Episode poll 14.19: “Jack in the Box”

[caranfindel]

[Poll #2092183]

Remember, no spoilers in the comments please, and that includes episode titles and casting information. Thank you!

Comments

[marciaelena.livejournal.com]

There wasn't anything about this episode that I liked. Absolutely nothing. There wasn't anything that broke my heart either, not in the way it should have. The writing was so atrociously bad. All characters seemed to have been replaced by pod people. I was in a rage after watching this episode. I usually like dubious episodes better on my second watch, but that didn't happen here--it was just as bad on rewatch.

There was a good story to be told here. A painful, emotionally complex story that was completely ruined by the most incompetent writing I've ever witnessed. That initial rage I felt is still lingering, and it's making me feel so very tired and so defeated. I'm expecting to be severely disappointed by the finale, and fearing that it'll be even worse than that. This episode made me feel glad that the show is ending, and I hate that so much.

[caranfindel.livejournal.com]

Aw, that makes me sad.

[fanspired]

I think the core issue that's got people so angry with this episode is that they recognize, consciously or otherwise, that it depicted Sam and Dean abusing a child in their care.

[marciaelena.livejournal.com]

Yes, but it's also more than that. If the show is going to go there then that needs to be done well--the writing needs to be nuanced and emotional and complex, and instead it was the shittiest ever. They took their most difficult and controversial moment, one that should have made us ponder and feel, and completely fucked it up. That's the thing I'm really angry at, not where the story went, but their utter carelessness with it.

[fanspired]

You're absolutely right. I've been thinking mainly that they shouldn't have gone there at all, but maybe it's more a case of: this writing team should never have had the gall to think they were capable of pulling off a theme of this complexity.

[verucasalt123.livejournal.com]

There was a good story to be told here. A painful, emotionally complex story that was completely ruined by the most incompetent writing I've ever witnessed.

Agreed. That happened a lot this season. Stories that could have been really good except that the pacing was so terrible that everything felt rushed and unsatisfying.

[fanspired]

They've basically attempted themes above and beyond the scope of their ability.