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 01:57 pm (UTC)1.editing issues,the camera following Dean. Sam disappearing (long conversation with guest star) while
2.Dean got all the action scenes
3. um..well...uh...no...just no 4 weeks on break and this is what we have?
no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 01:58 pm (UTC)Sam seeing his own story unfold in Jesse - looking at your brother as "other" - Matty with green eyes, Dean with black ones
Ah! Great catch. I completely missed that parallel.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 02:05 pm (UTC)The nuanced layers were beautifully crafted and Sam not having the action scenes were crucial to him connecting with Jesse and his story. As you can see, I totally loved it. Another top one from this fab season...;D
just no 4 weeks on break and this is what we have?
If you mean amazing story telling then yes!! (Hee, I know you don't but I'm pretty happy to have loved it as much as I did. *g*) Nancy Won is quickly becoming one of my fave writers.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 02:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 02:24 pm (UTC)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.
OMG, of course!!!! This makes so much sense. Love that we are FINALLY getting some insight into Sam's possible state of mind after end of Season 7/ early S8. Even if it wasn't intentional on Nancy Won's part, I'm taking it as a win for always much needed Sam POV even if it is 3 1/2 seasons too late!!!
no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 02:34 pm (UTC)Yessss, knew you'd nail it. Excellent review, dear! Spot on - loved it!
no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 02:50 pm (UTC)Apart from that though, I liked it a lot.
This season!!! ♥ all over the place!
Oh and Sheriff thingy! I was racking my brains for why she was so familiar and hey! she was in Dark Angel as Joshua's love interest, the blind girl - and I loved her in that.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 02:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 03:26 pm (UTC)It was great to watch together! And thanks for listening to me waffle on about this episode...
That second viewing made me see so many more thing connections. I was curious why Sam mentioned being lost and when we look back at the times he loses Dean - he's exactly that. Lost. I wish S8 had explored that more at the time, but little things like this can help be understand (and accept it) more. I'm sure Nancy Won wasn't thinking about S8 when she wrote that, but she was writing Sam in character so that counts for something. :)
no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 03:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 03:35 pm (UTC)Yes. It's weird because this show is pretty much always about that. They just seem to be making more of an issue of it this season. I also fear it's foreshadowing something but in all honesty if they kill one of them off AGAIN at the end of the season it just won't resonate - mostly because it can never be "real". Now, they might subvert it - have us think that's where they are going but turn it about somehow, but I'm never confident that they are that forwarding thinking.
There's definitely some message about grief and loss and the lengths partners go to for each other. But even if one of them end up in the Empty (no different to Hell or Purgatory etc) we know they'll be back next season. I would love to think they are being more clever than that.
And the sheriff looked familiar but I'm not sure I recognise her from DA (as I haven't watched much of them). Possibly from another series even...
no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 03:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 04:23 pm (UTC)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: 2016-04-29 04:39 pm (UTC)I adored Cesar and Jesse, and I was thrilled that one or both of them didn't die (which I was expecting), and I love the idea of the hunters finding a happy ending, and leaving that life behind. I'd like to see these two again, but then again I don't because then something 'bad' would happen and I like the idea of Sam and Dean visiting them at their ranch and riding on horses and drinking beers ;)
Indiachick mentioned something in her recent post that stuck with me about my enjoyment of season 11 so far and that's "its willingness to zoom in on the boys, not the big myth-arcs", allowing us to find out new things that we didn't know before (like Sam smoking weed, his childhood fear about Dean and John not returning from a hunt, or Dean telling us about his recurring dream in 11.04 etc). I love finding out these little details about Sam and Dean, things that even after 11 years, are new to us. Season 11 is giving us this and so much more - I'm loving it!
Wonderful review, and I'm so happy that you enjoyed it *hugs*
no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 05:48 pm (UTC)I've lately realized I'm a little tired of crisis to crisis television, in general. A little slower pace, quiet introspection and character exploration are often more welcome than commercial-to-commercial heightening tension, just for the sake of it.
Kandyse McClure did indeed have several scenes with Jensen on Dark Angel. She was also Deck Officer Dualla, "Dee", on Battlestar Galactica.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 06:09 pm (UTC)I too could have done without the lame Cas dialogue. Show not tell - a Cas case map on the wall would have been as effective for me.
As for the Sam and vampire (and rugaru) thing, I really don't have an issue with that. For Sam, those memories of childhood are thousands of years old - he has cage time between. I suspect he remembers the general feeling of worrying and ascribes monsters in general with any faces, after all this time. The specific monsters weren't important the emotions were.
So far this season, sticking to MOtW eps is the only thing that has kept me watching, so i am now conflicted about whether the season has effectively finished for me or if I watch the rest and risk being seriously disappointed.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 06:10 pm (UTC)Then when Sam and Dean decided they'd ask Cesar and Jesse to join them I thought how cool to add new semi-regulars...only to have that hope dashed right away. But pleasantly stunned that both of them survived the ep and are heading for a happy ending!
no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 06:50 pm (UTC)I am really unhappy that everyone is just fine with Lucifer being out and about. I'm hoping that since the show has been renewed for season 12 that Lucifer might be the big bad next season. If he is, they need to hand wave an explanation as to how he gets Mark Pellegrino's body back because for me Mark was a much more effective Lucifer than Misha.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 09:50 pm (UTC)God. I just love Alec! :D
no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 09:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-04-29 11:38 pm (UTC)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.
^^This! When ruminating on Show the day after watching it, that was my main take away, the point that I kept coming back to and thinking about.
There was a time the Lucifer being free was a whole season's myth arc
I'm not so worried about that right now because Amara has him on a leash...so I feel like he's contained.
As to the mytharc...it has so much potential. I just...I can't help worrying that said potential will not be fulfilled.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-30 02:06 am (UTC)I actually thought that's where they might be heading last season. I though Dean might have to kill Sam in order to save him. Somehow. They often toy with the idea of one killing the other but it never comes to that.
We've had very little lately about Dean's so called bond with Amara. Maybe because they don't know what to do with it at the moment. I'm sure it will be significant in the finale in some way.
I'd like neither of them to die (as in be killed) at the end of the season. It's just too cliched now - especially after Red Meat. Not sure how they could top the emotional impact of that. A sacrifice might be on the cards though. I'm thinking Dean going off with Amara in order to save the world. Or something like that.
I had thought that maybe they'll kill off Lucifer before the finale so it leaves just Amara to battle with. But you might be right - they could get him out of Cas somehow (I'm sure there will be some magic thing laying around somewhere) and them leave him in the wind until next season. Though to have him as the big bad again? I'd be surprised if they'd repeat that tbh, But if they did, they'd definitely need Mark back.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-30 02:08 am (UTC)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. :)