6.17 Episode review/reaction
Apr. 17th, 2011 09:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ash48How much do I love that I can write that as a subject line..\o/ Welcome back Show. I missed you.
I really, really enjoyed that. There were so many little things that I just plain enjoyed and then there's a couple of big things that gave it some meat, which added to my overall enjoyment of it.
Counting the ways.
Let's start with:
1. The completely trivial:
Sam's mussed hair! \o/ More often than not Sam's hair was mussed up with a bit hanging over his face. (hey! I never claimed to watch this ONLY for the plot...) I love that we are beginning to lose the robo!Sam quaffed hair look. Just saying...
2. The boys being on the same page. The sam'ndeanness of this episode was so very heart warming. (AND STILL CONTINUES!! YAY!) Starting with the miming of "you say something". Loved that! I think my favourite might have been Dean calling Sam a nerd and Sam giving the patented bitch!face. Oh boys... when you're like this I can let the rest of it all wash over me. (Not that there was too much to wash over me this time....). We even had PSR and it was only in hindsight that we understood why Dean won when it's usually Sam. Nice little twist.
I know this was an AU so maybe that's why they were so connected. Though I think they've been heading to this place for a while so it didn't really feel out of place.
3. Ellen! \o/ I remember Samantha Ferris saying at the AHBL con that if she was brought back (and she thought she would be) she didn't want to have to play Ellen if she ended up hurting the boys. And she didn't. I love that she played the surrogate mother to Bobby's surrogate father here. The role that I think she was initially set up for. It never really played out to its fullest so it was so nice to see it recognised. I adore her presence on screen.
4. Bobby/Ellen. I was spoiled for Ellen's return so I figured the only way they could do that is in some sort of alternate universe. As soon as she mentioned she was Bobby's wife it became obvious - but I did enjoy the mystery surrounding that until it was revealed. Bobby and Ellen are such a believable pairing and I loved the gentle way this was handled. She was Bobby's (and the boys') rock and I really felt her loss (again) by the end of the episode.
5. KAZ 2Y5!! \o/ So, so wonderful to see the old number plate again. I love that Show not only resurrected Ellen but also the old number plate. What a shame they didn't take the opportunity to have Dean wear the amulet. They could totally have gotten away with that I reckon. Though it does give me hope that they will resurrect it in the future. (I'm still holding out hope that it's still significant in some way. How can it go from God Finder to trash...?)
6. Gore and Blood. See... I'm one of those viewers who laughs out loud with the schlock horror elements in this show. So I love it when they go to town with heads being severed by garage doors. Twitching bodies and all... *g*
7. Final Destination anyone? I'm surprised they haven't ...um... homaged..(probably not the right word) it until now. I did get a kick out of seeing the domino effected deaths. Particularly has it mirrored the domino effect of not sinking the Titanic. I'm sure this was deliberate.
8. Aww. The Titanic. I SQUEALED! I honestly did. I HATE that movie with a passion so I was THRILLED that Balthazar voiced my thoughts. What a damn good reason to save the Titanic from sinking. (Even though it wasn't the entire truth...) Balthy you're in my good books! <33 Thank you.
9. BLONDIE! YAY... I love when they use songs like this. And that sequence may well have been my favourite in the episode. I often struggle with the boys doing slapstick stuff (as in, when it's OOC) but I thought the mix of humour, tenderness, mystery and a rather big reveal was nicely handle. (mostly..). Their faces were priceless and to watch the Js work off each other like this just was pure joy to watch.
10. Did ya catch this:
CLINGY DEAN! "Big!Sammy will save me from those nasty dogs (that look a bit like hell hounds..)" *heart flutters*
11. Castiel.
This falls into the "big" moment in the show that made me love it that bit more.
See. Castiel confuses me. I think the Show struggles to find a place for him. They want him there (possibly due to the fans..) so they have to give him purpose. But how. Why would an angel hang around Sam and Dean? I don't think this episode answered that completely but it might have shed some light. Hee... and no - I don't think it's because he's "in love" with Dean.
I see two reasons. 1. He genuinely likes, admires and is grateful to them for helping him understand what it means to be "free" and not bow to destiny and 2. (and this is probably just me being hopeful..) he has a purpose for them. By showing us that he is capable of "minting" souls and can lie quite blatantly to the boys show us (well, me) that he may indeed have something else up his sleeve.
It would make a whole lot more sense to me if he keeps saving the boys because he needs them. Or maybe their souls?? The price of souls keeps popping up so maybe Sam and Dean's souls are worth more than any other human? I don't know... it just opened a window for me and gave me hope that there is indeed a plan for Castiel. I like the idea of a manipulating Cas. Or at least one who has a reason for sticking by the boys.
Of course... fans will have a field day with "the angel who's in love with you" ... and why not! Show does love us (well, Dean/Cas fans..*g*) after all.
12. Alternative Universes. If this devise is not overly abused I am quite happy to see them go into alt universes. It allows them to do some exciting things but I would hate to see it over used. I enjoyed it tonight because we got to see Ellen, a married Bobby, the old number plate and the dialogue about the fact Titanic was never made. (That would also allow for the possibility that Avatar was never made either...yay..). I like that this universe was subtly different.
If I had a negative it would probably fall on the character of Fate. Can't really pin point why. Maybe because the actress didn't give it the gravitas I felt it needed? Maybe it's because young, pretty blonde actresses scream "hollywood" to me? I'm also not sure why antagonistic females need to be refer to as "bitches" so often. I dunno. I think maybe I felt more could have been done with her. Though I did like that she called Cas on his soul making and that he's the boss of Balthazar.
So. Overall really enjoyable I thought. Had a nice "old SPN" feel about it. Though I suspect anything where we see the boys working together like this will bring back that feeling.
So...um... Cas being in love with Dean.... Is that now, like, canon? Or was Balthy just saying that to stir up the boys?
I really, really enjoyed that. There were so many little things that I just plain enjoyed and then there's a couple of big things that gave it some meat, which added to my overall enjoyment of it.
Counting the ways.
Let's start with:
1. The completely trivial:
Sam's mussed hair! \o/ More often than not Sam's hair was mussed up with a bit hanging over his face. (hey! I never claimed to watch this ONLY for the plot...) I love that we are beginning to lose the robo!Sam quaffed hair look. Just saying...
2. The boys being on the same page. The sam'ndeanness of this episode was so very heart warming. (AND STILL CONTINUES!! YAY!) Starting with the miming of "you say something". Loved that! I think my favourite might have been Dean calling Sam a nerd and Sam giving the patented bitch!face. Oh boys... when you're like this I can let the rest of it all wash over me. (Not that there was too much to wash over me this time....). We even had PSR and it was only in hindsight that we understood why Dean won when it's usually Sam. Nice little twist.
I know this was an AU so maybe that's why they were so connected. Though I think they've been heading to this place for a while so it didn't really feel out of place.
3. Ellen! \o/ I remember Samantha Ferris saying at the AHBL con that if she was brought back (and she thought she would be) she didn't want to have to play Ellen if she ended up hurting the boys. And she didn't. I love that she played the surrogate mother to Bobby's surrogate father here. The role that I think she was initially set up for. It never really played out to its fullest so it was so nice to see it recognised. I adore her presence on screen.
4. Bobby/Ellen. I was spoiled for Ellen's return so I figured the only way they could do that is in some sort of alternate universe. As soon as she mentioned she was Bobby's wife it became obvious - but I did enjoy the mystery surrounding that until it was revealed. Bobby and Ellen are such a believable pairing and I loved the gentle way this was handled. She was Bobby's (and the boys') rock and I really felt her loss (again) by the end of the episode.
5. KAZ 2Y5!! \o/ So, so wonderful to see the old number plate again. I love that Show not only resurrected Ellen but also the old number plate. What a shame they didn't take the opportunity to have Dean wear the amulet. They could totally have gotten away with that I reckon. Though it does give me hope that they will resurrect it in the future. (I'm still holding out hope that it's still significant in some way. How can it go from God Finder to trash...?)
6. Gore and Blood. See... I'm one of those viewers who laughs out loud with the schlock horror elements in this show. So I love it when they go to town with heads being severed by garage doors. Twitching bodies and all... *g*
7. Final Destination anyone? I'm surprised they haven't ...um... homaged..(probably not the right word) it until now. I did get a kick out of seeing the domino effected deaths. Particularly has it mirrored the domino effect of not sinking the Titanic. I'm sure this was deliberate.
8. Aww. The Titanic. I SQUEALED! I honestly did. I HATE that movie with a passion so I was THRILLED that Balthazar voiced my thoughts. What a damn good reason to save the Titanic from sinking. (Even though it wasn't the entire truth...) Balthy you're in my good books! <33 Thank you.
9. BLONDIE! YAY... I love when they use songs like this. And that sequence may well have been my favourite in the episode. I often struggle with the boys doing slapstick stuff (as in, when it's OOC) but I thought the mix of humour, tenderness, mystery and a rather big reveal was nicely handle. (mostly..). Their faces were priceless and to watch the Js work off each other like this just was pure joy to watch.
10. Did ya catch this:
CLINGY DEAN! "Big!Sammy will save me from those nasty dogs (that look a bit like hell hounds..)" *heart flutters*
11. Castiel.
This falls into the "big" moment in the show that made me love it that bit more.
See. Castiel confuses me. I think the Show struggles to find a place for him. They want him there (possibly due to the fans..) so they have to give him purpose. But how. Why would an angel hang around Sam and Dean? I don't think this episode answered that completely but it might have shed some light. Hee... and no - I don't think it's because he's "in love" with Dean.
I see two reasons. 1. He genuinely likes, admires and is grateful to them for helping him understand what it means to be "free" and not bow to destiny and 2. (and this is probably just me being hopeful..) he has a purpose for them. By showing us that he is capable of "minting" souls and can lie quite blatantly to the boys show us (well, me) that he may indeed have something else up his sleeve.
It would make a whole lot more sense to me if he keeps saving the boys because he needs them. Or maybe their souls?? The price of souls keeps popping up so maybe Sam and Dean's souls are worth more than any other human? I don't know... it just opened a window for me and gave me hope that there is indeed a plan for Castiel. I like the idea of a manipulating Cas. Or at least one who has a reason for sticking by the boys.
Of course... fans will have a field day with "the angel who's in love with you" ... and why not! Show does love us (well, Dean/Cas fans..*g*) after all.
12. Alternative Universes. If this devise is not overly abused I am quite happy to see them go into alt universes. It allows them to do some exciting things but I would hate to see it over used. I enjoyed it tonight because we got to see Ellen, a married Bobby, the old number plate and the dialogue about the fact Titanic was never made. (That would also allow for the possibility that Avatar was never made either...yay..). I like that this universe was subtly different.
If I had a negative it would probably fall on the character of Fate. Can't really pin point why. Maybe because the actress didn't give it the gravitas I felt it needed? Maybe it's because young, pretty blonde actresses scream "hollywood" to me? I'm also not sure why antagonistic females need to be refer to as "bitches" so often. I dunno. I think maybe I felt more could have been done with her. Though I did like that she called Cas on his soul making and that he's the boss of Balthazar.
So. Overall really enjoyable I thought. Had a nice "old SPN" feel about it. Though I suspect anything where we see the boys working together like this will bring back that feeling.
So...um... Cas being in love with Dean.... Is that now, like, canon? Or was Balthy just saying that to stir up the boys?
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no subject
Date: 2011-04-17 02:11 am (UTC)As for the love comment. Sam wasn't in the frame but it didn't feel directed at either one of them in particular so that is why I didn't pick up that it was a Dean and Cas thing, and Dean certainly did not squirm or make a bitch-face like I would expect him to if he thought Bathazar was being serious. I thought it was more sarcastic than anything honestly. But I've always tried to look at Cas's relationship as one with both boys anyways. I'm not a huge fan of him being one-sided and have taken a loooong time to warm up to him at all.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-17 02:19 am (UTC)I too prefer to think of Cas being there for both of the boys. I think it's taken longer for Cas to warm to Sam but now that he has I feel that he's as protective of Sam as he is of Dean. Though, as I mentioned above, I'd love there to be more going on with him. I'm sure it will be revealed over the next few weeks...
xx
no subject
Date: 2011-04-17 03:35 am (UTC)Ooh and I definitely believe there is something else going on with Cas. He let Sam and Dean remember saving their lives, for a reason beyond them just being his friend; there really was no lesson for them to learn about fate since that was wound up last season, so I can see an ulterior motive somewhere.
He got caught with his fingers in the cookie jar and apologized, basically. But that does not mean he wouldn't do it again :P Should be an interesting ride.