A little Slice of Kevin
Wow one of those eps that packed so much in, it seemed to be 90 mins long! Characters, relationships, mytharc and GORE!!! I've sort of broken this ep into thoughts on the characters, otherwise I would've just written ALL THE FEELS!
Dean and Cas
"I don't need to feel like hell for failing you, okay. For failing you like I've failed every other godforsaken thing I care about."
"You can't save everyone my friend, though you try"
So much, as usual, of how Jensen and Misha play their scenes together, and well picked up by the new director here, is non-verbal. Loved the quietness, stillness almost, with which Misha plays this, great performance thru the episode.
OH THE LOVE!!! But - sometimes I wonder whether Dean's love can be so fierce, as it is with Castiel, that it does really end up not always leaving much room for the other person.
One thing I think the episode did so well was that by starting with showing us Dean's distress at thinking he was seeing Cas, then made his reaction on his return understandable. It's so very Dean that his deep guilt over what he thinks is his failure to save Cas, get's acted out as a something that looks close to childish petulance about Cas 'unexpected return.
We also see so clearly in the Purgatory flashback, Dean's desperate insistence that he'll get Cas out, and Cas all the while knowing he won’t go.
Interesting, that really in a way both Sam and Cas "left " Dean because they were trying to do what was best for themselves. And again perception comes into it, because some will see their actions as selfish - in a bad way - while others will see them as self-positive choices.
I personally don’t think penance does anyone any good - you could argue Dean's self-flagellating guilt is just another version of this. It very much depends on your belief system whether you see that Cas spending time suffering / being purified in Purgatory balances the ledger or makes up for what he did. Personally I would rather he'd spent some time helping out in an animal shelter.
Again - perception. Cas did what worked for him, and it seems to have. There was a strength here, Cas' humour certainly, but also a type of inner peace. Despite his diminished power, it was awesome to see him unfurl into full-on BAMF angel mode against Crowley!!!
And then Cas Vulcan mindmelding with Dean, and revealing the truth, and his insight that Dean think its his responsibility to save everyone. I mean that’s what Dean has seen as his purpose since he was a child. And perception again - seeing that he's responsible for others - well it can seem like a good thing, a noble thing. But I think it can also be a selfish thing, sometimes not mindful of what those others want. Its also a paradigm that can be so restrictive, it allows only success or failure, and no other choices, no other ways of seeing a situation. I think I am rambling now :D
Can we just go back to that point where we see a flicker cross Dean's face, of realisation (revelation), of a new way of seeing things. It really feels like maybe dean, and certainly his relationship with Cas, has a new way forward.
Of course this reunion isn't unproblematic as Cas is being used by some sort of Angelic Black ops team headed by Amanda Tapping (unf).
But Team Free Will is back together!
Sam and Dean.
I love how they played Sam and Dean in this episode. All the caring and love is there …but I think there is also a sense of some distance from Sam. I could even speculate whether Dean, who is quite emotionally open in this ep, is subconsciously using that to try and rebuild things with Sam.
And there's no doubt Sam is attuned to Dean's state of being - four times in the episode he sense when Dean is upset. Oh Winchesters, you just can't quit each other. (But of course we are well aware the anger from the last episode has just been tucked away for now, and will rise again - probably just before hiatus !)
My fav scene is the night time one in the motel room - just breaks me. It's a very intimate setting - a motel room at night. Sam curled in bed, a curled towards Dean, and then he wakes when Dean is feeling upset. It's a great portrait of just how many years this has been their life, together.
Shallow note - later after Cas returns, when Sam asks Dean if he's okay, Jared has that Texas lilt in his voice and its very beguiling.
The Trans
Oh the Trans! I adore Linda Tran and I thought the scenes with Delta the witch were hilarious. "One's a demon-hunting mom, the other is a witch who's sister's a hooker. Together they fight demons." Seriously CW - get onto that series NOW!
I love how capable the Trans are - and really Linda is amazing with her "best defense is a good offense" move. It may have backfired, but really the same could be said for more than a fair share of the Winchesters tactics. And then she goes and captures a demon on her own. KICK ASS. I love this acknowledgement that really its character that makes a hunter, not any "chosen one"status. All the hunters we've met have been ordinary people, who have ended up doing extraordinary things.
And then Kevin suffers horribly, and LOSES A FINGER, which is some serious shit even for supernatural. Apparently they also had a graphic close up of the digit detachment, but weren't allowed to use it.
Crowley
Damn if in this episode Mark Sheppard doesn't really sell sadism as an attractive lifestyle choice. It says a lot that Crowley's charisma is so strong, that he still makes me smile despite his heinous acts. Poor Samandriel!
All the little touches - his monogrammed hankie, the little toy windmill, just so perfect.
And other stuff I loved
* Who send's their kid to a rep-school called "Randy Raccoon" - seriously is he a cousin to Pedo Bear or what?
* But what is MOST awesome about this sequence, is a return to the mythology that linked demon appearances with weather!!
* Current generation of prophets, half of whom seem to think they’ve been abducted by aliens. Nice touch! Well I am sure Crowley would oblige with an anal probe.
* I like finding out more on the prophet lore - and thank you writers for later mentioning the elusive Chuck!
* I wonder what the significance of Metatron's message was? Plus there's a compendium of tablets!
* Big shoutout to the VFX lab too - from the leviathan in Purgatory, to the portal, Benny's soul dissolve, and exploding prophets, that was some kickass work!
Dean and Cas
"I don't need to feel like hell for failing you, okay. For failing you like I've failed every other godforsaken thing I care about."
"You can't save everyone my friend, though you try"
So much, as usual, of how Jensen and Misha play their scenes together, and well picked up by the new director here, is non-verbal. Loved the quietness, stillness almost, with which Misha plays this, great performance thru the episode.
OH THE LOVE!!! But - sometimes I wonder whether Dean's love can be so fierce, as it is with Castiel, that it does really end up not always leaving much room for the other person.
One thing I think the episode did so well was that by starting with showing us Dean's distress at thinking he was seeing Cas, then made his reaction on his return understandable. It's so very Dean that his deep guilt over what he thinks is his failure to save Cas, get's acted out as a something that looks close to childish petulance about Cas 'unexpected return.
We also see so clearly in the Purgatory flashback, Dean's desperate insistence that he'll get Cas out, and Cas all the while knowing he won’t go.
Interesting, that really in a way both Sam and Cas "left " Dean because they were trying to do what was best for themselves. And again perception comes into it, because some will see their actions as selfish - in a bad way - while others will see them as self-positive choices.
I personally don’t think penance does anyone any good - you could argue Dean's self-flagellating guilt is just another version of this. It very much depends on your belief system whether you see that Cas spending time suffering / being purified in Purgatory balances the ledger or makes up for what he did. Personally I would rather he'd spent some time helping out in an animal shelter.
Again - perception. Cas did what worked for him, and it seems to have. There was a strength here, Cas' humour certainly, but also a type of inner peace. Despite his diminished power, it was awesome to see him unfurl into full-on BAMF angel mode against Crowley!!!
And then Cas Vulcan mindmelding with Dean, and revealing the truth, and his insight that Dean think its his responsibility to save everyone. I mean that’s what Dean has seen as his purpose since he was a child. And perception again - seeing that he's responsible for others - well it can seem like a good thing, a noble thing. But I think it can also be a selfish thing, sometimes not mindful of what those others want. Its also a paradigm that can be so restrictive, it allows only success or failure, and no other choices, no other ways of seeing a situation. I think I am rambling now :D
Can we just go back to that point where we see a flicker cross Dean's face, of realisation (revelation), of a new way of seeing things. It really feels like maybe dean, and certainly his relationship with Cas, has a new way forward.
Of course this reunion isn't unproblematic as Cas is being used by some sort of Angelic Black ops team headed by Amanda Tapping (unf).
But Team Free Will is back together!
Sam and Dean.
I love how they played Sam and Dean in this episode. All the caring and love is there …but I think there is also a sense of some distance from Sam. I could even speculate whether Dean, who is quite emotionally open in this ep, is subconsciously using that to try and rebuild things with Sam.
And there's no doubt Sam is attuned to Dean's state of being - four times in the episode he sense when Dean is upset. Oh Winchesters, you just can't quit each other. (But of course we are well aware the anger from the last episode has just been tucked away for now, and will rise again - probably just before hiatus !)
My fav scene is the night time one in the motel room - just breaks me. It's a very intimate setting - a motel room at night. Sam curled in bed, a curled towards Dean, and then he wakes when Dean is feeling upset. It's a great portrait of just how many years this has been their life, together.
Shallow note - later after Cas returns, when Sam asks Dean if he's okay, Jared has that Texas lilt in his voice and its very beguiling.
The Trans
Oh the Trans! I adore Linda Tran and I thought the scenes with Delta the witch were hilarious. "One's a demon-hunting mom, the other is a witch who's sister's a hooker. Together they fight demons." Seriously CW - get onto that series NOW!
I love how capable the Trans are - and really Linda is amazing with her "best defense is a good offense" move. It may have backfired, but really the same could be said for more than a fair share of the Winchesters tactics. And then she goes and captures a demon on her own. KICK ASS. I love this acknowledgement that really its character that makes a hunter, not any "chosen one"status. All the hunters we've met have been ordinary people, who have ended up doing extraordinary things.
And then Kevin suffers horribly, and LOSES A FINGER, which is some serious shit even for supernatural. Apparently they also had a graphic close up of the digit detachment, but weren't allowed to use it.
Crowley
Damn if in this episode Mark Sheppard doesn't really sell sadism as an attractive lifestyle choice. It says a lot that Crowley's charisma is so strong, that he still makes me smile despite his heinous acts. Poor Samandriel!
All the little touches - his monogrammed hankie, the little toy windmill, just so perfect.
And other stuff I loved
* Who send's their kid to a rep-school called "Randy Raccoon" - seriously is he a cousin to Pedo Bear or what?
* But what is MOST awesome about this sequence, is a return to the mythology that linked demon appearances with weather!!
* Current generation of prophets, half of whom seem to think they’ve been abducted by aliens. Nice touch! Well I am sure Crowley would oblige with an anal probe.
* I like finding out more on the prophet lore - and thank you writers for later mentioning the elusive Chuck!
* I wonder what the significance of Metatron's message was? Plus there's a compendium of tablets!
* Big shoutout to the VFX lab too - from the leviathan in Purgatory, to the portal, Benny's soul dissolve, and exploding prophets, that was some kickass work!