8.13 reaction / review

[ash48]

My first reaction was...KEEEEY SMAAASHHHH!!! NO WORDS!!!. *thud*

Then I thought - that's stupid because of course I'll have lots of words!! ;D

But before all the words I have to say SO SO SO MUCH LOVE! So much love that it feels like I can't put it into words. Because that, my dear friends, is essentially EVERYTHING I love about my show.


Dear Show,

I know I was harsh on you for the first 10 episodes and I'm sorry I said you didn't care but you have to admit you made it VERY difficult. So it's not entirely my fault.

That said, I would now like to say thank you THANK YOU for giving back the love.

Yours gratefully,
ME!


It's been a long journey hasn't it? Nearly 8 years to get the brothers to this place. A place of peace and contentedness. A place with a new direction and purpose. And a home that actually feels like them.

It's weird because I feel like if that had been the end of the series I would have said...yes, THAT'S how it should end. That was curtain!ep if there ever was one.

But it's not the end (thank god!). In fact it feels like a new beginning. If they've done a "reset" then I couldn't be happier with the way they have done it. The Men of Letters is inspired and, just like Dean, I've put on my comfy slippers and settled in.

SO much to love in this episode, I have to count the ways....

The shallow:

1. Dean's wet hair!!! (and robe and SLIPPERS!!) <3333

2. Sam in a sweater vest and blazer! <33333

3. Dean with the sword! HA! Oh Dean... cutting himself...

4. HURT SAM!!!!! \o/ Can we just take a moment....
.
.
.
thank you *happy place*

5. Dean said "Little brother". I love it when either of them say big or little brother. I just....*hearty melty*

6. Dean eating! I'm not sure why it stood out this time but Dean was enjoying tucking into some food and it really played along with everything we know about Dean. He's happy. And when he's happy he enjoys his food. AND SHOWERS!!! (love the call back to an earlier ep on how he loves the water pressure).

7. Sam's hair!.. Um...you know I have a thing for Sam's hair right? Ok. Nice and floppy in this one. :))

8. Dean's face! (need I say more?! I am seriously struck at times just how attractive that man is. It's just not right. Really...)

9. Everybody loves bacon! (I'm sure they lurk our journals...)

10. "Quiet time" HA! (and they've been lurking my classroom. Loved that line!)

11. CODES!! "Something stuck to my shoe." \o/ They worked SO WELL together.


The not so shallow:

Damn but there were some lovely things going on in this episode.

As always the MotW story mirrors what's going on with the boys. Here we have a young man not taking the time to listen to his grandfather or take on his duty in his family. He "smoked" the very thing that would have given him knowledge. It was a book that was important and should have been preserved. Sam and Dean weren't aware of their "legacy", but now that they have been they are ready to take on this new responsibility. Books and secrets are now theirs to preserve and so will take up that mantle.

I take my hat of to Ben Edlund for this one. It was nicely paced, not (too) wordy, and made some lovely parallels between Aaron's story and Sam 'n Deans. Phil's direction was tight and featured some beautiful cinematography.

The Men of Letters bunker set was STUNNING! The art deco is gorgeous and one of my all time favourite styles, so to see the brothers in this glorious setting makes my wee heart jump for joy. I love how this is all so unexpected and yet it fits them so well. In many ways the Winchesters conjure nostalgia (for me anyway), so this nostalgic, classic, romantic setting is so perfect.

I love that the actor who played the golem wasn't just hired for his height. He could act and he added the feeling of Frankenstein's monster to his role. There were many similarities and I'm sure it was no accident. He was a "monster" who understood the world around him. What an inspired invention by Edlund. I loved him.

Sam immersing himself in the books and in the role of a Man of Letters is, quite possibly, may most favourite thing so far this season. Now that's reallove. I think of Sam having dinner with Amelia and her father and then compare it to him sitting amongst these books with Dean by his side and there's just no comparison. I wonder if that's been the whole point all along? I'd love to think so, but I think it's too subtle. But I'm taking it like that. I've never seen Sam happier or more at home. And I can't express my utter love for that.

And Dean too. He has a good shower, food, quality alcohol and a happy little brother. He HAS found his bat cave. It's the break they not only deserve but it's been a damn long time coming.

I did like that Kevin, Garth and Castiel were mentioned. As much as I'm more than happy for every episode to be like this and contain just them and a MoTW story line, I know that there is a bigger picture. There are people that are still connected to them so it seems right that they are concerned about them.

The ending was simply beautiful. Quiet and meaningful. Dean gets his regular beers out for himself and Sam but notices the top shelf stuff. When Sam gets his he sniffs it and takes a moment to enjoy it and savour this new found safety and purpose. Dean is content. It feels like the show has been reborn.

I can't remember the last time I've felt this level of satisfaction after an episode. I know the show is all about the angst but damn it's nice when it's not. I watch for the bro love, the peril, the mystery, the intrigue and it had all that in this one.

I leave you with these two images. They kind of sum it all up for me....

Comments

[maenad.livejournal.com]

I know I was harsh on you for the first 10 episodes and I'm sorry I said you didn't care but you have to admit you made it VERY difficult. So it's not entirely my fault.

It's weird. I feel like I have emotional whiplash. Boredom, boredom, mild irritation, growing disgust with the chara - sudden adoration!

I didn't hate all of the first ten; I thought three, five and six were actually pretty good. And nine would have been fine if it hadn't had to carry the weight of the mid-season finale. And I still think there are structural issues. There kind of have to be, since they sat on most of the interesting stuff for half a season. But I really just want to make encouraging noises at everyone involved, because if they keep heading in this direction I will happily forgive and forget.

He "smoked" the very thing that would have given him knowledge. It was a book that was important and should have been preserved.

That kind of made me laugh. Come on - no one wants the instruction manual until the machine stops working. At which point it has almost always been lost and you end up having to Google for instructions anyway. So really, Grandpa should have known how it would go. :)

But I love the whole complex weight of the way the world worked. There used to be a system. The 'nerve centre'. The different groups with different responsibilities - hunters, scholars, rabbi saboteurs. Maybe more, once Sam's had more time to dig. It's fascinating, because the supernatural world has always been depicted as so dark and grim. Hunters just learning as they go, and everybody being poor and disconnected. It's been that way for all of Sam and Dean's lives and most of John's and a pretty big chunk of Samuel's, and three generations is about as far back as memory goes. But now there's the possibility of a renaissance.

He was a "monster" who understood the world around him. What an inspired invention by Edlund. I loved him.

It's funny - I mean, making a monster is really the worst thing a hunter can do, and it really only happens by accident. But this monster was made deliberately by a group of specialists. I think it really highlights the difference between the old way and the new - and connects to Henry's disdain for shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later hunters. Killing the golem, back in the day, would have been wrong.

And I really liked how this particular monster illustrated the way Sam and Dean are balanced between 'hunters' and 'Men of Letters'. They just instinctively feel better if they know how to kill something. And yet they are able to perceive the golem as a rational being with feelings of his own with whom they can interact as a person, and they're quite happy to let Aaron manage him.

And - yeah, it made an interesting sort of anti-Frankenstein story. Frankenstein's monster wishes he belonged to Aaron. :)

Sam immersing himself in the books and in the role of a Man of Letters is, quite possibly, may most favourite thing so far this season.

That was adorable. I got the impression he didn't go out for two weeks because someone gave him his very own library and an internet connection. And I can sympathise. I wouldn't have gone out either. :)

The ending was simply beautiful. Quiet and meaningful. Dean gets his regular beers out for himself and Sam but notices the top shelf stuff. When Sam gets his he sniffs it and takes a moment to enjoy it and savour this new found safety and purpose. Dean is content. It feels like the show has been reborn.

It is nice the way they've been easing the tone of the endings up over the last several episodes. 8.10 - uneasy reunion. 8.11 - truce, and the foreshadowing of a sense of community. 8.12 - solidarity, but still in isolation. 8.13 - homecoming.

I'm glad they've gone this tack. Obviously bad things are going to happen. That's necessary to create drama. But there needs to be a lighter side to raise the stakes. If they characters are miserable all the time, why should the audience be invested? Sam and Dean might be better off dead. There has to be something we want them to have. Giant, magically powered library/Bat Cave? ... Yes. Yes, I want them to have one of those. :)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

It's weird. I feel like I have emotional whiplash. Boredom, boredom, mild irritation, growing disgust with the chara - sudden adoration!

I know! I don't get it. I mean, I'm thrilled we are getting this now. I was SO SO worry that the patterns that they had set up in the first half is what we were always going to get. It had such a different feel. So, whiplash = yes.

But I love the whole complex weight of the way the world worked.

Yes. I love how this opens us such a wealth of new possibilities. I love that now they can feel like they can really make a difference and be on the front foot. I remember Carver saying that the boys would be fighting on their terms. I have no idea what that meant, but maybe this is it. If they have the knowledge they become more powerful than just being hunters being pulled around by the supernatural. I LOVE IT!

And yet they are able to perceive the golem as a rational being with feelings of his own with whom they can interact as a person, and they're quite happy to let Aaron manage him.

I feel that this was quite a new approach for them. I mean, they are both on the same page again about not killing the monster just because it's a monster. Like the girl they let go in Bitten. (it also cements that Sam's wish for Benny to be dead is not about him being a monster - it's much more about him being with Dean and possibly deceiving him).

Obviously bad things are going to happen. That's necessary to create drama.

No doubt. But hopefully the bad things won't be between them. Hopefully they've moved on from all that. They will always have disagreements but lets hope we don't see that level of nastiness between them (ever again!!).

YAY SHOW!!! Welcome back! <333