Initial reaction 12.09: First Blood
Jan. 27th, 2017 01:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caranfindelWe're back!
"The Road So Far" reminds us that Sam is awfully hot when he's being tortured and also that Sam and Dean have both died and I'm probably supposed to remember that deals were made but I'm too distracted by "SAAAAAAMMMMM!!!!" and am I ever going to get over Dean kneeling in the mud, clutching his brother's body and calling his name as if yelling loud enough will bring him back and then finally burying his face in Sam's neck and sobbing and the answer is NO, NO I'M NEVER EVER GETTING OVER THAT. Oh, and it also reminds us that the boys were arrested and hunters die bloody and Dean doesn't plan to live long anyway. And... scene.
NOW finds us in a coffee shop with Mary, who gets a phone call from Cas. He's standing outside the cabin where we saw the guys last and he wants her to meet him at the bunker. I'll cover the entire Cas 'n Mary Show in one fell swoop later.
Cut to government agents 1 and 2, who I'm going to call OldGuy and YoungGuy because I didn't get their names. YoungGuy announces that the Winchesters were arrested 6 hours ago and haven't said a word since. They discuss their criminal past and we get this awesome conversation about their offenses:
Assault, murder, multiple accounts of desecrating a corpse.
The same corpse?
No, different corpses.
Oh lord, I cackled out loud at that. There's also this:
And by "probably" you mean "maybe," and by "maybe" you mean "I don't know." So next time, just say you don't know.
I like these guys. But then things get darker. YoungGuy wants to take them out back and shoot them, but OldGuy thinks they might be part of a larger organization, and they should hold onto them and find out. Meanwhile, we see the Winchesters being put in their separate, but apparently neighboring, cells.
It's just Dean taking what could be his last look at Sam. No big deal. I'm not crying; you're crying.
OldGuy starts out talking to Dean, but with intercutting scenes we see he's giving the same speech to both brothers. But we are distracted again, oh so distracted, because the guys look fucking awesome in these scenes.
Dean looks lovely in profile, but this not-quite-profile is always my favorite angle.
And then SAAAAAMMMMMMM.
He explains that he knows torture won't work (cut to Sam during the torture part of the monologue, of course) but what does work is nothing. He plans to just leave them alone in their empty cells. And when he threatens that they'll go crazy in their desire to "see someone real," it's almost like he's been in Sam's head. Or like he's been reading all the awesome fanfic spawned over the break where Sam slips back into a cage-inspired psychosis. I bet he has. Probably.
Dean remains absolutely still and stone-faced during the entire speech. Sam doesn't. He meets OldGuy's eyes when he says his plan is to do nothing. He swallows and looks away when OldGuy tells him about being alone in the dark. He flinches when the door slams shut. (Maybe Dean does too. We don't know. But I suspect he didn't.) Did the writers, like us, think about what being caged means to Sam? Probably. Maybe. I don't know. Turns out this one was written by Andrew Dabb, so I hope so. I hope it was intentional.
Title card!
Mick Davies sits at a charming old manual typewriter which actually seems to be some kind of teletype machine, which is pretty cool. Manual typewriters are pretty cool in general. (Sidebar: Did you know manual typewriters will jam if you type too quickly, so the QWERTY keyboard was actually designed to slow typists down?) He reports that he's having no luck connecting with American hunters, and we see him giving his recruitment speech directly into the camera. Who is he talking to? Is it someone we know? I hope it's someone we know. Oh, no, it's not. (Unless "Wally" is actually Walt, and he had plastic surgery to hide his identity since he knows Dean Winchester is still out there?) Wally isn't going to take orders from a soft-handed Limey paper-pusher.
Montage time! Dean finds a loose screw in his cot and starts scratching out the days on his wall. Various crappy meals get shoved through a slot in the door (actually, the same crappy meal repeated a few times) and we get a bit of humor when Sam grimaces at his, while Dean makes a surprised pleased face at the same meal.
Maybe he's sneering at the nutritional value. These secret government meals are really heavy on the carbs. I can hear Sam hollering "corn is not a vegetable!" through the chow slot.
Dean continues to scratch a tally of days on his wall, looking more dead behind the eyes each time. Sam paces and exercises. Neither of them grows a hiatus scruff, since they've conveniently been provided with a secret government electric razor (and Dean somehow manages to use it to trim his hair, apparently). They both spend time sitting, sad and lonely and quiet.
It's not Soulless Sam's shirtless exercise routine, but it will do.
Then one day a tray of food is shoved into a doorway, the guy who brought it says "chow time," no one responds, and we all look through the slot and see this.
Carbs make me sleepy too.
I'm pretty sure Sam is playing possum. He's waiting for someone to open the door and then he'll jump up, all BAMF Sam Winchester, and punch the bad guys out and make his escape. Except. Not. Because next we see Chow Time Guy with OldGuy and YoungGuy and he says he did CPR (although I think he's lying because Sam is in the same position he found him in) and "he's gone." Wait, that can't be right. And what about Dean? Has Dean been listening to all of this through the chow slot? (And if not, will someone fic that for me?) They go to check on Dean and find this.
Oh, that's not good.
So, both Winchesters are dead. But they're just mostly dead, right? They're not really most sincerely dead, are they? Well, apparently they are, because next we see them in a morgue, with a confused young coroner. OldGuy is pretty chill about the whole thing, but YoungGuy is disappointed.
You wanted them dead; they're dead.
I wanted them punished. I wanted to look Dean Winchester in the eye and... I wanted them to feel it.
Well, that... that is totally mentally normal.
I really like OldGuy.
OldGuy and YoungGuy leave and turn off the lights and that's the cue for Dean to gasp back to life (although the effect is spoiled a little bit since we can clearly see Jensen breathing before he takes his "first gasp" of air.) Sam is right behind, with an expression that I should have recognized as Sam's "oh, we have fucked up big time" expression.
I've got a bad feeling about this.
They comment that it has worked "so far," so. Somebody did something. Confused Young Coroner shows up and they jump him and ask where they are. He has no idea because he's blindfolded every day when they bring him to work and. Okay. How many people die every day in this secret government facility? Enough that they need a coroner every day? Also, he doesn't even know what state he's in? How long is his commute? Dean snags his phone and there's an awesome little silent communication when he shows it to Sam. I love the way Sam tries to be non-threatening and Dean throws himself into being very threatening. I don't think they're playing good cop/bad cop, I think that's just how they roll. Anyway, they make their escape, because this super secret government facility that isn't supposed to exist doesn't have alarms on the doors.
But who cares, because the light out here is much more flattering. (Hello, Sam's throat.)
Dean calls Cas on the stolen phone while Sam finds a map in an unlocked (of course) truck and determines they're in Rocky Mountain National Park, between Elk Mountain and Long's Peak. Dean directs Cas to find them on state route 34, which doesn't really seem specific enough. (Sidebar: Yes, of course I was compelled to look this up. May as well make use of those national park websites before they disappear. There is a Long's Peak but not an Elk Mountain, so I can't tell where they are. Personally, I hope they're in region 1 on this map because it's the area known for moose. ;) And highway 34 does exist but it's only open during the summer, so I hope the guys escaped in July.) After Dean hangs up, Sam says "You didn't tell him?" Tell him what, I wonder? Sam also wisely says the phone will be tracked if they take it. And Dean pointed out that they shouldn't take the truck because it will have Lojack. I love Smart!Winchesters.
OldGuy and YoungGuy return to the morgue to find the Winchesters gone and Confused Young Coroner inside one of the body drawers. Hee. And also brrr, because those things are refrigerated, aren't they? A crew of secret government soldiers, along with OldGuy and YoungGuy, heads out after the brothers. Sam and Dean are running through a wooded area that looks strangely like Purgatory, except with more saturated colors, and they have this conversation.
All right, we got what, an hour till dark, which puts us at what? Six hours till midnight?
That sounds about right.
Dean, we gotta talk about this.
Okay, we will, all right? Later.
Hmmm. If it's dark at 6:00 pm, I don't think it's July. Route 34's gonna be closed, guys. Which is clearly the only flaw in this plan. Well, okay, another flaw is that the guys have lost their 45 minute head start, and Dean left a footprint in the mud. But this is when we get a reminder of the badassery they're capable of - they jump one of the secret government soldiers and take his gun and radio. While Sam menacingly handles the gun in the background, Dean tells YoungGuy that if he calls off his crew, no one gets hurt. "Because we're not trapped out here with you. You're trapped out here with us." And then Sam does the thing with the gun, and I don't know what you call it (I think it would be called racking a shotgun, but this isn't a shotgun) but I LIKE IT. A LOT.
I love Sam menacingly handling things. I have several things he could handle in a menacing way. But why don't the animated gifs I steal from Tumblr work any more?
The guys find a cabin and start setting something up. Sam lights a lamp and I'm all, don't do that Sam, they're going to see the light, but of course that's the point, because they're setting a trap. When the secret government crew comes upon the cabin, everything falls into place. One guy comes in through the front door (seems like they'd hit every possible exit at the same time, but okay) and steps on something or trips a wire that causes him to get shot in the lower legs. Other guys are downed outside. Sam knocks a guy out and then gives me a lovely post-exertion huff that I need giffed, and then gives the guy in the cabin a first aid kit (because that's how he rolls). YoungGuy steps in a bear trap hidden outside and loses his gun, resulting in a "told you so" from Dean. OldGuy goes to shoot Dean, only to find Sam on the other side of a much bigger gun with a quiet "don't." It's fantastic. Sam doesn't give them the "monsters are real speech," but he does tell them the truth is that the President was possessed. By the Devil. And they saved him. Yay Sam! Dean warns them that they know what will happen if they come after them. Then we get this:
Who are you?
We're the guys that saved the world.
So, this is uncharacteristic, isn't it? Explaining things, taking credit, not necessarily the family business. Almost like something has changed. Probably. Maybe. I don't know.
But I do know that it's pretty hot.
(Sidebar: This whole sequence reminded me a lot of Rambo. Were you aware that the first Rambo movie was actually called First Blood? Now you know.)
But what have Cas and Mary been doing all this time? We start with them in the bunker, with Cas explaining that Sam and Dean were taken because he left with Kelly, but it's not his fault because Dean told him too, and Mary tells him to stop making excuses.
You know, when Mary first cut her hair, I liked that it was uneven, as if she actually had done it herself. But now I'm really tired of this one long piece, and I've literally given myself better haircuts in my office without a mirror. It needs to go.
Mary wonders why they didn't call her (um, right) and she feels guilty and Cas feels guilty. Guilty enough to ask Crowley for help, but he is rebuffed because Crowley considers them the equivalent to herpes, and he pities the fool who currently has them. As well he should. Meanwhile, Mary sits in the bunker kitchen and hears a phone ringing in Dean's room, all the way down the hall inside a closed drawer, where it's been sitting for weeks, without being charged, but okay. It's Alicia of the Hot Witch Twins and she's looking for Dean's help in taking down a pack of werewolves in Louisiana. She joins that hunt, and then (apparently) some weeks later meets up with Cas at a bar. Cas admits what we all said in the last episode, which is that he shouldn't have left them (DUH). At this point they've been gone 6 weeks, 2 days and 10 hours, and Cas is truly wallowing in guilt. He confesses that he found a vampire hunt but failed to kill the monster and "ran away," so he's feeling like a failure all around. Will this be relevant later? Probably. Maybe. I don't know.
Mary goes off and kills the vampires that Cas failed to kill, which makes him feel even more guilty and useless. She's still cleaning up from the slaughter when Cas calls to tell her he heard from Dean. When they get together, they decide they'll need backup. Cas, who hasn't learned his lesson, suggests Crowley or Rowena, which Mary immediately rejects. Cas's Plan B is the BMoL. They meet up with the Brits and Mary is incredulous, because these are the men who tried to kill "my boys." Cas defends them, saying they helped them against Lucifer in the last episode, and Ketch and Davies are surprised to learn TFW was actually fighting Lucifer. Because... it never came up? When they stood around and talked for hours about repossessing the President, and a proper tool to do that, they never mentioned that the angel possessing him was Lucifer? Huh. Okay. That makes sense. Probably. Maybe. I don't know. Anyway, the BMoL are here to make friends and are eager to help! Even though the Americans are surly and suspicious and mistrustful! And that's why Mick wants to help, so Mary will spread his friendly and helpful reputation throughout the hunter community. How nice. Davies and Ketch are well aware of "area 94" and can get a satellite over the area to find the boys.
Both plotlines finally mesh when Mary and Cas come upon Sam and Dean in the woods. There are lovely hugs and a very quick conversation with the BMoL, who are surprised the Winchesters left survivors and call it "unprofessional." I guess it depends on what your profession is. The four of them get in Mary's car (Dean and Cas in the back, Sam in the front with Mary, which strikes me odd for some reason) and Dean has a look on his face. And there's like eight minutes left, so, you know, that's too much time for nothing to happen. Then the electrical system in the car goes haywire and it stops and Sam and Dean are not surprised at all. Sam's having a laugh with Mary about her hunting and then boom, the mood immediately changes. He turns to Dean and says "it's time." Dean looks sadly at Cas and doesn't say anything.
And look, it's midnight and they're in the Rocky Mountain National Forest. Good for you, props people.
Everyone gets out of the car, where they're met by Billie the awesome reaper. Reapers are almost never a good sign, are they? Dean explains "there was only one way we were getting out of there, and it wasn't breathing." Cas is truly horrified as Dean explains how he called Billie in the prison, and they made a deal. They each got to die and come back one more time. And then... "Come midnight," Billie says, "a Winchester goes bye bye. Like, permanently." Mary asks why they would do that, and Dean says "We were already dead. Locked up in that cell, with nothing. I've been to Hell. This was worse." Sam says "At least this way, one of us gets to keep fighting."
But I just got you back!
Cas tries to get them out of it but Billie says "We made a pact, bound with blood. Break that, there's consequences. On a cosmic scale. So who's it gonna be?" Because they haven't decided yet? Okay. In what universe would Dean not have already made this decision? The first time Sam said "We need to talk about this," he would have said "There's nothing to talk about." He would have decided, from the moment he heard the offer, that he was going to be the one to die. We know this. I mean, what are they going to do, play rock-paper-scissors? (And yet, wouldn't it be awesome if they did that, because Dean would do it knowing he's going to lose since he loses every time, and Sam would do it knowing Dean throws scissors every time so he'd know how to lose to him.) They stand there long enough, neither jumping forward and saying "me," for Mary to jump forward and say "I volunteer as tribue!" And let's face it, we knew she was going to do that as soon as Billie said a Winchester goes bye bye. So it looks this is how they get rid of Mary. Billie tosses the brothers back so they can't stop her and she pulls a gun and puts it to her temple (not very effectively; I don't think that shot would kill her). I had forgotten that Billie won't kill someone, she'll only reap their souls. So not only did Sam and Dean have to decide who would die, but they had to do the deed themselves. Which is awful, but also makes it that much more puzzling that Dean hadn't already made the decision, hadn't punched Sam out and put a gun under his chin and taken care of things before anybody could stop him. But before Mary can pull the trigger, the tip of a blade bursts from Billie's chest - Cas stabbed her from behind. What? Billie the awesome reaper is gone? THIS IS NOT OKAY, CASTIEL.
Cas gives this speech to excuse his actions: "You know this world, this sad doomed little world, it needs you. It needs every last Winchester it can get and I won't let you die. I won't let any of you die. And I won't let you sacrifice yourselves. You mean too much to me. To everything. Yeah, you made a deal. You made a stupid deal and I broke it. You're welcome."
But consequences, Cas! She said consequences!
We wrap up with Mick Davies writing another report on how Mr. Ketch wrapped up the Winchesters' "loose ends," and we cut to the secret government facility, with every single person dead. I don't know about you guys, but I'm starting to think these BMoL are not good people. Then we get Mick making his recruitment pitch straight to the camera again, and the reveal that the hunter he's talking to is Mary. And she's listening.
And consequences are coming!
Okay, let's talk about the problems I have with this episode.
Why would the Winchesters make this deal? I know six weeks in solitary confinement would be hellish. I'm a raging introvert and it would still be a nightmare. But these guys have lived through literal Hell. And they broke after six weeks? Without trying anything else? Without trying to break out at all? Without ever praying to Cas? That's just really unlikely, I think.
Why would Billie make this deal? Why is she once again doing the Winchesters a favor? Dean still owes her one from the last favor!
How would she do it? Reapers don't kill people. How did Sam and Dean kill themselves?
What if they hadn't come back to life just at the right time? What if they were autopsied first?
And, again, we're supposed to believe Dean would spend the whole day avoiding the topic, and then just stand there and not demand that he be the one to die? Not take it in his own hands and kill himself before Sam could beat him to it?
Why doesn't anybody pray to Cas any more? Dean prays to Billie but not to Cas?
YOU KILLED BILLIE. YOU BASTARDS.
But, to leave with a good taste in our mouths, let's talk about the things I loved
- Smart!Winchesters.
- BAMF Winchesters.
- Winchesters working together.
(These three factors showed how lethal these two could be if they put their minds to it.)
- OldGuy
- Winchesters not killing people they don't have to kill.
- Rewatching with the deal in mind.
Little things that didn't jump out the first time become important. Why does Sam tell the secret government agents about saving the world, which he normally keeps under wraps? Because he's about to die. Or his brother's about to die. Either way, he (a) doesn't care who knows the Big Secret, and (b) wants people to know that they were the Good Guys. Other things become more poignant. The hugs when they meet with Mary and Cas. Their last job together.
Anyway, despite its problems, this one had some pretty enjoyable moments. What did you think?
Remember, no spoilers in the comments, please!!!
"The Road So Far" reminds us that Sam is awfully hot when he's being tortured and also that Sam and Dean have both died and I'm probably supposed to remember that deals were made but I'm too distracted by "SAAAAAAMMMMM!!!!" and am I ever going to get over Dean kneeling in the mud, clutching his brother's body and calling his name as if yelling loud enough will bring him back and then finally burying his face in Sam's neck and sobbing and the answer is NO, NO I'M NEVER EVER GETTING OVER THAT. Oh, and it also reminds us that the boys were arrested and hunters die bloody and Dean doesn't plan to live long anyway. And... scene.
NOW finds us in a coffee shop with Mary, who gets a phone call from Cas. He's standing outside the cabin where we saw the guys last and he wants her to meet him at the bunker. I'll cover the entire Cas 'n Mary Show in one fell swoop later.
Cut to government agents 1 and 2, who I'm going to call OldGuy and YoungGuy because I didn't get their names. YoungGuy announces that the Winchesters were arrested 6 hours ago and haven't said a word since. They discuss their criminal past and we get this awesome conversation about their offenses:
Assault, murder, multiple accounts of desecrating a corpse.
The same corpse?
No, different corpses.
Oh lord, I cackled out loud at that. There's also this:
And by "probably" you mean "maybe," and by "maybe" you mean "I don't know." So next time, just say you don't know.
I like these guys. But then things get darker. YoungGuy wants to take them out back and shoot them, but OldGuy thinks they might be part of a larger organization, and they should hold onto them and find out. Meanwhile, we see the Winchesters being put in their separate, but apparently neighboring, cells.
It's just Dean taking what could be his last look at Sam. No big deal. I'm not crying; you're crying.
OldGuy starts out talking to Dean, but with intercutting scenes we see he's giving the same speech to both brothers. But we are distracted again, oh so distracted, because the guys look fucking awesome in these scenes.
Dean looks lovely in profile, but this not-quite-profile is always my favorite angle.
And then SAAAAAMMMMMMM.
He explains that he knows torture won't work (cut to Sam during the torture part of the monologue, of course) but what does work is nothing. He plans to just leave them alone in their empty cells. And when he threatens that they'll go crazy in their desire to "see someone real," it's almost like he's been in Sam's head. Or like he's been reading all the awesome fanfic spawned over the break where Sam slips back into a cage-inspired psychosis. I bet he has. Probably.
Dean remains absolutely still and stone-faced during the entire speech. Sam doesn't. He meets OldGuy's eyes when he says his plan is to do nothing. He swallows and looks away when OldGuy tells him about being alone in the dark. He flinches when the door slams shut. (Maybe Dean does too. We don't know. But I suspect he didn't.) Did the writers, like us, think about what being caged means to Sam? Probably. Maybe. I don't know. Turns out this one was written by Andrew Dabb, so I hope so. I hope it was intentional.
Title card!
Mick Davies sits at a charming old manual typewriter which actually seems to be some kind of teletype machine, which is pretty cool. Manual typewriters are pretty cool in general. (Sidebar: Did you know manual typewriters will jam if you type too quickly, so the QWERTY keyboard was actually designed to slow typists down?) He reports that he's having no luck connecting with American hunters, and we see him giving his recruitment speech directly into the camera. Who is he talking to? Is it someone we know? I hope it's someone we know. Oh, no, it's not. (Unless "Wally" is actually Walt, and he had plastic surgery to hide his identity since he knows Dean Winchester is still out there?) Wally isn't going to take orders from a soft-handed Limey paper-pusher.
Montage time! Dean finds a loose screw in his cot and starts scratching out the days on his wall. Various crappy meals get shoved through a slot in the door (actually, the same crappy meal repeated a few times) and we get a bit of humor when Sam grimaces at his, while Dean makes a surprised pleased face at the same meal.
Maybe he's sneering at the nutritional value. These secret government meals are really heavy on the carbs. I can hear Sam hollering "corn is not a vegetable!" through the chow slot.
Dean continues to scratch a tally of days on his wall, looking more dead behind the eyes each time. Sam paces and exercises. Neither of them grows a hiatus scruff, since they've conveniently been provided with a secret government electric razor (and Dean somehow manages to use it to trim his hair, apparently). They both spend time sitting, sad and lonely and quiet.
It's not Soulless Sam's shirtless exercise routine, but it will do.
Then one day a tray of food is shoved into a doorway, the guy who brought it says "chow time," no one responds, and we all look through the slot and see this.
Carbs make me sleepy too.
I'm pretty sure Sam is playing possum. He's waiting for someone to open the door and then he'll jump up, all BAMF Sam Winchester, and punch the bad guys out and make his escape. Except. Not. Because next we see Chow Time Guy with OldGuy and YoungGuy and he says he did CPR (although I think he's lying because Sam is in the same position he found him in) and "he's gone." Wait, that can't be right. And what about Dean? Has Dean been listening to all of this through the chow slot? (And if not, will someone fic that for me?) They go to check on Dean and find this.
Oh, that's not good.
So, both Winchesters are dead. But they're just mostly dead, right? They're not really most sincerely dead, are they? Well, apparently they are, because next we see them in a morgue, with a confused young coroner. OldGuy is pretty chill about the whole thing, but YoungGuy is disappointed.
You wanted them dead; they're dead.
I wanted them punished. I wanted to look Dean Winchester in the eye and... I wanted them to feel it.
Well, that... that is totally mentally normal.
I really like OldGuy.
OldGuy and YoungGuy leave and turn off the lights and that's the cue for Dean to gasp back to life (although the effect is spoiled a little bit since we can clearly see Jensen breathing before he takes his "first gasp" of air.) Sam is right behind, with an expression that I should have recognized as Sam's "oh, we have fucked up big time" expression.
I've got a bad feeling about this.
They comment that it has worked "so far," so. Somebody did something. Confused Young Coroner shows up and they jump him and ask where they are. He has no idea because he's blindfolded every day when they bring him to work and. Okay. How many people die every day in this secret government facility? Enough that they need a coroner every day? Also, he doesn't even know what state he's in? How long is his commute? Dean snags his phone and there's an awesome little silent communication when he shows it to Sam. I love the way Sam tries to be non-threatening and Dean throws himself into being very threatening. I don't think they're playing good cop/bad cop, I think that's just how they roll. Anyway, they make their escape, because this super secret government facility that isn't supposed to exist doesn't have alarms on the doors.
But who cares, because the light out here is much more flattering. (Hello, Sam's throat.)
Dean calls Cas on the stolen phone while Sam finds a map in an unlocked (of course) truck and determines they're in Rocky Mountain National Park, between Elk Mountain and Long's Peak. Dean directs Cas to find them on state route 34, which doesn't really seem specific enough. (Sidebar: Yes, of course I was compelled to look this up. May as well make use of those national park websites before they disappear. There is a Long's Peak but not an Elk Mountain, so I can't tell where they are. Personally, I hope they're in region 1 on this map because it's the area known for moose. ;) And highway 34 does exist but it's only open during the summer, so I hope the guys escaped in July.) After Dean hangs up, Sam says "You didn't tell him?" Tell him what, I wonder? Sam also wisely says the phone will be tracked if they take it. And Dean pointed out that they shouldn't take the truck because it will have Lojack. I love Smart!Winchesters.
OldGuy and YoungGuy return to the morgue to find the Winchesters gone and Confused Young Coroner inside one of the body drawers. Hee. And also brrr, because those things are refrigerated, aren't they? A crew of secret government soldiers, along with OldGuy and YoungGuy, heads out after the brothers. Sam and Dean are running through a wooded area that looks strangely like Purgatory, except with more saturated colors, and they have this conversation.
All right, we got what, an hour till dark, which puts us at what? Six hours till midnight?
That sounds about right.
Dean, we gotta talk about this.
Okay, we will, all right? Later.
Hmmm. If it's dark at 6:00 pm, I don't think it's July. Route 34's gonna be closed, guys. Which is clearly the only flaw in this plan. Well, okay, another flaw is that the guys have lost their 45 minute head start, and Dean left a footprint in the mud. But this is when we get a reminder of the badassery they're capable of - they jump one of the secret government soldiers and take his gun and radio. While Sam menacingly handles the gun in the background, Dean tells YoungGuy that if he calls off his crew, no one gets hurt. "Because we're not trapped out here with you. You're trapped out here with us." And then Sam does the thing with the gun, and I don't know what you call it (I think it would be called racking a shotgun, but this isn't a shotgun) but I LIKE IT. A LOT.
I love Sam menacingly handling things. I have several things he could handle in a menacing way. But why don't the animated gifs I steal from Tumblr work any more?
The guys find a cabin and start setting something up. Sam lights a lamp and I'm all, don't do that Sam, they're going to see the light, but of course that's the point, because they're setting a trap. When the secret government crew comes upon the cabin, everything falls into place. One guy comes in through the front door (seems like they'd hit every possible exit at the same time, but okay) and steps on something or trips a wire that causes him to get shot in the lower legs. Other guys are downed outside. Sam knocks a guy out and then gives me a lovely post-exertion huff that I need giffed, and then gives the guy in the cabin a first aid kit (because that's how he rolls). YoungGuy steps in a bear trap hidden outside and loses his gun, resulting in a "told you so" from Dean. OldGuy goes to shoot Dean, only to find Sam on the other side of a much bigger gun with a quiet "don't." It's fantastic. Sam doesn't give them the "monsters are real speech," but he does tell them the truth is that the President was possessed. By the Devil. And they saved him. Yay Sam! Dean warns them that they know what will happen if they come after them. Then we get this:
Who are you?
We're the guys that saved the world.
So, this is uncharacteristic, isn't it? Explaining things, taking credit, not necessarily the family business. Almost like something has changed. Probably. Maybe. I don't know.
But I do know that it's pretty hot.
(Sidebar: This whole sequence reminded me a lot of Rambo. Were you aware that the first Rambo movie was actually called First Blood? Now you know.)
But what have Cas and Mary been doing all this time? We start with them in the bunker, with Cas explaining that Sam and Dean were taken because he left with Kelly, but it's not his fault because Dean told him too, and Mary tells him to stop making excuses.
You know, when Mary first cut her hair, I liked that it was uneven, as if she actually had done it herself. But now I'm really tired of this one long piece, and I've literally given myself better haircuts in my office without a mirror. It needs to go.
Mary wonders why they didn't call her (um, right) and she feels guilty and Cas feels guilty. Guilty enough to ask Crowley for help, but he is rebuffed because Crowley considers them the equivalent to herpes, and he pities the fool who currently has them. As well he should. Meanwhile, Mary sits in the bunker kitchen and hears a phone ringing in Dean's room, all the way down the hall inside a closed drawer, where it's been sitting for weeks, without being charged, but okay. It's Alicia of the Hot Witch Twins and she's looking for Dean's help in taking down a pack of werewolves in Louisiana. She joins that hunt, and then (apparently) some weeks later meets up with Cas at a bar. Cas admits what we all said in the last episode, which is that he shouldn't have left them (DUH). At this point they've been gone 6 weeks, 2 days and 10 hours, and Cas is truly wallowing in guilt. He confesses that he found a vampire hunt but failed to kill the monster and "ran away," so he's feeling like a failure all around. Will this be relevant later? Probably. Maybe. I don't know.
Mary goes off and kills the vampires that Cas failed to kill, which makes him feel even more guilty and useless. She's still cleaning up from the slaughter when Cas calls to tell her he heard from Dean. When they get together, they decide they'll need backup. Cas, who hasn't learned his lesson, suggests Crowley or Rowena, which Mary immediately rejects. Cas's Plan B is the BMoL. They meet up with the Brits and Mary is incredulous, because these are the men who tried to kill "my boys." Cas defends them, saying they helped them against Lucifer in the last episode, and Ketch and Davies are surprised to learn TFW was actually fighting Lucifer. Because... it never came up? When they stood around and talked for hours about repossessing the President, and a proper tool to do that, they never mentioned that the angel possessing him was Lucifer? Huh. Okay. That makes sense. Probably. Maybe. I don't know. Anyway, the BMoL are here to make friends and are eager to help! Even though the Americans are surly and suspicious and mistrustful! And that's why Mick wants to help, so Mary will spread his friendly and helpful reputation throughout the hunter community. How nice. Davies and Ketch are well aware of "area 94" and can get a satellite over the area to find the boys.
Both plotlines finally mesh when Mary and Cas come upon Sam and Dean in the woods. There are lovely hugs and a very quick conversation with the BMoL, who are surprised the Winchesters left survivors and call it "unprofessional." I guess it depends on what your profession is. The four of them get in Mary's car (Dean and Cas in the back, Sam in the front with Mary, which strikes me odd for some reason) and Dean has a look on his face. And there's like eight minutes left, so, you know, that's too much time for nothing to happen. Then the electrical system in the car goes haywire and it stops and Sam and Dean are not surprised at all. Sam's having a laugh with Mary about her hunting and then boom, the mood immediately changes. He turns to Dean and says "it's time." Dean looks sadly at Cas and doesn't say anything.
And look, it's midnight and they're in the Rocky Mountain National Forest. Good for you, props people.
Everyone gets out of the car, where they're met by Billie the awesome reaper. Reapers are almost never a good sign, are they? Dean explains "there was only one way we were getting out of there, and it wasn't breathing." Cas is truly horrified as Dean explains how he called Billie in the prison, and they made a deal. They each got to die and come back one more time. And then... "Come midnight," Billie says, "a Winchester goes bye bye. Like, permanently." Mary asks why they would do that, and Dean says "We were already dead. Locked up in that cell, with nothing. I've been to Hell. This was worse." Sam says "At least this way, one of us gets to keep fighting."
But I just got you back!
Cas tries to get them out of it but Billie says "We made a pact, bound with blood. Break that, there's consequences. On a cosmic scale. So who's it gonna be?" Because they haven't decided yet? Okay. In what universe would Dean not have already made this decision? The first time Sam said "We need to talk about this," he would have said "There's nothing to talk about." He would have decided, from the moment he heard the offer, that he was going to be the one to die. We know this. I mean, what are they going to do, play rock-paper-scissors? (And yet, wouldn't it be awesome if they did that, because Dean would do it knowing he's going to lose since he loses every time, and Sam would do it knowing Dean throws scissors every time so he'd know how to lose to him.) They stand there long enough, neither jumping forward and saying "me," for Mary to jump forward and say "I volunteer as tribue!" And let's face it, we knew she was going to do that as soon as Billie said a Winchester goes bye bye. So it looks this is how they get rid of Mary. Billie tosses the brothers back so they can't stop her and she pulls a gun and puts it to her temple (not very effectively; I don't think that shot would kill her). I had forgotten that Billie won't kill someone, she'll only reap their souls. So not only did Sam and Dean have to decide who would die, but they had to do the deed themselves. Which is awful, but also makes it that much more puzzling that Dean hadn't already made the decision, hadn't punched Sam out and put a gun under his chin and taken care of things before anybody could stop him. But before Mary can pull the trigger, the tip of a blade bursts from Billie's chest - Cas stabbed her from behind. What? Billie the awesome reaper is gone? THIS IS NOT OKAY, CASTIEL.
Cas gives this speech to excuse his actions: "You know this world, this sad doomed little world, it needs you. It needs every last Winchester it can get and I won't let you die. I won't let any of you die. And I won't let you sacrifice yourselves. You mean too much to me. To everything. Yeah, you made a deal. You made a stupid deal and I broke it. You're welcome."
But consequences, Cas! She said consequences!
We wrap up with Mick Davies writing another report on how Mr. Ketch wrapped up the Winchesters' "loose ends," and we cut to the secret government facility, with every single person dead. I don't know about you guys, but I'm starting to think these BMoL are not good people. Then we get Mick making his recruitment pitch straight to the camera again, and the reveal that the hunter he's talking to is Mary. And she's listening.
And consequences are coming!
Okay, let's talk about the problems I have with this episode.
Why would the Winchesters make this deal? I know six weeks in solitary confinement would be hellish. I'm a raging introvert and it would still be a nightmare. But these guys have lived through literal Hell. And they broke after six weeks? Without trying anything else? Without trying to break out at all? Without ever praying to Cas? That's just really unlikely, I think.
Why would Billie make this deal? Why is she once again doing the Winchesters a favor? Dean still owes her one from the last favor!
How would she do it? Reapers don't kill people. How did Sam and Dean kill themselves?
What if they hadn't come back to life just at the right time? What if they were autopsied first?
And, again, we're supposed to believe Dean would spend the whole day avoiding the topic, and then just stand there and not demand that he be the one to die? Not take it in his own hands and kill himself before Sam could beat him to it?
Why doesn't anybody pray to Cas any more? Dean prays to Billie but not to Cas?
YOU KILLED BILLIE. YOU BASTARDS.
But, to leave with a good taste in our mouths, let's talk about the things I loved
- Smart!Winchesters.
- BAMF Winchesters.
- Winchesters working together.
(These three factors showed how lethal these two could be if they put their minds to it.)
- OldGuy
- Winchesters not killing people they don't have to kill.
- Rewatching with the deal in mind.
Little things that didn't jump out the first time become important. Why does Sam tell the secret government agents about saving the world, which he normally keeps under wraps? Because he's about to die. Or his brother's about to die. Either way, he (a) doesn't care who knows the Big Secret, and (b) wants people to know that they were the Good Guys. Other things become more poignant. The hugs when they meet with Mary and Cas. Their last job together.
Anyway, despite its problems, this one had some pretty enjoyable moments. What did you think?
Remember, no spoilers in the comments, please!!!
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Date: 2017-01-27 08:53 pm (UTC)I was, however, gutted they've now killed both Death and Billie! I didn't want Mary to die (yet) either so that was a bummer all round really. Still, I'm quite excited about the rest of the season.
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Date: 2017-01-29 01:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-29 01:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-27 11:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-29 01:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-28 01:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-29 01:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-29 04:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-28 01:33 am (UTC)I do think the reason neither Dean nor Sam immediately jumps forward to off themselves is that they're both waiting for the other to move first, in order to stop them. It's no good for Dean to shoot himself in the head if Sam does it simultaneously.
...That, or they actually both have enough inside them now that wants to live to hesitate, if only for a moment. But I think it's more they were waiting to stop the other's move.
...But Billie, though, how could you, Andrew Dabb?
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Date: 2017-01-29 01:23 pm (UTC)He would have punched Sam and then quickly offed himself, I think.
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Date: 2017-01-28 03:18 pm (UTC)Why would the Winchesters make this deal? I know six weeks in solitary confinement would be hellish. I'm a raging introvert and it would still be a nightmare. But these guys have lived through literal Hell. And they broke after six weeks? Without trying anything else? Without trying to break out at all? Without ever praying to Cas? That's just really unlikely, I think.
I think that they didn't break for themselves but each one broke to save the other one from the mental torture. IRL solitary confinement is worse than physical torture, people literally go insane https://www.afsc.org/resource/solitary-confinement-facts So both of them figured that saving their brother was worth dying for. I'm sure they investigated their cells completely and found out they couldn't escape. I don't know why praying to Cas isn't a thing, but maybe they decided Cas is as useless as he thinks he is.
I too pictured a long game of Rock/Paper/Scissors with them tying time after time until Dean just cold cocked Sam and took himself out.
Why would Billie make this deal? Why is she once again doing the Winchesters a favor? Dean still owes her one from the last favor!
I figured Dean called Billie and told her he'd grant her greatest wish, to take out a Winchester permanently. Maybe Sam agreed that if he were the one to survive, he'd inherit Dean's debt of a favor? Too bad the favor wasn't "don't let Cas kill me".
I guess we are supposed to forget that ENTIRE episode back in season 4 where Alistair had to go through a huge ceremony and use the right tools (I can't remember what, except it WASN'T an angel sword) to kill a Reaper. Or, maybe Billie isn't dead? I think she's dead, sadly.
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Date: 2017-01-29 01:21 pm (UTC)And that would make sense, but if that's what they were going for, I wish the script had at least hinted at it.
I don't know why praying to Cas isn't a thing, but maybe they decided Cas is as useless as he thinks he is.
Even if he was useless, they could at least let him know they were alive somewhere.
I too pictured a long game of Rock/Paper/Scissors with them tying time after time until Dean just cold cocked Sam and took himself out.
LOL!
I guess we are supposed to forget that ENTIRE episode back in season 4 where Alistair had to go through a huge ceremony and use the right tools (I can't remember what, except it WASN'T an angel sword) to kill a Reaper.
Oh, wow, even I forgot about that. Maybe he had to go through all that because he didn't have access to an angel blade. Yeah, that's gotta be it. ;)
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Date: 2017-01-29 01:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-28 11:47 pm (UTC)Prison jumpsuits are always sexy on the boys. And they looked so good and acted so BAMF you could almost overlook the potholes. Because, yes, one simple prayer to Cas and they'd know where they were...sigh. This is always the issue when you have an all-powerful, supernatural being in the show. Cas is like the transporter, unless he breaks down, he can get you out of anything.
And I hadn't thought of that at all re: Billie killing the Winchesters. That is so NOT what a reaper would do. I don't even think reapers would make deals, that's more of a Crowley thing. Carver messed up Canon so bad on this show no one knows how they're supposed to act anymore.
Great review!
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Date: 2017-01-29 01:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-29 01:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-29 04:12 am (UTC)And really, the biggest plot hole of all: Why WOULDN'T the boys talk? Why WOULDN'T they start spewing the truth about what happened? What exactly did they have to lose? How the hell is choosing permanent, tossed-into-the-Empty death better than that? Why didn't we get scenes of them trying to tell the truth, only to not be believed and THEN tossed back in the cells for good?
I loved seeing them working together. I loved them being badasses. I loved Cas being useful (even though I hated Billie's death). I loved old snarky terrorist expert. I loved Crowley's snark. But I think Andrew Dabb was either high or lost 20 pages of the script on this one.
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Date: 2017-01-29 01:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-30 12:54 am (UTC)As usual, your review is made of win. This one is so good I wish I'd written it myself. So much funny, so much hot.
I deeply enjoyed BAMF! Winchesters and HOW SEXY IS I DON'T GAF SAM? "We're the guys who saved the world." I don't think they were saying that to explain, just to let them/us know how powerful they are.
The whole tried to kill the President etc. thing so didn't work for me, and yes, I wondered why the hell the black op prison had no locks or outside security. Also, what was OldGuy thinking about going out with the soldiers. I know, so he would be killed. But it made no sense, this guy gasping and hanging on to trees. So much made no sense, if I'd handwaved everything, I'd get carpal tunnel. I loved Castiel's speech, but killing Billie? Seriously? And I also remember how much it used to take to kill a reaper. Now anything can be killed with an angel blade. Where are all these blades coming from? In bulk from Wal-Mart?
Mary's hair has bothered me ever since she cut it. I want to reach into the screen and snip that long part OFF. Whose idea in Hairdressing is this? Speaking of hairdressing, not only did Dean not need a haircut, but his super-strength hair gel never wore off.
I want the BMoL off my TV. And I don't want cosmic consequences. Makes no sense. I am soooooo tired of this raising unnecessary stakes. I just want to watch the Winchesters do their thing, preferably sweaty and dirty and oh dear god dirty dirty dirty...ahem.
I'll be in my bunk.
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Date: 2017-02-07 07:53 pm (UTC)This is true, my friend. And that might interfere with your bunk time. ;-)
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Date: 2017-02-08 03:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-02-06 06:38 am (UTC)Agreed that their desperation to be free should have been better illustrated, but I've seen so many people (on tv and in movies) gasp on the slab and wake up after being "dead", I don't even think about the likelihood of early autopsies anymore. Much.
I also hadn't thought about praying to Castiel as an option, now *that* bothers me. ;)
It's a treat to read these, thanks.
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Date: 2017-02-07 07:51 pm (UTC)