6.06 Reaction and review.
Oct. 30th, 2010 11:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ash48. (spoilers for promo now in comments)
First up: the way I "react" to an episode, in terms of my reaction posts, rely purely on how I felt coming off it. (*g* sounds like some sort of drug. Go figure.). I go with the gut. Was I bored? Did it make me frustrated? Make me want to cry or hit something or jump for joy? What was my immediate reaction and feeling afterwards.
I came off that episode with a buzz that I haven't felt in a while and I'm thinking (hoping *g*) it's not just due to the glass of wine I was enjoying while I was watching it. :)
So... let me count the numerous ways in which I loved this episode...
I have to start with a couple of big ones...
1. Dean: "As of yesterday I wanted to kill him in his sleep. I thought he was a monster".
BINGO!. This. The very fact that Show has hit on the VERY THING that has been Sam's story arc since the very BEGINNING has made me just... guh. It's always been about Sam's "weirdness", his "otherness".. his potential to be a monster. When Sam was in the panic room at the end of S4 his nightmare was Dean calling him a monster. And then to hear Dean actually say it in the phone message is the very thing that tipped him over the each to go after Lilth. My god.. even back to Nightmare when Sam says "aren't you worried? (about my "powers") - Sam has always feared being some sort of monster.
AND NOW HE IS!! And I am mean REALLY. Not the "monster" he became in S4. That was still Sam. Sam who thought he was doing the right thing. This is monster!Sam (shut up.. I don't mean his size)... only, it's not that Sam actually IS a monster- it's that there's a monster BEING Sam.
Now...that shouldn't please me at all but here's the thing... (and the thing that probably takes me out on a limb and I could be totally wrong of course but), for me, this episode confirmed that Sam is a "new" type of monster. One we haven't seen before. A monster who knows exactly how to play Sam. To BE him. That whole idea excites me because this is EVERYTHING Sam has feared. It somehow makes it part of Sam's story. This "thing" has tapped into Sam's psyche. It's everything Sam appears to be on the outside only the INSIDE is missing completely. So we are seeing a stripped down Sam (quite literally in one ep *g*) and by showing us what's missing we are seeing EVERYTHING THAT MAKES SAM SAM...(i kinda love that...).
Also...I'm thinking it's even MORE than just Sam without a soul. I mean, it could well be. But the fact that it was said that he was "NOT HUMAN" makes me think we are dealing with a new monster.
Ok. It could be that Sam's "not human" because he doesn't have a soul. I can buy that. And I imagine that that is probably the way it will go. In fact.. even the notion that a human without a soul is a "monster" is interesting to me. The SPN universe has always been about the "otherness" of monsters... remember Dean's line at the end of Blood Lust? About hating them..? It's all there. :D
But I will say outright that I did not believe ONE WORD that came out of Sam's mouth in that episode. Not even at the end. This episode was about the truth ... and "Sam" did nothing but lie. The whole time. (LOVED Jared here... he is OWNING this "other" Sam. I am not an Evil!Sam fan at all, but if we were to ever to really see evil!Sam, it's now. Jared has his wish. He's often said he's wanted to play evil!Sam. We have him now.)
Damn.. that's a long first point. But yeah... "MONSTER" = HUGE SPN MOMENT!! \o/
2. Dean. *bows down* I love this Dean. This is a Dean who has SEEN IT ALL. The most telling thing about this episode was that Dean DEALT! I have to say that I did not like the idea that people killed themselves on hearing the truth. (there's probably some major meta here about suicide, but I can't won't go there just at the moment...), but the fact that Dean HANDLED THE TRUTH (hee! title..) is testament to his HERONESS. But it's more than that. It's showed that Dean is totally aware of the truths he buries... but they aren't truths that are going to make him pull the trigger. He DEALT with the truths Lisa told (because he knew them already) and he DEALT with the truths that not!Sam spouted - he dealt by SEEING THROUGH them. Go Dean!
I have to say half way through the ep I was worried that Dean really did believe the crap that not!Sam was spouting. I wanted to slap him. So when he FINALLY saw not!Sam for the monster is was I have to say I cheered.
Did I cheer because he was beating up on his brother? No way. It kills me when they beat each other up, but, to me, he wasn't beating up his brother. He was beating up the "thing" that was pretending to be his brother. And something that was mocking Sam by pretending to be him totally deserved that beating. (of course, if it turns out that that really is Sam then.... um... no.... he still deserved that kick in the arse....and this from a Sam!gal /o\ ETA: I have an explanation for why I think this in the comments below..)
Also... this is the "grown up" Dean that I've been wanting to see. Ok.. I like fullofmanpain!Dean... but he's done that already, so to see him take on the pain and OWN it just... *guh* CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!! \o/
3. The Mystery. The very fact that I am on the edge of my seat wanting to know what the FUCK has happened to Sam means I am engaged and therefore invested and interested and makes me write all this stuff. I am DYING to know what has happened to Sam. The limp!Sam fan in me likes to think he is being held captive somewhere waiting for his Knight in Shining Armour to rescue him (hell maybe? inside his own meatsuit? a place where his memories are being used to "feed" this new monster?) or is it him without a soul and his soul needs to be retrieved now (why am I feeling the latter is less exciting??). I suspect the latter here, because of all the hints we've had about how valuable a soul is. Makes sense. Either way... we'll get Sam back soon and there will BE HUGS AND MANLY TEARS OF PAIN AND REUNION!!! \o/
The other great stuff... (I'll be shorter now..)
4. BOBBY!! SQUEEEEEEEE. And you know what I loved?!! That we TOTALLY knew what Bobby was going through because of that wonderful Bobby episode. Hitting the books... hee!! Oh Bobby... At last they have given you so truly HILARIOUS lines.
5. Drinking! After my recent drinking meta I was drawn into Dean's lonely drinking (way to handle those truths Dean..) and Cas's very interesting moment of topping up Dean's glass. Wow.. that was scary to me.
6. Cas. He's an enigma. As an angel should be. I'm loving that about Cas at the moment. They are setting up a new mystery with him. Dean reaching out to him for help and being shunned. Reminds of the Cas we had when he was with Uriel. Yeah.. it'll be interesting to see what they do with him now...
7. Lisa. Fan's are going to be hard on her I think. Not me. Someone pushes my kid? Yep. I'd by saying good-bye too. Here's the thing though. Lisa has seen Dean in grief. She's heard about the stuff out there - even seen some of it, but she's never seen Dean truly violent (I believe). Possibly never seen Dean in full on "hunter" mode. So, sure, she accepted him into her family as a broken man.... but not a violent one. I'm still on Lisa's side. <33
8. Show acting like fangirls. Hee! I loved that Show was second guessing what was wrong with Sam the same way we have been for the last 6 weeks. Lucifer? Damaged? Doppelganger?? Oh Show. I heart that you read us so well... (and *kicks* you at the same time for knowing us all too well!).
9. Colours!! I won't even attempt to talk about the colour stuff in this episode. I am sure![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
zimshan will go to town. I will say that I love how I NOTICE all that stuff since her awesome colour metas. When the boys went into Veritas's (sp?) den the colours where wild. So many scenes that were painted one colour...
10. Bromance. Oh yes indeedy doody. It was in there tonight! Acknowledgment of their undying love for each other (and yes, I take my wincest glasses off when viewing the show... mostly...), their "unhealthy" bond.... *dances*.... Even though the boys aren't really together the pain that Dean feels through the separation was enough for me to be satisfied that the brotherhood is still there. I don't believe FOR A MINUTE that Dean wanted to kill Sam... just the monster that was pretending to be Sam.
11. GORE! My god... oh Show..<333
I have one more thing I LOVED to PIECES but first..
The MOTW...hmmm... not sure about that yet. We needed truths so this was a convenient monster of the week. I couldn't see past that really. I have to say I was too busy with everything else to really ponder that aspect of the show. I'll wait to read what you all have to say about that one.. :)
Also... when the people at the beginning were telling truths they didn't acknowledge (as in "why did I say that?"like people did later on)..that bugged me for some reason.
And now. This. This amazing call back to Dean "shutting down" with grief when John died and Dean's line "He's trying to be like me"... GOD DAMN!!! This was exactly what I was thinking when this shot came up (and worked perfectly for why Dean initially believed not!Sam.)
Lacking empathy, cold (not)Sam...
Reminded me of....unsympathetic, "cold" Dean...
Squeeeeeee!!! How awesome is that??!!
Ok. There's SOmuch more... but I have already written a novel so I will leave it there.
I will say...I see hope here. Show has a PLAN and I LOVE that. Would I rather see the boys working happily together? Shit yeah. Am I happy that they are giving me more than that? Yeah... I am now. Of course, that still hinges on finding Sam SOON. And what exactly is going on with him.
I did not watch the promo for next week. Even though I was desperate to. But I want Sam back NOW!! No doubt about it... but I am enjoying the ride and the exploration of Sam's character. Especially as Sam isn't even there. Sam will have a shit load of healing to do after this and ..um... yeah...that should be interesting to see.
<33
apologies for the gazillion typos that must exist here. I'm done with proofreading for now... time for bed..
First up: the way I "react" to an episode, in terms of my reaction posts, rely purely on how I felt coming off it. (*g* sounds like some sort of drug. Go figure.). I go with the gut. Was I bored? Did it make me frustrated? Make me want to cry or hit something or jump for joy? What was my immediate reaction and feeling afterwards.
I came off that episode with a buzz that I haven't felt in a while and I'm thinking (hoping *g*) it's not just due to the glass of wine I was enjoying while I was watching it. :)
So... let me count the numerous ways in which I loved this episode...
I have to start with a couple of big ones...
1. Dean: "As of yesterday I wanted to kill him in his sleep. I thought he was a monster".
BINGO!. This. The very fact that Show has hit on the VERY THING that has been Sam's story arc since the very BEGINNING has made me just... guh. It's always been about Sam's "weirdness", his "otherness".. his potential to be a monster. When Sam was in the panic room at the end of S4 his nightmare was Dean calling him a monster. And then to hear Dean actually say it in the phone message is the very thing that tipped him over the each to go after Lilth. My god.. even back to Nightmare when Sam says "aren't you worried? (about my "powers") - Sam has always feared being some sort of monster.
AND NOW HE IS!! And I am mean REALLY. Not the "monster" he became in S4. That was still Sam. Sam who thought he was doing the right thing. This is monster!Sam (shut up.. I don't mean his size)... only, it's not that Sam actually IS a monster- it's that there's a monster BEING Sam.
Now...that shouldn't please me at all but here's the thing... (and the thing that probably takes me out on a limb and I could be totally wrong of course but), for me, this episode confirmed that Sam is a "new" type of monster. One we haven't seen before. A monster who knows exactly how to play Sam. To BE him. That whole idea excites me because this is EVERYTHING Sam has feared. It somehow makes it part of Sam's story. This "thing" has tapped into Sam's psyche. It's everything Sam appears to be on the outside only the INSIDE is missing completely. So we are seeing a stripped down Sam (quite literally in one ep *g*) and by showing us what's missing we are seeing EVERYTHING THAT MAKES SAM SAM...(i kinda love that...).
Also...I'm thinking it's even MORE than just Sam without a soul. I mean, it could well be. But the fact that it was said that he was "NOT HUMAN" makes me think we are dealing with a new monster.
Ok. It could be that Sam's "not human" because he doesn't have a soul. I can buy that. And I imagine that that is probably the way it will go. In fact.. even the notion that a human without a soul is a "monster" is interesting to me. The SPN universe has always been about the "otherness" of monsters... remember Dean's line at the end of Blood Lust? About hating them..? It's all there. :D
But I will say outright that I did not believe ONE WORD that came out of Sam's mouth in that episode. Not even at the end. This episode was about the truth ... and "Sam" did nothing but lie. The whole time. (LOVED Jared here... he is OWNING this "other" Sam. I am not an Evil!Sam fan at all, but if we were to ever to really see evil!Sam, it's now. Jared has his wish. He's often said he's wanted to play evil!Sam. We have him now.)
Damn.. that's a long first point. But yeah... "MONSTER" = HUGE SPN MOMENT!! \o/
2. Dean. *bows down* I love this Dean. This is a Dean who has SEEN IT ALL. The most telling thing about this episode was that Dean DEALT! I have to say that I did not like the idea that people killed themselves on hearing the truth. (there's probably some major meta here about suicide, but I can't won't go there just at the moment...), but the fact that Dean HANDLED THE TRUTH (hee! title..) is testament to his HERONESS. But it's more than that. It's showed that Dean is totally aware of the truths he buries... but they aren't truths that are going to make him pull the trigger. He DEALT with the truths Lisa told (because he knew them already) and he DEALT with the truths that not!Sam spouted - he dealt by SEEING THROUGH them. Go Dean!
I have to say half way through the ep I was worried that Dean really did believe the crap that not!Sam was spouting. I wanted to slap him. So when he FINALLY saw not!Sam for the monster is was I have to say I cheered.
Did I cheer because he was beating up on his brother? No way. It kills me when they beat each other up, but, to me, he wasn't beating up his brother. He was beating up the "thing" that was pretending to be his brother. And something that was mocking Sam by pretending to be him totally deserved that beating. (of course, if it turns out that that really is Sam then.... um... no.... he still deserved that kick in the arse....and this from a Sam!gal /o\ ETA: I have an explanation for why I think this in the comments below..)
Also... this is the "grown up" Dean that I've been wanting to see. Ok.. I like fullofmanpain!Dean... but he's done that already, so to see him take on the pain and OWN it just... *guh* CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!! \o/
3. The Mystery. The very fact that I am on the edge of my seat wanting to know what the FUCK has happened to Sam means I am engaged and therefore invested and interested and makes me write all this stuff. I am DYING to know what has happened to Sam. The limp!Sam fan in me likes to think he is being held captive somewhere waiting for his Knight in Shining Armour to rescue him (hell maybe? inside his own meatsuit? a place where his memories are being used to "feed" this new monster?) or is it him without a soul and his soul needs to be retrieved now (why am I feeling the latter is less exciting??). I suspect the latter here, because of all the hints we've had about how valuable a soul is. Makes sense. Either way... we'll get Sam back soon and there will BE HUGS AND MANLY TEARS OF PAIN AND REUNION!!! \o/
The other great stuff... (I'll be shorter now..)
4. BOBBY!! SQUEEEEEEEE. And you know what I loved?!! That we TOTALLY knew what Bobby was going through because of that wonderful Bobby episode. Hitting the books... hee!! Oh Bobby... At last they have given you so truly HILARIOUS lines.
5. Drinking! After my recent drinking meta I was drawn into Dean's lonely drinking (way to handle those truths Dean..) and Cas's very interesting moment of topping up Dean's glass. Wow.. that was scary to me.
6. Cas. He's an enigma. As an angel should be. I'm loving that about Cas at the moment. They are setting up a new mystery with him. Dean reaching out to him for help and being shunned. Reminds of the Cas we had when he was with Uriel. Yeah.. it'll be interesting to see what they do with him now...
7. Lisa. Fan's are going to be hard on her I think. Not me. Someone pushes my kid? Yep. I'd by saying good-bye too. Here's the thing though. Lisa has seen Dean in grief. She's heard about the stuff out there - even seen some of it, but she's never seen Dean truly violent (I believe). Possibly never seen Dean in full on "hunter" mode. So, sure, she accepted him into her family as a broken man.... but not a violent one. I'm still on Lisa's side. <33
8. Show acting like fangirls. Hee! I loved that Show was second guessing what was wrong with Sam the same way we have been for the last 6 weeks. Lucifer? Damaged? Doppelganger?? Oh Show. I heart that you read us so well... (and *kicks* you at the same time for knowing us all too well!).
9. Colours!! I won't even attempt to talk about the colour stuff in this episode. I am sure
zimshan will go to town. I will say that I love how I NOTICE all that stuff since her awesome colour metas. When the boys went into Veritas's (sp?) den the colours where wild. So many scenes that were painted one colour...10. Bromance. Oh yes indeedy doody. It was in there tonight! Acknowledgment of their undying love for each other (and yes, I take my wincest glasses off when viewing the show... mostly...), their "unhealthy" bond.... *dances*.... Even though the boys aren't really together the pain that Dean feels through the separation was enough for me to be satisfied that the brotherhood is still there. I don't believe FOR A MINUTE that Dean wanted to kill Sam... just the monster that was pretending to be Sam.
11. GORE! My god... oh Show..<333
I have one more thing I LOVED to PIECES but first..
The MOTW...hmmm... not sure about that yet. We needed truths so this was a convenient monster of the week. I couldn't see past that really. I have to say I was too busy with everything else to really ponder that aspect of the show. I'll wait to read what you all have to say about that one.. :)
Also... when the people at the beginning were telling truths they didn't acknowledge (as in "why did I say that?"like people did later on)..that bugged me for some reason.
And now. This. This amazing call back to Dean "shutting down" with grief when John died and Dean's line "He's trying to be like me"... GOD DAMN!!! This was exactly what I was thinking when this shot came up (and worked perfectly for why Dean initially believed not!Sam.)
Lacking empathy, cold (not)Sam...
Reminded me of....unsympathetic, "cold" Dean...
Squeeeeeee!!! How awesome is that??!!
Ok. There's SOmuch more... but I have already written a novel so I will leave it there.
I will say...I see hope here. Show has a PLAN and I LOVE that. Would I rather see the boys working happily together? Shit yeah. Am I happy that they are giving me more than that? Yeah... I am now. Of course, that still hinges on finding Sam SOON. And what exactly is going on with him.
I did not watch the promo for next week. Even though I was desperate to. But I want Sam back NOW!! No doubt about it... but I am enjoying the ride and the exploration of Sam's character. Especially as Sam isn't even there. Sam will have a shit load of healing to do after this and ..um... yeah...that should be interesting to see.
<33
apologies for the gazillion typos that must exist here. I'm done with proofreading for now... time for bed..
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 12:35 am (UTC)I really didn't think that show would ever go there, let them grow and let their relationship change...
I'm still on Lisa's side.
Me too. She did what she had to do. But I don't actually think that what she said was any different to what she would have said if Dean hadn't been under a spell. Because she always tells it how it is to Dean, she's done it before, and she's done it today. She clearly loves him, but that doesn't mean she'll take any bullsh*t of him. Love that woman.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-01 09:29 am (UTC)And yes to Lisa. No great surprises there with what she said. She seems to be always honest dean. Though I am sure she wouldn't have wanted to hurt him. Which would have hurt her no doubt.
Interesting times ahead i think.....:)
Xx