I believe I've seen this somewhere else...
I'm not actually complaining, but I've definitely already seen this episode of Red Dwarf before.
Having said that, this one was distinctly lacking in wacky shenanigans and character lookalikes, so it was only the basic premise that was shared. Right down to the 'you are your own judge' thing.
Just wanted to point that out.
Otherwise--I really did enjoy the overt dealing with Dean's alcoholism. Sam having a real reaction to it was nice as well. Dean bitching about AA. All very sad-making. But good for characterization.
Speaking of characterization--I think Sam's hair may have finally achieved sentience, 'cuz it was doing some crazy-ass shit this ep, especially in that first scene of theirs. I experienced a real, visceral urge to go after it with a pair of scissors. I've been pretty able to overlook it in the past, but holy mother of god. That was...truly horrible.
Like a lot of people, I was bothered, to the point of discomfort, by Sam's claims at the end of being fine and dandy. It reminded me a little bit of Dean's claims back in the thing with Famine, about why he wasn't affected. And Sam's glib delivery of his 'I'm totally okay' lines smacked of every other time he's told a lie on this show--even if it was to himself. We're only into the first couple episodes of the season. This suggests to me that he's not going to spend the entire rest of the season being "fine," and that something pretty terrible is probably waiting in the wings. A breakdown of epic proportions, one hopes. And not the kind where he's unconscious, either. *crosses fingers*
Other than that, it was nice to see Dean's issues brought to the fore so directly. Most of the stuff was old hat one way or another for the bulk of fans, I guess, so I enjoyed seeing it moved from the pages of fic to the actual screen. Very satisfying. Will Dean be doing less drinking in future eps, or start feeling better about himself? HAHAHAAA *cough*
Ahem. Maybe. But no, I don't think there will be flowers and bunnies and kitties and holding hands into the sunset any time soon. If anything, I was really struck by the sudden distance Sam put between them by being on the other side of the car, which sort of suggests that yeah, they're both dealing badly and hiding from themselves in the process, and thereby hiding from each other as well. So that doesn't end well.
The guy playing Osiris did very well, not hamming it up at all, yet still very commanding on the screen. I do feel like the writers have kind of made it their goal to utterly subvert every mythological tradition they can get their hands on, and it's gotten to the point that I wonder if there's not some kind of shadow society at work in the 'verse making sure all the widely disseminated information is completely wrong. No idea *why* they'd do that, but anything else makes no sense. You'd think the old texts would get at least something right, once in a while.
I enjoyed Jo. I was always very ambivalent about her in the past, though I really tried to like her, but she just came across as a lot more likable and less strident here. And I loved Dean's reaction when she vanished, as if he was genuinely sad, not only that she was gone, but that he wasn't. Sort of Tessa 2.0, I guess. Very nice stuff.