11.14 reaction/review

[ash48]

Hot damn, that was some fine TV!

Different format because I'm feeling energetic. And erratic. So bullet points! :)

• Robert Berens = best writer on the show. Hands down.
  
  
• John Badham = awesome director. I have many fave directors on the show, so I can't claim he's the "best" because I think there are many "bests". He's definitely one of them!!
  
  
• I felt like I was watching a movie, not a TV show.
  
  
• I can't recall another episode where I was SO on the edge of my seat. I mean, we know the boys will always survive, but the tension was such that I actually worried for them. I loved that.
  
  
• Damn, that was some fine editing.
  
  
• Dean fixated on coffee in the morning. I UNDERSTAND THAT!
  
  
• Submarines. I feel claustrophobic just saying the word. Setting an episode (or part of it) in one is kinda genius. The total lack of escape is terrifying. This episode utilised that extremely well.
  
  
• Beren's creates well rounded, in-depth OCs. Even the guy holding the gun on Dean had character depth.
  
  
• Crowley as a dog was truly unsettling.
  
  
• I like the Men of Letters stuff. Always have. I like that the boys are not only hunters, but legacies.
  
  
• It made me wonder if there was also a separate "Women of Letters" - but after a twitter convo it seems women are Women of Letters within the Men of Letters. So. People of Letters really.
  
  
• I love that Berens doesn't treat us like idiots. Thank you for that. <3
  
  
• Role reversal - Dean begging Sam to let him do the dangerous thing (not often we hear Dean ask permission from Sam). Matches the previous ep of Sam telling Dean "he's got this". This also feels more organic than last season.
  
  
• Dean's (aka Jensen's) perfect lips are ridiculous. I was rather distracted by them in this episode.
  
  
• Misha's Lucifer is improving. I'm not fond of the screwed up face, but he was suitably menacing and creepy in this one. I am also enjoying watching Misha be something else. I like his non-Cas voice.
  
  
• I am so glad Cas as Lucifer has been revealed.
  
  
• Cas emerging to save Sam made me *heart eyes*. I love seeing Cas care for Sam. Like WHOA!
  
  
• Oh Dean. I like that his pain feels more organic this season. I dunno - it's had to explain. But the last two seasons were hard going and this just feels so much better for Dean's characterisation. I get that they needed/wanted to do "dark" Dean, but I much prefer this one. He's back to genuinely caring about people - wanting and needing to save them. I also feel Jensen is more in-tune with this Dean (purely personal opinion of course. I feel the same for Jared).
  
  
• Dean stating that he was only a "witness" was pure perfection. I spent the episode thinking "Dean's not doing anything" and that was EXACTLY the point (SO AWESOME!). Remember how ineffectual Sam felt in S3 when he knew he couldn't save Dean? I think this is somewhat the same. Dean knows he's can't kill Amara and feels useless. Love that we were shown this, not told it. I just hope - really HOPE that they don't make him wallow in stuff. Give me vulnerable, but don't give me self-pitying.
  
  
• Nice, quiet moment between the brothers at the end of the episode. <33 Maybe TPTB actually got the memo that we like the brothers being supportive of each other, rather than constantly at odds.
  
  
• Sam's concern for Dean putting himself in danger. I live for those moments. :)
  
  
• Sam offering his soul to be touched in order to save Dean. *drowns in a pile of drool*
  
  
• Sam's soul actually being touched by Lucifer. Non-con soul touching. Man, this show is fucked up.
  
  
• Great location for the final scene. Beautiful, thoughtful and appropriate.
  
  
• Edith Piaf is still in my head. I've been singing that song non stop! Love it.
  
  
  So yeah. I thought that ep was pretty awesome. Berens always makes me care more about the myth arc than any other writer. Dean and Sam continue to be the characters I fell in love with. It so REFRESHING that they aren't against each other. It terrifies me too (because surely this can't last), but I will enjoy while I can. :))

Comments

[catinplaid.livejournal.com]

I spent the episode thinking "Dean's not doing anything" and that was EXACTLY the point (SO AWESOME!). Remember how ineffectual Sam felt in S3 when he knew he couldn't save Dean? I think this is somewhat the same. Dean knows he's can't kill Amara and feels useless. Love that we were shown this, not told it.

Ooohhh! Yes, what a parallel. I hadn't seen it but it's so true!! Well done, Show!

Edith Piaf was just wonderful for that epi. (I can't tell you how many times I've heard this song today :D) The song fit the time period, and I felt it had gravitas. I loved something I read on twitter by Bardicvoice where she pointed out that Delphine and the crew showed heroism, and had no regrets, and Dean couldn't act heroically and thus must regret...

I like the Men of Letters stuff. Always have. I like that the boys are not only hunters, but legacies.

I love that we see the MoL being resistance fighters, fighting the nazis. I somehow feel proud that Sam and Dean are the legacies of those brave people :)

Oh, and the fact that the epi partly took place in (WWII) Europe (ok, it was the submarine mostly, but still!) somehow made me like it even more. Feels close to home :)

Misha's Lucifer is improving

I truly disliked the first time we saw him as Lucifer (cos really, his performance there was really shite IMO), but I also feel he's improving. I actually liked him this time. And I thought that his transitions from Lucifer to Cas were well made.

Sam's soul actually being touched by Lucifer. Non-con soul touching. Man, this show is fucked up.

That scene HURT so bad. Oh Sammy!!!

And also yes, yes to everything else you say. The writing and the direction and the boys being our boys again, Sam offering his soul to save Dean, Cas caring for Sam, the wonderful location for that ending scene, the boys' talk at the end... Basically, I could just point at all your bullet points and nod to everything! :)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Howdy!

I saw a tweet by Berens saying that the song was Badham's choice. Such a great choice it was.

she pointed out that Delphine and the crew showed heroism, and had no regrets, and Dean couldn't act heroically and thus must regret…

Yes. Good observation. Being heroic is at the very heart of Dean's characterisation - and to have left the ship with the object and not being able to stop the sub from going down would have eaten into Dean. Though, my feeling is that Dean didn't initially go onto the sub to save it - just to get the object - but then he witnessed real heroism (soldiers facing the enemy in war and Delphine's heroism in protecting The Hand of God) and it truly affected him.

It was a good episode for a Dean study. :)