Episode poll 11.17: "Red Meat"

[caranfindel]

Before we start, let me quickly say thank you. The comments on last week's poll were full of interesting conversation and astute observations and you guys just add so much to my ridiculous little polls and I love you all. Regulars, visitors, lurkers, people who always comment, people who vote but never comment... thank you all for being here. {smooches}

(Sloppy declarations of love? I might be a teeny bit intoxicated from 11.17!)

Now, on to the poll!


[Poll #2041182]

No spoilers in the comments, please!

Comments

[caranfindel.livejournal.com]

I think whatever shit's gonna go down this May could probably be avoided if Dean would just burn that red shirt.

Quite possibly. But I love it so I'm prepared to let the world end over it.

What about an Amara vs God confrontation? Surely whatever way Amara is 'neutralized' God has to be involved somehow.

:-/ I'm going to be disappointed if we have a literal deus ex machina ending, I really am.

Re: people think it was Cas-- the fuck? And not the man he swallowed a bottle of pills over, like, a few hours prior?

I know, right? To be fair, I have not seen these actual posts, but I have seen posts from people saying they've seen them.

I rated it a Dean-centric ep because we went more in-depth on his psyche, imo, while we got some great Sam stuff but at more of a remove. I'd be interested to know what criteria others use to determine the tilt of an episode.

Oddly enough, I thought it was a very Sam ep until I saw posts saying it was a great Dean ep, and then I realized I was wrong. I think Sam fans are so used to him being marginalized and unappreciated that when he does shine, it's all we can see. :D

[bratfarrar]

I HAVE SEEN THOSE POSTS. It's very weird--like they saw an entirely different episode (well, season/show since at least season 9) than I did. Lots of twisty meta, too: they have those shipper goggles locked on tight.

[z-publicizes.livejournal.com]

It could be considered bi-bro if you're discerning by actions/who's driving the plot. It was certainly a great showing for Sam in any case.

I went looking for those destiel posts and found a person arguing that "the man I love" couldn't have Dean thinking about Sam because it was too romantic a phrase to relate to a brother. And that the entire Corbin/Michelle subplot was a Dean/Cas mirror. And that the entire episode was framed around Dean's fear of losing Cas, starting with the obligatory "this is why not pursuing the mytharc this week doesn't mean we're callous assholes about our friend's situation" convo between Sam and Dean. So, yeah. Shipping goggles are amazing. But I don't get why they're necessary--Dean caring about Cas and fearing that they might lose him for good has been there in the text, there's no need to read stuff in where it doesn't belong.

I've also seen people saying Billie was wrong and Dean really did want to save Sam out of a sense of general altruism/to defeat Amara. Which, I was touched when Dean said that/had faith in Sam's abilities even though I very much doubt Dean was doing long term strategic calculations in that hospital bed, and clearly Billie was intended to be the cold clarifying eye about his motivations this season.

[caranfindel.livejournal.com]

I've also seen people saying Billie was wrong and Dean really did want to save Sam out of a sense of general altruism/to defeat Amara.

Yeah, it was so obvious to me that this was just his way of selling it to Billie.