11.15 reaction

[ash48]

I wasn't really taken with that episode I have to confess. I started writing up why and it sounded like sour grapes so I've decided to just say that even though it had some funny moments (Jensen and his physical comedy being a highlight) and a couple of cute bro moments (Sam ribbing Dean while watching the wrestling), overall it left me feeling pretty flat and disappointed (and a bit squicked tbh). It might be that I'm feeling flat today due to a cold, so I'll watching it again to get a better perspective (though I will have to skip the Lucifer & Crowley scenes and the torture scene *meep*)

Happy to discuss in comments if anyone wants to chat. :)

Comments

[chomaisky.livejournal.com]

I didn't watch through it, partly because of second handed embarrassment from Dean's excitement. It's just too much for me. I'll go back and watch it when I get a long and nice break from work.

[greyowl88.livejournal.com]

"Blank" sounds about right. As that was what my mind was like after watching. I know what the problem was but really can't find the words to explain it. I'll just remember this episode for Dean being funny in the wrestling ring. And with blinkers on I now look forward to the next ep. ;)

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

I didn't expect much from this ep at all, figured it would be overexaggerated and painful to watch for the sake of milking the comedy.

I loved it.

First, I thought they brought the whole boys-love-wrestling in organically, talking about how John took them to it. It didn't feel like it came out of nowhere, unlike how Sam was a football geek all of a sudden in the episode where the famous football player was really a centuries-old Aztec.

Second, I found the funeral scene where Dean geeks out over Gunner was on point--it was funny seeing Dean as a fanboy contrasted with his usual cool persona, but it wasn't overdone--to Gunner, Dean was clearly a overwhelmed fan, but he wasn't a caricature of one.

Dean in the wrestling ring was priceless physical comedy, and again I could believe he'd do that if no one could see him. (How much fun do you think Jensen had filming that?!)

Then, in a way that an episode hasn't done for a very long time, the light-heartedness turned tragic. I thought both Gunner and Harley developed into more than cardboard characters. I felt bad when Harley was killed, and sad when the hellhounds came for Gunner even though it was his own choice that brought him to that end...he did save the boys, there was still some good in him.

As far as Crowley and Casifer...I have never been a Crowley fan, I can't overlook the evil he's done (killing Sarah!) just because he's become Dean's buddy. But last night I was rooting for him because Lucifer's smugness made me really want to see him get his comeuppance! Yes, Casifer is annoying, but Pelligrino played him the same way tormenting Sam when the wall was broken.

While I can't possibly make a list of the 10 best episodes, this one ranks as one of my all-time favorites. Hoping you find a little something to enjoy on the rewatch.

[reggie11.livejournal.com]

This was the most disappointing episode of the season for me. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't all that good either. Dean in the ring was the stand out. Jensen does comedy really well. I also loved watching them both enjoying themselves for a change, but pretty much everything else was kind of blah.

You saw my tweet about neither of the boys trying to exorcise the smug demon. That irked me so much. Dean had been tossed out of the room, but for Sam to not even attempt it seemed ridiculous. It's not like every word of it wouldn't be etched inside his brain by now.

You could see that Crowley was being set up from space it was that damn obvious. I was really rooting for him to turn around and kill the female demon, so when he completely fell for the rouse it was very disappointing. Misha as Casifer is still annoying the hell out me, too. Although he was a tiny bit better with it this week.

I'm glad Crowley escaped because it will add another dimension into trying to take down Lucifer. As much as Crowley deserves to be stabbed in the face, I love the character.

I felt too much second hand embarrassment with the funeral scene between Dean and Gunnar. Ugh.

And what's with having the former female wrestler pretty much playing mother to all the male wrestlers? Sexist much??

Oh and that line, "He, she, or shim" has to be one of the most offensive lines in the history of the show. There are many different ways that could have been said differently that wouldn't have been so tasteless. I'm not one for being overly politically correct, but that term is as bad as using racial epithets. They should know better. I guess having the line coming from a demon, and not a nice or good character could be seen as it being part of being an evil jerk though. All I know is that it made me bristle. I don't think anything will ever top A Rock and a Hard Place for an episode that I found completely offensive and repulsive. It took me three goes to sit through that entire episode and had me hating Dean for weeks (something I'll never forgive the writers for).

All in all, I didn't dislike this week's episode, it just left me feeling flat. I'll give them a pass though because otherwise this season has been really, really good.

[cuddyclothes.livejournal.com]

I felt let down after "The Vessel". The Lucifer arc isn't as boring as the Amara arc, but watching Misha imitate Mark Pellegrino takes me out of the story. Is it wrong that I was delighted that Crowley got his mojo back from the rod? (That sounded dirty.) For ages I've been wondering why he doesn't teleport. FINALLY.

The wrestling stuff was a lot of fun. I'd rewatch for that, but someone will put it on YouTube.

One random tidbit: I was reading an interview with Andrew Lincoln of "Walking Dead" about the violence on the show (end of S5). He talked about the violent on WD being motivated, and said how much he dislikes 'torture porn'. And how the show avoids it. SPN has SO MUCH torture porn!

And why why why every show some being throws Sam and Dean across the room and pins one or both of them? It is so overused, and since when can a mere demon do it? Pretty soon waiters at lunch counters will be doing it to the brothers i f they skip the try to skip out on the check.

[cuddyclothes.livejournal.com]

You saw my tweet about neither of the boys trying to exorcise the smug demon. That irked me so much. Dean had been tossed out of the room, but for Sam to not even attempt it seemed ridiculous. It's not like every word of it wouldn't be etched inside his brain by now.

YES YES YES

[percysowner.livejournal.com]

. It's not like every word of it wouldn't be etched inside his brain by now. They already established that Sam knows it well enough to recite it backwards, for goodness sake. Or he could just carry his phone with the recorded exorcism around when they have established the fact that a demon is involved. But that would have made Sam effective and not a having to be rescued by a secondary minor character.

This was a disappointment to me for many reasons. I did like the fact that we actually had an old fashioned demon deal and Hell Hounds showed up. I liked Crowley escaping. So it wasn't totally awful.

[reggie11.livejournal.com]

Exactly! I actually screamed out, "Oh come ON!" during that scene. I thought that was really sloppy writing on Dabb's part. It's not like it would have taken any more than two seconds for Sam to start and be stopped by the demon choking him or silencing him somehow if they so desperately needed to have the demon monologue, or Sam being needed to be saved by the minor character (again *sigh*), just to at least keep the characterisation believable. I thoroughly detest when any of the writers dumb down Sam or Dean (or both); it's just not necessary, and it's lazy writing.

[sam-dean-lover.livejournal.com]

hi, *hugs* i thought it was better than last week *i mute my tv on Casifer*, Sam wasnt unconscious (a big no-no for me last week no matter how long out), nice brother moments,(when they were separate last week) its still "we save Cas now and defeat the darkness later* which i give it a pass becuz the episode was much better. im ok with it ending the way it did, unlike last week.

[reggie11.livejournal.com]

Pretty soon waiters at lunch counters will be doing it to the brothers i f they skip the try to skip out on the check. Hahahahahaha!

I agree, it really is overused. Sam and Dean have gone up against monsters, the devil himself, angels, archangels, upper level demons...and they get bested by some demon flunky. Puh leeeeze.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

That he she or shim phrase didn't bother me because i took it that he (It?) was talking about demons which to me don't really have a sex outside of whichever vessel they happen to be presented in. If that had been used regarding a human/trangender then yep, it would have been offensive.

Otherwise, yeah, I wasn't overly fond of this one and agree with most of your niggles - I think it suffered coming after a good series of episodes. The contrast made it seem worse than it was - if they'd given me this episode in Season 8 I'd probably have been cheering.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

The trouble with the demon flinging is that it's so inconsitently used too - some episodes demons don't seem to remember they are physically stronger than humans and have POWERS for gawd's sake. Then other episodes you get some random demon suddenly able to take out both Winchesters at once with a flick of the hand. I just wish when they created lore on this show they'd bloody stick to it - or provide credible reasons why the lore's been subverted.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I didn't love it but I did enjoy a lot of it. I still find Misha's Casifer both unconvincing and irritating as a result, and I was really hating the Crowley puppy play, so I was rather glad to see Crowley back in action and all cleaned up again (even though I'm not that fond of the character generally). Lucifer in Cas doesn't seem particularly powerful or menacing, and there's no reason he shouldn't be fully juiced up this time, unlike last time when he was constrained by the limitations of an inferior vessel.

[el1ie.livejournal.com]

Um - Nope, not for me, none of it.

[jessm78.livejournal.com]

Piggybacking onto your comment to say I totally agree. I went into this one not expecting a lot, but I really liked it a lot more than I thought I would... pretty much for all the same reasons you listed.

I wasn't as thrilled with the Casifer stuff, but like you I was really rooting for Crowley. Lucifer was just getting on my nerves so much, I was really hoping for Crowley to one-up him (even if Simmons did double-cross him).

[jessm78.livejournal.com]

I actually feel kind of bad now because it seems that so many people hated this one, and I actually quite liked it. Maybe it's because I went into it not expecting a whole lot? I enjoyed Dean in the ring and I thought it was really cute how the two of them went to see the match together, were cheering and all that, and the bro moments. To me it seemed like a nice little break from all the Amara/Lucifer mytharc stuff (well, that part of the episode, anyway...not that I'm saying it was totally free of mytharc but you know what I mean).

I did have a few issues with it, mainly Casifer getting on my nerves and like others have mentioned, it did bug me that neither of the boys (especially Sam) even attempted to exorcise that demon. But IDK, I liked it. Maybe I'm just on a high from the cuteness & bro moments...to me it was like a nice little birthday present.

I hope your cold eases up soon!

[amypond45.livejournal.com]

This. Thank you! I get so frustrated trying to be consistent with canon when I write, because canon is so inconsistent! Makes me want to give up altogether sometimes...

[amypond45.livejournal.com]

I liked the little memory of their father taking them to wrestling shows, complete with the commentary on the dad sitting behind them who was there mostly for the cheap beer ("Oh, that's why Dad took us to these things..." – poor John cannot catch a break! Which seems a little unfair, tbh, but probably realistic too, so I'm buying it, even though I'm a little ambivalent about John-bashing in general...)

Sorry, did something else happen? :)

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Nooooooo! Don't give up - we make our own canon here. And unlike SPN writers, we stick to it LOL

[cuddyclothes.livejournal.com]

Not a lot, but Jensen was very funny in the first half.

[cuddyclothes.livejournal.com]

THIS SO MUCH.

[greyowl88.livejournal.com]

I actually feel kind of bad now because it seems that so many people hated this one, and I actually quite liked it.

Never feel bad for enjoying an episode!! :D

[greyowl88.livejournal.com]

As long as Sam has hair
There'll never be despair
Sam's hair will save the day
When eps create dismay
~ GreyOwl

Sorry, rhyme attack. I couldn't help myself. lol ;D

xx

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of surprised that we're the minority for liking it, but that's okay, I'd rather be happy than disappointed.

[el1ie.livejournal.com]

Hehe, rhyming attacks can't be helped honey, but Sam's hair is always on the money, tho' wrestling's on the fringe, Casifer still makes me cringe, and I just can't find Crowley funny!


While this one didn't really float my boat, there's a few left in the season yet I can look forward to.

♥