Initial reaction 15.06: “Golden Time”
Nov. 27th, 2019 02:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caranfindelOnce again I apologize for posting this so very late. Real life has been disappointingly inconvenient lately. And then LJ wouldn’t let me post. For hours. But now, here we are!
THEN: Dean and Cas had a fight. Sam killed Rowena, and she took all the souls that escaped from Hell with her. Boy, that was a short THEN.
NOW: Rowena's apartment. Cool music. A neighbor named Jessie knocks on "Mrs. MacLeod's" door and asks if she's okay, since they haven't seen her in a while. Getting no response, she whispers some non-English words into the keyhole and the door opens. Jessie is smug and self-satisified, but as she ransacks the place, she doesn't seem to find anything of value. She smashes anything breakable, dumps the contents of drawers onto the floor, and gets angrier and angrier, asking "where is the good stuff?" Then her nose starts bleeding and she coughs up blood and attempts to crawl to the door but doesn't make it. RIP, Jessie.
Title card!
Bunker. Sam is doing research, finding things like "It's A Miracle! Baby Parts Lake Superior!" and "Saint Mary Appears on Three Cheese Pizza." Are these random crazy articles, or is Chuck actually performing random crazy miracles? Sam detects some weirdness, but doesn't see what we can see - a ripple in the air behind him. Uh oh. Looks like the MotW is the Predator.
Dean enters, wearing the dead guy robe and pajama pants in a hot dog print (!!!) and eating cereal out of the box. He's delighted that they still print jokes on the box. "What's round and bad tempered? A vicious circle!" Sam is not amused. "I've been looking for signs of God or Lilith and you've been in your room eating cereal?" Dean adds that he's also been marathoning Scooby Doo (waves to the Continuity Fairy) and asks Sam if he's found anything. Apparently Sam doesn't consider Pizza Mary to be actual evidence of Chuck, so he says no. During this conversation, Dean has taken a box of muesli off the shelf - clearly Sam's cereal - and taken a bite. He makes a face and goes for a box of Cocoa Crunch instead. This whole thing is (1) funny, and (b) the kind of watching-the-guys-live-their-lives scene that I adore. But I also wonder why we're seeing Dean eat so much lately. Is it performative on Dean's part? See, look, I'm eating and drinking all the time, I must be okay? Or is it performative on the writers' part? See, you guys think it's cute the way Dean eats, so we're going to have him eating and drinking ALL THE GODDAMN TIME? Or, I don't know. Maybe he's a stress eater. Maybe he's just hungry. (How about that three cheese pizza?)
Sam asks if he noticed "anything weird" when he came in. Dean didn't, and he asks if Sam had another vision. Sam says he hasn't had one since the last episode, and he thinks maybe they stopped. Which is good for Sam, but not so much for me, because DAMN if his visions aren't entertaining. Dean's not convinced - he thinks the visions will return until God finds them.
Elsewhere. Simmzy's Bait and Tackle. I'm sure Simmzy is a shoutout to someone associated with the Show. Oh, good, Cas is here. I was hoping we'd get an episode where half of it is dedicated to a Cas storyline that has nothing to do with the Winchesters. I love when that happens.
Simmzy himself (aw, hell, I don't know what his name is but I'm calling him Simmzy) shows up, calling Cas "Clarence." (That's two for the Continuity Fairy.) Apparently Clarence is a regular here. He's been fishing often enough that the fish are anticipating him. (Sidebar: Throwaway comment, metaphor, or foreshadowing? Discuss.) He mentions a "friend who always praised fishing for its meditative qualities." IT'S DEAN. THE FRIEND IS DEAN. He notices Simmzy, whose first name is Andy, tipping a bottle of alcohol into his cup (and now I hope this guy isn't Simmzy, because Andy Simmzy is a stupid name) and asks if everything is okay. Andy tells him he helped pull the body of a missing kid out of the lake this morning. The kid looked like he drowned, except he was drained of his blood. Did you do an autopsy, Andy?
Elsewhere. Sam is jogging!!! Unfortunately, it looks like a cold rainy day, so he's wearing long sleeves and long pants, and he has a hood over his head. (Shakes angry fist atVancouver Kansas weather.) Yes, it's definitely a cold day, because he can see his breath. Oh, no, wait. He looks concerned about that, so it must be a ghost. He lowers his hood (thank you baby Jesus) and looks around and sees the Predator-like shimmering air and then it resolves into... Eileen? It's Eileen! (Yes, this was a surprise, because I cover the names of the guest stars.) She's clearly a ghost, because they've used the Supernatural Ghost Makeup Protocol (foundation to cover the pink of her lips, no blush.) "Hi Sam," she says, with a little wave.
Hi indeed!
We don't get to see much of their immediate reunion. We jump right to the bunker, with Dean saying "So you were in Hell? You didn't make a deal, you were innocent! You've been down there this whole time?" (Sidebar: Isn't it interesting that, even knowing what they know about Chuck, the guys still think innocent people go to Heaven?) She says the hellhound dragged her to Hell, and when Chuck opened it up, "I hauled ass, far as I could." OF COURSE YOU DID, YOU MAGNIFICENT LITTLE BADASS. (Sidebar: Doesn't that mean there are probably more souls who didn't get sucked back into Hell with Rowena? Discuss.) She's been trying to get the guys to see her for a while, but "this whole ghost thing doesn't really come with a handbook." (WHAT HAS SHE BEEN WATCHING, ONE HAS TO WONDER. AND POSSIBLY FIC.) She knows what's going to happen to her as a ghost, even without the handbook. She'll turn into an evil spirit. She doesn't want to do that, and she doesn't want to go back to Hell, and she hopes the guys might know an angel who could get her into Heaven. Dean drops the bomb that they recently learned from Kevin - souls that went to Hell can't go to Heaven. Bummer.
Alone in the hallway, Sam blasts Dean for his insensitivity. But Dean already has a plan - they could take one of Rowena's soul catchers and put Eileen in it. It wouldn't be great, but it beats the alternatives. Sam points out that it's a difficult spell, and Dean says "Okay, but you know, you're like, Rowena's protege. You're a regular ginger junior." YES. I am HERE for Sam being Rowena's protege. So here for it. Sam's not so sure, because he'd also need one of her crystals. But if Eileen wants it, he'll go to Rowena's apartment and look for a crystal. "Been meaning to go there anyways... after... you know."
"Great," says Dean, "Do that." He shuffles off, completely ignoring Sam's obvious distress. He calls the mission a "milk run" and says he's not going. And he's still wearing the hot dog pajama pants. Looks like somebody's a little depressed. Sam calls him out on it, saying he's been acting like nothing matters. "But we can do this. This matters." Dean just says "and that's why you're gonna kick it in the ass" and makes his exit.
Hot dog pants!!!
(Sidebar: Did Dean buy himself hot dog pajama pants, or did Sam buy them in an attempt to cheer him up? Discuss.)
Sheriff's office. Cas is frustrated that the sheriff isn't back from his haircut yet. A random woman in the waiting room hears the receptionist call him "agent" and deduces he's in the FBI, because no one else is called "agent." This actress has been on the show before, but I don't remember who she played. She tells Cas her son is missing, having not returned from a camping trip last night. The receptionist blows her off, and she begs for Cas's help. He introduces himself as Agent Worley, which I had to look up (Clarence Worley is a character in the movie True Romance, BTW), and agrees to help.
Gas station. Sam didn't keep the Lumberjack Twins' old truck, unfortunately, and is gassing up the Impala. More evidence that Dean is depressed - he turned Sam loose with his baby. Sam tells Eileen that he hates their only option and wishes he could do more for her. And then casually mentions that he's been to Hell too. Like, weirdly casually. "You try to forget, but it gets inside you. Talking helps." HA HA HA SURE IT DOES, SAM. That's why Eileen had no idea you'd even been to Hell. Because you talk through it so much. Eileen says she can't talk about it yet, and Sam says and signs "I understand." I am profoundly disappointed in this scene on its own merits, because it's so unemotional, and when you compare it to that beautiful exchange with Rowena regarding their shared history with Lucifer, it's even more pathetic. However, Sam admits he started practicing sign language again after he met Eileen, and that does make me happy.
Sam and Eileen pull up at Rowena's apartment building, completely ignoring the suspicious moving truck (although, to be fair, we only know it's suspicious because we focused on it for a bit) and as I said the first time we saw this place, where does she live? It seems to be not very far from Lebanon. Why would a powerful witch, who enjoys the finer things and can afford them, settle down in Kansas, or close to it? Well, I have my theories.
The door is unlocked, so Sam walks right in and discovers Jessie's body, still on the floor. No flies or anything. Inside the truck, two witches are observing the action in a mirror. Sam recognizes a tattoo on Jessie's neck as being from the Ordo Maleficarum (which I'm sure I've spelled incorrectly), indicating she was a witch. His anxiety is palpable. He closes the doors, which he should have done much earlier, because all kinds of people could have seen him wandering around in the presence of someone who died violently, but okay.
Sheriff's office. Back to Cas’s non-Winchester story. Yay. The sheriff says the woman, Marilyn, or Melanie, or Mellie, or something, has been a pain, and he's not too concerned about her son. "Maybe if this were New York, I'd be worried. Here, a teenager stays out too long, he's probably with his buddies sobering up." Which would be a lot more convincing if they hadn't just fished a dead teenager out of the lake this morning, Sheriff. He admits the occasional tourist goes missing. Oh, like the one you fished out of the lake this morning? Cas would like to see the body, but it's already gone. The paperwork, then? Sure, if the sheriff can talk to Agent Worley's supervisor and make it official. Well, you know what that means.
Bunker. Dean hears the FBI line ringing (labeled FBI with a piece of tape on the back, which I love) and answers as "Assistant Director Kaiser." He's still in his pajamas, which I know speaks to his mood, but it's also just precious. He immediately insists on speaking to Agent Worley, and chews him out for ignoring Sam, as he should. He tells him God is back and hangs up on him. The sheriff, apparently with a twinge of sympathy for a fellow law enforcement type person getting his ass chewed by a supervisor, says he'll get the files.
Assistant Director Kaiser may be surly, but he's awfully pretty.
Let's stick with Cas for now. He actually has files for several victims, and maybe everyone else knew he was in or near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, but I just now figured it out.
Moose!
We next see him at a lakeshore, holding his map with Xs marking the dead people. The woman from the sheriff's office shows up, and he calls her Ellie or Mellie and yes, I could fire up the app and turn on the closed captions but I'm already SO FAR BEHIND, Y'ALL. She says her son wouldn't have come to this area, because there's an old silver mine and he knows it's unsafe. And you know how teenagers are about avoiding unsafe places. She refuses to tell Cas where the mine is, but says she'll show him.
Cas and M/Ellie chat as they walk. He tells her he had a falling-out with his colleagues. Colleagues? Come on, Cas. What did Sam do to you? He starts to give Mellie the "monsters are real" talk, and tells her he thinks the mine is a lair. And then they conveniently pass her son, Caleb, sitting at the side of the trail. He tells them he saw a man dragging someone to the lake, but the man turned out to be a monster. He ran, breaking his phone and twisting his ankle, and he's been hiding ever since.
The monster shows up - it's the sheriff! Cas draws his angel blade and the sheriff reveals himself to be a djinn. He shoots Cas, but apparently he's got enough angelic juice left to brush it off. "It's always you," he says. "You selfish little men in positions of authority. You take what you want, you take who you want. You believe your power will protect you. It won't protect you from me." Who do you think he's really talking to? I know, I know!!! He stabs the djinn to death, even though his blade isn't silver and isn't dipped in lamb's blood.
(Sidebar: Why would a djinn, who can be killed by silver, use a silver mine as his lair? Discuss.)
Aftermath the first: Cas tells Mellie and Caleb that he dropped the monster in the lake, and then heals Caleb's sprained ankle. But it takes a long time and takes a lot out of him. "That's a miracle," Mellie says. "Were you sent by God?" Ha ha ha kinda. She seems surprised that he's leaving, even though she knows he doesn't live here, but whatever. "If I stay, nothing changes. It's time for me to get back in the game," he says. Which makes it sound like Cas left of his own accord, and not because Dean kind of practically threw him out, but okay. Cas is back.
Back to Rowena's. All Sam and Eileen find is tarot cards and self-help books, and even Eileen recognizes that it's all junk. She seems to get some inspiration from somewhere (maybe from the portrait of Rowena watching over them?) and walks through a bookcase. She calls to Sam from the other side, and he pushes the bookcase aside - much like discovering the entrance to the bunker's dungeon - to reveal a secret room. He reverently pulls a book off the shelf. Rowena had been keeping journals of her spellwork, he explains to Eileen.
You miss her.
I killed her. Her idea. She, ah, sacrificed herself to save us. To save the world. {pause} You ever feel like you're the punchline to some cosmic joke?
Are you kidding?
SAM'S FACE IN THIS SCENE, YOU GUYS.
He tells Eileen that Rowena knew the game was rigged, but kept control through her magic. As he's speaking, a piece of paper falls out of the journal he's holding. (COINCIDENCE?) Sam spends just a few seconds reading it and realizes it was a way to bring Mary back by making the spirit flesh. She didn't finish it, because they learned Mary was happy in Heaven. (No, that's not why, but okay.) And now Sam thinks he can finish it. And use it to bring Eileen back.
Sam puts a few things in the trunk of the Impala, but as soon as he closes it, he's struck by pain and starts spitting up blood. He immediately begins searching the car and finds a hex bag in the wheel well. He removes it, but then sees the two women from the "moving truck" approaching. He signs for Eileen to call his brother. Witch #1 says something and makes a hand motion, and Eileen smokes out. Oh, Witch #1 is a recurring actor too - she played the literary agent (or publisher?) who told Sam and Dean who Carver Edlund really was. "Hello Sam," she says.
Sam regains consciousness inside the truck. This truck must be part Tardis, because it's huge on the inside. The witch, who has some kind of accent (perhaps Scottish?), says they came for what Rowena left behind. "And just when we thought we wouldn't get it, you come along. The apartment's hexed. It's potent magic. Anyone who steps inside dies. Except, apparently, you. Surprised? Yeah, me too. I only know Rowena by reputation - respect, but - to imagine her leaving all her earthly treasures to you."
Oh, my friends. I'm sure the Show will not end up following up on this delightful possibility, but Sam's been referred to as Rowena's apprentice, and now we find she hexed her home so only Sam could safely go inside??? So much potential. And I'm sure it will all be wasted.
The dead witch inside, whose actual name is Lucinda, is Witch #1's older daughter. "She's young," her mother says. "She'll learn." Being dead won't stop her from learning, because W1 plans to use Rowena's spell to bring her back. Sam tells her he'll get Rowena's things for her, but he needs that spell. She refuses, because the spell can only be used once. "Show Death a loophole, and she closes it." Mmm, yes, I like that this witch knows Death is a she. And the other daughter, Emily, has made a spooky little twig doll using some of Sam's hair. If he cooperates, he'll die quickly. If he doesn't - she twists the doll and demonstrates what will happen to him as he dies slowly. And it's not pretty. Unless you like Sam in pain, in which case, it is rather pretty. (It's okay. Safe space. No judging here.)
Emily escorts Sam to Rowena's apartment, carrying the little stick vodoo doll. Sam offers to cover her sister's dead body, but she doesn't seem too upset about it. She says Lucinda made her life hell. Sam claims to get it, because when he was ten years old, his older brother put superglue in his toothpaste. "And then when I was 31 he shoved an angel into me without my consent, knowing I'd rather die first, and when I was 32 he tried to kill me with a hammer." No, he doesn't say any of that. But he could. (Reminder that I love Dean, non-consenting warts and all.) Lucinda was actually a pretty bad sister - she tried to sell Emily's soul to a demon, and turned her crush into a balloon and popped him. "And then she got mean." Well then.
Emily shares more stories about her mean sister, and shows Sam the scars on her face from when Lucinda turned her tongue into a snake and it bit her. Sam decides to use this to his advantage, and tells her that if she gives him the spell, her mother won't be able to bring Lucinda back. He's willing to give her all of Rowena's journals and supplies so she can run off on her own. Emily looks like she's considering it, but then she calls Sam a liar and gives the voodoo doll a vicious twist.
More of Sam's face, because you've been good and you deserve it.
We see Sam and Emily leaving, with Sam carrying a rather small box, considering all the goodies Rowena left behind. Suddenly Dean appears in the hall, pointing a gun at W1's head. "Witch-killing bullets," he says. (He's finally out of his pajamas. Did he change before Eileen got to him, or did he have to say "Wait, I can't save my brother until I put some actual pants on?" Discuss.) Sam tries to tell him to stop, but Emily quickly takes him out with a twist of the voodoo doll, threatening to kill him if Dean doesn't let her mother go. Dean points out that they're at a stalemate, but the lights flicker and the ghost of dead Lucinda appears. Advantage: witches! Lucinda flings Dean against the wall, causing him to lose his gun. Sam manages to snatch the voodoo doll from Emily. Unfortunately, W1 doesn't need the doll to hurt him, and she starts chanting at him. He drops the doll and clutches his abdomen. Emily then gets the doll and hurts him some more. Ladies after my own heart, they are. Meanwhile, Lucinda ever-so-slowly walks toward Dean, until Eileen suddenly zaps into the scene. "Not today, bitch," she says. She uses her ghostly powers to shove Lucinda away from him, and then turns to Dean with a triumphant grin, and we could wonder why a normal ghost is more powerful than a witchy ghost, but let's not bother.
Eileen and Lucinda have a fist fight, though neither of them have fists, and Dean manages to pick up his gun and shoot Emily. W1 turns her fury on him, saying she will grind his heart to dust. Apparently it's a very slow process. But Sam tackles her and then holds a small object in her face. "I learned from the best," he says. YES YOU DID MY DEAR BOY. We see a flashback of him hiding something in his jacket as he packs Rowena's belongings under Emily's supervision. He shoves this object into W1's mouth and recites a spell that kills her. Dean heads into the apartment, where Lucinda is choking Eileen. Which I suppose we could also ponder, if we were so inclined. How does one ghost kill another? Why would choking work, when neither actually has a body or needs to breathe? But, again, let's not bother. At Eileen's urging, Dean (after much unnecessary fumbling) sets Lucinda's body in fire, burning her ghost away. Yay!
Bunker. Some room in the bunker has a big free-standing bathtub now, and Sam has lit some candles and is making a bath filled with rose petals for Eileen. Well, okay, probably not rose petals. Probably eye of newt or something along those lines. They share a hopeful/anxious look and then she gets into the tub. Her ghostly form doesn't displace any water at all. As she slides under the surface of the water, Sam turns away and recites the spell. He looks concerned, but behind him we see Eileen turn all pink and lose her ghostly clothing. She sits up and stares at her now-corporeal hand. Sam still can't look. He does quietly say her name. She wraps herself in a towel, because this is the family hour, and steps out of the tub, dripping water with her real live feet. "Sam?" she says. He turns around, astonished, looking like he's afraid to touch her, but he finally takes her hand. She signs "thank you" and then (finally!) goes in for a hug and he rests his chin on top of her head (WHICH I LOVE) and oh, you guys, oh, Sam's face.
Let's not think about the fact that the last time Sam got to hug a woman he cared about, he was shoving a knife into her abdomen.
(Sidebar: What's going to happen to Eileen's soul when she dies again? She's still locked out of Heaven, right? Or does Sam think he'll be able to fix that too, when he takes care of Chuck? Discuss.)
Aftermath the second: Sam comes into the map table room, where Dean is drinking a beer. He tells Dean she's asleep, because she had a big day.
Well, so did you. Hex bags, new body. So what, you some kind of witch now?
Nah, I got lucky.
Yeah. Just wish we knew about that spell, for Mom. You did good today. I did jack.
You killed a witch. You saved my ass.
Yeah, I guess so.
You know what? I've been thinking about something you said, about how we don't make the rules. And you're right, we don't, we never have. But that doesn't mean we can just give up.
Come on, man.
We have moves to make here, Dean. We do. I mean, you think Chuck wanted me to shoot him? Of course not!
You sure about that? Maybe that was part of the plan, you know? That's the thing, man. I don't know what's God and what isn't, and it's driving me crazy.
All I'm saying is, we'll find a way to beat him. We will. I don't know how, yet, but we will. Cause we're the guys who break the rules. But I can't do it without you. I can't. Just like I couldn't do it today without you. I need my brother.
So much angst! So much throat!
I hate to wave my foreshadowing flag again (no, clearly you don't, since you keep doing it) but in just one conversation, Dean calls Sam a witch and then Sam points out that Dean killed a witch. Just putting it out there.
So. On the one hand, this episode had everything I wanted. The return of Eileen. Hurt Sam. Angsty depressed Dean. Brotherly feelings. Witch Sam as Rowena's heir. Sam's jogging outfit. Dean's dead guy robe. But on the other hand, it almost feels like the Show is writing its own fanfiction now. Giving us AU Charlie to make up for killing real Charlie felt forced. This feels even more so. And once again, something that should leave me emotional leaves me... not so much. I mean, that scene with Sam realizing his spell worked - yes, that was beautiful. But I should be excited about Eileen being in his life again, and I'm not. She's not going to be in his life. The next episode might have some throw-away excuse for why she's not around, and then we'll never hear about her again. Or she'll die again. And Witch Sam? All the teasing will surely give me blue balls, because nothing will come of it. Basically, there were a lot of things I liked in this episode. Maybe some things I loved. But I should have loved the whole episode, and I just don't think I do.
I know, Sam. I'm confused too.
Oh, and what does the title mean? I don’t know, other than we were recently told nothing gold can stay. Which isn’t promising for Eileen, is it?
Happy Thanksgiving to my USican friends, and happy Week Without Supernatural to my international friends. I wonder who will come back next time? (Please don't tell me, and please continue to keep all spoilers, including/especially casting information, out of the comments. Thanks!)
THEN: Dean and Cas had a fight. Sam killed Rowena, and she took all the souls that escaped from Hell with her. Boy, that was a short THEN.
NOW: Rowena's apartment. Cool music. A neighbor named Jessie knocks on "Mrs. MacLeod's" door and asks if she's okay, since they haven't seen her in a while. Getting no response, she whispers some non-English words into the keyhole and the door opens. Jessie is smug and self-satisified, but as she ransacks the place, she doesn't seem to find anything of value. She smashes anything breakable, dumps the contents of drawers onto the floor, and gets angrier and angrier, asking "where is the good stuff?" Then her nose starts bleeding and she coughs up blood and attempts to crawl to the door but doesn't make it. RIP, Jessie.
Title card!
Bunker. Sam is doing research, finding things like "It's A Miracle! Baby Parts Lake Superior!" and "Saint Mary Appears on Three Cheese Pizza." Are these random crazy articles, or is Chuck actually performing random crazy miracles? Sam detects some weirdness, but doesn't see what we can see - a ripple in the air behind him. Uh oh. Looks like the MotW is the Predator.
Dean enters, wearing the dead guy robe and pajama pants in a hot dog print (!!!) and eating cereal out of the box. He's delighted that they still print jokes on the box. "What's round and bad tempered? A vicious circle!" Sam is not amused. "I've been looking for signs of God or Lilith and you've been in your room eating cereal?" Dean adds that he's also been marathoning Scooby Doo (waves to the Continuity Fairy) and asks Sam if he's found anything. Apparently Sam doesn't consider Pizza Mary to be actual evidence of Chuck, so he says no. During this conversation, Dean has taken a box of muesli off the shelf - clearly Sam's cereal - and taken a bite. He makes a face and goes for a box of Cocoa Crunch instead. This whole thing is (1) funny, and (b) the kind of watching-the-guys-live-their-lives scene that I adore. But I also wonder why we're seeing Dean eat so much lately. Is it performative on Dean's part? See, look, I'm eating and drinking all the time, I must be okay? Or is it performative on the writers' part? See, you guys think it's cute the way Dean eats, so we're going to have him eating and drinking ALL THE GODDAMN TIME? Or, I don't know. Maybe he's a stress eater. Maybe he's just hungry. (How about that three cheese pizza?)
Sam asks if he noticed "anything weird" when he came in. Dean didn't, and he asks if Sam had another vision. Sam says he hasn't had one since the last episode, and he thinks maybe they stopped. Which is good for Sam, but not so much for me, because DAMN if his visions aren't entertaining. Dean's not convinced - he thinks the visions will return until God finds them.
Elsewhere. Simmzy's Bait and Tackle. I'm sure Simmzy is a shoutout to someone associated with the Show. Oh, good, Cas is here. I was hoping we'd get an episode where half of it is dedicated to a Cas storyline that has nothing to do with the Winchesters. I love when that happens.
Simmzy himself (aw, hell, I don't know what his name is but I'm calling him Simmzy) shows up, calling Cas "Clarence." (That's two for the Continuity Fairy.) Apparently Clarence is a regular here. He's been fishing often enough that the fish are anticipating him. (Sidebar: Throwaway comment, metaphor, or foreshadowing? Discuss.) He mentions a "friend who always praised fishing for its meditative qualities." IT'S DEAN. THE FRIEND IS DEAN. He notices Simmzy, whose first name is Andy, tipping a bottle of alcohol into his cup (and now I hope this guy isn't Simmzy, because Andy Simmzy is a stupid name) and asks if everything is okay. Andy tells him he helped pull the body of a missing kid out of the lake this morning. The kid looked like he drowned, except he was drained of his blood. Did you do an autopsy, Andy?
Elsewhere. Sam is jogging!!! Unfortunately, it looks like a cold rainy day, so he's wearing long sleeves and long pants, and he has a hood over his head. (Shakes angry fist at
Hi indeed!
We don't get to see much of their immediate reunion. We jump right to the bunker, with Dean saying "So you were in Hell? You didn't make a deal, you were innocent! You've been down there this whole time?" (Sidebar: Isn't it interesting that, even knowing what they know about Chuck, the guys still think innocent people go to Heaven?) She says the hellhound dragged her to Hell, and when Chuck opened it up, "I hauled ass, far as I could." OF COURSE YOU DID, YOU MAGNIFICENT LITTLE BADASS. (Sidebar: Doesn't that mean there are probably more souls who didn't get sucked back into Hell with Rowena? Discuss.) She's been trying to get the guys to see her for a while, but "this whole ghost thing doesn't really come with a handbook." (WHAT HAS SHE BEEN WATCHING, ONE HAS TO WONDER. AND POSSIBLY FIC.) She knows what's going to happen to her as a ghost, even without the handbook. She'll turn into an evil spirit. She doesn't want to do that, and she doesn't want to go back to Hell, and she hopes the guys might know an angel who could get her into Heaven. Dean drops the bomb that they recently learned from Kevin - souls that went to Hell can't go to Heaven. Bummer.
Alone in the hallway, Sam blasts Dean for his insensitivity. But Dean already has a plan - they could take one of Rowena's soul catchers and put Eileen in it. It wouldn't be great, but it beats the alternatives. Sam points out that it's a difficult spell, and Dean says "Okay, but you know, you're like, Rowena's protege. You're a regular ginger junior." YES. I am HERE for Sam being Rowena's protege. So here for it. Sam's not so sure, because he'd also need one of her crystals. But if Eileen wants it, he'll go to Rowena's apartment and look for a crystal. "Been meaning to go there anyways... after... you know."
"Great," says Dean, "Do that." He shuffles off, completely ignoring Sam's obvious distress. He calls the mission a "milk run" and says he's not going. And he's still wearing the hot dog pajama pants. Looks like somebody's a little depressed. Sam calls him out on it, saying he's been acting like nothing matters. "But we can do this. This matters." Dean just says "and that's why you're gonna kick it in the ass" and makes his exit.
Hot dog pants!!!
(Sidebar: Did Dean buy himself hot dog pajama pants, or did Sam buy them in an attempt to cheer him up? Discuss.)
Sheriff's office. Cas is frustrated that the sheriff isn't back from his haircut yet. A random woman in the waiting room hears the receptionist call him "agent" and deduces he's in the FBI, because no one else is called "agent." This actress has been on the show before, but I don't remember who she played. She tells Cas her son is missing, having not returned from a camping trip last night. The receptionist blows her off, and she begs for Cas's help. He introduces himself as Agent Worley, which I had to look up (Clarence Worley is a character in the movie True Romance, BTW), and agrees to help.
Gas station. Sam didn't keep the Lumberjack Twins' old truck, unfortunately, and is gassing up the Impala. More evidence that Dean is depressed - he turned Sam loose with his baby. Sam tells Eileen that he hates their only option and wishes he could do more for her. And then casually mentions that he's been to Hell too. Like, weirdly casually. "You try to forget, but it gets inside you. Talking helps." HA HA HA SURE IT DOES, SAM. That's why Eileen had no idea you'd even been to Hell. Because you talk through it so much. Eileen says she can't talk about it yet, and Sam says and signs "I understand." I am profoundly disappointed in this scene on its own merits, because it's so unemotional, and when you compare it to that beautiful exchange with Rowena regarding their shared history with Lucifer, it's even more pathetic. However, Sam admits he started practicing sign language again after he met Eileen, and that does make me happy.
Sam and Eileen pull up at Rowena's apartment building, completely ignoring the suspicious moving truck (although, to be fair, we only know it's suspicious because we focused on it for a bit) and as I said the first time we saw this place, where does she live? It seems to be not very far from Lebanon. Why would a powerful witch, who enjoys the finer things and can afford them, settle down in Kansas, or close to it? Well, I have my theories.
The door is unlocked, so Sam walks right in and discovers Jessie's body, still on the floor. No flies or anything. Inside the truck, two witches are observing the action in a mirror. Sam recognizes a tattoo on Jessie's neck as being from the Ordo Maleficarum (which I'm sure I've spelled incorrectly), indicating she was a witch. His anxiety is palpable. He closes the doors, which he should have done much earlier, because all kinds of people could have seen him wandering around in the presence of someone who died violently, but okay.
Sheriff's office. Back to Cas’s non-Winchester story. Yay. The sheriff says the woman, Marilyn, or Melanie, or Mellie, or something, has been a pain, and he's not too concerned about her son. "Maybe if this were New York, I'd be worried. Here, a teenager stays out too long, he's probably with his buddies sobering up." Which would be a lot more convincing if they hadn't just fished a dead teenager out of the lake this morning, Sheriff. He admits the occasional tourist goes missing. Oh, like the one you fished out of the lake this morning? Cas would like to see the body, but it's already gone. The paperwork, then? Sure, if the sheriff can talk to Agent Worley's supervisor and make it official. Well, you know what that means.
Bunker. Dean hears the FBI line ringing (labeled FBI with a piece of tape on the back, which I love) and answers as "Assistant Director Kaiser." He's still in his pajamas, which I know speaks to his mood, but it's also just precious. He immediately insists on speaking to Agent Worley, and chews him out for ignoring Sam, as he should. He tells him God is back and hangs up on him. The sheriff, apparently with a twinge of sympathy for a fellow law enforcement type person getting his ass chewed by a supervisor, says he'll get the files.
Assistant Director Kaiser may be surly, but he's awfully pretty.
Let's stick with Cas for now. He actually has files for several victims, and maybe everyone else knew he was in or near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, but I just now figured it out.
Moose!
We next see him at a lakeshore, holding his map with Xs marking the dead people. The woman from the sheriff's office shows up, and he calls her Ellie or Mellie and yes, I could fire up the app and turn on the closed captions but I'm already SO FAR BEHIND, Y'ALL. She says her son wouldn't have come to this area, because there's an old silver mine and he knows it's unsafe. And you know how teenagers are about avoiding unsafe places. She refuses to tell Cas where the mine is, but says she'll show him.
Cas and M/Ellie chat as they walk. He tells her he had a falling-out with his colleagues. Colleagues? Come on, Cas. What did Sam do to you? He starts to give Mellie the "monsters are real" talk, and tells her he thinks the mine is a lair. And then they conveniently pass her son, Caleb, sitting at the side of the trail. He tells them he saw a man dragging someone to the lake, but the man turned out to be a monster. He ran, breaking his phone and twisting his ankle, and he's been hiding ever since.
The monster shows up - it's the sheriff! Cas draws his angel blade and the sheriff reveals himself to be a djinn. He shoots Cas, but apparently he's got enough angelic juice left to brush it off. "It's always you," he says. "You selfish little men in positions of authority. You take what you want, you take who you want. You believe your power will protect you. It won't protect you from me." Who do you think he's really talking to? I know, I know!!! He stabs the djinn to death, even though his blade isn't silver and isn't dipped in lamb's blood.
(Sidebar: Why would a djinn, who can be killed by silver, use a silver mine as his lair? Discuss.)
Aftermath the first: Cas tells Mellie and Caleb that he dropped the monster in the lake, and then heals Caleb's sprained ankle. But it takes a long time and takes a lot out of him. "That's a miracle," Mellie says. "Were you sent by God?" Ha ha ha kinda. She seems surprised that he's leaving, even though she knows he doesn't live here, but whatever. "If I stay, nothing changes. It's time for me to get back in the game," he says. Which makes it sound like Cas left of his own accord, and not because Dean kind of practically threw him out, but okay. Cas is back.
Back to Rowena's. All Sam and Eileen find is tarot cards and self-help books, and even Eileen recognizes that it's all junk. She seems to get some inspiration from somewhere (maybe from the portrait of Rowena watching over them?) and walks through a bookcase. She calls to Sam from the other side, and he pushes the bookcase aside - much like discovering the entrance to the bunker's dungeon - to reveal a secret room. He reverently pulls a book off the shelf. Rowena had been keeping journals of her spellwork, he explains to Eileen.
You miss her.
I killed her. Her idea. She, ah, sacrificed herself to save us. To save the world. {pause} You ever feel like you're the punchline to some cosmic joke?
Are you kidding?
SAM'S FACE IN THIS SCENE, YOU GUYS.
He tells Eileen that Rowena knew the game was rigged, but kept control through her magic. As he's speaking, a piece of paper falls out of the journal he's holding. (COINCIDENCE?) Sam spends just a few seconds reading it and realizes it was a way to bring Mary back by making the spirit flesh. She didn't finish it, because they learned Mary was happy in Heaven. (No, that's not why, but okay.) And now Sam thinks he can finish it. And use it to bring Eileen back.
Sam puts a few things in the trunk of the Impala, but as soon as he closes it, he's struck by pain and starts spitting up blood. He immediately begins searching the car and finds a hex bag in the wheel well. He removes it, but then sees the two women from the "moving truck" approaching. He signs for Eileen to call his brother. Witch #1 says something and makes a hand motion, and Eileen smokes out. Oh, Witch #1 is a recurring actor too - she played the literary agent (or publisher?) who told Sam and Dean who Carver Edlund really was. "Hello Sam," she says.
Sam regains consciousness inside the truck. This truck must be part Tardis, because it's huge on the inside. The witch, who has some kind of accent (perhaps Scottish?), says they came for what Rowena left behind. "And just when we thought we wouldn't get it, you come along. The apartment's hexed. It's potent magic. Anyone who steps inside dies. Except, apparently, you. Surprised? Yeah, me too. I only know Rowena by reputation - respect, but - to imagine her leaving all her earthly treasures to you."
Oh, my friends. I'm sure the Show will not end up following up on this delightful possibility, but Sam's been referred to as Rowena's apprentice, and now we find she hexed her home so only Sam could safely go inside??? So much potential. And I'm sure it will all be wasted.
The dead witch inside, whose actual name is Lucinda, is Witch #1's older daughter. "She's young," her mother says. "She'll learn." Being dead won't stop her from learning, because W1 plans to use Rowena's spell to bring her back. Sam tells her he'll get Rowena's things for her, but he needs that spell. She refuses, because the spell can only be used once. "Show Death a loophole, and she closes it." Mmm, yes, I like that this witch knows Death is a she. And the other daughter, Emily, has made a spooky little twig doll using some of Sam's hair. If he cooperates, he'll die quickly. If he doesn't - she twists the doll and demonstrates what will happen to him as he dies slowly. And it's not pretty. Unless you like Sam in pain, in which case, it is rather pretty. (It's okay. Safe space. No judging here.)
Emily escorts Sam to Rowena's apartment, carrying the little stick vodoo doll. Sam offers to cover her sister's dead body, but she doesn't seem too upset about it. She says Lucinda made her life hell. Sam claims to get it, because when he was ten years old, his older brother put superglue in his toothpaste. "And then when I was 31 he shoved an angel into me without my consent, knowing I'd rather die first, and when I was 32 he tried to kill me with a hammer." No, he doesn't say any of that. But he could. (Reminder that I love Dean, non-consenting warts and all.) Lucinda was actually a pretty bad sister - she tried to sell Emily's soul to a demon, and turned her crush into a balloon and popped him. "And then she got mean." Well then.
Emily shares more stories about her mean sister, and shows Sam the scars on her face from when Lucinda turned her tongue into a snake and it bit her. Sam decides to use this to his advantage, and tells her that if she gives him the spell, her mother won't be able to bring Lucinda back. He's willing to give her all of Rowena's journals and supplies so she can run off on her own. Emily looks like she's considering it, but then she calls Sam a liar and gives the voodoo doll a vicious twist.
More of Sam's face, because you've been good and you deserve it.
We see Sam and Emily leaving, with Sam carrying a rather small box, considering all the goodies Rowena left behind. Suddenly Dean appears in the hall, pointing a gun at W1's head. "Witch-killing bullets," he says. (He's finally out of his pajamas. Did he change before Eileen got to him, or did he have to say "Wait, I can't save my brother until I put some actual pants on?" Discuss.) Sam tries to tell him to stop, but Emily quickly takes him out with a twist of the voodoo doll, threatening to kill him if Dean doesn't let her mother go. Dean points out that they're at a stalemate, but the lights flicker and the ghost of dead Lucinda appears. Advantage: witches! Lucinda flings Dean against the wall, causing him to lose his gun. Sam manages to snatch the voodoo doll from Emily. Unfortunately, W1 doesn't need the doll to hurt him, and she starts chanting at him. He drops the doll and clutches his abdomen. Emily then gets the doll and hurts him some more. Ladies after my own heart, they are. Meanwhile, Lucinda ever-so-slowly walks toward Dean, until Eileen suddenly zaps into the scene. "Not today, bitch," she says. She uses her ghostly powers to shove Lucinda away from him, and then turns to Dean with a triumphant grin, and we could wonder why a normal ghost is more powerful than a witchy ghost, but let's not bother.
Eileen and Lucinda have a fist fight, though neither of them have fists, and Dean manages to pick up his gun and shoot Emily. W1 turns her fury on him, saying she will grind his heart to dust. Apparently it's a very slow process. But Sam tackles her and then holds a small object in her face. "I learned from the best," he says. YES YOU DID MY DEAR BOY. We see a flashback of him hiding something in his jacket as he packs Rowena's belongings under Emily's supervision. He shoves this object into W1's mouth and recites a spell that kills her. Dean heads into the apartment, where Lucinda is choking Eileen. Which I suppose we could also ponder, if we were so inclined. How does one ghost kill another? Why would choking work, when neither actually has a body or needs to breathe? But, again, let's not bother. At Eileen's urging, Dean (after much unnecessary fumbling) sets Lucinda's body in fire, burning her ghost away. Yay!
Bunker. Some room in the bunker has a big free-standing bathtub now, and Sam has lit some candles and is making a bath filled with rose petals for Eileen. Well, okay, probably not rose petals. Probably eye of newt or something along those lines. They share a hopeful/anxious look and then she gets into the tub. Her ghostly form doesn't displace any water at all. As she slides under the surface of the water, Sam turns away and recites the spell. He looks concerned, but behind him we see Eileen turn all pink and lose her ghostly clothing. She sits up and stares at her now-corporeal hand. Sam still can't look. He does quietly say her name. She wraps herself in a towel, because this is the family hour, and steps out of the tub, dripping water with her real live feet. "Sam?" she says. He turns around, astonished, looking like he's afraid to touch her, but he finally takes her hand. She signs "thank you" and then (finally!) goes in for a hug and he rests his chin on top of her head (WHICH I LOVE) and oh, you guys, oh, Sam's face.
Let's not think about the fact that the last time Sam got to hug a woman he cared about, he was shoving a knife into her abdomen.
(Sidebar: What's going to happen to Eileen's soul when she dies again? She's still locked out of Heaven, right? Or does Sam think he'll be able to fix that too, when he takes care of Chuck? Discuss.)
Aftermath the second: Sam comes into the map table room, where Dean is drinking a beer. He tells Dean she's asleep, because she had a big day.
Well, so did you. Hex bags, new body. So what, you some kind of witch now?
Nah, I got lucky.
Yeah. Just wish we knew about that spell, for Mom. You did good today. I did jack.
You killed a witch. You saved my ass.
Yeah, I guess so.
You know what? I've been thinking about something you said, about how we don't make the rules. And you're right, we don't, we never have. But that doesn't mean we can just give up.
Come on, man.
We have moves to make here, Dean. We do. I mean, you think Chuck wanted me to shoot him? Of course not!
You sure about that? Maybe that was part of the plan, you know? That's the thing, man. I don't know what's God and what isn't, and it's driving me crazy.
All I'm saying is, we'll find a way to beat him. We will. I don't know how, yet, but we will. Cause we're the guys who break the rules. But I can't do it without you. I can't. Just like I couldn't do it today without you. I need my brother.
So much angst! So much throat!
I hate to wave my foreshadowing flag again (no, clearly you don't, since you keep doing it) but in just one conversation, Dean calls Sam a witch and then Sam points out that Dean killed a witch. Just putting it out there.
So. On the one hand, this episode had everything I wanted. The return of Eileen. Hurt Sam. Angsty depressed Dean. Brotherly feelings. Witch Sam as Rowena's heir. Sam's jogging outfit. Dean's dead guy robe. But on the other hand, it almost feels like the Show is writing its own fanfiction now. Giving us AU Charlie to make up for killing real Charlie felt forced. This feels even more so. And once again, something that should leave me emotional leaves me... not so much. I mean, that scene with Sam realizing his spell worked - yes, that was beautiful. But I should be excited about Eileen being in his life again, and I'm not. She's not going to be in his life. The next episode might have some throw-away excuse for why she's not around, and then we'll never hear about her again. Or she'll die again. And Witch Sam? All the teasing will surely give me blue balls, because nothing will come of it. Basically, there were a lot of things I liked in this episode. Maybe some things I loved. But I should have loved the whole episode, and I just don't think I do.
I know, Sam. I'm confused too.
Oh, and what does the title mean? I don’t know, other than we were recently told nothing gold can stay. Which isn’t promising for Eileen, is it?
Happy Thanksgiving to my USican friends, and happy Week Without Supernatural to my international friends. I wonder who will come back next time? (Please don't tell me, and please continue to keep all spoilers, including/especially casting information, out of the comments. Thanks!)
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no subject
Date: 2019-11-28 05:40 am (UTC)Because 2 years (aka two and a half centuries) in Hell didn't do that already? What is it with all these spirits coming out of hell perfectly fine? Even the ones that had been down there centuries of our time. Shouldn't they have been demons already? Isn't that what Hell is supposed to do to you?
I know. Ha ha continuity. But come on! Dean came back permanently damaged and he was only down there 4 months : /
And, yes, I'm aware that for the time Eileen has been down there it's been under the new Crowley imposed system, but even two and a half centuries of queuing ought to have driven a spirit crazed.
no subject
Date: 2019-11-28 12:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-28 05:54 am (UTC)Ha ha ha! Best sidebar EVAH! :D
no subject
Date: 2019-11-28 06:04 am (UTC)That, at least, I did think was a nice touch.
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Date: 2019-11-28 12:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-28 12:43 pm (UTC)I know we decided we weren't wondering why a regular ghost is stronger than a witch ghost, but, well, I couldn't help pondering it and I figure it's just a length of time as a ghost thing. Even for a witch, it probably takes a bit of time to learn the tricks of the ghost trade.
I definitely think that Dean was still in his PJs when Eileen turned up. And I definitely think he told her that he couldn't rescue his brother without pants. Maybe someone will write fic for us?
And as for the title...my best guess is that it's referencing the emergency/trauma medicine definition, which describes 'the golden time' (sometimes called 'the golden hour') as the period of one hour following a traumatic injury in which prompt medical treatment will prevent death. And okay, they weren't so much preventing as reversing, but I guess you could say this was Eileen's 'golden time'.
no subject
Date: 2019-11-30 02:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-11-28 04:50 pm (UTC)Other favorite things: Dean's old man robe/pajama pants. The portrait of Rowena (sob).
Count me in as baffled that a ghost could choke another ghost. Eileen gasping for breath...? However, I LOVED the scene where she came back! The effect of her not displacing the water was cool. I'm also hoping Sam and Eileen had a torrid make-out session and that's another reason she was sleeping.
Also, I am getting really tired of the trope of everything and their mother being able to throw Sam and Dean into the wall/bookcase/hot dog stand. Seriously, everyone can do it except the Winchesters.
Speaking of mothers, the actress playing the mom was also the worker at Plucky Pennywinkle's who was so rattled she smoked a joint. It took me most of the episode to remember.
The Cas subplot was so boring my narcolepsy kicked in. Cas losing his powers again.
no subject
Date: 2019-11-30 02:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-12-01 10:50 am (UTC)My personal interpretation of it all is that it probably started out performative, trying to make Sam feel like it was okay by clowning and indulging like he does when they're all right, but it's also his own form of blasphemy, like a religious man taking God's name in vain. Taking the reward for himself without the achievement of success and hard work, because he no longer sees the point in the good fight, and disproportionately wallowing in it as a form of rebellion to everything his father taught him because there's no point in staying in good hunting shape when there's no point.
(All of which also fits with Mark of Cain Dean's growing disinterest in any of the pleasures of the flesh as symbolic of how he was losing himself to the Mark.)
no subject
Date: 2019-12-14 05:51 am (UTC)