Reaction to ep 11x1
So I still don't know how I feel about the premiere. Was it creepy? Yes. Did it start with a great song? Absolutely--CCR is always good in my book. Did I get the Feels when Baby was screaming for Dean after the Evil Cloud took him away? HELL yes. But then the showrunner powers-that-be threw SO MUCH STUFF at me that I feel like I missed so much. I should probably wait to write this reaction post until after I rewatch the ep, but I have a ton to do tonight, so I'm just going to write this reaction dealie now. So there ;)
Let's keep it simple and do a simple Like and Don't Like list, shall we?
Likes:
1. Dean and the Darkness somehow being "bonded" thanks to Dean having had the Mark. It's nice when Show actually continues its plotlines into the next season. It's also very rare. It's also also very welcome.
2. Sam admitting--and Show actually SHOWING for once--that he was responsible for the Darkness being released. It's not that Sam hasn't admitted he was wrong before, but rather that Show has a bad history of erasing/whitewashing some of those things. Now we've got both boys admitting they did wrong, Sam with the Darkness, Dean with the killing Death. They really are in this new fight together. I'm just so thankful Show showed us that conversation.
3. That poor father knowing he was infected and giving up his little Amara. I felt so bad for that guy. His last sane word was his daughter's name fer cryin' out loud! I got a little teary at that, I must admit.
4. Crowley being a woman and having his way with that creepy guy, LOL. That was awesome.
5. Castiel asking for help after hanging up on the Winchesters, knowing he had to stay away from them to keep them safe from what he might do to them. Aww :) Too bad the help he's getting probably won't be the kind he hoped for...
6. Almost forgot--the TITLE CARD! Nice call back to Season 1's, if you ask me :)
7. The fact that they mentioned the cage! And Lucifer and/or Michael trying to warn the world about The Darkness? THAT is cool. Nice follow-through, Show.
I know there were a few lines I really liked but, again, I have to rewatch to tell them to you. So on to the dislikes:
Dislikes
1. The jumping around at the beginning. They easily could have shown that real time, with Dean disappearing, Sam getting hurt, Dean talking to The Darkness, passing out, Sam finding him, done. The jumping around makes no sense to me.
2. The keeping secrets from each other AGAIN. FFS, Dean and Sam, when are you going to stop that? Dean was being so open last year and now he's closed up again, not telling Sam about being "bonded" to the Darkness. And Sam, of course, is infected with the black-veiny-neck disease, but didn't bother to tell Dean over the phone. Now he has to find a cure for himself before he gets all violent.
3. That long speech about "how did we forget how to do this?" or however it was phrased...that was so freaking hypocritical. I know Sam's heart was in the right place, and I do like that he's recognized that the people aren't monsters, but are just infected by something monsterous, which means they don't need to just be killed like monsters. SAYING THAT--the next time we see Sam kill a demon using Ruby's knife, is Dean or anyone going to bring up this little speech? I highly doubt it. It was extraneous and really slowed the episode down IMO. And saying that...
4. ...they tried to stuff WAY too much into 40 minutes. I honesty felt like I was outside in a storm, flinching every time the wind blew more pouring rain right into my face. Throwing all of that into my brain at once was just too much for my normally excellent attention span to bear. They should have either made it into two episodes or took a few scenes out. Maybe then I could remember more of the episode better. I've never had this problem with a Supernatural ep before...just saying...
There's probably more but my lunch break is up and I have to get to work. I honestly do believe this Season is going to be epic, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it, but I haven't been this let down by a premiere since "The Magnificent Seven" way back in Season 3. You're so much better than that, Show. Ah well. I'm sure it'll get back on track, and soon :)