9.14 Ep reaction/review

[ash48]

I may need to sit on this episode for a while. Mull it over a bit (as ya do). I think there was some interesting stuff in there, it's just that I came off it feeling much like the boys did. Lack lustre and sad. There's no doubt it's difficult to watch when there's such a rift between them.

Seeing Kevin again was no surprise. Death doesn't mean you're off the show after all. :) I was pleased that at least he had a purpose for being there and I'm seriously glad they resolved the storyline with Mrs T. But wow - tortured for a year? Man, this show can be so cruel.

It was nice to see Mrs Tran again. I'm really glad the fact she was mentioned early in the season led somewhere. Though making Sam out to be stupid by not knowing which wires to cut in order to make her look kickass was cheap. Wasn't Sam a handyman when Dean was in Purgatory? And isn't like some sort of brainiac? He'd know all about wiring….sheesh.

The angel story line doesn't particularly interest me but I did like Cas's development. Becoming a different kind of leader than he was before makes some sense and isn't unexpected. He'll no doubt lead the charge to restore heaven. We're beginning to see a confident, competent and compassionate Cas - which I rather like. I wonder if he'll ever stop looking puzzled though?

And I can't help feel sorry for all those vessels. The human collateral. :(

Ok. So I gotta talk about SamnDean.

I have to admit I was feeling a little deflated by the end of the episode. I liked that Sam is still rightly pissed and walked away but this episode gave us a pretty clear indication that it's Sam who holds this relationship to ransom and therefore he's the one who'll have to approach Dean and say sorry and forgive him. That continues to worry me and I will be bitterly disappointed if it's resolved this way. That's not to say I want to continue to watch them like this. It's bloody depressing. I've never felt less joy watching an episode before. The last time I felt this down about them being together was after their reunion in S8. Just being together for the sake of it. *sniff*

As much as Kevin's speech made me want to say "yes yes"and slap them both upside the head it would be terribly disappointing if this is all resolved by Sam instantly forgiving Dean or Sam saying sorry for being pissed at him. If they have opened this huge can of worms I can only hope they deal it with the satisfactorily.

There was something that gave me a little bit of hope though (or it might be despair, depending which way it plays out).

Mrs Tran talked about Kevin being her responsibility and it was her right to take her son with her, even if it meant it could turn bad for Kevin. She said it was her responsibility to keep him safe. I felt this was directly related to how Dean feels about Sam. It's his right to keep Sam safe and so he'll do what he has to do.

This depressed me at first because I thought this could be vindicating Dean's actions. Mrs Tran and Kevin were the happy picture of "family" and the message seemed to be - if you have a responsibility it's ok to make choices that could turn bad.

But now I wonder if maybe this is being set up for a future episode where Kevin does actually begin to change and suffer and Mrs Tran has to make a choice about letting him go? Will Dean be the one to convince her to let Kevin go and maybe begin to understand what letting go and holding on means? Probably not - but I'm hoping there's something more here than Mrs Tran and Kevin ascending the stairs to a "perfect" family life (well, as perfect as a ghost and human sharing a life can be).

Either way, I'm sure we'll see Kevin and Mrs T again.

But wow. How so depressing Show… :( I love the angst but without the fire it's just plain sadness.


Other than that….

I did love that both boys were yelling for each other when the ghost activity started. No matter what personal issues are between them they still care very much about what happens to the other. And Sam saved Dean. A small, unsung moment but it was there. (\o/)

At the end it was nice that we saw that moment of hesitation from Sam as he came to his room - it would have been even nicer to have been able to go inside with him. How interesting it might have been to be able to share his pain for a moment. As usual we get to share Dean's and it was interesting how hardened he looked. It wasn't a sadness, but rather a determination to not approach Sam on the matter either. Sam made it clear it's not going to be resolved by simply "moving on" and Dean was honouring that.

The boys looked weary. Shaving is clearly too much of a chore when you're fighting your brother. ;)

I was strangely unmoved by Dean's apology to Kevin. I'm not sure why. It might be because I get that Dean is gutted by what happened but instead of saying sorry I want to see him understand things on a deeper level and really work out what he has to be sorry for. But…*shrugs*…I'm not sure how they're going to be playing that out. I just have to be patient I think.

Both boys were in tight shirts in the beginning. I think we have to appreciate what's really important in this episode. ;) And Sam with a sword = *guh* (though, um… sword vs ghost? Lead sword maybe?)

It's always great to have show back, but boy I look forward to feeling joy after watching an episode rather than sadness.

(I have comments to answer on my recent post but I've run out of time tonight. Thanks for your interesting thoughts though. I swear I will let this go. One day.)

Comments

[tebtosca.livejournal.com]

I thought it was a solid episode (although I'm a bit biased because Berens and I have bonded over twitter and I think he's a doll lol) in that it was well-paced, progressed the mytharc in an interesting way (I like that the human souls are trapped in the veil), and the character interactions felt pretty natural.

I will say that I'm a bit confused at the moment about what the show's POV is. Mama Tran quite clearly reiterated Dean's POV, then Kevin pulled a "Boo Hoo Princess" Bobby speech and mocked Dean's emo manpain. So is Sam's POV, the one that says "fuck you, I don't have to suck up what has happened to me", the show's POV? I'm not quite sure yet.

I will say that two things seem clear to be now after this episode. The first is that they are isolating Dean emotionally in order to take him on some kind of darkside arc. I would bet money that's where we are heading, so I do think that not only do they need to stretch out the reconciliation between he and Sam, but I don't think they are going to make it as easy as "Sam sucks it up and forgives Dean."

The second is that Cas is being setup to eventually take over Heaven and correct what the corrupt angels had done to it. I think the brief glimpse of humanity was not about him eventually choosing to be human again, but about him finally having the final piece of the puzzle that will allow him to understand what God intended when he created them. Also, Misha gets to carry his own separate story so that J2 get all the time off they've been getting this year. Win-win for everyone lol.

I will say that the ending made me feel really bad for Sam. He says something to Dean --fandom rips him apart. He doesn't say something to Dean --fandom still rips him apart. The poor schmuck can't win!

[killabeez.livejournal.com]

And if Dean does have a darkside arc, it's quite plain now that that's Sam's fault, too.

[tebtosca.livejournal.com]

Not really. If anything, it'll be the fault of Dean's tendency to act now-think later. I do think the show is leaning towards showing how that is the wrong way for him to be.

p.s. Almost Human boyssssss <3

[percysowner.livejournal.com]

I'd agree if anyone, anyone (possibly including Crowley but I'd prefer a "good" character) voiced the slightest criticism of Dean. Instead everyone is fluffing the special relationship and Dean just being too trusting and too loving while telling Sam to just get over it.

[tebtosca.livejournal.com]

Kevin called him out about his self-pity party in this very episode

[percysowner.livejournal.com]

And then told Sam to just get over it. That is putting all the responsibility for the relationship on Sam, who is the wronged party here.

[tebtosca.livejournal.com]

I think that was more of a "Coming from a dead guy, at least you two are still alive and kicking and have the capability to sit the fuck down and work it out."

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

I like these thoughts a lot.

[cassiopeia7.livejournal.com]

I will say that the ending made me feel really bad for Sam. He says something to Dean --fandom rips him apart. He doesn't say something to Dean --fandom still rips him apart. The poor schmuck can't win!

Too damned true!

[de-nugis.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of confuddled about what they are doing with Dean. They brought him to a point where they could have done a redemption arc, or where they could do a darkside arc. Narratively, either would work. But so far he's just kind of plonked himself down in the place where he is and done nothing. It's kind of surreal. I mean, obviously Dean is there with all his Dean emoceans, but as far as the impetus of the story goes, I feel almost like I'm watching Sam react to an empty space or an inanimate object, because there's nothing coming from Dean that can make a story, nothing of change or the possibility of change. It's almost surreal, though I'm not expressing it well. We should be asking if this is going to be Dean's damnation or his salvation, and it feels like we're getting "Eh, probably neither, really. Sam may stop being mad anyway. Or maybe he won't. Or maybe we'll have an episode about aardvarks."

Meanwhile, Sam's grey v-neck shirt does good things for his nipples.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

i just noticed your emoceans - AWESOME! Made me grin like a loon.

[tebtosca.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I think it's just Carver's pacing issues, season-wide. I'm sure they are going to stretch it out and then drop hints (I'm betting we start getting small references to the Mark soon, or Dean acting funny) and then it'll culminate in the last 2 or 3 episodes of the season. It's the same way they refuse to sit the boys down and have them talk it out -- because reconciliation this soon takes away the dramatic tension they need for the end of the season (and beyond? Maybe)

I can't pretend that I didn't watch that opening scene a few times just for that grey shirt.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

"Dean emoceans"

I may well have to pinch that expression one day.

*sits and waits for the aardvark episode*

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

"I will say that the ending made me feel really bad for Sam." Yup - I want them to reconcile but not at any cost. I really hope they will do it right. (They being the writers not the characters!).

Mmm and I hope you are right about the dark mark - and I'd like to see Sam save Dean after lots of hurt Dean moments.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I thought the script was pretty solid (except for the wiring section). And even though I don't care much about the angel factions I found those scene fairly engaging - me telling Cas not to kill the angel (as if he could hear me) means I was pretty engaged…;)

So is Sam's POV, the one that says "fuck you, I don't have to suck up what has happened to me", the show's POV? I'm not quite sure yet.

It's murky. I'm not sure the show knows its pov yet. I find the opening choices of dialogue the most telling thing. What does the Show think is important up to this point? They gave us Sam telling Dean he did it for himself and then Dean saying "you'd do the same if it was me" and Sam saying "No Dean, I wouldn't" - leaving out the crucial "same circumstances". I've tried to work it out from that but it's still not clear.

The first is that they are isolating Dean emotionally in order to take him on some kind of darkside arc. I would bet money that's where we are heading

That final moment from Dean certainly made it look like he was going to internalise the pain and may very well go dark side. If he feels he doesn't have Sam to live for maybe he'll take on whatever suicide mission the Mark will present. The only concern I will have for that is that will definitely make Sam look like the cause of Dean downfall - if Dean goes off the deep end because he thinks Sam doesn't love him then Sam will definitely feel like he's the cause of it. I can't even bear to think how many strips fandom will pull off Sam if that happens. Even if he goes dark side because he can't live with what he's done (though that doesn't see like much of an issue at the moment?) Sam will somehow get the blame.

I suppose it depends on what their plans are for next season though and what happens with the Mark.

Also, Misha gets to carry his own separate story so that J2 get all the time off they've been getting this year.

Yes, it looks like Cas is developing his own storyline outside of SamnDean. I suppose with him being such a fan favourite they felt they could have him carry half the story to give the boys some time off. That doesn't really bother me I suppose. I mean, I'd love every episode to be all SamnDean but I also feel for them so can appreciate the needs for a less heavy schedule.

He doesn't say something to Dean --fandom still rips him apart. The poor schmuck can't win!

I haven't gone looking for reactions to Sam because I thought the hate would still be there. I am pleased that I haven't seen any of it on LJ (yet). Most reactions I've read felt that it would be too soon for them to make up. Though Sam walking off isn't going to make him any friends (what was that I was saying about him being unsympathetic?). But I keep thinking…what was he going to say? Dean looked like he was ready to just hold normal conversation and Sam just wasn't ready to deal with that. With hurt as deep as Sam's I can understand his reaction (just a shame we don't actually get to see that hurt - instead it makes him look like the selfish little brother much of fandom believe he already is).

Stupid messy show.