Initial reaction 15.20: Carry On

[caranfindel]

Before we get started, friends, I want to tell you two things.

1. When I got home late from work Thursday, The Husband and I had this conversation:

You look beat. Going to bed early tonight?

Do you have any idea what tonight is?

...

Oh, God. Do you have alcohol?

Yes I do. 2. When I got in the car Friday morning, Pandora immediately started

Comments

[nomercles]

I am so, so, SO very okay with how this show ended. I'd rather stare at The Wig than ever even think about Cas' confession. That confession was the best example of everything wrong with recent Show, and this episode said they understood what we needed and why, that they understood what makes this show and this fandom *work*.

I managed to barely keep it together until "Brothers in Arms" starting to play, and then the tears literally never stopped. Just sobbing my little heart out. My cat had to check on me multiple times.

[nomercles]

(Accidentally hit enter too soon, continuing here

[caranfindel]

I'm choosing to believe that it was Dr. Cara Roberts, not because I have anything against Eileen (though I'm a little meh about her character), but because I think Eileen would have been too close, and Cara's safer. Sam feels like the kind of guy who would cling to that emotional loneliness, rather than risk someone trying to force him to have those conversations about Dean. Eileen would justifiably want a real relationship with Sam.

I like your reasoning.

I'm not watching it again yet, but when I do, I know I'll be just as contented with this ending. It's not the song I would have written, but the music they made said all the same things I needed to say. You can't make everyone happy--or really, anyone perfectly happy--with any ending ever, especially not when it's this many people in this divided a fandom, but you can give them a soft landing, and this did exactly that. I'm totally okay with how this went.

It's not the ending I thought I wanted, but it turned out to be the right ending, I think.

[amberdreams]

I'm with you all the way on this one - and I'm still tearing up thinking about th death scene and the reunion. I could have done without the Sam and son!Dean sequence but in spite of the terrible wig and weird sitting in the car bit, it was an interlude that was a breather from the heavier emotions, so I'll give them that.

As to the wife, I read anniespinkhouse drabble and could buy that, or that this was Dean's dream about Sam's ideal life, or that it was Sam actually meeting someone how gave him love and a son - but honestly, I don't really care because the important part was to see Sam grieve but live, while never forgetting the missing other half of his soul.

It was so much better than I'd feared, and I know the parallels were kind of obvious but they were good, and I loved them.

Thanks for all your recaps! I'm happy you're starting from Season 1 - I'm feeling a rewatch coming on.

[caranfindel]

We will relive it all together! Thank you, friend.

[jkrm310]

Thank you for all the reviews you've done - i've looked forward to them. :)

I was very happy with the ending - it could have been so much worse, but thankfully they gave us an ending most of us are happy to live with. Cas is with his son, Jack, doing angel things, and I don't see how that can be bad - it's what he's meant to do, what he is, and he certainly would have been happy to be with his son. As far as Sam's wife - I suspect she's a hunter as well, and probably died during a hunt, after which he stopped actively hunting to raise the child. I think it would have been impossible for him to relate to anyone but another hunter at this point, and once she was gone, can easily see him not getting married again.

Anyhow, great episode, and I hope there are no more movies or reboots.

[caranfindel]

Thank you! Nice headcanon about Sam's wife; I like it!

[anniespinkhouse]

This is a great review - so many of my own thoughts. I need points for psycho Sam though - that is definitely on my fanservice laundry list. As well as the lingering, sexy shots of Baby in Heaven

[caranfindel]

Time - that wibbly wobbly ball of contention? I choose to see an established domestic pattern at the beginning, settled boys, reduced hunts - this was quite some time after Chuck was defeated.

EXACTLY!

And Sam telling friends? No, Donna didn't know. If he didn't tell them, then he could remain, in Dean's watch, wrapped in the scent of his hoodie, in that little bubble of denial.

THIS IS NOT OKAY. HOW DARE YOU DO THIS IN MY COMMENTS.

So, do you think that was Dean's hoodie? Someone suggested that to me on Tumblr too.

[anniespinkhouse]

Oops.

Definitely his hoodie, his colour, his style, doesn't fit Sam quite right. I posted a comparison here https://twitter.com/anniespinkhouse/status/1329785442116497410

[caranfindel]

Fuuuuuuuuck....