SPN Rewatch #21
Sep. 30th, 2014 08:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
borgmama1of59.18 Metafiction
I am confused by people who like Crowley as villain but don't like Metatron--to me they come across as similar archetypes, lording their superior brain power as they layer plot upon plot and believe they are leaving Sam and Dean in the dust because they think they understand our heroes and can manipulate the boys and Cas to where Crowley or Metatron want them..
Which causes the heroes incredible amounts of grief but nonetheless never turns out like the villains expect...
On to the episode...
We open with an all-too-brief scene of Dean in the shower. (Seriously, the shower scene in the episode promo was longer than what was in the actual episode. Considerable time was spent determining that.)
Dean studies the Mark. Clearly it is haunting him.
I was mistaken about the soul harvesting being dropped after showing up in 9.17--Sam mentions demon signs and soulless-acting humans being reported. So there was one more mention of it.
BTW--the single most repeated dialog between the boys is "You okay?" That needs to be the beer pong phrase...
And neither one ever answers truthfully...you'd think they' realize it's a pointless question by now...
Cas finds his slaughtered brethren and still-alive Hannah--didn't remember this was her first appearance. He sends a picture of the symbol to the boys and prepares to leave his room when Gabriel appears. Of course this time around I was watching for clues as to whether this was Metatron's holographic Gabriel or the real deal duped into helping Metatron. I realize popular opinion is that it was the real deal, but it makes a lot more sense if it isn't:
Gabriel says he was hiding out in heaven, fell to earth with the rest of the angels, was called out of hiding by Metatron using the Horn of Gabriel.
Then he says that he is going to lead the fight against Metatron because the angels need leaders like him and Cas.
If Gabriel was Metatron's creation, he is manipulating Cas to take leadership of the rebel angels, which is Metatron's stated goal.
But if Gabriel is not Metatron's fiction, then what is the point of his charade? I've heard speculation that Gabriel was duped into being on Metatron's side and then changes his mind when he figures out that Metatron is really a bad guy...but why does he then stop the charade when Cas calls him on it?
I am very confused...
Fortunately for my poor brain we go to Sam and Dean and Gadreel. Sam wants to punch Gadreel out but Dean stops him and sends him to find Cas instead...so Dean can beat up Gadreel himself. I couldn't help but flash to season 5 when Dean stands back and lets Sam take his vengeance by killing Brady...for me it highlights how far their relationship as equals has backslid because of all the separations they've endured since season 5.
Gadreel taunts Dean by revealing what Sam really thinks--that Dean is weak, a loser. Goaded into reacting, Dean plunges an angel blade toward Gadreel--and stops because Dean realizes Gadreel wants to be killed.
I see this as one of those defining Dean moments--killing Gadreel would have been an expected outcome, just Dean killing another monster. (Show could have gone there, too--and then how would they have ransomed Cas?) But Dean both grasps what Gadreel is doing and stops himself with astounding self-control under the circumstances--and this is the Dean Winchester that I believe in.
Something I don't quite get--Sam returns to find bloodied Dean slumped against a wall and beaten Gadreel lying nearby. So Dan was beating the crap out of Gadreel...but how did they end up in those positions? It just looked odd to me. If anyone can choreograph that fight for me I'd be appreciative. I wish we'd have seen even just the beginning of it...
So they prepare to swap Gadreel for Cas...and Metatron is a real jerk. He's more gleeful than Crowley about jerking the boys around, probably because he's revelling in moving from nerd status to boss while Crowley's been the boss for centuries and doesn't gloat quite so broadly.
Everyone is set to go when Cas sees the Mark on Dean...and his reaction tells us what we suspected--this is very bad. And I think Cas' communicating his worry to Sam has an impact.
9.19 Alex Annie Alexis Ann
A gem. Jody is a character who's development is worth an episode--but what makes this even better is that her relationship to Sam and Dean also changes during the hunt. She has just as much steel in her as they do--but it comes out of the need to help someone in trouble, a very personal task for her.
I was pleased with myself this time watching because I caught when the different names were used for Alex--Alex is what she calls herself because that is what Mama calls her. Annie is the name of the 8 yr old who was kidnapped. Her vamp brother Dale calls her Alexis when he is complaining about her teenage attitude. When she is luring the creepy dude to his death she names herself 'Ann'--the adult version of the name she once had. (I point this out only because I felt puzzled by the episode title.)
And then we have the vamps vs. the Winchesters in the nest while Jody is fighting for Alex's soul with Mama. Mama was brilliantly played--I could completely understand Alex's loyalty to her even as Mama's manipulative but sincere words were horrifying to hear.
Boys got taken out on the easier side...Sam's refusal to answer which of them killed the vamp's brother--that's my evil-defying Sam!...the vamps start to drain him...and Dean plays possum very well...
Look at me, bitch! I want to blame that relentlessness on the Mark, but I know that it's not only that--deep inside Dean has that frightening darkness, we've seen glimpses of it all the way from season one The things I'm willing to do for this family...
I confess to being bothered by the amount of driving back and forth between Sioux Falls and the vamp nest in Nebraska--though when I google mapped it, it's not that bad, only 3 hours. They did it 4 times in what, 2 days? IDK, watching it just felt like a lot of wasted time...
One final question--with the volume of blood Sam lost, how is he even standing in the last scene?
9.20 Bloodlines
I learned something about myself doing these rewatches--if I know I am going to be disappointed by an episode, it doesn't bother me as much upon rewatch. In fact I find myself trying to find something to salvage.
Bloodlines is a lot easier to take if I don't expect to be watching an episode of Supernatural. I have never watched an entire episode of 'The Originals' or 'Vampire Diaries' but I have caught enough of the last 10 minutes of them waiting for SPN to start (I watch on old-fashioned broadcast TV complete with commercials) that I could easily see this as fitting perfectly into the CW show line-up.
I was very sad about how this potential pilot failed, however, because I actually got to watch some of this being filmed in Chicago--I stood in Union Station for hours late one night last winter watching the filming of what turned out to be the flashback scene at the end where David's brother chases Violet away from the lovers' meeting. I really wanted to be able to brag, when Bloodlines was on the road to success, that I was there at the very beginning and saw the actors before they were famous.
Alas, not meant to be.
Also, Chicago does not have ferry boats! That the opening scene has the lovers talking about something that does not exist in my city really annoyed me--come on, writers, it's not that hard to do your homework!
From a 'why dd they do that???' perspective--what was the deal with suddenly making Chicago monster family territory? The Winchesters have been to Chicago multiple times and not a whisper of a secret underground. So why set it where it jars with canon? Put it in New York, for heaven's sake, the boys have never been there so it could be monster central and we'd never question it!
I enjoyed the outsider POV we got from Ennis seeing the Winchesters do their FBI and then hunter things. The interactions between the boys and the new characters did have the humorous touch.
We get Violet wolfing out to save David, David pulling her back from the brink to show just because you're born a monster doesn't mean you are one...
And then Ennis shoots the HUMAN bad guy in cold blood and Sam and Dean don't even blink?????? WTF???? Just a few episodes ago, in Thiman, Dean clearly reacted to the weight of Harry killing a truly evil man!
Do TPTB even know what the heart of our show is anymore?
I am confused by people who like Crowley as villain but don't like Metatron--to me they come across as similar archetypes, lording their superior brain power as they layer plot upon plot and believe they are leaving Sam and Dean in the dust because they think they understand our heroes and can manipulate the boys and Cas to where Crowley or Metatron want them..
Which causes the heroes incredible amounts of grief but nonetheless never turns out like the villains expect...
On to the episode...
We open with an all-too-brief scene of Dean in the shower. (Seriously, the shower scene in the episode promo was longer than what was in the actual episode. Considerable time was spent determining that.)
Dean studies the Mark. Clearly it is haunting him.
I was mistaken about the soul harvesting being dropped after showing up in 9.17--Sam mentions demon signs and soulless-acting humans being reported. So there was one more mention of it.
BTW--the single most repeated dialog between the boys is "You okay?" That needs to be the beer pong phrase...
And neither one ever answers truthfully...you'd think they' realize it's a pointless question by now...
Cas finds his slaughtered brethren and still-alive Hannah--didn't remember this was her first appearance. He sends a picture of the symbol to the boys and prepares to leave his room when Gabriel appears. Of course this time around I was watching for clues as to whether this was Metatron's holographic Gabriel or the real deal duped into helping Metatron. I realize popular opinion is that it was the real deal, but it makes a lot more sense if it isn't:
Gabriel says he was hiding out in heaven, fell to earth with the rest of the angels, was called out of hiding by Metatron using the Horn of Gabriel.
Then he says that he is going to lead the fight against Metatron because the angels need leaders like him and Cas.
If Gabriel was Metatron's creation, he is manipulating Cas to take leadership of the rebel angels, which is Metatron's stated goal.
But if Gabriel is not Metatron's fiction, then what is the point of his charade? I've heard speculation that Gabriel was duped into being on Metatron's side and then changes his mind when he figures out that Metatron is really a bad guy...but why does he then stop the charade when Cas calls him on it?
I am very confused...
Fortunately for my poor brain we go to Sam and Dean and Gadreel. Sam wants to punch Gadreel out but Dean stops him and sends him to find Cas instead...so Dean can beat up Gadreel himself. I couldn't help but flash to season 5 when Dean stands back and lets Sam take his vengeance by killing Brady...for me it highlights how far their relationship as equals has backslid because of all the separations they've endured since season 5.
Gadreel taunts Dean by revealing what Sam really thinks--that Dean is weak, a loser. Goaded into reacting, Dean plunges an angel blade toward Gadreel--and stops because Dean realizes Gadreel wants to be killed.
I see this as one of those defining Dean moments--killing Gadreel would have been an expected outcome, just Dean killing another monster. (Show could have gone there, too--and then how would they have ransomed Cas?) But Dean both grasps what Gadreel is doing and stops himself with astounding self-control under the circumstances--and this is the Dean Winchester that I believe in.
Something I don't quite get--Sam returns to find bloodied Dean slumped against a wall and beaten Gadreel lying nearby. So Dan was beating the crap out of Gadreel...but how did they end up in those positions? It just looked odd to me. If anyone can choreograph that fight for me I'd be appreciative. I wish we'd have seen even just the beginning of it...
So they prepare to swap Gadreel for Cas...and Metatron is a real jerk. He's more gleeful than Crowley about jerking the boys around, probably because he's revelling in moving from nerd status to boss while Crowley's been the boss for centuries and doesn't gloat quite so broadly.
Everyone is set to go when Cas sees the Mark on Dean...and his reaction tells us what we suspected--this is very bad. And I think Cas' communicating his worry to Sam has an impact.
9.19 Alex Annie Alexis Ann
A gem. Jody is a character who's development is worth an episode--but what makes this even better is that her relationship to Sam and Dean also changes during the hunt. She has just as much steel in her as they do--but it comes out of the need to help someone in trouble, a very personal task for her.
I was pleased with myself this time watching because I caught when the different names were used for Alex--Alex is what she calls herself because that is what Mama calls her. Annie is the name of the 8 yr old who was kidnapped. Her vamp brother Dale calls her Alexis when he is complaining about her teenage attitude. When she is luring the creepy dude to his death she names herself 'Ann'--the adult version of the name she once had. (I point this out only because I felt puzzled by the episode title.)
And then we have the vamps vs. the Winchesters in the nest while Jody is fighting for Alex's soul with Mama. Mama was brilliantly played--I could completely understand Alex's loyalty to her even as Mama's manipulative but sincere words were horrifying to hear.
Boys got taken out on the easier side...Sam's refusal to answer which of them killed the vamp's brother--that's my evil-defying Sam!...the vamps start to drain him...and Dean plays possum very well...
Look at me, bitch! I want to blame that relentlessness on the Mark, but I know that it's not only that--deep inside Dean has that frightening darkness, we've seen glimpses of it all the way from season one The things I'm willing to do for this family...
I confess to being bothered by the amount of driving back and forth between Sioux Falls and the vamp nest in Nebraska--though when I google mapped it, it's not that bad, only 3 hours. They did it 4 times in what, 2 days? IDK, watching it just felt like a lot of wasted time...
One final question--with the volume of blood Sam lost, how is he even standing in the last scene?
9.20 Bloodlines
I learned something about myself doing these rewatches--if I know I am going to be disappointed by an episode, it doesn't bother me as much upon rewatch. In fact I find myself trying to find something to salvage.
Bloodlines is a lot easier to take if I don't expect to be watching an episode of Supernatural. I have never watched an entire episode of 'The Originals' or 'Vampire Diaries' but I have caught enough of the last 10 minutes of them waiting for SPN to start (I watch on old-fashioned broadcast TV complete with commercials) that I could easily see this as fitting perfectly into the CW show line-up.
I was very sad about how this potential pilot failed, however, because I actually got to watch some of this being filmed in Chicago--I stood in Union Station for hours late one night last winter watching the filming of what turned out to be the flashback scene at the end where David's brother chases Violet away from the lovers' meeting. I really wanted to be able to brag, when Bloodlines was on the road to success, that I was there at the very beginning and saw the actors before they were famous.
Alas, not meant to be.
Also, Chicago does not have ferry boats! That the opening scene has the lovers talking about something that does not exist in my city really annoyed me--come on, writers, it's not that hard to do your homework!
From a 'why dd they do that???' perspective--what was the deal with suddenly making Chicago monster family territory? The Winchesters have been to Chicago multiple times and not a whisper of a secret underground. So why set it where it jars with canon? Put it in New York, for heaven's sake, the boys have never been there so it could be monster central and we'd never question it!
I enjoyed the outsider POV we got from Ennis seeing the Winchesters do their FBI and then hunter things. The interactions between the boys and the new characters did have the humorous touch.
We get Violet wolfing out to save David, David pulling her back from the brink to show just because you're born a monster doesn't mean you are one...
And then Ennis shoots the HUMAN bad guy in cold blood and Sam and Dean don't even blink?????? WTF???? Just a few episodes ago, in Thiman, Dean clearly reacted to the weight of Harry killing a truly evil man!
Do TPTB even know what the heart of our show is anymore?
