9.23 reaction

[ash48]

I had a huge reaction post written out but decided it was far too negative and started to make me cry so I decided not to post it.

I will say that I didn't mind watching the episode (made all the better because I had zebra363 with me) but in all honesty it left me feeling pretty much nothing. Empty. Blank. Perhaps a bit annoyed, frustrated and sad.

I love these characters too much to see them wasted like this. To have them at odds all season just so we can have "near" apology scenes and confessions of "I lied". :(

For a whole season to mean absolutely nothing. To have gone absolutely no where. *sobs* (and not the good *sobs* - only S8 and S9 have reduced me to tears over loss of the show I fell in love with).

I need more time to process. I'm sure I will shake these blues away and find something salvageable here.

Though I'm thinking until Carver leaves I'll never see the Sam and Dean I grew to love.

I'd say they've already created their spin off. We watched it this season.

(PS: please, if you loved it and want to squee please feel free. I need to know it's worth hanging on to. I need to know that this is just all part of a plan to build this show back to something we recognise. I need to know that they didn't make Sam say important stuff only to have it completely and utterly ignored for a reason. I need to know that this hasn't just become the worst, predictable, most boring, fan servicing pile of... )

Comments

[hugemind.livejournal.com]

A giant heaping spoon of squee for me, please. ;)

If anything, this cemented to me that the boys are brothers and even though they might quibble and fight and try to hurt each other, they do love each other. And every fight brings them closer to understanding the other. We saw just how much Sam means to Dean, how desperate he got when Sam disavowed him, and how it lead to bad things just like Sam's desperation in S4 did. And we also saw how worried Sam still is that there is something wrong with him that just can't be fixed, how he deals with being disappointed with his brother, how he holds things in and tries to be the rational one out of the two, how he indulges Dean's big bro mode because Dean can't turn that off and so he lets Dean take the lead if they're on the same page but can step up if need be. And we saw that when it comes to each other, the boys are really still desperate enough to do anything to get the other back. Also, it's kinda interesting how nobody thought that Sam might be lying out of hurt when he said that he wouldn't bring Dean back, but I think that's stuff for a meta. :)

The near apology fitted the tone, because the boys are on the same page and know what the other is feeling and don't need the words (like in "Tall Tales" Sam tried to apologize with "Um, I just want to say that I'm, uh, um..." and Dean was all "Hey. Me too.") and they actually don't do full-on chick flick stuff all that often. Plus it would have broken me way worse if they had hugged it out only for Dean to end up as a demon a moment later.

I rewatched the season in the last couple of weeks so that on Tuesday my rewatch of the previous ep before a new ep coincided with the S9 marathon 9x22 rewatch, and the season feels coherent and it moved forward steadily. My only problem is that they keep stringing Cas along and so have to invent a storyline just for him (because with the boys he'd zap the monsters and heal the boys and, y'know, no drama). And juggling two stories that optimally are connected and are interesting both to the people they think only watch Show for Cas and to people who are here for the boys is just very difficult to carry out. Personally, I'd just axe Cas because the angel stuff is getting tedious. But that's also stuff for a meta. *finale squee and flail and OMG BOYS cries*

[maaldas.livejournal.com]

Exactly what you said.

Agree with the writers inventing storyline for Cas that I don't really invested because you can see that Cas's fans and Misha's fans and Destielers are out there. They're voters so the writers want to keep them.

[locknkey.livejournal.com]

how nobody thought that Sam might be lying out of hurt when he said that he wouldn't bring Dean back, but I think that's stuff for a meta. :) Weirdly that is always what I thought. :) I figured he was lashing out because he was hurt. *shrugs*

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Yay squee!

I agree about learning all that stuff about the brothers. I suppose I just felt like we pretty much already know all that so it would have been interesting to look at the deeper issues. One being the lines they are prepared to cross for each other. That would have been a great examination, instead it ended up just being about the fact that they love each other and would do anything - which, don't get me wrong, is awesome - but we've known that since the very beginning. Carver seems to like just having them at odds for the drama of it, not for any real character growth.

Also, it's kinda interesting how nobody thought that Sam might be lying out of hurt when he said that he wouldn't bring Dean back, but I think that's stuff for a meta. :)

I remember by ep response to that episode and I said "Sam didn't say he wouldn't save Dean, just he wouldn't save him in the same way Dean saved him".

Unfortunately that has been completely removed now from the story. It's only become about Sam saying he wouldn't save Dean (JP's even confirmed it). So yeah. That's where most of my disappointment lies.

The near apologies were fine. That's exactly how they talk to each other. I did want more from Dean - not just an apology and real understanding of what he did - but again, that's not on the table. Though I read an interesting meta on how Dean is now paying the real price for what he's done over the season. It's an interesting take on it and one I'm finding I can accept fairly well.

And yes re Cas. Though I felt like he had a solid character arc. From human to leader - back to angel and no losing power again. Which, yep, they have to always find some way to reduce his powers, otherwise far too easy. I can't even imagine what they have in store for him next season. Surely they've done all they can with him? He has to find his grace so there's that I suppose.

Thanks for your happy thoughts. I truly wish I had been able to squee etc (in fact, I would love to have felt something after watching it. I'm feeling much more now that it's a few days later. :)