Like you, I am often bored while watching an episode, but I do somewhat enjoy the Ezekiel storyline, mostly because of its potential. I don't have many hopes that the writers will do that potential justice, though. Unlike you, I kinda like Abaddon, but then, I never cared about demons and their mythology as much as you do. I am just happy that Crowley is no longer the main antagonist.
Well, I should clarify that Abaddon is a lot of fun, and she's really got a handle on the femme fatale act. It's just that she seems like a cartoon villain. In a lot of ways she's indistinguishable from season-eight Crowley, except that she has no history to contradict so her 'I'm so evil! Look at me I'm taking over the world! Look how cool I am!' act isn't bizarre and incoherent the way Crowley's was. It just doesn't seem like they have anything new to do with demons. They're evil for evil's sake.
And as for Ezekiel ... I do take the point from your review that Ezekiel's deus ex machina status is built in to the plot. But in practice I still get tired of seeing the same damn thing every week.
Considering that having a stable home presents such a radical change in the brothers' living conditions (and thus in the road movie character of the show), one would expect the writers to make it a relevant topic and explore how it affects them, but they don't.
Well, yeah. That's fair. It's just that it's a case of 'if they were telling a different story, I might like it'. If the bunker were used differently, I might like it. As it is, I don't. Take angels: I'm sick to death of them now, but in seasons four and five, I liked them. They had strong symbolic value, and their pettiness and cruelty were both dangerous and subversive. They had a point, and now they don't. When they first introduced the bunker and the Men of Letters, I had high hopes for both. But it turns out that they've just used them to take away old themes and ideas without replacing them with anything new. I wanted a serious exploration of the classism they brought up in their introduction, and how Sam and Dean relate to and deal with that. But ... I don't always get what I want. :)
We haven't learned anything new about Dean in S8/9. Secondly, Dean not only regressed in his development, he is also more mean and petty. He always had some dick-ish tendencies, but lately I feel it's getting worse. I am still not over his 'Sam's list of sins' in Sacrifice, to be honest. I still love Dean, but I think the writers did his character some major injustices in S8/9, and that's what I resent most.
I agree entirely. My problems with the monsters and the bunker come back to this: I can't see either character as on a journey, although Dean did get kicked a little harder than Sam this time. The monsters are supposed to reflect their state of mind. The fantasy elements are supposed to engage with real-world consequences: how much money they have, how they live, what kind of relationships they can have. It doesn't have to be about them living out of their car and never having any friends. But it has to be something I can believe in. This ... thing, where most of the consequences of hunting have been stripped away and most of their problems seem to be caused by a complete inability to grow in any way ... That I'm having trouble engaging with.
Well, I should clarify that Abaddon is a lot of fun, and she's really got a handle on the femme fatale act. It's just that she seems like a cartoon villain. In a lot of ways she's indistinguishable from season-eight Crowley, except that she has no history to contradict so her 'I'm so evil! Look at me I'm taking over the world! Look how cool I am!' act isn't bizarre and incoherent the way Crowley's was. It just doesn't seem like they have anything new to do with demons. They're evil for evil's sake.
And as for Ezekiel ... I do take the point from your review that Ezekiel's deus ex machina status is built in to the plot. But in practice I still get tired of seeing the same damn thing every week.
Considering that having a stable home presents such a radical change in the brothers' living conditions (and thus in the road movie character of the show), one would expect the writers to make it a relevant topic and explore how it affects them, but they don't.
Well, yeah. That's fair. It's just that it's a case of 'if they were telling a different story, I might like it'. If the bunker were used differently, I might like it. As it is, I don't. Take angels: I'm sick to death of them now, but in seasons four and five, I liked them. They had strong symbolic value, and their pettiness and cruelty were both dangerous and subversive. They had a point, and now they don't. When they first introduced the bunker and the Men of Letters, I had high hopes for both. But it turns out that they've just used them to take away old themes and ideas without replacing them with anything new. I wanted a serious exploration of the classism they brought up in their introduction, and how Sam and Dean relate to and deal with that. But ... I don't always get what I want. :)
We haven't learned anything new about Dean in S8/9. Secondly, Dean not only regressed in his development, he is also more mean and petty. He always had some dick-ish tendencies, but lately I feel it's getting worse. I am still not over his 'Sam's list of sins' in Sacrifice, to be honest. I still love Dean, but I think the writers did his character some major injustices in S8/9, and that's what I resent most.
I agree entirely. My problems with the monsters and the bunker come back to this: I can't see either character as on a journey, although Dean did get kicked a little harder than Sam this time. The monsters are supposed to reflect their state of mind. The fantasy elements are supposed to engage with real-world consequences: how much money they have, how they live, what kind of relationships they can have. It doesn't have to be about them living out of their car and never having any friends. But it has to be something I can believe in. This ... thing, where most of the consequences of hunting have been stripped away and most of their problems seem to be caused by a complete inability to grow in any way ... That I'm having trouble engaging with.
Reply
Leave a comment