13 x 23, Wherein Cris Sighs Wearily

[quickreaver]

I waited a day before I wrote this, as not to be hella bitter. It helped a lot that I went into the finale with great pragmatism and adjusted expectations, and upon watching it a second time, I'm marginally less annoyed with the overall ridiculousness and diminished quality of the storytelling. I feel like I have to note this from the get-go, so y'

Comments

[sillie82]

I must admit that my excitemen for new show has slowly dwindled. It's still there, but it's not nearly as big as it used to be. And I think you put the finger on the sore spot. When the show was about Sam and Dean and their story, I was all over it and couldn't wait for the new ep. Now that all the side characters seem almost more important, I'm not nearly as excited. :/

From show dialogue, marketing I've seen plugging S14 and personal appearances, looks like Jared, Jensen and Misha are indeed the “three leads”. (Anyone know if Misha has been picked up for official lead status? Or are they simply including him on junkets to make fans happy?) Kinda weird, though, that Cas did next to nothing this episode.Oh god, I hope not. I'm still angry they brought Castiel back this season, and he's been the most useless character to ever useless. It kinda feels like he's only still there because a certain loud group of fans like him. And I'm sure that Jared and Jensen like him being there, I mean, he's their friend. But they haven't known what to

[quickreaver]

Yep, they haven't really done diddly squat with Cas.

...the story isn't the events themselves, IT'S THE WHY. What I'm trying to say is: a string of events that we just don't care about doesn't make for a deep story. We need to CARE what it'll do to the characters, and how it impacts our characters' desires and motivations. (That is, if the story is character-driven.) There are definitely stories where we're pulled along by events, but *why* these events happen--and to whom, and what does it mean for these characters--is what hits me in my heartplace. The show The Expanse is kinda one of these tales where the events take precedence over the characters, IMHO. And it's still good, but I don't feel the same satisfaction and pull as I do when I actually care what happens to the characters. The Transformers movies, where we watch for the cool robots and explosions and stunts ... those are the sorts of movie wherein the characters don't really matter. Superficial stuff. I wanna GO DEEP

[gidgetgal9]

Agreed with much of what you said. I wonder if they didn't have Sam kill Lucifer because of the whole 'revenge never takes away the pain' speeches from earlier this season?
I am just glad that Sam was part of taking Lucifer out otherwise I would have been totally pissed off. It isn't the show that I fell in love with anymore but I guess I am there for
the stolen moments like the Sam/Jack/Lucifer scene.

[quickreaver]

I just ... that last scene on the wires and then Dean landing the killing blow ... it was part embarrassment for how clumsy the flying stunts were, and then weary disappointment that after SO many years of watching Sam suffer at Lucifer's hands, Sam didn't get the honor of ending him. It wouldn't have been revenge alone: it would be 1.) killing the villain, plain and simple, and 2.) Sam gave Lucifer SO many second chances, evidence would dictate that the guy deserves to die. It's simply MORE than just revenge. It's common sense and justice. But heeeey, I don't write the show. *sigh*

[gidgetgal9]

And, if a fan had written it the killing of Lucifer would have been by Sam and we would have been cheering just like when Dean killed Old Yellow Eyes back in Season 2. Yeah, the new writers just don't get it.

[quickreaver]

[dugindeep]

But I wanted ONE THING from the finale for Sam. One. Damned. Thing. And it was Sam killing Lucifer. This thing did not happen.

I saw people talking about Sam deserving and NEEDING to kill Lucifer himself and it never really meant anything to me. UNTIL IT HAPPENED. Actually, in the episode before, when Sam left Lucifer in the AU, I was bitter they didn't have him kill Lucifer right there. And then when they actually, finally, legitimately* kill him, it's Dean. like what the fuck. Seriously. WHAT THE FUCK.

*I swear to God, though, that if Lucifer comes back (especially in the shape of Pellegrino), I could quit this show for good.

[quickreaver]

All this fills my heart.

And you KNOW how much I adore Dean (and Jensen)! This has nothing to do with Dean not being brave and kick-ass and dedicated to Sam (and Jack) in taking out Lucifer*, but everything to do with why the writers chose to do it this way. I've seen a lot of "Well, at least Dean did it." And ... that's kinda not the point? It was so weird, and left me SO unsatisfied. I mean, on paper I can see why they did it: they needed this overwhelming reason for Dean to say "yes", then they needed that possession to pay off (to confirm Dean's justification in making the decision), then they needed to throw a "twist" in the end (which everyone pretty much expected).

All it really did was disintegrate Sam's longest running emotional arc. This was the best way they could imagine to get this job done? Srsly? *siiiiiigh*

*...providing he's really gone. Yeah. Not holding my breath.

[dugindeep]

And YOU know how much I love Dean and don't often fight for Sam's POV BUT SERIOUSLY FOLKS. HE NEEDED/DESERVED/EARNED that one. UGH I'm still so bitter about it all.

There were many times in previous eps that I thought 'well, I could maybe handle Jack killing him, taking down the father, this pure cinnamon roll doing it for his foster dads' but then it grew stronger that I couldn't buy it without Sam doing it himself. SIGH SIGH SIGH.