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

[jessm78.livejournal.com]

I felt like I was watching a movie, not a TV show.

See, I felt that way, too.

Your thoughts pretty much echo mine on this episode. I went into it with my expectations low (mainly because I knew Dean would be the one going back in time, and Sam would be stuck with Casifer, bla bla blah), and I ended up liking it a lot more than I expected.

I was pretty distracted by Dean's lips in this one as well. Mmm. And I was relieved that Sam's hair wasn't quite the glued-down bob I was fearing it'd be after seeing the clips in that promo Jared tweeted a few weeks back. ;)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

See, for this one I went in with high expectations because I knew Berens wrote it. So I was worried I'd be disappointed. I'm so glad I wasn't. He always writes good myth arc eps - especially Cas stuff (stuff I usually don't care that much about). Aside from wanting Dean to be a little more concerned about Sam facing Lucifer again (but I've assumed they've had the discussion), it was all pretty perfect. :)

Sam's hair was border line at times - but nothing will ever be as and as s10 hair. Ugh. I'm liking it this season actually. It's shorter, but much more natural. :))

[greyowl88.livejournal.com]

Sam's hair was border line at times - but nothing will ever be as and as s10 hair.

I heard that in Season 12 both Sam and Dean will suprise us with totally new hairdos....

[jj1564.livejournal.com]

This is brilliant! If only...even for just one episode!

[greyowl88.livejournal.com]

That episode will be called "The dream hair hairdreams"

[jj1564.livejournal.com]

It must happen!

[jessm78.livejournal.com]

Bwahahaha! That would be awesome :)

[jessm78.livejournal.com]

Yeah, honestly I think my problem is that I'm susceptible to other fans affecting my expectations too much beforehand. At a couple of the sites where I hang out, people were saying they weren't expecting it to be too great because (according to them, anyway) Berens likes to engage in fan-service. By that I think they meant Dean/Cas fan-service, but I can't be sure. I think from now on I'm just going to ignore all that talk before the episode even airs so it doesn't taint my expectations at all. Funny I was able to do that in seasons past, but it seems to be influencing me more and more the past few years (since season 8 at least, I'd say).

Agreed. There were times where it looked pretty smushed down and blah, but it was definitely better than the s10 hair. That was horrible. Me too, I'm really liking it a lot more this year. I'm just glad it's not as short as s4 hair was. And yes, that it looks more natural. :) Interestingly I saw some tweets from a fan who visited the set earlier this week. She said they talked to the hairstylist about Sam's haircut the past 2 seasons & she made a sad face. Apparently Sam's hair is all by Jared's design, he wanted it that way and he does the "beanie test" - puts the beanie on & if his hair peeks out he tells her he's ready for a trim. I can't imagine that the horrible s10 hair was Jared's doing, honestly. LOL.

[percysowner.livejournal.com]

I saw a quote from Jared. At a convention he said that he doesn't care what they do with his hair on the show. He said he just walks in and tells them to do whatever they think looks good. So we have conflicting reports.

[jessm78.livejournal.com]

I think I remember a quote like that from him, too. I think the one I saw was from an interview at the 200th episode party in Vancouver?

Conflicting reports indeed. Oh, well, his hair is looking good this season IMO, so props to whomever is responsible :)