be careful which one that you choose
Hello, Livejournal! Welcome back to me. It's been a while! I went on vacation. I didn't have my laptop for almost two weeks solid (how did I survive those months without one, again?) and even went so far as to -- gasp -- turn Twitter off for the better part of a week. It was nice, the pretty much total disconnect.
We first roadtripped up to Berkeley to see the American Idiot stage show, which rocked my face off and about which I have a massive tl;dr post in the works (combining Broadway with one of my favourite albums of all time? PURE JOY), then we stopped at home for slightly more than 48 hours, then we made our meandering way towards Oxnard for our yearly familial lazy time. I feel as though my batteries have been recharged, which is absolutely lovely.
And now, SPN bibbling.
1. I watched this episode in our hotel room, live and without subtitling or the ability to rewind or pause. (Yes, if there are subtitles available for any media, I will insist on using them. It's half a leftover from my anime fandom days -- I was steadfastly in the camp of "watch subtitled anime or NOTHING AT ALL" -- but mostly I'm just obsessive about not missing dialogue). This has not happened for quite some time, and man, totally not into it. TIVO HAS DESTROYED ME. D: Seriously, I missed actual lines of dialogue! And without a computer, I couldn't immediately download the episode and rewatch! CUE NERVOUS TWITCHING. Good gawd, self, get a griiiiiiip.
2. Ahem. Now on to the, ah. Actual recap. Anyway, the deus ex machina charmed me so thoroughly, because, duh, it's the apocalypse. \o/ Also, Dean is yanked out of Lucifer's way only to be shoved...on an airplane. I'm sure that was so comforting for him! I'm glad that Sammy got "supernatural methadone" because, wow, was I hesitant about the practical realities of withdrawal + the aforementioned apocalypse. Does Castiel getting smote and resurrected mean Jimmy's still along for the ride, or did the demolition of his body allow him to move into the Afterward?
3. Okay, Kripke. I get it. You have crazy fans. You are sick of breathless women obsessed with the idea of your fictional characters' theoretical incest. Get over it. Shoving it in the face of the national television audience -- the vast majority of whom do not know about the intricacies of fandom -- is rude and childish. Fandom, in effect, signs your paychecks, or at least dots the i's on them. Even those of us who are actively squicked by incest in general and Wincest in particular are protective of our fellow fans. I get that you're tired of wacky fans and their wacky antics, but save it for the extra features, awright? I think where the line got crossed, at least for me, was that the crazed fangirl was writing Wincest on-screen. I wasn't particularly enjoying her, but I have enough self-awareness to recognize as familiar and even identify with a few aspects of her character ("It's all real." "I KNEW IT." and "...Can you stop touching me?" "No." especially.) , and I thought the actress did a good job of taking me from screaming in horror to laughing. Now, that's enough. NO MORE OF THAT, YOU HEAR?
4. I very much enjoyed the Prophet Chuck, as he is darling. Moar Chuck, less fangirls, mmkay? Chuck picking bits of Castiel out of his hair was gross and awesome and made me go all handflappy.
5. New!Meg! I like her! She did a good job of mimicking Nikki Aycox without, you know, being irritating or boring (take notes, Genevieve Cortese!). I hope Meg uses that meat suit some more, though it seems unlikely. I also like that she showed up again. C'mon, she's Azazel's daughter, and he was instrumental in setting the apocalypse in motion, and while she's been a bit of a loose cannon in the past, she's also spent some time working for her father, so. I hope there's more Meg, because it's a neat way to reinforce themes about family and draw parallels and all that fun stuff. And it was nice that they recycled a character instead of creating a new bad-ass demon or just making a random flunky show up.
5. BOBBY!!! Oh, God, am I glad he's not dead. Sheesh. It was interesting that the demon possessing him apparently had no free will or personality of its own, which we haven't seen much. Whatevs. He's alive, and he doesn't hate Sam. I'm happy. In the words of my sisterthing: Bobby's a much better father than John ever was. However, I'm surprised Bobby managed to even be possessed! Guess the end really is nigh. Also, the badassitude of resisting demon possession and stabbing your own body for the sake of killing said demon really can't be understated. \o/
6. Another thing I'm glad about: that Papa Winchester didn't have an actualfax holy weapon lying around. I mean, I get that he was a secretive guy, but that would have been a bit much for me to swallow. I do like the idea that Dean's role to play here is the archangel Michael's vessel (I REALLY LIKE IT, somewhat predictably), and I especially like the show's insistence that its creations follow the established rules -- the whole asking for consent thing for both Michael and Lucifer is aces -- but a couple questions, mes frères. One, why is Zachariah asking for Michael, when every other angel we've seen taking a vessel (okay, all two of them) has asked for themselves? Two, if Dean is one of those nebulously-defined Chosen Dudes, why couldn't he understand Castiel's angel speech at the beginning of S4?
7. Oh, man, Zachariah. I hate-love him. His utter ruthlessness is both entertaining and horrifying. I absolutely adore the depths to which he is willing to sink to get what he wants. Stomach cancer no biggie? S'cool, let me TAKE YOUR BROTHER'S LUNGS AWAY. I also love that when Castiel implied that God is, in fact, aware of current events and manipulating them in a specific direction, Zachariah got freaked out. Oh yes, buddy, if Daddy comes home, you are in a world of trouble.
8. CASTIEL. Reconciling minion-leader Misha (If you do not follow him on Twitter, please do so now. You will thank me.) with badass-on-a-holy-mission Castiel was hilarious. Twenty seconds of utter cognitive dissonance for me. Anyway, yiss. I'm glad he's back and badder than ever. Him carving the magic sigils or whatever into the boys' ribcages? AMAZING. Also, sofuckinghot. Him threatening Zachariah? So awesome. Faster, pussycat, kill, kill! I am so deliriously happy that Castiel exists.
9. Lucifer. Oh, man, Lucifer. First off, everything done to Nick this episode was a new and horrifying way to fuck with someone's head. The blood running out of the cradle, the baby monitor? Jesus. Insane. And then Lucifer finally appearing to Nick and talking him into giving up his body? Heartclenchy. I love, love, loved it all. I like that Lucifer's arguments are things that are so intimately familiar. The idea of holding God accountable -- who doesn't want in on that? Because no matter how you slice it, this business of living, of humanity, it's a fucking mess. To paraphrase from The West Wing: It's supposed to be hard. I get that. I like that it's hard, mostly. But it could be just a little easier. Anyway, I think it made the title mean not only sympathy for Lucifer (who's a pretty sympathetic figure, in this instance), but also sympathy for poor Nick. He may have a slightly better grasp on what's going to happen than Jimmy, but he's still getting in way over his head. Out of the frying pan, into the fire. Hilariously, it hadn't actually occurred to me that we'd get to spend any time with Lucifer's vessel, despite the entire episode devoted to Castiel's vessel last season. So I was pretty thrilled when we got to meet him and identify with him. Oh, Nick. What a ride you're in for.
10. Oh, Winchesters. I knew this rift was coming, and I'm glad it's here, but ouch. Sam and Dean have an incredibly fucked-up relationship, and that needs to be dealt with in a pretty epic fashion, I've always thought. Setting their relationship drama against the backdrop of the apocalypse? Awesome. There is not a shadow of doubt in my mind that season 5's primary subplot will be resolving the problems the boys have with each other, and I'm interested and excited to see where it goes. I like the parallel between Dean and Lucifer here -- they both are guilty of loving too much, of trying to convince the person they love that the path they're headed down is wrong, and they've both been betrayed in pretty horrible ways. Family, man.
Oh, also, I watched The Vampire Diaries and laughed so hard I almost strained something.
We first roadtripped up to Berkeley to see the American Idiot stage show, which rocked my face off and about which I have a massive tl;dr post in the works (combining Broadway with one of my favourite albums of all time? PURE JOY), then we stopped at home for slightly more than 48 hours, then we made our meandering way towards Oxnard for our yearly familial lazy time. I feel as though my batteries have been recharged, which is absolutely lovely.
And now, SPN bibbling.
1. I watched this episode in our hotel room, live and without subtitling or the ability to rewind or pause. (Yes, if there are subtitles available for any media, I will insist on using them. It's half a leftover from my anime fandom days -- I was steadfastly in the camp of "watch subtitled anime or NOTHING AT ALL" -- but mostly I'm just obsessive about not missing dialogue). This has not happened for quite some time, and man, totally not into it. TIVO HAS DESTROYED ME. D: Seriously, I missed actual lines of dialogue! And without a computer, I couldn't immediately download the episode and rewatch! CUE NERVOUS TWITCHING. Good gawd, self, get a griiiiiiip.
2. Ahem. Now on to the, ah. Actual recap. Anyway, the deus ex machina charmed me so thoroughly, because, duh, it's the apocalypse. \o/ Also, Dean is yanked out of Lucifer's way only to be shoved...on an airplane. I'm sure that was so comforting for him! I'm glad that Sammy got "supernatural methadone" because, wow, was I hesitant about the practical realities of withdrawal + the aforementioned apocalypse. Does Castiel getting smote and resurrected mean Jimmy's still along for the ride, or did the demolition of his body allow him to move into the Afterward?
3. Okay, Kripke. I get it. You have crazy fans. You are sick of breathless women obsessed with the idea of your fictional characters' theoretical incest. Get over it. Shoving it in the face of the national television audience -- the vast majority of whom do not know about the intricacies of fandom -- is rude and childish. Fandom, in effect, signs your paychecks, or at least dots the i's on them. Even those of us who are actively squicked by incest in general and Wincest in particular are protective of our fellow fans. I get that you're tired of wacky fans and their wacky antics, but save it for the extra features, awright? I think where the line got crossed, at least for me, was that the crazed fangirl was writing Wincest on-screen. I wasn't particularly enjoying her, but I have enough self-awareness to recognize as familiar and even identify with a few aspects of her character ("It's all real." "I KNEW IT." and "...Can you stop touching me?" "No." especially.) , and I thought the actress did a good job of taking me from screaming in horror to laughing. Now, that's enough. NO MORE OF THAT, YOU HEAR?
4. I very much enjoyed the Prophet Chuck, as he is darling. Moar Chuck, less fangirls, mmkay? Chuck picking bits of Castiel out of his hair was gross and awesome and made me go all handflappy.
5. New!Meg! I like her! She did a good job of mimicking Nikki Aycox without, you know, being irritating or boring (take notes, Genevieve Cortese!). I hope Meg uses that meat suit some more, though it seems unlikely. I also like that she showed up again. C'mon, she's Azazel's daughter, and he was instrumental in setting the apocalypse in motion, and while she's been a bit of a loose cannon in the past, she's also spent some time working for her father, so. I hope there's more Meg, because it's a neat way to reinforce themes about family and draw parallels and all that fun stuff. And it was nice that they recycled a character instead of creating a new bad-ass demon or just making a random flunky show up.
5. BOBBY!!! Oh, God, am I glad he's not dead. Sheesh. It was interesting that the demon possessing him apparently had no free will or personality of its own, which we haven't seen much. Whatevs. He's alive, and he doesn't hate Sam. I'm happy. In the words of my sisterthing: Bobby's a much better father than John ever was. However, I'm surprised Bobby managed to even be possessed! Guess the end really is nigh. Also, the badassitude of resisting demon possession and stabbing your own body for the sake of killing said demon really can't be understated. \o/
6. Another thing I'm glad about: that Papa Winchester didn't have an actualfax holy weapon lying around. I mean, I get that he was a secretive guy, but that would have been a bit much for me to swallow. I do like the idea that Dean's role to play here is the archangel Michael's vessel (I REALLY LIKE IT, somewhat predictably), and I especially like the show's insistence that its creations follow the established rules -- the whole asking for consent thing for both Michael and Lucifer is aces -- but a couple questions, mes frères. One, why is Zachariah asking for Michael, when every other angel we've seen taking a vessel (okay, all two of them) has asked for themselves? Two, if Dean is one of those nebulously-defined Chosen Dudes, why couldn't he understand Castiel's angel speech at the beginning of S4?
7. Oh, man, Zachariah. I hate-love him. His utter ruthlessness is both entertaining and horrifying. I absolutely adore the depths to which he is willing to sink to get what he wants. Stomach cancer no biggie? S'cool, let me TAKE YOUR BROTHER'S LUNGS AWAY. I also love that when Castiel implied that God is, in fact, aware of current events and manipulating them in a specific direction, Zachariah got freaked out. Oh yes, buddy, if Daddy comes home, you are in a world of trouble.
8. CASTIEL. Reconciling minion-leader Misha (If you do not follow him on Twitter, please do so now. You will thank me.) with badass-on-a-holy-mission Castiel was hilarious. Twenty seconds of utter cognitive dissonance for me. Anyway, yiss. I'm glad he's back and badder than ever. Him carving the magic sigils or whatever into the boys' ribcages? AMAZING. Also, sofuckinghot. Him threatening Zachariah? So awesome. Faster, pussycat, kill, kill! I am so deliriously happy that Castiel exists.
9. Lucifer. Oh, man, Lucifer. First off, everything done to Nick this episode was a new and horrifying way to fuck with someone's head. The blood running out of the cradle, the baby monitor? Jesus. Insane. And then Lucifer finally appearing to Nick and talking him into giving up his body? Heartclenchy. I love, love, loved it all. I like that Lucifer's arguments are things that are so intimately familiar. The idea of holding God accountable -- who doesn't want in on that? Because no matter how you slice it, this business of living, of humanity, it's a fucking mess. To paraphrase from The West Wing: It's supposed to be hard. I get that. I like that it's hard, mostly. But it could be just a little easier. Anyway, I think it made the title mean not only sympathy for Lucifer (who's a pretty sympathetic figure, in this instance), but also sympathy for poor Nick. He may have a slightly better grasp on what's going to happen than Jimmy, but he's still getting in way over his head. Out of the frying pan, into the fire. Hilariously, it hadn't actually occurred to me that we'd get to spend any time with Lucifer's vessel, despite the entire episode devoted to Castiel's vessel last season. So I was pretty thrilled when we got to meet him and identify with him. Oh, Nick. What a ride you're in for.
10. Oh, Winchesters. I knew this rift was coming, and I'm glad it's here, but ouch. Sam and Dean have an incredibly fucked-up relationship, and that needs to be dealt with in a pretty epic fashion, I've always thought. Setting their relationship drama against the backdrop of the apocalypse? Awesome. There is not a shadow of doubt in my mind that season 5's primary subplot will be resolving the problems the boys have with each other, and I'm interested and excited to see where it goes. I like the parallel between Dean and Lucifer here -- they both are guilty of loving too much, of trying to convince the person they love that the path they're headed down is wrong, and they've both been betrayed in pretty horrible ways. Family, man.
Oh, also, I watched The Vampire Diaries and laughed so hard I almost strained something.