11.02 episode reaction

[ash48]

Disclaimer time! This isn't a glowing reaction so (please!) enter at your own risk. Seriously. I am more than happy to discuss the episode if your reaction is opposite to mine (as I always am! *g*), but please don't "police" me. I love the show and I respect the work they all do. Also, criticism doesn't change the way I feel about the show. I will always love it - even if it frustrates the hell out of me! :D



I'll talk about the positives first. :)

It was great to see some more Sam pov and his prayer brought a tear to my eye. Jared's performance was soulful and I really felt the depth of what Sam was going through. Sam praying for Dean was very emotional and poignant. It was also a nice mirror to Dean for Sam praying in 9.01.

Billy the Reaper was awesome and her singing "Oh Death" was a highlight of the episode. Her threat of sending Sam and Dean into the empty void was wonderfully threatening. It suddenly upped the stakes in terms of their (never ending) deaths.

I loved the apocalyptic opening scene (though made me wonder if it made the news?!)

Clever Sam was fantastic to see. Thank you Show.

Crowley's first appearance was humorous. Dean coo-ing at the baby was cute.

I liked the idea that Sam could solve the problem of dying without Dean. I feel that that was meant to be significant. Like, really significant. I'm just not sure what they were trying to say with all that (Sam needs to start looking after himself maybe? Sam need to "always keep fighting" maybe? The brothers can work out how to stay alive without the other?), but I think there's something there to be teased out. Unfortunately there were too many negatives to make this episode an overall success for me.


Now the issues (you can still turn back!):

The major issue I had with this episode is that it essentially made no sense. I can easily hand-wave some things (Sam finding Dean quickly in the last episode for example - expediency in story telling I can accept - though why Dean had to be so far away in the first place made no sense really...) but there was just too much to hand-wave in this one.

My biggest issue was the Dean scenes. And no, this has NOTHING to do with "Dean", but everything to do with the non-sensical approach to the whole situation they gave him. I'm not sure if it's because we are supposed to be seeing Dean as somehow mesmerised by Amara (which I don't believe because show does not do subtle) or if it's just poor scripting.

It was completely unbelievable to me that a) Dean would leave the baby in the house with two innocent people after hearing there was something supernatural about her and b) he didn't kill Crowley when he had the chance. Dean not going directly to the baby and removing her from the house made no sense. Result - two innocent deaths. Dean not putting the demon killing knife through Crowley when he had the chance - also made no sense (unless we are to believe Dean is somehow still seeing Crowley as his best bud or something). And leaving him pinned to the wall by an angel blade expecting him to still be there when he returned? Stoopid.

Jenna losing her soul and becoming a murderer of her beloved grandma also made no sense at all. Sam lost his soul and did not go around killing people he loved. Sure, he was cold and analytical - but not an instant killer. In fact, he went undetected for quite a while before it was discovered he had no soul. So, sorry. But seriously bullshit on that part of the story telling. I don't know why they didn't add "no soul and something "evil" added". I would have bought that. And maybe that was the idea there, but I don't think it came across clearly if it was.

Where did that little girl dress come from? I know, I can fanon it by saying grandma had baby and little girl clothes in storage but, ugh. Did I miss something there? And everyone was just far too damn calm around a baby like that. Grandma put the kettle on for god's sake! It was all so damn WEIRD!

How are people dying with Death dead? I suppose that might be answered later. Maybe Death isn't actually dead. Or something.

But other than that…

There was no pay off for Sam being infected by the darkness in terms of SamnDean. Now, I appreciate that not everything has to be "SamnDean" focussed. But, really? It kind of does. It is the heart of the show. Sam did a remarkable thing by solving his infection by himself (usually imminent death is stuff of season finales) and it's possible something that Dean may never know. OR he may well find out and it will cause some sort of riff because Sam didn't tell him (roundabout anyone?). I actually don't mind the "mess" of all that because it could play out in future episodes. Dean finding out what Sam did might renew his respect for him. It might make them both realise they can solve their "deaths" without threatening the world. I like that, but do not trust (for one minute) that they have even considered that. If they do in future episodes I will happily eat my words. HAPPILY! Ideally this is the catalyst for a multitude of things - but why do I feel it will be Dean saying "why didn't you tell me Sam!?". OR, it will go by without reference and therefore it will all be an empty gesture. I'll hold off on this because I don't know if this is a set-up for the future.

I could not watch Cas being tortured. I fast-forwarded through each one of those scenes so I'm not sure what was even going on. For me, torture is insignificant (and downright painful to watch) if no one is there to care about it (as in, other characters). It's just torture for torture's sake and I'm not sure what it achieved. I did manage to catch Cas saying he wouldn't give up Sam and Dean (so, wow, he cares for them. I had no idea! ::sarcasm::). I did watch the Hannah stuff but as I don't actually care that much about Cas as a storyline I was, at most, curious to see what they were doing. Cas felt for Hannah and when she/he was tortured he had the power to escape. Good to see him fight it. A parallel with Sam maybe?

It was during these scenes I wondered if I was watching a different show. It was becoming unrecognisable to me. I think the sound track was part of that. The music was weird and not something we hear that much on the show. I wondered if they were trying to copy another show maybe?

I'm still trying to work out what Sam's cage flashbacks meant. (And damn they used those in the promo. I was expecting so much more from those). Was that God's answer? A reminder of where he once was and what he did to get there? Did it actually end up helping him find the solution? Also, it was pretty horrific. How Sam is still functioning is beyond me (Dean too!).

And did angel and demon powers just fly out the window. What happened to Crowley clicking in and clicking out of a place. And what happened to angels being all damn powerful. Surely they could find Sam and Dean. Even Metatron. Argh. Too many holes. /o\

Also - (ark, I'm sorry, I'm on a roll), J2 have been going on about how Sam and Dean are together this season. I appreciate that we might be working up to that, but so far - wow. It's like Carver has said - "ok you guys! You don't like it when they are physically together but emotionally apart so let's do emotionally together (sort of) and physically apart)". But, as I said above, jury is still out on that. I have to assume Dean will find out what Sam went through and it will be addressed. And hopefully be the catalyst for them STOPPING the damn cycle of blame and guilt. Otherwise why? Why have him go through all that alone without a pay off?

So yeah. I'm not pissed off about it (kinda passed that by now), just a bit frustrated. The show has such HUGE potential to be fucking amazing. And it can be at times - so many times it has. Unfortunately, this episode reminded me that really, nothing will change in Carver's era. The boys will be at some sort of odds - even when they are supposed to be working together (I think the Js have just being doing a good "sell". Or it's wishful thinking on their part). Or it may change so..yay!

Bring on MoTW eps I say! I think the overall mytharc-ness of the series is problematic. So much history to have to deal with. And it takes much more thought and consideration.

Aaanyway. There we are. Some powerful moments, but too many stoopid bits to make it jell for me. And the darkness being a little "Lilith" type girl is a wee bit disappointing. But, I'm happy to wait to see how that plays out. I figure we have one more myth arc ep to start the season and then we should be into the MoTW eps. Hopefully we'll actually see Sam and Dean together in those. ;)



5 is "LOVED IT!!" 1 is "nope".

[Poll #2025022]

Comments

[reggie11.livejournal.com]

I love how each episode can seem very different to each of us. I agree with you on some points but disagree on others. It seems we had very different takes on many of the story points.

Dean being so far away from the car. We have no idea how long that all took and Sam may have been out cold for ages so that didn't bother me. Sam finding him so easily however, did. I didn't feel that Dean was mesmerised by Amara, I took it as there is some sort of unholy bond that Dean is most likely not going to understand and will most likely be pretty powerless against. I felt the way he reacted when Crowley wanted her was not to stop him from using her for nefarious reasons, it was extreme protectiveness. This could get interesting.

The soulless thing really worked for me. When Abaddon was taking people's souls they became killing machines. Sam didn't, and I think he may have mentioned this when speaking to Jody last season, he could keep focused because he could get his rocks off killing monsters. I think the fact he was trained since childhood to be a killer worked in his favour, He certainly had no issue when he used that cop as bait when he was working with Samuel. And I think he even killed another cop in that same episode.

I think Crowley can still zap in and out like before. I think that's how he got out of the house before Dean came back in the room. I'm loving Crowley right now!!

Billie was very cool. I'm really interested to find out why people can still die, I think that's going to factor in some time later. I also think Sam's flashbacks will mean something later on as well. I think we're meant to be as confused as Sam about that.

I think the Castiel torture scene was mainly to show us that the angels have even more of a hard on to kill Sam and Dean now. Another thing I think that will unfold later is Metatron is going to play a role when they're trying to fix things.

Like you I thought Dean leaving two innocents inside the house with a possibly demonic baby was ridiculous. It was so OOC. My biggest facepalm moment though was when Sam had the three rabids trapped with holy fire and the fire just went out. When they were using it to trap angels in earlier seasons it would burn indefinitely. That really annoyed me. And Dean has been letting Crowley live almost every time they meet. Remember it's Sam that said he'd stab him in the face. If it was Sam that let him go I would have found it more difficult to believe.

In the last episode Sam made a point of saying they had to learn from their mistakes and do things differently so I really think the writers have finally listened to everyone saying they are sick of them going in circles. The fact that Dean listened to him and let Sam use himself as bait really made me feel they are beginning to move forward. That was a big moment for Dean, letting Sam put himself in harm's way and not insisting that Sam needed his protection. I don't think there will be a big "why didn't you tell me?" moment between the boys over Sam being infected. I don't think Sam will tell him. Not to purposely be secretive but because I think he's already blaming himself for the darkness so he would think it would be upsetting Dean unnecessarily as he's fine now.

Clever Sam is back!! Oh how I've missed him. I was ecstatic that they finally wrote Sam in character. It's been a looooong time.

[gidgetgal9.livejournal.com]

I too love that Smart Sam was back and written in character and that was a big plus for me giving this episode a five. ;)

[reggie11.livejournal.com]

They better keep him clever! I think it's mostly because the two characters they dumbed down Sam for are now dead; Kevin and Charlie.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Hey there! Good to see you here! :))

I took it as there is some sort of unholy bond that Dean is most likely not going to understand and will most likely be pretty powerless against.

Ah yes. I suppose I wasn't really picking up on that yet. I know there was talk of the bond, but I wasn't sure how that would manifest itself. It will be interesting to see his he is driven to protect her (though, I'm not sure yet how I will react to that. It will depend how much trouble it cause between the brothers).

Re the soullessness. I know I was being a bit picky with this. I can easily hand wave it. I just don't like the shifting canon on what it is to be soulless. But yeah, Sam is different so I can accept (at a push..;D) that he would become a rabid killer like the other soulless people.

Having not watched the torture scenes I wasn't sure what they were for. So they are after Sam and Dean again? That would make sense - but I hope they create really good reasons why they don't instantly kill them when they find them. Angels could snap their fingers and they are gone. I hope they work with that.

In the last episode Sam made a point of saying they had to learn from their mistakes and do things differently so I really think the writers have finally listened to everyone saying they are sick of them going in circles.

I was very excited to hear them say that last episode. But Sam not telling Dean of his predicament was them continuing in circles I felt. I don't know. It did mean that Sam would die without Dean making a deal or something, but I can keep picturing how devastated Dean would have been if he had to bury Sam - like for real. Sam not telling him was problematic to me. But I GET why they did that. The test will be how Dean reacts when he finds out. I definitely want them to give us those scenes. I just hope to god we don't have another season of secrets and blame and guilt. If they have truly moved on, we'll see them grow from that.

Clever Sam was the best! Thank goodness. I am loving seeing Sam in character again. Caring for others, praying for this brother and saving people.

Glad to get some positives. Thank you!

[catinplaid.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I like your theory about the soullessness. It would totally make sense that Sam was able to vent by killing baddies while soulless, and that being trained as a hunter worked in his favour. That would explain why, at first sight, he'd appear different that other soulless people :)

[reggie11.livejournal.com]

Yep. Sam could pretty much bathe in the blood of all the monsters he took down while soulless. Plus, they were both pretty much raised as killers so it feels like he would have far greater control than the average person. He was used to killing while keeping under the radar. Even without a soul Sam would have known he wouldn't last long if he left a trail of bodies with no thought to keeping a low profile. Soulless Sam had a self preservation streak a mile long.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

I like this idea too. ;) I'll go with that!