Initial reaction 15.04: "Atomic Monsters"
Nov. 8th, 2019 02:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caranfindelTHEN: Becky? Becky. Oh. Okay. We're going there, then?
NOW: The bunker. Exterior shot. Sounds of gunfire. Inside. Red emergency lighting. More gunfire. Bodies strewn about. Someone gets tossed into a wall. Dean is wearing a beard, which I heartily approve of, and a big scarf, which I'm not exactly a fan of. He's engaged in a violent altercation with people who light up when they're shot, which suggests (1) they're demons, and (2) he's got demon-killing bullets in his gun. He almost takes out someone who is apparently an ally, and it's a tribute to Jensen's directing skills (because yes, he directed this one) that I'm not completely distracted by the scene's similarity to certain scenes involving red emergency lighting and hammers and this very corner in Soul Survivor (also directed by Jensen, because he is a treasure). He has a little silent conversation with the ally (who is bald and is therefore as Not!Sam as he could possibly be) and, after more fighting, ends up in the kitchen. Where there are more bodies, and someone sitting up against a table... Benny? Yes, it's Benny. Dean lies that he'll be okay, and Benny's all no, I won't, and he dies. Aw. Dean angrily asks a not-quite-dead demon "where is he," and the demon says "he's closer than you think," and oh yes, he is. He's in the map table room, and he is Sam.
He was right. Closer than you think.
Sam.
I knew you'd come looking for me. After Sioux Falls, I suppose you had to.
What you did to them... what you did to Bobby, to Jody.
They tried to stop me. But I will not be stopped.
Sammy, listen to me. This is the demon blood. You have to fight it.
Why would I do that? (Bald guy shows up behind Sam, who breaks his neck with a thought.)
Sammy, please. Please.
Sam's eyes go black and he kills Dean with a simple tilt of his head, because if you haven't already figured it out, this is the scene that his Godhole vision came from. And I guess this answers one question... Sam's Godhole vision couldn't have been a premonition, because it comes from a world where he killed Bobby. It's got to be an AU.
(I don't know why Sam doesn't have a beard in this AU. I mean, sure, last season's beard symbolized his grief and his single-minded determination, but there's no reason the beard couldn't symbolize his dark side this season. That beard has range, friends.)
Sam wakes with a gasp, because the whole thing has been his nightmare. The scene is silent except for his frightened breathing. It's very well done. (Is this a Jensen decision? If so, good on you, dear boy.)
I am very interested in a world where Dean has this beard but doesn't have this scarf.
Title card!
Kitchen. Dean is eating bacon when Sam comes in. Dean immediately recognizes that Sam had a rough night, but Sam waves it off. "Just... weird dreams."
Been there. Why don't you eat something; you'll feel better.
Dean, you know I don't eat -
It's veggie bacon.
What?
You've been asking for it.
Yeah, but every time I ask for it, you say, and I'm quoting, 'I don't want any of that hippie Sarah McLachlan grass eater crap in the Meat Man's kitchen.' Which, by the way, for what it's worth, you gotta stop calling yourself the Meat Man. It doesn't mean what you think it means.
Yeah it does. Anyway, it's not that bad; give it a shot.
I'm good.
Dean actually mouths along when Sam is quoting him, which is adorable, and also proves Sam is right, he does say that all the time. (ALSO. "MEAT MAN." OMG.)
(Sidebar: I paused during this scene and happened to stop on the credit for Anne Marie Deluise, and because, as I've told you, my brain works in ridiculous ways, I had to look her up and confirm my suspicions - she is married to actor Peter Deluise, who played the demon-posessed FBI supervisor in "Jus in Belo.")
(Which reminds me. While we're bringing characters back, I'd sure love to see Victor Henricksen again.)
(And I have a confession... my initial suspicion was that Anne Marie Deluise was Peter's daughter, not his wife.)
Oh for fuck’s sake could you just get on with it?
Right.
Sam turns his head weirdly to his left when he takes a drink of coffee, and I think it's going to be related to his Godhole somehow, but it ends up being a red herring. Dean tells Sam that whatever he says, he's not good, because he's barely come out of his room in days. Sam doesn't even bother to argue. He just looks away, clearly distressed and Y'ALL KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE DISTRESSED SAM, DON'T YOU?
Can we thank Jensen for this too?
Dean says he understands why Sam isn't okay, because of Jack and Rowena, but Rowena knew what she was doing and I think but that doesn't make it okay and Sam agrees with me and says "that doesn't make it any easier" and oh, Sam. Oh. I love that we're not ignoring how very traumatic this would be for him. Dean quickly changes the subject, having found reports of cattle mutilations and a dead cheerleader in Beaverdale, Ohio. Sam suggests Dean handle it on his own, or send other hunters, but Dean's all, nope, you and me, we need this. As Dean walks out, Sam takes a bite of the veggie bacon, which apparently tastes horrible, because he spits it out. And what I thought was going to be now I feel stupid for requesting this crap turns out to actually be "that's real bacon, Dean!"
"You're damn right it is," Dean says. "Meat Man!" OMG.
(Sidebar: Why does Sam hate bacon? Discuss.)
Cas isn't mentioned at all. Did he say bye to Sam or did he just storm out? Have Sam and Dean already talked about it?
Beaverdale High School. Sam's interviewing someone at the school who we will learn is the vice principal, and can I put one more request out into the world? Sometime this season, I'd like to see the guys clean shaven. Especially when they're pretending to be Feds. We learn that the police checked the security cameras, the victim's name was Susie (Sidebar: Do you know anyone of high school age named Susie, because all the Susies I know are in their 50s or older), and she was close to "everyone." As they're talking, an annoying couple approaches, complaining about Friday's game being rescheduled for Susie's memorial service or prayer vigil or whatever. They had a scout from Yale coming to that game to watch their son Billy. (Sidebar: Seriously? Susie? Billy?) Sam's full of righteous indignation that they're more concerned about a football game than a dead girl. "It's lacrosse," the mom corrects him. Hee! The vice principal introduces Sam as "Agent Plant," and let's go back a couple of years to "Advanced Thanatology," shall we? When Sam was trying to cheer Dean up, and he let him be Agent Page, even though, according to Dean, Sam always liked to be Agent Page? Does this mean Dean still has the Agent Page ID, two years later? Is this (gasp) a gift from the continuity fairy?
Another gift: Sunlit Sam.
The parents explain that Yale is Billy's first choice, in a way that clearly suggests it's their first choice, and that it will be "the end of the world" if he doesn't get in. "Actually," says Sam, "the end of the world is the end of the world." Oh, Sam. Don't expect mere mortals to understand the end of the world like you do. These people are pushy and awful and the principal brushes them off as deserved.
Over by the Impala, Dean is eating a bag of pretzels. That's two Dean scenes so far (not counting the AU open) and he's eating in both of them. Dean tosses Sam what he found at the morgue, presumably in poor dead Susie's body. It's a vampire fang. Sam's surprised, since the victim was torn apart, not just bled dry. Also weird is that there were no defensive wounds, which makes Sam think the killer might be someone she knew. I don't know, Sam. If someone was tearing me apart, I'd fight back, even if I knew them. ("Oh, Tommy, sorry, didn't realize it was you. Carry on.") The team mascot, a beaver, rides by on a motorized scooter, which Dean considers awesome. (No beaver jokes so far.)
Nighttime. High school. The next victim is attacked while complaining on the phone that Veronica is so, so fake about her grief over Susie. (Riverdale shoutout?)
Daytime. Sam and Dean examine the area where Susie's body was found. Obviously she was killed elsewhere and dumped here. Dean comments that the local police are freaked out and don't know how to deal, and Sam is philosophical and depressed.
Of course not. Cause that's our job. We keep them from dealing the truth, with that's out there, AND we carry the weight. It's great. Meanwhile they get to go back to living in their white picket fence bubbles.
You know, ever since you were a kid, you wanted to live in a town like this. Lame. Normal.
Yeah, but we don't get normal. In these towns, everything's the end of the world. Late for work, your kid doesn't get into the right school, whatever. They don't... they have no idea what's out there.
Sammy? You okay? Meanwhile, Dean pulls out his flask and takes a couple of swigs. Seriously, guys, do we need to talk?
Sam's phone rings - it's the vice principal reporting another missing student. Then we cut away to a nice house with a nice dad loading his two nice kids into a nice minivan. What a nice family. And it belongs to... Becky Rosen! She sends them off for their day of boating on Lake Michigan, and as the van pulls away, it reveals Chuck standing across the street. She tries to run into the house, which is a smart move even if you don't know he's a malicious, narcissistic deity, but he pleads with her and she relents.
School. The missing girl was a cheerleader, like Susie, and Dean makes an inappropriate crack about someone having a fetish.
People with fetishes are so messed up. Here, let's see these guys again. Do you want more screencaps? Because I have more.
Speaking of fetishes, Becky's living room is basically a shrine to all things Supernatural, with posters, Funko Pops, and more. She even has a chunk of fulgurite on her mantel. We pan over a series of dioramas - one looks like the gas station Dean found in "Lazarus Rising," one is a church and graveyard, and one seems to be Singer Salvage. She tells Chuck they are "maquettes," and since I am willing to go to great lengths to research unimportant details for you, my dear friends, I can tell you a maquette is a usually small preliminary model (as of a sculpture or a building). Becky runs "the most successful Etsy site for unofficial Supernatural merchandise in the country. Probably the world." She tells Chuck that, after "some pretty intensive counseling," she realized she's not in love with the real Sam Winchester, she just loved his character.
So instead of reading your stories, I kept writing my own.
Your own Supernatural?
Where the guys didn't have to hunt monsters all the time. They just sit around and do laundry and talk, you know? I mean, that's what people like the most anyway.
Well, I mean, people like monsters.
Meh. Anyway, I got an online following, but it wasn't paying the bills, so I started making these handcrafted miniatures. They took off, started turning a profit, and here I am.
Right. Right, right, right, right right. But people like monsters, though. They do. I mean, leviathans are cool. What? They're all teeth!
I applaud Becky for getting out there and doing her thing, but I've gotta say... I like the monsters. And Chuck, she doesn't know what the leviathans are; you came up with those after you stopped publishing. (Or did he start it up again? I don't like the concept of the Supernatural books so I don't focus on those episodes.) And it amuses me that we're still mocking Chuck's taste. Aren't we? I mean, of all the cool things he could mention, he goes with leviathans?
Anyway, Becky is annoyed that Chuck is intruding on her me-time (and oh, Becky, I feel you on that one, because as much as I love The Husband and The Kid, I cherish the times when they're both out of the house) and tells him to talk. Fast. He explains that he had a falling out with the Winchesters and he's "low on resources." He came to see his number one fan to see if she can "make him feel big again." Oh, Chuck. You are a thoughtless idiot.
Becky agrees. "So you want me to... fluff you?" Hee!!! But she's no longer his pathetic fan - she likes herself and her life. Chuck wallows in self-pity (or pretends to? discuss) and she falls for it. Becky tells him that, since writing made him happy, he needs to write.
(Sidebar: I have 16 Funko Supernatural figures in my office, counting keychains and blind box minis. And three Babys.)
High school. Dean is concluding an interview with the mascot. And eating something. This is three out of four, guys, with Dean eating or drinking in every scene other than the one where he made the cheerleader fetish remark. He's learned that victim number 2, Tori, was in line to be head cheerleader after Susie. I don't know why they think there has to be a motive other than being a vampire, but okay.
Gym. Girl #3, presumably Veronica, comforts a boy with a lacrosse stick (and yes, I did have to look up what this thing is actually called, because as I said, I am willing to go to great lengths to research unimportant details for you) who must be Billy. Oooh, and she's flirting with him, even though he and Susie were "close." (And I think "close" means "banging.") Not cool, Veronica. Billy's mom interrupts their conversation rather harshly, because you know Girls Like That will distract you from lacrosse and there goes your Yale scholarship, Billy.
Veronica practices her heartfelt eulogy, saying "in many ways she's still a part of me," which could be a tacky reference to Veronica having consumed her blood, could it not? She quotes Robert Frost, saying nothing gold can stay, which... well, that hits a little close to home right now. Dean and Sam come up behind her, with a slow clap and a syringe of dead man's blood held behind Sam's back. But Sam notices she has braces, which apparently means she couldn't be a vampire. Like vampires don't need straight teeth, Sam. But Sam notices the security camera outside, which gives him an idea that apparently the police didn't have - let's check the footage! (Dean's not eating/drinking in this scene. 3/5.)
Billy's house. (Don't confuse it with Becky's house. They're both grey.) Billy's embarrassed that his mother interrupted his "conversation" with Veronica. Mom snaps that they don't say Susie's name. Dad says "just listen to your mother" as he WASHES BLOOD OFF HIS HANDS, WHAT THE WHAT. And, in the garage, we see a tied-up cheerleader. Hi, Tori!
Becky's house. Chuck explains that he can't see Sam and Dean in his head any more, and Becky assumes he lost his prophet powers. "Something like that," Chuck says, rubbing his Samhole. (We don't see Sam reacting but WE KNOW HE DID, RIGHT?) He doesn't feel like he can write without his visions, or at least that's what he tells her, but we know he was just making all of that up so I don't know what his problem is. Neither does Becky. She tells him that writers who aren't writing feel sad and lost (which is true, but sometimes writing makes one feel sad and lost, so), and he just needs to write.
How'd you learn all this?
I'm a writer too, Chuck.
Fanfic; it's not really the same thing -
Writing's writing!
He takes her advice and sits down - at her computer, which is not what she intended - and writes. Interestingly, he seems to be writing a post on Becky's blog.
(Sidebar: Is fanfic really the same thing? Discuss.)
High school. The Winchesters and the vice principal watch the security footage from the night Tori disappeared. They can't make out the attacker's face, because he's wearing a mask, but they do get an EXTREMELY clear shot of the tag of a car that drives through the scene afterward. I mean, we're talking spy satellite quality. Dean's not eating here, either. 3/6. (Sidebar: On first watch, I was annoyed that the vice principal didn't suggest they share this with the police. On rewatch, I remembered she thinks she's showing it to the FBI.)
Billy's house. We've sacrificed so much for you, Billy! But I never asked you to! But you don't have to ask! We just want you to be happy! What do you want? Well, none of this! It's pretty much an after school special until the doorbell rings. The guys are out of the Fed suits, and they want to talk to Dad. Dad sends Billy upstairs, presumably to protect his innocent son from what's going to happen here. In the garage, Tori knocks something over in her struggles, and this house has no soundproofing at all because it can be heard in the living room. Sam goes to investigate while Dad begs Dean to arrest him and leave his family alone. Arrest? Ha ha ha nope. Dean pulls out his best decapitatin' knife and says "we're not FBI, and we know exactly what you are." Meanwhile, Sam finds Tori, who is unwillingly donating all of her blood, and I'm glad to see someone figured out that blood bags go below the level of the heart when you're donating. As he picks her up, Mom comes into the garage with a gun. Uh oh. She leads Sam into the living room, and Dad tells her that they caught him, and she and Billy should just run. She gives him a what the fuck look.
Becky's house. She finishes reading Chuck's newest work and tells him "It's SO good!" She claims to have no notes for him at all, because she's the worst beta reader ever. He pushes her and she finally admits that it has flaws. "The jeopardy, Chuck. It's feeling a little thin, low stakes. It's fun to hear the boys' voices, but a story is only as good as its villain, and these villains are just not feeling very dangerous. Not to mention there's no classic rock, no one even mentions Cas, the climax is a little stale..." Ha, I'm laughing because (1) it's true, no one has mentioned Cas, and (b) her "if I had to give ONE note" has turned into an avalanche of criticism. But she finally looks up and sees Chuck glaring at her. "You want jeopardy? You want danger? Move! I'll give you danger." He sits down to write again and I'm pretty sure there's going to be some whump involved.
Billy's house. Billy comes downstairs to find his mother holding the Winchesters at gunpoint. Dean tells him his father is a vampire, but Sam is watching Billy's reaction and he softly (and let's face it, that soft voice of his is a fetish of mine) says "it's not the dad, it's the son." Ooooh! Yep, Sammy guessed it. Billy and Susie (sigh) were making out and he heard her heartbeat and lost control and... how long were you a vampire before that happened, Billy? Was Susie your first kill? Did you not know? So they chopped Susie up and hid the body, and then kidnapped Tori to be Billy's own personal buffet.
Dean's dumbfounded that Billy's dad was going to throw himself under the bus - er, the decapitatin' blade - and Dad says "you don't have children, do you?" WELL, NOT ANY MORE! Oddly, we don't get a shot of Dean or Sam's reactions as Dad explains that parents will do anything to spare their children from hurt or danger, even die for them. "Or kill for them," Mom says, suggesting they bury the Winchesters out back, under the peonies. (Sidebar: The Internet tells me peonies like organic matter and bone meal, so Mom's plan is sound.) But Billy tells her to stop. He knows he can't have a normal life. He can't control himself. "I'm a monster." He tells them to take Tori to the hospital, and claim he kidnapped her and then ran away. And then he's going to let the Winchesters do what they need to do.
Question: What happened to the Sam Winchester who would have tried to convince Billy to learn to control his urges? What happened to the Sam Winchester who believed in Lenore the vegetarian vampire? Who wanted to find a way to lock Madison up every full moon? Who told a rugaru that it doesn't matter what you are, it matters what you do? Have the writers just forgotten about that Sam? Or is this evidence of his increasing depression and despair? I know it's (1), but I like to pretend it's (b).
(And yes, I know, Dean and Benny, but Dean only believed in Benny because he was his friend. Dean does not believe in random vampires.)
They're older and jaded but my goodness they're still easy on the eyes.
Sad music montage! The Winchesters take Billy out into the woods and chop off his head. Mom and Dad deal with the police.
Becky's house. Becky finishes reading Chuck's revised work.
No. You can't.
I did.
This is just an ending.
Yeah. I don't know how I'm gonna get there, but I know where I'm going.
But it's so... dark.
But great, right? I can see it now. 'Supernatural: The End.' And the cover is just a gravestone that says 'Winchester.' Fans are gonna love it. Well?
It's awful! Horrible! It's hopeless! You can't do this to the fans! What you did to Dean? What you did to Sam?
There, see, it's making you feel something! That's good, right?
I mean, everything Becky says to Chuck has been said to me at one point or another, so who am I to judge? But Becky's beta feedback is interrupted by the arrival of her husband. She tries to get Chuck to leave, but he refuses. And I think she's going to do the annoying thing where she very guiltily says "this isn't what it looks like!" instead of just saying "hey honey, my old boyfriend Chuck stopped by" like an innocent person would. But she doesn't get a chance, because Chuck snaps his fingers and makes Mr. Becky disappear into a cloud of smoke. And then her kids. "Oh, don't worry," Chuck says. "They're not dead, they're just, away. Oh, yeah. I'm God." Becky demands that he bring them back, and then begs. "You can't do this," she says. "Oh, Becky," he says. "I can do anything. I'm a writer." And there goes Becky, in a cloud of smoke.
Aftermath! The Impala drives through the night. Dean calls the case "interesting," and Sam says they would have done the same thing for Jack if they'd been able to. They have this conversation:
Look man, I get it. We have lost way, way too much. And it's hard not to feel like just cashing out. I felt like that. After Chuck, back at the crypt. But you know what brought me back? You did. Saying that what we do still matters. I mean, that's why I wanted to drag us out here. That's why I wanted to work a case, to save lives, you know? Cause it is. It's a crap job. We do the ugly thing so that people can live happy.
Yeah. Lucky them.
Yeah, lucky them. But it doesn't change a thing. You know what I mean? We still do the job. But we don't do it for us. We do it for Jack. For Mom. For Rowena. We owe it to anybody who has ever given a damn about us to keep putting one foot in front of the other, no matter what. And hey man, like you said, now that chuck's gone, we're finally on our own. We are finally free. To move on, you know?
I don't know if I can move on. You know, I... I can't forget any of them, Dean. I still think about Jessica. I can't just let that go.
No, man, that's not what I'm talking about.
I know, I know, I'm sorry, I know. Look, what I'm saying is, I don't feel free. What we've done, what we've lost, right now, that is what I'm feeling. And sometimes it's... sometimes it's like I can't even breathe. Maybe tomorrow, you know, maybe I'll feel better in the morning.
And what if you don't?
I don't know.
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!
I don't know where this conversation is coming from. I don't know why Sam and Dean have changed positions. I just know it's breaking my damn heart.
And finally... Becky's house. Chuck's tapping away on her laptop. Her Sam and Dean Funko Pops are on the desk next to him. "Oh, yeah," he says. "This is gonna be good." And Sam and Dean are shaking.
Well. I feel personally called out by a lot of this episode. And I didn't expect to feel so sympathetic toward Becky. I mean, she pulled herself together, she accepted that she'd done horrible things, she moved forward and made a life for herself. And now someone isn't getting their Singer Salvage maquette just because her ex is a whiny, self-centered, petulant child.
I have questions. I wonder how much Sam knows about the fight between Dean and Cas. I still don't know why Sam and Dean are so convinced Chuck is gone. I wonder why Cas is losing his power. I wonder why Chuck can't move between worlds but can easily snap people out of existence. I wonder if we’ll have recurring characters from the past show up just to die in every episode. I wonder why Sam hates bacon.
I have answers. Well, answer, singular. I believe Sam's godhole vision is clearly an AU, not a vision of the future, because as I said, it's a world where he kills Bobby, or does something horrible to him. It's a world where Benny isn't a vampire. Where Dean wears that crazy scarf.
And I have a theory. As of now, I don't think the Winchesters are going to die at the end of this season. Because this episode telegraphed that pretty hard, and Show doesn't normally go with the very-obviously telegraphed plot.
And I have sixteen episodes left. {sigh}
What did you think? No spoilers in the comments, please!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2019-11-08 10:28 pm (UTC)Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ (https://www.dreamwidth.org/support/faqbrowse?faqid=303).
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Date: 2019-11-08 10:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-13 10:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-08 10:46 pm (UTC)--Fight scene at the beginning was the best one in ages! Did you see this clip of Jensen rehearsing for it? https://www.instagram.com/p/B4lJa8Jgoet/ Also, about Benny's appearance--from a recent interview: Ackles directed himself in hand-to-hand combat and stunts, as well as a couple of key emotional moments, including bringing back “a character who’s one of my favorite characters of all time,” Ackles says. “It wasn’t even on the page. I said, ‘Can we make this character this person?’ And they were like, ‘If you can get this person — I believe they’re working right now.’ I made the call. He was literally working one day, had the next day off, so he flew in, did one scene, flew out and was working on his other project the next day.”)
--Terrifying Sam (Samifer?) (Jared would make a very convincing psychopath!)
--Jensen giving us classic eat-all-the-things-and-make-inappropriate-jokes Dean
--Turning Becky into a real, likable person while fondly acknowledging fandom (I have 3 AUs due...)
--Chuck's turnaround in the episode really had me spinning--feeling a little (very little) bit sorry for him at the start and truly hating him by the end!
--The ambivalence over killing the monster--they haven't given us that in a long time, and it took me back to all the times they've had to make hard choices (I thought of Madison and the rugaru right away) BTW--did you know that the music in that scene is from Jensen's just released album?!?! Apparently the music director suggested Jensen use it and he submitted it to TPTB without identifying it as his, and they liked it.
--The brothers being (mostly) honest with each other in the end scene--how far they've come in admitting they're not okay! But oh, my heart hurts for Sam!
I'm going to hang on to your theory that show wouldn't telegraph the end via Chuck's manuscript because I got the sense that Chuck is the representation of Andrew Dabb and he just told us he's going to screw us over...
I wish we'd started the season with episode 3 and then this one and not wasted 2 of our precious last 20 episodes on drivel :(
Also, someone should start a body count--so far in 4 episodes we've said goodbye to Kevin, Ketch, Rowena, Benny, Becky...
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Date: 2019-11-09 01:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-10 01:01 am (UTC)I second and third that so hard.
Just a great episode, like having Kripke back. Davy Jones has penned some great episodes, maybe he's actually watched the series?
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Date: 2019-11-13 10:11 am (UTC)Must go listen to that music again.
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Date: 2019-11-09 01:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-10 01:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-13 10:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-09 02:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-13 10:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-09 02:38 am (UTC)Yes.
> I don't know where this conversation is coming from. I don't know why Sam and Dean have changed positions. I just know it's breaking my damn heart.
Sam just having had to kill Rowena adequately explains his turnaround to me, emotionally. And Dean's turnaround is a plausible response to Sam's, simply because Dean needs to supply what he thinks Sam needs.
Btw, what did you think of all the blurriness and ghosting in this scene? Interesting directorial choice, eh?
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Date: 2019-11-13 10:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-09 03:06 am (UTC)I dis-concur: I believe Sam's godhole vision was a premonition of the ending Chuck wrote for Becky, which can certainly come to pass in in the real future because, if Chuck can pooff out Becky and her family, he can pooff Benny and Bobby back in again. He's a writer, he can do anything. We can already see the potential for this potentiality in Sam's depression and growing resentment toward the world he's been charged to protect. It becomes plausible that this could degenerate to the point where he no longer cares about saving people and simply wants an end so badly he's ready to start chugging demon blood again in order to "cut the head off the snake", as he did in season 4. I further believe that this 'ending' will become the de facto villain of the season, the big bad that Sam and Dean have to fight and defeat in order to write their own ending - and that Sam's visions will be the advantage that enables them to anticipate and ultimately circumvent Chuck's narrative. (Hell, if this turns out not to be the show's plotline for the finale, I'll write it myself!)
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Date: 2019-11-12 07:47 pm (UTC)Please see that you do! And no need to wait for them to screw it up first, js. :D
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Date: 2019-11-13 04:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-13 10:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-09 06:41 am (UTC)Anyway I couldn't contain myself after finishing - and it's a testament to Jensen's prowess that I was able to not be too horribly distracted by the vision-impaired assistance hard-coded into the first copy (Though that was an interesting viewing experience in and of itself)
Anyway I digress. So many great things you pointed out about this episode. I just wanna go to two points...
No, fanfic is not the same but that doesn't mean they're not equal, which they are. Writing is writing as Becky says. And I wasn't expecting to like her so much either but I'm glad she got to come back to become an avatar of true Fandom, redeem herself and actually make some pretty salient philosophical points on being a creator. I missed this kind of meta. Also to the question of the leviathans, didn't chuck continue writing while they where together but not publishing? I have no idea about the timeline or if they ended beforehand but would Becky continue to have access to manuscripts for notes regardless?or might he have discussed a possible future plot line with her before writing it?
Second point. Lately, especially since the announcement of the last season, I've been thinking of The End because it's been the single most harrowing of the dangling plot lines and I always wondered if someone would do a rewatch and remember to do something with it. And now they did and I can't deal with it. I think it's possible that it's both an alternate reality and a possible future (and seriously, when are we getting to know what Dean read in Billie's book of death, has that been jossed or just how long have they been telegraphic this thing?) I mean if we assume a quantum universe where all possible realities exist next to each other, is Chuck's power just the ability to mix and merge them to his will to create the outcome he's decreeing (writing)?
If so wow. I kinda love the notion that the ultimate fight for the end of the story will be Sam and Dean's freedom of choice pitted against the will of the creator. I have zero confidence they'll pull it off with the staff on hand. But I can't say I don't commend their ambition for trying. Supernatural always had the tendency in later seasons to front loading the most amazing concepts (usually pointing at the next season from the end) into a somewhat bungled execution of the finale. I do hope it works out for us, please please. But even if not, this episode alone has given so much to work with in terms of new (and old) canon. We got work to do.
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Date: 2019-11-13 10:23 am (UTC)And I don’t think Dean read any of Bille’s books other than the one she gave him that told of him locking himself away in the Ma’lak box.
And yes, so much great potential here, and so little faith that they’ll do anything with it.
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Date: 2019-11-16 08:27 am (UTC)I think things are looking up by now in terms of realizing their potential but I remain weary. Best thing they can do is let the boys do their thing though imho, because they carry this show like nobody's business. Jensen was particularly beautiful there.
Anyway, I will read your reaction post no matter how late it is, and discuss, so no shirking duty! This is an important part of my fandom biorhythm. I need it, or I won't sleep well.
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Date: 2019-11-09 12:12 pm (UTC)I think both Sam and Dean are entirely not okay. Dean is turning to his vices - food and drink, even openly swigging booze while on the job as an FBI guy. And Sam is losing all hope. I think he didn't fight to save the kid because he doesn't see the point. He tried to save Jack, and Mary died. And how many people died because Sam didn't die. So why try? Everyone's going to die, and what's waiting afterwards? Not heaven, not hell. Might as well send the kid on to purgatory, right? Dean's trying to save Sam, but he can't even save himself right now. (My suspicion is that Sam hasn't looked for Cas or asked after him because he can't handle what happened to Jack.)
Purely my headcanon on the bacon: Sam's had to deal with being food for too many monsters lately. From siphoning his blood to auctioning off his body parts to just taking bites out of him. He's cutting down on meat because that's too close to being a monster.
Alternate headcanon: Ham is supposed to be the closest meat to human flesh. Sam can't handle it because of Hell PTSD.
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Date: 2019-11-10 01:06 am (UTC)The food/vices seemed such perfect reactions for each boy, Dean overdoing everything, Sam, cutting back, becoming closer to a vegetarian, probably for the exact reasons you stated.
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Date: 2019-11-13 10:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-13 10:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-11 05:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-13 10:24 am (UTC)