8.12 reaction

[ash48]

Um.

FUUUUCCKKK! YEEAAAHH! \o/ Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about! WOOOOOOOT!

That, ladies and gentlemen, is why I love my show!! LOOK AT THAT!! (oh thank you thank you. I feel I can officially welcome you back show. *wipes a tear of relieved happiness*)

And SERGE directed it \o/ - his first one. As soon as I saw that beautiful opening shot in the street I wondered who directed. When his name came up I almost clapped! (I knew he was directing an episode but I had forgotten which one). He did a great job! What a fabulous episode to be given to direct.

God I loved that!

Here's why...

* HISTORY! That opening montage filled me with fangirl glee. (and here I was thinking Carver had forgotten what's gone before - though it does cement that he remembers those first few seasons but not what came after maybe?). Hearing "saving people, hunting things, the family business" made me weak at the knees.

* Dean's speech about saving Sam.... I CAN'T EVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't...*hyperventilates*

* DEAN!! Oh Dean. This is everything I love about Dean - the passion, the protectiveness, the lack of trust of strangers, the woobyness when he talks and think about John, his strength, his snarkiness, his glare of death.... There was a lot of character consistency here. He reacted the same way when he first met Adam. And even though Dean has said things negative about John in the past in his heart he DOES know he did his best. Jensen really sells how much Dean loved John. He really was his hero.

* New epic myth arc. \o/ There's something really interesting here and I am SO excited. Looks like there's lots of potential to build on the Men of Letters and The Box. Looks like Sam and Dean had a destiny that wasn't just Michael and Lucifer condoms. They are Legacy. (I'm thinking the Aquarian Star might be the new tattoo - I think I want one!!)

* Sam and Dean. Dean and Sam. Just...yes. Thank you.

* Sleeping Winchesters. I love sleeping boys (er...men) and Henry watching over then is so sweet. And it was brought to my attention that Dean ends up sleeping curled around what started out as Sam's pillow. I LOVE THIS!! THEIR EPIC LOVE IS FOR REALLY REALZ!

* FAMILY! There's was wonderful sense of family again. Bringing John back into the story like that added a wonderful depth. It's so messed up but there's so much heart there. I think just the mention of John brings back all those things I loved about Season one.

* THE WINCHESTER MUSIC THEME! I think that's what it was - hearing the tune that IS the family theme. It's like putting on comfy slippers whenever I hear it. (I'd have to check, but I think it's been AGES since we've heard it). Wonderful to hear it a couple of times in the ep. <333

* The dialogue was snappy and clever. Lots of great references. HA! They Mayans got it wrong.

* THE SIZE OF THE GRAVE THEY DUG! HA! It was huge. Digging a grave would be hard work. I love that they have to make it big enough to fit them both in it. And it's always so neat! ;))

* I REALLY liked Henry. Strong performance.

* I REALLY liked Abaddon. She was sexy cool. (I was hoping she wasn't going to die. I thought she might have been the new big bad. Though... she's not reeeallly dead is she?, so.. you never know) Someone was apparently controlling her so we have a lot more to find out yet!

* DEVIL's TRAP in a bullet. Oh man. What I love about this is the IDEA of it. Just when you think they've done everything that is possible with a Devil's Trap they carve it into a bullet. :D *handwaves* how damn hard that would be because they'd have to include the sigils and everything but....IDEA! \o/

* Sam and Dean. Seriously. They were just so comfortable together. There was so much warmth and love and familiarity.

* I like the way they skirted around the dreaded time travel paradox. Henry died so it works.

* JOHN WOULD BE PROUD! Oh fuck...I can't...*reaches for the paper bag*...*breaths* That might have been my favourite moment. John would be incredibly proud. They are such fine men.

* Sam had a salad! It cracks me up...a man that big would need more than a salad to get through a day. I love the continuity of that though.

* I love that Garth keeps getting mentioned. They are treating him like junior Bobby.

* The motel room was awesome. I can't wait to take a closer look at that one.

* FINAL SCENE!! Oh yes. YES YES! They talked liked they used to. *HEARTS*

* "It's the price we pay". That came up a couple of times and...well...yes. The hurt, the pain, the sacrifices - that's the price. And it's interesting (and I think very in character) that Sam seems to accept that whereas Dean accepts it but he's always somewhat bitter about it.

* and EVERYTHING else!

This, for me, is an episode that reflects the very heart of this show. The boys watching out for each other (omg! Kidnapped Sam - I think I nearly had a coronary when Sam's life was up for trade - Dean's faaaceee....), family history, Sam and Dean reflecting on their lives....*happy sigh*


Other stuff....

So. What the hell was with the first half of this season? Was it a reset? Was it about putting Sam in a different head space? Maybe it was to remind Dean just how much family still means to him? (not that he needs reminding). Was it to tie up the end of S7? Was it purely to have them at odds with each other - just to create dramatic tension? Or to make them even stronger together maybe? That episode was so far removed from ANYTHING that went on in the first half. There was no mention of anything that had gone before. Not that there needed to be, but it was such a different feel to what's come before.

Perhaps it was a set up to get Amelia pregnant - I'm not putting this past them. It would mean another Winchester. ;) It would be one hell of a season finale if say Sam had to watch him (maybe her) get killed. Imagine how powerful that would be considering he has a son of his own. Pure speculation of course but there HAD to be a reason for them sleeping together when they met up (other than them not being able to keep their hands off of each other? *head scratch*. And I say killed (or die) because there's no way they'll be travelling around with a baby on board. It would make for another tragedy in their lives.

And as much as I want them to be past the Sam and Amelia story line I would love to see it come back just to MAKE SENSE OF IT ALL! I'd love to see it fit into this whole new arc.

Um..also. It's 2013. The year Dean had before Sam appeared and the year just gone by, um...didn't happen? It would be more like 2015 yeah? I have no issue with that but if they keep giving us "One year later" they need to factor that in don't they?



Ok. I feel like I've been reset. THANK YOU!!

ALL THE WARM FUZZIES!!

And now I leave you with this because.... HOLY FUCK!! ARMS!! HAIR! SLEEPINESS! DEAN HUGGING SAM'S PILLOW! TEE-SHIRTS!!! SAAAyumMMMMM!!!!! *iz dead*

Comments

[citrusjava.livejournal.com]

Oh! And Henry having Dean's big chibi eyes!

And the moment of - Sam saying it's hard to imagine John afraid of anything - cause he was the kid, John was far above and hard on him. And Dean gave him that tiny look - I think Dean could definitely imagine John scared.

And Henry's comment about hunters - I have so much to say about that. But I'll stick with - even though Dean was the one suspicious and held back towards Henry, he's that one who looked really hurt by that. Sam closed down a little, used to that, and there was just a smaller flicker of hurt in his eyes. They are such great actors. I love them. I should stop now and go happyloveyay over this :-)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

I think Dean could definitely imagine John scared.

Yeah...me too. I love how Sam and Dean still have differing views of John but they are each ok with that.

And I am sure Dean was hurt by the comment. Dean takes such pride in what he does. He's done so much, saved so many people and then to be put down by his grandfather would have stung. Perhaps he reminded Dean of John. We know John put Dean down at times.

[citrusjava.livejournal.com]

Yeah...me too. I love how Sam and Dean still have differing views of John but they are each ok with that.

Yes! :-) :-)

And I am sure Dean was hurt by the comment. Dean takes such pride in what he does. He's done so much, saved so many people and then to be put down by his grandfather would have stung. Perhaps he reminded Dean of John. We know John put Dean down at times.

I agree.

I have some other thoughts about this, that might be a bit over-speculative.

I think it might also have to do with the way Dean thinks of himself socially, and vs. being normal. His manly pose is a lot about not being part of that educated, elitist culture. I think he considers it too feminine and well behaved, tamed, too limiting, and also, it's not something he feels he would have a chance of being part of - unlike Sam. It's a privileged group he is sure would have rejected him.

And Dean is living the fantasy about being "a real man", not burdened by society's rules, hanging out with men, drinking, shooting and being cool. He rejects that refined education thing in a lot of ways - porn, music, food etc. Maybe the whole way of life goes back to John teaching Dean the Winchester way of being awesome and better than those people (as a reaction to his dad? Hm).

But I think Dean needs approval so much, is pretty starved for it, especially from people who knows what he really does, and he looks up to. And though he knows the drill of kicking at hegemony, I think part of him really wants to be accepted by it, appreciated. I don't think he's one of the people who truly find their bliss and their place in rejecting the social order. So it would hurt, being rejected and put in his place like that, bad boy as he is.

So having this embodiment of refined elitism look down on him like that, see nothing of his intelligence, sensitivity, loyalty, just try to put him in his social place - would hurt even before any family connections.

Perhaps it also ties into Sam going against that Winchester way of John's, leaving Dean to go to collage, wanting to be one of those mainstream people. And Dean would never have a place in that world. So maybe he's used to connecting it with the threat of losing Sam.