9.01 Episode review/reaction

[ash48]

Show is back and I mean...BAAACK!



That was a damn solid and satisfying season opener. Welcome back show!! \o/ Way to make an entrance!

There was massive mirroring in this episode and even though I can hear some say "but we've been here before" I think that's the point. They used past character issues and have opened themselves up to really begin to explore and examine those issues. The door is wide open with possibilities and I am very excited by those. In the word of Death -"Well played!" (ha! assuming this IS about addressing the stuff they've done before...).

Let's go!

Counting the ways:

1. Ok. So we've been in Sam's head before. It's a pretty intense place and man that guy is messed up. As with The Man Who Knew Too Much, he's using his subconscious to wrestle a decision. This time it's between the resignation of death and the will to fight. It's highly appropriate that Bobby represents the invitation of death (a fatherly figure that gives good advice) and that Dean represents the fight (the voice that is always the reason to fight). "Real" Bobby might encourage Sam to fight, but this isn't a Sam who wants to live. This is a very broken Sam and he's ready to leave. (I have to say I am mighty relieved to see this as the way Bobby was brought back).

2. I am going to cut straight to it here and confirm that Sam did not want to die and leave Dean "alone out there" like he fought against in TMWKTM - this is a Sam who wants to die because he feels he has done enough damage already. Enough damage to people (and the world) in general and most importantly - enough damage to Dean. I think it's very important that we remember the state we left Sam in in the finale. He felt he let Dean down. He STILL feels he let Dean down and he, and the rest of the world, would be better off without him. (And NO, he's not a bleeding heart who needs sympathy. He's a man who as given enough - his own subconscious had to remind himself that HE saved Bobby from Hell - not Dean). He's a man who knows the world will fair much better without him screwing up all the time. He asks Death to promise there's no way he can come back - mainly so he can stop hurting the one person that matters the most. It's heartbreaking (but fucking awesome!)

3. In the end Sam agreed to Dean helping him because he still trusts Dean to know what to do. The fact that "his" Dean didn't have a plan was significant because the Dean that came to him in the end did. Sam relies on that. He trusts that. He believes in Dean. And he returns for Dean.

4. Dean Dean Dean. Oh Dean. Dean's been here before. A dying brother with a massive decision to make. Once again he chooses Sam's life, but this time he doesn't sacrifice himself (by selling his soul), he sacrifices Sam. It's a little like the decision to re-soul him in S6. He did that against Sam's will and - as with his own soul sacrifice in S2 - it had dire consequences. Will this be the season that Dean comes to realise what bringing Sam back from the dead means? Will this be the opportunity for Dean to examine his complete and utter need for Sam to be alive? I actually believed Dean when he told Death it wasn't his time. Sam wanted to die for the wrong reasons, so I think Dean made the right decision (much like giving him his soul back). Sure...it's wrong is so many ways - but this is what will create the story and potential to examine this issues in his character this season. I did love how competent Dean was (as a hunter) in this episode.

5. And I totally believe that that was Dean who came to Sam at the end. I know that the angel appeared at the very end but I (well, we - the lovely peeps I was watching it with) came to the conclusion that Ezekiel was channeling Dean allowing him to persuade Sam. That wasn't the angel "pretending" to be Dean - it came from Dean's heart. Which means Zeke rode Dean into Sam's head and the three of them kinda soul bonded (shuddup! That totally happened!)

6. I found it really interesting the way Castiel and Hael's story mirrored what was going on with Sam, Dean and Ezekiel. Hael's vessel was deteriorating and needed Castiel's much stronger one - Zeke needed a strong vessel to heal and needed permission to possess Sam. I think even though Sam's body is weakened he must still be very strong (he housed Lucifer after all!). I think it will be a very interesting story line. It opens up all sorts of questions - not least, what will happen when he decides he "could like it here" and not want to leave Sam.

7. Ok, so there's a potential rift likely to develop between the boys, but I am much happier with this rift making issue that last season's. Something like this might actually drive them to actually talk about Dean making decisions for and on behalf of Sam and them keeping secrets from each other (again). Of course Sam might just turn to Dean and say..."Good call man. Thanks. I wasn't in a fit state to make a life and death decision". Yeah...maybe not. But I can't imagine what they will do. Sam storming off is hardly going to cut it this time. I think (hope) they'll have something more interesting up their sleeves for this resolution.

8. I was happy with how they handled Cas, for the most part. The only silly moment was him trying to knock out the phone guy with his "powers" when he knew he'd lost his grace and wings. Though, he still had angel radio so maybe he though he still had some angel powers. No idea how all that angel power stuff works. The other angels seem to have powers so maybe it's their grace that gives them that. I did love the laundry scene. A great moment of indecision. I think it was no mistake that we saw the sign "Do not overload the washing machines" while he was looking at the vending machine. His dilemma was very human in the end. I also liked that he took charge and stopped listening to Hael has she tried to persuade him to let her use his vessel. We might see a stronger Cas emerge after this.

9. Loved the opening scene in car - mostly because of the way it was filmed. The car seemed to float and there was that wonderful red and blue light we saw in the cage promo. Might not represent heaven and hell as such, but I think it's definitely representing the decision Sam needs to make. There is also A LOT of red and blue throughout the episode.




Other general stuff:

Title card looks AMAZING! Ok - it signals a full on angel season (which, yeah - can't say I'm thrilled about that) - but wow! Looks stunning.

Fantastic "then". (Looked like a cool fanvid). AND THAT SONG!!! "Who Do You Love?" <33

SAM AND DEAN!! SAM AND DEEEAAAANNNN!!! OMG! Their messed up, co-dependent, all consuming love was what that episode was all about! Holy crap - it's great to be back here again.

DEAN IS NOT DEAN WITHOUT SAM! I know that's totally messed up, but THAT'S WHY I WATCH THIS SHOW!

SAM STILL NEEDS DEAN! I know that's totally messed up, but THAT'S WHY I WATCH THIS SHOW!

Ezekiel was great! And now he's IN SAM! He's INSIDE SAM! (we will get some Ezekiel/Sam won't we? Won't we?! It's gotta be Samkeil surely?! Or Ezesam! *smirk* ) SAM HAS AN ANGEL! (and holy crap that's all kind of wrong and messed up and awesome. *guh* I hope they do some amazing stuff with that). ETA: Ha! Apparently there's running joke about this on the set. They clarify this as an angel looking through Sam - not inside him.

If Dean is paired with Cas and Sam is paired with Zeke does this mean they'll all live happily ever after with their own angels? Teehee...

Will Zeke be using Sam's soul to repair himself -like Cas had to do when he touched Bobby's soul? That could open up an interesting can of worms.

Grand Canyon! Way to make up for their last gaff. Great little "yeah, we know we messed up" to us.

Death is IMPRESSED by Sam! (awesome scene <3)

We got work to do! \o/

So. Great episode - (which I actually appreciated more on the second viewing). Lots of delicious potential! I am back in my happy SPN place - that was just messed up enough to make me really excited for the future eps. BRING IT!! (now please...)

Note/disclaimer about my review posts: Even though I re-read my posts I am terrible at proof reading so sorry for the mistakes. I love hearing other people's opinions on an episode, even if they are not in sync with mine. So feel free to let me know what you thought if you want to! :)

Comments

[ash48.livejournal.com]

How did Dean ever let Sam go in "The End"? Was he just too beat up to lunge out and grab him like Michael!Adam tried to do?

Actually, another good point. He DID let Sam go, and not only to die but to live forever in Lucifer's cage. So yeah, Dean obviously can let go (but just not in S9 it seems...)

Also, my dream of starting the season with a Sam who's fully, certainly himself continues to go unfulfilled. :(

Ha, I did like that comment in your journal. You could even argue that even in the pilot Sam had been manipulated and "controlled" to get him where he is at that point (according to Lucifer in Swan Song), so even then he wasn't truly himself. Does Sam even remember how to be himself? I wonder if he even knows what that is. Poor boys needs a break...

[percysowner.livejournal.com]

There are two ways to look at Dean reverting to not letting Sam go. The first is that he let Sam go in Swan Song and when he got Sam back and saw all the fallout he went back to protective older brother. The other is a less positive view of Dean. Dean has had little control over his life and he needs it as much as Sam does, but expresses it differently. He can let Sam go as long as Sam consults with Dean and Dean signs off on it. So when Sam asked Dean's permission to jump into the Cage, Dean could deal because in the end, Sam said he wouldn't do it if Dean said no.

One of my big problems with Sam's arc is that the message is that Sam can not make any decisions on his own. When he does he not only fails, he destroys the world. Sam goes to college and Jess is murdered because she is his girlfriend. Sam decides to not kill John. This leads to the crash, John selling his soul and starting Dean's downward spiral. Sam decides to not kill Jake, to hope he can convince Jake to not kill him or to die pure. That leads to Dean selling his soul and going to Hell. In Mystery Spot Sam decides to save Dean from the Trickster's world and becomes a cold obsessed sociopath. Then Sam tries to save Dean and fails. So Sam goes back to the family business saving people, hunting things and John's whole reason for living, revenge. And in reality using his powers DID save a whole boatload of people, thousands if you count the town in It's the Great Pumpkin. But Dean decides he doesn't want that and Sam, who is finally doing what Dean wanted him to for all those years uses his own judgement and releases Lucifer. By season five Sam is relegated to having to do exactly what Dean approves of in order to save the world. He is not allowed to think for himself. In season six Sam comes back soulless and then decides to try Dean's learn to act as if he has a soul. Then Dean decides to cram Sam's soul back in him, against Sam's wishes and this is presented as good because Soulless Sam can't make the right decision. When Sam wants to find out what he did when soulless and Dean doesn't and Sam tries anyway, the wall cracks and once again Sam has to defer to what Dean thinks is best. Then Cas breaks the wall and leaves Sam alone in a fractured head. Sam does make the decision to come back and stand with Dean, but the result is insanity and Sam being forced to rely on Dean to show him what is real and what is not. When Dean decides to lie to the person he swore he would keep grounded in reality by being stone one, Sam is forced to APOLOGIZE TO DEAN for being mad at being lied to. (I hate that storyline with a passion). When Sam finally collapses under the weight of everything tells Dean that he is pretty well ready to die. Dean finds Cas and cures Sam. Then Dean disappears in a puff of Leviathan and Sam decides to not repeat the mistakes of losing Dean the first time and Sam doesn't turn to the family business and hunting and trying fruitlessly to save Dean. And that turns out to be the wrong thing to do as well, because Dean never meant it when they agreed to let what's dead stay dead for once. Virtually every single time Sam makes a decision on his own, the show portrays him as wrong. Sam keeps trying to do what he thinks is right and what he promised Dean, but the goalposts keep changing. If he tries to save Dean he is wrong. If he lets go of Dean he is wrong. If he fights his way back to Dean, he is insane. If he accepts death Dean tricks him into becoming an angel condom AND keeps him ignorant of what is going on. Sam's storyline frustrates the heck out of me.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Sam's storyline frustrates the heck out of me.

Ok. Wow, I can see why. I'm not going to disagree with that because it's everything that has happened. The only difference is that all of those this are the reasons why I find Sam such an interesting character - and possibly why I love him so much. And yeah - it frustrates the hell out of me at times also, but I think Sam has had a crazy interesting storyline over the years and has made him one hell of an interesting character (obviously a personal interpretation).

I think an equally screwed up list could be made for Dean (and Dean selling his soul to save Sam was his decision and doing that has a list a mile long of ramifications). I don't see Sam deciding not to kill Jake as a bad thing. That's Sam's compassion. Dean selling his soul to bring Sam back was a bad thing - and created a lot of what happened next for Sam to happen.

I dunno. Maybe I'm just too tolerant or I look passed the faults. All of that stuff is much of where my love probably comes from. It's impossibly screwed up and messy and is essentially what keeps this universe alive. If this were a show say like, um..maybe NCIS, then we would have these massively complete character story lines. But then I probably wouldn't love it so much. (NCIS may not be a good example, I'm thinking more about dramas that are driven purely by the mystery rather than characterisation. Especially as NCIS is hugely popular -hopefully you know what I mean).

Also. I'm thinking they still need to head somewhere with these characters - I know that some growth has already been made and that seems to have been neglected, but I think they are having to develop some new "issues" to keep the drama alive. Good or bad, I suppose that's in the eye of the individual viewer. I've read things that say Sam should have just been better and then this decision wouldn't have had to be made. But...I don't get. That's were the drama is. Most people seemed to be bored with S7 - mainly because the brothers were pretty much on a even keel. *shrugs*

[0cta8iamond.livejournal.com]

So ok, when it comes to Sam, Dean can be a control freak who is even manipulative at times(guess he takes after John in that). But his controlling tendencies mostly manifest in
keeping Sam beside him regardless what Sam wants, doing what Dean is best at & likes the most; hunting forever with Sam. If it happens that what Sam likes the most is something entirely different, well, how dare he betray Dean & the family business? Shotgun should just shut his cakehole & ride along.

As for Dean letting Sam go, when he actually did it, he was practically compelled to do so under pressure from Death, Bobby, Cass, the world, & Sam himself. So he did, & it left him with a bad taste in his mouth & a black hole in his being, & he's not about to do it again. And after choosing Sam over the mission so that he'd keep his brother, only to find out that completion or not Sam dies anyway... that's probably more than enough to drive Dean over the edge.

Re Sam & choices, however, I don't think that up to the point of Lucifer Rising Sam ever really had a choice. Sure he could take option a, b, c or d, but since his life up to that point was closely monitored & manipulated, it didn't really matter. Whatever choice he made, whether it be a sensible one, a highly moral one, a more of a gray area one, or anything in between, there were always contingency plans to FIX the results of those choices, such as monster trucks, John, the other special children, Ruby, Cass, or even Dean.

What actually changed the rules was when they began using hex bags & ribcage segils(cutesy of Ruby & Cass) that hid them from Heaven & Hell, making Sam's choices finally almost his, except by that point the apocalypse has started & there wasn't much room for choices, Sam was already doomed. And to make it even better, Dean(along with more than half of the fandom)as well as Sam didn't believe that Sam has the ability to make the right choices.

It gets better for Sam by the end of season 5(if that's how we'd call THAT) when he realizes the extent of the manipulation he's been under his whole life; it's not that he can't make the right choice, but rather he never had the freedom that allows the presence of choice to begin with. But even then, since he sees himself mostly through Dean's eyes, he still thinks he's the younger brother who always misses things up, even after anything between 200 & 5000 years(it depends)in the Cage with the best of company, he can regress to that state of mind with the drop of a hat.

So the way I see it, if you step back, way back, & take a look at the grand scheme of things, the message is about the bad choices everyone around Sam have been making, & how those choices influenced his life & what little freedom of choice he ever had.

[casey28.livejournal.com]

He let go of Sam in Swan Song, because it was the only way to trap Lucifer in the cage again, and save the world. But Dean never gave up on trying to rescue Sam, and he did get Sam's soul back.