Quick and Dirty Rewatch of Season 12 Thoughts

[borgmama1of5]

This Saturday I finally had time to start my rewatch of season 12 on the dvds.

I started around 4 pm Saturday...and finished up at 4:30 am Monday morning...while I did take a sleep break Saturday night, on Sunday I didn't want to stop and watched 13 episodes straight...and I'm going to call off work today (and after I get some sleep I have to do all the Sunday chores I skipped like laundry and dishes...)

But you guys won't tell my boss why I called in sick, will you?  :)

Overall review of the season when watched as a whole--uneven.

I actually thought Mary's story of estrangement was the most coherent plotline of the season and the part I enjoyed rewatching the most. I know many people thought her character was ruined, but her 'not fitting' was played from the start and carried through to a great payoff in Dean's scene in Mary's head...and then had such a tragic ending--though I think all of us expected Mary would not survive the season...

Mick and Ketch were interesting characters, and I enjoyed watching their arcs, but the BMoL plot never made sense from Lady Toni's initial pointless torture interrogation of Sam, and the bit of Mick's backstory where he had to kill his friend was so unbelievably heavy-handed in an effort to show how evil the organization was...subtlety, writers, is so much more effective!

Cas was all over the place as was the Lucifer's baby storyline...Giving us a plot where the solution is to kill an unborn baby was a nasty place to spend so much time...I wish they would have gone with the solution of Cas taking her up to heaven via the sandbox, mostly because I don't have any confidence in the writers being able to make a decent season's story about Lucifer's son choosing between good and evil...

The Lucifer/Crowley story felt like more rehash of the previous year, and the reversal of the wards on Lucifer's body so he could control Crowley made no sense whatsoever. I honestly don't know what there would be for Crowley to do in season 13 if he had survived. (I also honestly think Cas has outlived his dramatic usefulness on the show...he was mostly an inept character who kept doing the wrong thing all season and having big emoting scenes that felt so out of left field...)

We got a few very good stand-alone episodes and a really good next-to-last episode While I enjoyed the Sam-and-Dean prison break episode a lot, it actually didn't feel like an episode of Supernatural. Don't get me wrong, it was excellent to see the boys be super smart fighters...and I can't put my finger on why it felt out of place--I'll be interested if anyone else has a similar reaction.

We got a lot of really unpleasant, very strong personality villains this year, not as many well-fleshed out minor characters, although I did enjoy the doomed hunter Wally. And what they did to the witch twins just broke my heart--that was a tough episode to rewatch (and I wonder if Sam and Dean will ever run into Max again and see what he did--and have to fix it???)

Sam and Dean were the most united of any season ever...and they both seem to have started to embrace the idea that they are heroes rather than dwelling on their screw-ups. Dean especially seemed to have gotten past his existential angst about not saving everyone. Since wanting them to mature enough to not be angsting all the time has been one of my wishes, I should be happy, right? Except Jensen does such a heart-rending angst I kinda missed it, which is why I appreciated the conflict between him and Mary giving him something to feel bad about. Sam, on the other hand--well, his new-found maturity is incredibly hot...

So that's my snapshot review after my 2-day binge. Going to text my boss that I'm not coming to work and then heading off to bed...

Comments

[kazluvsbooks.livejournal.com]

Awesome!!! You deserve your day off 💕

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

I don't goof off very often...but when I do it's usually Supernatural related! :)

[raloria.livejournal.com]

I wanted to like the BMOL storyline, but it was such a slow reveal as to what their goal was that I grew frustrated with it. Then Ketch remained such a mystery, which was equally frustrating. Actually, I would have been more impressed by the BMOL if they hadn't had so many flaws - you initially allow an unhinged person torture an American hunter even though you knew she wasn't stable? And for all their organization, cool toys, and knowledge, they were still wrong about things - like where the Alpha Vamp was. *sigh* I don't know...they should have been more impressive and scary, but the longer the season went the more chinks showed up in their armor. Which made me wonder why Mary and Sam were so willing to join up with them.

Totally agree that the Lucifer/Crowley storyline was just a rehash that we've seen before. They really did run out of things to have Crowley do, which is why I'm okay with him dying at the end. IMO Crowley ceased to be interesting after Season 8 when he had some of his humanity replaced by Sam. He's been kinda weak and wishy washy ever since. Gone was the badass, scary Crowley of past seasons.

About the prison-break ep....I think why it felt different is because there was no supernatural element involved (outside of Billie breaking them out). It was basically the boys running from regular human soldiers. Which, yes, was impressive, but nothing supernatural was involved.

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

The BMoL story made no sense! They should have hooked Sam initially like they got Mary, showing how efficient they were--they were torturing Sam for information that didn't exist...in fact their intel was very strange--they were really on top of some things like where the vamp nests were, and able to follow what was going on with Magda, and they knew about the secret 'area 94' where Sam and Dean were being held--but they didn't know there wasn't a 'hunter hierarchy' in the US?

One other hint that was dropped and then never followed up on was in the episode where Claire is turned into a werewolf. The werewolf who turned her talked about how his pack was doing their own thing not hurting anyone and hunters with weapons like nothing ever before came and wiped out the pack. That would have been a great twist to explore how the BMoL way was unnecessarily inhumane!

[supernutjapan.livejournal.com]

I wonder if Sam and Dean will ever run into Max again and see what he did--and have to fix it???
I definitely think that is the plan.

I wish I could be free to do a binge review like that! I did get quite a few at once doing Season 11 last month, but I still haven't finished LOL

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

I hope if they do write that episode it is done right--Max is a real tragic character...

Every once in a while I do something crazy...and it's usually connected with Supernatural :)

[cuddyclothes.livejournal.com]

I disliked most of S12, more so as it went along. The BMoL made no sense. It made no sense when Sam and the other hunters ambushed their compound. I mean, come on, that was James Bond shit, and a bunch of townies with shotguns takes it over?

With Mary, I kept being annoyed by that one long piece of hair that hung down. I don't know if I'll keep watching. I don't want to come down on one side or another.

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

It's not what it was...but I still want to see Sam and Dean on my TV each week...

(And I know what you mean about that one piece of hair!!!)

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Now you've got me itching to do a marathon rewatch too - but I've got so much else I should be doing! But without rewatching, your assessment is pretty much in line with my feelings about 12.

Have a nice snooze!

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

My dream, when I retire in 5 years, is to do a complete marathon rewatch where I do nothing else for as long as it takes...there's such a journey to follow now!

[madebyme-x.livejournal.com]

Well done - that's dedication for you!!!

I'm pretty much with you all the way here. There's were some highlights, but a lot of missed opportunities and short comings. But overall I did enjoy Mary's story development, and I felt it was a wise decision to let Crowley go (and I agree, I don't know what they're going to do with Cas either, and it's all feeling very tired and repetitive plot wise).

I'm going into season 13 with no expectations, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it will take us! :)

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

I'm going into season 13 with no expectations, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it will take us!

That is exactly how I am proceeding too! I've learned that if I don't have expectations I am not as disappointed by the misfires and I am more thrilled when an episode gets it right! And face it, I just can't quit my boys!

[madebyme-x.livejournal.com]

Hehe yes, I feel like I've invested so much time and feels into Show, and now I have to be here until the very end. That's just how it is :)