10.16 Initial reaction: You know how it is. The sex, the lasagna.

[caranfindel]

I was excited when I saw this episode was called Paint it Black because that's what I wanted the earlier episode, Black, to be called. And I wanted them to use that song. Which of course they didn't - Rolling Stones ain't cheap, I assume.

The Then reminds us... Rowena has an enemy, Dean has given up, and Crowley disappointed his mommy. Which I guess means we're going to have some Crowena in this episode. Yay. :-/

Next we have a confession, which I'm pretty sure is happening inside the same church we saw in Houses of the Holy. I'm not a Catholic, but isn't the priest supposed to pretend he doesn't know who's confessing? If not, what's the point of the screen? Anyway, after he confesses, Terry guts himself in the sanctuary with a candlestick. Are we back to playing Clue? Can I hope for Miss Scarlet in Hell with a dull knife?

Speaking of... cut to the cheap version of Hell and a demon with a freakishly large forehead and look, he has another face on the back of his head. Oh, Rowena. You scamp. Is that why we couldn't have Paint it Black played in this ep? Because we're spending all our funds on special effects? (Actually, the only episode I can think of that used its title music is Goodbye Stranger. Are there others?) Mommy is still annoyed at Fair-gus, and he's still searching for approval, and... sorry, I can't really bring myself to care about this. Let's move on.

In the Impala, Sam and Dean are trying to figure out their next case. Or at least, Dean is. Sam is distracted. We never find out why. Maybe he's secretly researching the Mark of Cain again.

In the church, Hot Nun #1 listen to Hot Nun #2's weirdly accented story about the artist she loved, and it seems neither of them entered the convent because of religion, but because of their messed up love lives.

Next, boys in suits! \o/ Sam's not convinced it's a case, since all three vics killed themselves, but Dean feels good about it. Then we see a couple at the church, and we get a monster-eye view but we don't know who's being possessed until later that night, when Frank is killed with a pair of scissors, and then something smokes out of his wife.

Back at the church, Hot Nun #1 meets agents Allman and Betts, and I don't know why Sam gets their aliases confused, but it's precious. HN1 reveals an "excellent" source told her that Frank was cheating on his wife. Dean has a meta conversation with HN1 about quitting one life and leading another. Her life had become painful, there was hopelessness, and she felt she had to find something larger to focus on, a kind of mission. Oh, who does that sound like? Afterward, Dean notices that everyone in the case seemed to be doing their women wrong, but I don't know where he got that, since we only know about Frank. And I should probably rewind to see what I missed, but you know what? I don't care enough. Moving on.

In Hell, Crowley has brought Mommy a gift - a leader from the Grand Coven. And Rowena decides this woman will agree to lift whatever sanctions she put on her if she beats her up. Sure, that'll work. Rowena eventually finds out that the Men of Letters destroyed the coven and it now has no power at all, and now Rowena knows what the Men of Letters were and who its last remaining members are. "Perpetually, the Winchesters," she grouses. Yes, Rowena, that's my mantra too. And then Rowena turns her into a guinea pig. Or is she a gerbil? Chinchilla? I can't tell. chomaisky? Anyone?

Hot Nun #2 continues her story, explaining that she fell in love with her artist, but he didn't love her, and she fell into despair and was sent to a convent. It's revealed that the two Hot Nuns are looking over items from HN2's father's estate, including her journal, and, well. That makes no sense. But I'm finding it hard to care. Also, it turns out HN2 is older than we were led to believe. Like, centuries older.

Dean confesses to the priest in order to attract the spirit. He's let women think they have more of a future than they do. You know how it is, the sex, the lasagna. But after this (presumably) faux confession, Dean confesses for real, admitting that he doesn't want to die. Doesn't sound like a sin to me, Dean. He's realizing there's "more to it than I thought," and he regrets what he's going to miss. "Do you truly believe in God," the priest asks, "because that can be a comfort." Um, yeah. Not if you already know he doesn't give a damn. HN1 hears Sam tell Dean that jerks like you are what our ghost is looking for. And the ghost then infiltrates the priest. Insert your own joke here.

HN1 reads more from HN2's journal, and finds that she murdered her artist when she found him in bed with a woman. Next thing we know, she's talking to Sam and Dean, explaining that the church is full of ghosts and she hasn't had a problem with them, until now. She tells them the journal was part of a shipment from a monastery in Tivoli, and that HN2's family's treasure found its way to the church as many of the great families of Europe. Um, okay. That's believable. That a church in the U.S. that presumably has nothing to do with a monastery in Tivoli would receive the family treasures of a great Italian family. Also, it turns out the death of HN2's artist was so horrific, she was convicted of witchcraft. Well, we saw his death. It was gruesome, but it was just a stabbing. Why would anyone assume it was witchcraft? Only because the boys needed to be told she was burned at the stake, which means her bones were burned. You know, if I was going to go that direction, I'd let her actually do some witchcraft. Bottom line is, something in the church is tethering her. Dean assumes it's her journal, but Sam's not so sure, and the fact that Dean assumes so quickly means he's wrong, of course.

Dean orders Sam to burn the journal, but he reads it instead, and discovers that HN2's blood was mixed into her artist's paint. That's just unsanitary, people. Oh, and also, she cut off her own fingertip (!) for him to grind up and mix into his paint, and that's beyond unsanitary. That's freaking nasty. (Here's a tip to you artists out there - if your model asks you to grind up her flesh and bone and mix it in with your paint, she MIGHT have issues.) So, while Dean and HN1 find the gutted pritest (because he forgave those evil men!), and HN2 posesses HN1 and attempts to kill Dean, smart Sammy finds the painting and burns it. Wait. Why is the painting there anyway? Why did HN2's family inherit the "great masterpiece" by the painter their daughter murdered? Oh well. Maybe it was a commission for them. Once again, having a hard time giving a crap. Anyway, Sam saves the day. Yay Sam!

Crowley informs Mommy he'll handle the Winchesters, but he's not killing them. But he does eye the gerbil/guinea pig/whatever it is, like maybe he's getting some ideas.

Finally, Sam and Dean have a cute scene in the car (why is Sam driving? why???) and Sam asks about Dean's confession, reminding him that he's there if Dean wants to talk. Sam doesn't believe the Mark is "a terminal diagnosis" and he insists there's a way out and they will find it. Dean doesn't believe it.

So, this one was really very "meh" for me. I haven't read anyone else's review yet, so maybe y'all loved it, but the whole backstory felt very cobbled together. I mean, the painter didn't really treat HN2 badly. She said she loved him, and he told her he could only offer friendship. So, she caught him banging another woman. Why does that mean he betrayed her? He didn't lie to her. He wasn't in a relationship with her. Maybe he respected her too much to have a quick meaningless roll in the hay with her. And was HN2 the "excellent source" who told HN1 that Frank was having an affair? You know what? Don't worry about it. Because I really don't care. On the other hand, Sam and Dean were nice together. Sam continues to be an adorable supportive precious little bunny, and I continue to love him. Sometimes that just has to be enough.

I'm unspoiled for future episodes, please help me stay that way. Thanks!

Comments

[chomaisky.livejournal.com]

I think that's a Syrian/golden hamster :)
I don't love this episode I had to watch it in two parts it was boring haha...

[caranfindel.livejournal.com]

I almost fast forwarded through Hot Nun #2's story, but I was afraid I'd miss something. I was so wrong.

[casey679.livejournal.com]

I more or less hated this episode. The nuns were annoying as fuck and even Dean's awesome confession about girls couldn't make up for the clunkiness of the writing. Sam going on about how he will save Dean makes me wonder if he's totally forgotten Season 3, where he failed to save Dean, or Season 6, where he failed in multiple ways, or Season 8, where he failed to find/rescue Dean, or Season 9, where he failed to save Dean, and I kind of both want and don't want Dean to get fed up and bring that fact up. It felt like the writers have forgotten about continuity pretty hard here, at least in terms of the brother's dynamics. Sam is probably my favorite character in Supernatural (Dean is a close second), and I feel like he's regressed to Season 3 here. So him saying "it's what we do" made me just kind of want to cringe and go, REALLY? Because the scorecard kind of sucks on that.

I finally put my finger on what's bothering me about the writing this and last season. It feels like the current crew don't understand foreshadowing at all -- each episode, even the really good ones, feel like getting hit on the head with a hammer-shaped clue card, because the events directly apply to that episode's message. None of the events foreshadow future episodes or plot developments, it's all direct commentary on the main action. It feels unnecessarily dumbed-down.

[caranfindel.livejournal.com]

But Sam is always going to say they'll figure it out, or he'll save Dean, or whatever. Because that's Sam.

I agree this season has been very anvilicious!

[thursdaysisters.livejournal.com]

The priest totally knows it's you in the confessional, my mom was a nun before she had me, and there were times when she'd confess something silly just to have something to say for the week ("I confess I...didn't eat all my breakfast") and the priest was like "Seriously dude? Pffft"

[caranfindel.livejournal.com]

So why is the screen there?

[thursdaysisters.livejournal.com]

I mean the whole set-up is to create privacy, but if you're attending the same place regularly for years, he knows it's you, it's basically free therapy :D

[cuddyclothes.livejournal.com]

This episode was boring as fuck. I was so happy to see Smart Sam it helped a lot, but rewatch? Naaah...

[caranfindel.livejournal.com]

Agreed. And yet I can't really say it was bad, like, the way Man's Best Friend With Benefits was bad. It was just boring.

[flawedteacup.livejournal.com]

Nuns in any episode of any tv show anywhere, ever, automatically equals epic lameness. NUNS DON'T WEAR THOSE CLOTHES ANYMORE unless they are cloistered and then they wouldn't be TALKING TO ANYONE ANYWAY.