spn S2 reaction
THESE KIDS. MY HEART. I BLAME YOU ALL FOR MY ~PAIN.
I still like it, I like S2 a lot better than S1. That said, watching it all at once is making me realize just how nakedly manipulative it is. I really don't think it needs the violins of angst to swell and for one or the other of them to make a big long speech about his ~endless pain. They're well-drawn-enough characters that it's unnecessary, so I just end up being irritated and uncomfortable during what should be the big moments. The horror episodes, too. They're predictable - I know something is always about to leap out of the dark - but I'm still startled by it. So it's not always particularly pleasant.
I also really love both Jo and Ellen. Ellen's tough, brassy attitude appeals; the way she's trying to have it both ways with Jo is sympathetic but still pretty messed up. Because - she keeps the poor girl isolated out in the middle of nowhere, with only hunters to surround herself with, she puts the fear of God into Jo to the point where she can't even go to college without being the freak with the knife collection, and then fills her up with you-can't-fight. You can just know what's out there and be afraid of it and not do anything about it.
The other thing that's nagging is, I feel like the show's overcompensating for the deserved criticism? I'm super-glad they added Jo and Ellen, I'm not so thrilled about Dean's patronizing attitude toward Jo being tolerated. So I'm not particularly bothered by the way they're disturbed when people think they're a couple. But then they stay all disturbed about why someone thinks they're gay. They're all uncomfortable about the doll collection. Most of the trikster episode was bawdy but funny, but the "probing" and the way it's played for laughs (and the way both boys do laugh at it) - that's way, way over the line.
I was going to at least embrace liking Gordon even among all the nasty tropes that were so likely to come into play, but, they couldn't even bother coming up with a backstory that wasn't Gunn's? Did he have to be so awful, and play into the myth that black men are a particular danger to white women, did Dean have to take so much pleasure in beating the crap out of him? Beause:
We live in black and white...I"m not saying he's wrong, just different. That's not the statement of a black-and-white thinker, that difference is okay. He was really promising, and then got vilified so quickly (as did Jake). It's disturbing.
I'm seriously in Part II of Devil in the White City right now. AND NOW I KNOW HOW IT ENDS, THANKS, SPN. I do like that we see Philadelphia and then Baltimore, though I winced hard at the way the show goes to PHILADELPHIA and then is like "BUT THE MISSING BLONDE GIRLS." shut up. I also really enjoy how we're seeing how fucking suspicious the Winchesters are. Law enforcement is always after them because they really, really should be.
your misery's the whole point, it's so much fun to watch
EVERYBODY MUST GET STONED! Or at least Dean with much greater frequency. THE CUTENESS. Which was a perfect addition to the Andy episode - aw, he was presh - with the kind of interesting drug use/abuse dynamic going on with the two brothers. Andy's drug use isn't the best thing in the world for him, but it's not the worst either; his brother is a hard-core addict. It's an apt thing to drop into this season where Dean's coping mechanisms start to spiral out of his control. I've really enjoyed the physicality of the character - sex and food, drinking and smoking, fighting and massages. But what was about living in the moment before his death at the beginning of the season has become about him going to excesses trying to get out of his head and back into his body. It's part of his whole struggle to keep his own demons at bay, even knowing it's all going to collapse on him sooner or later - his acceptance of the hellhouds is about Sam, but not just about Sam, it's where he thinks he's been headed all along.
Dean and his dream djinn world KILLED ME. It's obvious from the beginning that it's not real, but that makes the episode so much more effective, when the show gives up the suspense-tool. It's so sad that he keeps referring to his dream life as his happiness. He doesn't seem happy. He can't believe he would be any other than a huge screw-up. God, how fucking hard does he work to protect the memory of his father? I mean, it's not just about that, it's about protecting himself from understanding how different he would have been if his father was not selfish and bloodthirsty and insane. But - he doesn't even try to adjust that memory within his dream. His father has to be dead, because his father being around would definitely jolt him into figuring it all out. How he works so hard to externalize everything and projects all his misery onto the stuff going on around him, because he was hammered into being all about the mission, all about Sam, no intrinsic worth or purpose of his own. He puts it all on Sam, because what else can he do?
you brave little soldier; you're too precious for this world
Poor Sam, if he didn't have to be on the show with Dean he'd be such a favorite. His fear of what's inside of him, and the way he has to play into the demon's hands a little bit just to survive, and the way he knows that and doesn't see any other way out, it's all very compelling, the poor kid. I love how badly he wants to put some faith in something bigger than himself - and he can hope that there's a God and believe God is good, because he's always had someone looking out for him.
"Better to stay in the dark and stay alive." How can you still think that, Sam, that you can protect people by enforced ignorance?
The humor in this season was really delightful, and though I wouldn't trade Dean's one-liners for anything, a lot of it comes from Sam. We got a trickster! Not a literary trickster, but the real deal. lol, I think Sam is under the impression that his flashback-Dean is unappealing somehow? Though flashback-Sam is adorable too. Jared Paladecki is hilarious - his FML face when they pass Stars Hollow is probably my favorite bit of the Hollywood episode. I completely love that Dean's afraid of flying and Sam's afraid of clowns. Of all the shit that really will kill them - Dean's wild driving being so much more dangerous than planes, for starters - and they vent their fear onto shit that can't hurt them.
if it's the last thing i do, i'm going to save you
The brother's relationship continues to be excellent enough to make the whole show worthwhile on its own.
Sam, for his part, takes Dean for granted in this way that I love. Because it's not that he ever even considers misusing that. It's just that Dean is his constant in a way that he doesn't even think to question. You killed everyone I love, he tells the demon. Except it hasn't killed Dean. And I don't think that's Sam saying he doesn't love his brother, of course, so much as he can't imagine even this monster being able to pry Dean away from him. He's just as devoted to Dean. If someone dove off Niagara Falls in a barrel, would you jump in to save them? Yes, Dean, he would, because that's what he's doing for you every day.
You don't do that, you don't lay that kind of crap on your kids! True, re: everything John Winchester. But Dean can only admit that when it's for Sam. It's a further complication of the way he kind of repeats his father's mistakes with Sam - because the sheer force of his dedication to and need for Sam are also an unfair burden. But Sam's older, and more self-contained, enough to decide he's going to save Dean right back.
Ahem, Sammy, meet me at Camera 3: if you have managed to get through four years at Stanford while still being stupid enough to decide you're going to EXPLAIN to the cops about how you were fighting ghosts instead of stopping the interview for an attorney, YOU DESERVE WHATEVER YOU GET. Why do they share a room even when they're the only people at the hotel, if they're not paying for it anyway? And shouldn't they get some fake plates for the Impala? I'm not endorsing all the fraud, I'm just saying, in for a penny. And why does Dean need to get his prints all over every crime scene in the contiguous US? And it still bothers me that they waste the Colt bullets after using them on whatever demon. And what was up with Tricia Helfer's episode, why'd they wait until the one night a year to locate the farmer's body, instead of doing the finding, oh, any of the 364 nights of the preceding year when they weren't on a timer? For a couple of career criminals, they full-on suck at crime.
I still like it, I like S2 a lot better than S1. That said, watching it all at once is making me realize just how nakedly manipulative it is. I really don't think it needs the violins of angst to swell and for one or the other of them to make a big long speech about his ~endless pain. They're well-drawn-enough characters that it's unnecessary, so I just end up being irritated and uncomfortable during what should be the big moments. The horror episodes, too. They're predictable - I know something is always about to leap out of the dark - but I'm still startled by it. So it's not always particularly pleasant.
I also really love both Jo and Ellen. Ellen's tough, brassy attitude appeals; the way she's trying to have it both ways with Jo is sympathetic but still pretty messed up. Because - she keeps the poor girl isolated out in the middle of nowhere, with only hunters to surround herself with, she puts the fear of God into Jo to the point where she can't even go to college without being the freak with the knife collection, and then fills her up with you-can't-fight. You can just know what's out there and be afraid of it and not do anything about it.
The other thing that's nagging is, I feel like the show's overcompensating for the deserved criticism? I'm super-glad they added Jo and Ellen, I'm not so thrilled about Dean's patronizing attitude toward Jo being tolerated. So I'm not particularly bothered by the way they're disturbed when people think they're a couple. But then they stay all disturbed about why someone thinks they're gay. They're all uncomfortable about the doll collection. Most of the trikster episode was bawdy but funny, but the "probing" and the way it's played for laughs (and the way both boys do laugh at it) - that's way, way over the line.
I was going to at least embrace liking Gordon even among all the nasty tropes that were so likely to come into play, but, they couldn't even bother coming up with a backstory that wasn't Gunn's? Did he have to be so awful, and play into the myth that black men are a particular danger to white women, did Dean have to take so much pleasure in beating the crap out of him? Beause:
We live in black and white...I"m not saying he's wrong, just different. That's not the statement of a black-and-white thinker, that difference is okay. He was really promising, and then got vilified so quickly (as did Jake). It's disturbing.
I'm seriously in Part II of Devil in the White City right now. AND NOW I KNOW HOW IT ENDS, THANKS, SPN. I do like that we see Philadelphia and then Baltimore, though I winced hard at the way the show goes to PHILADELPHIA and then is like "BUT THE MISSING BLONDE GIRLS." shut up. I also really enjoy how we're seeing how fucking suspicious the Winchesters are. Law enforcement is always after them because they really, really should be.
your misery's the whole point, it's so much fun to watch
EVERYBODY MUST GET STONED! Or at least Dean with much greater frequency. THE CUTENESS. Which was a perfect addition to the Andy episode - aw, he was presh - with the kind of interesting drug use/abuse dynamic going on with the two brothers. Andy's drug use isn't the best thing in the world for him, but it's not the worst either; his brother is a hard-core addict. It's an apt thing to drop into this season where Dean's coping mechanisms start to spiral out of his control. I've really enjoyed the physicality of the character - sex and food, drinking and smoking, fighting and massages. But what was about living in the moment before his death at the beginning of the season has become about him going to excesses trying to get out of his head and back into his body. It's part of his whole struggle to keep his own demons at bay, even knowing it's all going to collapse on him sooner or later - his acceptance of the hellhouds is about Sam, but not just about Sam, it's where he thinks he's been headed all along.
Dean and his dream djinn world KILLED ME. It's obvious from the beginning that it's not real, but that makes the episode so much more effective, when the show gives up the suspense-tool. It's so sad that he keeps referring to his dream life as his happiness. He doesn't seem happy. He can't believe he would be any other than a huge screw-up. God, how fucking hard does he work to protect the memory of his father? I mean, it's not just about that, it's about protecting himself from understanding how different he would have been if his father was not selfish and bloodthirsty and insane. But - he doesn't even try to adjust that memory within his dream. His father has to be dead, because his father being around would definitely jolt him into figuring it all out. How he works so hard to externalize everything and projects all his misery onto the stuff going on around him, because he was hammered into being all about the mission, all about Sam, no intrinsic worth or purpose of his own. He puts it all on Sam, because what else can he do?
you brave little soldier; you're too precious for this world
Poor Sam, if he didn't have to be on the show with Dean he'd be such a favorite. His fear of what's inside of him, and the way he has to play into the demon's hands a little bit just to survive, and the way he knows that and doesn't see any other way out, it's all very compelling, the poor kid. I love how badly he wants to put some faith in something bigger than himself - and he can hope that there's a God and believe God is good, because he's always had someone looking out for him.
"Better to stay in the dark and stay alive." How can you still think that, Sam, that you can protect people by enforced ignorance?
The humor in this season was really delightful, and though I wouldn't trade Dean's one-liners for anything, a lot of it comes from Sam. We got a trickster! Not a literary trickster, but the real deal. lol, I think Sam is under the impression that his flashback-Dean is unappealing somehow? Though flashback-Sam is adorable too. Jared Paladecki is hilarious - his FML face when they pass Stars Hollow is probably my favorite bit of the Hollywood episode. I completely love that Dean's afraid of flying and Sam's afraid of clowns. Of all the shit that really will kill them - Dean's wild driving being so much more dangerous than planes, for starters - and they vent their fear onto shit that can't hurt them.
if it's the last thing i do, i'm going to save you
The brother's relationship continues to be excellent enough to make the whole show worthwhile on its own.
Sam, for his part, takes Dean for granted in this way that I love. Because it's not that he ever even considers misusing that. It's just that Dean is his constant in a way that he doesn't even think to question. You killed everyone I love, he tells the demon. Except it hasn't killed Dean. And I don't think that's Sam saying he doesn't love his brother, of course, so much as he can't imagine even this monster being able to pry Dean away from him. He's just as devoted to Dean. If someone dove off Niagara Falls in a barrel, would you jump in to save them? Yes, Dean, he would, because that's what he's doing for you every day.
You don't do that, you don't lay that kind of crap on your kids! True, re: everything John Winchester. But Dean can only admit that when it's for Sam. It's a further complication of the way he kind of repeats his father's mistakes with Sam - because the sheer force of his dedication to and need for Sam are also an unfair burden. But Sam's older, and more self-contained, enough to decide he's going to save Dean right back.
Ahem, Sammy, meet me at Camera 3: if you have managed to get through four years at Stanford while still being stupid enough to decide you're going to EXPLAIN to the cops about how you were fighting ghosts instead of stopping the interview for an attorney, YOU DESERVE WHATEVER YOU GET. Why do they share a room even when they're the only people at the hotel, if they're not paying for it anyway? And shouldn't they get some fake plates for the Impala? I'm not endorsing all the fraud, I'm just saying, in for a penny. And why does Dean need to get his prints all over every crime scene in the contiguous US? And it still bothers me that they waste the Colt bullets after using them on whatever demon. And what was up with Tricia Helfer's episode, why'd they wait until the one night a year to locate the farmer's body, instead of doing the finding, oh, any of the 364 nights of the preceding year when they weren't on a timer? For a couple of career criminals, they full-on suck at crime.