I am of two minds on this episode. A lot of it doesn't hold up to logical checks. On the other hand... I liked it.
Sam, with all the coffee! Being an obsessive researcher and hunting down things that could help. Self-sacrificing brainy geeks are just so goddamn hot. And Dean's snarky "What am I supposed to drink, water?" The appalling state of their kitchen makes me laugh. I keep thinking back to Kevin's quote about Crowley's fake Winchesters - "I don't think on their best day Sam and Dean would go into town and get me a barbecue dinner, not when there are leftover burritos in the fridge."
The whole not-knowing-about-the-European-MoL makes as much sense as not showing Eileen the bunker, given that she's another legacy. But if Eileen stuck around, she'd probably just get killed like almost every non-Winchester hunter, so... I'll focus on the reappearance of the Thule and clamor for more of Aaron-and-his-golem because they were awesome... although if they stuck around, well... wow, look at how pretty the boys look. So pretty.
I was happy to see demons who preferred Lucifer. (You go, angry female demon! You're awesome!) In fact, I would be thrilled to see Lucifer down in Hell permanently... bring back Mark P!) If there's any reason that demons have forgotten how to Evil, it's Crowley. I want Hell to be horrible again (and please, Lucifer, redecorate the place while you're at it. More chains and blood and screaming).
Misha's acting didn't bother me as much this time. He looked less constipated, and a little more comfortable in the role. I would have loved for the boys to pick up on his tells, but Castiel has been off since Rowena's curse, so I'll give them leeway. Jared's acting as Sam becomes suspicious and then figures it out was awesome - his worst nightmare come to life, coupled with the inverse of Chapter 9, where Castiel had proven that Sam could trust him with his soul. Poor Sam. If you didn't look so damn pretty when your heart is breaking, we wouldn't be so happy when you suffered.
Castiel saving Sam was good to see (and probably made a lot of Sastiel fans cheer). And his dedication to saving Dean was nice (and probably made a lot of Destiel fans cheer). But not as much as Sam's dedication to saving Dean made me cheer.
I was okay with Dean not trying to save the sub. If there's one lesson he's learned from time traveling, it's that the past can't be changed – the whole Titanic deal, not to mention being unable to save his mom. And since he's wrestling with having to be on the sidelines against Amara... I buy it. (I don't buy the lack of Raiders references. For shame, Dean!) That said, I loved his absolute I don't give a damn about proving I'm from the future attitude, and how it changed once they connected as two men who have been at war far too long, facing their own imminent demise, and are wondering when it will end and how many of their friends and family it will cost.
And the fight, and afterwards... Sam being smart, and banishing Casifer! Dean, wrestling with feeling helpless. Sam, losing faith in Cas, probably because he knows what it's like after you say yes to Lucifer. Sam, probably knowing that Cas said yes because he was willing to sacrifice himself to save the world even when it looked like a terrible idea, because he did the same thing. Sam, trying to console Dean even though his worst fear is up and walking around again and he's gotta be wondering why he spent all those eternities getting tortured in hell. I'm surprised he's not angry... but then again, after so much fear and despair, maybe that's finally burned out of him.
I am okay with Amara being a little depleted still. She basically survived everything that heaven had to throw at her - there's nothing left right now that can hurt her. Also, this means she's probably going to go eat up angels now to get better, and I am really, really, really down with that. If Lucifer gets rid of all the bureaucrats in Hell and Amara eats up all the bureaucrats in Heaven, maybe we can get some celestial and demonic figures that have half of the malice and threat that we had with Zachariah, Uriel, Alistair and Azazel.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2016-02-18 09:18 pm (UTC)Sam, with all the coffee! Being an obsessive researcher and hunting down things that could help. Self-sacrificing brainy geeks are just so goddamn hot. And Dean's snarky "What am I supposed to drink, water?" The appalling state of their kitchen makes me laugh. I keep thinking back to Kevin's quote about Crowley's fake Winchesters - "I don't think on their best day Sam and Dean would go into town and get me a barbecue dinner, not when there are leftover burritos in the fridge."
The whole not-knowing-about-the-European-MoL makes as much sense as not showing Eileen the bunker, given that she's another legacy. But if Eileen stuck around, she'd probably just get killed like almost every non-Winchester hunter, so... I'll focus on the reappearance of the Thule and clamor for more of Aaron-and-his-golem because they were awesome... although if they stuck around, well... wow, look at how pretty the boys look. So pretty.
I was happy to see demons who preferred Lucifer. (You go, angry female demon! You're awesome!) In fact, I would be thrilled to see Lucifer down in Hell permanently... bring back Mark P!) If there's any reason that demons have forgotten how to Evil, it's Crowley. I want Hell to be horrible again (and please, Lucifer, redecorate the place while you're at it. More chains and blood and screaming).
Misha's acting didn't bother me as much this time. He looked less constipated, and a little more comfortable in the role. I would have loved for the boys to pick up on his tells, but Castiel has been off since Rowena's curse, so I'll give them leeway. Jared's acting as Sam becomes suspicious and then figures it out was awesome - his worst nightmare come to life, coupled with the inverse of Chapter 9, where Castiel had proven that Sam could trust him with his soul. Poor Sam. If you didn't look so damn pretty when your heart is breaking, we wouldn't be so happy when you suffered.
Castiel saving Sam was good to see (and probably made a lot of Sastiel fans cheer). And his dedication to saving Dean was nice (and probably made a lot of Destiel fans cheer). But not as much as Sam's dedication to saving Dean made me cheer.
I was okay with Dean not trying to save the sub. If there's one lesson he's learned from time traveling, it's that the past can't be changed – the whole Titanic deal, not to mention being unable to save his mom. And since he's wrestling with having to be on the sidelines against Amara... I buy it. (I don't buy the lack of Raiders references. For shame, Dean!) That said, I loved his absolute I don't give a damn about proving I'm from the future attitude, and how it changed once they connected as two men who have been at war far too long, facing their own imminent demise, and are wondering when it will end and how many of their friends and family it will cost.
And the fight, and afterwards... Sam being smart, and banishing Casifer! Dean, wrestling with feeling helpless. Sam, losing faith in Cas, probably because he knows what it's like after you say yes to Lucifer. Sam, probably knowing that Cas said yes because he was willing to sacrifice himself to save the world even when it looked like a terrible idea, because he did the same thing. Sam, trying to console Dean even though his worst fear is up and walking around again and he's gotta be wondering why he spent all those eternities getting tortured in hell. I'm surprised he's not angry... but then again, after so much fear and despair, maybe that's finally burned out of him.
I am okay with Amara being a little depleted still. She basically survived everything that heaven had to throw at her - there's nothing left right now that can hurt her. Also, this means she's probably going to go eat up angels now to get better, and I am really, really, really down with that. If Lucifer gets rid of all the bureaucrats in Hell and Amara eats up all the bureaucrats in Heaven, maybe we can get some celestial and demonic figures that have half of the malice and threat that we had with Zachariah, Uriel, Alistair and Azazel.