Reaction to 10x23, "Brother's Keeper"
Now I just want to say up front that I did enjoy the finale. In fact, I think it was one of the best ones Show has given us in its long history! That does not, however, excuse the fact that I am thoroughly confused with the whole Dean, Sam, and Death scene. THere will be a lot of talk about said scene, and a lot of it won't be positive. Just warning you ahead of time.
So! Let's start out with the good stuffy stuff. Imma make a list:
1. Love that they used part of the "Carry On My Wayward Son" performance from the play in the Fan Fiction episode. Nice touch tying it all together, plus that girl has a beautiful voice :)
2. Love that the members of Team Free Will remain alive, and that Crowley and Rowena are sticking around, too. I was really worried that at least one of them wouldn ot make it to see Season 11.
3. Did NOT expect the twist with Oscar! So THAT'S why Crowley was at that diner last week--not because he wanted to make a deal with the kid, but rather, as he put it, "a hamster told me" all about Oscar and his Auntie Rowena. And then later, seeing Rowena genuinely hurt by what she had to do, but then doing it anyway, told us a lot about the scottish witch that we didn't know. She's ruthless, just like her son. Lovely :)
4. Adored seeing Death again, always one of my favorite characters. And loved that they still had Death and Dean bonding over their love of food--in this case, food homemade by Dean with "all the bad fat," hehe.
5. I especially loved the callbacks they made to themes from this season, particularly with Dean and mirrors. We've known since way back in Season 1 that he doesn't like what he sees in mirrors, what with his low self esteem and all, but this year he's been seeing far worse things, like demon eyes and other hallucinations (or WERE they hallucinations? Love that we'll never know for sure!). So to see him go from being badass and uncaring at the beginning of the ep, only to go back to the motel and find bloodied Cas and dead Rudy glaring at him with blame, he can't stand the sight of them, much less their reminder that he is anything BUT good, no matter what he tells himself. So he smashes the mirror and rips up the room in frustration, abandons Baby (NOOOOO!), and takes off so he can summon Death and finally die. Broke my heart. But still loved how they basically ended the mirror theme for the season.
Going along with that, I was so glad to see a continuation of something they introduced in the Season 9 finale--namely, the Mark making Dean physically ill when he doesn't kill enough for the Mark's liking. Why was he on the floor at episode's start, sweating and looking barely alive? Because he beat up Castiel but didn't KILL him, and the Mark has had just about enough of that. The fact that they haven't shown us more of these physical side effects through the season is, sadly, par for the course for Show, always telling us ("He's getting worse," from Sam ad nauseum) instead of showing us what's going on. So I was thrilled to see them actually show it this time, and then to reveal the consequences, too! Look at how different Dean is after he kills those vamps--it's startling! The sweats are gone, he stands up straighter, his eyes are clear, all because the Mark has been satisfied (and Jensen being an excellent actor). So why didn't Show give us MORE of that?! I mean, sheeshery,they showed Cas all fluish and bedridden when his borrowed grace was low, so why not Dean physically suffering from the Mark? Ah well. Better late than never, I suppose.
6. I know this sort of ties in with Number 5, but I liked the parallel between the vamp easily cleaning the blood off his hands with water, and Dean back at the motel, scrubbing and scrubbing his clean hands. THey're not clean, of course--not metaphorically, anyway. The guilt over Cas and Rudy is still there, and their blood, also metaphorically, is on his hands. It's the best "Out, damn spot!" I've ever seen outside of, obviously, Macbeth.
7. I liked Dean calling Sam out on always thinking about himself and all the hyposcrisy with what Sam said and did back at the end of Season 8 (let me die! I'm evil!) versus what Dean is saying and wants to do now (ditto). Though personally, I don't think it's straight-up hypocrisy where Sam is concerned. Yes, he was a total dick most of Season 9, and he said and did some awful things to Dean, but he's really grown a lot this season, and I'm proud of him. Of course, he still lied to Dean, repeatedly, and those lies got Charlie killed (in part anyway) and have now brought The Nothing The Darkness to the world, but hey, his heart was in the right place, you have to give him that. And I love that when Dean insisted he himself was evil and had to go away for the greater good, Sam not only stood by him, but insisted that Dean is a good man. Sam has finally come to understand that the Winchester Brothers really are better alive and together, and that sacrificing themselves is not an option anymore. "For Dean" indeed :)
Which now leads me on to the WTF portion of the episode as well as this very post. Namely: WHY did Dean kill Death instead of Sam??? Actually the confusion starts a bit earlier than that, when we got Death saying he could send Dean someplace where he'd "no longer be a danger to himself or others." Then all of a sudden, he's calling Sam and saying he's dying and he's done and, when Sam arrives, that SAM has to die. The hell? Did they cut a scene out in between there, or is it just sloppy writing (or both)? It was just such a jump in action and exposition. No sir, I didn't like it.
And then you get to the speechifying on both sides, followed by a fight, followed by Sam suddenly saying he understands now and telling Dean to go ahead and kill him. Death gives him his own scythe--awesome--and Sam gives Dean the pics of Dean and his mom that Dean kept in his room, saying that when "you find your way back," that the pics will help him remember what it's like to be good. Uhh, I thought Death's offer was a one-way trip? When would Dean be coming back? Bizarre.
Then, finally, the culmination of what-the-fuckery, as Dean swings Death's scythe into Death himself. Was that the plan all along? Did the brothers do that talking without words thing they do and thus both Sam and Dean knew that Dean was going to kill Death and not Sam? Did the MARK make Dean kill Death, knowing that if he killed Sam, Death would take Dean away and the Mark would never get its kills anymore? I DON'T KNOW. All I do know is that the expressions on both Dean and Sam's faces looked much more like "Did I/you really just do that?" than "Okay, good, that worked." Afterward Dean even says, "I think I just killed Death." And Sam hands him the Impala's keys and says everything's fine--well, after the spell went through and the Mark disappeared, I mean. I just don't understand. And no one I know, not die-hard fans like me, not casual viewers like some I know, and no one inbetween, understands that scene, either. Again I have to wonder if something got cut or if Carver just wrote a sloppy scene. I'll be very interested to see if there are any cut scenes available on the DVD this fall. That or a decent explanation from Carver or the Js would be nice, doncha think?
Also interested to see what Death being dead will mean, if anything. Remember back in Season...4 I think? Maybe 5...the one where the reapers were being killed and the guys were ghosts. Anyway, people weren't dying when the reapers were gone, so what happens when Death himself is dead? We'll see if the Show bothers to go there. I'm not holding my breath...they dropped that awesome ghosts-trapped-in-the-veil storyling from Season 9 after all, so they're not the best at following through :-P But there's always hope. And shenanigans, heh...
So now we have to deal with The Nothing (no strikethrough this time because c'mon, let's face it, that's what that big black cloud is!). I do like the idea of the primordial evil; it's in folklore across the world. I'll be so happy if Tiamat shows up, all badass and bloodlusty :) But first we have to see if Baby and the boys make it through! My guess is yes, and Dean will say "Son of a BITCH!" when he sees all the dirt and dust on Baby. First they have to get out of that mudhole, of course. Hope there's kitty litter in the trunk!
That's it from me for now. What did you think of the ep?