SPN 4x10
Firstly, let's get my epically unpopular fannish opinion out of the way: Wincest is squickier than Sam/Ruby. Just throwing that out there.
I'm fine with Sam/Ruby. I think it makes sense in context (though I'm really glad that they established that the body is dead because I do want to like Sam once all this is over) and yeah, it's pretty fucked up, but that's the point, right? Sam getting darker and darker and Dean was dead and it was a desperate time and he remembers what it was like and doesn't want to go all "Mystery Spot" crazy again. Anyway, I'm under the impression that that was a big deal in fandom. It worked for me. I do find the idea of Ruby actually being in love with Sam odd, though. That wasn't something I got from Katie Cassidy's Ruby at all.
(Yes, the other thing that worked for me was Sam's male crossroads demon. Ha!)
Sam fucked a demon and Dean fucked an angel. Okay, show, I see what you did there. That's . . . bizarre, if unsubtle, symbolism.
Re: the angels. I was feeling very "eh" about the whole religion plot line. I can be a sucker for that stuff, but I'm also picky about it and it really has to be handled in some very specific ways or I get twitchy and annoyed. (And yeah, the Christin girl complaining about how her religion is portrayed in pop culture. I know. I know. Cry me a river). I liked that their angels were warriors and were scary, but otherwise I was not sold.
And I'm still not. But now I don't care because angels can physically rip out their grace and have it plummet to earth like a falling star, which is so ridiculous that I'm just going to go with it. I actually really hope that Lucifer and the Christian God do turn out to be, in SPN's mythology, just one more supernatural aspect of the world. Perhaps they're incredibly powerful (since that already seems to be the case), but we've seen other gods and demons. I would like to see Christianity just treated as one more component of that instead of super special. Angels are definitely powerful, but according to Anna, only a few of them have even seen god. That's interesting and I imagine it's going to be important - especially because it was made fairly clear that Castiel has doubts. What's going on there? Does god really exist? I'm intrigued by Castiel's history with Anna as well. They wouldn't have brought it up if it wasn't important.
I also imagine we haven't seen the last of Anna. I like Anna. I'm still not completely sold on Ruby's new actress, but I'm glad Ruby's playing a major role. I do really wish we had a recurring HUMAN female character. That scene where they're in the car and Ruby and Anna are in the back and Dean says something about the angel and demon and Sam makes the crack about porn? I actually found that pretty uncomfortable. Women are angels or demons. Fantastic. Sometimes, SPN, I just don't know what to do with you. (Though in this case, the fail was mild enough that I found it amusing. Like, amused, ironic *facepalm.* SPN, you're cute when you try).
So, heaven still has a plan for Dean, Sam is still going darkside, Castiel is well on his way to a crisis of faith, Ruby is in love with Sam and now we wait for January. I hate hiatus.
ETA: Additionally, Dean spent forty years in hell and after thirty started torturing souls and had a complete breakdown at the end of the episode wherein he confessed this to Sam. Dean breaking down and confessing things to Sam is usually my very favorite thing that SPN does, so the fact that this SLIPPED MY MIND is evidence that maybe it wasn't handled as well as it could have been. The actual confession? A+, Ackles brought it. The build-up left something to be desired. It just doesn't make sense, from what we have seen, to believe that Dean remembered all along and even if he only remembered later, there should have been more evidence of trauma. We saw him upset, but we didn't see him struggling and breaking down in the way we should have. Usually SPN is good at building that kind of tension. See also: the glory days of s2. By the time Croatoan and Hunted roll around, you're aching for the tension to break. That . . . is not what happened here, but I wish it had been. It was great in theory, but I can't help feeling like there's something lacking in the execution.
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As everyone has already noted, My Chem's twitter is delightful. In other My Chem news, I'm fairly neutral on the Way baby announcement, just as I was on the Wentz baby announcement, because I'm fairly neutral on babies as a concept. I enjoy Gerard and Lyn-z and if they're happy, then I'm happy for them. And . . . that is how I feel about that. *hands*
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I am SO SICK you guys. I spent most of today asleep. I anticipate tomorrow being pretty crappy for a number of reasons, but then Thanksgiving! And then one more week. And then frantic writing of final papers. We are alarmingly close to the end of the semester.