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My Top 5 episodes of Season Nine.
Sep. 28th, 2014 08:30 pmIn preparation for S10 starting in 10 days (WOOT!) I thought I'd reflect on S9 and pick my top 5 episodes (though I ended up cheating a bit…)
No doubt about it, season 9 was a difficult one for me. I felt like it started with such enormous potential but as it didn't go in the direction I thought it was going to go (and examination of Sam's numerous possessions and Dean's inherent need to "save" Sam), I was left feeling disappointed. There were some great episodes, some not so great ones and some (many) that left me incredibly frustrated.
I want to go into Season 10 a little more positive than I left season 9 so I thought I'd revisit the season and look at some of the episodes I either really enjoyed or felt were strong.
Looking at the season in its entirety, we can see this was mostly about Dean becoming a demon. I think the season successfully told Dean's story and by the end we can see a clear journey arc for his character. It wasn't exactly pretty, but for Dean to "realistically" become a demon it shouldn't have been. I felt it also had a pretty clear "human" story arc for Castiel. I don't think it was as thoroughly handled as Dean's story, but it was fairly clear. He discovered more about human nature and what it means to be human. The same with Crowley. His story was mirrored by Castiel's - in that they both experienced what it's like to be human. Sam didn't really have a story as such - his main role was to bring about Dean's demonness - which he did end up doing rather successfully. His story could have been about possession and his repeated loss of agency, but it never really featured, other than to cause the angst between the brothers. Again, Sam managed that very successfully too.
I am trying to leave out my (probably obvious) bitterness over the fact that Sam was mostly used as a plot device. I suppose we did witness just how strong Sam is and how well he handles everything that's thrown at him. Aside from his few comments to Dean about the possession not much else really happened for him (and no, I don't consider him being Zeke/Gadreel his story arc). I thought we had witnessed an incredible realisation from Sam that there are certain lines that can't be crossed when bringing each other back from the dead, but alas, that fizzled as the season drew to an end. Though we did get to see the depth of his own self-loathing - more than once saying that he couldn't see the upside to being alive. (Though, it's a little strange coming after the "I can see light at the end of the tunnel" speech in S8). Aaanyway. I've already said enough about all that in past reviews, so moving right along. In no particular order...
( My Top 5 episodes of Season Nine. )
No doubt about it, season 9 was a difficult one for me. I felt like it started with such enormous potential but as it didn't go in the direction I thought it was going to go (and examination of Sam's numerous possessions and Dean's inherent need to "save" Sam), I was left feeling disappointed. There were some great episodes, some not so great ones and some (many) that left me incredibly frustrated.
I want to go into Season 10 a little more positive than I left season 9 so I thought I'd revisit the season and look at some of the episodes I either really enjoyed or felt were strong.
Looking at the season in its entirety, we can see this was mostly about Dean becoming a demon. I think the season successfully told Dean's story and by the end we can see a clear journey arc for his character. It wasn't exactly pretty, but for Dean to "realistically" become a demon it shouldn't have been. I felt it also had a pretty clear "human" story arc for Castiel. I don't think it was as thoroughly handled as Dean's story, but it was fairly clear. He discovered more about human nature and what it means to be human. The same with Crowley. His story was mirrored by Castiel's - in that they both experienced what it's like to be human. Sam didn't really have a story as such - his main role was to bring about Dean's demonness - which he did end up doing rather successfully. His story could have been about possession and his repeated loss of agency, but it never really featured, other than to cause the angst between the brothers. Again, Sam managed that very successfully too.
I am trying to leave out my (probably obvious) bitterness over the fact that Sam was mostly used as a plot device. I suppose we did witness just how strong Sam is and how well he handles everything that's thrown at him. Aside from his few comments to Dean about the possession not much else really happened for him (and no, I don't consider him being Zeke/Gadreel his story arc). I thought we had witnessed an incredible realisation from Sam that there are certain lines that can't be crossed when bringing each other back from the dead, but alas, that fizzled as the season drew to an end. Though we did get to see the depth of his own self-loathing - more than once saying that he couldn't see the upside to being alive. (Though, it's a little strange coming after the "I can see light at the end of the tunnel" speech in S8). Aaanyway. I've already said enough about all that in past reviews, so moving right along. In no particular order...
( My Top 5 episodes of Season Nine. )
