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Massive SPN catchup
I'm waiting for Lindsey to get out of the bath so we can watch SPN 5x18, so I'm posting my thoughts about 5x11 through 5x15, which we marathoned Tuesday night. Apparently I had a lot to ramble about, and the squee-to-critique ratio is all over the chart. Castiel episodes do have a higher degree of squee, since my affection for him is *off* the chart. ;)
SPN 5x11 Sam, Interrupted
Bleh. Mediocre. I liked the therapy-while-undercover-as-themselves idea in principle, but it was full of anvils in execution - possibly because it was so honest? I would have preferred Dean being honest within the mask of a cover story, but being that frank about his own real situation to a stranger? Even one in his own head? I don't buy it. The actress who played the therapist did have lovely (gen) chemistry with JA.
Lots of Dean in this episode in general -- especially one with Sam's name in the title -- although, at this point in the show we KNOW Dean is the most screwed up person on the planet, okay? We don't need Dr. Anvilicious McHallucination driving the point home. His last line about repression made the point much better than the earlier Sympathetic Yet Dramatic Statements: classic Dean-in-a-nutshell. As Lindsey said, there's gonna be a hell of a bill to pay to the piper when the apocalypse is over.
Very interesting that Dean is still suffering from insomnia and drinking as much as in S4. They stopped showing it, so I'd assumed (stupidly) that he'd slowed down.
Oh god, the "Pudding!" line made me cringe so hard. Poor Jensen Ackles. And random nymphomaniac girl. And the usual PC fail that's become SPN standard.
It was super nice to see Jon Gries again (Broots! ♥) - also, wow he's aged well. His character was vaguely interesting, but clearly not enough to make me remember his name. *shrugs* The wraith nurse gave great evil!glee, and that actress did Perky Evil very well. Of course, the fact that I was AGREEING with her monologue about the boys' screwups is a serious problem for the writers. Hunters undercover as crazy people with hunter delusions? Ya really think that's a great tactical decision?
Overall: mediocre, yes, but not as cringe-inducing as Yellow Fever, nor actively bad.
SPN 5x12 Swap Meat
Can I just take a minute to groan in appreciation of that wonderfully bad title pun? And warn you all of my EXTREME fondness of bodyswap as a trope?
First off, I really liked the twist of the occult world bounty on Dean's head, and how that tipped the whole episode from 'whacky fun' into 'actual stakes.' I wish TPTB would clarify the whole body-vs-consciousness lines in their mythology, but I don't really expect it. More room for fanfic to play in, I guess.
I was almost mad at Dean for not figuring things out sooner, but I think the fact that he didn't says a lot about how erratic Sam's behavior has been, and how much Dean just wants a breather from the crushing angst and weight of responsibility. He's just so happy to have a quiet drink with his brother - it kinda breaks your heart.
Showing the viewer the face of the person inhabiting the body and not the body itself removed a lot of the motts that usually comes with a bodyswap situation, and was a good decision with a guest star. If Sam and Dean had swapped, I would have wanted the actors to play their own bodies because they've worked together long enough to sell it, like when Buffy and Faith swapped in BTVS.
Overall: fun! But not gonna stick with me.
SPN 5x13 The Song Remains The Same
Yay time travel! Third episode in a row with a classic TV trope, amusingly. Not that I'm complaining.
I loved this ep, with the exception of Anna's death. She was awesome and doing what she believed in a well-motivated way, like Ellen and Jo's deaths, but all three deaths were equally pointless. I'm trying to repress my anger in that direction because it poisons the rest of the show for me, and I'm too invested in this world and these characters to want that. I'm acknowledging, making an angry face and a tally mark of fail, and moving on.
First of all: CASTIEL. HI, I MISSED YOU AND YOUR WEIRD ADORABLE FACE. He had all the funniest moments this ep:
-"Sam is my friend" and lying so so obviously to make him feel better later
-drawing that sigil on the table: the light on Misha's goddamn *hands*, wow
-Dean: "He's tough for a little nerdy dude with wings" ahahaha awwww
also, Dean got him the HONEYMOON SUITE. A probably-classic late-70s honeymoon suite. Let's just take a moment with that one.
-"I did. I'm very suprised." Oh, *Cas*. He's just matter-of-fact about nearly dying. Or hell, actually dying that one time. ♥ Also, has Kripke been reading fanfic again? I'm pretty sure Castiel collapsing and being caught by the boy(s) has been in 60% of the Cas-centric fic I've read. Not that I'm complaining! Tropes, my love for: see above.
Ahhhh, Sam's talk with John was so heartbreaking, and I remembered that he'd never met Mary just as they hit the porch so the creepy staring also broke my heart. I love the return of John and Mary - those actors are perfect, and past!Mary is particularly fascinating.
ETA: Seeing the boys riding in the Impala's backseat is so weird. Hilarious in that "but where do they put their legs?" way, but weird.
Also, the scene where John cuts his hand? Awesome in itself, but it reminded me that all of John's crazy intensity makes SO MUCH more sense after watching Generation Kill, because he was a fucking Marine, and they're all crazy in that way. Once a Marine, always a Marine.
I wonder if Dean doesn't listen to the Beatles/60s rock because they were his mother's music, and it hurts too much to hear it.
For some reason, I'd assumed the boys were vessels by their mother's side of the family, via some confused theory about why John wasn't the man who broke the first seal because he wasn't a vessel and therefore couldn't be "the one who ends it," i.e. Michael's vessel. (despite Alastair's statement that John never broke, I think he was lying to fuck with Dean and they never gave him the chance at all, versus their active efforts to break Dean.) I guess they could be still be vessels on both sides of the family - it makes sense that the YED chose vessel bloodline members for deals, in hopes of corrupting their offspring to make suitable vessel candidates for Lucifer. They just lucked out with Mary marrying John, and having homozygous vessel offspring. It would explain why the boys are so extra special as vessels.
I don't buy Michael's promise that Dean will be unscathed by his possession for a second. It's a dealbreaker for Dean, and Michael's telling him a baldfaced lie because he's a good general. But it's worrying that Dean believes him, or seems to.
Overall: Excellent! Angry about Anna, but I'm trying to repress. Awesome Winchesters (the whole family!), awesome Cas, awesome mythology stuff. Go Team Free Will!
SPN 5x14 My Bloody Valentine
Why was I eating during the opening scene? WHY?
Ahahaha, the simultaneous cell phone convo in the morgue! Cas and Dean are such faily *dorks*, bless their hearts. And Dean's "Be my valentine" to Sam, the dorkface.
Coroner dude was an awesome guest star. He reminded me (perhaps intentionally) of the coroner on CSI.
I am a big fan of Castiel's ability to be unintentionally funny without being silly. He's such a strange awkward duck, and so blunt about randomly eating hundreds of burgers, and long-suffering being hugged by naked fat dudes and the like; it's endlessly charming. Delivering exposition while stuffing his face - completely deadpan - was one of the highlights of the episode.
"Is this a fight? Are we in a fight?"
"This is their handshake."
"I don't like it!"
"No one likes it."
♥ They are my favorite. Cas is the perfect straight man. (I miss Sam and Dean bantering like this, though, in their own brotherly way. C'mon, writers, I want my Winchesters back in the zone!)
Dean just can't resist punching angels, can he? *pats*
So is Jimmy still around? You could read Castiel's statement ambigiously either way, given his vaguely-guilty body language: guilty because he's still possessing a man who just wanted to protect his daughter? guilty because he got him killed? But either way - damn, poor guy.
Dean's praying now? Oh, man, not good. I mean, asking for help at all is scary, but *praying*? Dean started to really scare me this episode, because he's way past his usual levels of repression/fucked-up, and *still* heading downhill. A casual glance at symptoms of depression on Google is unsurprising but awful: insomnia, feeling helpless/hopeless/guilty, loss of appetite, thoughts that life is not worth living, loss of interest in work and former sources of pleasure, self-loathing, reckless behavior, substance abuse. He nearly committed suicide by temporal paradox last episode! He has no one to turn to: Sam and Bobby are barely treading water, and Castiel is having his own crisis of faith. Famine just ripped a big hole in his equilibrium by implying that his very soul is damaged and wrong. He doesn't even have the hope of being a chosen savior/warrior in the apocalypse this season, unless he wants to sacrifice himself and his happiness completely.
Overall: Me likey! Famine was super creepy, and there was just enough humor to balance the serious myth-arc end of the ep. And, oh, Dean.
SPN 5x15 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Two Horsemen eps in a row? And we don't even get to meet Death? Lame.
I like the sheriff! Pegs the boys as trouble in two seconds flat, recognizes Bobby's voice, zombie son kills her husband and she keeps on fighting. She and Sheriff Kathleen should form a club. A club of awesome.
"Gah, Bobby, don't be an idiot!" was my principal reaction for the second half of the ep. I mean, I sympathize, but take some goddamn precautions, dude.
Also, Mrs. Singer was creepy Stepford wife with all the pies and the "sure I'll let the men talk" attitude. I guess she was killed twenty-odd years ago, but still. We didn't see her and Bobby together enough to really sell their relationship until her death scene, and that's far too late.
Overall: I guess it was a decent episode, but I just didn't care about it that much. Yay zombies?
5x16-18 will follow when I write them. Probably tomorrow.
OMG LINDSEY HURRY UP. (Can you guess which character I am channeling in my icon right now? *g*)
SPN 5x11 Sam, Interrupted
Bleh. Mediocre. I liked the therapy-while-undercover-as-themselves idea in principle, but it was full of anvils in execution - possibly because it was so honest? I would have preferred Dean being honest within the mask of a cover story, but being that frank about his own real situation to a stranger? Even one in his own head? I don't buy it. The actress who played the therapist did have lovely (gen) chemistry with JA.
Lots of Dean in this episode in general -- especially one with Sam's name in the title -- although, at this point in the show we KNOW Dean is the most screwed up person on the planet, okay? We don't need Dr. Anvilicious McHallucination driving the point home. His last line about repression made the point much better than the earlier Sympathetic Yet Dramatic Statements: classic Dean-in-a-nutshell. As Lindsey said, there's gonna be a hell of a bill to pay to the piper when the apocalypse is over.
Very interesting that Dean is still suffering from insomnia and drinking as much as in S4. They stopped showing it, so I'd assumed (stupidly) that he'd slowed down.
Oh god, the "Pudding!" line made me cringe so hard. Poor Jensen Ackles. And random nymphomaniac girl. And the usual PC fail that's become SPN standard.
It was super nice to see Jon Gries again (Broots! ♥) - also, wow he's aged well. His character was vaguely interesting, but clearly not enough to make me remember his name. *shrugs* The wraith nurse gave great evil!glee, and that actress did Perky Evil very well. Of course, the fact that I was AGREEING with her monologue about the boys' screwups is a serious problem for the writers. Hunters undercover as crazy people with hunter delusions? Ya really think that's a great tactical decision?
Overall: mediocre, yes, but not as cringe-inducing as Yellow Fever, nor actively bad.
SPN 5x12 Swap Meat
Can I just take a minute to groan in appreciation of that wonderfully bad title pun? And warn you all of my EXTREME fondness of bodyswap as a trope?
First off, I really liked the twist of the occult world bounty on Dean's head, and how that tipped the whole episode from 'whacky fun' into 'actual stakes.' I wish TPTB would clarify the whole body-vs-consciousness lines in their mythology, but I don't really expect it. More room for fanfic to play in, I guess.
I was almost mad at Dean for not figuring things out sooner, but I think the fact that he didn't says a lot about how erratic Sam's behavior has been, and how much Dean just wants a breather from the crushing angst and weight of responsibility. He's just so happy to have a quiet drink with his brother - it kinda breaks your heart.
Showing the viewer the face of the person inhabiting the body and not the body itself removed a lot of the motts that usually comes with a bodyswap situation, and was a good decision with a guest star. If Sam and Dean had swapped, I would have wanted the actors to play their own bodies because they've worked together long enough to sell it, like when Buffy and Faith swapped in BTVS.
Overall: fun! But not gonna stick with me.
SPN 5x13 The Song Remains The Same
Yay time travel! Third episode in a row with a classic TV trope, amusingly. Not that I'm complaining.
I loved this ep, with the exception of Anna's death. She was awesome and doing what she believed in a well-motivated way, like Ellen and Jo's deaths, but all three deaths were equally pointless. I'm trying to repress my anger in that direction because it poisons the rest of the show for me, and I'm too invested in this world and these characters to want that. I'm acknowledging, making an angry face and a tally mark of fail, and moving on.
First of all: CASTIEL. HI, I MISSED YOU AND YOUR WEIRD ADORABLE FACE. He had all the funniest moments this ep:
-"Sam is my friend" and lying so so obviously to make him feel better later
-drawing that sigil on the table: the light on Misha's goddamn *hands*, wow
-Dean: "He's tough for a little nerdy dude with wings" ahahaha awwww
also, Dean got him the HONEYMOON SUITE. A probably-classic late-70s honeymoon suite. Let's just take a moment with that one.
-"I did. I'm very suprised." Oh, *Cas*. He's just matter-of-fact about nearly dying. Or hell, actually dying that one time. ♥ Also, has Kripke been reading fanfic again? I'm pretty sure Castiel collapsing and being caught by the boy(s) has been in 60% of the Cas-centric fic I've read. Not that I'm complaining! Tropes, my love for: see above.
Ahhhh, Sam's talk with John was so heartbreaking, and I remembered that he'd never met Mary just as they hit the porch so the creepy staring also broke my heart. I love the return of John and Mary - those actors are perfect, and past!Mary is particularly fascinating.
ETA: Seeing the boys riding in the Impala's backseat is so weird. Hilarious in that "but where do they put their legs?" way, but weird.
Also, the scene where John cuts his hand? Awesome in itself, but it reminded me that all of John's crazy intensity makes SO MUCH more sense after watching Generation Kill, because he was a fucking Marine, and they're all crazy in that way. Once a Marine, always a Marine.
I wonder if Dean doesn't listen to the Beatles/60s rock because they were his mother's music, and it hurts too much to hear it.
For some reason, I'd assumed the boys were vessels by their mother's side of the family, via some confused theory about why John wasn't the man who broke the first seal because he wasn't a vessel and therefore couldn't be "the one who ends it," i.e. Michael's vessel. (despite Alastair's statement that John never broke, I think he was lying to fuck with Dean and they never gave him the chance at all, versus their active efforts to break Dean.) I guess they could be still be vessels on both sides of the family - it makes sense that the YED chose vessel bloodline members for deals, in hopes of corrupting their offspring to make suitable vessel candidates for Lucifer. They just lucked out with Mary marrying John, and having homozygous vessel offspring. It would explain why the boys are so extra special as vessels.
I don't buy Michael's promise that Dean will be unscathed by his possession for a second. It's a dealbreaker for Dean, and Michael's telling him a baldfaced lie because he's a good general. But it's worrying that Dean believes him, or seems to.
Overall: Excellent! Angry about Anna, but I'm trying to repress. Awesome Winchesters (the whole family!), awesome Cas, awesome mythology stuff. Go Team Free Will!
SPN 5x14 My Bloody Valentine
Why was I eating during the opening scene? WHY?
Ahahaha, the simultaneous cell phone convo in the morgue! Cas and Dean are such faily *dorks*, bless their hearts. And Dean's "Be my valentine" to Sam, the dorkface.
Coroner dude was an awesome guest star. He reminded me (perhaps intentionally) of the coroner on CSI.
I am a big fan of Castiel's ability to be unintentionally funny without being silly. He's such a strange awkward duck, and so blunt about randomly eating hundreds of burgers, and long-suffering being hugged by naked fat dudes and the like; it's endlessly charming. Delivering exposition while stuffing his face - completely deadpan - was one of the highlights of the episode.
"Is this a fight? Are we in a fight?"
"This is their handshake."
"I don't like it!"
"No one likes it."
♥ They are my favorite. Cas is the perfect straight man. (I miss Sam and Dean bantering like this, though, in their own brotherly way. C'mon, writers, I want my Winchesters back in the zone!)
Dean just can't resist punching angels, can he? *pats*
So is Jimmy still around? You could read Castiel's statement ambigiously either way, given his vaguely-guilty body language: guilty because he's still possessing a man who just wanted to protect his daughter? guilty because he got him killed? But either way - damn, poor guy.
Dean's praying now? Oh, man, not good. I mean, asking for help at all is scary, but *praying*? Dean started to really scare me this episode, because he's way past his usual levels of repression/fucked-up, and *still* heading downhill. A casual glance at symptoms of depression on Google is unsurprising but awful: insomnia, feeling helpless/hopeless/guilty, loss of appetite, thoughts that life is not worth living, loss of interest in work and former sources of pleasure, self-loathing, reckless behavior, substance abuse. He nearly committed suicide by temporal paradox last episode! He has no one to turn to: Sam and Bobby are barely treading water, and Castiel is having his own crisis of faith. Famine just ripped a big hole in his equilibrium by implying that his very soul is damaged and wrong. He doesn't even have the hope of being a chosen savior/warrior in the apocalypse this season, unless he wants to sacrifice himself and his happiness completely.
Overall: Me likey! Famine was super creepy, and there was just enough humor to balance the serious myth-arc end of the ep. And, oh, Dean.
SPN 5x15 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Two Horsemen eps in a row? And we don't even get to meet Death? Lame.
I like the sheriff! Pegs the boys as trouble in two seconds flat, recognizes Bobby's voice, zombie son kills her husband and she keeps on fighting. She and Sheriff Kathleen should form a club. A club of awesome.
"Gah, Bobby, don't be an idiot!" was my principal reaction for the second half of the ep. I mean, I sympathize, but take some goddamn precautions, dude.
Also, Mrs. Singer was creepy Stepford wife with all the pies and the "sure I'll let the men talk" attitude. I guess she was killed twenty-odd years ago, but still. We didn't see her and Bobby together enough to really sell their relationship until her death scene, and that's far too late.
Overall: I guess it was a decent episode, but I just didn't care about it that much. Yay zombies?
5x16-18 will follow when I write them. Probably tomorrow.
OMG LINDSEY HURRY UP. (Can you guess which character I am channeling in my icon right now? *g*)