9.05 episode reaction/review

[ash48]

Before I get into this I have to spend a moment geeking over the motel room. Firstly YAY so good do see a motel room again and double YAY because I ADORE the diamond theme. It's directly linked to the MoTW (snake - as he first appeared) and the name of the motel "Diamond Tim" could be in reference to Tim Friede, a man who injects himself with snake venom in order to become immune to it. He's even quoted as saying “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”. I wonder if he might have even been the inspiration to this weeks MoTW story.



I swear those curtains look like snake skin. I have some more pics here on tumblr. Love the diamonds repeated on the bedspread, walls and room divider. I would love to think they chose this theme because of snake skin.

Also - prop reuse: bed head (such a popular item), lamp and I am sure that painting has been used before. (yay!)

Ok. ::koff::…now that I've got that out of my system.

This episode ticked enough boxes for me that it goes into the "very enjoyable" episode category. It ticked the biggest box of them all - SAM 'N DEAN, SAM 'N DEAN SAM 'N DEAN which pretty much makes up for anything it might have been lacking.

So much Sam and Dean screen time I actually felt spoiled. And they were so GOD DAMN ADORABLE together. THAT ENDING!! I almost thought Dean was going to lick Sam's face. *g* I will never not love concerned Dean and hurt!Sam (or hurt!Dean, concerned Sam). But I also loved the wonderful collection of Sam bitch faces and shit eating grins. Loved his pure, unadulterated fondness of Dean. Dean also seems weirdly content.

It's like they are prefect brothers at the moment. WHICH IS WHY IT HURTS SO MUCH!!

I swear they are doing this deliberately - showing us everything that works in their relationship (no arguing, working a case, snark, concern for each other, a comfortableness that they share so easily) just so it will KILL US EVEN MORE when it shatters into a million pieces when Sam finds out what's going on (and the longer it goes on the worse it's gonna get I reckon). And he's getting closer.

I could moan that it's taking too long or that Dean really should man up and tell Sam, but it's story telling and it's the major myth arc at the moment. I actually don't mind the bread crumbs - the little moments with Zeke. Dean is treading on very thin ice and, I don't know about you, but it makes me squirrrrrm. I'm not sure now if Sam knows for sure Dean is lying and he's just biding his time, or he's seriously slow at putting two and two together. I do hope they don't drag it out too much longer though.

I do like that we are still getting glimpses of him just wanting it to be over - for Sam to be fully healed and Zeke gone. In that opening scene it looked Dean was trying to talk directly to Zeke. As though he wants some indication that it's working and he'll be finished healing Sam.

In many ways this was a classic SPN episode. Not the full on angsty classic ones, but the rather silly (almost making fun of itself one). It had a weird MoTW, gore, blood splatter, motel room, funny moments, pop culture references (Game of Thrones mentioned again…), final in-car bro shot etc. At least Sam and Dean weren't totally out of character (like in Yellow Fever or Swap Meat) - there was enough of the real them to keep this episode work.

I did enjoy Dean's early dog moments. The fetch scene might just be one of my all time funniest moments in the show EVER. I seriously laughed out loud. It wore a little thin after a while, but *shrugs* I didn't mind. It was nice to see Jensen (and Jared for that matter) having some fun. And HA! Dogs are not man's best friend but rather have a "secret" reason for being here. Reminded me of the dolphins from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

The only thing I didn't like so much was the animal voices. I'm not sure why, but I felt like they didn't quite hit the mark. I think they were meant to be funny, but I felt they lacked…something (quality of voice over maybe?). No biggie, but I did feel myself squirming a bit during some of those scenes.

I felt quite a pang during the cat scene. My cat passing is still raw and seeing that black and white one…*sniff* (I actually muttered…no, not cats...).

Curious that Kevin was mentioned in the opening but not Cas. Also…Kevin is the go-to "Bobby" guy now? I thought Garth was filling that role (I think it's a shame that Garth hasn't at least been mentioned this season. It's like he suddenly doesn't exist. I realise that he's not a focus at the moment, but it might not hurt to at least give him a nod).

I like that we had further acknowledgement about what Dean is thinking when it comes to Sam. His line…"he was possessed by something he couldn't control" was so telling (and quite possibly foreboding). I'm not sure if Dean's "trust me Sammy, you have nothing to worry about" was more for Sam or himself. Ack. So messed up!! I love it. :))

And now I leave you with these because I will never tire of bro touching...





(Hmm, I wonder if it's purely coincidence that Dean has had his hands on Cas, Charlie and now Sam's face recently. Maybe as Cas and Charlie were actually dead when he did that in the other episodes, him doing it here was to mirror him thinking Sam might be dead. I dunno, just seems like a thing. Or, as I do, I'm just over thinking it. ;)

Comments

[ash48.livejournal.com]

What about this…(been pondering this a bit now…) could Sam be thinking that the effect of the trials are changing him. Allowing him to heal himself for example. It could easily be running through Sam's mind. Last season he tried to keep the effects of the trials a secret from Dean. If he's starting to think that he's still chaining from the trials (only this time is making him feel great) he might want to keep that from Dean as well. Especially as Dean doesn't seem too concerned.

Of course, if he was thinking all that it would be good if we got some sort of sign. It annoys me when we have to make up our own head canon to fill in the gaps. Personally, I like the idea that Sam would reason that waking up healed (and being asked "what are you") has something to do with the after effects of the trials.

[spnmonster.livejournal.com]

I hadn't thought of that. Yes, it's a possibility. I like that idea.

Here's a question. If Ezekiel was at half power, as he said, before he resurrected Charlie and then he healed Sam too, where does that leave him? We saw how he flashed out after healing Sam. That seemed to take everything he had. What happens if he doesn't heal? Could he "die" inside Sam and if so what would that do? Would some remnant of his grace be left inside Sam? I mean Sam is a really powerful vessel. I don't think it would make Sam an angel, but would he have something? I don't know, just speculating here. Would that remove or balance whatever is left of the stain in Sam's blood?

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Oooh, that's interesting also. It sure would put a twist on things. It would also explain why Zeke was no where to be seen when Sam was unconscious (it signalled that he was really sick I reckon). oooooh…and it also makes sense of why Zeke has had to do so much healing lately. Sam (three times!), Cas and Charlie. They didn't have to have him do that much healing (no reason why either Cas or Charlie had to die in those episodes - other than us seeing Dean constantly confronting death of loved ones). I wonder if there's another angle - that being making Zeke so sick that he either dies or stops being able to heal Sam.

Damn.

And yeah, if he dies what happens to his grace. Maybe Sam does somehow absorb it (which, totally WILD speculation here, makes me wonder if grace can transfer from one angel/person to another. As in…Cas…)

[spnmonster.livejournal.com]

Right. I have to think that they are intentionally weakening Ezekiel for a reason. The question is what effect that will have on both Sam and Ezekiel. What I don't want is for the angel to get stuck in there for any significant amount of time, or as I said, for Sam to become an angel. I don't know, maybe if he died his residual grace would finish healing Sam?

[ash48.livejournal.com]

maybe if he died his residual grace would finish healing Sam?

Which might be the endgame maybe? I don't want Sam to become an angel either - I mean, it wouldn't be anything permanent so if they did toy with the idea of making him an angel it would only be temporary. But I don't think they are going that route. Actually, I honestly think they are just building up to an angsty show down between Sam and Dean (they'll fight and make up). Zeke will either not want to or can't leave for some reason and the boys will have to figure out a way to get rid of him.

Maybe by keeping Zeke weak we can see that he's got a reason for wanting to stay in Sam. But Sam looks so goddamn healthy so I struggle to believe Dean thinks Zeke should still be in there. I'm not sure why we haven't been seeing Sam as still weak (certainly off his game to be injured so many times) so we can understand why Dean still thinks Zeke needs to be in there.

Probably sloppy writing - or lack of continuity between episodes.

[casey28.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure why we haven't been seeing Sam as still weak

Sam appears to be healthy, but that's only because of Zeke's presence inside him.