I have rambles about Show, and I shall share them.
SO. I have been doing Much Stuff (final paper finished, submitted, graded, DONE!!!!!) and I haven't rambled aimlessly on here for AGES and I am Feeling The Need. Plus, I figure randomly actually posting something for Friday again might be fun.
Show Rambleses:
1. Show. Oh, Show. ❤ Show so much.
2. Thank you for killing Cas. Not because I wanted Cas dead especially, but because that's the kind of ballsy, bastard move the Show I know does when it's at the top of its game. ❤ Show so much.
2.a. Also because it's the nail in the coffin for the whole angel!arc. It was fun when it lasted, but it's not what Show is, and it's time to find the new thing.
3. Speaking of which, I am really digging all the actors Show is getting to play Leviathan. Jared and Jensen aside, they somehow all have a really intriguing visual presence. And are consistently characterising Leviathan as a genuinely new beastie race - not demons, not angels, something we've never seen before. ❤ Show so much.
3.a. Jared and Jensen were AWESOME too. SamnDean!Leviathan and their commentary were perfect - even though this was just a passing little moment, Show does its own meta like nobody else. And it was so fun to watch the boys' fun playing it.
3.b. I could have done with more SamnDean!Leviathan hijinks (although when they got down to the business with SamnDean!fo'real it was brilliant too). There should be fic. Is there fic?
4. JODIE!!!!!!
4.a. JODIE/BOBBY FTMFW!!!!!
4.b. !!!!!!! (Not that I was expecting it, but who didn't want to see them happen? Which includes Show, too, obviously. ❤ Show so much.)
5. I love the arc of Dean and Jo's relationship. LOVE. I doubt they'll bring her back like that again, and actually I don't want them to because the rarity makes their interactions even more potent, but Show sure knows how to hit the right relationship spots. *flail* ❤ Show so much.
6. Oh, Amy. Sorry honey. But once you can justify preying on human life for any reason, you can justify it again. It's a line crossed that you can't uncross.
6.a. Oh, Sam. Just because you can manage your inner freak, doesn't mean Amy will. I know you sometimes have difficulty separating yourself emotionally from the monsters you hunt, but that just means there's symbolic correlation for story purposes. Not actual correlation. You are not the monster. Stop feeling that you are the monster. Even if you don't feel guilty about it all anymore.
6.a.i. Which, hey, good for you! At least Hell was good for something.
6.a.ii. And LITTLE SAMMEH!!!!! LITTLE REASEARCHING SAMMEH!!!!! LITTLE BADASS RESEARCHING SAMMEH!!!!!! *huggles forever and ever*
6.b. Oh, Dean. Just ... oh, Dean.
6.b.i. Although, lying to Sam aside (and that's not entirely new), I love how you dealt with the son. I love how it shows that, like all previous seasons, no matter what your emotional landscape, no matter how dark, you consistently steer by your hunting code. (As I said while bitterlimetwist and I were gushing back and forth about it: "Unlike the mother, the boy hadn't preyed on humans. Therefore, not deserving of death. However, and you can see the struggle on Dean's face, he knows he will. Shoe dropping, and all that. Do you kill something you know will become a monster? That would really be crossing a new line. [...] At this point, Dean's answer is still no. But [...] he ensured that the boy wouldn't "prey" on anyone but Dean. Dean doesn't want to kill a child, but he can keep him from preying on anyone else (Dean knows exactly how strong the drive to avenge your mother is), but in a few years it'll be a fairer (less objectionable) fight, and Dean's entirely justified in fighting back and killing because it's in self-defence.")
6.c. ❤ Show so much.
7. Although, and I'm not complaining too much because dayum has this season been strong so far, but this was part of why Dr Phil fell pretty flat for me. Show's consistency on the subject of witches is shaky at the best of times, but surely the exact same logic applies to them as to Amy? And I'm not complaining that the boys didn't kill them so much as the characterisation of Dean's attitude to it. I'm not saying that I don't understand that the larger plot seemed to need servicing at the expense of it, but they're usually not that clumsy. The total flippancy about it was just off.
7.a. And ... I loved the stunt casting, of course. That was amazingly fun. Two of my favourite characters from the Whedonverse ever. However ... somehow it didn't quite gel, for me. It was like ... their chemistry was that of two old buddies, coming back together and having a blast playing with each other. Not two wildly passionate lovers who had sustained an epic 700 year relationship (because any relationship that old is de facto epic) while remaining immature AND invested enough to kill out of jealousy. Selfishness, sure - but then you have to explain to me why they're still together. It was unsatisfyingly ... thin, for what seems like it ought to be a much more complex couple. The relationship between the poker-playing he-witch and his lady was much more skillfully and coherently rendered, with much less information. But then, these were the writers who did Route 666. So maybe they just have a curse of over-simplified ham-fistedness with romance-with-a-history. WHO KNOWS.
7.b. BUT THEN SHOW GIVES US FABULOUSLY ELEGANT JODIE/BOBBY. ❤ Show so much.
8. I haven't been reading many reaction posts about S7 episodes, but I did catch dodger_winslow talking about the symmetry of Sammy leaving Dean with Dean's reaction to finding out that Sammy was still drinking demon blood when he said he wouldn't, which YES and YAY and SHOW and SYMMETRY.
8.a. However, I will add that the total abruptness of Sam's reaction builds specifically, and beautifully, on Dean's insistence that Sam trust him, if he can trust nothing else topside. It is NOT Meen!Sam walking out on his family again, as I have also seen mentioned. (Not by dodger, I should make clear. Oh, fandom. Misinterpreting things since 2006 ever since you ever existed.)
8.a.i. AND it means that Sam is continuing his S1-5 journey of having to learn to be his own man, not built on the foundation of Dean.
8.a.ii. \o/
8.b. Also, Dean's reaction to Sam leaving him shows that he also knows this is NOT the same as Sam leaving before. He KNOWS it's his fault, and it IS. I love that he just accepts it, and apologises, not in an attempt to get Sam to stay, but just because he knows he was wrong.
8.b.i. AND how S7 is doing a quick run-through of Dean's greatest hits of flaws, failings, and losses, in order to keep the consequences good and fresh, so that him having to learn and grow and overcome them is current and resonant.
8.b.ii. \o/
8.c. ❤ Show so much.
9. ❤ SHOW SO MUCH.
Show Rambleses:
1. Show. Oh, Show. ❤ Show so much.
2. Thank you for killing Cas. Not because I wanted Cas dead especially, but because that's the kind of ballsy, bastard move the Show I know does when it's at the top of its game. ❤ Show so much.
2.a. Also because it's the nail in the coffin for the whole angel!arc. It was fun when it lasted, but it's not what Show is, and it's time to find the new thing.
3. Speaking of which, I am really digging all the actors Show is getting to play Leviathan. Jared and Jensen aside, they somehow all have a really intriguing visual presence. And are consistently characterising Leviathan as a genuinely new beastie race - not demons, not angels, something we've never seen before. ❤ Show so much.
3.a. Jared and Jensen were AWESOME too. SamnDean!Leviathan and their commentary were perfect - even though this was just a passing little moment, Show does its own meta like nobody else. And it was so fun to watch the boys' fun playing it.
3.b. I could have done with more SamnDean!Leviathan hijinks (although when they got down to the business with SamnDean!fo'real it was brilliant too). There should be fic. Is there fic?
4. JODIE!!!!!!
4.a. JODIE/BOBBY FTMFW!!!!!
4.b. !!!!!!! (Not that I was expecting it, but who didn't want to see them happen? Which includes Show, too, obviously. ❤ Show so much.)
5. I love the arc of Dean and Jo's relationship. LOVE. I doubt they'll bring her back like that again, and actually I don't want them to because the rarity makes their interactions even more potent, but Show sure knows how to hit the right relationship spots. *flail* ❤ Show so much.
6. Oh, Amy. Sorry honey. But once you can justify preying on human life for any reason, you can justify it again. It's a line crossed that you can't uncross.
6.a. Oh, Sam. Just because you can manage your inner freak, doesn't mean Amy will. I know you sometimes have difficulty separating yourself emotionally from the monsters you hunt, but that just means there's symbolic correlation for story purposes. Not actual correlation. You are not the monster. Stop feeling that you are the monster. Even if you don't feel guilty about it all anymore.
6.a.i. Which, hey, good for you! At least Hell was good for something.
6.a.ii. And LITTLE SAMMEH!!!!! LITTLE REASEARCHING SAMMEH!!!!! LITTLE BADASS RESEARCHING SAMMEH!!!!!! *huggles forever and ever*
6.b. Oh, Dean. Just ... oh, Dean.
6.b.i. Although, lying to Sam aside (and that's not entirely new), I love how you dealt with the son. I love how it shows that, like all previous seasons, no matter what your emotional landscape, no matter how dark, you consistently steer by your hunting code. (As I said while bitterlimetwist and I were gushing back and forth about it: "Unlike the mother, the boy hadn't preyed on humans. Therefore, not deserving of death. However, and you can see the struggle on Dean's face, he knows he will. Shoe dropping, and all that. Do you kill something you know will become a monster? That would really be crossing a new line. [...] At this point, Dean's answer is still no. But [...] he ensured that the boy wouldn't "prey" on anyone but Dean. Dean doesn't want to kill a child, but he can keep him from preying on anyone else (Dean knows exactly how strong the drive to avenge your mother is), but in a few years it'll be a fairer (less objectionable) fight, and Dean's entirely justified in fighting back and killing because it's in self-defence.")
6.c. ❤ Show so much.
7. Although, and I'm not complaining too much because dayum has this season been strong so far, but this was part of why Dr Phil fell pretty flat for me. Show's consistency on the subject of witches is shaky at the best of times, but surely the exact same logic applies to them as to Amy? And I'm not complaining that the boys didn't kill them so much as the characterisation of Dean's attitude to it. I'm not saying that I don't understand that the larger plot seemed to need servicing at the expense of it, but they're usually not that clumsy. The total flippancy about it was just off.
7.a. And ... I loved the stunt casting, of course. That was amazingly fun. Two of my favourite characters from the Whedonverse ever. However ... somehow it didn't quite gel, for me. It was like ... their chemistry was that of two old buddies, coming back together and having a blast playing with each other. Not two wildly passionate lovers who had sustained an epic 700 year relationship (because any relationship that old is de facto epic) while remaining immature AND invested enough to kill out of jealousy. Selfishness, sure - but then you have to explain to me why they're still together. It was unsatisfyingly ... thin, for what seems like it ought to be a much more complex couple. The relationship between the poker-playing he-witch and his lady was much more skillfully and coherently rendered, with much less information. But then, these were the writers who did Route 666. So maybe they just have a curse of over-simplified ham-fistedness with romance-with-a-history. WHO KNOWS.
7.b. BUT THEN SHOW GIVES US FABULOUSLY ELEGANT JODIE/BOBBY. ❤ Show so much.
8. I haven't been reading many reaction posts about S7 episodes, but I did catch dodger_winslow talking about the symmetry of Sammy leaving Dean with Dean's reaction to finding out that Sammy was still drinking demon blood when he said he wouldn't, which YES and YAY and SHOW and SYMMETRY.
8.a. However, I will add that the total abruptness of Sam's reaction builds specifically, and beautifully, on Dean's insistence that Sam trust him, if he can trust nothing else topside. It is NOT Meen!Sam walking out on his family again, as I have also seen mentioned. (Not by dodger, I should make clear. Oh, fandom. Misinterpreting things since 2006 ever since you ever existed.)
8.a.i. AND it means that Sam is continuing his S1-5 journey of having to learn to be his own man, not built on the foundation of Dean.
8.a.ii. \o/
8.b. Also, Dean's reaction to Sam leaving him shows that he also knows this is NOT the same as Sam leaving before. He KNOWS it's his fault, and it IS. I love that he just accepts it, and apologises, not in an attempt to get Sam to stay, but just because he knows he was wrong.
8.b.i. AND how S7 is doing a quick run-through of Dean's greatest hits of flaws, failings, and losses, in order to keep the consequences good and fresh, so that him having to learn and grow and overcome them is current and resonant.
8.b.ii. \o/
8.c. ❤ Show so much.
9. ❤ SHOW SO MUCH.