Weekly SPN round-up
Seen this week: "Provenance" and "Dead Man's Blood."
Only two episodes this week. Didn't have a lot of time for TV, which is just as well, since I'm now down to the last two eps of the season, and I'm saving those to watch with izhilzha and feliciakw in a couple of weeks.
Anyway:
Provenance
Hee. So many cute moments in this ep. Love the disco-themed room, and the boys' understated reaction to it. Love the long shot of all the high-gloss European sports cars...and the dust-covered, beat-up Impala. Love Dean's propensity to just cram his mouth with free food, and his complete lack of tact when trying to bluff past the auction house owner. "We're there, chuckles, you just need to take another look." Oh, Dean. Love Sam trying without success to make nice with all the people Dean puts off. Love Dean's inability to say "Provenance."
Love Sarah. I'm with Dean: I think Sam should marry her. *grin* 1. She's practical and down-to-earth in her handling of both supernatural crazy and awkward romantic vibes with Sam. 2. Looks cute in pigtails. 3. "I don't know about Romeo, here, but I'll have a beer." Hee. Not that I have high hopes, but someone tell me they make good on that half-sincere mention of coming back and visiting sometime.
I liked the use of the creepy doll-with-kid's-hair tradition, and the part the painting and the father's spirit played. Altogether quite a fun little one-shot ep.
Dead Man's Blood
In contrast, we have this very plot-arcy offering, complete with real live vampires! I liked how the show handled the vampire mythology, and was especially amused by the white-trash-meets-goth-band image that it gave them.
I like how Daddy Winchester chooses to make his presence known by sneaking up on the boys and startling them half to death. I am also suitably impressed by his weapons stash. That is one schwank hidden compartment, man. I kind of prefer the Impala's more rough-and-ready feel, with it's compartment propped open with a shotgun barrel, but there is definitely something to be said for the giant truck and its shiny box of things that go boom.
Of course, you all know that while this ep may purport to be about vampires and a legendary colt revolver, it's really all about the family angst. Wow, I have so much fellow feeling for Dean in this ep. Like you would not believe. I speak from experience when I say that playing mediator and peace-keeper when the two sides of a disagreement are people you love dearly is pretty much the suckiest job ever. What's worst is when you can completely understand the positions of both parties. I can sympathize with both John and Sam here, and clearly Dean can, too. He gets why his dad is behaving the way he is, and even if Dean doesn't like it, he's willing to go along with it "If that's what it takes." He agrees with Sam in principle, but doesn't agree with how Sam goes about disagreeing with John because it always results it what he calls "static."
I gave Dean a little cheer when he broke up the shouting match on the road, got Sam headed toward the car, then turned back to John and said "That goes for you, too." That has to have been one of the scariest things he's ever done, and he did it with such a perfect balance of respect, love, determination, and warning. Go Dean. I could go on about how much I felt I knew exactly what Dean was going through in this ep, but we'd be here forever. Dean needs to take me out for beers sometime, and we'll have a really long conversation (involving excessive use of the word "dude") about how much it sucks being the Designated Reasonable Adult Who Loves Everyone in the family.
And now, since this post is shorter than usual this week, I give you my thoughts on why there really should be a Civil War-themed plot arc on the show at some point. If there's already been something like this in Seasons 2 or 3, you can say so (giving me an excellent chance to pat myself on the back for creative prescience), but don't spoil me past that fact, if you please.
A dilettante Civil War buff rhapsodizes about Lawrence, Kansas, and the Wah of Nawthun Aggression.
Okay, so excellent reasons why Eric Kripke and his cohorts need to write some Civil War lore into the show:
1. First off, is just in general: there are tons of legends and ghost stories from the Civil War. How could there not be, given the nature of the thing? The Civil War was unique in American history: we were fighting and killing each other at a bizarre intersection between the old, chivalric, gentlemanly approach to battle and the cold savagery of modern warfare, trenches included. Civil War anecdotes are a very weird mix of horrifying and heart-warming: It was common for a troop of soldiers to donate coffee or tobacco to a nearby enemy camp if they were running short, but looting the enemy dead for their shoes was common practice, too. Men would invite the enemy over for dinner and a dance and then be shooting at them across a picket line the next day. Serious haunting potential, here.
2. Our boys hail from Lawrence, KS, the site of the most significant guerrilla action by Quantrill's Raiders. The Lawrence Massacre was one of the nastiest raids of the war, and it was precipitated (and followed by) tragedy and extremely violent actions on the part of both Confederate and Union supporters. Lynchings, caravan robberies, shootings, arson; Mothers and sisters of the Raiders being imprisoned and then being killed or maimed when the jail collapsed; the Senator who was one of the main targets of the raid escaping with his life but later committing suicide for unknown reasons; the "scorched earth" response of Ewing's General Order 11, which saw four Missouri towns on the Kansas border burnt completely to the ground in retaliation for Quantrill's Raid. The list goes on. Nasty, nasty stuff, and just ripe as ripe can be for all kinds of spirits with axes to grind.
3. Kansas supposedly lost the highest percentage of soldiers to Mr. Lincoln's War. They were just a territory until becoming a state at the beginning of the war, so they didn't have a huge population from which to enlist soldiers like states further East. Yet they met an exceeded the quota of 16,654 assigned to them, sending 20,097 soldiers to fight for the Union. Other states lost more men overall because they had more men to send in the first place, but statistics indicate that Kansas took the worst beating relative to the number sent. I'm not sure exactly how this is significant to Supernatural, I just know that it should be.
4. Gatling guns are really freaking cool, and were invented for Federal use in the Civil War. There really needs to be a story about a haunted Gatling. *nods*
5. Let us not forget that the Civil War was poetically referred to (both during and after) as "The Brothers' War" because of the way it split up so many families and friends and put them on opposite sides of the conflict. The Brothers' War, guys. I mean, c'mon.
Only two episodes this week. Didn't have a lot of time for TV, which is just as well, since I'm now down to the last two eps of the season, and I'm saving those to watch with izhilzha and feliciakw in a couple of weeks.
Anyway:
Provenance
Hee. So many cute moments in this ep. Love the disco-themed room, and the boys' understated reaction to it. Love the long shot of all the high-gloss European sports cars...and the dust-covered, beat-up Impala. Love Dean's propensity to just cram his mouth with free food, and his complete lack of tact when trying to bluff past the auction house owner. "We're there, chuckles, you just need to take another look." Oh, Dean. Love Sam trying without success to make nice with all the people Dean puts off. Love Dean's inability to say "Provenance."
Love Sarah. I'm with Dean: I think Sam should marry her. *grin* 1. She's practical and down-to-earth in her handling of both supernatural crazy and awkward romantic vibes with Sam. 2. Looks cute in pigtails. 3. "I don't know about Romeo, here, but I'll have a beer." Hee. Not that I have high hopes, but someone tell me they make good on that half-sincere mention of coming back and visiting sometime.
I liked the use of the creepy doll-with-kid's-hair tradition, and the part the painting and the father's spirit played. Altogether quite a fun little one-shot ep.
Dead Man's Blood
In contrast, we have this very plot-arcy offering, complete with real live vampires! I liked how the show handled the vampire mythology, and was especially amused by the white-trash-meets-goth-band image that it gave them.
I like how Daddy Winchester chooses to make his presence known by sneaking up on the boys and startling them half to death. I am also suitably impressed by his weapons stash. That is one schwank hidden compartment, man. I kind of prefer the Impala's more rough-and-ready feel, with it's compartment propped open with a shotgun barrel, but there is definitely something to be said for the giant truck and its shiny box of things that go boom.
Of course, you all know that while this ep may purport to be about vampires and a legendary colt revolver, it's really all about the family angst. Wow, I have so much fellow feeling for Dean in this ep. Like you would not believe. I speak from experience when I say that playing mediator and peace-keeper when the two sides of a disagreement are people you love dearly is pretty much the suckiest job ever. What's worst is when you can completely understand the positions of both parties. I can sympathize with both John and Sam here, and clearly Dean can, too. He gets why his dad is behaving the way he is, and even if Dean doesn't like it, he's willing to go along with it "If that's what it takes." He agrees with Sam in principle, but doesn't agree with how Sam goes about disagreeing with John because it always results it what he calls "static."
I gave Dean a little cheer when he broke up the shouting match on the road, got Sam headed toward the car, then turned back to John and said "That goes for you, too." That has to have been one of the scariest things he's ever done, and he did it with such a perfect balance of respect, love, determination, and warning. Go Dean. I could go on about how much I felt I knew exactly what Dean was going through in this ep, but we'd be here forever. Dean needs to take me out for beers sometime, and we'll have a really long conversation (involving excessive use of the word "dude") about how much it sucks being the Designated Reasonable Adult Who Loves Everyone in the family.
And now, since this post is shorter than usual this week, I give you my thoughts on why there really should be a Civil War-themed plot arc on the show at some point. If there's already been something like this in Seasons 2 or 3, you can say so (giving me an excellent chance to pat myself on the back for creative prescience), but don't spoil me past that fact, if you please.
A dilettante Civil War buff rhapsodizes about Lawrence, Kansas, and the Wah of Nawthun Aggression.
Okay, so excellent reasons why Eric Kripke and his cohorts need to write some Civil War lore into the show:
1. First off, is just in general: there are tons of legends and ghost stories from the Civil War. How could there not be, given the nature of the thing? The Civil War was unique in American history: we were fighting and killing each other at a bizarre intersection between the old, chivalric, gentlemanly approach to battle and the cold savagery of modern warfare, trenches included. Civil War anecdotes are a very weird mix of horrifying and heart-warming: It was common for a troop of soldiers to donate coffee or tobacco to a nearby enemy camp if they were running short, but looting the enemy dead for their shoes was common practice, too. Men would invite the enemy over for dinner and a dance and then be shooting at them across a picket line the next day. Serious haunting potential, here.
2. Our boys hail from Lawrence, KS, the site of the most significant guerrilla action by Quantrill's Raiders. The Lawrence Massacre was one of the nastiest raids of the war, and it was precipitated (and followed by) tragedy and extremely violent actions on the part of both Confederate and Union supporters. Lynchings, caravan robberies, shootings, arson; Mothers and sisters of the Raiders being imprisoned and then being killed or maimed when the jail collapsed; the Senator who was one of the main targets of the raid escaping with his life but later committing suicide for unknown reasons; the "scorched earth" response of Ewing's General Order 11, which saw four Missouri towns on the Kansas border burnt completely to the ground in retaliation for Quantrill's Raid. The list goes on. Nasty, nasty stuff, and just ripe as ripe can be for all kinds of spirits with axes to grind.
3. Kansas supposedly lost the highest percentage of soldiers to Mr. Lincoln's War. They were just a territory until becoming a state at the beginning of the war, so they didn't have a huge population from which to enlist soldiers like states further East. Yet they met an exceeded the quota of 16,654 assigned to them, sending 20,097 soldiers to fight for the Union. Other states lost more men overall because they had more men to send in the first place, but statistics indicate that Kansas took the worst beating relative to the number sent. I'm not sure exactly how this is significant to Supernatural, I just know that it should be.
4. Gatling guns are really freaking cool, and were invented for Federal use in the Civil War. There really needs to be a story about a haunted Gatling. *nods*
5. Let us not forget that the Civil War was poetically referred to (both during and after) as "The Brothers' War" because of the way it split up so many families and friends and put them on opposite sides of the conflict. The Brothers' War, guys. I mean, c'mon.