Supernatural review: 02.20 - "What Is and What Should Never Be"
As always, as usual:
This episode was painful. Just so painful. I cried a few times, and it just hurt. If I ever doubted Jensen as an actor, I repent. His nuances and inflections just...he killed me dead and it was a beautiful, painful thing. He's so talented, so gorgeous, so incredible. Five stars, Jensen, seriously.
I think we're seeing an element of Dean believing that even if everything was safe and sane and normal, he couldn't function well in normal society. Dean has this sense that no matter what's going on, he can't fit into the regular world. The stealing, the alcoholism (which I firmly believe was implied), the strained relationship with Sammy, he doesn't fit in the daylight and there is a part of Dean that even in the world of wishes believes that he never, ever will. He wants to. He longs for it. His face when he sees his mother, when Sam and Jessica announce their engagement, all of it, it's aching and overwhelmingly sad and hungry. But he can't reach out and really hold on to it. For all that he wants to be there, he knows he doesn't fit, and that's why he can kill himself at the end to return to the real world. It's not about the lives he's saved, though I think that's part of it. It's not even so much about having a Sammy he loves and trusts. It's about having a world where he has a part, a role, even if it's one he despises. He hates who he is as a hunter. But it's where he fits, and he can't imagine doing anything else. It's painful to see it in him. But Dean can't figure out how to be average and I don't think he ever will be. He's a hunter. He's a soldier in a war against Hell. And like every veteran of terrifying, horrible wars, he will forever be haunted and tormented by what he's seen and done, and he will never adapt to being a civilian. He'll never really be a civilian again. The irony is his father lived through the horrors of Vietnam only to plunge his sons into a war even more twisted and terrible, and while John found some sort of purpose in that latter war, and Sam is coming into his own through it, it's tearing Dean apart. He is the shell-shocked vet on the side of the road, unable to get through the day without flashing back to the worst moments of his life, and I think he might always be, no matter what happens.
The funny moments were good, well-paced, well-timed. Mowing the grass? Hilarious. Throwing Sam's phone out the window? Fantastic. It was painful and funny and scary and this is what Supernatural should be. The myth wasn't moved forward, but the characters were, and I think we're well-primed for the Season Finale.
Did anyone else realise we get the news about whether or not the show's renewed on the day of the last ep? I'm going to be on pins and needles waiting!
I'm sure I'll have more to say on this ep later, but for now, this is all I can work through. Now to go clean myself up. This one made me cry all over the place!
This episode was painful. Just so painful. I cried a few times, and it just hurt. If I ever doubted Jensen as an actor, I repent. His nuances and inflections just...he killed me dead and it was a beautiful, painful thing. He's so talented, so gorgeous, so incredible. Five stars, Jensen, seriously.
I think we're seeing an element of Dean believing that even if everything was safe and sane and normal, he couldn't function well in normal society. Dean has this sense that no matter what's going on, he can't fit into the regular world. The stealing, the alcoholism (which I firmly believe was implied), the strained relationship with Sammy, he doesn't fit in the daylight and there is a part of Dean that even in the world of wishes believes that he never, ever will. He wants to. He longs for it. His face when he sees his mother, when Sam and Jessica announce their engagement, all of it, it's aching and overwhelmingly sad and hungry. But he can't reach out and really hold on to it. For all that he wants to be there, he knows he doesn't fit, and that's why he can kill himself at the end to return to the real world. It's not about the lives he's saved, though I think that's part of it. It's not even so much about having a Sammy he loves and trusts. It's about having a world where he has a part, a role, even if it's one he despises. He hates who he is as a hunter. But it's where he fits, and he can't imagine doing anything else. It's painful to see it in him. But Dean can't figure out how to be average and I don't think he ever will be. He's a hunter. He's a soldier in a war against Hell. And like every veteran of terrifying, horrible wars, he will forever be haunted and tormented by what he's seen and done, and he will never adapt to being a civilian. He'll never really be a civilian again. The irony is his father lived through the horrors of Vietnam only to plunge his sons into a war even more twisted and terrible, and while John found some sort of purpose in that latter war, and Sam is coming into his own through it, it's tearing Dean apart. He is the shell-shocked vet on the side of the road, unable to get through the day without flashing back to the worst moments of his life, and I think he might always be, no matter what happens.
The funny moments were good, well-paced, well-timed. Mowing the grass? Hilarious. Throwing Sam's phone out the window? Fantastic. It was painful and funny and scary and this is what Supernatural should be. The myth wasn't moved forward, but the characters were, and I think we're well-primed for the Season Finale.
Did anyone else realise we get the news about whether or not the show's renewed on the day of the last ep? I'm going to be on pins and needles waiting!
I'm sure I'll have more to say on this ep later, but for now, this is all I can work through. Now to go clean myself up. This one made me cry all over the place!