My review/squee thing
....so, Sammy's speech had anyone who watched it nearly in tears, y/y?
I loved this episode. I loved Bela in the beginning. I admit, I first thought she was going to just take the thing he gave her and then fuck him over information-wise but I suppose
a)She's smart enough to know a psycho when she sees one and realize pissing him off is maybe a bad idea (suppose she learned that twice this episode - another way Gordon's a foil for Dean because in both cases, it was a vengeance thing) and
b) That would have been bad business.
But Dean's saying just as seriously that he would kill her and it clicking that he meant it? Was awesome and totally in-character. I think this episode did a lot for Bela's character, ironically, because everything she did had a point and a purpose and made her very convincing as one cohesive character out there doing her own thing while Sam and Dean tackled their thing. Instead of a character they're awkwardly trying to force into Sam and Dean's plotline where she doesn't fit. This episode did a very good job of defining Bela in her own terms and in her own world probably because she had a role that was a lot smaller than her previous ones but also a lot more independent.
Also, Dean delivering a death threat is somehow very sexy in my book for whatever twisted reason.
Definitely thought Harmony would be in there longer. And it's interesting the line they took on vampires here, but then I'm guessing Lenore didn't exactly leave a forwarding address and it's not like they could just trust her while she was still new to the gig like that and completely alone.
So...the whole thing was a reflection of Bad Blood from the title on, and the way they used Gordon to reflect both Dean and Sam here showed how much Sam's changed and also Dean. Last time Sam made a speech like that, Dean punched him and trusted him reluctantly and this time he actually took it in and changed his mind (oh, Sammy, Sammy, I could not love you ENOUGH for that speech, I could not if I tried). Both Bad Blood and this episode ended with Dean's confessing some degree of dependence on Sam but in Bad Blood it was from a place of weakness and here it was from a place of strength; there he needed Sammy to help guide him, here he's able to take strength from that trust and guide Sammy for (...can I say it?) when he's gone. :( The way Jensen and Jared communicated with looks in that scene was incredible and...I really have no 'and' to that, it was just incredible.
And I like the way this episode focused completely on Sam and Dean while still leaving Gordon a very complex, very GRYFFINDOR thankyouverymuch villain. I actually do believe he would have killed himself after killing Sammy, and his whole martyr attitude is this perverse reflection of Dean's own attitude and reminded me of what Dean said to Bobby right after he made that deal with the crossroads demon in AHBL2 about his life meaning something. Only, of course, Dean has and has always had his Sammy to take care of and look up to him.
Only I don't think that was the point Sam was making. I think Dean's been so dependent on Sam's being able to survive without him because it means he's done his job and his job has always been his life. But what Sam said was, 'I love you because you're Dean, I look up to you because of what you do and who you are, not what you try to hide from me' and then he demonstrated that with his execution of Gordon (...I will not admit to finding that at all hot. I won't.), probably his most Dean-like moment.
I guess that's the one thing I've always had about Wincest. I enjoy it, but the bottom line tends to always be that Sam's needing Dean and Dean's needing to take care of Sam is this permanent thing, which I don't agree with. I think Dean needs to understand that he's cared for as much as he is by Sam, not because of what he's done for him but just because he's Dean, in order to grow out of his dependence on Sam and Sam's understanding Dean's mode of thinking and everything Dean has sacrificed for him over the years is something that he needs in order to truly face himself, face his past, and really move on towards the future. It's like, they need to come together in order to part and if you're writing Wincest, I feel like they can come together again after that moment happens but not before.
But anyway, I really, really enjoyed this episode, despite the brutal murder of yet another black male character by Sam Winchester. Really, though...what's up with all the black guys dying these violent deaths/just being evil in general? I appreciate the complexity of Gordon and Hendrickson but...can we at least have one black man that turns out alright and not dead? Or who dies in a peaceful way? Like maybe in his sleep...?
I loved this episode. I loved Bela in the beginning. I admit, I first thought she was going to just take the thing he gave her and then fuck him over information-wise but I suppose
a)She's smart enough to know a psycho when she sees one and realize pissing him off is maybe a bad idea (suppose she learned that twice this episode - another way Gordon's a foil for Dean because in both cases, it was a vengeance thing) and
b) That would have been bad business.
But Dean's saying just as seriously that he would kill her and it clicking that he meant it? Was awesome and totally in-character. I think this episode did a lot for Bela's character, ironically, because everything she did had a point and a purpose and made her very convincing as one cohesive character out there doing her own thing while Sam and Dean tackled their thing. Instead of a character they're awkwardly trying to force into Sam and Dean's plotline where she doesn't fit. This episode did a very good job of defining Bela in her own terms and in her own world probably because she had a role that was a lot smaller than her previous ones but also a lot more independent.
Also, Dean delivering a death threat is somehow very sexy in my book for whatever twisted reason.
Definitely thought Harmony would be in there longer. And it's interesting the line they took on vampires here, but then I'm guessing Lenore didn't exactly leave a forwarding address and it's not like they could just trust her while she was still new to the gig like that and completely alone.
So...the whole thing was a reflection of Bad Blood from the title on, and the way they used Gordon to reflect both Dean and Sam here showed how much Sam's changed and also Dean. Last time Sam made a speech like that, Dean punched him and trusted him reluctantly and this time he actually took it in and changed his mind (oh, Sammy, Sammy, I could not love you ENOUGH for that speech, I could not if I tried). Both Bad Blood and this episode ended with Dean's confessing some degree of dependence on Sam but in Bad Blood it was from a place of weakness and here it was from a place of strength; there he needed Sammy to help guide him, here he's able to take strength from that trust and guide Sammy for (...can I say it?) when he's gone. :( The way Jensen and Jared communicated with looks in that scene was incredible and...I really have no 'and' to that, it was just incredible.
And I like the way this episode focused completely on Sam and Dean while still leaving Gordon a very complex, very GRYFFINDOR thankyouverymuch villain. I actually do believe he would have killed himself after killing Sammy, and his whole martyr attitude is this perverse reflection of Dean's own attitude and reminded me of what Dean said to Bobby right after he made that deal with the crossroads demon in AHBL2 about his life meaning something. Only, of course, Dean has and has always had his Sammy to take care of and look up to him.
Only I don't think that was the point Sam was making. I think Dean's been so dependent on Sam's being able to survive without him because it means he's done his job and his job has always been his life. But what Sam said was, 'I love you because you're Dean, I look up to you because of what you do and who you are, not what you try to hide from me' and then he demonstrated that with his execution of Gordon (...I will not admit to finding that at all hot. I won't.), probably his most Dean-like moment.
I guess that's the one thing I've always had about Wincest. I enjoy it, but the bottom line tends to always be that Sam's needing Dean and Dean's needing to take care of Sam is this permanent thing, which I don't agree with. I think Dean needs to understand that he's cared for as much as he is by Sam, not because of what he's done for him but just because he's Dean, in order to grow out of his dependence on Sam and Sam's understanding Dean's mode of thinking and everything Dean has sacrificed for him over the years is something that he needs in order to truly face himself, face his past, and really move on towards the future. It's like, they need to come together in order to part and if you're writing Wincest, I feel like they can come together again after that moment happens but not before.
But anyway, I really, really enjoyed this episode, despite the brutal murder of yet another black male character by Sam Winchester. Really, though...what's up with all the black guys dying these violent deaths/just being evil in general? I appreciate the complexity of Gordon and Hendrickson but...can we at least have one black man that turns out alright and not dead? Or who dies in a peaceful way? Like maybe in his sleep...?