Supernatural 5.08

[maychorian]

Usual caveat lector: I am pro-pretty-much-everybody. Yes, even him. I especially love Dean. And Sam. And Castiel. And Bobby. And John. And Ellen. And Jo. And Ruby. And Bela. And Andy, Ash, Ava, Gordon, Victor, Rufus, Jimmy, Amelia, Claire, Anna, Zachariah, Uriel, Sarah, Lucas, Ben, Lisa, Kubrick, Travis, Jim, Caleb, Josh, Jefferson, Rumsfeld... Um

Comments

Thinky Thought

[midnightheir]

The 'four' painted onto the door. In an episode full of mertaphor and visual clues etc ss that meant to be a portent of things to come?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_in_Chinese_culture#Four

I know that in earlier seasons the writers put a lot of thought into little titbits and lore and threaded them in. And with it being a Japanese game show.

-sighs-

My thinky thought is being too thinky.

-l-

Tricky McGee is my new fave nickname for Gabe!Trix. And I loved the way he [mis]treated Castiel, it was absolutely 100% elder to youngest brotherly 'love'.

I hope, and do believe, that we will see him again and as an ally or at least a neutral party that won't necessarily help the brothers but won't help the others either. Maybe run interference.

The very idea that Gabriel may be passive with a long fuse makes for an interesting addition to the heavenly ranks. He doesn't seem to have ever been particularly confrontational in his meetings. Sneaky, vicious and cruel, but not violently confrontational.

-l-

Sampala FTW!

Re: the number 4

[feliciakw]

Very interesting, particularly in the follow-up of last week. When I asked what the numerological significance of 4 is . . . because there must be a reason that Sam won the poker game with four 4s, my f-list found discovered this (from her response to my question):

The number 4: "Four: The symbolic meaning of number Four deals with stability and invokes the grounded nature of all things. Consider the four seasons, four directions, four elements all these amazingly powerful essences wrapped up in the nice square package of Four. Fours represent solidity, calmness, and home. A recurrence of Four in your life may signify the need to get back to your roots, center yourself, or even "plant" yourself. Fours also indicate a need for persistence and endurance."

I looked at several pages, and four seems to reference stability, practicality, being persistent, dependable, trustworthy. Interesting, yeah? :)

Here's a list from a tarot site:

"Meaning of Four in Western numerology and Tarot - a quick reference: Truth, Order, Choice, Reason, Practice, Honesty, Loyalty, Stability, Structure, Capability, Confidence, Repetition. Practicality, Foundation, Determination, Wholesomeness, Conventionality."

I also found a wacky site, which I think is totally made up (ie with no historical/religious basis), and they think that 44 = The Angels are with you. I laughed.

Re: show: it could refer to Sam, his new stability and loyalty being on display. Or it could just be a way of emphasizing how thoroughly Sam has won--four by four, totally solid and unshakable and complete.

In light of Sam "winning" Dean's life, I found the four 4s very interesting, as if Sam's stability, calmness, and sense of home lies with Dean.

The contrasting information you found make for a very interesting contrast.

Re: the number 4

[midnightheir]

It's now turned up in two back to back episodes in one way or another. I'm going to look out for it in the next one too; maybe that will give a hint as to whether its a sign of good things to come or imminent disaster.

In either case Sam could have won with four threes or twos, and the door could have been blank (the rest of that warehouse was pretty derelict).

Either way I'm inclined to believe that its been included on purpose. I'm just not sure why ...

Re: Thinky Thought

[maychorian]

You made me curious so I went and looked and some Biblical numerology--spent way too long on it, probably. Not that it made much sense. Most of the pages I read said it was a symbol of creation and order, but some said death, too. I dunno. ::shrug::

Or it could just be, like someone noted, that it's two pairs of brothers--Sam and Dean, Michael and Lucifer.

And Gabriel and Castiel, maybe. :D

Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the review. I hope we see Tricky McGee again. He's definitely the sneaky type, so maybe he'll do one of those last-minute things and turn the situation on its head. It'll be fun to see.

And you're right that it was definitely a very (mean) brotherly dynamic between him and Cas. Poor Castiel, always getting picked on. ::pets him::

Re: Thinky Thought

[midnightheir]

Well when you pick a fight with a rottweiller and your an eight week old puppy who do you expect to win?! -snickers- One day The Little Angel That Could will learn the concept of 'picking his battles'. Or at least turning up with his stabby knife and angel oil, >;-)

I predict [read 'hope'] that Gabe will turn up to either smack Zacheriah down, I mean if he is the herald to this mess you'd think he'd have something to say about Zach kicking things off early, or beat on Raphael. Because I really want to see him handle an angel nearer to his pay grade.

BTW, Did ya write a coda to this eppy ? 'Cause there really are NOT enough coda's to this episode. From the Winchester bros angle or the Gabe and Cas ribbing on each other angle.

Re: Thinky Thought

[maychorian]

I haven't written a coda, no, but I want to! I have ideas. I hope they come together.

Coming over from the spnnewsletter

[ohyamada]

I think those pages who refer to the 4 as a symbol of death might refer to Japan (and perhaps China, but I don't know all that much about Chinese culture). In Japanese culture, 4 is an unlucky number. 4 is pronounced as "shi", and death is "shin".

:D But thank you for this meta-picspam! You pointed out some of my favourite parts, plus a couple of things I hadn't even paid that much attention to.

(Also: Criminal Minds and Numb3rs are indeed awesome. I'm over all the CSI's spinoffs, but those two remain amongst my favourite shows. ♥)

Sorry for butting into the middle of your conversation, but this seemed more at place here than as an entirely new comment.