7.10 episode reaction and review - with pics!
Somewhat delayed. I ran out of time last night. Also, there's was stuff I wanted (needed!) to say.
CHUCK NORRIS!!! \o/ A little know fact about me. I went through a "Chuck Norris" phase when I was at uni. He was introduced to me in my film class and I was hooked! I watched every film he made. DO NOT JUDGE ME! Dean Winchester is a Chuck Norris fan also!!\o/ (another reference to B movies me thinks *g*) Sorry. But that made me SQUEE out loud. (And there may have been a fist bump. Just sayin'.)
CHUUUCKKK!!!! My Hero! (Hey. We have history. Shut up!)
Before I start I have to mention a couple of my absolute favourite moments.
Thank you, thank you THANK YOU SHOW for this:
A small moment, but it spoke volumes about what Sam is continually dealing with. What I LOVE here is that it shows us that Sam needs to be positive and trouble free to keep Lu at bay. Hence his bounding positiveness over the last few episode. As soon as there's a crack - in this case misery and an older brother who's barely holding on - he's back.
I could almost hear Lucifer say to Sam "Are we having fun yet?". It broke my heart but also made me see just how damn strong Sam has had to be. (I hope this strength will come into play in helping Dean in the eps to come).
I also love that pain and misery causes Sam to see Lucifer and in order to get rid of him Sam has to cause himself pain. *GUH*
THIS IS WHEN I CRIED.
Yep. I damn well cried for Bobby. Cried for the boys. Cried for the friggin' heartache that the SPN 'verse embodies. But it was Bobby's "idjits" and Dean's fragile smile that had me sobbing.
I can't actually capture that moment on Dean's face. The weak, knowing smile broke me more than those sorrowful eyes. Bobby all but saying "I love you" and the boys agreeing.."we love you to". *SSSSOOOOOBBBB**
I also need to mention this moment:
Hand holding! <3 I am ADORING the significance of Sam's hands this season. \o/ Here he offers comfort and hope in the same way Dean offered it him when he was trying to talk him down (warehouse scene 7.02). I also LOVE that Sam was the one to say thank you. Sam has often been accused of not being grateful. HE IS! And it was fabulous to witness.
It is also SIGNIFICANT that Bobby wrote on Sam's hand and not on a piece of paper. They could have easily given Bobby paper but it is far more personal and intimate to have it written on Sam's hand. *GUH* THIS SHOW!!
Before I list my other loves I will confess when it became apparent that we were going to be taking a journey through Bobby's memories I was worried. I love Bobby, but I really didn't want this to be a Bobby centric episode. I NEED MY BOYS! I admit to being a little..um.. bored during the Bobby/Karen scenes but once they returned to how the boys were reacting I was back in it. I did then enjoy Bobby's journey and by the end of it I was totally enthralled. I think it's one of the best written eps this season (well, up with Slash fiction and Hello Cruel World).
Counting the many ways:
1. The opening. The boys desperation was to die for.
2. RUFUS! It proves that death does not mean we will never see that character again. :DD
3. Bobby and Rufus! What an awesome partnership. So glad we got to see more of that. THANK YOU SHOW!
4. Dean's "Walk away from me. Now". God yes! Dean knew his anger was on the brink of erupting. But the sheer power of that delivery sent shivers.
5. Bobby's: "As fate would have it, I adopted two boys. And they grew up great; they grew up heroes". JEEZ! Kill me now.
6. The parallel of Bobby being shot in the head and him shooting his father. Nice.
7. The sheer tension of the scenes with young!bobby and his mother and father. Very well acted and directed.
8. Wee!Dean. He really did look like a wee!Dean. :D The idea of Bobby throwing around a baseball with Dean to help give him some sort of normal life is heart swelling. (I know that when we first met Bobby in 1.22 there was no indiction that he ever had anything to do with them growing up. Bobby (like Cas) was never meant to be around for long. They've worked in this story since then so I totally forgive the inconsistency.
9. "This is where you learn that... they pretty much never say thanks when you save 'em". That was incredibly poignant. Hunters save people. And there's rarely thanks.
10. Did anyone else expect Dean to say "Where's the pie?" in that final scene? I love that he didn't but we thought he might. Oh Show. <3
11. Dean threatening Dick. *shivers* Dean's mighty scary when he wants to be.
12. Sam preparing Dean for the upcoming heartache. Sam knows Dean SO well. They were each others support during this and I loved that.
13. Lights out. Loved the way they played this. The slow shutting down of Bobby's brain. Symbolised by lights turning off. The lighting in the episode was stunning.
14. In fact: THE LIGHTING! THE WRITING! THE DIRECTION! THE ACTING! ALL AWESOME.
Thinky thoughts:
Is Bobby dead?
I hope so! And no. I don't mean I'm glad Bobby's dead. AT ALL. I have always enjoyed Bobby. What I mean is... after ALL of that it would be a cop out and maybe even a let down if he's actually ok. It was an INCREDIBLE farewell episode. One completely worthy of Bobby (and in turn, Jim). If we resume and say Bobby is still in a coma we may breath a sigh of relief but...IDK. It would have seemed like a huge effort (and amazing writing) for (almost) nothing.
There is NO DOUBT that we will see Bobby again. We pretty much see all dead characters again. It's just means the boys won't have Bobby anymore. No one to call when they need help, no one to ask advice from and no one to tell them to pull their heads out of their asses. That's the sad part. It's also the exciting part. We are truly seeing the boys alone. Together. And I am intrigued with how this will play out.
"Motivation is a mother"
I speculated a while back that if Bobby died it would be enough motivation to bring Dean back into the hunt. We saw evidence of that in this episode. He threatened Dick directly and this will indeed be the motivating factor for Dean and Sam to go after the Leviathans. I know Dean had motivation before, with what they did to Cas, but I think because Cas brought his fate on himself (chasing power) and Bobby didn't, this becomes more of a motivator. (*ducks* probably unpopular opinion there).
Bobby - a drunk with no children.
Dean - a likely drunk with no children. I'm not sure if this is a conscience decision to parallel Dean's drinking with Bobby's but I really got a strong sense of it here. It is also unlikely Dean will ever have children. Sure, there's Ben. But he essentially gave him away with the mind wipe so in many ways he made a similar decision to Bobby. No children. Maybe for the same reason as Bobby. For fear of becoming like John. He was starting to treat Ben just like John treated him (Let it Bleed) and made the decision to not become that to Ben. And of course there's the drinking. I think we'll begin to see more of this in future eps. Dean now has revenge as a motivator but I don't think it will keep the drinking at bay. In fact, it should make it worse. *meep*
The best thing of all.
Bobby really does have children. Boys he is proud of. Loves more than anything. Bobby in heaven is a night watching the boys bicker, eat pocorn, drink beer and watch Chuck (CHUUUCKKK!!!) movies.
*happy, happy sigh*
A meaty, thinky, heartbreaking and fabulous episode. Thanks Show. That'll keep me going during the hellatus.
ETA: Any thoughts on what those numbers might mean? (no spoilers pls). 454895? Sammy will be pondering this for a while I think... Co ordinates?
CHUCK NORRIS!!! \o/ A little know fact about me. I went through a "Chuck Norris" phase when I was at uni. He was introduced to me in my film class and I was hooked! I watched every film he made. DO NOT JUDGE ME! Dean Winchester is a Chuck Norris fan also!!\o/ (another reference to B movies me thinks *g*) Sorry. But that made me SQUEE out loud. (And there may have been a fist bump. Just sayin'.)
CHUUUCKKK!!!! My Hero! (Hey. We have history. Shut up!)
Before I start I have to mention a couple of my absolute favourite moments.
Thank you, thank you THANK YOU SHOW for this:
A small moment, but it spoke volumes about what Sam is continually dealing with. What I LOVE here is that it shows us that Sam needs to be positive and trouble free to keep Lu at bay. Hence his bounding positiveness over the last few episode. As soon as there's a crack - in this case misery and an older brother who's barely holding on - he's back.
I could almost hear Lucifer say to Sam "Are we having fun yet?". It broke my heart but also made me see just how damn strong Sam has had to be. (I hope this strength will come into play in helping Dean in the eps to come).
I also love that pain and misery causes Sam to see Lucifer and in order to get rid of him Sam has to cause himself pain. *GUH*
THIS IS WHEN I CRIED.
Yep. I damn well cried for Bobby. Cried for the boys. Cried for the friggin' heartache that the SPN 'verse embodies. But it was Bobby's "idjits" and Dean's fragile smile that had me sobbing.
I can't actually capture that moment on Dean's face. The weak, knowing smile broke me more than those sorrowful eyes. Bobby all but saying "I love you" and the boys agreeing.."we love you to". *SSSSOOOOOBBBB**
I also need to mention this moment:
Hand holding! <3 I am ADORING the significance of Sam's hands this season. \o/ Here he offers comfort and hope in the same way Dean offered it him when he was trying to talk him down (warehouse scene 7.02). I also LOVE that Sam was the one to say thank you. Sam has often been accused of not being grateful. HE IS! And it was fabulous to witness.
It is also SIGNIFICANT that Bobby wrote on Sam's hand and not on a piece of paper. They could have easily given Bobby paper but it is far more personal and intimate to have it written on Sam's hand. *GUH* THIS SHOW!!
Before I list my other loves I will confess when it became apparent that we were going to be taking a journey through Bobby's memories I was worried. I love Bobby, but I really didn't want this to be a Bobby centric episode. I NEED MY BOYS! I admit to being a little..um.. bored during the Bobby/Karen scenes but once they returned to how the boys were reacting I was back in it. I did then enjoy Bobby's journey and by the end of it I was totally enthralled. I think it's one of the best written eps this season (well, up with Slash fiction and Hello Cruel World).
Counting the many ways:
1. The opening. The boys desperation was to die for.
2. RUFUS! It proves that death does not mean we will never see that character again. :DD
3. Bobby and Rufus! What an awesome partnership. So glad we got to see more of that. THANK YOU SHOW!
4. Dean's "Walk away from me. Now". God yes! Dean knew his anger was on the brink of erupting. But the sheer power of that delivery sent shivers.
5. Bobby's: "As fate would have it, I adopted two boys. And they grew up great; they grew up heroes". JEEZ! Kill me now.
6. The parallel of Bobby being shot in the head and him shooting his father. Nice.
7. The sheer tension of the scenes with young!bobby and his mother and father. Very well acted and directed.
8. Wee!Dean. He really did look like a wee!Dean. :D The idea of Bobby throwing around a baseball with Dean to help give him some sort of normal life is heart swelling. (I know that when we first met Bobby in 1.22 there was no indiction that he ever had anything to do with them growing up. Bobby (like Cas) was never meant to be around for long. They've worked in this story since then so I totally forgive the inconsistency.
9. "This is where you learn that... they pretty much never say thanks when you save 'em". That was incredibly poignant. Hunters save people. And there's rarely thanks.
10. Did anyone else expect Dean to say "Where's the pie?" in that final scene? I love that he didn't but we thought he might. Oh Show. <3
11. Dean threatening Dick. *shivers* Dean's mighty scary when he wants to be.
12. Sam preparing Dean for the upcoming heartache. Sam knows Dean SO well. They were each others support during this and I loved that.
13. Lights out. Loved the way they played this. The slow shutting down of Bobby's brain. Symbolised by lights turning off. The lighting in the episode was stunning.
14. In fact: THE LIGHTING! THE WRITING! THE DIRECTION! THE ACTING! ALL AWESOME.
Thinky thoughts:
Is Bobby dead?
I hope so! And no. I don't mean I'm glad Bobby's dead. AT ALL. I have always enjoyed Bobby. What I mean is... after ALL of that it would be a cop out and maybe even a let down if he's actually ok. It was an INCREDIBLE farewell episode. One completely worthy of Bobby (and in turn, Jim). If we resume and say Bobby is still in a coma we may breath a sigh of relief but...IDK. It would have seemed like a huge effort (and amazing writing) for (almost) nothing.
There is NO DOUBT that we will see Bobby again. We pretty much see all dead characters again. It's just means the boys won't have Bobby anymore. No one to call when they need help, no one to ask advice from and no one to tell them to pull their heads out of their asses. That's the sad part. It's also the exciting part. We are truly seeing the boys alone. Together. And I am intrigued with how this will play out.
"Motivation is a mother"
I speculated a while back that if Bobby died it would be enough motivation to bring Dean back into the hunt. We saw evidence of that in this episode. He threatened Dick directly and this will indeed be the motivating factor for Dean and Sam to go after the Leviathans. I know Dean had motivation before, with what they did to Cas, but I think because Cas brought his fate on himself (chasing power) and Bobby didn't, this becomes more of a motivator. (*ducks* probably unpopular opinion there).
Bobby - a drunk with no children.
Dean - a likely drunk with no children. I'm not sure if this is a conscience decision to parallel Dean's drinking with Bobby's but I really got a strong sense of it here. It is also unlikely Dean will ever have children. Sure, there's Ben. But he essentially gave him away with the mind wipe so in many ways he made a similar decision to Bobby. No children. Maybe for the same reason as Bobby. For fear of becoming like John. He was starting to treat Ben just like John treated him (Let it Bleed) and made the decision to not become that to Ben. And of course there's the drinking. I think we'll begin to see more of this in future eps. Dean now has revenge as a motivator but I don't think it will keep the drinking at bay. In fact, it should make it worse. *meep*
The best thing of all.
Bobby really does have children. Boys he is proud of. Loves more than anything. Bobby in heaven is a night watching the boys bicker, eat pocorn, drink beer and watch Chuck (CHUUUCKKK!!!) movies.
*happy, happy sigh*
A meaty, thinky, heartbreaking and fabulous episode. Thanks Show. That'll keep me going during the hellatus.
ETA: Any thoughts on what those numbers might mean? (no spoilers pls). 454895? Sammy will be pondering this for a while I think... Co ordinates?