Initial reaction 12.07: Rock Never Dies

[caranfindel]

THEN: Crowstiel. Or is it Casley. Either way, one's an angel, one's a demon, and they solve crimes. Lucifer is a rock star. Sam and Dean are adorable priests. Lucifer needs a stronger vessel.

NOW: Stupidest guys ever attempt to summon Lucifer, who actually does show up, but it's because he wants their magic rock, not because of their summoning. Apparently their rock has a fossilized imprint of one of his feathers and it also has the power to restore his vessel (though not, unfortunately, to 1980s quality) and if it was all this easy... ah, never mind. Lucifer realizes his current vessel is "kind of famous" and decides to go with that.

In the bunker, Dean is playing Words With Your Dead Mother, and loses, but the most interesting thing about the game is this:


Look at his available letters. Look how they can be very slightly rearranged to spell LUCIFER. Look at how Dean doesn't notice this at all.

Is the game supposed to be a clue? What other clues are in here... Is it known that the waster is coming and bodies will be strewn about the nave of a church? And then there will be celebratory twerking? (I am going to feel SO SMART if this actually happens.) But according to Mary, something will be squelched.


And I don't really think "twerkings" is a word, but whatever.

(Also of note: Mary's screen name is Mothermary1983. Dean's is 67Impala327.)

There's an obligatory Mary update, just like we used to get an obligatory Cas update at the beginning of a Cas-less episode, and then, speak of the devil...


I love the way Show is subtly trying to inform the fandom that Cas is spelled with an extra S. Oh, Show. Give up on that one.

(Hey, are your caps going to get any more interesting than pics of Dean's phone?)

(Spoiler alert: Oh, fuck yeah.)

Cas and Crowley are still buddy-copping, and it occurs to me that I don't know why. As far as they know, Lucifer is still at the bottom of the ocean. So what are they trying to do? But more importantly, how much do I care? (Spoiler alert: Not all that much.) However, Cas is calling to inform Dean that Lucifer is actually walking about on dry land now, and has reformed his old band Ladyheart and signed a deal with DeathSiren records and come on! How am I supposed to ignore foreshadowing when you throw words like lady heart and death siren at me! I am only human! Carrying on. Vince hasn't felt "this fired up" in ages and is encouraging his haters to "go to hell." He's still no Pellegrino, but I like little Rick Springfield. And his skin looks better, too. You go, Vincifer.

TFW+1 aren't sure if Vince is actually Lucifer or if he's just plain old Vince, because they missed what he said about being fired up and going to hell and the fact that plain old Vince would have been at the bottom of the ocean for a while, so they decide to go to LA and check things out. After some stock footage of palm trees and traffic we see Crowley in the office of Russell, a record executive who deals in souls on the side. He says Vince is "like a whole new man," which certainly confirms things.

Then Sam and Dean are driving in the dark, with Dean complaining about how much he hates LA. He refers to the last time they were there, ten years ago, which is a nice continuity-laden shout-out to "Hollywood Babylon" in season 2, but I find it hard to believe that no hunts have been necessary in that area for the last ten years. You're slacking, boys. However, Sam doesn't hear any of this conversation, because he's wearing earbuds.



This is a very pretty scene that reminds me of "Baby" for some reason.

Sam claims he's listening to a podcast. A history podcast. About the Protestant reformation. But this turns out to be a ruse (much like the time he told Dean he was going to see a movie about a French mime who turned into a cockroach), because he's actually listening to Vince Vincente and/or Ladyheart. Dean finds this appalling and Sam eventually declares it research. Hee. I like the way Sam says he's done apologizing for his taste in music. (Spoiler alert: I like a lot of things about Sam.) All I can catch of the vocals is something about a "bloody messiah," which is obviously on topic, but could also show up on any 80s metal album.

Next we're in the studio with Vincifer and his manager or publicist or something, who is talking about his Twitter and BuzzFeed articles, so I don't like her. There's also a blonde woman who seems to be part of his entourage but is also obviously a groupie, and she holds her hand over her mouth when she talks. Vince's brother shows up in skinny jeans, just as Dean predicted, and tries to get him to record. I don't remember his brother's name. Is it Tommy? He looks like a Tommy. I'm going to call him Tommy. Vincifer isn't interested in music, he just wants to be worshipped and adored, and "humans" like to have someone to look up to. You know, most people who talk that way about "humans" eventually reveal themselves to be not human. Someone in the entourage should have caught on here. Just saying.

Cut to Sam and Dean sitting in the lobby of the Bellaqua Hotel, where Sam is helping himself to the lobby cucumber water. Dean is not impressed, because vegetables. But he's wrong. If you've never tried hotel lobby cucumber water, you should. It's really good. I'm absolutely not being facetious here. Then Cas shows up and we get this:

Hey, considered switching up the duds there? That's stiff for this town.

He could be an agent or something.

Yeah, maybe a third-tier agent.

At least I don't look like a lumberjack.

Hee! I think hanging out with Crowley is really rubbing off on Cas, and I like it. Cas doesn't, and Crowley shows up just as his new partner is complaining about him. Awkward! Crowley confirms that Vincifer is back, and flashes a key card to the Devil's hotel room that he apparently got from the hotel clerk, who apparently sold her soul, and honey, I hope you got something other than this job.

The room is strewn (strewn! one of our clues!) with trash and discarded lingerie , and while Sam notices Vincifer is apparently researching the rock star life via biographies (and I'm sorry, but as a Texan, Jared should know it's pronounced Z.Z. Top and not "ZEEzy Top") Dean investigates a pizza box (was he going to eat it if he found some? ewww). He then picks up a guitar and starts piddling around.


AND I LOVE IT.

Then Cas finds a human tooth, pulled out by the root. A big tooth. We immediately go back to the studio, where Vincifer and the blonde groupie from earlier are sitting on a couch together, and she's talking with her hand over her mouth again. Wait. Was it her tooth? Is she trying to hide the gap? Yes, she is! WTF?


What does this mean? She sacrificed a tooth to Lucifer?

She asks why he's interested in her now, since he ignored her for years. I don't know, Blondie. Maybe he didn't like that tooth of yours. He says he was a fool not to recognize her devotion, and then asks her (oh, her name is Rosaline) to talk about him. She waxes poetic about Headbanger's Ball and then he asks for a display of her devotion and hands her a knife, and she starts carving on her chest.

Cut to TFW+1 at a hospital, where a doctor tells them that Rosaline carved Vince Vincente (too bad; I hoped she would carve Vince's Girl) pretty deeply into her chest and lost a lot of blood and will be scarred forever. I wonder what they did about her tooth.


I love this shot of the four of them, all in a row, like a group of sexy pallbearers.

The Winchesters interview Rosaline, who insists that she wasn't forced; she carved herself up because she wanted to make Vince happy, and then hysterically pleads to see his show tonight.


Concerned/appalled boys are pretty.

Vincifer and his manager/PR/whatever are discussing tickets for his secret show that night - he insists on a crowd made up of new fans. Fresh blood. Nice clean teeth. She notices the blood on the carpet from Rosaline's earlier devotional and is a little freaked out. But not enough, dear. Not enough.

TFW+1 regathers and discusses Vincifer's quest for fans. Crowley explains that the Devil simply wants people to look at him like he's their everything and agree to do anything he wants; no music will be involved. And without Rowena, they probably can't stop him. Regardless, Sam points out that this is their chance, and they need to find out where he's playing tonight. (Also, the phone ringing in the background sounds exactly like the phone in my office, and if I had happened to be typing this up at work, I would have paused a couple of times, thinking my phone was ringing. Good thing I wasn't doing that.)

Crowley revisits Russell, who says he doesn't know where Vince is playing and wouldn't spill it even if he did, and Crowley throws his green juice! Mean!

Agent Beyonce revisits Tommy, and confirms that his name is Tommy, so I feel good about deciding to call him that. But none of that matters, because the next scene is Winchesters in t-shirts and leather jackets and Dean's wearing sunglasses and oh. my. god.




Finally, Sam and Dean look as good as Jared and Jensen.

They're pretending to be a musical act, and try to get Vince's manager/PR/whatever to tell them where he's playing tonight. When their "American Oasis" ploy falls on its face (as it should, because one Oasis is plenty, thanks), they try telling her that Vince is literally the Devil, and this works about as well as it did with Hitler's great grand-niece. Her job is "making saints out of devils" and she doesn't care. (Also, they're at the Angel City Juice Co. Hee!)

Tommy tells Agent Beyonce that all the Ladyheart royalties have dried up, and he has two daughters in college, and I feel for you, Tommy, I really do. I've got one daughter about to start college and I have no royalties either, much to my dismay. He knows what he saw but isn't willing to do anything that might disrupt his promised income flow. Oh, Tommy, I think you're going to regret that.

Back at the Bellaqua, Crowley admits he has no pull over today's yoga-mellowed folks, Sam looks for a scoop online, and Dean has seen the error of his ways regarding the lobby cucumber water. It really is tasty.


Just because I like the way his sunglasses are pulling down his neckline.

Cas shows up and announces his mission failed as well. Sam is disappointed.




Just because I like his pretty disappointed face.

We then see a limo pull up at a seedy club, with Vincifer and his mini entourage (Russell, Tommy, and the PR/whatever lady) inside. Tommy complains that they don't have music to sell, since Vince didn't show up at the studio. Russell gets angry and threatens him, which is a big mistake. BIG mistake. Vincifer responds by forcing him to plunge his pen into his own throat. Vincifer then hops out of the limo and greets his fans, and this scene is really wrong, because they wouldn't be facing him and pointing their phones. They'd all have their backs to him so they could take selfies with him in the background. He notices his vessel is deteriorating again. His PR/whatever lady stumbles out of the limo and huffs off, but Tommy, having just watched his brother force someone to plunge a pen into his own throat, goes inside with him. I have no more sympathy for Tommy. At least he has enough sense to text Agent Beyonce and tell him the venue.

Outside the seedy club, Dean reveals his demonic handcuffs. Crowley doubts they'll work, but as Dean points out, they don't know if anything will work. I guess they used up all their holy oil curing people of the Darkness? Because that's one thing they do know will hold an archangel. And it's easier to trick one into a ring of holy oil than to slap some demonic cuffs on him. But I'm sure there's a good reason they're not using it.




Do I care? No. Because of this.

Sam, being Sam, reminds them that not only do they need to capture Lucifer, but they also have to save all the people inside. Cas volunteers to basically sacrifice himself holding Lucifer for a few minutes, since "he's my responsibility." Not to be outdone, Crowley volunteers as well. I don't get his motive here. He says he helped release Lucifer too, but... so? This is Crowley. I don't know if anyone actually expects C&C to die. Dean doesn't put up a fight, which makes me think not.

Backstage, in the scuzziest green room ever (there's a toilet right out in the open, ew), the two non-Vincente members of the band meet their end before one of them even has a line. Tommy finally seems to get that Vincifer is not Vince, but just before he gets his neck slapped, Cas and Crowley show up and the fight begins. But first, Vincifer monologues that being Lucifer has "so much Judeo-Christian baggage," but Vince is famous and universally loved. Did you not hear Rosaline when she said her friends made fun of her for being a fan? Shouldn't you find a vessel who's a little more beloved? (I'm thinking Neil DeGrasse Tyson. That would be amazing.)

Sam and Dean walk right past security, even though they don't have tickets, and make their way into the club. They're trying to find a way to clear the place, and I'm really afraid Dean's going to get on stage and sing. I know Jensen can play and sing but I also know they're not going to let Dean have those talents, and I'm prepared for some serious second-hand embarassment here. Luckily, it doesn't go that direction. Dean gets himself bounced, but Sam manages to pull a fire alarm, so people head for the exit and it looks like the day is saved. Unfortunately, Vincifer is able to un-pull it. Sam and Dean are horrified when he shows up on stage.


I like that Dean's face is just scared/concerned, and Sam's face is scared/concerned but also disturbed on a deeply personal level.

As Vincifer promises the crowd that they'll see and feel things they've never seen and felt before, Dean says "aw, screw it" and fires his gun into the hair. That's one way to clear a club. Vincifer attempts to close the doors but Sam overpowers him and holds them open, letting everyone escape except him and Dean.



Looks like the twerking portion of the prophecy has been averted

Not only is he positioned like Christ on the cross, but this was a nice callback to Sam overpowering Lucifer in order to throw him into the cage. Good job, Show. (Also, Sam's hair in his face is a good thing, as always.) Lucifer does eventually pull the doors shut, but as he lifts his smitey finger, we get a more blatant callback to S5 when Cas distracts him by saying "hey, Assbut" \o/ and jumping him. Dean takes advantage of the distraction to snap one cuff onto his wrist, but Vincifer snaps it right back off with his Devilish powers. Should have gone for the holy oil, guys.

Vincifer tells TFW that he could easily kill them all, but he's not going to, because they can't do anything to him. Sam asks him why he's doing any of this and reminds him that he made up with God, as if one thing has anything to do with the other. As if you're going to forget your craving for power and slavish devotion just because you made up with Dad. And Sam should know this. Forgiving John didn't change the essential Samness of Sam.




Do I care? Not so much.

Lucifer points out that Dad apologized for abandoning him and then immediately abandoned him again. Well, yeah, but he did also kind of do that to save the world, so. I can see both sides of this.



Do I care? Not so much.

But he also acknowledges that the Winchesters were abandoned by God as well, which I appreciate. He feels used, and he's done with it. Heaven and Hell are meaningless, and earth is just a bunch of hopeless distraction addicts being served another stale rerun of a rerun of a rerun. Um. I think maybe he's talking about me. I think maybe I could be offended at that.


Or, then again, not so much.

So his plan now is to just "keep smashing Daddy's already broken toys and making you watch." Well, some people just want to watch the world burn, as Alfred the butler would say. However, he's going to have to do it in a different vessel (OH MAYBE ONE WITH A LADY HEART, BECAUSE I'M STILL NOT SPOILED BUT I STILL FEEL IT COMING), as this one is deteriorating at a pretty rapid clip. Lucifer smokes out, Vince's dessicated husk falls to the floor, and I guess that's the end of that. Farewell, Rick Springfield. You were no Mark Pellegrino, but I enjoyed you.

(Also of note in this scene: the light from the doors making a cross behind/between the Winchesters.)

Aftermath. TFW+1 licks their wounds and Dean gives Crowley credit (he deserves it, poor boy, his face is a mess.) Then this conversation happens:

Well, we didn't catch Lucifer, but we did save the crowd, so I'm gonna call that a win.

I wouldn't. Vince Vincente is dead.*

We never even hoped to save him. And yes, I know, the third album -

No, he was still a person. And he meant something to a lot of people. And Lucifer just took all that and twisted all that up and snuffed it out. Lucifer was bad enough when he had a plan, a motive. Now he's just having fun. I mean, how many people died tonight? Them? This? It's all on us. We let him out. We're not winning. We're just losing slow.

(*Also the rest of Ladyheart, but who's counting?)







It will come as a surprise to no one that I could cap every frame of this scene.

Dean insists they will stop him. "It's what we do, man." Sam is not so sure.



Beautiful Sam and his beautiful "not so sure" face.

So! Although we did have a non-human moster in this episode, we also promoted the agenda that humans are monsters as well (Russell rounding up souls for Crowley, PR/whatever lady accepting that her job is to make sinners look like saints). I'm cool with this. We turned Lucifer loose upon the world, again, which I'm not cool with, because as I've said over and over, it throws Sam's sacrifice back in his face. We had all four members of TFW+1 accept the blame for this, which I like, even though it's not technically true (Dean wasn't really to blame, though he was a catalyst). And we put the Winchesters in t-shirts and leather jackets, which ranks right up there with the priest getup in terms of hotness. (The only thing that would have improved that would have been putting Sam in a v-neck as well. And having him take off his jacket and maybe get his shirt torn, though I got that in 12.01 and 12.02 so I guess I shouldn't be greedy.) We had Sam remembering both halves of the bumper sticker. We had Dean noodling around on a guitar and Sam making up a ridiculously boring thing trying to steer Dean away from something, and these were both adorable. We got a new tagline (we're not winning, we're just losing slow), which I love. But the bottom line is, if you've been reading these recaps, you know me. You know how shallow I am. You know that there was enough pretty in this episode to make me ignore any quantity of nonsense. All in all, I'm happy.

What about you? And remember, no spoilers in the comments, please!

Comments

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

Well, first off, YOUR CAPS ARE BEAUTIFUL. And I love your reviews. They make me smile. Smiling is good.

Long story short, this whole episode was saved (for me) by Sam holding open those doors, as panicked moshers swarmed around him to safety. Boom, brilliance. :D

[caranfindel.livejournal.com]

I think I could have picked any random frame and there's a 90% chance it would have been gorgeous. And yes, Sam and the doors!

[anactoria.livejournal.com]

There was indeed a lot of pretty, but too much nonsense for me, I'm afraid! Maybe I should watch it again with the sound off...

[caranfindel.livejournal.com]

Sounds good !

[z-publicizes.livejournal.com]

Now I'm just thinking about a possessed Neil Degrasse Tyson. Does he turn climate-change denier/vaccine-conspiracy theorist/flat-earther in order to fuck with people? Because that would work, that would work so well *shivers*.

[caranfindel.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, I like this!

[meus_venator]

Looks like the twerking portion of the prophecy has been averted LOL! Exactly.
Great review, so nice to see it all accompanied by so much pretty. And yes, Sam holding the potential doors of hell open so the young ones could escape... AWESOME

[caranfindel.livejournal.com]

And the red walls of that club, and the cross made from the light outside of it- so much hell imagery!

[sylsdarkplace]

I loved the whole scene in the car with the boys arguing about music. It's so them and such a sibling thing to do (although my brother and I tend to agree on bands) I find it hilarious that Dean has the nerve to criticize Sam's taste in music. REO Speedwagon? Bon Jovi? Air Supply? Taylor freaking Swift? No, Dean. No, dude, uh-uh.

[caranfindel.livejournal.com]

Yes, it was a very sibling-like moment! And you're forgetting "I'm Too Sexy" in the list of Dean's regrettable music choices.

[sylsdarkplace]

RIGHT?!! HAHAHAHAHA

[cuddyclothes.livejournal.com]

As always, great review, very funny. AND ALL THE PRETTY! God bless you.

I really enjoyed this episode, and particularly Rick Springfield. Probably unlike 90% of fans, I liked his monologue. Since ALL of the villains on this show monologue until someone can come up from behind and kill them, this was a nice change. But I found his dialogue about "people worship blah blah blah instead of God" dull, and kept thinking of the Paris Hilton episode. I mean, come on, guys! Once in passing per episode is enough. I'm really sorry that we won't be seeing Rick Springfield. His Lucifer was different from Mark's, which worked 100 times better than Misha Collins's attempt (oh, Misha, your acting skills are limited).

Robert Berens is one of my favorite writers. He tends to write more emotionally resonant dialogue. I didn't believe dozens of brand new Ladyheart fans showing up from nowhere, unless Lucifer somehow cast a spell. And why didn't Crowley vanish when Vincifer was beating the shit out of him? And why didn't Castiel heal him? Does it not work with demons? I was also disappointed that Crowley and Castiel didn't wear silly outfits.

But Sam and those doors...oh, myyyyyy.