(no subject)
The big bad(s):
• Prior to the broadcast, writer Ben Blacker (not the brilliant Ben who wrote this episode) said there would be an awesome music cue in "Hello, Cruel World." And he was right. "Black Water" had me cackling. I wonder what the music budget is like this year? It seems most seasons start out strong, then as the money fades, so does the likelihood of a rock-filled soundtrack. Eh well. Get it while ya can.
• Enjoyed the callbacks to Dr. Sexy M.D. and Biggerson's.
• When the Leviathans show their teeth, it makes me think of Beetlejuice.
• Liked how Leviathan!Cas went into the water with his arms raised... almost a baptismal quality.
• Interesting how the Leviathans spread out in the water in a way that mirrors a cloud of demons: black mass shooting off into different directions, arms or tendrils going every which way. One is smoke, moves through the air, gets up inside people through their orifices and possesses them. The other is inky, liquid, moves through the water, enters people through their orifices and possesses them. I'm not sure if it means anything. Maybe leviathans were the Old World prototypes of demons. Maybe not. But, bringing this back from last week's review post: "According to rabbinical tradition, it was Leviathan who seduced Eve in its male incarnation of Samael, and Adam in its female incarnation of Lilith." Lilith was the first demon. Connection?
The major difference is that demons were once human. Leviathans, in SPN's lore, pre-date humans. So if human souls are tortured and twisted into demonic creatures, does that leave the potential for leviathans to to be twisted in another way and reformed by their human hosts? They learn from humans, moving toward them. Demons moved away from humanity. Hmmm.
• There's a boss. Have we already met the (new) boss, as last week's episode title suggested? Or will that be a bigger surprise to come? Is there a King Leviathan just as there is a King of Hell?
• I've been exposed to too much porn. Boys in the locker room took my mind to all the wrong (or right?) places.
• When the little leviathan-possessed girl was humming in the hospital, I'm pretty sure she was humming the same tune as the little girl in "Playthings."
The big damn heroes:
• Sheriff Jodie Mills was kickass. Poor woman probably had flashbacks to her zombified kid eating her husband when she saw the doctor feasting on her roomie.
• Both Bobby (early on) and hallucination!Dean stumbled over the term "leviathan." Bobby says: "whatever-you-call-ums." Dean says: "levia-whatever." Not sure I buy Bobby having trouble with the word with all his knowledge, unless he had some head trauma from being thrown. Dean... well, it's not actually Dean there, so it doesn't count (but there is a precedent for Sam correcting Dean, so it fits that he would hallucinate that). Not sure if there's a serious connection between the two stumblings or if it's Edlund being accidentally repetitive. Just caught my attention.
• Loved all the red car lights washing over hallucination!Dean while they were driving to Morning Star Endeavors (I see what you did there, Show). Yeah, there were red lights in other real!Dean car scenes, but they seemed more numerous in that instance.
• Sam, you left the van's lights on. Gonna drain the battery. Be a little more practical next time you're hallucinating. ;P
• Good to see the Impala back together, all sleek and rumbly and creaky-doored as ever.
• "You're my little bitch in every sense of the term." --> So that's pretty much verification that Lucifer raped Sam in Hell? And we've had several strong implications of Dean being raped in Hell too, most notably via Alastair's taunting in "On The Head Of A Pin" - which, of course, was also written by Ben Edlund. Mr. Edlund, you're a disturbing, cruel bastard.
Gotta say, I find hallucination!Lucifer a lot more enjoyable than regular S5 Lucifer.
• What an emotional tug-of-war with the boys! The h/c count was high. Well, maybe more hurt than outright comfort. But they were together. But, fuck, the level of depression, with severe suicidal indications on both ends. But... together! The look on Dean's face after he talked Sam down, that relief of realizing he'd finally gotten through to him. Eeee! And: "Believe me." Double eeee! YES, boys.
Those stitches in Sam's palm looked rather big and poorly done. And, gah, digging into them - what a violent way to pull Sam back into reality, and so fitting for the show... and so fitting for Dean and Sam and their shared Hell experiences. It's the horrible things that bring them closer together, right? Mary's death (think of "What Is And What Should Never Be" and the disconnected Sam and Dean it showed us), Jess's death, John's in a way, now this. As sad and awful as it is, the Winchester boys are bonded through pain. It's kind of beautiful. In a slightly sick way. *grin*
That relief, though, let me get back to that. Because in a not-too-blatant way Dean's relief (that tiny release of his facial muscles and shoulders after he finished pep-talking Sam, getting a tiny result out of his brother) showed how much Dean needs help too, how much he needs his brother, how much he needs his family.
It was good to hear him admit he's not okay, even if it wasn't directly to Bobby, live or face-to-face. But, you know, start small.
I really love the maturation of these characters. The non-linear development of their stories, tangled together, and moving forward and back, but forward again, always striving forward (is that the soldier in them?). Jared and Jensen are doing such wonderful work depicting the growing pains of Sam and Dean, imho.
• Huh, when I saw the stills for next week's episode, I assumed Dean's broken leg was all appearance - some ruse to get into the hospital for a case. So, it's a real broken leg and Sam has real head trauma. Oh, boys! (Oh, bowleg! *pets*)
• Bobby's place! :( I had a feeling it would get destroyed soon, with everything else falling apart, but not quite so soon. At least it wasn't burned to the ground. There's some hope, right?
• Speaking of hope, I do think we will see Castiel again. That's not a Pollyanna outlook... it just makes sense. Whether he's in Jimmy's vessel again or not is the question. Though, if Anna could come back in her old body... the possibility is there.
Okay, the Doctor Who finale has finished downloading. But I think I'm going to wait until after supper. Make some tea, grab a handful of jammie dodgers (or, err, Pepperidge Farm Veronas), and settle in to watch it and most likely have my brain turned into swiss cheese. After which, you can call me Sam. ;)
• Prior to the broadcast, writer Ben Blacker (not the brilliant Ben who wrote this episode) said there would be an awesome music cue in "Hello, Cruel World." And he was right. "Black Water" had me cackling. I wonder what the music budget is like this year? It seems most seasons start out strong, then as the money fades, so does the likelihood of a rock-filled soundtrack. Eh well. Get it while ya can.
• Enjoyed the callbacks to Dr. Sexy M.D. and Biggerson's.
• When the Leviathans show their teeth, it makes me think of Beetlejuice.
• Liked how Leviathan!Cas went into the water with his arms raised... almost a baptismal quality.
• Interesting how the Leviathans spread out in the water in a way that mirrors a cloud of demons: black mass shooting off into different directions, arms or tendrils going every which way. One is smoke, moves through the air, gets up inside people through their orifices and possesses them. The other is inky, liquid, moves through the water, enters people through their orifices and possesses them. I'm not sure if it means anything. Maybe leviathans were the Old World prototypes of demons. Maybe not. But, bringing this back from last week's review post: "According to rabbinical tradition, it was Leviathan who seduced Eve in its male incarnation of Samael, and Adam in its female incarnation of Lilith." Lilith was the first demon. Connection?
The major difference is that demons were once human. Leviathans, in SPN's lore, pre-date humans. So if human souls are tortured and twisted into demonic creatures, does that leave the potential for leviathans to to be twisted in another way and reformed by their human hosts? They learn from humans, moving toward them. Demons moved away from humanity. Hmmm.
• There's a boss. Have we already met the (new) boss, as last week's episode title suggested? Or will that be a bigger surprise to come? Is there a King Leviathan just as there is a King of Hell?
• I've been exposed to too much porn. Boys in the locker room took my mind to all the wrong (or right?) places.
• When the little leviathan-possessed girl was humming in the hospital, I'm pretty sure she was humming the same tune as the little girl in "Playthings."
The big damn heroes:
• Sheriff Jodie Mills was kickass. Poor woman probably had flashbacks to her zombified kid eating her husband when she saw the doctor feasting on her roomie.
• Both Bobby (early on) and hallucination!Dean stumbled over the term "leviathan." Bobby says: "whatever-you-call-ums." Dean says: "levia-whatever." Not sure I buy Bobby having trouble with the word with all his knowledge, unless he had some head trauma from being thrown. Dean... well, it's not actually Dean there, so it doesn't count (but there is a precedent for Sam correcting Dean, so it fits that he would hallucinate that). Not sure if there's a serious connection between the two stumblings or if it's Edlund being accidentally repetitive. Just caught my attention.
• Loved all the red car lights washing over hallucination!Dean while they were driving to Morning Star Endeavors (I see what you did there, Show). Yeah, there were red lights in other real!Dean car scenes, but they seemed more numerous in that instance.
• Sam, you left the van's lights on. Gonna drain the battery. Be a little more practical next time you're hallucinating. ;P
• Good to see the Impala back together, all sleek and rumbly and creaky-doored as ever.
• "You're my little bitch in every sense of the term." --> So that's pretty much verification that Lucifer raped Sam in Hell? And we've had several strong implications of Dean being raped in Hell too, most notably via Alastair's taunting in "On The Head Of A Pin" - which, of course, was also written by Ben Edlund. Mr. Edlund, you're a disturbing, cruel bastard.
Gotta say, I find hallucination!Lucifer a lot more enjoyable than regular S5 Lucifer.
• What an emotional tug-of-war with the boys! The h/c count was high. Well, maybe more hurt than outright comfort. But they were together. But, fuck, the level of depression, with severe suicidal indications on both ends. But... together! The look on Dean's face after he talked Sam down, that relief of realizing he'd finally gotten through to him. Eeee! And: "Believe me." Double eeee! YES, boys.
Those stitches in Sam's palm looked rather big and poorly done. And, gah, digging into them - what a violent way to pull Sam back into reality, and so fitting for the show... and so fitting for Dean and Sam and their shared Hell experiences. It's the horrible things that bring them closer together, right? Mary's death (think of "What Is And What Should Never Be" and the disconnected Sam and Dean it showed us), Jess's death, John's in a way, now this. As sad and awful as it is, the Winchester boys are bonded through pain. It's kind of beautiful. In a slightly sick way. *grin*
That relief, though, let me get back to that. Because in a not-too-blatant way Dean's relief (that tiny release of his facial muscles and shoulders after he finished pep-talking Sam, getting a tiny result out of his brother) showed how much Dean needs help too, how much he needs his brother, how much he needs his family.
It was good to hear him admit he's not okay, even if it wasn't directly to Bobby, live or face-to-face. But, you know, start small.
I really love the maturation of these characters. The non-linear development of their stories, tangled together, and moving forward and back, but forward again, always striving forward (is that the soldier in them?). Jared and Jensen are doing such wonderful work depicting the growing pains of Sam and Dean, imho.
• Huh, when I saw the stills for next week's episode, I assumed Dean's broken leg was all appearance - some ruse to get into the hospital for a case. So, it's a real broken leg and Sam has real head trauma. Oh, boys! (Oh, bowleg! *pets*)
• Bobby's place! :( I had a feeling it would get destroyed soon, with everything else falling apart, but not quite so soon. At least it wasn't burned to the ground. There's some hope, right?
• Speaking of hope, I do think we will see Castiel again. That's not a Pollyanna outlook... it just makes sense. Whether he's in Jimmy's vessel again or not is the question. Though, if Anna could come back in her old body... the possibility is there.
Okay, the Doctor Who finale has finished downloading. But I think I'm going to wait until after supper. Make some tea, grab a handful of jammie dodgers (or, err, Pepperidge Farm Veronas), and settle in to watch it and most likely have my brain turned into swiss cheese. After which, you can call me Sam. ;)