ash48 | 8.20 Ep reaction

Dear Robbie...

NO WHERE!!

OMFG!!! Can we just take a moment to...SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

As near to a perfect ep for me as you can get!

Awesome bromance, sick!Sam, caring, worried, protective Dean, Dean being AWESOME, Sam being AWESOME, Dean looking INCREDIBLE! (*guh* that guy can wear a uniform), Charlie being AWESOME, interesting MoTW, bunker being AMAZING - THEY HAVE A SHOOTING RANGE!!! ARGHHHHHHHH! \o/, characters given DEPTH, WITTY dialogue, positive fangirl representation, opening sequence of squee, reference to the SPN books, Sam being recognised for how strong her is, Dean's nightmare being Sam in a hospital bed, Dean continuing his hug fest, HUUUUUUGGGSSSSSS,

But my favourite....

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

Exterior bunkerPS

Comfort! It's so perfect. I never saw the connection to a hobbit's home before. But there it is - round door and everything. :D The bunker oozes comfort and safety and home.

Going a little deeper:

Dean and his current hug fest.

I happened upon a comment that Dean is out of character giving so many hugs (not on LJ). It made me think. Certainly the earlier seasons didn't have Dean hugging so much. It could be that they are pandering to our love of the bro hugs OR it could be that we are seeing character development.

I'm going with the latter. This episode in particular highlighted Dean's growing ability to let people in. He knows about loss and I am now seeing a Dean who is taking the chance to say "I love you" or "I care about you" with a hug. It's almost like he's taking the chance while he can. He knows how fragile life is in his world and he's now, quite literally, embracing it. I like it. Dean's happier than I can really ever remember. Even with Sam struggling, Dean is in a familiar place. He's scared, but I also see him ready to take on the fight.

Also there's:

Charlie: What about you? Are you going to let it go?
Dean: Never

Once again we see Dean giving advice but not being able to follow it himself. He can't let Sam go. Yet. Maybe his final step of development will be being able to let him go (as Charlie has done with her mother), but for the moment he's hanging on. Thank god!! Please keep hanging on Dean.

There is pretty much nothing the Winchesters can't do if they work together.

Word! I hope this is a reference to what's to come as the finale approaches. I can only believe the success of these trials will come down to the boys working together.

If anyone can get through the trials Sam, it's you

It's interesting how Charlie has said the words that's need to be said to both Sam and Dean. Sam has shown his strength over and over - it's so nice to have it acknowledged from an outside pov. I am so intrigued by what's actually happening to Sam. I think it has to be more than just dying - they've done that too many times now. I think some sort of change in him could be interesting. I am not going to speculate, nor am I reading speculations. Alls I can say is I can't wait to see how this will play out.

Charlie

Robbie has a great way of rounding out characters. He did it with Meg and now with Charlie. We got some history and we saw character growth. Her story also related to the boys. She's strong and independent, knowledgable and kickass. She's also emotional and recognises her flaws. No wonder Dean admires her so much. I also like that she has fangirl qualities that are endearing and not condensing to the fangirl audience. A truly wonderful addition to the Supernatural universe. I hope they keep her around until the very end.

Story structure

A good episode works best when it feels solid. When the story unfolds with moments of action, humour, warmth, myth arc progression, character progression and overall entertainment. Robbie alway manages to find the correct flow - peaks and troughs in the story telling. He uses past canon respectfully (I can only surmise that they had dream root in the boot of the car) and adds believable twists to what we already know about certain monsters (yay, fear feeding Djinn). It feels like he knows these characters and he knows them like we know them. He seemed to get right to the heart of what makes the show so loved - brotherly moments to die for. Let's hope this sets the theme for the remaining three episodes.

and now some gifs I made (I promise I won't spam you with all my gifs. They are so damn addicting. I AM going to be spamming Tumblr though, as I figure that's what the place is for...;D)

8.20-Miss-the-broment