10.08 ep reaction/review
Dec. 4th, 2014 07:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ash48Dear Supernatural,
You're weirding me out. ANOTHER episode where the boys aren't fighting or being mean to each other? I can see what you are doing here. You're not fooling me!
Yours with my happy but suspicious face on.
xx
PS: AND you're giving us awesome secondary characters and not killing them off. Stop that! (or actually, please don't).
I haven't much more to say that hasn't already been said about this one. As I'm later in writing this up, I've had a chance to read a few reviews and I pretty much agree with a lot I've read. That being:
- Jody and Donna are awesome
- Flesh eating vampires are stupid and WTF is with that?
- Unconscious boys AGAIN! Amateurs and their brains must be mush by now
- Jody and Sam talking together = yay! And Dean and Jody having a little moment = yay!
- Sam and Dean being great together = yay!
- Monologuing monster at the end = *boo*
I enjoyed this episode a lot. The MoTW was pretty lame and kind of ridiculous but the heart of the episode was Jody and Donna and I love that combination SO VERY MUCH that I don't really care that the way they set up the monster mystery was stoopid. I also loved Sam and Dean just being partners and brothers and hunters (amateur hunters still though because *doh* look out behind you!).
Dean's revelation at the end also seems really weird to me. WE know the Mark will ultimately have an effect on Dean, so him claiming that it's the first time he's killed that he felt like himself (and not Mark driven) is kind of strange. Unless we have to know that because something is going to trigger the Mark for it to become "active" again? Perhaps it's a set up for episodes to come.
The thing is, I totally believed Dean was telling the truth. Also, the show seemed to want us to believe Dean was telling the truth. They didn't linger on the way he killed those vamps and Jensen was selling it as Dean telling the truth. Sam is wary (of course!), but it seems to me that either it was a mishandled scene (in that we're supposed to think that Dean is lying) or it's a signal that the Mark really is diminishing and Dean really is feeling like himself again (which YES! I feel like we have been seeing the "real" Dean for a couple of episodes now). But then we get the shot of Dean holding his arm so….argh! No idea what they were trying to do there, other than give us a BM moment for the sake of it.
The underlying theme this week seemed to be fighting the monster inside you (the way the sheriff vamp tried to do) much the same as the Shapeshifter one. So I'd say paralleling Dean trying to fight his inner demon and Sam (hopefully) helping him fight it.
And, weirdly, even though I've been really enjoying these "lighter" eps, I'm now looking forward to something a bit darker and edgier.
I haven't watched next week's promo. I've seen some images but I'm trying to stay unspoiled so I can enjoy it that bit more.
(oh, and I still hate Sam's hair. The fact that I get distracted by how bad it looks during an episode makes me want to weep slightly. But, I brush it off because that would be far too shallow for me to be worried about such a trivial thing. Whaaaaa).
[Poll #1991150]
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2014-12-03 11:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 12:34 am (UTC)I'm even a little bit agro with Sam for just letting Dean turn the radio up to end the conversation. I so wanted Sam to call him on his "I'm fine" crap. Now, given how terrified Sam looked as Dean killed the shifter, I'm wondering if he was just too worried about what questioning or provoking Dean would do. I don't think I've ever seen Sam look so afraid of Dean, not even when he was a demon and threatening to rip Sam's throat out with his teeth.
I actually think the lying started at the end of 1006 Ask Jeeves, when Sam questioned him why he put so many bullets into the shifter, was it the demon residue, was it the Mark and not only did Dean deny both of those possibilities he actually asked why he should even be explaining himself to Sam. Ummmm, maybe because you promised your brother you'd be straight with him???
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Date: 2014-12-04 01:29 am (UTC)Dean: Yeah, you know, for the first time I've been back, I didn't feel like the Mark was pushing me.
Sam: First time?
This shows that Dean was lying to Sam ever since his first kill after being a demon (Ask Jeeves). And that's why Sam says "First time?" So, it's hard to trust that anything Dean says about the Mark is true. Him touching his arm at the end there set off alarm bells for me.
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Date: 2014-12-04 01:39 am (UTC)Kim Rhodes and Briana clearly had a blast working together. They were a treat to watch. I think the characters were played a teensy bit too broadly, though. (No pun intended, seriously!) Kinda...stereotyped. Same with the vampires. Jaysus, the monsters were just plain stupid. Whatever happened to monsters being intimidating? Gimme Jack the Rugaru any day.
Loved the bit about the Kinko's badge. Loved Jody's issues with Alex, and how she handled her. Yeah, I hate Sam's hair too, and I totally think Dean is a lying liar who lies. Sam ain't buying it, but he doesn't know what else to do yet, so...he's in a holding pattern.
Which is kinda what's starting to make me feel a little grumpy. We're getting reactive, wait-and-see Sam again. Or maybe the thin writing is starting to show again. I dunno, but I've been watching reruns of S1 in the mornings as I work, and boy, I miss the old days.
Still in it for the long haul, because I still care about these characters like mad, fear not! And I dig that the boys are getting along (keeping secrets notwithstanding) but come on, Show. DO BETTER. I KNOW YOU CAN! I HAVE FAITH IN YOU.
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Date: 2014-12-04 01:45 am (UTC)I think Dean was lying when he said that to Sam about feeling like himself (and it not being Mark driven), especially from the way he grabbed/fidgeted with his arm.
(oh, and I still hate Sam's hair. The fact that I get distracted by how bad it looks during an episode makes me want to weep slightly. But, I brush it off because that would be far too shallow for me to be worried about such a trivial thing. Whaaaaa).
YES!!!! Yes yes yes. I mentioned this in my review, too and I thought people would just roll their eyes at me, lol. It did distract me a lot and when people were talking about how much they enjoyed certain scenes, I almost felt bad that his hair sort of took me out of it for a bit.
no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 03:04 am (UTC)I liked the ep though. Lots of nice references scattered around in there for The Band. They backed up Bob Dylan who is from Hibbing. There were a lot of dummies though...that guy who went back to look in the dumpster in the dark. Who does that? Carniverous vamps....snort. Waste not, want not. What were they doing...eating the leather belts? Maybe it's like beef jerky. Or fang floss. Then there was Woodstock Vamp who was still wearing her hippy chick clothes forty some odd years later. Hopefully they weren't the original clothes.
I do like Jody and Donna and it was fun to have them together. Sam and Dean had some nice moments. Dean actually used sad!puppy eyes on Sam. I have to agree though, Sam's hair is distracting....and not in the good way it usually is. Maybe they don't realize how many episodes Sam's hair has actually gotten us through. A lot of season 7 and the first half of season 8, at least. But hey, he is a sunflower.......
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Date: 2014-12-04 04:07 am (UTC)Well, if he's not lying during this scene, then it means he has been lying for the past four episodes, since he promised to tell Sam as soon as the Mark started affecting him. So I don't think the scene was mishandled. Personally, I suspect that it's less that he's back to normal and more that he's become acclimated enough to the Mark that it's become his baseline and he doesn't notice when it's affecting him anymore.
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Date: 2014-12-04 04:12 am (UTC)I am a Sam girl who thinks that Sam is the hottest thing on two legs and want to climb him like a tree..
BUT WHY DOES HE HAVE A BOB hair cut? NO ONE has a bob hair cut!! and NO ONE LOOKS GOOD WITH ONE!!
I spend half of every ep thinking Sam looks droolworthy and the other half wanting to pull his hair back in a ponytail so i don't have to see how they glue his hair back behind his ears and then it curls under and looks awful and WHY AM I SO UPSET ABOUT THIS??
Apart from that it was a cute and lovely episode..heh.
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Date: 2014-12-04 05:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 05:19 am (UTC)Oh really? I didn't get that sense at all. In fact, I though it might have been about him actually telling the truth for the first time. He's clearly been lying up until now and for some reason he is now telling the truth.
I understand Dean lying. It's very much who he is and he does it to protect Sam and also to convince himself things are fine. Both boys are bad at it.
I think he genuinely killed those vamps without the assistance of the Mark. But, I might be wrong. Personally, I don't think the show has made a decision about when he's lying and not. Maybe the actors have to make that choice. Jensen usually makes it very clear when Dean is lying - I really didn't get that sense this time. Him holding his arm could have been a way of acknowledging how much it bothers him being there and maybe trying to keep it at bay.
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Date: 2014-12-04 05:54 am (UTC)Why can't the spinoff be Jody and Donna? Please???
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Date: 2014-12-04 07:42 am (UTC)Yeah, that's my reading too. He's be lying up until now. It felt like for the first time Dean was actually coming clean to Sam (shock, I know). He admitted to lying up until now (which is pretty significant I think). Problem is, he's been lying so much that how on earth can Dean (or us) trust him. I just feel that if the show wanted us to see him lying again they would have given us a more blood thirsty Dean attacking the vamps. But, I accept the complete opposite reading also. It's just another lie and he's just saying that to quell Sam's fears.
*shrugs* I really don't know and tbh I'm feeling past reading too much into it because so little seems to connect together these days.
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Date: 2014-12-04 08:01 am (UTC)My expectations were pretty high too - though all I knew was Jody and Donna were in it and they matched my expectations. I thought we might have been given some weighty stuff re the mark, but it seems they are really dragging out the "good times". I suspect that's all going to change going into the hiatus.
They were a treat to watch. I think the characters were played a teensy bit too broadly, though.
Yeah, I think in Beren's hands they would have been richer, but I was still pretty happy with the extra layers (even though they were a bit thickly laid on). I liked Jody dealing with her teenager. I'm thrilled that wasn't brushed aside.
Loved the bit about the Kinko's badge.
I'm going to quietly confess that I have no clue what that reference means. What's Kinko?
and I totally think Dean is a lying liar who lies. Sam ain't buying it, but he doesn't know what else to do yet, so...he's in a holding pattern.
I seem to be going against the flow on this one. I probably read the scene wrong - or maybe just believed Dean this time (over all the other times). He confessed to lying in the past so it seems weird to be that he'd admit that just to say he wasn't acting from the mark this time. I'm confused about the purpose of that scene if it was just to lie once again.
We're getting reactive, wait-and-see Sam again. Or maybe the thin writing is starting to show again.
Oh gosh, I just don't know with Sam anymore. As usual we don't get a chance to see inside his head so we don't know if he's just so happy to have Dean back that he's happy to hear anything and will just go with it because at least Dean is next to him. It seems to me that Sam IS trying to help Dean by keeping a close eye - but he really doesn't stand a chance. No matter what happens Dean will have his way because he will be driven. He will talk over anything Sam suggests because he has that kind of strength. I can't see there be anything Sam can do (save researching the Mark - which looks to be a dead end). I think they're at a loss as to what to do with Sam so it's just easier to have him, um…hang around (and to think there could have been all that juicy post possession and failed trail angst to explore that never happened).
but come on, Show. DO BETTER. I KNOW YOU CAN! I HAVE FAITH IN YOU.
I'm glad you do! I feel like I've completely run out of faith that it will ever be as good as it used to be. I still enjoy it though. I've enjoyed S10 so far. :D
no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 08:40 am (UTC)This episode completely lost momentum in that long scene in the barn, but other than that I really enjoyed it. Loved that line of Donna's about Jody having left her manners in Sioux Falls.
(I bought crispy noodles today, so I'm all set!)
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Date: 2014-12-04 09:18 am (UTC)So does everyone else it seems! I'm sticking to my feeling though (and hopefully we'll see something next week that triggers the mark to validate my feelings! :D)
*mourns the loss of Sam's gorgeous hair* If they could just let him grow out the back and stop curling it under in that hideous bob. :(((((
no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 09:25 am (UTC)Ah yes. I can accept that. I didn't feel like he was driven by the mark when he killed the vamps. In fact, at the end I was hoping that Sam wasn't going to say anything to him about it because it seemed like a "normal" kill to me. Maybe it has been satisfied (which is scary in itself).
We are going to get our hearts broken again, aren't we?
We are SO going there! On the one hand I want to feel that level of pain - I can accept pretty much anything as long as they don't make Sam out to be the bad guy somehow.
What were they doing...eating the leather belts? Maybe it's like beef jerky. Or fang floss.
Bwahahaha. What even was that?! They take the belt and wallets and EAT the flesh so nothing is wasted? Environmentally friendly vamps! So silly. We even got the patented blood splatter - when really there shouldn't have been a drop of blood wasted (and where we the tell tale fang marks in the necks eh?)
Maybe they don't realize how many episodes Sam's hair has actually gotten us through.
It was the sole reason I survived early S8! Glorious hair made up for the Sam's shit story line. If I had to choose I'd rather a great story line - but they don't have to give us horrid hair to do that. :(
But hey, he is a sunflower...….
\o/ :D
no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 09:42 am (UTC)I didn't think for one minute that Dean was lying, and it's been a while since that happened. He's either usually telling half truths either to protect Sam or fool his own self but this episode, this exchange, I felt Dean was being honest, not just with Sam, but with himself!
Oh, p.s...The 'Family' music over the end of the episode! I actually said to wings, "Well now I'm freaked out!" because I instantly recognised it and my heart just stopped, without me even really realising where and why I recognised it! I have a feeling I'm going to need therapy after next weeks episode!
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Date: 2014-12-04 10:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 10:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 10:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 10:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 11:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 11:24 am (UTC)This was the moment when my vote went from "awesome" to "pretty good". I mean they take the somewhat unprepared (in terms of monster hunt) Donna to the scene. Drive up close to the house, get out, casually talking like visiting a friend's house. Getting suprised by everything that happens after. Really?!
But apart from it I really enjoyed it, too. Loved Jody and Donna!, enjoyed watching Dean's many expressions and his approach with the young officer to get infos. Loved the overall feeling of the episode and Sam and Dean being in sync instead of at odds.
But yeah, "monologin monster at the end". Boo indeed. Hey, the next monster of the week could be one that talks their victims to death. The 8th deadly sin or so. lol
The flesh eating vampire didn't bother me too much, even though it seems weird and really would be something Sam and Dean would have been more surprised about I'd think. I guessed at first it would be some sort of werewolf/vampire mix. A new breed or so. Would have made more sense to me.
However, it was a really enjoyable episode and I'm glad that neither Jody nor Donna got killed in the end. :)
Oh, and the mark speech about it not affecting him but then holding his arm was weird. He sounded sincere when he said it but the signs seem to point into a different direction. I guess I will just wait and see how it plays out. Maybe it's meant to make us guess or soemthing. My money goes on Dean actually believing he can control it now. (yeah, right)
*buys you special glasses through which Sam's hair looks perfect and at proper length in every scene*
:D
xx
no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 11:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 12:31 pm (UTC)Exactly. I felt this was Dean admitting he's been lying all this time. WE know he's been lying because we've seen it. He was super aggressive when he killed the shapeshifter - both us and Sam saw it, so when he said everything was fine we knew he was lying. This time, the kill seemed "normal" and I felt his admission was genuine - to the point that he confessed he lied up until now.
I suspect that it's less that he's back to normal and more that he's become acclimated enough to the Mark that it's become his baseline and he doesn't notice when it's affecting him anymore.
I very much accept this though. I love the idea that he's acclimatised to the mark. But, you know, if we are to believe this it would have been great to see him be that extra bit violent in the kill (where, I don't believe he was) and then genuinely say "actually, I'm really ok". Instead we saw a very clean kill and the most honest we've seen Dean yet (I think). I'm not sure what this signifies - other than maybe setting up something for next week. But I accept I might have read the scene wrong and it's just another lie (though if that's the case I maintain the scene wasn't clear enough to sell that fully).
no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 12:32 pm (UTC)I wish I knew why I was so upset about this too! It's just hair!
he's always cute though. Jared acts past his hair. *pets him*
no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 12:37 pm (UTC)I would love this so much!!
But (and I know your question was rhetorical) there's no way The CW would run a show with such "old" characters. I think Sam and Dean are an exception because they started young but looking at all the other CW shows they just don't fit the "look." SADLY! (though, with Jody's adopted daughter there's potential that they could spin her off and somehow include Jody and maybe Donna). If Bloodlines is anything to go by, they'll be looking for the typical young and pretty cast.
no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 12:40 pm (UTC)This episode completely lost momentum in that long scene in the barn
totally agree. That formula is soooooo tired. Monologuing villains with the "heroes" helplessly tied up so they can reveal why they are so bad is so boring (though Sam and Dean silently communicating was nice…*g*)
(Yay noodles! Enjoy. :))
no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 12:43 pm (UTC)Oh I have someone on my side! :DD I'm glad at least one other person thinks he was telling the truth. :) I felt like he finally had a good reason for telling the truth to Sam -so he took it. The scene makes little sense to me otherwise.
And yes yes. The family music was so sad. It always is. It's my favourite mood creating music. We know it's serious shit when that music starts up.
no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 01:02 pm (UTC)The way he was rubbing at his arm means that either he knows that, even though it was a huge relief to him that it the Mark wasn't affecting him during this case, it's weird that it's suddenly not pushing at him to kill and he knows it. Or he was actually lying to Sam. It could be the former, because he did seem to be genuinely telling the truth this time, but Dean is also a consummate liar - hell they both are - and if he thinks saying it would somehow protect Sam, Dean would lie to him. Too hard to tell.
I think it was the calm before the storm. I think the Mark's about to take over in a big way and he's not going to be able to control himself at all. I reckon Dean is about to go off like an atom bomb, and I have a feeling it's going to make the whole demon!Dean thing look totally tame in comparison. For weeks I've been thinking that they resolved his demonhood too quickly in the season to make much sense. It's made me think it was because they had something much, much bigger in store for us. Demon!Dean wasn't a pleasant dude but he wasn't all that malevolent either in comparison to other demons, and he really only killed bad guys. The more I think about it, the more I think the writers are setting us up for Dean going truly darkside - as in killing innocents, slaughtering everyone in his path, and then trying to murder Sam, Cain and Abel style. And that this season it truly will be up to Sam to Save Dean and possibly save the world from Dean.
I may be way off base, but the fact that out of a season of 22 episodes Dean was cured in one of the first episodes of the season? It screams massive diversionary tactic to me. Everything has been too good, and I think the shit is about to rain down, Winchester style.
no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 01:40 pm (UTC)And yes, Sam's hair has been much shorter in the past but it didn't look at silly as this one (other than a couple of weird moments in S2). It's not the length, it's that stupid bob. Sack the stylist I say! ;)
no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 01:54 pm (UTC)I mean they take the somewhat unprepared (in terms of monster hunt) Donna to the scene.
Exactly. They should be even MORE vigilant with an innocent person around. Alnd also..there were FOUR of them! Surely they could have had a look out (or a couple of them hanging back…).
Hey, the next monster of the week could be one that talks their victims to death.
Bwahaha! They would be experts in how to write that one!
My money goes on Dean actually believing he can control it now. (yeah, right)
Oh yes! Good point. He's gained more confidence and might let his "guard" down. Poor baby! It's more powerful than him me thinks.
I NEED THOSE GLASSES!!!!
<3333
no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 01:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 06:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-04 07:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-05 01:31 am (UTC)When Dean was a demon, he didn't act out of control when he killed the demons that Crowley sent to appease the Mark. So, maybe the more often he kills, the less the mark drives him. Like a junkie who gets their drugs more frequently, so they don't go through withdrawal. But, the Mark is still effecting him so it feels like the new "normal" to him.
no subject
Date: 2014-12-05 09:01 am (UTC)Oh yeah, so much lying still. I think he's lying to himself also when he says "I'm fine". I think he desperately wants to be, but in truth he must be terrified - something he'd never admit to Sam. I think, though, that he was telling the truth about not being driven by the mark in those kills.
I reckon Dean is about to go off like an atom bomb, and I have a feeling it's going to make the whole demon!Dean thing look totally tame in comparison.
Oh yeah!! That would be kind of awesome. I'm missing that level of darkness at the moment. They've been going on about it being the "year of the demon", so I suspect there's a heap more to come on that story line. Right through to the season finale me thinks. Probably be a waste if they don't really do something with it.
Everything has been too good, and I think the shit is about to rain down, Winchester style.
Yeah, they're good at that. They did it in the beginning of last season. Even though Sam was possessed they were getting on really well. Then the shit sure hit the fan….
no subject
Date: 2014-12-05 10:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-05 04:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-05 06:20 pm (UTC)I loved the classic rock in the middle with the Impala on the road, boys in suits pushing through those double doors. Never, ever gets old for me!
no subject
Date: 2014-12-07 12:30 pm (UTC)Happy to hear you enjoyed this one. It's always nice to be able to give them a pass for entertainment value. :))
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Date: 2014-12-07 12:32 pm (UTC)Bingo! That was it. They only play that music when it's sincere. I knew they were giving us hints that Dean meant what he was saying. (thank you!).
The classic rock with the impala was a wonderful added touch. So glad they are able to find songs they can afford in order to give us that. :)) Hope they can keep doing it.