Re: the season premiere
I loved it.
I've seen a lot of people saying this episode seemed more like a pilot than a continuation, and I totally agree. It's like a pilot with baggage. It also drew a lot of parallels to the show's own pilot, which is the kind of thing that makes me love these writers.
Both episodes basically boiled down to:
Brother 1: "Doot de doo, out with friends and being secretive about my past."
Brother 2: "Hay dude I'm in ur house and I brought family issues with me!"
Brother 1: "OH NOES! But I have a normal life now, including this hot chick who bones me!"
Brother 2: "But there is a DANGEROUS THING to hunt!"
Brother 1: "Well, okay." (to hot chick) "BRB."
Brother 2 and Brother 1: *hunt a thing*
Brother 2: "Dude, we make a good team. Come with me so we can HUNT ALL THE THINGS."
Brother 1: "OH SHIT MY GIRLFRIEND'S ON FIRE"/"I can't, I'm worried about my girlfriend catching on fire. She's like super flammable when I'm not around."
I don't know why in my head they're like half LOLcat and half dudebros. *shrug*
Anyway, I love how this time it was Dean trying not to get pulled away from his normal life. And I love even more that he was able to say "No" and Sam listened. To me, the central question of this series has always been: Can Sam and Dean grow beyond their family's bullshit? Growing up the way they did, these two developed a deeply unhealthy codependence. Their dad treated them like a unit, so they grew up acting and thinking like one. They didn't know how to cope without each other, and they have literally died for each other to stay together. Sam's always been more independent than Dean, but we've seen how cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs he goes when they're forcibly separated. ("Mystery Spot," anyone?) Dean just gets...lost. He defines himself as Sam's Big Brother, and without that, he doesn't know what to do with himself.
So seeing Dean making the call that it was okay for Sam to jump in the hole last season made me cheer a little while I sniffled into my sleeve. Progress, boys! And for Dean to actually try to carve out a life for himself without Sam...well, there are problems with the way he's doing it, obviously. I mean, he didn't choose the life for himself - he went with what Sam wanted for him. And he admits he didn't listen to the "Don't try to bring me back" request. But he's trying. And when Sam comes back and says, "Come with me," HE SAYS, "NO." Guys, that is so huge. If I were Dean's therapist, I would be up on my desk dancing right now.
But of course, we're all here for the brotherly love (to some degree), so in the fandom there's bound to be a lot of hesitation and backlash over this. The truth is, we don't want our fictional characters to be sane, functional members of society. We like them best when they're unstable, using the power saw on a vampire's neck instead of a 2x4, getting themselves roped into ridiculous scenarios because they just don't know how to quit. Sanity doesn't have stakes. This series has never been about the threat to a normal life so much as it has been about what happens after a normal life is decimated. So I find it really interesting that the writers seem to be sticking with Dean's relatively normal life, at least for a while.
What I want to see from this season is Sam and Dean figuring out a sane way to love each other and be in each other's lives. I want them to learn that it doesn't have to be all-or-nothing between them. I want Lisa and Ben to stick around - or maybe even become a vital part of the plot. And of course, I want Sam and Dean to kill some evil sons of bitches and raise a little hell. I'm eager to see how the writers reconcile all those elements, and I'm definitely enjoying the road so far.
I'd also love to see Sam being the weird estranged uncle crashing on the Braedens' couch. And Castiel having super awkward exchanges with Lisa. And a musical episode. And ghost bees. And Ben Edlund's hair getting its own spin-off. But those are more wish list items than necessities, y'know? All I really need from this show is our boys and something for them to shoot full of rock salt.
I've seen a lot of people saying this episode seemed more like a pilot than a continuation, and I totally agree. It's like a pilot with baggage. It also drew a lot of parallels to the show's own pilot, which is the kind of thing that makes me love these writers.
Both episodes basically boiled down to:
Brother 1: "Doot de doo, out with friends and being secretive about my past."
Brother 2: "Hay dude I'm in ur house and I brought family issues with me!"
Brother 1: "OH NOES! But I have a normal life now, including this hot chick who bones me!"
Brother 2: "But there is a DANGEROUS THING to hunt!"
Brother 1: "Well, okay." (to hot chick) "BRB."
Brother 2 and Brother 1: *hunt a thing*
Brother 2: "Dude, we make a good team. Come with me so we can HUNT ALL THE THINGS."
Brother 1: "OH SHIT MY GIRLFRIEND'S ON FIRE"/"I can't, I'm worried about my girlfriend catching on fire. She's like super flammable when I'm not around."
I don't know why in my head they're like half LOLcat and half dudebros. *shrug*
Anyway, I love how this time it was Dean trying not to get pulled away from his normal life. And I love even more that he was able to say "No" and Sam listened. To me, the central question of this series has always been: Can Sam and Dean grow beyond their family's bullshit? Growing up the way they did, these two developed a deeply unhealthy codependence. Their dad treated them like a unit, so they grew up acting and thinking like one. They didn't know how to cope without each other, and they have literally died for each other to stay together. Sam's always been more independent than Dean, but we've seen how cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs he goes when they're forcibly separated. ("Mystery Spot," anyone?) Dean just gets...lost. He defines himself as Sam's Big Brother, and without that, he doesn't know what to do with himself.
So seeing Dean making the call that it was okay for Sam to jump in the hole last season made me cheer a little while I sniffled into my sleeve. Progress, boys! And for Dean to actually try to carve out a life for himself without Sam...well, there are problems with the way he's doing it, obviously. I mean, he didn't choose the life for himself - he went with what Sam wanted for him. And he admits he didn't listen to the "Don't try to bring me back" request. But he's trying. And when Sam comes back and says, "Come with me," HE SAYS, "NO." Guys, that is so huge. If I were Dean's therapist, I would be up on my desk dancing right now.
But of course, we're all here for the brotherly love (to some degree), so in the fandom there's bound to be a lot of hesitation and backlash over this. The truth is, we don't want our fictional characters to be sane, functional members of society. We like them best when they're unstable, using the power saw on a vampire's neck instead of a 2x4, getting themselves roped into ridiculous scenarios because they just don't know how to quit. Sanity doesn't have stakes. This series has never been about the threat to a normal life so much as it has been about what happens after a normal life is decimated. So I find it really interesting that the writers seem to be sticking with Dean's relatively normal life, at least for a while.
What I want to see from this season is Sam and Dean figuring out a sane way to love each other and be in each other's lives. I want them to learn that it doesn't have to be all-or-nothing between them. I want Lisa and Ben to stick around - or maybe even become a vital part of the plot. And of course, I want Sam and Dean to kill some evil sons of bitches and raise a little hell. I'm eager to see how the writers reconcile all those elements, and I'm definitely enjoying the road so far.
I'd also love to see Sam being the weird estranged uncle crashing on the Braedens' couch. And Castiel having super awkward exchanges with Lisa. And a musical episode. And ghost bees. And Ben Edlund's hair getting its own spin-off. But those are more wish list items than necessities, y'know? All I really need from this show is our boys and something for them to shoot full of rock salt.