes. The term "Angel cavity search" is used. Castiel can also reach into your chest and touch your soul. It's not as sexy as it sounds. Fairies are real. Dean said, "Nipples?" and then exploded one in a microwave haha. My boyfriend Death returns to make Dean go to work for him before he fixes Sam. There's a Jody somewhere in this season. I loved everything about The French Mistake. More time travel! This time into the old west. Listen - there is no way Sam's shirt would be that white after riding horseback for 20 miles. You wouldn't be able to see the color of his skin because he'd be covered in dirt. Dean is mean to Castiel but it's okay because it's cute and tells him he’s a "baby in a trench coat." I kind of like Eve, tbh, I’m on her side. Though what the hell is she lol. Castiel has a moment of doubt, then he swallows a lot of monsters and becomes God for half a day because that's what you do on SPN. War with Rafael is averted, and another apocalypse is stopped before it really began. Favorite episodes: Appointment in Samara, The French Mistake, My Heart Will Go On, Frontierland.
Season Seven: Sam and Castiel trade off as trouble brother this season, but Sam's mental state is star player. I get treated to my boyfriend Death being snide, looking offended, and saying, "what I see is a mutating angel." Honestly, Castiel doesn't do that bad as God. "He was young and…sexy." Hahaha. But I don't like it when he melts. Dean kills a poor monster mom. I laugh each time someone says Big Mouth. More Jody! Never enough of Jody. She and Bobby are cute and awkward. The phrase, "You're a virile manifestation of the divine," is used. Surprise Leslie Odom Jr is a surprise! The less said about Sam's brief marriage the better. Bobby dies. It’s very sad, but an excellent episode. Losing the their surrogate dad is tough, but it's sort of okay because he comes back as a ghost for a bit. More time travel! With Krychek! Dean is very handsome in his period costume. Ness: "Hunting is the only clarity you're going to find in this world." Huh. There are more clowns. But there's also a unicorn farting rainbows so it's not all bad. Repo Man is unnerving and a foreshadowing of Nick in S14. The library patrons banging their head on the table is extreme. As much as it ouches me, the decline of Sam's fragile mental state throughout the season is done chillingly well, kudos to Jared. Even on the brink of mental collapse, Sam helps a girl bedeviled by her brother's ghost. Castiel returns as Emmanuel. He's married but no one ever mentions his wife ever again. Best forget her I guess. But we love a good amnesia story, amirite? Meg makes me laugh. The phrase, "I Garthed her," is used. Garth is sweet though. Dean decides he's a ballerina. I am very disappointed that we do not get to see Castiel naked covered in bees. They explode the Dick guy with a holy bone, and then Dean and Castiel are forced to go camping for a year. The Big Mouth's plan to unleash corn syrup on everyone is foiled, thank goodness. No leviathan apocalypse for us. Favorite episodes: Meet the New Boss, Death's Door, Time After Time, Repo Man, The Born-Again Identity, The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo.
Apocalypse 3: God has a Sister
Season Eight: This is the season of flashbacks. Dean returns as trouble brother because he was stuck in purgatory and he's angry about it. Purgatory looks like a lovely vacation spot with good hiking. He's also sad he lost his angel. No matter. A manipulative angel named Naomi finds Castiel for him, but she's Amanda Tapping so it's okay. How dare she brainwash Castiel! No cookie for her. There's a tragic but loyal Cajun vampire named Benny. There is Brother Tension about Benny and Sam's year with a dog and a girlfriend. But Sam's girlfriend has a husband and it's all very flashbacky. Also Kevin Tran appears but he's so ill used by everyone for all seasons he appears in that I get very upset about it. Their other grandfather pops out of a closet! Establishing that you can travel forward in time as well as backward. He brings the joy of Abaddon with him. And also gives his grandsons a bunker. It's very cool and has excellent WiFi. As grandfathers go, he's way better than Samuel. At one point, Dean predicts the end of SPN. The less said about the Man's Best Friend with Benefits episode the better. Is this the season where Castiel had to kill hundreds of Deans? But then couldn't kill him for real? And Dean's got a busted face begging Castiel to stop? But he tells Castiel he is family? I think that was a fever dream. There is apparently a soul coyote. After all that work Castiel and Crowley did to find the door to purgatory, they could have just asked the reaper Crowley kept on payroll. In a hell that's got to house billions of souls, Sam finds Bobby in like 5 minutes. Nice. Benny saves the day. <3 Honestly he broke my heart. Sam almost cures Crowley but Dean stops him so he doesn't die, and I don’t blame him because closing the gates to hell is a dumb reason to die. I was ignoring Metatron. He and Castiel kill a nephilim. Then all the angels fall to earth. D'oh. I count this as step one toward the next apocalypse. Favorite episodes: Trial and Error, Taxi Driver, LARP and the Real Girl, Pac Man Fever
Season Nine: Sam is very sick and dying so he's front and center as trouble brother for the season. Sam's possessed by an angel that does't use contractions and walks stiffly. Angels angels everywhere. Castle is very cute as a human. "I'm going to fall asleep now. It's quite a process." He's right, lol. "Do you ever get tired of urinating?" Honestly dude, yes, it's so much work. He has sex though so I guess it's not all bad, though he did die briefly. It's lovely getting to see him wear normal clothes. SPN insults me by having a Wizard of Oz episode. It was horrible. Leslie Jordan guest stars as a yorkie. There's an episode about Ragnarok but it's nothing like the MCU. There's more brother angst because of the angel possession and tricking Sam into it. Cain is very handsome! Such luxurious hair. Dean hates himself a lot this season and it only gets worse when he takes the mark. He does his thing where he makes a hasty decision and then regrets it for a season and a half later. "Nobody hates you as much as you do." Crowley, serving up truths. We get a Donna! I start using "Oofta!" as an expression. There's a Metatron but I'm ignoring him. SPN has no business quoting Murial Rukeyser wtf. Jody gathers the first of her wayward flock. Do people realize that by letting the serpent into the garden, Gadreel is sort of the father of free will? The mark makes Dean very agro and grrrr and then Metatron kills him. But it's (not) okay because he wakes up with demon eyes. Favorite episodes: Dog Dean Afternoon (it made me laugh a lot), Heaven Can't Wait, Bad Boys, #thinman.
Season Ten (favorite season): Dean is the trouble brother with the Mark of Cain. Demon Dean turns into that one gross guy at the bar that we all know and hate. Everything about Sam in the first few episodes of S10 absolutely kill me. He's physically tortured, he's walking around with a broken arm, he's on his own trying to find Dean, he won't give up on his brother, and then he goes through the hell of fixing him. It's too much. Castiel takes the longest slowest road trip to the bunker to help fix Dean. Fan Fiction is absolutely delightful AND it has a surprise Chuck! "A single man tear!" hahahhahaha. Everything about this episode is priceless, including using "Cut!" and "Back to one!" which are used in TV production not theatre. Listen - just a few weeks before the pandemic I went to see a musical stage production put on by an all girls private school and it was exactly like this episode down to the hilarious wigs (minus the god monster of course.) "The B.M. scene." *wheezes with laughter*. They finally stop saying "gank." We get a Rowena, a Donna, a Jody, AND a Claire! I have a huge soft spot for Dean + Claire scenes. SPN insults me again with an even worse Oz episode. Sam gets to hang out with a teen Dean. "I got no grass in the infield!" hahahaha. "It’s up, it’s down, it’s up." *snort* The phrase, "The Bobbys are surly. I repeat, the Bobbys are surly," is used. Charlie dies. It's sad. The redheads get the mark off Dean though. The season ends with Dean killing Death (BOOOO!) and then the darkness is unleashed and it's a better apocalypse than the first one. Visually very satisfying! Favorite episodes: Reichenbach (because of Sam), Fan Fiction, Ask Jeeves ("Gray Gardens cleared" hahaha), Girls Girls Girls (Rowena!), Hibbing 911 (Donna and Jody!), The Things Left Behind (Claire!), Hunter Games, About a Boy, The Werther Project, Angel Heart.
Season Eleven (favorite season): The boys take a break from being trouble brother and let Castiel handle that by agreeing to let Lucy in. Amara is on the loose and she's Hungry. Crowley has a swingers party which is both gross and hilarious. Billie appears! Baby has the best episode of the entire season and possibly the entire series. "Don't 'night moves' me." Baby is also the first (and one of the very few) episodes that doesn't start from the POV of the monster/ghost/victim. There's a Right Said Fred episode. I wrote the words "too punchy punchy" in my notes but I'm not sure what for. All of it I assume lol. Misha as Castiel as Lucifer as Castiel again is pretty fucking funny. Eileen appears! I have a thing for Dean/Mildred. There's a Donna and a Jody and a Claire! We return to time travel and it's WW2 in a submarine. I'm amused that Lucy just gives up on the whole trying to be Castiel charade. Serious question: where does the ambient light come from in their bunker bedrooms? The word "shimself" is used and it's best forgotten forever. Red Meat was STRESSFUL WTF. Chuck returns and he's extra squirrely. I know you can't trust a word he says but I love his scenes with Dean. "I've never seen so much porn…in one place…." HAHAHAHA. Also, I love the 'God is an unwanted house guest who doesn’t wear pants and won't leave' sitcom idea. 10/10 would watch. But seriously Chuck is lying left right and center. I don't really buy that's he’s dying tbh. Amara does us all a favor and rips Lucy out of Castiel. Dean agrees to be a bomb because that's just what Dean does. Sam's expression because he made it so he can't talk Dean out of being the bomb is A++. Then he gets kidnapped! Amara proves she has major insight by resurrecting Mary Winchester. Chuck and Amara patch things up and then vamoosh. Favorite episodes: Out of the Darkness Into the Fire, Baby, Thin Lizzie, Plush (Donna!), Just My Imagination, Into the Mystic, Don't Forget About Me, The Vessel, Red Meat, The Chitters, Don't Call Me Shurley, All in the Family.
Apocalypse 4: Rapturing
Season Twelve (favorite season): Mary takes her turn as trouble mother. Nice. I love Mary. I love everything about her. It's not easy being resurrected after being burned alive pinned to a ceiling then realizing your boys were doomed because of that one dumb deal you made. The British Men of Letters are a thing now. They are a sadistic lot. To be British on SPN you have to drink tea constantly from small white teacups. Someone named Ketchup shows up and is a nuisance for the remainder of the series. Technically Mary is only 28 years old but we'll let that slide because Samantha is awesome. I really really wanted Mary to join Jody and the wayward sisters. Each time Rick Springfield is on screen I sing Jesse's Girl. That's required, right? But then he's dumped for the President. Kelly Kline, I am so so sorry. The boys are locked away in a government black site but Billie kills them to get them out and then gets killed by Castiel for her trouble. That's okay, she gets her revenge. There's a creepy stalker implied rapist angel wtf. Stuck In The Middle With You is an excellent excellent episode and makes me an instant fan of writer Davy Perez. The less said about Mary and Ketchup the better. (I have to stop again and tell you how much I love Mary - the depiction of her particular depression, complex and real. The way Sam and Dean try to understand and fail and how it all hurts, and there are no easy or hard answers. It's some subtlety of writing, acting, and emotion from all 3 of them that I would never have expected from a show like SPN.) Claire gets bitten! But it's okay because she goes home to Jody after. For an organization that knows there's a literal hell the British MOL are very evil. There's a mixtape hand off between Castiel and Dean, a metaphor for broken hearts and resentment. A nephilim is on its way and everyone is very worried! Castiel makes a sweet baby daddy. I wish the Princes of Hell each had different colored eyes, like fuchsia and tangerine and maybe beige. I don't hate Crowley anymore, especially when Sam thanks him and Crowley has this look on his face, and then when he admits he hates being king of hell. Well duh, we could have told you that. Sam is a badass taking down the British MOL, while Dean saves Mary. I want to hug all of them. The end of this season is a gut punch: Rowena and Crowely dead, Mary stuck with Lucy in the apocalypse world, Castiel is dead again, Jack is full-grown and has glowy eyes. But it was very satisfying seeing Mary punch Lucifer. Favorite episodes: Keep Calm & Carry On, Mamma Mia, The Foundry, Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox, Regarding Dean (Dean + bunny rabbit! lol Rowena to the rescue!), Stuck in the Middle With You, Raid, Ladies Drink Free, The Future, Who We Are.
Season Thirteen: Now we are in the age of trouble brother Jack for all remaining seasons. Which is good because it was getting exhausting for Sam and Dean. I love Jack. I was like, okay Jack, hurry up and become Super God already. He starts off well waking Castiel. But it takes 4 excruciating episodes for Castiel to be brought back to life. Dean’s heartbreak is unbearable. I am treated to my favorite Castiel moment, when he wakes up in a field and lifts his face up to the sun. There's a Patience! The Wayward Sisters, the pilot that could have been. Tombstone is another Davy Perez episode. This is also where Sam and Dean carry dry cleaned FBI suits! Dean is a happy Dean again, embarrassing Castiel by making him wear a cowboy hat. Also, "He’s an angry sleeper. Like a bear." Hahahaha. There are many alternate worlds now. I can't get enough of Donna! Lovespell Dean makes me laugh. "It's GORGEOUS outside!" Yay, Rowena is back. I unapologetically love Sam/Rowena. Amanda Tapping is hot in her pixie haircut, and reveals a pretty grim future for heaven. Speaking of Heaven, it looks like an apple store now and eveyone wears gray. The whole Sister Jo/Lucifer thing makes me want to hurl. I am vastly disappointed in SPN's version of Slepinir. Where are his eight legs?? Why is he wearing weird suits???? But then he ate a carrot and I nearly died. The phrase, "Jet fuel of divine emissions" is used. Why is AltCastiel a nazi? AltMichael is a worse dick than OG Michael. Gabriel is the only other decent angel besides Castiel (and poor Alfie.) Sam saved a lot of people from apocalypse world and I love him for it. Lucy takes Jack's grace. Dick move. Dean does something impulsive again, lets Alt Michael in, and then is forced to be an extra in Peaky Blinders. But Lucy's dead for a bit so yay. Favorite episodes: The Big Empty, Advanced Thanatology, Tombstone, The Scorpian and the Frog, Breakdown, Various and Sundry Villains, Funerella.
Season Fourteen: Trouble brother Jack can't live without his grace, but then he loses his soul. :( Congratulations to Mark Pellegrino for somehow being more disturbing as Nick than as Lucifer, the literal Devil. AltMichael has Chuck figured out more than anyone else. Dean tries to lock Michael away in his brain wtf. There is a fly monster with a very dramatic fashion sense and top millinery skills. Jack dies! But it's okay, he gets to burn away his soul to live again. Of all the deals made to save a loved one from death, Castiel's has the most poetic torture. Dean is in full self-sacrificing mode intending to lock himself in a ma'lak box. (Strong opinion here but how they keep wanting to put immortal beings in cages is horrific. No one deserves to be put in a box for eternity. Not even Lucifer deserved that imo. That is the weak solution. The fact that Dean tries with Jack breaks my heart. At least humans get to die if we're caged forever. It obviously never works on SPN because it can't.) I LOL'd at Sam's TED talk. Ouroborus steps into Hannibal territory, and then Dean's brain is battered and Michael escapes, kills a lot of people, and Jack burns the rest of his soul away to kill him. A full powered, soulless Jack breaks the world and it's kind of awesome. Except for the part where he killed Mary. I was expecting it but it still sucked. Chuck appears and he's like Surprise! I’m terrible! He tries to get Dean to kill Jack but though Dean is emotionally compromised, he won't do that. Not in cold blood, with Jack on his knees. Chuck makes a fatal error (or an error on purpose) when he tries to use Mary to manipulate Dean. But Mary is Dean's hero so it doesn't work. *sob* Sam shoots God because that's a great idea, Chuck snaps his fingers, kills Jack, then lets all the ghosts go free (which ngl I loved lol), and there is mass chaos. Favorite episodes: The Scar, Mint Condition, Optimism, Unhuman Nature, Nihilism, Damaged Goods, Lebanon, Ouroborus, Moriah.
Season Fifteen (finally): Jack gets a promotion from trouble brother to trouble God. Way to go, kid! I knew you could do it. You'll make a better God. Felt bad for Castiel having to deal with Belphegor but I found him very entertaining. I didn’t like Rowena dying but I loved the Sam/Rowena-ness of it all, and then she gets to be Queen of Hell! Chuck is being Really Obvious, probably on purpose. Actually, that he brings Lilith back fascinates me. I mean, I always thought Lilith was God's first (non angel) child. Wasn't she married to Adam? I forget my scripture. Speaking of Adam, apparently he's been alive all this time, and so has Cain, wtf. So many twisted fathers and sons on SPN! "God is in everything. At least he should be." Thank you, Adam, you summed that up nicely. Jack has to swallow the golden snitch from Harry Potter and he'll be a real boy again. They keep saying Chuck has no powers in the Empty but he keeps bringing people back from the Empty. Meanwhile, Sam and Dean are revealed to be the Messengers of God's Destruction or something. Eileen is back! There's a surprise Christian Kane, and he makes Dean sing. Dean and Castiel have a couples therapy vacation to purgatory for a quick hike in the wilderness and Dean finally forgives him and it's very emotional. There is Praying. Wish Castiel hadn't stopped Dean from speaking to him face to face about it. Billie's plan for Jack to sacrifice himself is just another version of Chuck's plan, though she did save Jack from the Empty twice so thanks. There is a lot going on in the final few episodes, but Castiel saying, "diD yOU cOnsuME yOur sISTeR?" to Chuck really undid me. Then, there is Despair, which caused major ripples across the multiverse because it sent our world all a-tumble. You know, I love Chuck. So I loved the final showdown. And then, there's Carry On. We get a barn scene, and Jack and Castiel fixed heaven. I love that Dean fulfilled what he thought was his purpose in life, and I loved that Sam got to take that gift and got to live it and love it as best he could. Ultimately time is meaningless, and then there's eternity. Favorite episodes: Atomic Monsters, Golden Time, The Trap, The Gamblers, Galaxy Brain (because it has Jody meeting Castiel), Gimme Shelter, Unity, the final 3 episodes together. (for a season that I thought was pretty uneven, I liked a lot of episodes).
We're never told, but I believe Jack brought back all the alt worlds, and I believe he or Castiel brought Kevin's soul to heaven, and I believe they restored Becky and her family, and I believe they allowed Eileen's soul to be clean of hell so when she dies again she can be reunited with Sam in heaven. And personally, I hope that a change was made so that those who are turned into "monsters" but remain good (by some definition of good) do not get stuck in purgatory (or the Empty). Like Benny. And several others whose names I can't remember. I'd love Benny to get a change to be rewarded for his loyalty to Dean.
My last bit of SPN nonsense will be posted tomorrow. Dreamwidth Post |
One of my favorite things about SPN was the trouble brother.
Each season had what I started calling problem brother or trouble brother. Figuring out who the trouble brother was became probably the wrong kind of fun, but it kept me amused. One Winchester would have some kind of problem, sometimes revealed early in the season, sometimes it didn’t show up till later, but whatever it was - weird powers, sold his soul, drank too much demon blood (gross), etc etc - it usually became the entire point of the season.
Castiel occasionally took the burden off the brothers for a bit, but he's like disaster angel every season, so I'm not sure if he's really helping or not lol.
It went something like this:
Apocalypse the First
Season One: John Winchester starts things off, taking the first turn as problem father. He's missing, and they gotta find him. JDM is hilariously young to be either Dean or Sam's dad but who cares. There are ghosts! One that explodes eyeballs. Gross. And another one that is Mary Winchester, which is weird. And vampires. And a bug episode. There's always a bug episode in these kinds of shows. Why? No one knows. Dean suddenly has a weak heart but it's okay, a Reaper fixes him. I'm ignoring the first Meg. Dean is good with kids. It's too bad no one has those anti-possession tattoos yet. The brothers make a lot of funny expressions and it makes me fond. I do appreciate all the ghost stories in season one. The episode that fully engages me is The Benders, because I liked that there were no fake monsters, just real ones. Favorite Episodes: The Benders, Faith, Hell House. I'm going to ignore the camera operator stepping into frame in Hell House haha.
Season Two: Sam is next as trouble brother, developing weird powers. John really starts his sons down a particular path by selling his soul to save Dean. There's a Bobby, an Ash, an Ellen, and a Jo. I try to like Ash and Ellen. Jo and Dean should have had sex and then agreed to be just friends. There are clowns! And brother angst because of John and his secrets. I enjoy the hollywood episode immensely. Anyone who's ever tried to have a conversation with someone on headset on a film set knows. haha. I feel for Sam and Dean this season. They have no idea what's happening, and do not have any of the tools they later develop to deal with it. They find the other YED kids and then have YED Hunger Games. There's a surprise Aldis Hodge! Sam dies. But it's (not) okay because Dean sells his soul to get him back. Boo. Not like that was manipulated out of him or anything. And then the gates of hell are opened. Oops! Favorite episodes: No Exit, Crossroad Blues, Tall Tales, Hollywood Babylon.
Season Three: Dean takes a turn as trouble brother. He sold his soul to save Sam, and now he's got a hellhound after him. There's a lot of, "Dean, what have you done?!" happening. A creepy little kid named Lilith is on their tail. Actually, there is a lot of creepy kids. I'm ignoring Ruby. In these early seasons, demons mostly possess hot girls and I'm not into it. Lisa Braeden is way too good for Dean, but that's totally his kid. It's only my fondness for Sterling K. Brown that allows me to tolerate Gordon Walker. I don't like Bella much, but her back story is tragic. Agent Henrickson is killed for no reason. I love the stupid Ghostfacers. Did Mystery Spot have to go so dark wtf? Dean's desperate cries for Sam when he's in hell are really uncalled for! My job is totally responsible for the short season, whoops. Favorite episodes: Ghostfacers, Jus in Bello despite Agent Henrickson's being killed, Red Sky at Morning (ghost ship!)
Season Four: Sam's turn again as trouble brother. Obviously, he's not doing well after losing Dean. He's drinking demon blood (gross) and sleeping with Ruby. That demon blood must be doing something because Sam is suddenly huge this season. Dean is back, saved by a handsome Angel of the Lord. There's a lot of burned-out eyes from now on. Suddenly there's time travel! Young John Winchester is ridiculously handsome wtf. Dean is kind of gross this whole season, but then I loved him a lot in Family Remains when he psyches himself up to go into the creepy crawl spaces of that house. How do those feral kids know how to spell and use "too" correctly? There is needless torture (could be said for the entire series). Chuck makes me laugh. "Obviously I’m God," HAHAHHA. "That sounds…moist." You know, if anyone had been thinking properly they would have asked Chuck how he didn't recognize Sam and Dean at his door if he's been having visions of them and wrote all those books. I'm ignoring Anna. My question is, did she ask permission of the dying fetus before taking it as a vessel? Angels apparently really love to wear suits. There are seals. Many break. Then Lucy is set free. Boo. Favorite episodes: Family Remains, The Rapture (tiny Claire!).
Season Five: Both Sam and Dean take turns as trouble brother. First it's Dean since he's the Michael sword, then it's Sam as the Lucifer vessel. That's not prophetic at all. They're suddenly on a plane. Castiel explodes all over Chuck but never fear he is reassembled. There's a zombie apocalypse! Sort of. Chuck sees into the future (naturally) and told everyone to hoard toilet paper. There's a fan convention and I think I'm supposed to be insulted by it? but it mostly just made me laugh? Also ghosts! Becky's actress is from that film Ginger Snaps which I loved. I'm with Dean -- a salad shake sounds vile wtf. More time travel! "Six degrees of Heaven Bacon," hahaha. We get a Jody! <3 There's a ton of brother angst. :/ It's their first apocalypse, they’re allowed to be freaked. Bobby's great. Pestilance is the grossest Horseman ew. My boyfriend Death shows up and he and Dean go on a pizza date. They even exchange rings. I know the lead up to the apocalypse is supposed to be bad but it looked like some bad weather and a lot of traffic to me. Loki is Gabriel is Loki…I don't know. There's an attempt to make the show less judeo-christian but I don't think it worked very well. Everything goes down in a random graveyard. Baby saves the day. But Sam goes into the cage. Boooo. Chuck pats himself on the back and then vanishes because he goes on vacation or something. Favorite episodes: Free to be You and Me, The End, Changing Channels, The Real Ghostbusters, Two Minutes to Midnight.
Apocalypse 1.5: The Middling Years
Season Six: Soulless Sam is the trouble brother because he's soulless. At least he's not drinking demon blood anymore. I love Lisa and Dean, no matter how it ended. There's a Two Men and a Baby episode! Castiel is busy fighting a war and is very grumpy about it. He has secrets. He’s in cahoots. Bobby makes the brothers fly all the way to Scotland! Do they have passports? Samuel is HORRIBLE. He is the worst grandfather EVER. I'm relieved that Mary never reunited with her father yikes. The term "Angel cavity search" is used. Castiel can also reach into your chest and touch your soul. It's not as sexy as it sounds. Fairies are real. Dean said, "Nipples?" and then exploded one in a microwave haha. My boyfriend Death returns to make Dean go to work for him before he fixes Sam. There's a Jody somewhere in this season. I loved everything about The French Mistake. More time travel! This time into the old west. Listen - there is no way Sam's shirt would be that white after riding horseback for 20 miles. You wouldn't be able to see the color of his skin because he'd be covered in dirt. Dean is mean to Castiel but it's okay because it's cute and tells him he’s a "baby in a trench coat." I kind of like Eve, tbh, I’m on her side. Though what the hell is she lol. Castiel has a moment of doubt, then he swallows a lot of monsters and becomes God for half a day because that's what you do on SPN. War with Rafael is averted, and another apocalypse is stopped before it really began. Favorite episodes: Appointment in Samara, The French Mistake, My Heart Will Go On, Frontierland.
Season Seven: Sam and Castiel trade off as trouble brother this season, but Sam's mental state is star player. I get treated to my boyfriend Death being snide, looking offended, and saying, "what I see is a mutating angel." Honestly, Castiel doesn't do that bad as God. "He was young and…sexy." Hahaha. But I don't like it when he melts. Dean kills a poor monster mom. I laugh each time someone says Big Mouth. More Jody! Never enough of Jody. She and Bobby are cute and awkward. The phrase, "You're a virile manifestation of the divine," is used. Surprise Leslie Odom Jr is a surprise! The less said about Sam's brief marriage the better. Bobby dies. It’s very sad, but an excellent episode. Losing the their surrogate dad is tough, but it's sort of okay because he comes back as a ghost for a bit. More time travel! With Krychek! Dean is very handsome in his period costume. Ness: "Hunting is the only clarity you're going to find in this world." Huh. There are more clowns. But there's also a unicorn farting rainbows so it's not all bad. Repo Man is unnerving and a foreshadowing of Nick in S14. The library patrons banging their head on the table is extreme. As much as it ouches me, the decline of Sam's fragile mental state throughout the season is done chillingly well, kudos to Jared. Even on the brink of mental collapse, Sam helps a girl bedeviled by her brother's ghost. Castiel returns as Emmanuel. He's married but no one ever mentions his wife ever again. Best forget her I guess. But we love a good amnesia story, amirite? Meg makes me laugh. The phrase, "I Garthed her," is used. Garth is sweet though. Dean decides he's a ballerina. I am very disappointed that we do not get to see Castiel naked covered in bees. They explode the Dick guy with a holy bone, and then Dean and Castiel are forced to go camping for a year. The Big Mouth's plan to unleash corn syrup on everyone is foiled, thank goodness. No leviathan apocalypse for us. Favorite episodes: Meet the New Boss, Death's Door, Time After Time, Repo Man, The Born-Again Identity, The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo.
Apocalypse 3: God has a Sister
Season Eight: This is the season of flashbacks. Dean returns as trouble brother because he was stuck in purgatory and he's angry about it. Purgatory looks like a lovely vacation spot with good hiking. He's also sad he lost his angel. No matter. A manipulative angel named Naomi finds Castiel for him, but she's Amanda Tapping so it's okay. How dare she brainwash Castiel! No cookie for her. There's a tragic but loyal Cajun vampire named Benny. There is Brother Tension about Benny and Sam's year with a dog and a girlfriend. But Sam's girlfriend has a husband and it's all very flashbacky. Also Kevin Tran appears but he's so ill used by everyone for all seasons he appears in that I get very upset about it. Their other grandfather pops out of a closet! Establishing that you can travel forward in time as well as backward. He brings the joy of Abaddon with him. And also gives his grandsons a bunker. It's very cool and has excellent WiFi. As grandfathers go, he's way better than Samuel. At one point, Dean predicts the end of SPN. The less said about the Man's Best Friend with Benefits episode the better. Is this the season where Castiel had to kill hundreds of Deans? But then couldn't kill him for real? And Dean's got a busted face begging Castiel to stop? But he tells Castiel he is family? I think that was a fever dream. There is apparently a soul coyote. After all that work Castiel and Crowley did to find the door to purgatory, they could have just asked the reaper Crowley kept on payroll. In a hell that's got to house billions of souls, Sam finds Bobby in like 5 minutes. Nice. Benny saves the day. <3 Honestly he broke my heart. Sam almost cures Crowley but Dean stops him so he doesn't die, and I don’t blame him because closing the gates to hell is a dumb reason to die. I was ignoring Metatron. He and Castiel kill a nephilim. Then all the angels fall to earth. D'oh. I count this as step one toward the next apocalypse. Favorite episodes: Trial and Error, Taxi Driver, LARP and the Real Girl, Pac Man Fever
Season Nine: Sam is very sick and dying so he's front and center as trouble brother for the season. Sam's possessed by an angel that does't use contractions and walks stiffly. Angels angels everywhere. Castle is very cute as a human. "I'm going to fall asleep now. It's quite a process." He's right, lol. "Do you ever get tired of urinating?" Honestly dude, yes, it's so much work. He has sex though so I guess it's not all bad, though he did die briefly. It's lovely getting to see him wear normal clothes. SPN insults me by having a Wizard of Oz episode. It was horrible. Leslie Jordan guest stars as a yorkie. There's an episode about Ragnarok but it's nothing like the MCU. There's more brother angst because of the angel possession and tricking Sam into it. Cain is very handsome! Such luxurious hair. Dean hates himself a lot this season and it only gets worse when he takes the mark. He does his thing where he makes a hasty decision and then regrets it for a season and a half later. "Nobody hates you as much as you do." Crowley, serving up truths. We get a Donna! I start using "Oofta!" as an expression. There's a Metatron but I'm ignoring him. SPN has no business quoting Murial Rukeyser wtf. Jody gathers the first of her wayward flock. Do people realize that by letting the serpent into the garden, Gadreel is sort of the father of free will? The mark makes Dean very agro and grrrr and then Metatron kills him. But it's (not) okay because he wakes up with demon eyes. Favorite episodes: Dog Dean Afternoon (it made me laugh a lot), Heaven Can't Wait, Bad Boys, #thinman.
Season Ten (favorite season): Dean is the trouble brother with the Mark of Cain. Demon Dean turns into that one gross guy at the bar that we all know and hate. Everything about Sam in the first few episodes of S10 absolutely kill me. He's physically tortured, he's walking around with a broken arm, he's on his own trying to find Dean, he won't give up on his brother, and then he goes through the hell of fixing him. It's too much. Castiel takes the longest slowest road trip to the bunker to help fix Dean. Fan Fiction is absolutely delightful AND it has a surprise Chuck! "A single man tear!" hahahhahaha. Everything about this episode is priceless, including using "Cut!" and "Back to one!" which are used in TV production not theatre. Listen - just a few weeks before the pandemic I went to see a musical stage production put on by an all girls private school and it was exactly like this episode down to the hilarious wigs (minus the god monster of course.) "The B.M. scene." *wheezes with laughter*. They finally stop saying "gank." We get a Rowena, a Donna, a Jody, AND a Claire! I have a huge soft spot for Dean + Claire scenes. SPN insults me again with an even worse Oz episode. Sam gets to hang out with a teen Dean. "I got no grass in the infield!" hahahaha. "It’s up, it’s down, it’s up." *snort* The phrase, "The Bobbys are surly. I repeat, the Bobbys are surly," is used. Charlie dies. It's sad. The redheads get the mark off Dean though. The season ends with Dean killing Death (BOOOO!) and then the darkness is unleashed and it's a better apocalypse than the first one. Visually very satisfying! Favorite episodes: Reichenbach (because of Sam), Fan Fiction, Ask Jeeves ("Gray Gardens cleared" hahaha), Girls Girls Girls (Rowena!), Hibbing 911 (Donna and Jody!), The Things Left Behind (Claire!), Hunter Games, About a Boy, The Werther Project, Angel Heart.
Season Eleven (favorite season): The boys take a break from being trouble brother and let Castiel handle that by agreeing to let Lucy in. Amara is on the loose and she's Hungry. Crowley has a swingers party which is both gross and hilarious. Billie appears! Baby has the best episode of the entire season and possibly the entire series. "Don't 'night moves' me." Baby is also the first (and one of the very few) episodes that doesn't start from the POV of the monster/ghost/victim. There's a Right Said Fred episode. I wrote the words "too punchy punchy" in my notes but I'm not sure what for. All of it I assume lol. Misha as Castiel as Lucifer as Castiel again is pretty fucking funny. Eileen appears! I have a thing for Dean/Mildred. There's a Donna and a Jody and a Claire! We return to time travel and it's WW2 in a submarine. I'm amused that Lucy just gives up on the whole trying to be Castiel charade. Serious question: where does the ambient light come from in their bunker bedrooms? The word "shimself" is used and it's best forgotten forever. Red Meat was STRESSFUL WTF. Chuck returns and he's extra squirrely. I know you can't trust a word he says but I love his scenes with Dean. "I've never seen so much porn…in one place…." HAHAHAHA. Also, I love the 'God is an unwanted house guest who doesn’t wear pants and won't leave' sitcom idea. 10/10 would watch. But seriously Chuck is lying left right and center. I don't really buy that's he’s dying tbh. Amara does us all a favor and rips Lucy out of Castiel. Dean agrees to be a bomb because that's just what Dean does. Sam's expression because he made it so he can't talk Dean out of being the bomb is A++. Then he gets kidnapped! Amara proves she has major insight by resurrecting Mary Winchester. Chuck and Amara patch things up and then vamoosh. Favorite episodes: Out of the Darkness Into the Fire, Baby, Thin Lizzie, Plush (Donna!), Just My Imagination, Into the Mystic, Don't Forget About Me, The Vessel, Red Meat, The Chitters, Don't Call Me Shurley, All in the Family.
Apocalypse 4: Rapturing
Season Twelve (favorite season): Mary takes her turn as trouble mother. Nice. I love Mary. I love everything about her. It's not easy being resurrected after being burned alive pinned to a ceiling then realizing your boys were doomed because of that one dumb deal you made. The British Men of Letters are a thing now. They are a sadistic lot. To be British on SPN you have to drink tea constantly from small white teacups. Someone named Ketchup shows up and is a nuisance for the remainder of the series. Technically Mary is only 28 years old but we'll let that slide because Samantha is awesome. I really really wanted Mary to join Jody and the wayward sisters. Each time Rick Springfield is on screen I sing Jesse's Girl. That's required, right? But then he's dumped for the President. Kelly Kline, I am so so sorry. The boys are locked away in a government black site but Billie kills them to get them out and then gets killed by Castiel for her trouble. That's okay, she gets her revenge. There's a creepy stalker implied rapist angel wtf. Stuck In The Middle With You is an excellent excellent episode and makes me an instant fan of writer Davy Perez. The less said about Mary and Ketchup the better. (I have to stop again and tell you how much I love Mary - the depiction of her particular depression, complex and real. The way Sam and Dean try to understand and fail and how it all hurts, and there are no easy or hard answers. It's some subtlety of writing, acting, and emotion from all 3 of them that I would never have expected from a show like SPN.) Claire gets bitten! But it's okay because she goes home to Jody after. For an organization that knows there's a literal hell the British MOL are very evil. There's a mixtape hand off between Castiel and Dean, a metaphor for broken hearts and resentment. A nephilim is on its way and everyone is very worried! Castiel makes a sweet baby daddy. I wish the Princes of Hell each had different colored eyes, like fuchsia and tangerine and maybe beige. I don't hate Crowley anymore, especially when Sam thanks him and Crowley has this look on his face, and then when he admits he hates being king of hell. Well duh, we could have told you that. Sam is a badass taking down the British MOL, while Dean saves Mary. I want to hug all of them. The end of this season is a gut punch: Rowena and Crowely dead, Mary stuck with Lucy in the apocalypse world, Castiel is dead again, Jack is full-grown and has glowy eyes. But it was very satisfying seeing Mary punch Lucifer. Favorite episodes: Keep Calm & Carry On, Mamma Mia, The Foundry, Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox, Regarding Dean (Dean + bunny rabbit! lol Rowena to the rescue!), Stuck in the Middle With You, Raid, Ladies Drink Free, The Future, Who We Are.
Season Thirteen: Now we are in the age of trouble brother Jack for all remaining seasons. Which is good because it was getting exhausting for Sam and Dean. I love Jack. I was like, okay Jack, hurry up and become Super God already. He starts off well waking Castiel. But it takes 4 excruciating episodes for Castiel to be brought back to life. Dean’s heartbreak is unbearable. I am treated to my favorite Castiel moment, when he wakes up in a field and lifts his face up to the sun. There's a Patience! The Wayward Sisters, the pilot that could have been. Tombstone is another Davy Perez episode. This is also where Sam and Dean carry dry cleaned FBI suits! Dean is a happy Dean again, embarrassing Castiel by making him wear a cowboy hat. Also, "He’s an angry sleeper. Like a bear." Hahahaha. There are many alternate worlds now. I can't get enough of Donna! Lovespell Dean makes me laugh. "It's GORGEOUS outside!" Yay, Rowena is back. I unapologetically love Sam/Rowena. Amanda Tapping is hot in her pixie haircut, and reveals a pretty grim future for heaven. Speaking of Heaven, it looks like an apple store now and eveyone wears gray. The whole Sister Jo/Lucifer thing makes me want to hurl. I am vastly disappointed in SPN's version of Slepinir. Where are his eight legs?? Why is he wearing weird suits???? But then he ate a carrot and I nearly died. The phrase, "Jet fuel of divine emissions" is used. Why is AltCastiel a nazi? AltMichael is a worse dick than OG Michael. Gabriel is the only other decent angel besides Castiel (and poor Alfie.) Sam saved a lot of people from apocalypse world and I love him for it. Lucy takes Jack's grace. Dick move. Dean does something impulsive again, lets Alt Michael in, and then is forced to be an extra in Peaky Blinders. But Lucy's dead for a bit so yay. Favorite episodes: The Big Empty, Advanced Thanatology, Tombstone, The Scorpian and the Frog, Breakdown, Various and Sundry Villains, Funerella.
Season Fourteen: Trouble brother Jack can't live without his grace, but then he loses his soul. :( Congratulations to Mark Pellegrino for somehow being more disturbing as Nick than as Lucifer, the literal Devil. AltMichael has Chuck figured out more than anyone else. Dean tries to lock Michael away in his brain wtf. There is a fly monster with a very dramatic fashion sense and top millinery skills. Jack dies! But it's okay, he gets to burn away his soul to live again. Of all the deals made to save a loved one from death, Castiel's has the most poetic torture. Dean is in full self-sacrificing mode intending to lock himself in a ma'lak box. (Strong opinion here but how they keep wanting to put immortal beings in cages is horrific. No one deserves to be put in a box for eternity. Not even Lucifer deserved that imo. That is the weak solution. The fact that Dean tries with Jack breaks my heart. At least humans get to die if we're caged forever. It obviously never works on SPN because it can't.) I LOL'd at Sam's TED talk. Ouroborus steps into Hannibal territory, and then Dean's brain is battered and Michael escapes, kills a lot of people, and Jack burns the rest of his soul away to kill him. A full powered, soulless Jack breaks the world and it's kind of awesome. Except for the part where he killed Mary. I was expecting it but it still sucked. Chuck appears and he's like Surprise! I’m terrible! He tries to get Dean to kill Jack but though Dean is emotionally compromised, he won't do that. Not in cold blood, with Jack on his knees. Chuck makes a fatal error (or an error on purpose) when he tries to use Mary to manipulate Dean. But Mary is Dean's hero so it doesn't work. *sob* Sam shoots God because that's a great idea, Chuck snaps his fingers, kills Jack, then lets all the ghosts go free (which ngl I loved lol), and there is mass chaos. Favorite episodes: The Scar, Mint Condition, Optimism, Unhuman Nature, Nihilism, Damaged Goods, Lebanon, Ouroborus, Moriah.
Season Fifteen (finally): Jack gets a promotion from trouble brother to trouble God. Way to go, kid! I knew you could do it. You'll make a better God. Felt bad for Castiel having to deal with Belphegor but I found him very entertaining. I didn’t like Rowena dying but I loved the Sam/Rowena-ness of it all, and then she gets to be Queen of Hell! Chuck is being Really Obvious, probably on purpose. Actually, that he brings Lilith back fascinates me. I mean, I always thought Lilith was God's first (non angel) child. Wasn't she married to Adam? I forget my scripture. Speaking of Adam, apparently he's been alive all this time, and so has Cain, wtf. So many twisted fathers and sons on SPN! "God is in everything. At least he should be." Thank you, Adam, you summed that up nicely. Jack has to swallow the golden snitch from Harry Potter and he'll be a real boy again. They keep saying Chuck has no powers in the Empty but he keeps bringing people back from the Empty. Meanwhile, Sam and Dean are revealed to be the Messengers of God's Destruction or something. Eileen is back! There's a surprise Christian Kane, and he makes Dean sing. Dean and Castiel have a couples therapy vacation to purgatory for a quick hike in the wilderness and Dean finally forgives him and it's very emotional. There is Praying. Wish Castiel hadn't stopped Dean from speaking to him face to face about it. Billie's plan for Jack to sacrifice himself is just another version of Chuck's plan, though she did save Jack from the Empty twice so thanks. There is a lot going on in the final few episodes, but Castiel saying, "diD yOU cOnsuME yOur sISTeR?" to Chuck really undid me. Then, there is Despair, which caused major ripples across the multiverse because it sent our world all a-tumble. You know, I love Chuck. So I loved the final showdown. And then, there's Carry On. We get a barn scene, and Jack and Castiel fixed heaven. I love that Dean fulfilled what he thought was his purpose in life, and I loved that Sam got to take that gift and got to live it and love it as best he could. Ultimately time is meaningless, and then there's eternity. Favorite episodes: Atomic Monsters, Golden Time, The Trap, The Gamblers, Galaxy Brain (because it has Jody meeting Castiel), Gimme Shelter, Unity, the final 3 episodes together. (for a season that I thought was pretty uneven, I liked a lot of episodes).
We're never told, but I believe Jack brought back all the alt worlds, and I believe he or Castiel brought Kevin's soul to heaven, and I believe they restored Becky and her family, and I believe they allowed Eileen's soul to be clean of hell so when she dies again she can be reunited with Sam in heaven. And personally, I hope that a change was made so that those who are turned into "monsters" but remain good (by some definition of good) do not get stuck in purgatory (or the Empty). Like Benny. And several others whose names I can't remember. I'd love Benny to get a change to be rewarded for his loyalty to Dean.
My last bit of SPN nonsense will be posted tomorrow. Dreamwidth Post |