SPN - 7.09 - 'How To Win Friends & Influence Monsters'
Yup.
So I figured that was happening midseason. Dean’s gotta hit bottom somehow, Bobby is the perfect last catalyst. His reliance of him in 7.01/7.02 was too noticeable. Dean sealed Bobby's fate for me with that "if your dead" message. That was like a neon sign blinking "Dean uses Bobby as a crutch too much, get prepared, we're gonna have to knock that crutch in". It's so perfectly exactly what the narrative needs right now, I’m actually gonna be pissed if they wimp out on this, but...I don’t think they will. SPN doesn’t do things halfway. Especially with big character deaths. Ending with this cliffhanger? They mean business.
I know everyone’s in denial all, OH BOBBY WON'T DIE, HE'S ALREADY ALMOST DIED HUNDREDS OF TIMES, THEY NEVER ACTUALLY GO THROUGH WITH IT. But the rest of this season can’t be Butch & Sundance if it’s not...just Butch & Sundance. Bobby’s gotten a suspicious amount of emotional resonance and backstory added to his character in the last couple episodes. This next ep will probably be a big sobfest of a goodbye. It’s in line with the theme of the season, the boys being stripped of all their resources. Bobby is their last lifeline.
Plus, that hat bit at the end was just too perfect for words. "Bobby here’s your hat" And he doesn’t take it. AND THEN SAM SEES THE BLOOD? And turns around to passed out Bobby? GUYS THAT IS SOME BRILLIANT LAST STAND TRIBUTE THERE. HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE THAT??? After he killed the Turducken mutant IN A TREE. IN THE DARK, just by LISTENING???? Bobby was allowed to be friggin AWESOME in this episode.
Also major indication? Bobby had two GREAT peptalk convos with the boys that both read suspiciously like last words. Sam and Bobby (whom I LOVE their interactions together and we’ve been denied too much of over the course of the show), their convo about Dean while he was sleeping made me want to draw hearts all over the place. I think I rewound it three times before moving on just to make sure it really happened. Sam expressing his worry over Dean and Bobby all "YOU TWO!" might just be one of my favorite non-SamnDean scenes ever. And then Bobby talks to Dean. And here I love how Bobby’s advice is so spitting similar to what Dean told Sam in 7.02.
"Come on now, you tried to hang it up and be a person with Lisa and Ben. And now here you are with a mean old coot and a van full of guns. That ain’t person behavior, son. You’re a hunter, meaning you’re whatever the job you’re doing that day. You get a case of the Anne Sextons, something’s gonna come behind you and rip your fool head off. Now you find your REASONS for getting back in the game. I don’t care if it’s love or spite or a ten dollar bet. I’ve been to enough funerals. I mean it. You die before me and I‘ll kill you." - Bobby Singer [7.09]
"[T]he gip hand, let me see it. Hey, this is real. Not a year ago. Not in Hell. Now. I was with you when you cut it. I sewed it up. Look! This. is. different..Right? Then the crap that’s tearing at your walnut?! I’m different. Right?..I am your flesh and blood brother, okay? I’m the only one who can legitimately kick your ass in real time. You got away. We got you OUT, Sammy. Believe in that. Believe me. Okay? You gotta believe me. You gotta make it Stone Number One and build on it, understand?" - Dean Winchester [7.02]
[Sidenote: I can’t remember for the life of me which interview this was or who said it whether it was Sera or Ben or...one of the other writers, idek, but last season they were talking midseason how they adjusted some things pushed some things back so the point they were going to hit in the S6 finale turned out to be the S7 premiere instead. Which means 7.02 was the original S7 premiere. And you know how this show LOVES to allude back to its premiere in midseason. Or is it the premiere foreshadows the midseason? ANYWAY, both are written by Ben Edlund, so surely this is no coincidence. Moreover, what also is true is that the midseason eps tend to foreshadow the finale.]
My POINT is. Dean telling Sam, bedrock, make it me and build on it to keep you HERE. Bobby says the same, FIND A ROCK THAT ANCHORS YOU HERE AND BUILD ON THAT. So you know it’s pretty inevitable we’re gonna hear Sam repeat his own words back to him at some point.
So yea, given we got both of those scenes from Bobby, and Bobby being awesome, AND backstory on the boys with Bobby as kids hunting (how adorable was that one??!) I'd cash money Bobby isn't long for this world.
There may also be a small evil part of me that gets gleeful every time I read reactions of people bawling all over the place about it all YOU CAN'T KILL BOBBY. Yup, that’s exactly why it would be awesome and needs to be done. XD DOOOOO IT, GUYS. Honestly I’d even take a year long coma, but that’d be pretty wimpy for this show. Like I said, they rarely do things halfway. I say BRING IT ON. It‘s been a while since the show truly threw my heart down the garbage disposal. IT‘S WHAT THIS SHOW DOES BEST. NOW DON‘T DISAPPOINT! GO FOR THE JUGULAR!
ALSO, BEN EDLUND, YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU AND YOUR A-MAZING POLITICAL META SIDESTEPS. Dick Roman during the current events shit we’re going through as the top evil Leviathan boss? OHHHHH MANNNNN. Seriously, if you’re a Republican watching this show, I’m sorry but you’ve been missing SO MANY LOLZ of political meta in this show over the years. This is the most explicit they’ve done. For a second there before, I thought they were stealing their season plot right out of Firefly, with the drugging people to make them complacent but 3% going crazy insane aka Reavers? But instead they’re going the Dollhouse "get in through a politician" route. Except IT’S A CORPORATE BILLIONAIRE DOUCHEBAG WHO SPOUTS FAMILY VALUES AND THE SECOND AMENDMENT AND KEEPS SAYING HE HAS NO INTEREST IN RUNNING FOR OFFICE. Oh, oh, AND EATS PEOPLE. During this election cycle and corporate bullshit nonsense coming out of the news, that is just purely HYSTERICAL meta.
TOP TEN FAV SMALL BITS (cause there were a lot of great ones):
1) That whole hunting scene with Bobby. I always get excited to see some pretty natural greenery used in this show, it makes for some pretty caps. But I especially loved how they turned this into a nostaglic event. Sam and Dean exchanging knowing looks and smiles over Bobby’s tracking skills. And then talking about Bobby teaching hunting when they were little. And how the Winchester bros could never shoot a Bambi?! HOW ADORABLE WAS THAT???? Apparently it was a concious decision to make all the guys hold their guns differently, which I thought was a neat detail. I also irrationally love this little missed look here:
HEEHEE. OH BOYS.
2) Sam and Bobby. Probably my favorite thing to come out of S6 was these Bobby=Sam, Rufus=Dean lines that where drawn. They went to town on this in this episode, with a number of mirror shots of Sam and Bobby’s reactions compared to Dean.
I particularly love the shot of Sam with his soup/salad combo and Bobby with his heart healthy Chinese chicken & chopsticks. The chopsticks is totally my favorite part. And how Dean & Sam didn't even bat an eyelash over it.
3) Dean stoned. How adorable was that one? I love how low key they did it. Props to Ackles for being such a scene stealer.
4) Sam's smiles in UM, all of this. But specifically the ones at Biggerson's when Dean was getting a hard time from the waiter?
Both boys were looking excellent AGAIN this week. That Biggerson's set made for some pretty lighting:
Guy Bee seems to get some particularly gorgeous shots of Sam/Jared though:
5) Bobby telling Dean he’s not a person. I wrote this meta on the show's use of pie back in 7.03 after Sam’s cake line "It’s close enough" when Dean wanted pie, that said basically the same thing. Dean has yet to truly accepted this yet. That normal is no longer a real option for him. Sam has. He’s made his peace with being different, with living the hunter life, and not being able to have that normal life again. Dean wiped Ben and Lisa’s minds because he tried normal with them and yet he still can’t accept that that is it for him. He's still denying dealing with it. Clinging to his pies. I never did post it, because I thought I was being alittle silly, but I may have to find that meta and dig it up now.
6) Dean getting infected in the complacency meat test run? OHHHHH yes, how very anvillious of you, Ben Edlund. lackcat333_99 did a FABULOUS meta on how the apathy versus appetite in this episode connects directly back to one of my fav eps of all time, My Bloody Valentine, and how both Sam and Bobby are wrong that this thing with Dean is a recent thing. This has been ongoing for seasons, guys, wake up and smell the coffee. [Add that to the list of Sam and Bobby mirrors!]
7) I'm assuming the Leviathans have been tracking their asses, hence the squatting in crap houses for weeks and inability to use cards, yes? I found it telling that Dean was talking about the world wanting to off itself over the cliff in the same episode that might be Bobby’s last (alive) in light of the 7.02 quote about Dean wanting to strap Sam in the Impala and drive off a clif if he was dead.
8) Bobby referencing Anne Sexton after confessing his poetry geekery a couple weeks ago. I'm torn between that or the chopsticks being my favorite Bobby piece ever.
9) Bobby totally read my DeannSam meta a couple weeks ago didn’t he? "You know, you worry about him. All he does is worry about you. Who’s left to live their own life here? The two of you--" I know, ridiculous aren't they?!
10) I just love the combo of Ben Edlund + Guy Bee. This was such a 180 in terms of quality from last week, I almost got whiplash following it all. I heard they’ve got the same combo for the penultimate too. Oh how I love my penultimates in this show. MAKE IT GOOD GUYS. Meanwhile in two weeks we’ve got Sera + Bob Singer. Which is my other FAVORITE W/D COMBO. They’re gonna give us some great stuff, I can just see it now.
Finally. Fandom. We need to talk. The death threats to Sera Gamble on Tumblr are a tad over the top. Control your crazy misogynist streak please. Killing beloved characters is nothing new on this show, but at least Bobby’s been with us for years so we’ve gotten to see his potential played out. And this was a fabulous episode for him to go out in, I'm sure we're gearing up for another top-notch sendoff episode in December. That's the kindest this show gets. Don’t go talking to me about unfair character deaths, the lost potential over unexplored characters thrown away, those are the real tragedies, trust me, I’m still crying over Bela and Henricksen, not to mention Ellen and Jo. Not like I'm not going to be bawling like a moron over the next episode if they play things right.
IN CONCLUSION:
In other news, I went crazy and mainlined American Horror Story this weekend. OMG, compared to that SPN is lollipops, rainbows and sunshine. WOW. I wish it wasn’t so excellent and addicting. Seriously the show is like that turducken sandwich yo. It’s kinda a problem, since it scares the fuckin shit out of me and makes me cringe like a mother over all it's fuckedupness and the entire time I’m like WHY AM I WATCHING THIS, and then Connie Britton will be fuckin brilliant or it ends on some MINDFUCK of a note, and I’m like AHHHH, GIVE ME MORE. WHY?????
One of these days I need to talk about all the excellent tv that's been on my screen this fall, maybe this hiatus will give me the excuse to do that.
So I figured that was happening midseason. Dean’s gotta hit bottom somehow, Bobby is the perfect last catalyst. His reliance of him in 7.01/7.02 was too noticeable. Dean sealed Bobby's fate for me with that "if your dead" message. That was like a neon sign blinking "Dean uses Bobby as a crutch too much, get prepared, we're gonna have to knock that crutch in". It's so perfectly exactly what the narrative needs right now, I’m actually gonna be pissed if they wimp out on this, but...I don’t think they will. SPN doesn’t do things halfway. Especially with big character deaths. Ending with this cliffhanger? They mean business.
I know everyone’s in denial all, OH BOBBY WON'T DIE, HE'S ALREADY ALMOST DIED HUNDREDS OF TIMES, THEY NEVER ACTUALLY GO THROUGH WITH IT. But the rest of this season can’t be Butch & Sundance if it’s not...just Butch & Sundance. Bobby’s gotten a suspicious amount of emotional resonance and backstory added to his character in the last couple episodes. This next ep will probably be a big sobfest of a goodbye. It’s in line with the theme of the season, the boys being stripped of all their resources. Bobby is their last lifeline.
Plus, that hat bit at the end was just too perfect for words. "Bobby here’s your hat" And he doesn’t take it. AND THEN SAM SEES THE BLOOD? And turns around to passed out Bobby? GUYS THAT IS SOME BRILLIANT LAST STAND TRIBUTE THERE. HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE THAT??? After he killed the Turducken mutant IN A TREE. IN THE DARK, just by LISTENING???? Bobby was allowed to be friggin AWESOME in this episode.
Also major indication? Bobby had two GREAT peptalk convos with the boys that both read suspiciously like last words. Sam and Bobby (whom I LOVE their interactions together and we’ve been denied too much of over the course of the show), their convo about Dean while he was sleeping made me want to draw hearts all over the place. I think I rewound it three times before moving on just to make sure it really happened. Sam expressing his worry over Dean and Bobby all "YOU TWO!" might just be one of my favorite non-SamnDean scenes ever. And then Bobby talks to Dean. And here I love how Bobby’s advice is so spitting similar to what Dean told Sam in 7.02.
"Come on now, you tried to hang it up and be a person with Lisa and Ben. And now here you are with a mean old coot and a van full of guns. That ain’t person behavior, son. You’re a hunter, meaning you’re whatever the job you’re doing that day. You get a case of the Anne Sextons, something’s gonna come behind you and rip your fool head off. Now you find your REASONS for getting back in the game. I don’t care if it’s love or spite or a ten dollar bet. I’ve been to enough funerals. I mean it. You die before me and I‘ll kill you." - Bobby Singer [7.09]
"[T]he gip hand, let me see it. Hey, this is real. Not a year ago. Not in Hell. Now. I was with you when you cut it. I sewed it up. Look! This. is. different..Right? Then the crap that’s tearing at your walnut?! I’m different. Right?..I am your flesh and blood brother, okay? I’m the only one who can legitimately kick your ass in real time. You got away. We got you OUT, Sammy. Believe in that. Believe me. Okay? You gotta believe me. You gotta make it Stone Number One and build on it, understand?" - Dean Winchester [7.02]
[Sidenote: I can’t remember for the life of me which interview this was or who said it whether it was Sera or Ben or...one of the other writers, idek, but last season they were talking midseason how they adjusted some things pushed some things back so the point they were going to hit in the S6 finale turned out to be the S7 premiere instead. Which means 7.02 was the original S7 premiere. And you know how this show LOVES to allude back to its premiere in midseason. Or is it the premiere foreshadows the midseason? ANYWAY, both are written by Ben Edlund, so surely this is no coincidence. Moreover, what also is true is that the midseason eps tend to foreshadow the finale.]
My POINT is. Dean telling Sam, bedrock, make it me and build on it to keep you HERE. Bobby says the same, FIND A ROCK THAT ANCHORS YOU HERE AND BUILD ON THAT. So you know it’s pretty inevitable we’re gonna hear Sam repeat his own words back to him at some point.
So yea, given we got both of those scenes from Bobby, and Bobby being awesome, AND backstory on the boys with Bobby as kids hunting (how adorable was that one??!) I'd cash money Bobby isn't long for this world.
There may also be a small evil part of me that gets gleeful every time I read reactions of people bawling all over the place about it all YOU CAN'T KILL BOBBY. Yup, that’s exactly why it would be awesome and needs to be done. XD DOOOOO IT, GUYS. Honestly I’d even take a year long coma, but that’d be pretty wimpy for this show. Like I said, they rarely do things halfway. I say BRING IT ON. It‘s been a while since the show truly threw my heart down the garbage disposal. IT‘S WHAT THIS SHOW DOES BEST. NOW DON‘T DISAPPOINT! GO FOR THE JUGULAR!
ALSO, BEN EDLUND, YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU AND YOUR A-MAZING POLITICAL META SIDESTEPS. Dick Roman during the current events shit we’re going through as the top evil Leviathan boss? OHHHHH MANNNNN. Seriously, if you’re a Republican watching this show, I’m sorry but you’ve been missing SO MANY LOLZ of political meta in this show over the years. This is the most explicit they’ve done. For a second there before, I thought they were stealing their season plot right out of Firefly, with the drugging people to make them complacent but 3% going crazy insane aka Reavers? But instead they’re going the Dollhouse "get in through a politician" route. Except IT’S A CORPORATE BILLIONAIRE DOUCHEBAG WHO SPOUTS FAMILY VALUES AND THE SECOND AMENDMENT AND KEEPS SAYING HE HAS NO INTEREST IN RUNNING FOR OFFICE. Oh, oh, AND EATS PEOPLE. During this election cycle and corporate bullshit nonsense coming out of the news, that is just purely HYSTERICAL meta.
TOP TEN FAV SMALL BITS (cause there were a lot of great ones):
1) That whole hunting scene with Bobby. I always get excited to see some pretty natural greenery used in this show, it makes for some pretty caps. But I especially loved how they turned this into a nostaglic event. Sam and Dean exchanging knowing looks and smiles over Bobby’s tracking skills. And then talking about Bobby teaching hunting when they were little. And how the Winchester bros could never shoot a Bambi?! HOW ADORABLE WAS THAT???? Apparently it was a concious decision to make all the guys hold their guns differently, which I thought was a neat detail. I also irrationally love this little missed look here:
HEEHEE. OH BOYS.
2) Sam and Bobby. Probably my favorite thing to come out of S6 was these Bobby=Sam, Rufus=Dean lines that where drawn. They went to town on this in this episode, with a number of mirror shots of Sam and Bobby’s reactions compared to Dean.
I particularly love the shot of Sam with his soup/salad combo and Bobby with his heart healthy Chinese chicken & chopsticks. The chopsticks is totally my favorite part. And how Dean & Sam didn't even bat an eyelash over it.
3) Dean stoned. How adorable was that one? I love how low key they did it. Props to Ackles for being such a scene stealer.
4) Sam's smiles in UM, all of this. But specifically the ones at Biggerson's when Dean was getting a hard time from the waiter?
Both boys were looking excellent AGAIN this week. That Biggerson's set made for some pretty lighting:
Guy Bee seems to get some particularly gorgeous shots of Sam/Jared though:
5) Bobby telling Dean he’s not a person. I wrote this meta on the show's use of pie back in 7.03 after Sam’s cake line "It’s close enough" when Dean wanted pie, that said basically the same thing. Dean has yet to truly accepted this yet. That normal is no longer a real option for him. Sam has. He’s made his peace with being different, with living the hunter life, and not being able to have that normal life again. Dean wiped Ben and Lisa’s minds because he tried normal with them and yet he still can’t accept that that is it for him. He's still denying dealing with it. Clinging to his pies. I never did post it, because I thought I was being alittle silly, but I may have to find that meta and dig it up now.
6) Dean getting infected in the complacency meat test run? OHHHHH yes, how very anvillious of you, Ben Edlund. lackcat333_99 did a FABULOUS meta on how the apathy versus appetite in this episode connects directly back to one of my fav eps of all time, My Bloody Valentine, and how both Sam and Bobby are wrong that this thing with Dean is a recent thing. This has been ongoing for seasons, guys, wake up and smell the coffee. [Add that to the list of Sam and Bobby mirrors!]
7) I'm assuming the Leviathans have been tracking their asses, hence the squatting in crap houses for weeks and inability to use cards, yes? I found it telling that Dean was talking about the world wanting to off itself over the cliff in the same episode that might be Bobby’s last (alive) in light of the 7.02 quote about Dean wanting to strap Sam in the Impala and drive off a clif if he was dead.
8) Bobby referencing Anne Sexton after confessing his poetry geekery a couple weeks ago. I'm torn between that or the chopsticks being my favorite Bobby piece ever.
9) Bobby totally read my DeannSam meta a couple weeks ago didn’t he? "You know, you worry about him. All he does is worry about you. Who’s left to live their own life here? The two of you--" I know, ridiculous aren't they?!
10) I just love the combo of Ben Edlund + Guy Bee. This was such a 180 in terms of quality from last week, I almost got whiplash following it all. I heard they’ve got the same combo for the penultimate too. Oh how I love my penultimates in this show. MAKE IT GOOD GUYS. Meanwhile in two weeks we’ve got Sera + Bob Singer. Which is my other FAVORITE W/D COMBO. They’re gonna give us some great stuff, I can just see it now.
Finally. Fandom. We need to talk. The death threats to Sera Gamble on Tumblr are a tad over the top. Control your crazy misogynist streak please. Killing beloved characters is nothing new on this show, but at least Bobby’s been with us for years so we’ve gotten to see his potential played out. And this was a fabulous episode for him to go out in, I'm sure we're gearing up for another top-notch sendoff episode in December. That's the kindest this show gets. Don’t go talking to me about unfair character deaths, the lost potential over unexplored characters thrown away, those are the real tragedies, trust me, I’m still crying over Bela and Henricksen, not to mention Ellen and Jo. Not like I'm not going to be bawling like a moron over the next episode if they play things right.
IN CONCLUSION:
In other news, I went crazy and mainlined American Horror Story this weekend. OMG, compared to that SPN is lollipops, rainbows and sunshine. WOW. I wish it wasn’t so excellent and addicting. Seriously the show is like that turducken sandwich yo. It’s kinda a problem, since it scares the fuckin shit out of me and makes me cringe like a mother over all it's fuckedupness and the entire time I’m like WHY AM I WATCHING THIS, and then Connie Britton will be fuckin brilliant or it ends on some MINDFUCK of a note, and I’m like AHHHH, GIVE ME MORE. WHY?????
One of these days I need to talk about all the excellent tv that's been on my screen this fall, maybe this hiatus will give me the excuse to do that.