My incredibly incoherent, capslock-y thoughts:
OMG OMG IT'S SUPERNATURAL. I WAS LITERALLY BOUNCING IN MY SEAT AS THE TITLE CAME ON. IT'S SUPERNATURAL, GUYS. SUPERNATURAL!!
...gah, this music is creepy, and I'm getting really uneasy. :( I don't handle creepy stuff well. *scared now* THE SHADOW OF THAT TREE JUST MOVED. OH MY GOD, IT'S ENTS. THERE ARE ENTS IN SUPERNATURAL.
Oh yay. This is subbed, not Chinese!dubbed. Chinese dubs suck ASS. I'm glad.
O.O Is that...I think that's...Is that Sam and Dean's mom? She's so pretty~
DEAN IS THE CUTEST. LITTLE. KID. EVER. *SQUISHES HIM*
SAM IS THE CUTEST. BABY. EVER. *SQUISHES HIM TOO*
And they have, like, the second prettiest mother in the world.
Awww, and their dad is so sweet too. :( I wanna hug little-kid!Dean too.
BABY!SAM HAS THE HUGEST. EYES. EVER. *ogles them*
I...uh...I'm a little confused. Why is Sam in his own room? He's, what, 4 or 5 months old here? It just doesn't sound safe for him to sleep alone. I mean, I know his mom and dad will wake up in the night to check on him or something, but it still feels kinda...not safe. Is this just something people do in America? Because that never happens in China. I'm pretty sure people would be horrified if you suggested letting a 4-month-old child have his own room.
Hee. All of Sam's toys are sport-oriented. *Pats John*
SO CUUUUUUUTE. I want to cuddle him. :(
Okay, I'm nervous again now. A close-up of a clock, complete with ticking noises, followed by shots of lights flickering, is never good. Well, that, and the show's used every trick in the book to make this as perfect a family as it gets. The parents are loving and sweet, and the little kids are innocent, and the walls are filled with pictures, and everything's colourful and bright. And there's only one reason most shows and movies do that -- so you feel worse when they destroy everything.
Well, that, and I've been pretty thoroughly spoiled by Mervin, and I know Dean and Sam are on their own, so something's gonna have to happen to their parents.
And now there's static from the...uh...I actually have no idea what that is? What's going on? I'm guessing it's not attacking trees, because as far as I know, trees don't control...radios? I honestly have no idea what that is.
Yeah. That close-up on the photo of them all sweet and together? It is not good. Something is SO obviously going to go wrong. At this point, the foreshadowing is starting to get a little heavy-handed. So I guess I'll distract myself by ogling her pyjamas. They are pwetty.
FUCK. THE HOUSE IS DARK. I DO NOT DEAL WELL WITH DARKNESS.
THAT MUSIC. IT IS SO CREEPY. I'm contemplating watching this muted.
THAT MUSIC. DAT MUSIC. THINGS ARE NOT GOOD.
>: ( I'm pretty sure that is not John in the baby's room. I mean, that MUSIC. And how he never says anything, so he doesn't give himself away with his voice...OMG NOOOOOOOO, BABY!SAM!!!
FUCK, FLICKERING LIGHTS. AND IT'S SO DARK. I CAN'T EVEN SEE WHAT'S GOING ON, THIS IS NOT FUCKING GOOD.
THERE'S AN OLD PHOTO UNDER THE LIGHT! IT'S GHOSTS, ISN'T IT? THE HOUSE IS TOTALLY HAUNTED BY GHOSTS POSSESSING PHOTOS.
Oh, thank GOD it stopped flickering.
NO YOU IDIOT. DON'T GO WANDER AROUND A DARK HOUSE. HAVEN'T YOU SEEN ANY HORROR MOVIES? Just hide under the blankets. Everyone knows the monsters can't get you if you're under the blankets.
!!! OH MY GOD, HOLY SHIT, WHAT IS HAPPENING, WHICH GUY WAS JOHN, IT'S SO DARK I CAN'T TELL OH MY GOD OH MY GOD
Cuuuuuuute~ *distracted*
Blood? What?
a;lsijdfalskdhgalskdhgAS;LIDKJFA;LSKDGALKSGHOAWEIGH;AOSJD;GDHGAKLSDGHKLAS;HG
A;LSDIJFAPOWIEGHOASIDHG;ADSLKHGAKSLDHG HOLY SHIT FIRE A;LSKDGJ;ALSDGH;AOISHDG;KALDSG;KLHDFA NO WHY WOULD YOU MAKE BABY!SAM CRY AS;LDKFJA;SLDHG;AOWIGA;DLKHGAKLDSHGAFDKL
The fire on the ceiling looks weird. It doesn't look the same as the fire burning the furniture. It looks...weirdly scale-y. I wonder if that's just a special effects thing or if it's meant to mean something more.
Oh dear GOD, that was ominous. How he suddenly looks up and the scene ends. Gah, he's gonna do something stupid.
Time skip! Sad. I wanted to see more of little-kid!Dean.
The photo survived! Somehow, that just makes everything worse.
Sam has a nice voice. Just saying.
BOOBIES!!
I have no idea what an LSAT is, but I assume that is very impressive. So...*impressed*. Also, I approve of Sam's girlfriend's costume. I approve a LOT.
Awwww~ She's so sweet.
AWWWWWWWWW~ They're so SWEET~
FUCK. DARK ROOM. AND CREEPY MUSIC. FUCK.
NO, YOU IDIOT!!! DIDN'T I TELL YOU NOT TO WANDER AROUND A DARK HOUSE??? WHY DOES NO ONE EVER LISTEN TO ME?
Oh, it's Dean. *Face palm* I have seen FAR too many pictures of Jensen to be able to identify him by his silhouette.
I have no idea what they're doing. The screen is WAY too hard to tell. So I'm just gonna assume extremely vigorous humping.
Dean has a nice voice. Just saying.
Awwwww~ Dean and Sam are so sweet. Even though my slash-fangirl side keeps telling me this is a struggle for who's top. >: (
BOOBIES!!
Pft. I'm glad to see Dean has the same tastes as me.
Hee! I love how exasperated Jess is.
Oh god, Sam is sounds so angry and resentful. And I really don't know whose side to take here, because it's really quite mean of Sam to just...not care about his dad like that, but it's also pretty mean of Dean to just randomly show up and expect Sam to go along with him, when Sam has his own life. :(
DD: Yeah, Sam and Dean need to talk WAY more. They're actively refusing to see where each other was coming from. "It wasn't easy, but it wasn't that bad"? That was just COLD, Dean.
Huh. I think I like this show. Sam and Dean are presenting very different points, and the show's not overtly favouring any of them. They both make sense, and you have to come to your own conclusion on issues. Mrs. Hyde did that with the issue of vigilantism, so I like it.
Though I'm definitely starting to dislike John a little. I guess I do understand why he's the way he is...I get that after what happened, he needs to have a bit of closure...but dragging his CHILDREN into this was NOT okay. They had nothing to do with it, and the way he's using them as tools to help his personal crusade disturbs me.
American accents are weird. All of the dialogue sounds a bit off for me because of it. >: (
:( I don't want Sam and Dean to fight. But I have a feeling this issue isn't going to be resolved any time soon, because neither of them are going to LISTEN to each other. >: (
Yep. Definitely don't like John now. You'd think he'd value his children a bit more than that, since they're a relic of and a tribute to his wife.
Awwwwww. Dean doesn't want to be alone. *Huggles Dean* For some reason, I'm so glad his terror at losing the people he loves is canon. That's one of my favourite characteristics of his from Mervin's fics.
Awwwww~ That's what makes Sam give in~ So sweet. Even as angry as he is at things, he still can't just abandon Dean after hearing that. *Huggles Sam*
O.O Holy shit. That's enough weapons to create a video game.
"I'm 26, dude." D'aaaaawwwww~ That's so adorable.
The static from the thingie is so weird.
"You know there's EVP on that thing?" O.O OMG, MY INCREDIBLY PEDANTIC OBSERVATIONS POINTED OUT SOMETHING ACTUALLY SIGNIFICANT! *LE GASP*
"Ran it through a gold wave"? This is giving me CSI flashbacks.
Okay. That lady is creepy, but I'm more bothered by the weird thumping noises. What IS that?
Yeah, Dean, that was such an obvious guilt-trip. You're clearly baiting.
You have to get back first thing Monday? Uh...I checked and...Halloween WAS on Monday in 2005. So uh...I don't know, it just sounds a bit odd to me. Is this an American thing? Because we always say "next Monday" here.
:( Poor Sammy. You really can't ever fully get out of hunting. He can't even tell Jess about it. And if he did live a normal life, he'd have to hide this from the people closest to him for the rest of his life...
"Spend the weekend with them?" It's Monday! He says he's gonna be back in a few days! That means he'll probably be back before the weekend!
Jess is so sweet, though. The first question she asks him is, "Are you alright?" even though she must have SO much questions about what the hell is going on.
Scene change! >: ( And it's dark again.
His radio is static-y. >: ( It makes me want to stab something. And-- oooooh, pwetty dress~
...Wait, holy shit. The ghost creates static? ...Wasn't there a lot of flickering and static when Mary died...? *...LE GASP*
Ooooh, pwetty hair~
*Face palm* You IDIOT. It's a woman wearing white, with long, dark hair, standing by the road late at night. And she's doing her best to look creepy, and her hair's blowing in the wind while the branches aren't moving an inch, and starts saying all the stereotypical ghost lines. HAVE YOU READ ANY CREEPYPASTA IN YOUR LIFE?
Still, though. Pwetty dress~
BOOBIES!
DUDE. SERIOUSLY. HOW CAN THIS GET MORE OBVIOUS? YOU ARE SUCH AN IDIOT.
...Ah, I see why. She's lifting her skirt for you. *Face palm* Never underestimate the power of horniness.
"Do you think I'm pretty?" The sane answer: Well, yeah, but you're also FUCKING CREEPY. AND THAT SHALL REMAIN MY OPINION, CAMERA, NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU ZOOM IN ON HER BOOBIES.
"Will you come home with me?" The sane answer: NOT UNLESS YOU STOP BEING FUCKING CREEPY and give me ice cream.
SEE. SEE. I TOLD YOU WHAT WOULD HAPPEN. SEE, YOU IDIOT?
*Face palm* And you STILL don't get it. My god.
OH MY GOD, YOU FUCKING IDIOT. DON'T GET OUT OF THE CAR. FUCKING RUN. IT'S A WOMAN WEARING WHITE, WITH LONG-DARK HAIR, IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE AT NIGHT, HITCHING A HIKE, AND WHO BROUGHT YOU TO A FUCKING ABANDONED HOUSE. WHY DO YOU NOT GET THIS.
!! That hand-print! Did she turn invisible? ...Holy shit, YEAH, YOU'RE RIGHT, GET OUT OF THAT CAR AND RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN
The camera is shaking. That does not make me happy.
DUDE. WHAT THE FUCK. WHY WOULD YOU GO INTO THAT OBVIOUSLY FUCKING HAUNTED HOUSE!? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? YOU ARE THE BIGGEST FUCKING IDIOT ON EARTH, I SWEAR, OH MY GOD!!
Gah! Okay, I'm watching this on mute now, because it's too much.
I'm so glad to turned it on mute just then, too, because that bat would have killed me.
Oh, so NOW you're running. Gah, what a moron.
A;LSDKJF;ALSKDHGALKSDHGAPIWOEGHKJ;LSDGH;LAKSDHG;LSDHGKAJDSNVGSJKOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD
...In retrospect, I should have expected that. The "monster in your back seat" thing is a bit of a cliche.
There is screaming. And the car's shaking, as though people are struggling in it. But...I can't see anyone through the windows. Can ghosts make OTHER people invisible? Why would it want to, seeing as there's no witnesses around?
That was one dissonant scene change.
I approve of Dean's idea of breakfast.
Oooh, beautiful scenery.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH MY GOD WHAT IS UP WITH THAT GUY. ARE YOU SERIOUS. NO, ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS. DO POLICE OFFICERS SERIOUSLY DRESS LIKE THAT IN AMERICA? SERIOUSLY, SERIOUSLY??
HOW THE FUCK DO YOU TAKE THEM SERIOUSLY?
I love how Sam and Dean are just strolling by, all, "Nope, nothing to see here. We totally belong."
SERIOUSLY. THAT HAT. HOW DO YOU TAKE IT SERIOUSLY. Because I can't. I'm just staring at the screen, occasionally bursting out into horrified giggles.
Yeah, Dean, and you just HAD to go and open your mouth. Now he's all suspicious, and I have to try and take him seriously while he's in that HAT.
.........OH MY FUCKING GOD, IT JUST GETS EVEN MORE RIDICULOUS. WHAT THE FUCK IS HE WEARING. WHAT THE FUCK. WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS TO YOUR POLICE OFFICERS. WHY.
Music? What is up with your deal? Are you trying to imply that...that GUY in that fucking HAT and those fucking SUNGLASSES is EVIL? Because there is no fucking way I can take him seriously, I don't care what you do.
...Uncles? Is it just me or is "cousin" more believable, given Troy's age?
Yep, knew it. Was a ghost.
I don't know if I like it that we start with a hitchhiking ghost story. It's just...so frequently told that you REALLY need a good spin on it for it to work. But then again, maybe starting with some familiar monsters might be better for the audience, instead of throwing them into something completely new. I don't know.
Well, Jericho Herald has the fussiest search engine EVER. Dean got "female" and "centennial highway" right, and still nothing showed up.
Oh dear. They're going to argue again. And again, both of them are making good points, and just...ugh. I don't like watching Sam and Dean fight.
!! Oh my god, SHE'S THERE!! Why? I thought her shtick was hitchhiking? What's she doing on the bridge?
I have to say, I love how as soon as they see the ghost, they immediately go back to working as a team, and all of their arguments are put aside for now.
And now she's able to possess cars? I don't get how ghosts work in this verse. Are they, like, omnipotent?
Awwww, Sam's so panicky~ *Hugs Sam*
Pft! Oh, Dean. *tentatively pats* *wipes hands*
Awwww, Sam's so happy! *Hugs Sam*
Hee. Dean's get so upset over her hijacking his car. *Puts on gloves* *Pats*
"You smell like a toilet." Oh, Sam!
This check-in guy is awfully calm. Does he get many mud-covered young men in his establishment? Though I am rather amused that for all their efforts, a lead just drops into their lap like that.
Holy shit, his room is messy. Does he do that in every place he stays at? It must be a pain in the ass to pack up.
I think just about every hunter would throw some salt around a place, just as a safety precaution. They don't have to be afraid of anyone in particular; they know what's out there.
Woman in White? Isn't that, like, a trope or something?
So...judging by Sam and Dean's reaction, they know what a Woman in White is. And I'm guessing if they know something, John knows too. So...why does he have so many old drawings around? It's not like he'd have to research to see what a Woman in White is -- it's not the first time he's heard of one. What, does he just like pinning eerie old drawing on his wall for people to find?
Awwwww~ They made up~ Yaaaaaaaay~
Awwwwww~ John keeps a photo of them all together around! (I'm still kinda angry at him, though.)
OH NO. OH NONONONONO. (but still, that HAT.)
Oh, Dean. You're so lucky you're not in China. *Pats*
Oh good, he took that HAT off. I'd never be able to take him seriously otherwise.
Oh wow, Sam's continuing the case on his own. :) He trusts Dean to be able to get himself out of trouble (probably because this isn't the first time it's happened). But still. Trust is great.
...Uh...so how did THAT many women have the EXACT same reaction to an unfaithful husband? What, were there just THAT many psychos in the SPN 'verse? And why do only American or Mexican women have these reactions? What, are, like, Europeans immune to psychotic jealousy? Or do they turn into something else when they do it? Why?
So...if their shtick is going after unfaithful men...then how could she go after Dean and Sam? As far as I know, Dean isn't in a committed relationship, and Sam certainly hasn't been cheating on his girlfriend.
:( Constance's husband is making me wibble.
Heh, escaping!Dean is so badass. So lucky you're not in China, though.
>: ( I keep thinking something's gonna happen to him in that phone booth. >: ( Phone booths are EVIL.
;LASJKFDALKSDHGPOAI;WEGJ;AKSDJGALDSKJGAKLDSFJA;KLDSJGH OH GOD MY HEART-- *DIES*
Huh...does she actually start flickering at this point, or is my video just screwing with me?
"You can't kill me. I'm not unfaithful." That didn't seem to have been a huge concern when she was trying to run you and Dean over with his car!
o.O ... O.o ... O_O ...
Um...what the hell is she doing? SAM WASN'T UNFAITHFUL. Or did that not matter? Or did her assaulting him and KISSING HIM BY FORCE count as him being unfaithful?
Yaaaaaaaaay, DEEEEEAAAAAAANNNNNN!!
OW. OWOWOWOWOW. THAT DRAWER SLAMMED RIGHT INTO THEIR VITAL REGIONS. OW.
Do, like, EVERY SINGLE SUPERNATURAL CREATURE EVER in this show cause flickering lights?
O_O Okay, so I didn't see that coming. Like, at all. Also, *is freaked out*
Yaaaaaaay, Dean loves his car~
:( Dammit. I still can't figure out whose side I'm on. I just want to hug them both. But, like, I thought Sam had a whole week? That didn't feel like a week to me...
:( This is so sad. *Squishes them both*
MUSIC. Y U BECOME CREEPY.
...........................
No.
NO.
NO YOU ARE NOT FUCKING DOING THIS
NONONONONONONO
NO!
FUCK. NO.
*TANTRUMS*
OH NO. OH, FUCK NO. SEE WHAT YOU DID, SHOW. SEE WHAT YOU DID. NOW YOU MAKE SAM LIKE JOHN AND ALL VEANGENCE IS MINE AND JUST WHEN HE WAS STARTING A NEW LIFE. BUT NO, WE CAN'T HAVE THAT, SO YOU TOOK IT ALL AWAY BECAUSE YOU ARE A UTTER BITCH AND NOW HE HAS NOTHING AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT. *TANTRUMS*
*Several hours later*
Okay. So. I get why they did that. John and Dean remember Mary, and they remember all the horror of watching her die like that and have no idea what's happening and unable to do anything about it and have a huge part of your life just...destroyed like that. So he doesn't get why they're so determined to throw their lives away to chase after something they don't even KNOW. So they had to do that, to push him onto the same road as John and Dean and to kill every hope he might have had for a normal life. Because, you know, this show is about Dean and Sam being hunters. Not the dramas of going to law school.
That does not help.
*EPIC TANTRUM*
Slightly more coherent thoughts:
I loved this episode. It fulfilled its purpose - to introduce readers to the premise of the show and get them interested - very well. It set up not only the main source of the external conflict in the show, monsters who have to be put down, but also a major source of internal conflict too, with Sam and Dean's different opinions on hunting. They set up Dean and Sam's characters very well, and still have ample time left over to show us what a life as a hunter is like, without ever resorting to info-dumping. And even the minor characters like Constance's husband carry a lot of agency. I guess I'd have preferred it if they gave Jessica more screen time. She is clearly very important to Sam, and we can see that, but she has a total screen time of, what, 15 minutes? Less? So it's kind of hard to...really get invested in her character. So right now, she is more of an ideal than a real PERSON to me, which is very jarring in a show full of so many realistic people. It was very predictable that she had to die...so I can't really say I was devastated, but it just felt like I was more sad for what her death did to Sam than her death in and of itself. And I wished the producers took the time to let the readers fall in love with Jessica herself before killing her off, so her death felt more like a tragedy than an inevitable plot event.
And I don't know if I'm simply too used to Tabletop RPGs where all the rules are clearly laid out, but I'm very confused by the mechanics of how ghosts work in this universe - what their powers are and how to kill them. So I can't help but feel how they defeat Constance is rather...out of the left field at the end. Or rather, it felt like Sam and Dean knew what was going on and what a Woman in White was...but I didn't. I knew how they came to be, sure, but I have no idea what they're capable of or how many ways can you kill one. I don't know how they can do it without being too info-dumpy, but I wish they'd give the viewers the same information Dean and Sam had.
But overall, I enjoyed this episode a lot, and though I'm not full-on FOREVER IN LOVE with the Monster of the Week of this episode, I like the emotional conflict between Dean and Sam and the theme it presented. It would've definitely motivated me to keep watching the show even if I didn't know about the coming Awesomeness that is Bobby. So, it achieved it's purpose. I guess that makes it successful.