Quick reaction post...

[ash48]

I was really scared going into that. My flist seemed ..um... worried (yeah, yeah I peeked at the posts for reactions but didn't spoil myself). But I have stop doing that because all through the episode I was like... wow, this is awesome. What's everyone so upset about?!

And then came the end.

Before I get to that thought can I just squee... COLIN FORD!!!!! \o/ WHEEEEEEEEEEEE! Man, he was great. And that gal that played young!Amy was FABULOUS! Oh man... Sam and Amy. Two kids with puppy eyes. if that wasn't a match made in heaven. Which of course it wasn't because SAM LIFE SUCKS!!

I think Jensen can be credited with getting those performances out of those young actors.

Other squee....

*Dean in hospital and all wooby!
*Sam on a gurney and out cold. (whaaaa - we didn't quite get hospital!Sam... but close enough)
*Bobby! (he didn't seem too upset about losing his place.... *head scratch*)
*Books planted for safe keeping. (But of course)!
*Flashbacks! I do eat these up. We get little bits of extra canon. (though there were no real surprises there..)
*Wee!Sam is a friggin hero and awesome researcher (which... yep! Already knew that one too.)
*Dean freaking out about missing!Sam. (always love that stuff..)
*Bobby being the sane voice of reason (Dean really relies on Bobby for his point of view on stuff methinks)
*Cake that isn't pie. :)

Ok. So. Now the bit that I figure is going to get fans up in arms.

I have to say my heart was in my throat during Dean's killing of Amy. That was.... hard. Very hard. Not just because he killed a monster after we had grown to sympathise with her, but because he lied to Sam.

I actually get the killing - I do. My understanding is that she actually did do those killings. (yes?) Not just feeding off already dead people. She needed to kill them for her son. So, yeah. Being a hunter is about killing monsters who actually kill people. Truth is, she is very likely to kill again so Dean felt it had to be stopped. Dean IS a hardened hunter after all. I really don't think that has changed over time.

It also harkens back to season two when Dean was spinning out of control. I think that's an important comparison because we are beginning to get glimpses that Dean is not in control as much as he might think he is. He is (I think) heading toward some sort of meltdown and this kind of killing might just be there to show us that.

But the blatant lie to Sam. That's harder. When he said he had to start trusting Sam at some point I actually thought he meant it. As in, this the start of something new. A turn around. (YAY!!) But alas. No. *whaaaaaaa*

But I'm not up in arms about it I have to say. Ok, so the show is still going to deal with trust issues between them. There has to be something that they still need to work on and I can see that trust (at this stage in the game) is a worthy candidate.

That's not to say that that didn't hurt. But IT"S SUPERNATURAL!! THAT"S WHAT THEY DO!.

I'll be curious to see how Sam reacts when he finds out. My feeling is that he'll be hurt, but it's all par for the course for Sam. He knows he's untrustworthy and I reckon he'll not be surprised that Dean lied to him. Sad probably. But not surprised.

There's also the issue of Sam being a "freak" again. Both in his own eyes and in Dean's. *sniff*

I suppose Show had to throw a spanner in the works to what was looking like their relationship being on the mend. It was just going to be all too easy if they were suddenly all trust (and open communication) again. *sigh*

BUT IT'S COOL! Both boys are in a weird space at the moment and until we can see what the future brings there's no point getting too worked about about it.

I really enjoyed it. I was entertained. My heart was in my throat for a lot of it. (But freakin' HORRIFIED by the hot cheese sauce. ARCK! Oh Show. My first "turn away from the screen" moment of the season).

I still love you. (Even though I thought you might have given us a little break from the heartache... HA! idiot me for thinking that .. *g*)

*bounces*

Comments

[maenad.livejournal.com]

A very interesting, thinky episode. It also reminds us (once again) that these boys are flawed. This is what makes them such interesting characters.

I think, looking at the past three episodes, at the moment the writers are very interested in this habit they have of lying because they think they know how the other one will react. They've worked through a lot of their issues over the years, and I think they nearly had this one knocked on the head by Swan Song - Dean talked to Sam a fair bit in early season six about what he was feeling, and tried to get Sam to reciprocate - but since talking to soulless-Sam was completely useless, Dean had clammed up again by the time Sam got back, and then Sam clammed up again in response.

Dean didn't tell Sam he was on the edge of despair and ready to give up - Sam walked in on a conversation between him and Bobby. Sam didn't tell Dean about the hallucinations - Dean heard it from Death. Dean was wrong not to rely on Sam - Sam knew how to talk Castiel down and fixed the crisis they were facing as well as anyone could. Sam was wrong to believe Dean couldn't help him - he was probably the only one who could. I think in some ways they know each other too well. They get caught up in their images of each other, and their concern for each other ... and they don't realise that just talking about things can have surprising results.

So I'm not entirely sure Amy's death was inevitable no matter what (they've made different decisions about dealing with sympathetic monsters over the years, usually by talking about it), but I do think it was inevitable given the way the story was presented to us, because when we inhabit Sam's point of view we're looking at an unhappy teenager with the best of intentions, and when we inhabit Dean's we're looking at a mother with a child to feed who's proved she'll kill if she has to. Those two points of view never met - Sam was too anxious to let her go to ask hard questions; Dean never had a chance to develop sympathy for her.

If they'd come at this a different way, I think it's possible that things might have ended differently. But I think it's just as likely that they'd still have killed her, because it's made pretty clear this is a no-win situation. It's kind of moot, because the point isn't that there was a right way to deal with the monster - there wasn't - but that there was a right way for them to work together. They're at their best when they balance each other's excesses and let each other play to their strengths. They weren't doing that here, so things got messy and uncomfortable.

Sorry, I just keep talking. Some days my brain won't stop. :)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Oh please don't stop... your thinky thoughts are always awesome.

You've summed all this up so well. I couldn't possibly put all that into coherent sentences. :)

It's also made me realise that even if in one episode it looks like they've made progress (in the way they communicate etc) doesn't necessarily mean that it will continue that way. It depends on their head space at the time and the nature of the hunt. In this case it came down to Sam personally knowing the MoTW. It might have even come down to Dean being somewhat stir crazy with being laid up. So even though we've had episodes where they have appeared to trust each other doesn't necessarily mean they would in different circumstances. (I kinda feel hope in that. There's hope that this hasn't meant a huge set back. I really don't want them to go back to the distance between them of S4).

I also think both boys were true to their personalities in this episode. These guys can't suddenly become completely different people. In certain situations they will react in a certain way. And in this case it meant for things getting messy. And messy is good. As in good watching. Be damn boring if they always did the "right" thing. Or the most sensible thing... or the things we are yelling at them through the tv screen...:)

xx