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nerdylittleshit · 5 years

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Thoughts about Spn 15x02

SPOILERS AHEAD! BEWARE!

So, round two. And we are still not any closer how to get rid of all the ghosts. All the solutions so far have been temporary, and while the episode moved the plot along it also felt kind of redundant. If anything the episode raised a couple of questions, which will probably become more relevant once the season moves along. And as usually with Bucklemming episodes I felt the episode had at least 2 or 3 characters too much, that again kind of felt redundant as well. All in all it felt like one of those “you can skip this one”-episodes, once we all will start our rewatch.

But, as always, let’s take a closer look.

Ghostapocalypse: The Return

See, I’m still not invested in the whole ghost storyline and now we will get 3 episodes dealing with it. While last week’s ghosts were somehow connected to the Winchesters, I don’t see this pattern in this week’s episode. The ghost that is featured most prominently is the one of Francis Tumblety aka ‘jack the Ripper’. The name would suggest a connection to our Jack, though I don’t see why. However he is quite literally connected to Rowena: they used to date back in the day. More so all of Francis’s victims were women. It seems like they both even back then were aware of each’s other dark secret: that Rowena is a witch and Francis a serial killer. But unlike Francis Rowena has changed and works together with hunters now. Will she be the key to get all the ghosts back to hell? Will she sacrifice herself in order to do so? (The promo for next week suggests so)

It was also Francis who brought up the theme of the episode (perhaps the season?): doors. The warding is a door and door can be opened. Some of the town’s people sneaked into that door, despite being told not to (and died because of it). Last episode we learned that all the doors have been opened in hell, including the cage, so Michael will (possibly) be free as well. The (temporary) solution to deal with ghosts is to trap them again. Belphegor creates a door inside the warding so Kevin can leave. Kevin himself is not free to go where he wants: he can only stay on earth or return to hell. He is trapped as well. And there is of course the return of Amara, who once has been sealed away by Chuck, who is now facing the same fate: he is trapped inside our world because he is too weak to leave. So yeah, doors/being trapped will be a big theme this season I guess.

And speaking of Kevin: why would Chuck make an exception for both John and Bobby but would then send Kevin to hell? What did he gain in that? Or was there some sort of risk in sending Kevin to heaven? Unless this plot development becomes relevant again I feel Kevin’s return was… useless. He could not help the Winchesters and we only learned that Chuck broke his promise and is a dick, which we already knew before, and now Kevin’s fate is to wander the earth as a ghost. I get it, it is the last season and they probably try to bring back as many guest stars as they can, but it should be relevant to the plot you know. The only thing we learned is that there isn’t a solution to every problem and sometimes you have to accept that, which might be a bit of foretelling of what is to come for the Winchesters. (Also, both Sam and Dean have been to hell, so does that mean they can’t go to heaven as well?)

Cogito, ergo sum

Let’s get philosophical (trust me, it’s fun). In the perhaps best scene of the episode Dean and Cas have a short conversation, showing us that Dean is still angry at Cas for what happened with Jack and Mary and that he is in an existential crisis. After he learned the truth about Chuck Dean questions everything. To him his entire life has been a lie and none of his choices are his own. Cas however sees the entire situation different. While Chuck might have designed the obstacles of their lives, their choices, their feelings are very much their own. To Dean’s question what is real his answer is ‘We are’. Of course the ‘we’ might refer to all of Team Free Will, but in that very moment only Cas and Dean are present. The subtext of that scene is Dean asking whether his feelings for Cas are real or yet another manipulation by Chuck, and Cas reassuring him that they are real, that everything between them, their bond, their feelings, are real.

Personally I do believe Cas is right. It is true that Chuck has designed the story, the life of Sam and Dean Winchesters, and that he did manipulate them to act in a certain way. However he has no control over their feelings. Otherwise he could have forced Dean to kill Jack. Dean acted on his own, against Chuck’s intention. While Dean has no control over what is happening to him he has control over how he feels about it. His feelings and his choices are still his own. Which is pretty much how life works: we can’t control what is happening to us but we can control how we react to it.

But speaking about things that are not what they seem: what is the deal with Belphegor? After last week everyone agreed that there is more to him, and that he might not be who he says he is. Though I’m not sure he is indeed someone else, there is definitely something sketchy about him. We learn that another demon named Ardat is after him and that apparently he is a terrible threat to humanity. Dean doesn’t seem to trust him either and if we can trust anything than it is Dean’s bullshit sensor. Also Belphegor claims he is just a good soldier, the same way Dean once said he is a good son (which given the way John raised his sons means the same as being a good soldier), the same way Michael once said he is a good son. Along with Belphegor admiring Dean’s work as a torturer there is definitely a connection between these two.

You are the yin to my yang

This episode also marks the return of Amara. Yeah. She is living her best life, mostly because she got rid of her brother. While these two made their peace it is not like they are friends. Amara has neither forget nor forgiven what her brother has done to her. She sees right through him, realizing that he only wants to spend time with her because he needs her. We learn that Sam was right in his assumption that now that the Winchesters know the truth Chuck got bored and wants to leave this world, however he is too weak to do so. He needs Amara’s help, who in return has no intention to help him, leaving him trapped the way he had sealed her away for so long. Amara says Chuck can only do parlor tricks and has no real power. While Chuck is weakened I think he is still a threat to the Winchesters. And perhaps the only one who can defeat him is still Amara, who might become an ally to the Winchesters.

On a meta level we had chuck calling the Game of Trones ending ‘great’. Personal feelings aside in general most people would not agree with Chuck. This is yet another sign that Chuck is not a good writer. Most people criticized that the ending of GoT felt too rushed, with the characters acting out-of-character. Which is exactly what Chuck wanted: to see the ending he wanted despite having characters acting against their nature. If Chuck would have understood Dean as a character he would have known that Dean could never kill Jack, despite manipulating the story in every way for that to occur. Whenever you write a story you have to accept that stories create a life of their own and as you move on what you had planned to happen might not feel right anymore.

In that regard I think it is quite interesting what Andrew Dabb said about Chuck in a recent interview:

And the type of writer he is, I don’t think that’s a very good type of writer … A good writer will tell you that if you write good enough characters they’ll go their own way and talk to you themselves. And we’ve seen that on Supernatural with Sam and Dean over the years. I think Chuck is the kind of writer who just wants his characters to do what he wants them to do and he gets frustrated when they – because they have a little bit of agency – kind of refuse.

Source

The other odd couple we had this episode were Rowena and Ketch. Which I think was another Bucklemming thing, because they like to bring back the characters they invented and they love some sexy times I guess. I still don’t get why Ketch was there at all and why in the world Rowena would be attracted to him. I mean he tortured her, reason enough to transform him into a toad or something.

Also, why couldn’t Cas heal Ketch? He had no problem healing Sam last episode. Is Cas getting weaker or has this something to do with Ketch? Is he hiding something as well?

Guess we will find out eventually. Til next week <3

#supernatural #spn 15x02 #raising hell #spn meta #my meta

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dragonpressgraphics · 7 years

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SPN Tag Thingy

I was tagged by @rosemoonweaver and @deadlykittenkay

1. what season did you start watching supernatural? Nine I think

2. who was the first character you fell in love with? Cas

3. who was a character that you hated at first but grew to love? Rowena

4. which character would you most want to be in a long-term relationship with?

umm...maybe Charlie?

I mean, she's probably the healthiest, most fun of the characters, and we have a lot in common geekery wise.

This is probably a weird answer cause i'm not actually into girls that way, but i just love Charlie. So...not sure how that works? lol. then again, i’m ace so...???

5. if you could go on just one date with one character, which one would you choose? well, i'm not sure how this would change from the answer to number four?

6. what would you do on the date? mini golf and board games most likely :D

7. which character would you most want to be like? *blink* um...WANT to be like? erm...with so many self destructive tendencies and self -esteem issues? Probably not. Maybe Jody?

8. which character would you most like to see brought back from the dead? SO MANY! Bobby, Charlie, Ellen, Benny - just to name a few

9. which character would you most like to punch? John. i get a lot of what he did and why. i still wanna punch him.

10. who is your absolute favorite character? didn't i answer this already? Cas :D

11. which “big bad” do you think was the worst?

My answer would depend on what you mean by the worst. Worst as in, he/she was lame? or worst as in, so goddamn evil?

Becuase if it's the second I'd have to say Alistair and i know he wasn't a 'big bad', more of a supporting character. But it's so bad that when i recognize the actor in something else, no matter how benign the role, I get completely creeped out.

12. which character are you most like? um...i dunno? Maybe a mix of different things from all Team Free Will.

13. what death hit you the hardest? god...i mean...the first one that hit me as hard as it did was Bobby, followed by Charlie. And then i tell you, my heart was in my throat the episodes just after Charlies when I thought for sure Cas was gonna bite it.

And then, whaddya know, a couple seasons later and he did anyway. *Sigh* But i'm positive he's coming back, so i don't think it's hitting me as hard as it should be.

14. what season finale hit you the hardest? Right now, Season 12

15. what are your ten all-time favorite episodes?

Free to be you and me

Hunter Heroicii

Fanfiction

Ask Jeeves

Changing Channels

Mystery Spot

Regarding Dean

As Time Goes By

Everybody Hates Hitler

The Girl with the Dungeon and Dragons Tattoo

Hibbig 911

Ghostfacers

In the Beginning

The Monster at the End of This Book

Weekend at Bobbys

Dog Dean Afternoon

Baby

The Vessel

Don't Call Me Shurley

Stuck in the Middle with You

whoops...i gave you twenty....be lucky and glad there wasn’t more cause there were others i wanted to put on the list, lol

16. what’s been your favorite season? I don't have one. I mean, I bingewatched 9 seasons in a few months. they all kind of blur together. Its easier for me to pinpoint episodes. Oh, look at that! I already did :D

17. who is your favorite angel? Again, answered. Castiel

18. who’s your favorite demon? Meg 2.o

19. who’s your favorite evil character? Again, this answer depends. I love Crowley because of the fun they have, the banter and the oneliners. but i dont really consider him as evil these days. more like, evil-adjacent.

as for fave evil character that is just so evil he freaks me out...yeah, *points up to a previous answer* Alistair will always be on the top of my list for that

20. do you have any supernatural ships? Yup. I heavily ship Destiel, i enjoy Denny and DCJ as well. I'm also kinda partial to Saileen. Sabriel is fun, though I don't particularly feel it. other than that, I can usually take it as it comes

21. who’s your favorite supporting actor?

is this counting Misha and Mark? Cause then i'd say Misha with Mark close behind. But otherwise, I'd have to say Jody and Donna :D I wish i could see them in more episodes together.

22. what’s your favorite quote from the show? Y'know, i have no idea. there are so many great ones! "My 'people' skills are 'rusty'." "I don't understand that reference." are both great ones because often times i just relate to them so much.

23. if you could cast one famous actor in an episode of spn, who would you chose? John Barrowman

24. if you could write your own episode, what kind of creature would you like to see included? So many mythological creatures to choose from! Selkies would be cool

25. who’s your favorite girl that dean’s hooked up with? Cassie (though I like Lisa too)

26. who’s your favorite girl that sam’s hooked up with? I think it would boil down to Jess (and her potential that we never got to see) or Madison (but if he'd ever actually hooked up with Eileen, you know my answer would change in a heartbeat)

27. what are some of your favorite convention moments? Watching Misha interact with my kid. other than that, i have to rely on youtube and i'd have to say the Resume Off

28. if you were going to guest star (or be a recurring guest star) on spn, how would you want your character described? Described, hell, i'd probably be dead in the opening sequence before i had a chance to be described!

29. what do you hope to see in the next season?

Jack is not the big bad

Cas is alive

Destiel is real and out (Whimper)

Some old characters returning because of the AU. i mean, the potential there is amazing.

Two Cas's on the same screen? Because of Said AU

30.-40. if you had to choose…

bobby or john? Bobby

bela or ruby? umm....i dunno?

jess or madison? Jess

jo or lisa? Jo

charlie or kevin? Charlie! (sorry Kevin)

balthazar or ash? I don't know?

cas or crowley? Cas

ben or claire? Claire

jody or donna? Thats like having peanut butter without jelly

sam or dean? Same deal.

Tagging: @jdragon122 @unforth-ninawaters @formidablepassion @buffenator @feartheophanim

#season 12 spoilers #supernatural #tag game #supernatural tag game

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nerdylittleshit · 6 years

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Thoughts about Spn 13x06

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Yee-haw! So, did we get the promised Brokebacknatural? Cowboys? Check. Super gay? Double check.

Once again we got an episode, and I know I keep repeating myself here, that left no room for subtext. Everything was spelled out in neon letters. Which is weird, from a meta perspective. We are so used to look out for the subtext, and codes and hidden messages, and again it feels like the subtext just became plain text. And again, I don’t feel like this makes the episode better or worse, just different, and of course it leads to the overall question: WHY? And to me it feels like, or at least makes sense, like we are heading to the finish line here. I’m not saying the current season is the last, but maybe the next one. From a writer’s point it would make sense then to address themes that have been part of the subtext for a long time, and the only way to resolve them is to put them in the actual text of the show. (And yes, before you ask: Destiel. All the Destiel.)

Overall I liked the episode a lot. The actual case was kinda… there, they could have made more with it, I dunno. But I loved the Western theme and of course it was a big character episode. I think this week the focus was on Jack, and his relationship with Cas. We had a lot of great Dean moments as well, which brought the episode a light and fun atmosphere, and worked especially in contrast to last weeks episode, to make a big statement what or rather who made Dean so happy. The characters and their relationships were the selling point of the episode.

Let’s have a closer look.

Jack vs Evil Dead

There was a lot of Jack in the episode, and in the beginning he seemed to be in a relative happy place. He is obviously still trying to find out who he is, but it seems like hunting gave him some purpose, at least for a moment. We learned in 13x04 that he still thinks in terms of “good” and “bad” and that, through the influence of Sam and Dean, hunters are to him the good guys. They kill monsters and help the innocent.

Jack trying to be a hunter was of course meant to remind us of all the times Cas tried to act like a hunter. They both even use the same approach by watching what Sam and Dean do and try to copy it. Though I have to admit, with all my love for Cas, I think Jack has got the hang of it a bit faster. He found them a case, he found footage of zombie!Dave and identified him as Athena’s boyfriend. Top of his class, indeed.

I loved the relationship/interactions between Cas and Jack. I always like it when they add new characters to the team, to see new dynamics, not just Cas and Jack, but of course also the birth of team free will 2.0. Cas and Jack do balance out Sam and Dean in a way; they are both not human and outsiders of their own. And similar to last season where Cas could teach Mary about her sons now we have him teaching Jack how to handle a Winchester properly.

I’m not sure the show is ever going to address the “Did Jack brainwash Kelly and Cas?”-issue more than they did now. Jack confirms that he trusted Cas because his mother trusted him, that Cas made him feel safe and the fact that Cas is surprised Jack remembered that implies they talked about the events in 12x19. I have a feeling Dean won’t bring up the issue again – whatever Jack did with bringing back Cas he is forgiven. I’m not sure of either Cas or Jack were aware of the brainwashing. Every episode so far has shown us that until lately Jack had no control over his powers. Choosing Cas as his protector probably did happen unconscious, based on the feelings of his mother, who had become one with him at some point (probably when he resurrected her).

Cas supports Jack and believes in him, and I think he fulfils a role here neither Sam and Dean could. He is the one Jack chose as his father, as his mentor, he is the one who was supposed to be there for him. I don’t believe Jack still controls Cas in some ways, but rather that the affection is genuine. Cas repeats what Kelly told her son – that he is meant to do great things and that he has the power to make the world a better place. This very thing though puts a lot of responsibility on Jack. It is clear that he wants to do good, that he wants to prove to others and himself that he is not a monster, but it backfires horrible. It is clear that killing the security guard was a horrible accident, and Cas, Sam and Dean reassure him that in their line of work things like that keep on happening, but that it doesn’t mean he is bad, or that he should stop trying to do better. Each of them has done horrible things in the past, because the world is more complex than “good” and “bad”. It is part of being human, and we talk so much about Jack’s powers that we forget at times that he is half human too.

Especially in that aspect I think Jack mirrors Dean a lot. There is an early parallel when Jack tells Cas how much he missed him, how he begged for his return, or basically when he tells Cas everything Dean couldn’t. The Jack we see at the end of the episode, the one who decides to leave because he is afraid he is going to hurt his found family, is the one who reminded a lot of Dean in 9x10, who decided to leave because he thought of himself as “poison”. Dean is still the one who is the most honest with Jack – when he asks if the security guard had a family only Dean gives him a direct answer. Dean is the one who never tried to sugarcoat what he thought of Jack, but he is also the one who admits here that he was wrong about Jack. We saw a first small step in that direction at the end of 13x04, after Jack saved Sam, but it is clear that the turning point is Jack bringing Cas back.

Also, Jack refers to Cas, Sam and Dean as “all he has”. This and that he asked about the family of the man he killed shows how important family and family ties are to him, and that he thinks in categories of family the way we know Dean does as well. It wouldn’t surprise me if we end the season with Jack addressing the Winchesters (including Cas of course) as his family.

Something else I found interesting are Jack’s powers. By now he can control them in some ways. It is clear it is a learning process. What I am curious about though is what specifically are Jack’s powers. We know that one day he will be more powerful than his father. We know he has some angelic powers – he can teleport, bullets and knifes don’t hurt him etc. Unlike angels though you can’t banish him. He sleeps, even if he doesn’t sleep as much as humans. He eats and he seems to enjoy food. It is a mix between angelic powers and human needs. Then again he asked Cas to heal the security guard, even though we know that Jack can technically heal people, after all he saved his mother in 12x19, so we might see him exploring more powers in the future.

The most interesting part though is his power to open portals to other worlds, and the fact that he had the power to reach Cas in the Empty, a place where even God had no power. This made me wonder if the Empty perhaps exists outside of reality? And God’s powers only have access in places in our reality – earth, heaven, hell, purgatory, the veil. Could it be that every universe/reality has their own God? If there are different versions of the archangels, why not God? We know that Lucifer from our universe still has his powers in the AU world. But what if there is only one Empty, existing outside of all those realities? And only Jack, Death and the reapers have access to it? Does that make Jack more powerful than God?

Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other

(What did you think all them saddles and boots was about?)

So, after Dean said “I do” under a giant neon cross, I think it is fair to say that travelling to Doge City and dressing up as cowboys was Dean and Cas’s honeymoon?

I’m still in awe and wonder how obvious all the Destiel stuff was. Not just in this episode, during the whole season so far. It is the main topic with all my meta peeps here, because we still can’t believe that after years of digging deep through the subtext the show is now so blatant about Destiel. After 13x05 everyone and their mother said that Cas was presented as the win Dean so desperately needed, and now he textually confirms it, calling Cas even a “pretty big win”. Dean’s whole attitude and behaviour has changed, in the way that 13x05 and 13x06 almost work as a pair to show is exactly what the main difference is between the two episodes and Dean’s emotional state. I mean their mom is still trapped and Jack is still a potential danger, and this episode marks the first time he killed someone, even if it was only an accident. We expected to hear the “I told you”-speech from Dean, instead he is reaching out to Jack and takes care of his mess. Why? Because of Cas. Because Jack brought back Cas, and for the first time Dean can acknowledge the effort Jack applied.

It was in character that we didn’t get a great speech of Dean talking about his feelings (like I said, Jack already expressed what Dean felt). We are not at the point of the story yet where Dean is ready to use his words, though sooner or later he has to. Instead we got the car scene and the usual bickering between Cas and Dean, and it is only then that Dean admits how happy he is that Cas is back. It was very lighthearted and sweet and it again confirmed that Dean and Cas have a relationship off-screen (the movie Dean made Cas watch, the fact that Cas knows that Dean is an angry sleeper etc). Also, my new headcanon is that Metatron didn’t like Western movies, so they weren’t part of all the popculture knowledge he gave Cas. Dean might missed his chance to introduce Cas to Star Wars, but he will do his best to show Cas his favourite Western movies. All of them.

Wild Wild Dead

The case of the week was rather simple. There was a recurring theme of “things that look like other things”. In 13x02 we had with Asmodeus a shapeshifting demon, in 13x03 we had a wraith who looks human and 13x04 featured two actual shapeshifters and an ancient cosmic entity that took the form of our favourite angel. And we started this episode with Dean asking Cas if it is really him. It doesn’t take a big step to figure out that identity will be a big theme this season. Jack of course still struggles with his own, trying to find out who he is. And then of course we have the AU world or maybe even worlds, with a potential infinite amount of doppelgängers of characters we know.

We also have two characters coming back from the dead – Cas literary, and the ghoul who impersonates someone who died a long time ago. Both lose the one they wanted to protect – Cas loses Jack, Dave loses Athena. I’m not sure if this parallel was on purpose because Dave and Athena’s relationship wasn’t anything like the one between Jack and Cas. The first one was romantic and quite unhealthy, the second a parent-child-relationship, based on support. I also wonder if Athena was aware that her boyfriend was a ghoul? She seemed to know about the grave robberies and I thought for a moment she provided him with food, but she was surprised to find out he wasn’t exactly human, so.

Another character that was somehow paralleled/ associated with Dean was the Sergeant. The officer who was killed was his nephew; not his actual so, but still someone very close to him. Getting revenge for him was family business, to make it even more obvious. And he stated twice that he would kill the one responsible for his nephew’s death. And that is somehow problematic. I think it was perhaps part of the Western theme to show people who take the law in their own hands, with blazing guns and only one of them surviving. Still he was an officer of the law, and unlike Dean and the others he didn’t know at first that a monster was responsible for his nephew’s death. The show morally justified that hunters can kill monsters, if they have killed, because there is no monster prison. But there is no justification for humans to kill other humans, especially not officers of the law who should know better. The first monstrous humans though on the show have all been killed by officers of the law though (Pa Bender by Deputy Kathleen Hudak in 1x15 and Pete Sheridan by Detective Diana Ballard in 2x07). Sergeant Phillips is portrayed as a hero by the narrative, that he kills the monster in the end feels justified, but it shouldn’t.

Dean seemed also very calm when the ghoul aimed his gun at his head. Perhaps because he knew that Billie would bring him back, because he is important? Interesting though “stabbed by a ghoul in a graveyard” was one of Dean’s potential deaths (I wonder if we will also get to see almost burned by a red haired witch and almost died by a heart-attack). After the ghoul is dead Dean takes care of Jack’s mess and is back to his usual “we were never here and we lie about what we do”-attitude. In contrast to 13x01 where he openly told the Sheriff that he is a hunter, because he no longer cared about anything. Now that Cas is back he does.

Some other things:

- Did nobody in town recognize Dave Mather? Did they all think it was just a great coincidence the undertaker’s new boyfriend looked exactly like the old west dude?

- Speaking of, why is nobody ever suspicious about their aliases? Texas ranger Val Kilmer? Seriously?

- Nina Lopez-Corrado, the director of the episode, smuggled herself in the episode twice: with Athena’s last name (Lopez) and again with the giant “Lopez” on top of the mausoleum in the graveyard.

- Does Sam like Amanda Palmer? He seemed interested. Adding this to my (very short) list of music Sam likes.

- The episode had great soundtrack choices.

- I’m still worried about Jack though. I hope he packed some lunch.

Until next week <3

#supernatural #spn 13x06 #thombstone #spn meta #spoilers #my meta

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