Initial reaction 13.10: "Wayward Sisters"
Jan. 19th, 2018 02:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caranfindelWe're back!
THEN: I know we've had some long "Then" segments this season, but this one goes on forever. Two minutes and 19 seconds of the history of Jody, Donna, Alex, Claire, Paige, and Kaia. And a little bit of our boys, showing how they ended up in Jurassic Park.
NOW: Iowa. A delivery truck, a young girl held by werewolves, a knock on the door. It's Claire, in uniform, with a couple hours' worth of hair and makeup. I mean, she looks nice, but... unless the glamorous look is part of the hunt, it just seems like she'd spend less time on that. Moving on. She tells the werewolf at the door that she has a package for him, and when he says she must be mistaken, she tells him his name is on the box. He's too dumb to be suspicious of this, since she doesn't know his name, so he looks at the package and it says Mr. Werewolf and I literally guffaw. This is some funny shit. She shoots him with the gun she has hidden in the box and kills all the big bad wolves and saves the girl and returns her to her mom. Yay Claire!
Then she gets a call from Jody. The Winchesters are missing. "They were on a hunting trip and I haven't heard from them in a few days," she says, and okay, this is a nice callout to the pilot episode, but they just did that last season on "Twigs and Twine and Tasha Banes." It's too soon to do it again. Anyway. It's time for Claire to come home.
Title card!
Sioux Falls. Alex is telling Jody that she's talked to Donna and Walt but nobody's heard anything. Walt? Walt is part of the inner circle now? Walt who literally murdered Sam because he started the apocalypse, and then Dean to save his own ass? No. This is not okay. Claire rolls up to Jody's house, hair and makeup still on point despite a bloody lip. She shares some sisterly snark with Alex, gets an apparently unexpected hug from Jody, and is introduced to Patience. Somebody's sleeping in my bed, baby bear Claire notes, and she's also wearing my sweatshirt. She unsuccessfully pretends not to care and switches the focus to finding Sam and Dean.
At this point in the show, I wasn't sure we'd see the Winchesters at all, and all we'd get was Sam's message on Jody's phone looking for info on Kaia. "That was three days ago," Jody says. "I haven't heard anything since." I wonder if they've actually been in The Bad Place for three days, then? Jody explains that Kaia escaped from court-ordered rehab three days ago. And they ended up at the boatyard that evening, right? Didn't the last episode pretty much take place in one day? So, when the next scene is Kaia still lying unconscious on the side of the road, does that mean she's been there for three days? Also, it's nighttime now, and we last saw her there in broad daylight, so even if it hasn't been three days, it's still been several hours of lying in plain sight at the side of the road. Luckily, a good samaritan has finally discovered her and called 911.
Alex leaves to go to work, and Claire snaps at her for "bailing" when Sam and Dean are missing. Claire and Jody argue about how safe she is, and Claire learns that Patience had a vision of her death. In her vision, we see a giant skull, a spear entering someone's body, and Claire lying limp in Jody's arms. But Claire blows it off, since Patience can't confirm that her visions always come true. Claire's tired of being left in the car while Jody kills the monsters, and frustrated with being told not to just dive in do the job. Sitting back and making the perfect plan is how people die, she says. Jody's more concerned with Claire ending up dead.
We briefly cut to Kaia being put in an ambulance, and something making weird gurgly insecty noises as it watches.
Now we go to the hospital, where Alex says she "sanitized" a patient's room and processed her discharge paperwork. I could quibble a whole lot about this, since (1) patient rooms are not "sanitized," and (b) the staff who clean the patient rooms aren't the same ones who process paperwork. But I'm going to let it be because I'm pretty sure nobody cares. (Although I will point out that according to Google, there are a shortage of qualified LVNs in South Dakota - I'm assuming Alex is an LVN and not an RN because she's only been out of high school for a year, right? - and they make about $38K a year and no one makes $38K a year to clean hospital rooms in a low CoL area like South Dakota.)
Fine.
Claire shows up and gets called Biker Barbie and I appreciate that, Alex. Good work. She wonders why Alex is helping with hunts, since she said she wanted out of that life, and Alex says she helps with what Jody needs - dishes, monsters, whatever. She's there for her. "Unlike me," Claire says. Are you filling out your scorecard? Have you figured out which Wayward Sister is the Sam, and which one is the Dean?
Alex knows Claire's not there just to chat, and Claire admits she wants to use her computer system. Alex says she already checked.
Well, did you run rock star aliases?
From metal gods to obscure hair bands, nothing.
Aw. This is how you search for a Winchester. I like it. I also like the way the two women immediately put their differences aside and excitedly jump into hunting mode. It's not their first rodeo. But it's fruitless. And honestly, even if James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett were hospitalized somewhere, it wouldn't show up on Alex's search unless they were in her hospital system. It's not like there's one massive network of everyone who's in a hospital anywhere in the U.S. Anyway. Alex has already searched for Kaia and Jane Doe, but she does it again and finds a new Jane Doe who was just brought in. She's surprised to find the patient is actually at her own hospital, which, again, shouldn't be a surprise, Alex, because that's the only people who will turn up in your search. (Also, this is just a massive HIPAA violation. Alex would be fired on the spot.)
Claire goes to check on Jane Doe, who's going to be kept overnight for observation and isn't pleased to see Claire staring at her through the window. She flees, even though Claire tells her she's friends with Sam and Dean, which makes a lot of sense, considering the turns her life has taken since Sam and Dean showed up in it. Outside the hospital, she hears the gurgly insecty noise and sees a creature, about her own size, dressed in a black robe. Claire runs outside and stabs it, but gets tossed against a wall. Don't worry, Jody's here! She shoots it; then Claire cuts its throat and a lot of blue goo comes out. Bleh.
The dead creature is taken back to Jody's house. Alex apparently skipped out on work to take part in the impromptu medical exam. And stole some gloves, too. She's really not going to have this job for long. The exam shows that thing looks a lot like the creatures in the Star Wars cantina band, except a little bit melty. Meanwhile, Kaia tells Claire about seeing the creatures in her dreams, and how they get your scent and chase you in packs and never stop, which is why she's running. They compare scars and bond over that. They return to the autopsy and Kaia tells the others she's a dreamwalker, and this creature came from The Bad Place. She tells them Sam and Dean wanted her to open a door, and Claire realizes that if the door is still open, Sam and Dean are on the other side. "No," Kaia says. "If they're there, they're already dead."
But Kaia doesn't know our boys, does she, because we immediately cut to The Bad Place, where Dean is roasting a lizard over a fire. Yay! We get Winchesters after all! He takes a bite and makes his classic that's not as bad as I thought it would be face.
Don't tell me it tastes like chicken.
No, Sam, it's a lizard. It tastes like a lizard.
Gopher, Everett?
I have mixed feelings about Dean and his lizard. One, it's classic Dean. A consistent character trait. The guy who happily eats anything, even things that make Sam wrinkle his perfect little nose (oh god, Sam's nose, if I were a poet I would write sonnets about that nose). And you have to appreciate it any time the Continuity Fairy gifts us with a consistent... anything. But B, it can easily become lazy writing. Dean becomes a collection of quirky traits (Checklist: eats anything, tells jokes, spouts cultural references, likes old cars and old music) rather than a fleshed-out character and eventually becomes a parody of himself, like a sitcom character reduced to a popular catchphrase.
Ultimately, I'm going to go with 1, because Dean's not just ready to snack on a lizard. It's part of his general ability to assimilate, to effortlessly fit into any situation he finds himself in. Thank you, Continuity Fairy. And I say this because, while Sam refuses to partake in the lizard and says they should continue looking for the door, Dean points out that they've been in The Bad Place for "two days and change," there may not be a door any more, and they might be stuck there, so. Eat up. (And if you're paying attention to the timeline, that means this snack is happening before Claire shows up at Jody's.)
But wait. They're still looking for the door? And have been, for more than two days? How did they get so far away from it? Didn't everyone else who went through a door end up still at the door, just on the other side? Why were they deposited so far away from the door? Why didn't they just turn around and say "oh, there it is" and go back through it? (Spoiler alert: These questions will not be answered.)
They hear a growly noise - deeper than the creatures who made it to Sioux Falls, at least to my ears - and hit the trail. Dean runs back to grab the remains of his lizard, because we know he likes to snack on the road. And as they leave, we see another robed creature, about the size of a small human.
He's on his way to sell androids to Luke Skywalker and Uncle Owen.
Back at Jody's, Patience is packing to go back home. I hope she left Claire's shirt. She doesn't seem to really want to, but life at Jody's is "way too freaky," and Claire didn't care about her vision, and she's not a fighter so she doesn't see her place here. Alex points out that she's not a fighter either, but they help in other ways. (Have I said here that I'd love to see Alex as a resource to hunters, taking care of their injuries? Cause I'd love that.) Patience heads out to her Jeep, which may be the same Jeep that Max and Alicia Banes were driving, where she's hit by another vision. This time she sees creatures invading Jody's house. She warns the others, and Claire says they should fight, but she must get outvoted. Because when we see the creatures jumping in through the windows, it's because Claire is watching it on security camera footage in the Jeep as they make their escape.
In the morning, Team Wayward Sisters pulls to the side of the road to meet up with Jody's "backup."
Like what; the National Guard?
Oh, better.
A big black SUV pulls up, with D-TRAIN tags. Is it Donna? You betcha! She hugs Alex and Claire (who she calls Rainbow Brite, which is adorable but I think I prefer Biker Barbie), meets the new girls, and shows them her weapons stash.
Why do you have all this?
I'm from Minnesota!
Hee!
Kaia doesn't know where she was with Sam and Dean, but from her description, Donna and Alex determine it was the Larsen Brothers Shipyard. While Donna gives an impromptu flamethrower lesson, Jody asks Claire to stay behind and watch the others. Interestingly, Jody asks her to "keep Kaia and the girls safe." It's like they're trying to force a relationship between Claire and Kaia. Why would she be more invested in Kaia's safety than Alex's? Patience I get. Sweatshirt-stealing bitch can take care of her own damn self. But they're really trying to push Kaia being special to Claire.
Back to our boys. Sam speculates that they're not just in a different world, they're in a different universe. It doesn't seem like an important difference. It's an alternate dimension, does it matter whether it's a world or a universe? They hear a noise, and Sam swallows nervously because he knows I love that, and they turn around to see the Sand Person behind them. It knocks them both unconscious pretty easily with its awesome kung fu skills.
It's still not a coffee shop, Sam, and I'm not a cop or fireman or gangster, and nobody's permanently disabled, so does it matter which AU it is?
Kaia sits in the truck with Claire and they bond some more. Claire admits she's scared - she was never bothered by the prospect of being killed on a hunt, and figured that was a good way to go out (there's another box to tick on your Is Claire the Sam or the Dean scorecard), but Patience's vision has made that less appealing. She's tempted to sit back and let Jody handle this one. "But Sam and Dean saved my life, and I can't sit this one out." (Have we ever seen Claire express gratitude toward the Winchesters? I mean, yeah, probably. I've probably forgotten it. I only remember her being a surly, which she admitedly had good reasons for. But I don't remember her ever expressing that they saved her or that she owes them.) Kaia encourages Claire to go fight, and says she'll go with her. Claire asks Patience for her keys, saying Jody isn't answering her phone. I don't know if that's true (surely Claire knows better than to call Jody in the middle of a hunt?) or if that's just how she's going to make her plan happen.
Meanwhile, Jody and Donna have pulled up at the boatyard. They know they're at the right place when they see the Impala parked out front. They go inside and find the still-open doorway. Donna assumes they're going to go tell the girls, but Jody's ready to go through it, because "If I don't, she will. Donna, I cannot lose another child." Aw, Jody. {sniff} But before we can dwell on this, we hear the gurgly insecty creatures. The gals (is it okay if I call them "gals?" I call the brothers "guys," this seems equivalent) fight them and end up trapped inside an old car. Just as it looks like things aren't going to end well, the cavalry shows up with a flamethrower. Yay Claire! "I called, you didn't answer," she says (which answers that question). "We worried." Aw. It's cute the way they turned that back around on Jody. Then Claire sees a light upstairs and realizes it must be the door.
Everyone runs upstairs, and Jody notes that the door is getting smaller. Claire wants to jump right through it, but Jody grabs her. Claire tells Jody "I need to save Sam and Dean. You have to let me." Turns out she's not trying to stop her, she just... I don't know. Doesn't want her to go just yet? I got nothing. As Donna shows Patience how to shoot, a slew of creatures show up downstairs. The rest of Team Wayward Sisters runs upstairs, where Claire turns to Kaia (who wasn't even upstairs yet? I guess she was ahead of the others? Weird editing here) and says "I'll protect you." Why does Claire want to take her new bestest buddy Kaia to the land of her literal nightmares? But Kaia agrees, taking her hand. They walk through the door and end up in The Bad Place, where its now nighttime. Kaia hears monster noises and leads Claire off. Okay, maybe she's there as a guide. The remaining members of Team Wayward Sisters continue to fight the very humanoid creatures.
While this is happening, Sam and Dean wake up tied to trees, and we get some good hair-in-his-face momentary panic from Sam, though it's sadly too dark to cap well. But trust me, it was good.
Did I try anyway? You know it.
The creature shows up and Dean calls it "Darth Dickwad" and still think it's clearly a Sand Person, but Dean's the one who gets to name the monsters around here. In my opinion, it's too small and slender to be Darth anything. It has the shape of a young woman. Anyway. Darth bangs on a giant skull, making a noise that sounds more like a gong than a hollow bone, but perhaps this giant animal actually had bones made of brass. Let's pretend that's the case. Dean notices the bones strewn around them and concludes that Darth just rang the dinner bell. Uh oh.
As the noise increases around them, someone suddenly cuts Dean loose. It's Claire! Wow, they found the guys quickly. They must not be very far from the door. Not two days (and change) far away, anyway. Were the guys walking in circles? Did Darth Dickwad spend a day dragging them to the feeding ground? Or was the door actually very hard to find, but Kaia knows her way around because she dreams about this place? Because the alternative is that the guys lost skills they previously had, just for plot purposes, and you know how much I hate that.
(Will we ever know? No.)
Kaia tells Sam that she thinks Jack is in "the other place" with Mary. Before Sam can react to that, they hear more, closer noises and decide it's time to go. They get to the door, which is even smaller, and stand there looking at it for a minute rather than just jumping through. Which gives Darth plenty of time to hurl a spear at Claire. Kaia pushes her out of the way and ends up taking the spear herself, and there is more standing and staring instead of jumping through. In fact, Sam and Dean pull out weapons to fight. Just grab Kaia and go through the door, guys. Kaia dies and Claire looks vaguely disappointed (I'm sorry, Kathryn just isn't doing this moment justice) and then something freaking huge shows up. Claire hurls herself at Darth Dickwad, but Sam and Dean finally come to their senses and force her through the door instead, leaving Poor Dead Kaia behind.
My new BFF's death is almost as annoying as having my favorite sweater stolen.)
Back at the shipyard, Patience is shocked to find she has killed a monster, just as Sam, Dean, and Claire burst through the door. The doors snaps shut and Claire screams "no!", maybe because she wanted to go grab Kaia's body or something. Then she collapses in Jody's arms and Patience realizes that this was her vision. Claire wasn't dead, she was just distraught. You didn't stop anything, Patience!
Aw. It makes the boys sad. But sad Winchesters make me happy, so...
(Tangent... Did Sam stop anything he saw in his visions, other than Max killing Dean? I guess you could say he stopped the doctor from shooting himself in "Simon Says," but the guy ended up dead anyway.)
Aftermath! Jody and the guys discuss Claire's emotional state, and the fact that more creatures may have come through while the door was open. Jody says she'll take care of Sioux Falls while they handle the rest of the world, there are hugs all around (awww) and the Winchesters drive off, not to be seen again until 13.11.
Jody goes up to Claire's room, and Claire tells her she was right. She didn't have a plan, she just raced in, and this is true, but I don't know that a plan would have protected Kaia. Unless the plan was "go through the door as soon as you get back to it, instead of standing around looking at it." Claire says she understands why Jody worries now, "because of this feeling." Oh, so now Claire understands what it feels like to lose someone you love? She never got that until now? That's odd. That's very, very odd. So they forced this quickie Claire and Kaia relationship because someone needed to be fridged for Claire to understand loss? I... I don't even know what to say about this, other than it's stupid and wrong.
Let's just look at the Winchesters until we feel better, shall we?
Downstairs, as the Wayward Sisters clean up the mess from the creature attacks, Patience is still amazed that she killed a monster. "Welcome to the family," Alex laughs. "I was a monster." (No, she doesn't really say that part.) Claire writes in her journal, and reflects that "all of these amazing women, my family, they don't know it yet. They think I'm staying because I'm broken. But I'm staying because I need them. My family. My army. The thing that killed Kaia is still out there. And I don't care if I have to tear another hole in the universe. We're going to find it. And I'm going to kill it."
Luckily, Claire doesn't have to tear another hole in the universe, because there's one out there already. And out of it steps Darth Dickward, who pushes back her hood to reveal... Kaia! Duh duh duuuuuuuhhhhhhh!!!
And... so ends our journey into The Bad Place, and our long-awaited Wayward Sisters pilot. I haven't read any of your reactions, so I don't know if you loved it, hated it, or fell somewhere in between. There were things I liked about it, and there were things I didn't like, particularly the way the Claire and Kaia friendship was handled. Claire immediately bonding with this girl, just because she needed to experience loss, was not only unnecessary, but (IMHO) awkwardly done. And I was not particular impressed by Kathryn Newton's acting - not just her watered down reaction to Kaia's death, but throughout the episode. On the other hand, "Mr. Werewolf" was stellar.
Were you surprised that Kaia was killed? I was. And I'm confused about Not!Kaia. Was she there in The Bad Place all along as an AU!Kaia, just as we have alternate versions of existing characters in AU Land? Or did she acquire Kaia's form after she died? Got a theory or suggestion for a poll question? The floor is open!
As always, please don't post spoilers for future episodes, including casting information. Thank you!
THEN: I know we've had some long "Then" segments this season, but this one goes on forever. Two minutes and 19 seconds of the history of Jody, Donna, Alex, Claire, Paige, and Kaia. And a little bit of our boys, showing how they ended up in Jurassic Park.
NOW: Iowa. A delivery truck, a young girl held by werewolves, a knock on the door. It's Claire, in uniform, with a couple hours' worth of hair and makeup. I mean, she looks nice, but... unless the glamorous look is part of the hunt, it just seems like she'd spend less time on that. Moving on. She tells the werewolf at the door that she has a package for him, and when he says she must be mistaken, she tells him his name is on the box. He's too dumb to be suspicious of this, since she doesn't know his name, so he looks at the package and it says Mr. Werewolf and I literally guffaw. This is some funny shit. She shoots him with the gun she has hidden in the box and kills all the big bad wolves and saves the girl and returns her to her mom. Yay Claire!
Then she gets a call from Jody. The Winchesters are missing. "They were on a hunting trip and I haven't heard from them in a few days," she says, and okay, this is a nice callout to the pilot episode, but they just did that last season on "Twigs and Twine and Tasha Banes." It's too soon to do it again. Anyway. It's time for Claire to come home.
Title card!
Sioux Falls. Alex is telling Jody that she's talked to Donna and Walt but nobody's heard anything. Walt? Walt is part of the inner circle now? Walt who literally murdered Sam because he started the apocalypse, and then Dean to save his own ass? No. This is not okay. Claire rolls up to Jody's house, hair and makeup still on point despite a bloody lip. She shares some sisterly snark with Alex, gets an apparently unexpected hug from Jody, and is introduced to Patience. Somebody's sleeping in my bed, baby bear Claire notes, and she's also wearing my sweatshirt. She unsuccessfully pretends not to care and switches the focus to finding Sam and Dean.
At this point in the show, I wasn't sure we'd see the Winchesters at all, and all we'd get was Sam's message on Jody's phone looking for info on Kaia. "That was three days ago," Jody says. "I haven't heard anything since." I wonder if they've actually been in The Bad Place for three days, then? Jody explains that Kaia escaped from court-ordered rehab three days ago. And they ended up at the boatyard that evening, right? Didn't the last episode pretty much take place in one day? So, when the next scene is Kaia still lying unconscious on the side of the road, does that mean she's been there for three days? Also, it's nighttime now, and we last saw her there in broad daylight, so even if it hasn't been three days, it's still been several hours of lying in plain sight at the side of the road. Luckily, a good samaritan has finally discovered her and called 911.
Alex leaves to go to work, and Claire snaps at her for "bailing" when Sam and Dean are missing. Claire and Jody argue about how safe she is, and Claire learns that Patience had a vision of her death. In her vision, we see a giant skull, a spear entering someone's body, and Claire lying limp in Jody's arms. But Claire blows it off, since Patience can't confirm that her visions always come true. Claire's tired of being left in the car while Jody kills the monsters, and frustrated with being told not to just dive in do the job. Sitting back and making the perfect plan is how people die, she says. Jody's more concerned with Claire ending up dead.
We briefly cut to Kaia being put in an ambulance, and something making weird gurgly insecty noises as it watches.
Now we go to the hospital, where Alex says she "sanitized" a patient's room and processed her discharge paperwork. I could quibble a whole lot about this, since (1) patient rooms are not "sanitized," and (b) the staff who clean the patient rooms aren't the same ones who process paperwork. But I'm going to let it be because I'm pretty sure nobody cares. (Although I will point out that according to Google, there are a shortage of qualified LVNs in South Dakota - I'm assuming Alex is an LVN and not an RN because she's only been out of high school for a year, right? - and they make about $38K a year and no one makes $38K a year to clean hospital rooms in a low CoL area like South Dakota.)
Fine.
Claire shows up and gets called Biker Barbie and I appreciate that, Alex. Good work. She wonders why Alex is helping with hunts, since she said she wanted out of that life, and Alex says she helps with what Jody needs - dishes, monsters, whatever. She's there for her. "Unlike me," Claire says. Are you filling out your scorecard? Have you figured out which Wayward Sister is the Sam, and which one is the Dean?
Alex knows Claire's not there just to chat, and Claire admits she wants to use her computer system. Alex says she already checked.
Well, did you run rock star aliases?
From metal gods to obscure hair bands, nothing.
Aw. This is how you search for a Winchester. I like it. I also like the way the two women immediately put their differences aside and excitedly jump into hunting mode. It's not their first rodeo. But it's fruitless. And honestly, even if James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett were hospitalized somewhere, it wouldn't show up on Alex's search unless they were in her hospital system. It's not like there's one massive network of everyone who's in a hospital anywhere in the U.S. Anyway. Alex has already searched for Kaia and Jane Doe, but she does it again and finds a new Jane Doe who was just brought in. She's surprised to find the patient is actually at her own hospital, which, again, shouldn't be a surprise, Alex, because that's the only people who will turn up in your search. (Also, this is just a massive HIPAA violation. Alex would be fired on the spot.)
Claire goes to check on Jane Doe, who's going to be kept overnight for observation and isn't pleased to see Claire staring at her through the window. She flees, even though Claire tells her she's friends with Sam and Dean, which makes a lot of sense, considering the turns her life has taken since Sam and Dean showed up in it. Outside the hospital, she hears the gurgly insecty noise and sees a creature, about her own size, dressed in a black robe. Claire runs outside and stabs it, but gets tossed against a wall. Don't worry, Jody's here! She shoots it; then Claire cuts its throat and a lot of blue goo comes out. Bleh.
The dead creature is taken back to Jody's house. Alex apparently skipped out on work to take part in the impromptu medical exam. And stole some gloves, too. She's really not going to have this job for long. The exam shows that thing looks a lot like the creatures in the Star Wars cantina band, except a little bit melty. Meanwhile, Kaia tells Claire about seeing the creatures in her dreams, and how they get your scent and chase you in packs and never stop, which is why she's running. They compare scars and bond over that. They return to the autopsy and Kaia tells the others she's a dreamwalker, and this creature came from The Bad Place. She tells them Sam and Dean wanted her to open a door, and Claire realizes that if the door is still open, Sam and Dean are on the other side. "No," Kaia says. "If they're there, they're already dead."
But Kaia doesn't know our boys, does she, because we immediately cut to The Bad Place, where Dean is roasting a lizard over a fire. Yay! We get Winchesters after all! He takes a bite and makes his classic that's not as bad as I thought it would be face.
Don't tell me it tastes like chicken.
No, Sam, it's a lizard. It tastes like a lizard.
Gopher, Everett?
I have mixed feelings about Dean and his lizard. One, it's classic Dean. A consistent character trait. The guy who happily eats anything, even things that make Sam wrinkle his perfect little nose (oh god, Sam's nose, if I were a poet I would write sonnets about that nose). And you have to appreciate it any time the Continuity Fairy gifts us with a consistent... anything. But B, it can easily become lazy writing. Dean becomes a collection of quirky traits (Checklist: eats anything, tells jokes, spouts cultural references, likes old cars and old music) rather than a fleshed-out character and eventually becomes a parody of himself, like a sitcom character reduced to a popular catchphrase.
Ultimately, I'm going to go with 1, because Dean's not just ready to snack on a lizard. It's part of his general ability to assimilate, to effortlessly fit into any situation he finds himself in. Thank you, Continuity Fairy. And I say this because, while Sam refuses to partake in the lizard and says they should continue looking for the door, Dean points out that they've been in The Bad Place for "two days and change," there may not be a door any more, and they might be stuck there, so. Eat up. (And if you're paying attention to the timeline, that means this snack is happening before Claire shows up at Jody's.)
But wait. They're still looking for the door? And have been, for more than two days? How did they get so far away from it? Didn't everyone else who went through a door end up still at the door, just on the other side? Why were they deposited so far away from the door? Why didn't they just turn around and say "oh, there it is" and go back through it? (Spoiler alert: These questions will not be answered.)
They hear a growly noise - deeper than the creatures who made it to Sioux Falls, at least to my ears - and hit the trail. Dean runs back to grab the remains of his lizard, because we know he likes to snack on the road. And as they leave, we see another robed creature, about the size of a small human.
He's on his way to sell androids to Luke Skywalker and Uncle Owen.
Back at Jody's, Patience is packing to go back home. I hope she left Claire's shirt. She doesn't seem to really want to, but life at Jody's is "way too freaky," and Claire didn't care about her vision, and she's not a fighter so she doesn't see her place here. Alex points out that she's not a fighter either, but they help in other ways. (Have I said here that I'd love to see Alex as a resource to hunters, taking care of their injuries? Cause I'd love that.) Patience heads out to her Jeep, which may be the same Jeep that Max and Alicia Banes were driving, where she's hit by another vision. This time she sees creatures invading Jody's house. She warns the others, and Claire says they should fight, but she must get outvoted. Because when we see the creatures jumping in through the windows, it's because Claire is watching it on security camera footage in the Jeep as they make their escape.
In the morning, Team Wayward Sisters pulls to the side of the road to meet up with Jody's "backup."
Like what; the National Guard?
Oh, better.
A big black SUV pulls up, with D-TRAIN tags. Is it Donna? You betcha! She hugs Alex and Claire (who she calls Rainbow Brite, which is adorable but I think I prefer Biker Barbie), meets the new girls, and shows them her weapons stash.
Why do you have all this?
I'm from Minnesota!
Hee!
Kaia doesn't know where she was with Sam and Dean, but from her description, Donna and Alex determine it was the Larsen Brothers Shipyard. While Donna gives an impromptu flamethrower lesson, Jody asks Claire to stay behind and watch the others. Interestingly, Jody asks her to "keep Kaia and the girls safe." It's like they're trying to force a relationship between Claire and Kaia. Why would she be more invested in Kaia's safety than Alex's? Patience I get. Sweatshirt-stealing bitch can take care of her own damn self. But they're really trying to push Kaia being special to Claire.
Back to our boys. Sam speculates that they're not just in a different world, they're in a different universe. It doesn't seem like an important difference. It's an alternate dimension, does it matter whether it's a world or a universe? They hear a noise, and Sam swallows nervously because he knows I love that, and they turn around to see the Sand Person behind them. It knocks them both unconscious pretty easily with its awesome kung fu skills.
It's still not a coffee shop, Sam, and I'm not a cop or fireman or gangster, and nobody's permanently disabled, so does it matter which AU it is?
Kaia sits in the truck with Claire and they bond some more. Claire admits she's scared - she was never bothered by the prospect of being killed on a hunt, and figured that was a good way to go out (there's another box to tick on your Is Claire the Sam or the Dean scorecard), but Patience's vision has made that less appealing. She's tempted to sit back and let Jody handle this one. "But Sam and Dean saved my life, and I can't sit this one out." (Have we ever seen Claire express gratitude toward the Winchesters? I mean, yeah, probably. I've probably forgotten it. I only remember her being a surly, which she admitedly had good reasons for. But I don't remember her ever expressing that they saved her or that she owes them.) Kaia encourages Claire to go fight, and says she'll go with her. Claire asks Patience for her keys, saying Jody isn't answering her phone. I don't know if that's true (surely Claire knows better than to call Jody in the middle of a hunt?) or if that's just how she's going to make her plan happen.
Meanwhile, Jody and Donna have pulled up at the boatyard. They know they're at the right place when they see the Impala parked out front. They go inside and find the still-open doorway. Donna assumes they're going to go tell the girls, but Jody's ready to go through it, because "If I don't, she will. Donna, I cannot lose another child." Aw, Jody. {sniff} But before we can dwell on this, we hear the gurgly insecty creatures. The gals (is it okay if I call them "gals?" I call the brothers "guys," this seems equivalent) fight them and end up trapped inside an old car. Just as it looks like things aren't going to end well, the cavalry shows up with a flamethrower. Yay Claire! "I called, you didn't answer," she says (which answers that question). "We worried." Aw. It's cute the way they turned that back around on Jody. Then Claire sees a light upstairs and realizes it must be the door.
Everyone runs upstairs, and Jody notes that the door is getting smaller. Claire wants to jump right through it, but Jody grabs her. Claire tells Jody "I need to save Sam and Dean. You have to let me." Turns out she's not trying to stop her, she just... I don't know. Doesn't want her to go just yet? I got nothing. As Donna shows Patience how to shoot, a slew of creatures show up downstairs. The rest of Team Wayward Sisters runs upstairs, where Claire turns to Kaia (who wasn't even upstairs yet? I guess she was ahead of the others? Weird editing here) and says "I'll protect you." Why does Claire want to take her new bestest buddy Kaia to the land of her literal nightmares? But Kaia agrees, taking her hand. They walk through the door and end up in The Bad Place, where its now nighttime. Kaia hears monster noises and leads Claire off. Okay, maybe she's there as a guide. The remaining members of Team Wayward Sisters continue to fight the very humanoid creatures.
While this is happening, Sam and Dean wake up tied to trees, and we get some good hair-in-his-face momentary panic from Sam, though it's sadly too dark to cap well. But trust me, it was good.
Did I try anyway? You know it.
The creature shows up and Dean calls it "Darth Dickwad" and still think it's clearly a Sand Person, but Dean's the one who gets to name the monsters around here. In my opinion, it's too small and slender to be Darth anything. It has the shape of a young woman. Anyway. Darth bangs on a giant skull, making a noise that sounds more like a gong than a hollow bone, but perhaps this giant animal actually had bones made of brass. Let's pretend that's the case. Dean notices the bones strewn around them and concludes that Darth just rang the dinner bell. Uh oh.
As the noise increases around them, someone suddenly cuts Dean loose. It's Claire! Wow, they found the guys quickly. They must not be very far from the door. Not two days (and change) far away, anyway. Were the guys walking in circles? Did Darth Dickwad spend a day dragging them to the feeding ground? Or was the door actually very hard to find, but Kaia knows her way around because she dreams about this place? Because the alternative is that the guys lost skills they previously had, just for plot purposes, and you know how much I hate that.
(Will we ever know? No.)
Kaia tells Sam that she thinks Jack is in "the other place" with Mary. Before Sam can react to that, they hear more, closer noises and decide it's time to go. They get to the door, which is even smaller, and stand there looking at it for a minute rather than just jumping through. Which gives Darth plenty of time to hurl a spear at Claire. Kaia pushes her out of the way and ends up taking the spear herself, and there is more standing and staring instead of jumping through. In fact, Sam and Dean pull out weapons to fight. Just grab Kaia and go through the door, guys. Kaia dies and Claire looks vaguely disappointed (I'm sorry, Kathryn just isn't doing this moment justice) and then something freaking huge shows up. Claire hurls herself at Darth Dickwad, but Sam and Dean finally come to their senses and force her through the door instead, leaving Poor Dead Kaia behind.
My new BFF's death is almost as annoying as having my favorite sweater stolen.)
Back at the shipyard, Patience is shocked to find she has killed a monster, just as Sam, Dean, and Claire burst through the door. The doors snaps shut and Claire screams "no!", maybe because she wanted to go grab Kaia's body or something. Then she collapses in Jody's arms and Patience realizes that this was her vision. Claire wasn't dead, she was just distraught. You didn't stop anything, Patience!
Aw. It makes the boys sad. But sad Winchesters make me happy, so...
(Tangent... Did Sam stop anything he saw in his visions, other than Max killing Dean? I guess you could say he stopped the doctor from shooting himself in "Simon Says," but the guy ended up dead anyway.)
Aftermath! Jody and the guys discuss Claire's emotional state, and the fact that more creatures may have come through while the door was open. Jody says she'll take care of Sioux Falls while they handle the rest of the world, there are hugs all around (awww) and the Winchesters drive off, not to be seen again until 13.11.
Jody goes up to Claire's room, and Claire tells her she was right. She didn't have a plan, she just raced in, and this is true, but I don't know that a plan would have protected Kaia. Unless the plan was "go through the door as soon as you get back to it, instead of standing around looking at it." Claire says she understands why Jody worries now, "because of this feeling." Oh, so now Claire understands what it feels like to lose someone you love? She never got that until now? That's odd. That's very, very odd. So they forced this quickie Claire and Kaia relationship because someone needed to be fridged for Claire to understand loss? I... I don't even know what to say about this, other than it's stupid and wrong.
Let's just look at the Winchesters until we feel better, shall we?
Downstairs, as the Wayward Sisters clean up the mess from the creature attacks, Patience is still amazed that she killed a monster. "Welcome to the family," Alex laughs. "I was a monster." (No, she doesn't really say that part.) Claire writes in her journal, and reflects that "all of these amazing women, my family, they don't know it yet. They think I'm staying because I'm broken. But I'm staying because I need them. My family. My army. The thing that killed Kaia is still out there. And I don't care if I have to tear another hole in the universe. We're going to find it. And I'm going to kill it."
Luckily, Claire doesn't have to tear another hole in the universe, because there's one out there already. And out of it steps Darth Dickward, who pushes back her hood to reveal... Kaia! Duh duh duuuuuuuhhhhhhh!!!
And... so ends our journey into The Bad Place, and our long-awaited Wayward Sisters pilot. I haven't read any of your reactions, so I don't know if you loved it, hated it, or fell somewhere in between. There were things I liked about it, and there were things I didn't like, particularly the way the Claire and Kaia friendship was handled. Claire immediately bonding with this girl, just because she needed to experience loss, was not only unnecessary, but (IMHO) awkwardly done. And I was not particular impressed by Kathryn Newton's acting - not just her watered down reaction to Kaia's death, but throughout the episode. On the other hand, "Mr. Werewolf" was stellar.
Were you surprised that Kaia was killed? I was. And I'm confused about Not!Kaia. Was she there in The Bad Place all along as an AU!Kaia, just as we have alternate versions of existing characters in AU Land? Or did she acquire Kaia's form after she died? Got a theory or suggestion for a poll question? The floor is open!
As always, please don't post spoilers for future episodes, including casting information. Thank you!
