Things I Love About SPN Season 1: Phantom Traveler (Part 3)

[fanspired]

Continued from Part 2

Comments

[dizzojay]

There's so much to love about this episode, and now I've found some other things to love - I've never noticed the little manoeuvre around the phone - 'Sam orbiting around planet Dean' - that's such a great observation

[fanspired]

I can see why Dean would feel that way about flying. It's a situation he has absolutely no control over, and a plane dropping out of the sky he can't fight. I sometimes wonder if he'd feel differently if he was in the cockpit flying the plane himself.

> I did smile at your comment about the pouring of holy water on the co-pilot. There are a lot of situations like that on Supernatural that would probably pan out very differently in real life :D

There are heaps in the later seasons, but in those first 5 I've found remarkably few things to nit-pick and there was only one infamous time when I found something so implausible it threw me right out of the story for a moment.

> I'm inspired to watch it again!!

My work here is done :)

[masja_17]

Yeah, Amanda's reaction is really weird. But they also abandoned that later, just the holy water steaming and no visible signs of hurting the meat-suit the demon is possessing.

Thanks for doing these! Looking forward to the next. I'll watch the next episode with my eyes extra open to see what I can see so I'll be able to discuss them with you!

*hugs*

[fanspired]

Thank you for following and commenting on these posts. Enjoy the next episode! I see something new every time I watch them, even now, after all these years :)

[candygramme]

I always wonder if they grabbed the co-pilot afterwards and interrogated him about what it knew or if he recalled anything. Phantom traveler is one of those first season gems that held me so close to the TV. It boggles my eyes when I watch it again now because YVR has changed so much. (I live in Vancouver.)

I am still amused about Dean humming Metallica to calm down. I wonder what song he was humming to fit the situation. Creeping Death? Disposable Heroes? Hmmm

I love the concept of Satellite Sam revolving around his brother.I'm amazed he didn't storm off. My brother would've.

[fanspired]

We overhear the co-pilot telling the cops that he doesn't even remember getting on the plane, so I guess he didn't have anything useful to share.

I always thought it was Some Kind of Monster, but I'm no expert. Creeping Death sounds like a good candidate :)

[dragonardhill]

Loved this final piece of your review of this episode and the way your writing encourages me to rethink and dig deeper when watching. As someone who never bothered to view SPN through anything more complicated than appreciating surface plot lines and good looking men, I’m curious about what triggered your interest in deeper analysis?

I reread your theory about the overarching theme for Season 1-5 at least 5 times to make sure I understood the proposed concepts. As usual the myth arc seems so clear after you’ve said it. “It does this through a critique of the hero myth - a story that has been used for centuries as a propaganda tool to persuade young men to go to war and sacrifice their lives for ‘the greater good’, on the promise of reward, renoun and immortality - and through a close observation of two brave and valiant young men who believe in it. Over the coming seasons we will see the effects of that belief, and watch as the pursuit of revenge for an original violent act gradually corrupts their values, damages them as people

[fanspired]

I think you're the first person to comment on this aspect of the review, and I'm so thrilled that you did because I see this as the most important and profound legacy of Kripke's work. I'm not sure how to answer your question about what triggered my analysis. I've always had that kind of brain anyway, and then, by the time I watched Supernatural I came to it with training in textual analysis and a basic understanding of the hero myth so it was an ingrained habit at that point. Even so, it took a number of re-watches of the first 5 seasons before I came to these conclusions about the underlying moral of the story. I'm not sure if it was any one thing that twigged, unless it was Dean's final condemnation of the hero myth in Swan Song: "Where's my grand prize? All I got is my brother in a hole!" (The disillusionment of every soldier who's ever buried a comrade in arms

[casey28]

You're very welcome! Sorry it took me so long to catch up. I'm glad you like the Sam orbiting around Dean thing! :)

Sam is the big picture person: faced with an immediate threat to the lives of 100 passengers, letting the plane crash is not an option for him. Dean, on the other hand, is all about family and, especially, protecting Sam. Letting Sam risk his life alone is not an option for him.

Yes, Dean facing his fear because he wouldn't leave Sam to deal with this alone. It reminds me that Dean had been talking about being brave (Dead in the Water), so here he's being brave and doing something he's afraid of.

Good point about the holy water and the demon, and Amanda's reaction. Makes me wonder how many other moments there are like this that I missed!

I love the lack of personal space when they listen to John's voicemail. And this time, Sam doesn't have to do his orbiting around Dean thing. ;)

Thanks for your wonderful review!

[fanspired]

No need at all to apologize :) And, yes, I LOVE the orbiting Sam thing. Thank you so much for that