9.21 Initial reaction. So. That happened.

[caranfindel]

It seems like my last few reviews have started with "I don't know how I feel about this episode" (except, of course for the last one, because I know exactly how I feel about that) and you know what? This is no exception.

So. Things happened. Probably not in the same order in which I discuss them here, but I think you can keep up. You're pretty clever.

Longest "Then" sequence EVER. My God.

Sam and Dean are wearing green (victim?) and gold (dangerous?) jackets, respectively. Sam's been in this olive green before, but I don't remember seeing Dean's jacket. Other characters who've worn this color this season include April the reaper and Hael the stabby angel. (Also? Gold? The color of honey and bees? As in Cain? Just a theory.)

Castiel asks Dean to torture Ezra, which, seriously, Cas, no. After last time? Just no. But Dean is kind of into it now, of course. Because, you know, the Mark, and evil, and whatnot. I love the way Sam stops him because he can see he's itching to go WAY too far, and then quickly turns it into "we don't need to torture this moron anyway." I also appreciate the angel POV as Sam and Dean mock him - unless they're actually mocking us? And when we saw him dead, I immediately suspected Dean. Cause, you know. Mark.

I liked Castiel's conversation with Sam about Gadreel, though I wish someone would ask him not in the context of "I need something from you." On the other hand, Sam made it clear he didn't want to talk about it, so maybe they're respecting his wishes. But. Are they retconning? Did Sam really say he sensed someone else was in there with him but didn't feel threatened? Because no, I don't think that's what was going on at all. He never did anything to make us think he knew he was sharing his body with anyone. Or is this just supposed to be hindsight talking? But oh, Sam's face, and the slump of his shoulders when he left that conversation. Poor baby. Come here and let me hug you.

Was there a point to the hellhound? At first I thought this was how Crowley would double-cross the boys.

I loved Sam insisting on retrieving the blade from the corpse himself, and being conscious of keeping it away from Dean. Because you know he had to be anxious about putting that out there, and I'm kind of surprised Dean went along with it. Also, NASTY. (And I was actually eating ice cream during this scene. Do I have an iron stomach or what?)

I'm glad to see Gadreel is being portrayed as a grey area, both to the audience and in Castiel's opinion. I want Cas to bring him into the fold. I want Gadreel to have been plotting against Metatron (and I think the "Then" hinted at that). I still want him to suffer the consequences of killing Kevin and Abner, but I like him as a more complex character.

Oh, look, Crowley junior is back. What fuckery is going to happen because of this? Isn't it a little late in the season to throw in a butterfly effect? And why doesn't Crowley explain to him that he's already IN the new world? And why does he refuse to send the boy back into his own time to die, and instead abandon him in a park somewhere with no money and not a clue as to where he is or what he is to do? I mean, it's like abandoning your dog on the side of the road and telling yourself he'll get along just fine. HE WILL NOT GET ALONG JUST FINE.

Crowley used Poughkeepsie! \o/  That made me so happy. Dean deciding not to pass this onto Sam, however, did not. And really, would Sam have agreed to split up at this point? Considering what happened the last time they split up, in the vampire nest? Now, when Dean made eye contact with Crowley and tapped his chest with the Blade, what was he trying to communicate? I thought maybe he was asking who had wounded him and where they were, because it seems he tapped where Crowley had been shot? Anyone else read it that way?

The special effects - Dean feeling the effect of the Mark, and Abaddon's death - were remarkably cheesy. (Maybe it's because I had just finished looking for screencaps to illustrate the best of S4 and they simply suffered in comparison? Nah. They were cheesy in any context.)

Something I didn't really catch until I saw it captured in gifs afterward was Sam's face when he's telling Dean "you can stop." He is SO scared and concerned and Jesus. Come back over here and let me hug you again. (Tried to include it but I can only find it on Tumblr.)

So, the end. When Dean first explained why he'd lied to Sam, it kind of made sense, especially considering, again, what just happened at the vampire's nest. That Sam would be used against him and he couldn't risk that. (Others thought he was actually worried that he'd kill Sam in his quest to kill Abaddon, and I'm sure that's possible, but my mind didn't go that way.) But then, when he turned it around at the end, into "we can't afford to screw this up?" As in, "Sam, you being there would have screwed this up?" No, Dean. And you know, Sam could have lectured Dean. Could have pointed out that he's obviously not completely himself right now. Could have lied to him and hidden the damn Blade himself. But no, he tried to be straightforward about his concerns, and Dean shut him down.

So where are we now? I didn't expect Abaddon's death. Who's the big bad now? Crowley or Metatron? I'm anxious about anything being accomplished in the last two episodes. Going back to S4, I know you can really do a lot in those last two episodes. But in that season, the last two capped a season-long arc. Yes, Dean finally discovered/addressed Sam's demon blood addiction in the next-to-last episode, but it had been going on for an entire season, with us slowly learning what was happening and how it was affecting Sam. What they're doing with the Mark/Blade is so much more abrupt that there's no way it can be as satisfying.

I'm unspoiled, including the promo, please help me stay that way. :-)