5.17 Episode Review, part 1/3
Episode reviews by tahirire and blacklid are located here, at my master list.
5.17 : "99 Problems"
Caps this week by cybel
The Far Side of The Dark Side of the Moon
NOW
I'd like to start this review by saying that I am going to attempt - ATTEMPT, you hear - to do this review in 99 caps. I know that for those of you that read these, it seems like it goes by fast, but blacklid and I have figured our average cap number to be right around 130, and in the latter half of season 5 we've been culling right around 240 in our first pulls - this show is EPIC, yo.
Anyway, this first part has 29. Wish me luck!
(Comparison caps from other episodes don't count.)
~*~
NINETY-NINE BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WAAAAAALL, NINETY-NINE BOTTLES OF BEEEEEER ....
Oh wait. That was last week. My bad.
~*~
Action! I'd have to say, for an opening sequence that only takes 2 minutes flat .... AWESOME.
It's quick, it's dark, the car is making these noises that make me want to rent Gone in 60 Seconds, and you know crap just hit the fan because not only are both boys beat to hell but they're also both bleeding all over the place and Sam is freaked.
His hair still looks great, though.
*pets*
And DEAN is freaked.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED I DON'T EVEN.
*dials pitch up to decibels only dogs can hear*
HOLY WATER WATER CANNON ON TOP OF A MOVING VEHICLE.
*checks it off the Supernatural bucket list*
Dear Show,
YOU LOVE US. YOU REALLY LOVE US.
*All a-twitter*,
~T
\o/ MICHAEL SHANKS!! \o/
Dear Sam and Dean,
Yeah, that was my face, too.
^O.O^
~T
PS - Yer face is gonna freeze dat wai.
Tol' you.
It's the Sacrament Lutheran Militia.
IN BLUE EARTH, MINNESOTA.
*epicsquee*
(cap from Salvation)
I bet this town looked a hell of a lot different back in Jim Murphy's day. Oh, Jim.
*extreme wibble*
I had a total flail attack for about 2 seconds of wishful thinking, hoping it WAS Jim's church.
(cap from Salvation)
Alas, no. Le sigh.
But it is my own personal canon now that they went to investigate the demonic omens in Blue Earth over all the other cities that I'm sure had them mainly because it was Blue Earth, and in my head they went by Jim's old church, and Jim's old house, and THIS pretty much happened - A Place Of Echoes, by ficwriter1966 .
Sam? Is amazing. He can change clothes, clean off all the blood AND HEAL in the time it takes to get from the scene of the demon attack into the town. Dean? Is even MORE amazing. He can do almost all of that AND DRIVE AT THE SAME TIME!!
O.o
In all seriousness though - Sam always has been a super quick healer.
Weddings in the midst of wars aren't really so unusual. Sam is incredulous, while Dean takes an instant to think about what it might be like to have that kind of hope for a normal life, once again hammering home their total role reversal, which we first saw this blatantly in Meat Swap, that episode where Sam and Dean ... well ... swapped places.
If Sam and Dean have swapped places, is Sam still supposed to be Lucifer?
They have Psalm 69 on their wall. Which is funny just because I'm a perv.
But I looked it up like a good girl who should have known it anyway, and oh, Dean.
Psalm 69
1 Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.
2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
3 I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.
5 O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.
6 Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake,
O God of Israel.
7 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.
8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.
9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
10 When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.
11 I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.
12They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the water flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
I really like Pastor Gideon. And not just because Gideon is a perfect name for him, either. Dean seems awed/amused/astounded by the holster on his hip. He could be thinking how strange it seems for a Pastor to have a gun so readily accessible, or he could be seeing his future self, like I was.
When Pastor Gideon said, 'The demons were killing us, we had to do something," it reminded me of one of my all time favorite movie quotes,
"A shepherd must tend his flock. And at times... fight off the wolves."
~ Reverend Oliver, The Patriot
Side note: I think every pastor at my church is packing. We have a lot of hunters and NRA members. I would NOT advise ever launching any kind of assault on a Southern Baptist Church.
Son of Side Note: I was packing rounds with my Dad on that same kind of machinery by the time I was 5. It's not so out of the realm of ordinary. Except for how our rounds just held gunpowder.
Know who else had a sooper seekrit hunter lair in his church?
(Cap from Salvation)
So then we meet Leah.
Dean comes off as all SMRT by naming off the same exact symptoms Sam (or Anna, for that matter) used to have, and then just ASSUMES she's a prophet.
Sam comes across just as SMRT by just standing there agreeing with him.
Neither of them wonder why, if she knows who they are, she isn't outing Sam as being OH HAI LUCIFER'S VESSEL OMG KILL IT, which was the FIRST thing that popped into my head.
Dear Boys,
Doin' it wrong.
Tsk,
~T
Another cap where SamnDean look GIGANTIC next to mere mortals. Glee.
I love, love, LOVE that Pastor Gideon doesn't want to tell SamnDean about Leah. It's the same sort of hovering protectiveness that Dean used to display about Sam's secret, and Leah brushes it off with the same freely given innocence that Sam used to have, or so it seems.
Anyway, you know he'd do anything to protect his daughter, including adhering to the double standard that Dean has for Sam - just because she has freaky psychic powers doesn't mean she's on the level with the other things he hunts.
Pastor Gideon seems kind and compassionate and caring, and you know who that reminds me of?
*sob*
Side note - according to the comics, Jim was a psychic as well. He saw Mary once after she died and gave John a message from her. In the comics, John and Jim and Missouri all knew a lot more about Sam then canon has ever let on. It'll be interesting to see what they decide to incorporate into the show now that we are nearing the end of an arc. /side note.
Where was I? Oh yes.
I like that we segue into a roadhouse full of hunters, which is the last place Sam would ever want his secret getting out. I like the full-circle feel of it and the way it emphasizes that the more things change the more they stay the same.
The stakes may be higher, but it's still just poker ... you know?
This whole thing is a little too Stepford-for-hunters for Sam's liking.
Dear Sam,
I knew you were smart for real.
Validatedly yours,
~T
LOL CAS SETTING UP HIS VOICEMAIL.
*uses 2 too many caps*
This whole scene just killed me. Sam is seeing red flags - the angels are sending people to do their dirty work, and they could get ripped to shreds. Sam is over being manipulated and he wants to stand up for these people who don't know any better.
He wants Dean to acknowledge that these people have strength in numbers, but they aren't hunters. He's still taking responsibility for everyone, and he's looking for the brother that wouldn't accept a blessing from a faith healer because he knew something sinister had to be going on under the surface, and instead he gets this.
"We're all gonna die, Sam. In like a month. Maybe two. I mean it."
I can only guess that 'In like a month,' means 'In like a month in Detroit,' which is an extra gut punch above and beyond the fact that Dean is giving up on fighting; it means, specifically, that Dean has also given up on Sam.
Now, I don't think Dean woke up one morning and went, "Sam can't do this, I can't do it without him, I might as well just roll over and die right now." Dean KNOWS how hard Sam is trying, he KNOWS Sam is in it for the long haul - he just doesn't think Sam's resolve, in the end, matters.
Because all he remembers from their fight with Famine is that Sam gave in, and not that Sam said no. Because all he remembers from their time in Heaven is that Sam never wanted this life, and not that Sam changed his mind when he got older.
Because all he knows is that he can't be counted on to save Sam since he's never been able to save anyone, because in his mind, all he does is fail.
It's an interesting parallel to say that Dean doesn't see giving up as giving up on SAM in the same exact way that Sam never saw leaving for school as leaving DEAN.
And now Dean, who just recently was asking 'Wasn't it supposed to be us against the world?" has decided that everyone is screwed, and he forgot to give Sam the update. It aches to hear him have to even ask, but I was proud of him for putting it out there. Clearly the days of Sam giving Dean his space and hoping he'll sort himself out are over.
It reminds me of 4.18 when Dean finally confronted Sam about his powers and admitted he thought Sam would go darkside.
"Who says they're all gonna die? Whatever happened to us saving them?"
Dear Boys,
*SOBS AT YOU*
Sobbingly yours,
~T
Meanwhile, back at the ranch church,
People are volunteering to go up against a ton of demons, and Dean is quick to offer their services. I like the feel of this scene - just because there are demons and everyone knows about them doesn't require anyone to fight, they choose to fight or not of their own free will. I wonder how many people they've already lost. I wonder how many possessed townspeople they've already killed.
This whole scenario isn't so unlike 5.02 with War, really.
Sam and Dean's response to the prayer is quite different from the last time we got to see that.
Side note: Always interesting to see how much more packed the pews get during wartime.
(Cap from Hookman)
Dean's always been a peeker, so that's not new. But Sam doesn't even blink this time around.
Dear Sam,
*sobs some more at you*
Aarrrgh,
~T
(Cap from Hookman)
Deans "Or yeah, not so much," response to the Pastor saying "God in Heaven" kind of made me want to kick him a little. Also Sam's face implies that despite his new found skepticism, he doesn't totally agree with his tone, either.
DEAN. GOD IS ON EARTH. WITH YOU. STOP BEING DELIBRATELY DENSE.
"Surely the Lord will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants, the prophets." ~Amos 3:7
This dude pulls out the flask, and immediately I know I like him. *sighs* And then I remind myself not to get attached.
Part Two
5.17 : "99 Problems"
Caps this week by cybel
The Far Side of The Dark Side of the Moon
NOW
I'd like to start this review by saying that I am going to attempt - ATTEMPT, you hear - to do this review in 99 caps. I know that for those of you that read these, it seems like it goes by fast, but blacklid and I have figured our average cap number to be right around 130, and in the latter half of season 5 we've been culling right around 240 in our first pulls - this show is EPIC, yo.
Anyway, this first part has 29. Wish me luck!
(Comparison caps from other episodes don't count.)
~*~
NINETY-NINE BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WAAAAAALL, NINETY-NINE BOTTLES OF BEEEEEER ....
Click to viewOh wait. That was last week. My bad.
~*~
Action! I'd have to say, for an opening sequence that only takes 2 minutes flat .... AWESOME.
It's quick, it's dark, the car is making these noises that make me want to rent Gone in 60 Seconds, and you know crap just hit the fan because not only are both boys beat to hell but they're also both bleeding all over the place and Sam is freaked.
His hair still looks great, though.
*pets*
And DEAN is freaked.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED I DON'T EVEN.
*dials pitch up to decibels only dogs can hear*
HOLY WATER WATER CANNON ON TOP OF A MOVING VEHICLE.
*checks it off the Supernatural bucket list*
Dear Show,
YOU LOVE US. YOU REALLY LOVE US.
*All a-twitter*,
~T
\o/ MICHAEL SHANKS!! \o/
Dear Sam and Dean,
Yeah, that was my face, too.
^O.O^
~T
PS - Yer face is gonna freeze dat wai.
Tol' you.
It's the Sacrament Lutheran Militia.
IN BLUE EARTH, MINNESOTA.
*epicsquee*
(cap from Salvation)
I bet this town looked a hell of a lot different back in Jim Murphy's day. Oh, Jim.
*extreme wibble*
I had a total flail attack for about 2 seconds of wishful thinking, hoping it WAS Jim's church.
(cap from Salvation)
Alas, no. Le sigh.
But it is my own personal canon now that they went to investigate the demonic omens in Blue Earth over all the other cities that I'm sure had them mainly because it was Blue Earth, and in my head they went by Jim's old church, and Jim's old house, and THIS pretty much happened - A Place Of Echoes, by ficwriter1966 .
Sam? Is amazing. He can change clothes, clean off all the blood AND HEAL in the time it takes to get from the scene of the demon attack into the town. Dean? Is even MORE amazing. He can do almost all of that AND DRIVE AT THE SAME TIME!!
O.o
In all seriousness though - Sam always has been a super quick healer.
Weddings in the midst of wars aren't really so unusual. Sam is incredulous, while Dean takes an instant to think about what it might be like to have that kind of hope for a normal life, once again hammering home their total role reversal, which we first saw this blatantly in Meat Swap, that episode where Sam and Dean ... well ... swapped places.
If Sam and Dean have swapped places, is Sam still supposed to be Lucifer?
They have Psalm 69 on their wall. Which is funny just because I'm a perv.
But I looked it up like a good girl who should have known it anyway, and oh, Dean.
Psalm 69
1 Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.
2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
3 I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.
5 O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.
6 Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake,
O God of Israel.
7 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.
8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.
9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
10 When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.
11 I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.
12They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the water flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
I really like Pastor Gideon. And not just because Gideon is a perfect name for him, either. Dean seems awed/amused/astounded by the holster on his hip. He could be thinking how strange it seems for a Pastor to have a gun so readily accessible, or he could be seeing his future self, like I was.
When Pastor Gideon said, 'The demons were killing us, we had to do something," it reminded me of one of my all time favorite movie quotes,
"A shepherd must tend his flock. And at times... fight off the wolves."
~ Reverend Oliver, The Patriot
Side note: I think every pastor at my church is packing. We have a lot of hunters and NRA members. I would NOT advise ever launching any kind of assault on a Southern Baptist Church.
Son of Side Note: I was packing rounds with my Dad on that same kind of machinery by the time I was 5. It's not so out of the realm of ordinary. Except for how our rounds just held gunpowder.
Know who else had a sooper seekrit hunter lair in his church?
(Cap from Salvation)
So then we meet Leah.
Dean comes off as all SMRT by naming off the same exact symptoms Sam (or Anna, for that matter) used to have, and then just ASSUMES she's a prophet.
Sam comes across just as SMRT by just standing there agreeing with him.
Neither of them wonder why, if she knows who they are, she isn't outing Sam as being OH HAI LUCIFER'S VESSEL OMG KILL IT, which was the FIRST thing that popped into my head.
Dear Boys,
Doin' it wrong.
Tsk,
~T
Another cap where SamnDean look GIGANTIC next to mere mortals. Glee.
I love, love, LOVE that Pastor Gideon doesn't want to tell SamnDean about Leah. It's the same sort of hovering protectiveness that Dean used to display about Sam's secret, and Leah brushes it off with the same freely given innocence that Sam used to have, or so it seems.
Anyway, you know he'd do anything to protect his daughter, including adhering to the double standard that Dean has for Sam - just because she has freaky psychic powers doesn't mean she's on the level with the other things he hunts.
Pastor Gideon seems kind and compassionate and caring, and you know who that reminds me of?
*sob*
Side note - according to the comics, Jim was a psychic as well. He saw Mary once after she died and gave John a message from her. In the comics, John and Jim and Missouri all knew a lot more about Sam then canon has ever let on. It'll be interesting to see what they decide to incorporate into the show now that we are nearing the end of an arc. /side note.
Where was I? Oh yes.
I like that we segue into a roadhouse full of hunters, which is the last place Sam would ever want his secret getting out. I like the full-circle feel of it and the way it emphasizes that the more things change the more they stay the same.
The stakes may be higher, but it's still just poker ... you know?
This whole thing is a little too Stepford-for-hunters for Sam's liking.
Dear Sam,
I knew you were smart for real.
Validatedly yours,
~T
LOL CAS SETTING UP HIS VOICEMAIL.
*uses 2 too many caps*
This whole scene just killed me. Sam is seeing red flags - the angels are sending people to do their dirty work, and they could get ripped to shreds. Sam is over being manipulated and he wants to stand up for these people who don't know any better.
He wants Dean to acknowledge that these people have strength in numbers, but they aren't hunters. He's still taking responsibility for everyone, and he's looking for the brother that wouldn't accept a blessing from a faith healer because he knew something sinister had to be going on under the surface, and instead he gets this.
"We're all gonna die, Sam. In like a month. Maybe two. I mean it."
I can only guess that 'In like a month,' means 'In like a month in Detroit,' which is an extra gut punch above and beyond the fact that Dean is giving up on fighting; it means, specifically, that Dean has also given up on Sam.
Now, I don't think Dean woke up one morning and went, "Sam can't do this, I can't do it without him, I might as well just roll over and die right now." Dean KNOWS how hard Sam is trying, he KNOWS Sam is in it for the long haul - he just doesn't think Sam's resolve, in the end, matters.
Because all he remembers from their fight with Famine is that Sam gave in, and not that Sam said no. Because all he remembers from their time in Heaven is that Sam never wanted this life, and not that Sam changed his mind when he got older.
Because all he knows is that he can't be counted on to save Sam since he's never been able to save anyone, because in his mind, all he does is fail.
It's an interesting parallel to say that Dean doesn't see giving up as giving up on SAM in the same exact way that Sam never saw leaving for school as leaving DEAN.
And now Dean, who just recently was asking 'Wasn't it supposed to be us against the world?" has decided that everyone is screwed, and he forgot to give Sam the update. It aches to hear him have to even ask, but I was proud of him for putting it out there. Clearly the days of Sam giving Dean his space and hoping he'll sort himself out are over.
It reminds me of 4.18 when Dean finally confronted Sam about his powers and admitted he thought Sam would go darkside.
"Who says they're all gonna die? Whatever happened to us saving them?"
Dear Boys,
*SOBS AT YOU*
Sobbingly yours,
~T
Meanwhile, back at the ranch church,
People are volunteering to go up against a ton of demons, and Dean is quick to offer their services. I like the feel of this scene - just because there are demons and everyone knows about them doesn't require anyone to fight, they choose to fight or not of their own free will. I wonder how many people they've already lost. I wonder how many possessed townspeople they've already killed.
This whole scenario isn't so unlike 5.02 with War, really.
Sam and Dean's response to the prayer is quite different from the last time we got to see that.
Side note: Always interesting to see how much more packed the pews get during wartime.
(Cap from Hookman)
Dean's always been a peeker, so that's not new. But Sam doesn't even blink this time around.
Dear Sam,
*sobs some more at you*
Aarrrgh,
~T
(Cap from Hookman)
Deans "Or yeah, not so much," response to the Pastor saying "God in Heaven" kind of made me want to kick him a little. Also Sam's face implies that despite his new found skepticism, he doesn't totally agree with his tone, either.
DEAN. GOD IS ON EARTH. WITH YOU. STOP BEING DELIBRATELY DENSE.
"Surely the Lord will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants, the prophets." ~Amos 3:7
This dude pulls out the flask, and immediately I know I like him. *sighs* And then I remind myself not to get attached.
Part Two