Episode Reaction Post 12.03
Yes, I am this far behind, but you still have to put up with my Episode Reaction Posts. As usual, these are my gut reactions to having just watched the episode.
Yay, a monster of the week episode! I love those.
Mary's and Cas' weird bonding moment was awkward and weird, as it should be. I mean given the circumstances Cas would be the one Mary would sort of try to help her make sense of her situation and Cas would want to be helpful and all interactions with Cas are awkward. So, the scene itself was good. I think my issue with it was dreading the possible impending flood of Cas/Mary fic, which is fine in and of itself, but remember during season 8 and you couldn't turn around without finding a Sam/Hellhound fic?
No, not the hair! Yes, Mary's haircut she gave herself looked cute and had valid reasoning behind it, but it just felt like a cheap set up to make yet another joke about Sam's hair.
Something is really wrong in the world when Cas is the observant one. I am still trying to figure out this flavor of Cas, but I am giving it a chance.
I have long suspected that Dean took after Mary. Given a lot (most?) fanfic tends to say the same thing, I am hardly alone in this. After early seasons made such a huge deal about pointing out that one of the reasons Sam and John did not get along was because they were so much alike, it was almost a given that the show was also saying that Dean took after Mary, but it's nice to get actual confirmation. It's adorable.
Cas and Crowley's arc: Cas and Crowley teaming up is always entertaining. This variation of Cas does seem to be a good foil to Crowley. I'm liking it. Cas is always adorable when he gets to be all “huntery.” I also like Rowena will be thrown in the mix later. Two things I didn't like. Cas has always been a bit on the sassy side, but when did he learn to be that snarky? It was weird like he was using residual Lucifer mojo left behind or something. The scene all by itself was fine, but put in the context of the rest of the show was a bit of a headtilter. The other scene was when Crowley popped into the house and then went to let Cas in, who was just waiting by the door. It also felt weird. My very first thought was “is Cas a vampire now? Do angels suddenly need permission to enter anything now?” I just think him zapping in after Crowley did it or at least letting himself in through the door, if for no other reason than he doesn't trust Crowley would have felt more organic to the moment and the show than just standing there patiently waiting to be let in.
Rowena and Lucifer's arc: It was very short and very awesome and I wish I had more to say, but I was too busy mentally fangirling over Rowena whenever she was on screen to form coherent opinions. Rick Springfield did a great job as Lucifer.
Sam, Dean, and Mary's Arc: It was really well done. Like, I am shocked it was that well done. Mary's struggling was clear without being overdone. Yes, the boys seemed to conveniently forget that their mother was a seasoned hunter before she settled down and had kids and that just because her ways were a little outdated, doesn't mean they didn't work. While stupid, that is a very natural reaction of adult children to their parents. The fact that Mary has been basically zapped in the future 30 years wouldn't help them treat her like an adult who knows what she is doing. How many of us have done something similar when one of our parents has problems with the internet or the remote or something? So bravo to the show for capturing that really well. And at least Dean sort of tried to apologize. Mary's exit was a bit sooner than expected, but we all knew it was coming. That was actually really well done too. I am glad they didn't try to make it more dramatic, or worse try to down play it into nothing. For my friends that have been complaining that Mary did not give Dean a hug, I get it. Dean has issues with issues that have issues that are festering and infected with pus. He is not going to take this well at all going forward, but if you watch carefully, Mary did step forward to give him a hug and Dean stepped away from her, essentially telling her, “don't touch me.” It wasn't that she was trying to make a quick exit and didn't want to backtrack to Dean after she hugged Sam or that she simply felt that much guiltier about Sam. Dean told her no. This one actually is on him.
My last stray complaints: What the hell was with the “Nice bike” comment in the beginning. That really felt like foreshadowing or an inside joke and then they did nothing with it. Did I miss something? Why did Mary not have an anti-possession tattoo? They made a huge deal about it in episode two. They have had downtime and have been recuperating and trying to get their shit together. It was the first thing they did with Mrs. Tran. How was this not a priority? Which brings me to my next question, do anti-possession tattoos actually work with ghosts? Lastly, Sam, I know you can swing a hammer better than that. That was just sad.
Final thoughts: I really loved this episode and am looking forward to continuing to catch up.
Reaction Post 12.01
Reaction Post 12.02
Yay, a monster of the week episode! I love those.
Mary's and Cas' weird bonding moment was awkward and weird, as it should be. I mean given the circumstances Cas would be the one Mary would sort of try to help her make sense of her situation and Cas would want to be helpful and all interactions with Cas are awkward. So, the scene itself was good. I think my issue with it was dreading the possible impending flood of Cas/Mary fic, which is fine in and of itself, but remember during season 8 and you couldn't turn around without finding a Sam/Hellhound fic?
No, not the hair! Yes, Mary's haircut she gave herself looked cute and had valid reasoning behind it, but it just felt like a cheap set up to make yet another joke about Sam's hair.
Something is really wrong in the world when Cas is the observant one. I am still trying to figure out this flavor of Cas, but I am giving it a chance.
I have long suspected that Dean took after Mary. Given a lot (most?) fanfic tends to say the same thing, I am hardly alone in this. After early seasons made such a huge deal about pointing out that one of the reasons Sam and John did not get along was because they were so much alike, it was almost a given that the show was also saying that Dean took after Mary, but it's nice to get actual confirmation. It's adorable.
Cas and Crowley's arc: Cas and Crowley teaming up is always entertaining. This variation of Cas does seem to be a good foil to Crowley. I'm liking it. Cas is always adorable when he gets to be all “huntery.” I also like Rowena will be thrown in the mix later. Two things I didn't like. Cas has always been a bit on the sassy side, but when did he learn to be that snarky? It was weird like he was using residual Lucifer mojo left behind or something. The scene all by itself was fine, but put in the context of the rest of the show was a bit of a headtilter. The other scene was when Crowley popped into the house and then went to let Cas in, who was just waiting by the door. It also felt weird. My very first thought was “is Cas a vampire now? Do angels suddenly need permission to enter anything now?” I just think him zapping in after Crowley did it or at least letting himself in through the door, if for no other reason than he doesn't trust Crowley would have felt more organic to the moment and the show than just standing there patiently waiting to be let in.
Rowena and Lucifer's arc: It was very short and very awesome and I wish I had more to say, but I was too busy mentally fangirling over Rowena whenever she was on screen to form coherent opinions. Rick Springfield did a great job as Lucifer.
Sam, Dean, and Mary's Arc: It was really well done. Like, I am shocked it was that well done. Mary's struggling was clear without being overdone. Yes, the boys seemed to conveniently forget that their mother was a seasoned hunter before she settled down and had kids and that just because her ways were a little outdated, doesn't mean they didn't work. While stupid, that is a very natural reaction of adult children to their parents. The fact that Mary has been basically zapped in the future 30 years wouldn't help them treat her like an adult who knows what she is doing. How many of us have done something similar when one of our parents has problems with the internet or the remote or something? So bravo to the show for capturing that really well. And at least Dean sort of tried to apologize. Mary's exit was a bit sooner than expected, but we all knew it was coming. That was actually really well done too. I am glad they didn't try to make it more dramatic, or worse try to down play it into nothing. For my friends that have been complaining that Mary did not give Dean a hug, I get it. Dean has issues with issues that have issues that are festering and infected with pus. He is not going to take this well at all going forward, but if you watch carefully, Mary did step forward to give him a hug and Dean stepped away from her, essentially telling her, “don't touch me.” It wasn't that she was trying to make a quick exit and didn't want to backtrack to Dean after she hugged Sam or that she simply felt that much guiltier about Sam. Dean told her no. This one actually is on him.
My last stray complaints: What the hell was with the “Nice bike” comment in the beginning. That really felt like foreshadowing or an inside joke and then they did nothing with it. Did I miss something? Why did Mary not have an anti-possession tattoo? They made a huge deal about it in episode two. They have had downtime and have been recuperating and trying to get their shit together. It was the first thing they did with Mrs. Tran. How was this not a priority? Which brings me to my next question, do anti-possession tattoos actually work with ghosts? Lastly, Sam, I know you can swing a hammer better than that. That was just sad.
Final thoughts: I really loved this episode and am looking forward to continuing to catch up.
Reaction Post 12.01
Reaction Post 12.02