SPN 5.17 - No more bottles of beer on the wall
99 Problems could have been an enormous letdown after last week. The fact that it wasn't already says something. We had character continuity, arc advancement, a decent story idea, some action, and funny Castiel. So, certainly a bigger win in Julie Siege's column than she's had recently.
The "Huh?"
1) The episode was not without its share of the usual logic issues, but the biggest one seemed a failure of memory on the writers' part. Of all the places to set this in, why did they choose Blue Earth? This had already been chosen back in S1 as the home of Pastor Jim, someone who, early on, had been set up as at least as close to the Winchesters as Bobby Singer (and who has probably been known longer). When Dean was surprised that the pastor was leading them and armed, I was wondering why this would strike them as odd? And that was before Sam called Castiel and specified where they were. I even wondered if the writers felt they had to use Blue Earth because the exterior of the church was the same, but from looking at some screencaps, it doesn’t appear that Pastor Jim's church was ever shown from the outside.
So why set this here? Surely any other (actually small) town would do? Is Blue Earth supposed to be SPN's version of a hellmouth and that's why Jim was there in the first place? I sure would have liked it if the writers had used this setting to explore that idea, but at the very least putting it in Massachussets would have been a nice nod to its theme.
2) Speaking of young girls being possessed and leading a whole town into a witch hunt, why did Leah let Sam and Dean stay instead of having them attacked by the townspeople right away? Did she really see them as no threat? Was it just because she didn't want to risk Sam being killed (but then, Lucifer would just bring him back)? Her motivation in all this seems really unclear which made her storyline less than satisfying. Unless the whole point was that Dean gets to call her a whore.
3) Another thing that bothered me was the general hypocrisy exhibited in the episode. In the scene where the militia attacks the demon house, I was wondering why Jane would have been delegated to carry the holy water container. That much water is heavy and she was the smallest person in the group, so it would have slowed her down and made her more vulnerable than anyone else. It would have made a whole lot more sense to make Sam carry it and have her carry a gun. Although why any of them needed to bother going in to shoot someone wasn't clear to me.
But it did make obvious the absurdity of Sam suggesting a scene earlier that they could save people when he's the one running around knifing them to death! If the townspeople could get the demons out of the hosts with such a quick and simple exorcism, and could do it with a loudspeaker, why weren't Sam and Dean shooting the people in the house with rock salt as well? Why bring out Ruby's knife? And why wasn't anyone calling them on that? (And yes, Dean is using a gun until the last moment when he stabs the guy, so he clearly wasn't concerned about the issue either).
4) Speaking of revealing, I found the line "They just outlawed 90% of your personality" amusing -- except for one thing. Drinking, gambling and sex aren't personality traits, they're habits. If any of the writers believe habits are what makes a personality, that may explain an awful lot about some of the writing. If we're talking a character of the week, yes, you can use shortcuts. If you're talking about your main characters, no.
Things done right
Regardless of the episode's problems, on the whole this worked pretty well for me. Here are some of the reasons.
1) Castiel! Since angsty Dean was already front and center, it was a wise choice to deal with Castiel's more serious betrayal more lightly in this episode. I hope his issues do get dealt with in the next six episodes, but here it would have been too much.
Instead, we get the dry wit MC has given him used effectively to both brush off his problems for now, as well as solve the mystery of what was going on. I'm glad that he was used here rather than Bobby, because we could have just had him go AWOL to drown his sorrows instead of getting evidence that he is not bouncing back at all. Knowing Leah was a fake seems to be knowledge only he would have, but there are other ways Sam or Dean could have figured it out.
What I think also came out of Castiel's appearance is that even though he has served God far longer, and has gotten less, some part of him didn't expect any better. When Dean offered him the aspirin and suggested he knew how Castiel felt, I expected him to protest pretty angrily about that. Dean's brief experiences don't compare with millennia of Castiel in endless service to a God whose word he obeyed without question, only to feel that he never mattered to that God at all, and that he cares nothing for his creations. It is Castiel's concern for those creations which set him apart early on in the series, and to see God doing nothing about the way his servants are carrying on in his name, has to have to cut pretty deeply. No one wants to be known as a martyr to the cause of hopelessness - except apparently Dean. Instead, I suspect Castiel is thinking of all he gave up to do what he felt was right, only to discover that God doesn't care about his sacrifices or right and wrong. He's nothing like what Castiel expected.
Yet Castiel doesn't express anger at Dean comparing his losses or service with Castiel's. This scene struck me as all wrong, unless Castiel believes that he doesn't deserve any better because, in the end, he's just a soldier of no importance. This is how he would have seen himself for a long time, but only recently could he understand just what sort of power he had at his command, when compared to his rapidly diminishing abilities now. He is becoming mortal -- one of those mortals that God apparently has no concern for. We may have a better idea why future Castiel might have said he used to be in a much better club, even if that club was no better in many respects than being human.
"A poor example of one." I wonder if that cost Castiel something to say, when not long before he could have done the deed himself. I also wonder, given Dean's action, if it's true for him either. Could Castiel, had he believed in himself, have killed Leah? Or perhaps, they shouldn't always believe what they read.
I also wondered what Leah said to Castiel when he attempted to help her father kill her. He still seemed to be suffering from its effects much later.
2) Although I have problems with the house demon attack, the action scenes were enjoyable, nonetheless. We start out with a holy water cannon (finally!) and I like that the fake Enochian exorcism gets explained by episode's end (as Mike said, if that's shorter and works so well, why wouldn't they have been using it all along otherwise?) Back in Dead Men, I'd said that I thought the show missed the boat in not taking on the idea of ordinary people having to react en masse to supernatural events. But here, this idea is the centerpiece, although not quite like I expected. Given the Hutaree arrests recently, this episode is actually rather timely, so go team SPN for suggesting that having people suddenly leap into the deep end may not turn out all that well.
This episode may also foreshadow where future Dean got some ideas about organizing militia groups and getting camps set up.
3) I think the fact that their arrival began with a wedding was a bit of foreshadowing for Dean going to see Lisa at the episode's end. Of course, what's actually said is "Marriage, family, it's a blessing. So hold on to that, especially in times like this." Dean doesn't see it that way anymore, but apparently some of that sinks in. Another aspect foreshadowed is Sam later saying he has no one but Dean. Over the last few years he has really lacked close connections to anyone. And even when he had them, such as with Bobby, he hasn't fostered them. So it's fitting that he's the one who's surprised that people would be getting married in a crisis. When he says he doesn't see that for himself anymore, he's really not kidding.
We also get some nice continuity in Dean's reaction to the prayer. Dean's problems have reached a tipping point so the ending really is no surprise.
Considering the previous episode, I wonder if Dean was always more susceptible to Michael than Sam to Lucifer because, unlike Sam, freedom holds less allure and Dean was always more vulnerable to despair? As we know, Sam gets angry, but Dean gets depressed. This episode had some good moments of Dean and Sam facing off as regards their outlook of the moment. Specifically:
"What happened to us saving them?" From the start of the series, it was generally Dean more concerned with saving people, and the one who pushed forward through sheer bravado, despite his doubts. But during those times when he has been folding under despair - after John's death, in Croatoan, and now - Sam's been stepping in to push him through it. The most obvious case where he fell down on this job was in S4, when Dean really needed some help but Sam was too tied up in his own issues to give it in any kind of effective manner. The Dean who once gave Sam this talk is decades older and far too worn down.
"Since the angels have the only lifeboats on the Titanic." My feeling is that Dean isn't referring here to their offer of vesseldom to avert the destruction of the planet, but to the idea that Pamela offered. Heaven is better than hell, and soon to be a better alternative to what's going on down on Earth. After all, if Dean gives in to Michael, it's not going to matter to him where he is. Sam, of course, is absolutely right to have his alarm bells going off and wondering where his brother's gone.
"You can't do this to me." I understand there were some who didn't think Dean's disposal of the amulet had anything to do with Sam. I don't know why they'd think so, though. Joshua was pretty clear about all the things Dean had lost faith in. I don't think Dean feels he owes Sam much any more. But presumably, we'll find out more in the next episode about where he's coming from. One possibility, for example, is that if he gives in to Michael but Sam does not give in to Lucifer, then Michael should have no trouble destroying him and Sam won't have to become a vessel at all. If so, though, Dean's not listening to what Sam's saying. He's telling Dean that if he's left on his own, he won't be able to hang on. And given what happened last time, Dean ought to know better.
"Like Michael, stupid." Sam, on the other hand, still knows Dean pretty well. He learned more about Dean in heaven, but it wasn't anything that dramatically altered his previous view of his brother. As ivy03 said here the two took rather different lessons away from their time in heaven. But Sam's certainly more on Dean's wavelength than Dean is on his.
Dean's conversation with Leah is interesting to ponder, given that we now know she was talking about the demon side -- being sure they would win, and that there would be peace. Of course, there's already no disease for demons, and for most no death, since they're already dead. With the angels gone there will be no monsters either.
Leah's comment about being with those you love made me think back to Casey in Sin City, who demonstrated some demons have loved ones too. I was thinking of that episode in the next scene as well, when Sam goes to the bar and we hear how easy it is for people to be manipulated -- in one direction or another. It seems at first in those two scenes that Sam is laughing with the sinners, while Dean's crying with the saints. But as we later see, it's actually the complete opposite. I keep wondering if we're going to see an unexpected twist on the vessel front.
I'm assuming that when Dean first drove off it was because he knew he couldn't do what he'd decided with Sam around. That he went to Lisa next though, was apparently the result of having pondered his remaining obligations. We know that what he said was true, that he continues to think of Lisa as the fantasy woman who might actually take the role of his mom in the present day -- someone spirited and warm, but tough. Perhaps his recent memories of Mary made his emotional connection to Lisa all the stronger.
Rather more surprising to me is that Lisa apparently feels so strongly for him. After all, she spent about a day with Dean a few years ago, which didn't go all that smoothly. I'm sure she feels grateful to him for having rescued Ben and not given up despite how she fought him. But it seems a little much to think that a woman like Lisa has no one else in her life, so that she can simply be there for Dean whenever he waltzes in.
Regardless, I enjoyed her appearance and think they did well in casting her. That was a great scene between them and I hope she reappears.
In the end the good outweighed the bad in this episode, and it seems to be a good setup to what's coming next week.
Other Bits
1) Aack! Impala breakage!
2) Sam seemed to be healed of his arm wound awful quick.
3) Dean, of all people, thinks it's odd that a 12 year old would be packing salt rounds? I'm pretty sure there are plenty of 12 year olds in the country right now utilizing live ammo as they hunt, and none of them have even been raised by John Winchester.
4) I'm guessing that when Leah says she knows about stuff from angels, what she means is Lucifer. I'm also assuming she can't see the sigils on their ribs, she's just been told they're there. She could also be reading Dean and Sam's minds, but I'm interested in whether or not a demon or angel near them could tell they were there.
5) I'm also guessing that Sam was calling Castiel for help because they wanted intel on Leah the Prophet from the get-go, not because they actually needed help with the demons, since this is probably the only time they've actually had an army of people at their back.
6) Castiel and cell phone confusion continues to be made of win.
7) Did anyone else think at first we were supposed to believe something was going on between Rob and Paul?
8) "One more time you can drive." And Sam's got to be thinking: "Are you serious?" This is clearly another sign of the apocalypse.
9) I liked that little beer clink between Sam and Dean, though I wondered if it was simply standard for their post-hunt celebrations, or if Dean was in a particularly good mood. Leaving the son behind to be conveniently killed was rather clumsy and pointless, particularly since while Jane held them responsible, nothing really came of that issue.
10) I wonder if Castiel's declining belief makes him physically weaker as well. After all, he managed to contain all that food not so long ago, but now he's managed to get himself drunk and he's very vulnerable to whatever Leah said.
11) I'll bet drunk Cas and Sam's jaunt outside looking for Dean must have been interesting. I mean, how hard could he have been to find?
12) "It's funnier in Enochian." Hee! Guess maybe that's why Uriel was so entertaining.
13) LOL, to "Sam, of course, is an abomination."
14) I was wondering if the stained glass windows in that scene between Pastor Gideon and Castiel had an significance.
15) Given that Castiel can read the minds of everyone around him, shouldn't he have been aware of what Dean was planning? I'm going to assume he was too out of it at the time that Dean departed.
Comments at Dreamwidth
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The "Huh?"
1) The episode was not without its share of the usual logic issues, but the biggest one seemed a failure of memory on the writers' part. Of all the places to set this in, why did they choose Blue Earth? This had already been chosen back in S1 as the home of Pastor Jim, someone who, early on, had been set up as at least as close to the Winchesters as Bobby Singer (and who has probably been known longer). When Dean was surprised that the pastor was leading them and armed, I was wondering why this would strike them as odd? And that was before Sam called Castiel and specified where they were. I even wondered if the writers felt they had to use Blue Earth because the exterior of the church was the same, but from looking at some screencaps, it doesn’t appear that Pastor Jim's church was ever shown from the outside.
So why set this here? Surely any other (actually small) town would do? Is Blue Earth supposed to be SPN's version of a hellmouth and that's why Jim was there in the first place? I sure would have liked it if the writers had used this setting to explore that idea, but at the very least putting it in Massachussets would have been a nice nod to its theme.
2) Speaking of young girls being possessed and leading a whole town into a witch hunt, why did Leah let Sam and Dean stay instead of having them attacked by the townspeople right away? Did she really see them as no threat? Was it just because she didn't want to risk Sam being killed (but then, Lucifer would just bring him back)? Her motivation in all this seems really unclear which made her storyline less than satisfying. Unless the whole point was that Dean gets to call her a whore.
3) Another thing that bothered me was the general hypocrisy exhibited in the episode. In the scene where the militia attacks the demon house, I was wondering why Jane would have been delegated to carry the holy water container. That much water is heavy and she was the smallest person in the group, so it would have slowed her down and made her more vulnerable than anyone else. It would have made a whole lot more sense to make Sam carry it and have her carry a gun. Although why any of them needed to bother going in to shoot someone wasn't clear to me.
But it did make obvious the absurdity of Sam suggesting a scene earlier that they could save people when he's the one running around knifing them to death! If the townspeople could get the demons out of the hosts with such a quick and simple exorcism, and could do it with a loudspeaker, why weren't Sam and Dean shooting the people in the house with rock salt as well? Why bring out Ruby's knife? And why wasn't anyone calling them on that? (And yes, Dean is using a gun until the last moment when he stabs the guy, so he clearly wasn't concerned about the issue either).
4) Speaking of revealing, I found the line "They just outlawed 90% of your personality" amusing -- except for one thing. Drinking, gambling and sex aren't personality traits, they're habits. If any of the writers believe habits are what makes a personality, that may explain an awful lot about some of the writing. If we're talking a character of the week, yes, you can use shortcuts. If you're talking about your main characters, no.
Things done right
Regardless of the episode's problems, on the whole this worked pretty well for me. Here are some of the reasons.
1) Castiel! Since angsty Dean was already front and center, it was a wise choice to deal with Castiel's more serious betrayal more lightly in this episode. I hope his issues do get dealt with in the next six episodes, but here it would have been too much.
Instead, we get the dry wit MC has given him used effectively to both brush off his problems for now, as well as solve the mystery of what was going on. I'm glad that he was used here rather than Bobby, because we could have just had him go AWOL to drown his sorrows instead of getting evidence that he is not bouncing back at all. Knowing Leah was a fake seems to be knowledge only he would have, but there are other ways Sam or Dean could have figured it out.
What I think also came out of Castiel's appearance is that even though he has served God far longer, and has gotten less, some part of him didn't expect any better. When Dean offered him the aspirin and suggested he knew how Castiel felt, I expected him to protest pretty angrily about that. Dean's brief experiences don't compare with millennia of Castiel in endless service to a God whose word he obeyed without question, only to feel that he never mattered to that God at all, and that he cares nothing for his creations. It is Castiel's concern for those creations which set him apart early on in the series, and to see God doing nothing about the way his servants are carrying on in his name, has to have to cut pretty deeply. No one wants to be known as a martyr to the cause of hopelessness - except apparently Dean. Instead, I suspect Castiel is thinking of all he gave up to do what he felt was right, only to discover that God doesn't care about his sacrifices or right and wrong. He's nothing like what Castiel expected.
Yet Castiel doesn't express anger at Dean comparing his losses or service with Castiel's. This scene struck me as all wrong, unless Castiel believes that he doesn't deserve any better because, in the end, he's just a soldier of no importance. This is how he would have seen himself for a long time, but only recently could he understand just what sort of power he had at his command, when compared to his rapidly diminishing abilities now. He is becoming mortal -- one of those mortals that God apparently has no concern for. We may have a better idea why future Castiel might have said he used to be in a much better club, even if that club was no better in many respects than being human.
"A poor example of one." I wonder if that cost Castiel something to say, when not long before he could have done the deed himself. I also wonder, given Dean's action, if it's true for him either. Could Castiel, had he believed in himself, have killed Leah? Or perhaps, they shouldn't always believe what they read.
I also wondered what Leah said to Castiel when he attempted to help her father kill her. He still seemed to be suffering from its effects much later.
2) Although I have problems with the house demon attack, the action scenes were enjoyable, nonetheless. We start out with a holy water cannon (finally!) and I like that the fake Enochian exorcism gets explained by episode's end (as Mike said, if that's shorter and works so well, why wouldn't they have been using it all along otherwise?) Back in Dead Men, I'd said that I thought the show missed the boat in not taking on the idea of ordinary people having to react en masse to supernatural events. But here, this idea is the centerpiece, although not quite like I expected. Given the Hutaree arrests recently, this episode is actually rather timely, so go team SPN for suggesting that having people suddenly leap into the deep end may not turn out all that well.
This episode may also foreshadow where future Dean got some ideas about organizing militia groups and getting camps set up.
3) I think the fact that their arrival began with a wedding was a bit of foreshadowing for Dean going to see Lisa at the episode's end. Of course, what's actually said is "Marriage, family, it's a blessing. So hold on to that, especially in times like this." Dean doesn't see it that way anymore, but apparently some of that sinks in. Another aspect foreshadowed is Sam later saying he has no one but Dean. Over the last few years he has really lacked close connections to anyone. And even when he had them, such as with Bobby, he hasn't fostered them. So it's fitting that he's the one who's surprised that people would be getting married in a crisis. When he says he doesn't see that for himself anymore, he's really not kidding.
We also get some nice continuity in Dean's reaction to the prayer. Dean's problems have reached a tipping point so the ending really is no surprise.
Considering the previous episode, I wonder if Dean was always more susceptible to Michael than Sam to Lucifer because, unlike Sam, freedom holds less allure and Dean was always more vulnerable to despair? As we know, Sam gets angry, but Dean gets depressed. This episode had some good moments of Dean and Sam facing off as regards their outlook of the moment. Specifically:
"What happened to us saving them?" From the start of the series, it was generally Dean more concerned with saving people, and the one who pushed forward through sheer bravado, despite his doubts. But during those times when he has been folding under despair - after John's death, in Croatoan, and now - Sam's been stepping in to push him through it. The most obvious case where he fell down on this job was in S4, when Dean really needed some help but Sam was too tied up in his own issues to give it in any kind of effective manner. The Dean who once gave Sam this talk is decades older and far too worn down.
"Since the angels have the only lifeboats on the Titanic." My feeling is that Dean isn't referring here to their offer of vesseldom to avert the destruction of the planet, but to the idea that Pamela offered. Heaven is better than hell, and soon to be a better alternative to what's going on down on Earth. After all, if Dean gives in to Michael, it's not going to matter to him where he is. Sam, of course, is absolutely right to have his alarm bells going off and wondering where his brother's gone.
"You can't do this to me." I understand there were some who didn't think Dean's disposal of the amulet had anything to do with Sam. I don't know why they'd think so, though. Joshua was pretty clear about all the things Dean had lost faith in. I don't think Dean feels he owes Sam much any more. But presumably, we'll find out more in the next episode about where he's coming from. One possibility, for example, is that if he gives in to Michael but Sam does not give in to Lucifer, then Michael should have no trouble destroying him and Sam won't have to become a vessel at all. If so, though, Dean's not listening to what Sam's saying. He's telling Dean that if he's left on his own, he won't be able to hang on. And given what happened last time, Dean ought to know better.
"Like Michael, stupid." Sam, on the other hand, still knows Dean pretty well. He learned more about Dean in heaven, but it wasn't anything that dramatically altered his previous view of his brother. As ivy03 said here the two took rather different lessons away from their time in heaven. But Sam's certainly more on Dean's wavelength than Dean is on his.
Dean's conversation with Leah is interesting to ponder, given that we now know she was talking about the demon side -- being sure they would win, and that there would be peace. Of course, there's already no disease for demons, and for most no death, since they're already dead. With the angels gone there will be no monsters either.
Leah's comment about being with those you love made me think back to Casey in Sin City, who demonstrated some demons have loved ones too. I was thinking of that episode in the next scene as well, when Sam goes to the bar and we hear how easy it is for people to be manipulated -- in one direction or another. It seems at first in those two scenes that Sam is laughing with the sinners, while Dean's crying with the saints. But as we later see, it's actually the complete opposite. I keep wondering if we're going to see an unexpected twist on the vessel front.
I'm assuming that when Dean first drove off it was because he knew he couldn't do what he'd decided with Sam around. That he went to Lisa next though, was apparently the result of having pondered his remaining obligations. We know that what he said was true, that he continues to think of Lisa as the fantasy woman who might actually take the role of his mom in the present day -- someone spirited and warm, but tough. Perhaps his recent memories of Mary made his emotional connection to Lisa all the stronger.
Rather more surprising to me is that Lisa apparently feels so strongly for him. After all, she spent about a day with Dean a few years ago, which didn't go all that smoothly. I'm sure she feels grateful to him for having rescued Ben and not given up despite how she fought him. But it seems a little much to think that a woman like Lisa has no one else in her life, so that she can simply be there for Dean whenever he waltzes in.
Regardless, I enjoyed her appearance and think they did well in casting her. That was a great scene between them and I hope she reappears.
In the end the good outweighed the bad in this episode, and it seems to be a good setup to what's coming next week.
Other Bits
1) Aack! Impala breakage!
2) Sam seemed to be healed of his arm wound awful quick.
3) Dean, of all people, thinks it's odd that a 12 year old would be packing salt rounds? I'm pretty sure there are plenty of 12 year olds in the country right now utilizing live ammo as they hunt, and none of them have even been raised by John Winchester.
4) I'm guessing that when Leah says she knows about stuff from angels, what she means is Lucifer. I'm also assuming she can't see the sigils on their ribs, she's just been told they're there. She could also be reading Dean and Sam's minds, but I'm interested in whether or not a demon or angel near them could tell they were there.
5) I'm also guessing that Sam was calling Castiel for help because they wanted intel on Leah the Prophet from the get-go, not because they actually needed help with the demons, since this is probably the only time they've actually had an army of people at their back.
6) Castiel and cell phone confusion continues to be made of win.
7) Did anyone else think at first we were supposed to believe something was going on between Rob and Paul?
8) "One more time you can drive." And Sam's got to be thinking: "Are you serious?" This is clearly another sign of the apocalypse.
9) I liked that little beer clink between Sam and Dean, though I wondered if it was simply standard for their post-hunt celebrations, or if Dean was in a particularly good mood. Leaving the son behind to be conveniently killed was rather clumsy and pointless, particularly since while Jane held them responsible, nothing really came of that issue.
10) I wonder if Castiel's declining belief makes him physically weaker as well. After all, he managed to contain all that food not so long ago, but now he's managed to get himself drunk and he's very vulnerable to whatever Leah said.
11) I'll bet drunk Cas and Sam's jaunt outside looking for Dean must have been interesting. I mean, how hard could he have been to find?
12) "It's funnier in Enochian." Hee! Guess maybe that's why Uriel was so entertaining.
13) LOL, to "Sam, of course, is an abomination."
14) I was wondering if the stained glass windows in that scene between Pastor Gideon and Castiel had an significance.
15) Given that Castiel can read the minds of everyone around him, shouldn't he have been aware of what Dean was planning? I'm going to assume he was too out of it at the time that Dean departed.
Comments at Dreamwidth
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