SPN Ep: The Monster at the End of This Book
When I first saw the plot synopsis for this episode, my first reaction was, "I loved that episode of Nowhere Man!" It was called "The Spider Webb" and protagonist Thomas Veil stumbled across a TV show exactly depicting events in his life that were getting closer and closer to the present. Eventually, he tracked down the script writer and saw the script he was working on, which included a scene where Veil tracked down the script writer and saw the script he was working on. It was my favorite episode from the series.
I also read an awesome Due South fic once where Paul Gross and Callum Keith Rennie became trapped in the (fan)fictional world of their characters and had to write themselves out step by step, with each step bringing them closer to canon. (P.S.--If anybody knows where that fic is, I'd love to read it again.)
All this is by way of saying that I love meta episodes and episodes where a show can take potshots at itself. The scene where Sam and Dean were researching the Supernatural series and its fandom was hilarious, especially Dean's reaction to slash: "They do know we're brothers, right?" It just tickles me that the people involved with the show know so much about what fandom gets up to and still maintain a sense of humor about it.
I also loved the scene where author Chuck Shurley was apologizing profusely for being a cruel and capricious god and toying with Sam and Dean's emotions for entertainment. Didn't Jensen just say something at the L.A. con about Jeremy Carver apologizing to him for getting so caught up in writing his ideas that he forgot that Jensen was a real person who would have to act out those scenes? Okay, and I also loved Chuck apologizing for the writing in "Red Sky at Morning." I accept the apology.
For some reason, it also tickled me to see Sam and Dean doing laundry. I get a kick out of seeing them do mundane 'between hunts' kinds of things.
However, this being Supernatural, there were plenty of things to have thinky thoughts about. I wonder if there was an underlying meta reason for having Sam and Dean showing up as Agents DeYoung and Shaw, or if it was just a generic classic rock reference. Dennis DeYoung and Tommy Shaw have been at each other's throats for decades as members of Styx.
Sam is obviously deeply in denial about his demon blood addiction. I agree with Sam that he just wants to put an end to the war so that Dean can stop fighting, but I also agree with Chuck that Sam likes the feeling of power and control the demon blood gives him. I think Sam has been scared ever since he found out that monsters were real when he was 8 years old. He went to Stanford to try to live a new, safe life. We saw Sam's full blown OCD tendencies in "Mystery Spot" during Sam's 6 months without Dean. And now that Sam's lifelong protector has been broken by his experiences in hell, I think the sense of control the demon blood gives Sam makes him feel safe. He can't just get tossed around like a rag doll anymore, and he can actually defeat demons because he's stronger than many of them. He can also protect Dean. For a control freak like Sam, it's easy to see how that sense of safety and control would be hard to let go of.
You know what else is odd and I hope gets addressed in some future episode? Chuck and Sam have both had visions of the future that came true. Both saw the future in the same kind of flashes and got the same headaches, yet Chuck is considered a prophet of the Lord to be protected at all costs by his own archangel, while Sam is supposedly on the path to evil and must be stopped. Does this mean that Sam isn't the Antichrist after all, but the AntiChuck? (By the way, "I am the prophet Chuck!" has just joined "Kneel before Todd!" as one of my favorite lines.)
According to Chuck's last vision, it looks like we're going to have a whopper of a season finale. Just please please please let Bobby survive.
I also read an awesome Due South fic once where Paul Gross and Callum Keith Rennie became trapped in the (fan)fictional world of their characters and had to write themselves out step by step, with each step bringing them closer to canon. (P.S.--If anybody knows where that fic is, I'd love to read it again.)
All this is by way of saying that I love meta episodes and episodes where a show can take potshots at itself. The scene where Sam and Dean were researching the Supernatural series and its fandom was hilarious, especially Dean's reaction to slash: "They do know we're brothers, right?" It just tickles me that the people involved with the show know so much about what fandom gets up to and still maintain a sense of humor about it.
I also loved the scene where author Chuck Shurley was apologizing profusely for being a cruel and capricious god and toying with Sam and Dean's emotions for entertainment. Didn't Jensen just say something at the L.A. con about Jeremy Carver apologizing to him for getting so caught up in writing his ideas that he forgot that Jensen was a real person who would have to act out those scenes? Okay, and I also loved Chuck apologizing for the writing in "Red Sky at Morning." I accept the apology.
For some reason, it also tickled me to see Sam and Dean doing laundry. I get a kick out of seeing them do mundane 'between hunts' kinds of things.
However, this being Supernatural, there were plenty of things to have thinky thoughts about. I wonder if there was an underlying meta reason for having Sam and Dean showing up as Agents DeYoung and Shaw, or if it was just a generic classic rock reference. Dennis DeYoung and Tommy Shaw have been at each other's throats for decades as members of Styx.
Sam is obviously deeply in denial about his demon blood addiction. I agree with Sam that he just wants to put an end to the war so that Dean can stop fighting, but I also agree with Chuck that Sam likes the feeling of power and control the demon blood gives him. I think Sam has been scared ever since he found out that monsters were real when he was 8 years old. He went to Stanford to try to live a new, safe life. We saw Sam's full blown OCD tendencies in "Mystery Spot" during Sam's 6 months without Dean. And now that Sam's lifelong protector has been broken by his experiences in hell, I think the sense of control the demon blood gives Sam makes him feel safe. He can't just get tossed around like a rag doll anymore, and he can actually defeat demons because he's stronger than many of them. He can also protect Dean. For a control freak like Sam, it's easy to see how that sense of safety and control would be hard to let go of.
You know what else is odd and I hope gets addressed in some future episode? Chuck and Sam have both had visions of the future that came true. Both saw the future in the same kind of flashes and got the same headaches, yet Chuck is considered a prophet of the Lord to be protected at all costs by his own archangel, while Sam is supposedly on the path to evil and must be stopped. Does this mean that Sam isn't the Antichrist after all, but the AntiChuck? (By the way, "I am the prophet Chuck!" has just joined "Kneel before Todd!" as one of my favorite lines.)
According to Chuck's last vision, it looks like we're going to have a whopper of a season finale. Just please please please let Bobby survive.