Review for 3.03, OMG I can't believe I haven't seen 3.04 yet, and a squee-filled fangirl observation
*siiigh* Well, looks like I'm gonna be missing Supernatural on Thursday nights generalmente, seeing as I've finally firmly re-implanted my belief that, as WONDERFUL and joy-inspiring as this show is, going to bible study once a week is just more important, and is ultimately more wonderful and joy-inspiring. I sigh, however, not because of this much-needed schedule transition, but because I am an IDIOT and didn't record the episode on my VCR to watch when I got home. Not that it was ready anyway; apparently I need to use some kind of cable-splitter thing (which I am too distressed to retrieve from my bag or look up to give the correct name) to record with the VCR, but with my History exam today, and the time required to adeqately prepare for it, I just didn't find an opportunity. Still, I am definitely now thinking that it's ~*~SUPERNATURAL~*~, and was certainly worth making time for at some point this week, since I've had the thing since Sunday. It probably would have taken about a half-hour at the most to figure out, and then I would be feeling a lot less like an insane/deprived/anguished fangirl and a lot more like a satisfied/jolly/squee-filled one. But alas, in attempting/succeeding to prioritize my week in one way, I utterly failed in another, and am now filled with deep, deep regret. And maybe a little insanity. Oh gosh, I need to see this episode NOW!!
So anyway, I thought I'd distract myself by writing a week-late review of 3.03, because it was several kinds of awesome and deserves the effort...
Bad Day at Black Rock
I'm about 96% certain that nothing could have made me love this episode more. Here are a few not-so-logically ordered/organized reasons why:
1. It was HILARIOUS. Definitely on a comical level similar to Tall Tales (and Hell House). Nearly the entire episode had me laughing out loud, but the obvious key sources of hilarity are these:
- The first fight over the rabbit's foot. OMG, I loved this. When Sam knocks Dean into the table, and actually pauses to apologize...priceless. And Sammy gets choked again. Funny how on any other show such repetition would be generally frowned upon (at least by me), but with in SPN, I just giggle (while simultaneously sympathizing) and make a resolution to start keeping a tally soon. Also, the "Dean!" and the "Sam!" in this scene were just fantastic. *sighs happily*
- Not really intentional, but I love how Sammy's first scratch ticket says that he won $100, but Dean says that it's $1200. Nice. Also, Dean counting their winnings on his fingers while Sam talks to Bobby is just wonderful.
- Sam and Dean winning a year of free food at Biggerson's. The way Sam is all uncomfortable and bewildered and Dean is all "Hell yeah! *insert biggest Dean grin ever*"... That picture couldn't have been more perfect!
- Dean with a brainfreeze. LOL.
- Sam slipping on the sidewalk outside of Biggerson's. I'm pretty sure that, in terms of appearance and sound, that's the best on-screen fall I've ever seen. Jared's "whoa!" is pretty high-pitched too, which makes it sound so much more real to me. Then, of course, there's Dean, who makes the moment even better. "Wow. You suck." LMAO. That totally reminded me of my older brother (the way he said it)...
- Sam. Radio. Lamp. Crash. HOLY CRAP, they did a good job with that, especially with the crashing sound. Oh gosh, and there's Jensen again making the scene eeeven funnier. :D
- OMG, Jesus bumper stickers. My favorite was the "Don't make me come down there. --God" one.
- Sam losing his shoe trying to get the gum off. Definitely one of the funniest things that has happened in all three seasons so far. Jared was amazing!
- Sam in the motel room, with the heater and the curtains and the spastic. Seriously, Jared owned this episode!! And it was absolutely adorable the way Sam initially reacted to the heater smoking. "Oh, c'mon", etc... Oh Sammy!
- Dean's whole "I can read people" attitude totally working the first time and backfiring (or you know, just getting Sam shot) the second time. *chuckle* Poor Dean; he was so confident...
- Dean rescuing Sam from the hunters with his amazing good luck skills. OMG, Jensen was marvelous, and Jared's faces were great too. We have the best show ever, seriously.
2. Sam and Dean interaction!!!
- Dean and Sam ARGUING, OMG HECK YES. I definitely wanted Sam to yell at someone again soon, but I didn't think it'd be this soon! "Yes, I'm fine, why are you always asking me that?!" Ohhh, Sammy.... Also, Jared makes the cutest "hand me a pen" hand gesture ever. :D
- Dean was such an older brother! He was the perfect combination of teasing+mean+concerned+protective, and I just loved it. Every scene Sam and Dean had together showed this, so I really don't think I need to specify...
- Yay, so glad we got a good dose of brothers again! These last couple episodes I completely understood the reason for the general lack of good interaction between the two, but I still missed it terribly, so yeah, this was GREAT.
3. Bela. I like her a lot already.
- I wasn't really sure what my opinion was of her initially, because there seemed to be something kind of odd about her voice and her eyes, and I didn't know why, but I also didn't think it was necessarily a bad sort of "odd". Then I realized that the reason she seemed odd to me was that, in actuality, she seemed familiar, because at that point I realized who she reminded me of. Her name is Rachel Hurd-Wood (she played Wendy in the 2003 adaptation of Peter Pan). This is NOT because they look very similar (they are quite different in appearance, actually), but one thing I always noticed about that girl in Peter Pan is that her eyes were so, idk, open, and big, and gorgeous, and when she was speaking they constantly drew my attention. In this episode of Supernatural, Lauren Cohan's eyes had a very similar effect to me, because in addition to her eyes being similarly large and pretty, she practically never blinked, so I kinda felt like I couldn't look away even if I wanted to. Well, unless Dean was in the same shot, obviously. Jensen has qualities (beyond his own veeery nice eyes) that are infinitely more distracting. :-) But anyway, it wasn't just the effect of Lauren's eyes that reminded me of that Hurd-Wood girl. Many of Bela's lines seriously sounded like Wendy to me, especially when she said, "No. A great thief". The way Lauren delivered her lines most of the time (especially in Queens), it seemed like even when she wasn't actually smiling, she was almost smiling, and her eyes had a sort of mischief in them. This definitely reminded me of Rachel Hurd-Wood as Wendy. Then there were a few similarities of facial expression I noticed too... Basically, Lauren Cohan just makes me think of what Rachel Hurd-Wood does, even as a young actress, and might be somewhat like in the future. *shrugs* Don't know if anyone would agree with me here, and honestly I don't care; I'm just glad to have figured out the connection for myself, because my brain gets really frustrated when I miss those. :-)
- But yeah, comparisons aside, I really liked the character. I thought she was classy, and I loved her accent (so glad they let Lauren keep it). I also liked how selfish and nasty she was, because it was entertaining, and it makes me feel pretty secure, at least for now, that she won't get seriously involved with the boys. I mean seriously, she SHOT SAM. Surely Dean is going to hold that against her, at least for a while!!
4. Bobby!!
- Bobby really does know everything, which is pretty much awesome. I love him even more with every Bobby-included episode, which is a trend I certainly see continuing. That is all.
5. The new hunters (Kubrick and Creedy) are pretty cool too.
- I wasn't sure what I thought of the "Jesus Freak" one (Kubrick) at first because of his voice, but it grew on me, and I'm glad, because this is definitely one of the cases where comical religious references didn't offend me in the slightest (they were hilarious), and I wanted to like him. You know, as a mentally unstable, Sammy-hunting antagonist, anyway. Every time his character looks up to heaven, as if he is overwhelmed by the peace and fulfillment of a prayer answered, I have to giggle. That actor just does it so well. I liked Creedy too; there was something about him that just appealed to me. So yeah, I hope we see them again, especially considering the sticky situation that could ensue. *grin of anticipation*
6. OMG, John's Storage Lockup.
- Piano! I can't believe there is a piano in there, that's just...oh gosh. I'll definitely agree with some other fans in the belief that it was Mary's, which is just a beautiful thought, in so many ways.
- Sammy's soccer trophy! Aww!!
- Dean's first sawed-off! *laughs*
- Freaking land mines?? Wow...
- Yay, grenades! Now I can assume that maybe Sam and Dean put a couple in the Impala (just in case), so that the ones I have in my diecast model Impala's trunk (which came free with my miniature sawed-off) can make sense! Mm, or maybe they didn't, but either way, mine are staying, because who could throw away two perfectly good (and free) miniature plastic grenades anyway? I certainly couldn't...
Favorite Quotes:
Made me laaauuggghh:
Kubrick:
"Don't play with my Jesus." This definitely had potential to not be funny, but the way this played out, it really, really was.
Dean:
"Yeah, that was probably the closest you ever came to being a boy." *snort* Ever the big brother, Dean.
"Oh wow! It's my first sawed-off. I made it myself, in the sixth grade..." Aww, he's so proud! And that seriously amuses me, considering
that most kids are, what, 11 or 12 in that grade?
"That was my gun he was aiming at your head. My gun don't jam." Oh Dean, your grammatical errors are always so endearing! :D Although, I guess since he's technically just employing the vernacular of a very common language variety, it's not really an error of grammar, and it's not like he's trying to submit to the rules of Standard American English or anything, so.... Okay, I'm done. *cough*
"Scratch and win!" Hee.
"Shoulda blacked out their plates before they parked in front of the security cameraaa." This is wonderful, solely because of the way Jensen says "camera".
"If it's any consolation, I think you're a truly awful person." Could Jensen have said this any hotter? Mmm, that's a definitely NOPE.
"See ya!" Freaking adorable.
"I'm amazing." Love the way he says this...
"Say good-bye, Waskawy Wabbit." *laughs* OMG, whoever decided on this line, thank you...
"You're not gonna shoot anybody. See, I happen to be able to read people. Okay, you're a thief, fine, but your not --*gun shot*-- Sonofa-!!" LMAO (except for the whole Sam being shot part, naturally)
"What the hell is wrong with you?! You don't just go around shootin' people like that!" Hehe, Jensen's voice is so great, especially in that first line...
"Now, whaddya say we destroy that ugly-ass piece of dead-thing?" I feel that this is the epitomy of Dean-ish statements, or at least very close to it.
"Oh, don't go away angry, just go away." Hehehe.
"SONOFABITCH!!" Possibly the best "son of a bitch" ever, which is pretty impressive, considering the rather extensive list of these. I think Dean's little accompanying fist action contributes to this, as well as Sam's "I'm Jared Padalecki totally trying rather unsuccessfully to not burst into laughter" look. WOW, I love this moment...
Sam:
"I lost my shoe." Best. Line. Ever. Jared completely wins for this.
Dean:
"Sam, you okay?"
Sam:
"Yeah, I'm good"
This little exchange (or the basic premise, anyway) seems to happen a lot in movies and television, and usually it is delivered in such a way, or the context is such that it's just not funny, and I usually get annoyed when I hear it, especially because you can always see it coming. In this episode, though, I found it completely hilarious. As usual, Jensen and Jared just totally nailed it, and the context (provided by the writers and the FX crew, I'd say) was perfect.
Sam:
"Table for two, please."
Congratulations guy:
"CONGRATULATIONS!"
Dean:
"It's exciting, I know."
Dean's little line there cracks me up; I totally missed it the first time around. It's especially cute how he looks at Sam while he says it.
Dean:
"I'm Batman"
Sam:
"Yeah. You're Batman."
Okay, best quote of the episode, possibly of the series, possibly of all time. Just...yeah. Awesome.
Wayne:
"I'm literally bleeding to death!" Don't know how funny this is supposed to be, but the way that guy delivers this is just awesome. (Speaking of, that guy really wasn't hard on the eyes, either. Not that it matters now...)
"I'm gonna die for a damn rabbit's foot." Again with the great delivery. Aaand yeah, he was definitely hot. Why did he have to die again?
Bobby:
"Just look out for your brother, ya idgit." Bobby said "idgit". Wow. :D I don't generally say this word, but there are some cases where I think it's amusing when other people do, and this is one of them. And it's not even just that he uses the word, because the way Jim Beaver delivers this line is seriously too perfect.
Not funny, but definitely wonderful:
Dean:
"She knows what your weakness is; it's me!" Oh wow, Dean seriously said that outloud. YAY. :D
"You, my brother, are staying here, 'cause I don't want your bad luck gettin' us killed." I adore the fact/way that Dean says "my brother" here. And it's so sweet that Dean is being such a concerned older brother; honestly I was gonna be pretty upset if he didn't do something like that (put Sam in a seemingly safe situation).
"When you lose the foot, that luck goes south." Jensen delivered this whole bit in a cool, authoritative manner, but it's the way he says "south" that seriously caught my attention. It's almost like the "th" isn't even there. It's really interesting to me...
"Now, I can read people. And I get it. You're a thief, and a scumbag; that's fine. But you're not a killer. Are you?" First of all, I like the way they worded this, and second, I loved hearing Dean say "I get it" and "that's fine" like that, because it reminded me of in the beginning ot Hunted when Dean says, "And you're pissed at me, and I get it, that's fine; I deserve it." I've always loved the way he said those two phrases before, and now we got it again! Yay.
Sam:
"I'm not talking about trusting her; I'm talking about using her."
"Yes, I'm fine, why are always asking me that?!" Holy crap. Glorious.
Dean:
"You're gonna give it back."
Bela:
*laughs* "Sweetie, no I'm not."
LOVE the way Lauren says this line, especially the "sweetie".
Dean:
"So you know the truth about what's really going on out there, and this is what you decide to do with it? You become a thief?"
Bela:
"I procure unique items for a select clientele."
Dean:
"Yeah. A thief."
Bela:
"No. A great thief."
I really like that last line, and the look on Bela's face while she says it.
Bela:
"I think you'll find that belongs to me. Or you know, whatever." Love the line itself, and then the way Lauren says it is really great.
Quick Score Note:
Fantastic job, Mr. Lennertz!! The score fit perfectly, and oftentimes contributed to the overall hilarity of the episode! :D
Mmm, guess I'm done, or at least I need to be, because I really need to sleep now.... At least that was a nice distraction, I do feel a little calmer about missing last night's episode now. I'll just have to watch it sometime today, I suppose......
Oh! Also, I just wanted to mention something that made me scream outloud in my car the other day. I really like driving around with no specific destination, especially in this huge college town, so I was doing that the other day, listening to "Hush" by Deep Purple and casually observing my general surroundings, when suddenly I looked to the right and saw DEAN'S TRANSMISSION AND AUTO REPAIR. So then, after I screamed, I was like, "Oh my gosh, it's like in WIAWSNB when Dean worked at a garage! And if he owned one someday he could totally name it after himself! Like that!!" (I realize that there are probably quite a few car garages associated with the name Dean, but that's an inconvenient fact, and is therefore irrelevant when you're a fangirl who gets excited about any connection to Supernatural at all.) So then I turn around and pass the garage from the other direction, just to get a better look, and as I pass I happen to look at the street signs, and you wanna know what street it was right next to? Brothers Avenue. I didn't scream again, but you can bet I laughed out loud! :D
Okay, NOW I'm done!