Fantastic meta! I've kind of avoided thinking about SPN all weekend, because I am really tired of analysing all the ways current episodes fail to deliver on their premise, on continuity and characterisation.
By contrast, Taxi Driver wants to tell no less than five stories Yeah, you know, that aspect of the episode actually reminded me of Born-Again Identity, the very point in S7 where things suddenly took a turn to the worse in the narrative. They also tried to cram 4 storylines into an episode that really should have been devoted to only one - and the price they paid was emotional impact. It could have been a story about brotherly love, but instead it was reduced to a mediocre mish-mash of stories, none of which got the attention it deserved.
This version of hell is frightening because it is relentless. Lucifer is continuously present. Yep! And I love the way the cinematography supports that. The episode is filmed Fight Club style, i.e. for the audience, just like for Sam, Lucifer is just as real as Dean and Bobby. That scene where Sam hallucinates Lucifer-as-Dean taking him to the warehouse, which we later learn was Sam driving to the warehouse himself, is brilliant in its simple retroactive horror.
The trouble is that Taxi Driver is completely unconcerned about how Sam feels about going to hell. Yeah, the lack of exploration what it means for Sam and Dean in particular to have one of them go back to hell is simply unexcusable. It's not like they both have a long and horrific history with the place. Oh, wait ... This is a by-the-numbers plot that has no respect for the past canon, and I cannot believe that nobody on the writing staff, no Ben Edlund, no Robert Singer, stepped in to course correct. And the worst thing is, a lot of the really glaring problems with it could have been avoided with a couple of very simply changes in the script. I am not a writer, and if I can see that, professional writers really should. So, yes, I have to concur with your final conclusion ... don't let the racist truck people write this stuff.
Thank you. :) I hope I'm not depressing you any more than the show already is, though.
Yeah, you know, that aspect of the episode actually reminded me of Born-Again Identity, the very point in S7 where things suddenly took a turn to the worse in the narrative. They also tried to cram 4 storylines into an episode that really should have been devoted to only one - and the price they paid was emotional impact. It could have been a story about brotherly love, but instead it was reduced to a mediocre mish-mash of stories, none of which got the attention it deserved.
Yes, it's much the same problem. The Born-Again Identity really puzzles me, though, because Sera Gamble is usually a superb writer and she really should have known better. And the fact that she chose to write it herself tells me that she got that this one was too important to delegate. It makes me wonder what went wrong that it ended up being written the way it was. I don't really expect better off Buckner and Ross-Lemming. I'm just baffled that anyone would give them an episode like this to play with.
Yep! And I love the way the cinematography supports that. The episode is filmed Fight Club style, i.e. for the audience, just like for Sam, Lucifer is just as real as Dean and Bobby. That scene where Sam hallucinates Lucifer-as-Dean taking him to the warehouse, which we later learn was Sam driving to the warehouse himself, is brilliant in its simple retroactive horror.
There's a whole body of modern film, too, that plays on the idea that somebody isn't real and we don't know who it is. And it demonstrates how little you need to do horror effectively. Sam finds car keys in his hand that absolutely should not be there and my stomach drops like a stone. No special effects, no make-up, no nothing. You could do that scene on the stage and it would be just as scary.
And the worst thing is, a lot of the really glaring problems with it could have been avoided with a couple of very simply changes in the script. I am not a writer, and if I can see that, professional writers really should.
The thing is, a lot of my work involves editing other people's writing. I've never had the chance to do any fiction, but when I see a story like this my fingers itch. Move this, cut that, change this line around ... I can't do that, obviously, so I write meta instead. :)
But it's heartbreaking that such a strong story idea was so poorly executed.
I hope I'm not depressing you any more than the show already is, though. Not at all. :) Taxi Driver didn't really depress me all that much. An episode usually depresses me when Sam and Dean are mean to each other for no comprehensible reason, because that's where my emotional investment is, but a continuity fail like Taxi Driver mostly makes me angry/frustrated at the writers sloppiness.
The Born-Again Identity really puzzles me, though, because Sera Gamble is usually a superb writer I have always assumed that The Born-Again Identity was Sera's attempt to wrap all her own storylines up in one fell swoop. The announcement of Sera's resignation as showrunner came in the week after the episode aired, and I think the timing is not a coincidence. And after the episode, S7 was basically in a stasis until they set up S8.
I can't do that, obviously, so I write meta instead. Which I am very, very grateful for! :)
By contrast, Taxi Driver wants to tell no less than five stories
Yeah, you know, that aspect of the episode actually reminded me of Born-Again Identity, the very point in S7 where things suddenly took a turn to the worse in the narrative. They also tried to cram 4 storylines into an episode that really should have been devoted to only one - and the price they paid was emotional impact. It could have been a story about brotherly love, but instead it was reduced to a mediocre mish-mash of stories, none of which got the attention it deserved.
This version of hell is frightening because it is relentless. Lucifer is continuously present.
Yep! And I love the way the cinematography supports that. The episode is filmed Fight Club style, i.e. for the audience, just like for Sam, Lucifer is just as real as Dean and Bobby. That scene where Sam hallucinates Lucifer-as-Dean taking him to the warehouse, which we later learn was Sam driving to the warehouse himself, is brilliant in its simple retroactive horror.
The trouble is that Taxi Driver is completely unconcerned about how Sam feels about going to hell.
Yeah, the lack of exploration what it means for Sam and Dean in particular to have one of them go back to hell is simply unexcusable. It's not like they both have a long and horrific history with the place. Oh, wait ... This is a by-the-numbers plot that has no respect for the past canon, and I cannot believe that nobody on the writing staff, no Ben Edlund, no Robert Singer, stepped in to course correct. And the worst thing is, a lot of the really glaring problems with it could have been avoided with a couple of very simply changes in the script. I am not a writer, and if I can see that, professional writers really should. So, yes, I have to concur with your final conclusion ... don't let the racist truck people write this stuff.
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Yeah, you know, that aspect of the episode actually reminded me of Born-Again Identity, the very point in S7 where things suddenly took a turn to the worse in the narrative. They also tried to cram 4 storylines into an episode that really should have been devoted to only one - and the price they paid was emotional impact. It could have been a story about brotherly love, but instead it was reduced to a mediocre mish-mash of stories, none of which got the attention it deserved.
Yes, it's much the same problem. The Born-Again Identity really puzzles me, though, because Sera Gamble is usually a superb writer and she really should have known better. And the fact that she chose to write it herself tells me that she got that this one was too important to delegate. It makes me wonder what went wrong that it ended up being written the way it was. I don't really expect better off Buckner and Ross-Lemming. I'm just baffled that anyone would give them an episode like this to play with.
Yep! And I love the way the cinematography supports that. The episode is filmed Fight Club style, i.e. for the audience, just like for Sam, Lucifer is just as real as Dean and Bobby. That scene where Sam hallucinates Lucifer-as-Dean taking him to the warehouse, which we later learn was Sam driving to the warehouse himself, is brilliant in its simple retroactive horror.
There's a whole body of modern film, too, that plays on the idea that somebody isn't real and we don't know who it is. And it demonstrates how little you need to do horror effectively. Sam finds car keys in his hand that absolutely should not be there and my stomach drops like a stone. No special effects, no make-up, no nothing. You could do that scene on the stage and it would be just as scary.
And the worst thing is, a lot of the really glaring problems with it could have been avoided with a couple of very simply changes in the script. I am not a writer, and if I can see that, professional writers really should.
The thing is, a lot of my work involves editing other people's writing. I've never had the chance to do any fiction, but when I see a story like this my fingers itch. Move this, cut that, change this line around ... I can't do that, obviously, so I write meta instead. :)
But it's heartbreaking that such a strong story idea was so poorly executed.
Reply
Not at all. :) Taxi Driver didn't really depress me all that much. An episode usually depresses me when Sam and Dean are mean to each other for no comprehensible reason, because that's where my emotional investment is, but a continuity fail like Taxi Driver mostly makes me angry/frustrated at the writers sloppiness.
The Born-Again Identity really puzzles me, though, because Sera Gamble is usually a superb writer
I have always assumed that The Born-Again Identity was Sera's attempt to wrap all her own storylines up in one fell swoop. The announcement of Sera's resignation as showrunner came in the week after the episode aired, and I think the timing is not a coincidence. And after the episode, S7 was basically in a stasis until they set up S8.
I can't do that, obviously, so I write meta instead.
Which I am very, very grateful for! :)
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