11.19 episode reaction/review
Apr. 29th, 2016 09:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ash48This got a little long. I felt like I could write about this one forever *g*. Such a beautifully layered episode.
The are times when this show is downright terrible (I'm sorry, but it is) and other times it's bloody spectacular. This one? Spectacular! I know that might be a strange way to describe an episode that was actually fairly quiet, steadily paced and thoughtful - but those are actually the reasons why I thought it was rather spectacular. It was an episode that peered into the heart of this show and delivered on a level that I cherish. It examined the brothers' relationship using a parallel that spoke of revenge, dedication, love and finality (be it a happy ever after or one of tragedy).
It also told a story that had a deeply satisfying conclusion (something I've discovered I really need in an episode). It resolved Jesse's need for revenge. It also gave as a "happily ever after" - something that we can perhaps wish for Sam and Dean - it doesn't mean they will get one, but it left the idea open that one day it might be possible for them to their own happily ever after.
On every level this episode delivered for me. It didn't reach the intensity that Red Meat did (hee, thankfully!), but instead it told a very personal story - one that touched on the reasons people hunt, the connection hunting partners have to each other and the way a hunter's life starts and (possibly) finishes.
It also tapped into something Supernatural essentially is - a male story. Each of the men in this episode - Sam, Dean, Jesse, Cesar and the father who lost his daughter - had a connection through loss and examined how each handled it. By looking at this we can reflect of how Sam and Dean have dealt with their own personal losses over the years.
There are a mass of parallels between Sam and Dean and Jesse and Cesar - but the most striking to me is the way each partnership is about endurance - staying with your loved one, no matter what. Cesar's devotion to Jesse through his thirst for revenge mirrored both Sam and Dean's devotion to each other through - well, everything they've been through. It's no mistake "just like a married couple" comes up when describing Sam and Dean. Being married means hanging in there through thick and thin.
I don't think it was an accident that Jesse and Matty not only looked a bit like young Sam and Dean (hair colour notably) but their age difference matched also (4 years apart). Jesse and Matty discussing escaping to a better life was perhaps a reflection of Sam and Dean's early lives (with Matty promising things will get better) and then later Jesse was consumed with revenge and grief after losing his brother (of which we've seen in both Sam and Dean).
I know fandom likes shipping and I'm sure each shipping camp will own the parallels as "proof" or hints that there's gay love between Sam/Dean or Dean/Cas (or Sam and someone else? It was the younger brother who was gay after all), but I think the parallels are more powerful when read as intended - the examination of the variations of love we get between men; between brothers, lovers and a father and child. That the love is just as powerful and soul consuming no matter how you feel it or who you share it with. So fucking deep! I love it.
And look at our little show that could! Giving us a gay, interracial hunting couple without judgement or comment (or death!). It was a tender examination of a couple overcoming the issue of revenge and loss to triumph in the end. YAY! And as much as I'd love to see them again I hope never to see them again. I want them to escape the horrid hunting life - I want them to have their happy ever after.
On top of all the wonderfully deep issues this episode examined it also delivered fantastic performances. I thought the father was excellent. He portrayed a deeply conflicted and guilt ridden man who dealt with his loss differently to Sam and Dean. Jesse and Cesar were absolutely wonderful (their love and respect for each other leapt off the screen) and I also loved the three female guest stars - Sheriff Tyson, the witness and that adorable woman flirting with Sam.
The brothers were given equal opportunities to have their stories told through a connection with the other characters (yay!). They both had similar stories and could empathise with their counterparts. Dean contemplating helping others get their revenge and Sam seeing his own story unfold in Jesse - looking at your brother as "other" - Matty with green eyes, Dean with black ones.
And once again the comment about losing the person who you love more than anything in the world came up. Dean heard it at the end of Red Meat (by the woman who lost her husband) and that was mirrored by Sam hearing it from Jesse in this episode (ack! I hope they're not gearing up for another death at the end of the season).
The monster was wonderfully creepy. I hate cicadas, so things making that noise and crawling out of the ground worked for me!
I think the thing that really cemented this episode as being special was the way it concluded. I totally expected Sam and Jesse to come storming in, blades in hand, full of blood lust saving the men they love. Instead it was almost an anti-climax (in a good way!) with them arriving just in time for Jesse to find his brother *sniff* and quietly and respectfully burning the bodies. It was touching and gave Jesse and Cesar closure.
Sam reminiscing about how he felt as a child - fearing the loss of his dad and brother (even with the mistake of vampires), was poignant and maybe (just maybe?) harked back to the way he actually did feel completely lost when he though Dean had died at the beginning of S8. Sam feeling utterly lost and not knowing how to respond works for me.
My only quibble is the way we are getting the stock standard dialogue before each episode that Cas doesn't appear in. Dean is incredibly worried and is in such a state that Sam has to find a hunt in order to get him out of the bunker. I know they have to tie together myth arc eps with MoTW eps and it's always a little, er, clunky but I'd love these moments to add some dialogue about what Cas actually did. Maybe even acknowledging that Lucifer is out of the cage. There was a time the Lucifer being free was a whole season's myth arc (S5) and now it feels like a mere inconvenience (the threat of Amara seems like the much bigger concern - not Lucifer).
But really, I'm not complaining. I know it's tricky tying these different types of episodes together. I adore MoTW eps (and how weird that these are often referred to as "fillers") and would happily watch a whole season of these. I know the boys need something that keeps them in the game (the world needing to be saved) so I understand why they do it.
S11 is really delivering for me. Having episodes like this (and Red Meat, Safe House, Just My Imagination) that use the MoTW to examine the brothers' relationship and the world in with they live in is what I'm here for. And because this season has a much more positive approach to the brothers (wow 19 eps in and they not only like each other, I think they are trusting each other again too), we are seeing these more positive examinations of their relationship. All I can say is...more please!
The are times when this show is downright terrible (I'm sorry, but it is) and other times it's bloody spectacular. This one? Spectacular! I know that might be a strange way to describe an episode that was actually fairly quiet, steadily paced and thoughtful - but those are actually the reasons why I thought it was rather spectacular. It was an episode that peered into the heart of this show and delivered on a level that I cherish. It examined the brothers' relationship using a parallel that spoke of revenge, dedication, love and finality (be it a happy ever after or one of tragedy).
It also told a story that had a deeply satisfying conclusion (something I've discovered I really need in an episode). It resolved Jesse's need for revenge. It also gave as a "happily ever after" - something that we can perhaps wish for Sam and Dean - it doesn't mean they will get one, but it left the idea open that one day it might be possible for them to their own happily ever after.
On every level this episode delivered for me. It didn't reach the intensity that Red Meat did (hee, thankfully!), but instead it told a very personal story - one that touched on the reasons people hunt, the connection hunting partners have to each other and the way a hunter's life starts and (possibly) finishes.
It also tapped into something Supernatural essentially is - a male story. Each of the men in this episode - Sam, Dean, Jesse, Cesar and the father who lost his daughter - had a connection through loss and examined how each handled it. By looking at this we can reflect of how Sam and Dean have dealt with their own personal losses over the years.
There are a mass of parallels between Sam and Dean and Jesse and Cesar - but the most striking to me is the way each partnership is about endurance - staying with your loved one, no matter what. Cesar's devotion to Jesse through his thirst for revenge mirrored both Sam and Dean's devotion to each other through - well, everything they've been through. It's no mistake "just like a married couple" comes up when describing Sam and Dean. Being married means hanging in there through thick and thin.
I don't think it was an accident that Jesse and Matty not only looked a bit like young Sam and Dean (hair colour notably) but their age difference matched also (4 years apart). Jesse and Matty discussing escaping to a better life was perhaps a reflection of Sam and Dean's early lives (with Matty promising things will get better) and then later Jesse was consumed with revenge and grief after losing his brother (of which we've seen in both Sam and Dean).
I know fandom likes shipping and I'm sure each shipping camp will own the parallels as "proof" or hints that there's gay love between Sam/Dean or Dean/Cas (or Sam and someone else? It was the younger brother who was gay after all), but I think the parallels are more powerful when read as intended - the examination of the variations of love we get between men; between brothers, lovers and a father and child. That the love is just as powerful and soul consuming no matter how you feel it or who you share it with. So fucking deep! I love it.
And look at our little show that could! Giving us a gay, interracial hunting couple without judgement or comment (or death!). It was a tender examination of a couple overcoming the issue of revenge and loss to triumph in the end. YAY! And as much as I'd love to see them again I hope never to see them again. I want them to escape the horrid hunting life - I want them to have their happy ever after.
On top of all the wonderfully deep issues this episode examined it also delivered fantastic performances. I thought the father was excellent. He portrayed a deeply conflicted and guilt ridden man who dealt with his loss differently to Sam and Dean. Jesse and Cesar were absolutely wonderful (their love and respect for each other leapt off the screen) and I also loved the three female guest stars - Sheriff Tyson, the witness and that adorable woman flirting with Sam.
The brothers were given equal opportunities to have their stories told through a connection with the other characters (yay!). They both had similar stories and could empathise with their counterparts. Dean contemplating helping others get their revenge and Sam seeing his own story unfold in Jesse - looking at your brother as "other" - Matty with green eyes, Dean with black ones.
And once again the comment about losing the person who you love more than anything in the world came up. Dean heard it at the end of Red Meat (by the woman who lost her husband) and that was mirrored by Sam hearing it from Jesse in this episode (ack! I hope they're not gearing up for another death at the end of the season).
The monster was wonderfully creepy. I hate cicadas, so things making that noise and crawling out of the ground worked for me!
I think the thing that really cemented this episode as being special was the way it concluded. I totally expected Sam and Jesse to come storming in, blades in hand, full of blood lust saving the men they love. Instead it was almost an anti-climax (in a good way!) with them arriving just in time for Jesse to find his brother *sniff* and quietly and respectfully burning the bodies. It was touching and gave Jesse and Cesar closure.
Sam reminiscing about how he felt as a child - fearing the loss of his dad and brother (even with the mistake of vampires), was poignant and maybe (just maybe?) harked back to the way he actually did feel completely lost when he though Dean had died at the beginning of S8. Sam feeling utterly lost and not knowing how to respond works for me.
My only quibble is the way we are getting the stock standard dialogue before each episode that Cas doesn't appear in. Dean is incredibly worried and is in such a state that Sam has to find a hunt in order to get him out of the bunker. I know they have to tie together myth arc eps with MoTW eps and it's always a little, er, clunky but I'd love these moments to add some dialogue about what Cas actually did. Maybe even acknowledging that Lucifer is out of the cage. There was a time the Lucifer being free was a whole season's myth arc (S5) and now it feels like a mere inconvenience (the threat of Amara seems like the much bigger concern - not Lucifer).
But really, I'm not complaining. I know it's tricky tying these different types of episodes together. I adore MoTW eps (and how weird that these are often referred to as "fillers") and would happily watch a whole season of these. I know the boys need something that keeps them in the game (the world needing to be saved) so I understand why they do it.
S11 is really delivering for me. Having episodes like this (and Red Meat, Safe House, Just My Imagination) that use the MoTW to examine the brothers' relationship and the world in with they live in is what I'm here for. And because this season has a much more positive approach to the brothers (wow 19 eps in and they not only like each other, I think they are trusting each other again too), we are seeing these more positive examinations of their relationship. All I can say is...more please!
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no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 04:29 pm (UTC)This was perhaps slow-paced but that didn't detract from the enjoyment.
The gay couple was presented with just the right approach, and the fondness between them was palpable without being over-the top.
I know many enjoy the parallels that are drawn between Sam and Dean and the occasional guest stars in the various episodes, but I feel we've gotten past that now. It's renowned that Sam and Dean share unboundless love and are ready and willing to make the extreme sacrifice for each other, and always will.
It's rather annoying that we get the same repetitive opening in each episode.
We're supposed to believe Dean is upset because Castiel prefers sitting comfortably in front of the TV inside his Lucifer-possessed vessel, but each time he repeats it, his concern is less believable.
When he and Sam go off on their weekly hunt, Deans forgets completely about the angel.
I just have to finish off by saying that I find Amara the least scary of all the enemies the brothers have faced.
To be touted as God's sister she's pretty weak.
Sure she's good for the occasional earthquake, but a troupe of angels managed to weaken her and knock her out, so not all that strong.
Anyhow, I've really enjoyed the MOTW brother eps, the story-arc not so much, and I doubt the remaining eps leading up to the end of the season will be any more interesting. But we'll see. :)
no subject
Date: 2016-04-30 09:40 am (UTC)When he and Sam go off on their weekly hunt, Deans forgets completely about the angel.
It's as though the opening tells us that they're worried for Cas (and yes, I believe Sam would also be worried, even though we're not really seeing it. Though I think he's probably also pretty angry that Cas let Lucifer out of the cage) and then the new hunt distracts them completely from their other troubles. Which, I suppose they've always done it that way. It just seems more clunky this season for some reason.
I just have to finish off by saying that I find Amara the least scary of all the enemies the brothers have faced.
It's weird isn't it? I'm not sure why that is. Maybe they are holding back on just how devastating she can be. Maybe it's because we watched her grow up and haven't really seen her true capabilities. I don't know, but I agree she's definitely not scary (yet!).
I love the MoTW stories too. Always get good insights into the brothers and I love it when they come across a new monster. :)
no subject
Date: 2016-04-30 01:45 pm (UTC)For me the real problem is that by catering to the part of the fandom that loves Cas, they have to totally dismiss the danger that he put the world in by saying yes. They have to ignore that Sam suffered horribly to put Lucifer back in The Cage. It means no one can be ANGRY at Cas for saying yes. It leads to acting like Cas is the only thing to worry about now that Lucifer is out and leads to Dean suggesting that they simply dump Lucifer into another vessel. It's completely down playing season five and Sam's sacrifice. The odd thing is, I expect that eventually we will circle back to this all being Sam's fault for releasing Lucifer back in season four while poor, poor Cas just did what he had to. I think this because we already had people bringing up Sam releasing Lucifer under the Carver reign and had both Dean and Cas given credit for putting him back while Sam gets zero acknowledgement.
no subject
Date: 2016-05-01 12:14 pm (UTC)I hope they resolve Sam's visions and believing they were from God. Sam gets the blame because he believed God was talking to him. Instead he was being tricked (again) and it resulted in Lucifer being free - not his fault that Cas said yes, but he will be blamed for believing the vision (I figure).
That side of fandom is extraordinarily vocal so I appreciate the show doing what they can to appease that (though I still have to wonder how many of the 1.6mil viewers actually watch it for a ship. But maybe it's the energy of fandom that brings in the extra dollars so *shrugs* I really don't know. They would have gotten rid of him years ago if he wasn't such a powerful force in terms of fandom. He must cause them an unending amount of headaches working out how to devise a story arc for him. And for Crowley too.