SPN - 7.14 - That Pluckie's Pennywhistle One
There's a tumblr post going around with a GIF of Dean's laughing face:
...which gypsy_sunday reblogged with the caption: "THIS IS HOW YOU NOW THE NEXT EPISODE WILL BE DEPRESSING AS FUCK." and "#spn only makes us happy to enjoy the extra sweetness of our inevitable tears". That about sums up my reaction to the end. Part of me was OHHHH BOYSSSSSS SMILING AND LAUGHING SO MANY HEARTSSSSS. And the other half was like, NEON SIGN, NEXT WEEK IS GOING TO RIP YOUR HEART OUT. Which because I'm a horrible masochist fan, makes me go, AWWW SHOW YOU CARE!! And gives me all sorts of fuzzy feelings. Strange, I know. But my respect for the show has always been for commitment to rip my emotions all over the park. So you know when they go so far one way, they're preparing to swing the pendulum back again and make it hit all the more hard in the opposite direction. I respect that commitment is still there in the seventh season.
Seriously, when was the last time Dean and Sam shared a LEGIT laugh together??? I feel like it's been YEARS. [ETA: Has it really been since HELL HOUSE??]
As for the ep as a whole, well I'm pretty much convinced the conception of this episode went something like this:
Writer #1: Hey guys, remember when this happened:
I think it's about time we prove Dean wrong again.
Writer #2: You want unicorns?
Wrtier #3: with rainbows shooting out of their ass!
Sera: Great, great, how can we do that?
Writer #1: Clowns! More killer clowns!
Sera: And Sam’s scared of them great! We can use that!
Writer #2: ...Guys you know it’s gotta be a killer unicorn, right?
Writer #3: Duh.
Sera: Yea of course
Writer #2: okay just checking
With Bob Singer shaking his head all "see what I have to put up with?"
And then they gave it to Dabb & Laughlin, with Singer's checklist of necessary brother moments to hit. And they did pretty minimual work with it like always. Y'all know my thoughts on this writing team, killabeez has a good discussion going on about them HERE. But I appreciated that at least they kept their crudeness to a minimum. Overall, I probably enjoyed this episode as much as I did because the boys were just so goddamn adorable together. laurificus's recap and dev_earl's list summed the main components of awesome perfectly. The show hasn't allowed Sam and Dean to be that GOOD and comfortable with each other, just enjoying each other, since....God, I can't even remember when. So I'll take what I can get with it.
OH AND THE UNICORN WAS JUST THE CUTEST LITTLE THING!
I want a killer unicorn! I'm totally wondering what they use to effix the corn on the top of that horse's head, we brainstormed for so long on how to pull that off on our horse for a costume thing once. It's harder than it looks, we never were quite successful enough.
I was originally pretty annoyed by the canonical addition that Dean left Sam in a place like that as a kid. I don't tend to be fond of the dickishness D&L tend to throw onto Dean whenever they're at the helm. But thinking more about it, it's kinda a nice thorough line for the season. And the series really. In finding out that Sam's deep-seated fear of clowns was a result of Dean leaving Sam, the necessary component is not so much that he left Sam at Pluckies specifically, and more that he left Sam, period. One might say Sam's fear of clowns is a literal physical manifestation of Dean leaving him behind. Because this season, that is exactly what Sam's fear has been about: Dean checking out on him. To puctuated this point, the previous episode ended with Sam finally voicing it to Dean. What's more, Dean sees it this time, his actions have effects on Sam. His apology for scarring Sam can be taking on a multitude of levels. They make a joke out of it, but tying it back to the beginning scene, it feels to me like Dean waking up and smelling the coffee here about the present. This reminder Dean needed that like Sam, he needs to be thinking for two here. (God, that sounded wayyyyyy less shippy in my head, I swear. *headdesk*)
I just took up a bunch of space in ash48's LJ talking about this in response to Sam and Dean's final exchange in the preceding episode and how it fuels this one. She found there was a big chasm between how that episode ended, with Dean seemingly in such a bad place and responding to Sam's "don't get yourself killed" plea with his dark "I'll do what I can", and this one with Dean's big open laugh. That never occurred to me once, actually, I thought it was a pretty lovely progressive line from 7.10 through to here.
See, I think it's not so much Dean's words at the end of that ep that are important to remember so much as what (1) SAM voiced and (2) Dean's reaction that leads to the lighter, more comfortable feel in this one. Beginning of the ep makes a point to show how little time has past, with Dean's little 'swearing off women and bars and alcohol' moment in response to last episode's baby spawning. He plays it off as a joke, but like everything Dean does, his actions say more than his words. Sam was smiling at him constantly throughout this ep, like he thought his words got through to him and worked. It's the only episode to date this season, where Dean's drinking something and it's not alcohol, but coffee. It's the stuff unsaid. :) Of course, I think it's gearing up for next ep unfortunately, so it's a set up for a fall, but still, it happened.
In fact, I feel like there's this potential for unsaid canon before that first scene by the car, that explains Sam's little smiles at Dean even in the beginning scene. Like Sam woke up that morning and Dean hadn't poured a glass of whiskey before they went out to breakfast, then at breakfast he never once went for his flask, ordered two coffees, and looked like he actually slept the night before. And Sam just can't stop smiling over it. Because Dean's trying. And that's all Sam ever wanted.
(Fic potential! Who do I have to poke to write it??? XD)
Bat signal for another set of eyes! Anyone out there a Revenge fan? I've got this vid that after this week's ep, has me wondering whether I want to keep my original structure or revamp it. I need an extra brain to pick, anyone care to take a look? *bats eyelashes*