August 2015 Viewing Diary

Smell of Camphor, Scent of Jasmine (2000; d. Bahman Farmanara).
A profound and touching (and very funny) film from Iran, written and directed by and starring Farmanara. It tells the story of a death-obsessed film director who hasn’t made a film in years. He mourns his dead wife. He can’t get new projects off the ground (an explicit political point about artists in Iran: they live a living death). There’s an All That Jazz-ish quality to some of it, as well as multiple clear nods to Woody Allen. It’s beautiful.

Moon (2009; d. Duncan Jones)
One of my favorite films from 2009. The illusion that there are two Sam Rockwells walking around on that Moon station is so complete that you forget about it almost immediately. Deep film about identity. Haunting score by Clint Mansell. Sam Rockwell’s performance is out of this world. Literally.

Footlight Parade (1933; d. Lloyd Bacon, musical numbers by Busby Berkeley)
I love this movie. I love the show-girls racing from theatre to theatre in their special bus, the bus zooming by with frenzied blurred images of all of the girls changing into their next costumes through the windows. As a kid, Footlight Parade represented the launching-pad of so many fantasies, of life in the theatre, life in vaudeville, running around in tap shoes, that the fantasies are indistinguishable at this point from my actual personality. Some of us don’t “put away childish things.”

Supernatural, Season 10, Episode 4, “Paper Moon” (2014; d. Jeannot Szwarf)
This episode is better than I remember. Yes, there are too many flashbacks and way too much talking and the actress playing Kate is unable to carry the emotion of the episode. But there are so many great scenes of Sam and Dean talking, arguing, discussing … Four, I think. Four!! Dean saying the word “embarrassing”. I forgot about that. When has he ever said that word before? It’s also gorgeously filmed, dark and rainy. So I’m much better with it now.

Supernatural, Season 10, Episode 5, “Fan Fiction” (2014; d. Phil Sgricca)
Perfection.

Supernatural, Season 10, Episode 6, “Ask Jeeves” (2014; d. John MacCarthy)
This cast is HILARIOUS. “Did anyone else just wet themselves?” Dean staring into the knight’s armor. Sam being sexually harassed by the cougars and trying to casually touch them with silver knives to see if they are monsters. Goof-balls all around and I love every one of them. Plus Flowers in the Attic references. So I’m good.

Supernatural, Season 10, Episode 7, “Girls, Girls, Girls” (2014; d. Robert Singer)
Oh Hannah/Caroline. Naked in front of Castiel. Nope. Nope to the nth degree. How many plot-lines can one episode hold? It’s too much! Also, the actress playing Hannah forgets, constantly, that she is supposed to be a supernatural being, unused to human-ness. She hasn’t tapped into the ONE THING that could make the character interesting. Buh-bye Hannah. Meanwhile: sex trade and human trafficking. “Fancy lady” returns. The insane contingent of Supernatural fans, based only on the TRAILER for the episode, bombarded the poor writer on Twitter with accusations that he was a “rape apologist.” Poor guy. What on earth were these bozos talking about? They hadn’t even seen the episode. I liked that Dean was on a dating site. Yeah, it was never mentioned again (and that’s a flaw: you set up something weird or interesting like this, you might as well explore it further, especially in an “all over the place” episode like this.) but I like Sexpot Dean, on the make Dean.

Supernatural, Season 10, Episode 8, “Hibbing 911” (2014; d. Tim Andrew)
Glorious. “Save ya a seat, Jodes!” Off-screen: “Jodeo!” “Jodeo?” The final confrontation with its supposed Woodstock-gone-wrong vibe doesn’t work at all and there’s too much talking and explaining (and, again, the young actress is not up to the task) but the rest is so awesome that I seriously want a Sherriff Mills-Donna spinoff. Plus, all the Bob Dylan references. So much fun.

Supernatural, Season 10, Episode 9, “The Things We Left Behind” (2014; d. Guy Norman Bee)
Remembering now the “all over the place” quality of Season 10, which I am pretty all right with. I like its mess. I am bored with some storylines (Hannah, Castiel in general, Crowley – who started out so strong in his bromance way), but there’s enough going on with the brothers that I’m good with it. (I think the show is stronger, anyway, when the overall Arc doesn’t dominate too much. It’s not that kind of show. Or, that’s not the kind of show I care about. HENCE: I’m good with “all over the place”-ness.) One of the things I think is great is that Dean has “come back” from hiatus with all kinds of problems: Hell. Purgatory. Domestic Life with Lisa. So we see that transformation and how these changes operate him. Here, with the Mark, we see how specific he is in working on whatever these challenges are. The effect of the Mark does not look like Hell … or Purgatory … or Suburban Life. What happens to him when he’s under the influence of the Mark is not just the violence … it is how LOST he feels. That interior “wait … where am I” look, that’s been there from the beginning. It’s so subtle, and so specific, and it’s all on him. He came up with that.

Supernatural, Season 10, Episode 10, “The Hunter Games” (2015; d. John Badham)
First of all: John Freakin’ Badham. Second of all: I get the sense that a lot of people disliked the actress playing Claire. I really like her. She is clearly still a little girl, and her bravado is ACTING tough, because she needs to. But you always see that child. Sounds a little bit like Dean. I think she’s lovely. Not totally crazy about the Castiel Domestic Arc, and hate “I like emoticons” (can’t stand “Cutesy” Castiel: Ugh) but in the context of the season (which is all about families – broken families, families reuniting), I think it works. However: this episode is worth it for the cracked-mirror shot of Dean early on, as well as the moment when he steps forward to face Metatron, one of the most gorgeous shots of him in the entire series (another one being the shot of him hiding in the police station in the pilot. They started early with The Beauty.) Again, the three-pronged plot (Dean/Sam/Metatron, Castiel/Claire and Crowley/Rowena) is a bit much. But yay, Cain!

Supernatural, Season 10, Episode 11, “There’s No Place Like Home” (2015; d. Phil Sgricca)
Charlie! The final scene is killer. Some of Ackles’ best work. Charlie (Felicia Day) brings out something totally unique.

The Gift (2015; d. Joel Edgerton)
Loved it. reviewed for Ebert.

Supernatural, Season 10, Episode 12, “About a Boy” (2015; d. Serge Ladouceur)
Glorious.

Digging For Fire (2015; d. Joe Swanberg)
I don’t like Joe Swanberg’s stuff but I liked this.

Supernatural, Season 10, Episode 13, “Halt & Catch Fire” (2015; d. Serge Ladouceur)
This one didn’t really have reverb for me, but I liked Dean’s tortured mien on the college campus with all the pretty girls. He couldn’t take it. A sign of life, human regular life.

Supernatural, Season 10, Episode 14, “Executioner’s Song” (2015; d. Serge Ladouceur)
The buildup to Cain’s return. Things getting serious. The Crowley-Rowena thing … I don’t know. I like the Shakespearean treacherous court thing they’ve got going on … but there’s something missing. It makes Crowley so irrelevant. Like, what are you still doing here? (And I love Crowley.) Also, the scene with Cain and Dean was awesome – and Dean falling over afterwards was great. But this is an issue with Supernatural: you build up this whole thing, the Mark of Cain, what it is doing to Dean, how it is killing him (this happened in Season 9 too) – and then, in the end, what happens with Cain? A fist-fight. Like any other fist fight. Yeah, Cain says mean things that cut Dean to the core. But … that’s it? The Mark just makes you … have a particularly brutal fist fight? Both actors are playing the subtext, HARD, and they fill in the blanks in the scenario with their considerable gifts, and make it an apocalyptic emotional meeting of the minds. But still.

Ricki and the Flash (2015; d. Jonathan Demme)
I liked it.

The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 1, “Nothing Important Happened Today, Part 1” (2001; d. Kim Manners)
Kim Manners starting us off on the final season of The X-Files. These are two very intense episodes. Mulder is gone. Doggett and Monica Reyes are rising. I think Robert Patrick is superb in what was a thankless role. But taken outside of the context that he is “replacing” Mulder or whatever: he is his own guy, with his own arc, and I love so many elements of his performance. I love his skepticism, his wry humor … but what makes it for me is that his face is so sad. It is etched with pain. This is a man who is one of the walking wounded. I also like that he is surrounded by tough mouthy broads and he never once belittles them, shows contempt for them, or tries to lord his male-ness over them. He’s not like that. He listens, he argues, he shakes his head in disbelief, but Season 9 is about a triangulation partnership: three people. Very difficult. But the dynamic works.

The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 2, “Nothing Important Happened Today, Part 2” (2001; d. Tony Wharmby)
Paranoia and melodrama.

Criminal Minds, Season 1, Episode 3 “Won’t Get Fooled Again” (2005; d. Kevin Bray)
I like to let off steam watching this show. I don’t know why. I’ve seen these episodes a million times.

Criminal Minds, Season 1, Episode 4 “Plain Sight” (2005; d. Matt Earl Beesley)
Ditto.

10,000 Saints (2015; d. Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini)
Enjoyed it, reviewed for Ebert.

The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 3, “Daemonicus” (2001; d. Frank Spotnitz)
Doggett and Reyes investigate a case. Scully is busy being a new mother. She enters the action only sporadically. It takes some getting used to. But I found the two new actors wonderful together. Also, please kiss, you two.

The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 4, “4-D” (2001; d. Tony Wharmby)
A near-death experience that will then be mirrored at the end of the season.

Tom at the Farm (2015; d. Xavier Dolan)
A bit much, and it doesn’t really work, but there are parts of it that are gorgeous. Dolan is young. Super-young. Who knows what will happen with him. Reviewed for Ebert.

The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 5, “Lord of the Flies” (2001; d. Kim Manners)
Another gross bug episode. What is it with Kim Manners and bugs?

The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 6, “Trust No 1.” (2001; d. Tony Wharmby)
HOLY SHIT. “Dearest Dana.” Dearest Dana???? Breath-taking.

Criminal Minds, Season 1, Episode 5 “Broken Mirror” (2005; d. Guy Norman Bee)
Women are in danger. Always.

Criminal Minds, Season 1, Episode 6 “LDSK” (2005; d. Ernest R. Dickerson)
It’s interesting to see how the series grew. It’s still pretty self-conscious here, with the behavioral analysts being super-imposed on imagined action on a green screen behind them, “imagining” their way into the killer’s head. It’s pretentious. They dropped that “device” pretty quick. Mandy Patinkin is amazing: coiled and focused and pained and smart.

Fast & Furious 4 (2009; d. Justin Lin)
Watched while I was recovering from surgery because it’s comforting and entertaining. Mum got sucked into it too. That opening sequence with the tanker and Michelle Rodriguez. Amazing.

Criminal Minds, Season 1, Episode 7 “The Fox” (2005; d. Guy Norman Bee)
Serial killers are everywhere. And they are smarter than you and me. Always. And hey, Guy Norman Bee!

Criminal Minds, Season 1, Episode 8 “Natural Born Killer” (2005; d. Peter Ellis)
Hi, Peter Ellis!

Survivor’s Remorse, Season 1, Episode 4, “The Decisions” (2014; d. Bradley Buecker)
A re-watch before Season 2 premiered. My cousin Mike created the show. My cousin Kerry has appeared on the show twice. My brother Brendan is on the writing staff. I am proud of my family. This is a terrific show.

Survivor’s Remorse, Season 1, Episode 5, “Out of the Past” (2014; d. Mike Mariano)
One of the best things about Survivor’s Remorse is how it sets you up to think an interaction is going to go one way, due to our preconceived notions. And then … boom. The undercut. We see a more human and flawed version of events. It’s so refreshing.

Survivor’s Remorse, Season 1, Episode 6, “Six” (2014; d. Victor Levin)
A woman emerges from the past. We get more backstory. This is a family that really cares about each other.

His Private Secretary (1933; d. Phil Whitman)
Early John Wayne, before he became “John Wayne”. It’s cheaply done, it’s barely an hour, but John Wayne is really good. It’s easy to be good when the entire industry is set up to please you, to give you the best roles, to create movies around you. It’s not so easy to be good in something shallow and thrown together: Wayne is charming, funny, natural, and sexy.

The Shooting (1966; d. Monte Hellman)
A moody mysterious masterpiece. It’s out on Criterion, with a video-essay on the great Warren Oates by my friend Kim Morgan. Get it. The Shooting stars Warren Oates, Millie Perkins and Jack Nicholson. It’s incredible.

Gimme Shelter (1970; d. Albert Maysles, David Maysles)
I’ve seen it a bunch, of course, but this time, still in recovery from surgery, I listened to the commentary track, which is fascinating. The insider view of what it was like on that crazy awful day.

Supernatural, Season 2, Episode 18, “Hollywood Babylon” (2007; d. Phil Sgriccia)
A re-watch in preparation for a re-cap, whenever I’ll get to it. I love this episode.

Supernatural, Season 2, Episode 19, “Folsom Prison Blues” (2007; d. Mike Rohl)
“Poor … giant … Tiny.” Another great episode, one of my favorites in Season 2.

The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 7, “John Doe” (2002; d. Michelle MacLaren)
Michelle MacLaren’s first directing job. It’s amazing. The light is all saturated and bleached out, a glamorous and yet dried-out look. Robert Patrick’s breakdown, when he remembers, again, about his son, was heart-wrenching. He’s so so good! Why doesn’t he get enough credit for this performance? What a character.

The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 8, “Hellbound” (2002; d. Kim Manners)
Monica Reyes is a bit nutty, even for the X-Files people. I like that, though. They aren’t setting her up as a kook, or a Mulder stand-in. She is her own thing. It would have been so easy to make fun of that character, or to set her up as “female competition” (yuk). Instead, she’s an excellent collaborator with her own view on things.

Phoenix (2015; d. Christian Petzold)
One of my favorite movies of 2015 so far. Review here.

The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 9, “Provenance” (2002; d. Kim Manners)
Here we go.

Break Point (2014; d. Jay Karas)
Watched to review for Rogerebert.com. It opens this Friday.

The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 10, “Providence” (2002; d. Chris Carter)
Intense. Scully’s baby is rising in importance.

Straight Outta Compton (2015; d. F. Gary Gray)
Another one of my favorite movies of the year thus far. Review here.

Stella Dallas (1937; d. King Vidor)
You know, I cry every time. Especially that scene when Stella goes to see her husband’s new woman and says “Please take my daughter.” That scene is KILLER. Stanwyck has no vanity. That character is a mess. A complicated mess. She does not hold back.

20 Fingers (2004; Mania Akbari)
Directed and written by the hugely talented Mania Akbari (she’s a formidable person), 20 Fingers also stars Akbari with Bijan Daneshmand – the only other cast member. Daneshmand is also a talented and fascinating guy, known mainly as a producer. This is a short film, barely over an hour, but it features a series of vignettes, written by Akbari, showing the contemporary issues facing individual men and women in Iran. Some are funny-ish, some are disturbing (the first one especially), and some are interesting in the way that good writing can remain on the surface but also suggest disturbances in the depths. These two actors are incredible. They play a series of totally different characters. Oh, and each vignette is just one take. The cumulative effect of all of this is devastating. One of the unspoken and yet totally clear subjects of the film is how patriarchy doesn’t really empower men after all: it weakens them, makes them brittle and small and afraid. It’s not just about what patriarchy does to women. Patriarchy RUINS men. Bold and radical.

Five: Dedicated to Ozu (2003; d. Abbas Kiarostami)
Kiarostami is so intellectual in his process and a wonderful manipulator of events onscreen. This film is made of a series of long takes (five in total), dedicated to the great Japanese master of the long take Yasujirō Ozu. How to describe these long takes? There is no dialogue. One involves a cluster of dogs lying on the beach (each “take” happens on the beach). One involves a piece of driftwood being sucked back out to sea. One involves the reflection of a full moon in a small pool of water. One involves an army of ducks marching along the beach. There is a structure to these events. The takes are all about 10, 15 minutes long (some longer). It may try your patience. But what ends up happening is you start to get drawn into the images onscreen, repetitive and yet always in flux, and all kinds of thoughts and associations start coming up as you make your own sense of what is going on.

The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 11, “Audrey Pauley” (2002; d. Kim Manners)
Amazing episode. Loved it. it reminded me of “In My Time of Dying,” the Supernatural episode also directed by Manners.

The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 12, “Underneath” (2002; d. John Shiban)
A Doggett-centric episode, a dirty-cop police procedural. I love Robert Patrick so much (have I said that??): he is positively riveting onscreen. “You broke my heart,” he says to his partner with such openness I gasped.

The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 13, “Improbable” (2002; d. Chris Carter)
Burt Reynolds shows up. Burt Reynolds!! I adore this episode. It reminded me of Jacques Tati, with its understanding of math, its symmetry, its group scenes where people move in seemingly random ways but that make sense in a larger pattern. It ends with a musical number. This episode is insane and I am in love with it.

The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 14, “Scary Monsters” (2002; d. Dwight Little)
Moody Monster of the Week.

The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 15, “Jump the Shark” (2002; d. Cliff Bole)
Lone Gunmen-centric. Moving towards the end of the series now: re-visiting all of the characters who populate this world. I cried at the end.

The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 16, “William” (2002; d. David Duchovny)
Duchovny’s style as a director is so damn romantic. Heart-wrenching episode.

The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 17, “Release” (2002; d. Kim Manners)
Tying up a loose end with Doggett’s back-story. Doggett Doggett Doggett. I’m so taken with this man, his closeups, the thoughts, the emotions, the blazing blue eyes filled with pain. Maybe he’ll be okay after all. Mark Snow pulls out all the stops with his stunning score.

The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 18, “Sunshine Days” (2002; d. Vince Gilligan)
Cannot EVEN with the Brady Bunch theme! “Bobby? Cindy??” TOO MUCH.

The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 19, “The Truth: Part 1 and 2” (2002; d. Kim Manners)
Kim Manners brought the series to a close. Mulder returns. I’m now getting used to seeing Scully and Mulder kiss and that may be the most unbelievable thing about this series. The final shot … with its womb-like intimacy … was gorgeous. Closing the series out. I am sure fans were hoping for more. Or, some fans. But ultimately: what matters in this life? What truth is the most important? The ties that bind us together, our connections, and our love.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008; d. Chris Carter)
Really really enjoyed the second movie. It’s a relationship movie. Mulder has a beard.

Man of the World (1931; d. Richard Wallace)
An early Carole Lombard. It’s interesting to see her, pre Twentieth Century, when she emerged as the screwball-dame comedic genius that we all know her to be. Here, she plays a straight leading lady, charming and gorgeous and thoughtful, but with not one funny line. William Powell is gorgeous and sad, living a bad life, filled with guilt. And loved the ending. Unexpectedly dark. But right, ultimately.

We’re Not Dressing (1934; d. Norman Taurog)
What is not to love about this movie? Let me list the details:
1. Norman Taurog, eventually known for directing most of the Elvis movies, directed this maniac film.
2. Bing Crosby as a sailor, who sings constantly. He sings as disaster ensues. He sings five full songs, and the songs are long as hell. He’s gorgeous.
3. Carole Lombard, now fully emerged as her comedic self. Watch her facial expressions as Bing sings to her.
3. Ethel Merman, singing, and riding a bicycle through the ocean in her pant suit.
4. A roller-skating bear.
5. Ray Milland as a tuxedo wearing Prince, desperate to win the favor of Carole Lombard.
6. All of these people are shipwrecked on a deserted island. Or, they think it’s deserted, when actually there are two other people living on the island. Those two other people are:
7. George Burns and Gracie Allen.
8. Carole Lombard is a spoiled rich brat. Bing Crosby sings love songs to her but also treats her callously. “Callously” as in: he attempts to rape her because it’ll serve her right. Later, he says to her that she wouldn’t have even been worth it. And this is the HERO of the film.
9. At one point, Carole Lombard, soaking wet, stands behind a rock and disrobes. She wrings out her filmy sheer underpants. She hangs them out to dry. So for the rest of the movie you know she is stalking around commando. So there’s that. But then a brisk wind whips the underwear into the air, and carries them through the tropical forest where they land at Gracie Allen’s feet, unnoticed at first. Gracie then proceeds to put on Carole Lombard‘s underwear, thinking it is her own.
10. Can you tell this is Pre-Code?
11. This movie is literally INSANE.

Update: Found this gif online of Carole Lombard in We’re Not Dressing standing on the ship-deck and hearing Bing Crosby sing from the deck below. I can’t stop watching it.

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131 Responses to August 2015 Viewing Diary

  1. Wren Collins says:

    Sheila, having read your viewing diaries I started the X-Files. I’m already on Season Three and I think it’s lovely- Mulder and Scully looking at each other with heart eyes and SO MANY beautiful Kim Manners episodes. Also: ‘Solve the mystery of the horny beast.’

  2. sheila says:

    Wren – so psyched! and boy, those “heart eyes” last 9 seasons!! Can you imagine the slow burn of it all? My friend Keith (who has been my guide and partner-in-crime) describes the emotional trajectory of the entire show as going from ice-cool to boiling hot. (And that is made explicit in the end credits images of the second movie). I really like that analysis.

    And yes, it’s so fun to have so much more of Kim Manners’ gorgeous vision!

    • sheila says:

      Season 2 is when X-Files hooked me – those opening scenes where they were separated.

      And how great is it to see Rufus, from Supernatural, again??

      • Wren Collins says:

        Yeah, I think the one where I got hooked was probably Humbug. ‘But… I am an FBI agent.’ The whole thing was just SO SILLY. (And Syzyrgy or however you spell it. Scully bursting in on Mulder being mauled and looking HORRIFIED… and then just going ‘They found another body’ and vamoosing.)
        And yes! Rufus! So many SPN cast members. I was so excited to see a young Mark Sheppard in Season One as well. Then I’ve spotted the lady shapeshifter from Two And A Half Men, the Smoking Man appeared in Scarecrow as the creepy professor…
        I’m having a really hard time accommodating to Mitch Pileggi playing such a decent guy, actually. Samuel Winchester was just AWFUL… in a nice, vaguely ambiguous way… but not at all trustworthy. And Skinner’s the total opposite of that. Very reassuring character.
        Plus, Gillian Anderson is GORGEOUS… I’ve been known to lose track of the plot staring at her freckles. I’m not sorry.

        • sheila says:

          Wren – ha!! This is all so great. I, too, watch X-Files and am like, “Oh! He/she was in Supernatural!” And I can’t believe I didn’t clock The Smoking Man as the evil professor in Scarecrow! Good call!!

          Jim Beaver shows up at one point in one of my favorite episodes (and it’s been fun when he’s “showed up” on my site too to comment from to time on my John Wayne posts – I was like, “Bobby??”)

          // I’m having a really hard time accommodating to Mitch Pileggi playing such a decent guy, actually. //

          I know!! I loved in the commentary track for one of the SPN episodes with Samuel Winchester – someone said (Robert Singer? Not sure who) – that they had always wanted to use him because of how good he was on X-Files. Oh, I know – it was the episode where Dean goes back in time. And Samuel Winchester becomes the demon – that preening almost burlesquey demon. So good!!

          But yeah: it took me a while to get used to not seeing Skinner as a villain-just-waiting-to-show-his-true-colors. I am so glad he’ll be returning for the 6-episodes coming up!

          // I’ve been known to lose track of the plot staring at her freckles. I’m not sorry. //

          Tooooootally. It seems like in the first season they were figuring out how to shoot her – (similar to JA in Supernatural, actually: like, don’t treat this Beauty casually. Highlight it, go CRAZY with it). And then when it clicks … wow. And her blue eyes.

          They’re also (Duchovny and Anderson) just so good-looking TOGETHER. There’s something so pleasing about their faces together on the screen.

          // Scully bursting in on Mulder being mauled and looking HORRIFIED //

          hahahahahaha I love that episode too.

          • sheila says:

            and Nicky Aycox is one of the episodes – and then she shows up again in the second movie with a pretty crucial part. Good to see her again too!

  3. Wren Collins says:

    Re Burlesquey demon- I actually totally forgot about that episode, but yes! Season Six is my absolute favourite, so I always think of Samuel’s role in that first (and my god is he despicable. Yet weirdly… not-quite-hateable? Or thereabouts? Idek.)
    And yes to Duchovny and Anderson together! I get similar vibes with Padalecki and Ackles together, though at least I’m not constantly screaming at the screen for them to kiss.
    And on another note, awesome that you’re enjoying SPN s10- it’s actually one of my favourite seasons. It’s just so… healing in a way… not just for the characters, but for the whole LOOK of the show. It gets all shadowy and noir again and Sam and Dean look so pale and crappy (yet obviously beautiful). Plus Sam feels PRESENT in s10. Not that he didn’t in s9, but it was like, for half of it we knew something he didn’t, so he just seemed kinda faded in a way. But in s10- especially the first three episodes- I love that drive to save Dean. And all the Sam POV later on as well, and the fact that they managed not to neglect the presence of either brother… so satisfying to me. It’s so great that the show can still test and stretch the actors like this.
    Sheila, have you watched Sherlock? I think it’d appeal to you. It’s very funny, there are two fascinating main characters (who may or may not be shagging, I don’t think anyone knows any more) and the whole thing is BEAUTIFUL. Just so gorgeously done.

    • sheila says:

      // Season Six is my absolute favourite //

      It’s one of my favorites too – Season Six and Season Two are the winners for me.

      and yeah, Samuel Winchester! You want to like him. He’s a family member. He’s a potential father figure! But boy. Where it all goes. I love that he brought him back after that. I love the dynamic he brings – how he has that mix of stern certainty but then … insecurity/worry. You know what I mean? Like, he is so strong himself, a big tall man, and yet – he backs down, guilty and shifty-eyed, when he’s faced with someone stronger. It’s such honest work. There’s a lot of that with Skinner, too I think – who is pulled in so many different directions.

      // It’s just so… healing in a way… not just for the characters, but for the whole LOOK of the show. //

      I totally agree with you. I really enjoyed Season 10. The time it took for conversation, contemplation, thought. It was a real Sam/Dean relationship season. And YES to Sam being “present.” It was great to see, after all the torment of Season 9, and Sam backing off from his brother (which needed to happen – but I think it’s great how it all played out in Season 10.)

      It’s interesting semi-binge-watching it, as opposed to parceling the episodes out in real time during the season. I can sense the coherence of the season – which makes the elements that don’t work (for me) – stand out even more. But in general: I think it is a really strong season, with some awesome episodes – both stand-alone and Arc-episodes.

      // And all the Sam POV later on as well, and the fact that they managed not to neglect the presence of either brother… so satisfying to me. //

      Right. Because Dean or Sam as “worrier/caretaker of the other” is kind of played out. And the whole keeping-things-from -one-another doesn’t really work anymore – and so the openness between the brothers, Sam’s open concern, and Dean’s willingness to be honest, to not bullshit Sam – it was totally new stuff. I really loved it.

      and no, I haven’t watched Sherlock. I should, I am sure I will love it!!

      • Wren Collins says:

        The Gamble years get so much crap- I write for a blog on which every single other writer seems to hate Season Six- but I love the Soulless arc. Like, it’s such a relief when Sam reappears halfway through the first episode, and yet… something’s wrong. And slowly it kind of dawns that Sam’s never really been back. So when he DOES get back, the relief is just astronomical. I bingewatched 12 episodes in a row because I had to see him get his soul back (finished at 4 am, had school the next morning & fell asleep in a History exam) but episode 12 is basically just founded on Dean’s incredible relief. He wallows in it. It carries the whole episode. And up til then I’d felt such SYMPATHY for Dean, trying to chivvy this giant soulless killing machine around. (I think JA’s work on the Soulless arc’s actually really underappreciated. And the Beautiful Loser music cue NEVER gets discussed but it makes me cry my eyes out.)

        Re Skinner, I just finished the killer cats episode (which, pffft) and he seems to get beaten up an awful lot for a guy that huge. (Who doesn’t actually look that big next to Ackles and Padalecki. Duchovny on SPN would be a midget.)

        S10 was definitely such a relationship season. Crowley and Mama Crowley (LOVE Rowena.) Sam and Dean. (And Impala. Very excited for the s11 Baby episode.) Cas and… idk, probably his pimpmobile. (Though I liked Cas in Book Of The Damned. Especially the grace recovery scene. For some reason I loved the music in that. Exciting and yet weirdly sobering.)

        It’s so interesting to contrast SPN and the X-Files, with so many of the same people working on them. X-Files was such a sensation and SPN’s more of a niche thing, but still. SPN has this grimy glamour that X-Files lacks, but the shadings of the main-character relationships are, in both cases, just so well-done. They GET relationships, these guys.

        By the way, I totally agree about Hannah. I cringe every time at the ‘five bean surprise’ joke. Like, that was supposed to be… okay. It was like they were trying to get back that ‘early Cas’ vibe with her, but the actress just couldn’t carry it. Yet she’s lauded by the fandom in many areas. Excepting the Destiel areas.
        I did like her scene with Metatron though. And the bit in Inside Man where she came back male.

        • sheila says:

          Wren – so glad to hear of a Soulless Sam fan. I had hoped that Demon Dean would be explored with the same depth. I mean, Soulless Sam was cavorting around soulless for almost half the season. It was awesome (and JP KILLED it).

          I also loved that on the one side we had Soulless Sam, and on the other side Domestic Boyfriend/Stepdad Dean. Total re-imagining of these guys in two totally unfamiliar contexts. (Honestly, the show could use more of that. Maybe it’s coming. They’re 35 now. Enough with the monkish celibacy. It’s not just about sex – it’s about putting them in situations that challenge them, and challenge US.)

          // So when he DOES get back, the relief is just astronomical. //

          Yes! That hug!

          // I think JA’s work on the Soulless arc’s actually really underappreciated. //

          Agreed. Especially in the X-Files inspired episode – where the Soulless-ness was played for humor, and JA does some of his funniest work ever.

          “Beautiful Loser” isn’t discussed all that much??? My God, sometimes I just pop in that opening montage and watch only that. It’s gorgeous. What a season opener.

          Yes: keep us on our toes as an audience. Don’t keep giving us the same thing. Obviously it is a very diverse audience and we all care about different things. There are the Monster people, the Relationship people, the Sam people, the Destiel people, the PTSD people … I think it’s fine to disappoint one faction while they please another. We all (hopefully) feel taken care of in the end.

          Dean as Boyfriend was one of the most fascinating mini-arcs in the whole thing. Especially when contrasted to Soulless Sam and the Winchester Tribe. Just great great tension.

          In re: killer cats on X-Files: wasn’t that so stupid??

          Have you seen Skinner with his shirt off yet? I was like: “Oh my God, man, you are CUT.” Almost as cut as JP!

          Castiel’s pimp-mobile is hilarious.

          In re: SPN and X-Files: yeah, SPN to me runs hot, it always has a high fever. X-Files is chilly, cool … and SPN has that family-opera thing going on – which, I guess, X-Files does – especially in Mulder’s crazy family – but it just doesn’t have the same energy (although its effects are equally long-lasting). I like that contrast. And yes, for me X-Files is all about relationships. It’s those elements that really have reverb although I know many many people were in it for the government-conspiracy angles (which I also like).

          Hannah: “five bean surprise.” Ugh. In my opinion – and this is just me being all actress-critique-granular – I think her performance could have been saved if she had approached it with Misha-Collins-deadpan in mind. “five bean surprise” could have been hilarious if it had been deadpan. Instead, she always had that little quizzical smile on her face – which just seemed too human, too “knowing.”

          If she had been like – a cross between Misha in Season 4 – and, oh, Darryl Hannah in Splash – completely not understanding why it was “inappropriate” to walk around naked – it honestly could have worked.

          Her realization that she needed to go back to being human and make things right ends up feeling like a plot-point to get Castiel to go find Claire – when it actually could have been a really nice small arc for her character. If she had been totally deadpan angel-sociopath-blank at the start – totally unfamiliar with humans – then there would have been a chance for a change or a transformation.

          Ah well. She didn’t “ruin” it or anything but it’s strange to watch something REALLY not work on this show when (in my opinion) they have pretty good “pitch,” on the whole, as a team, as to story-line and character.

          • Wren Collins says:

            He did indeed kill it. Asdfghjkl. The Season Six finale is my #1 favourite episode. The three Sams. (And that is also hardly ever discussed. Whyyyyyy.)
            Clap Your Hands is also in my top 5. SO FUNNY. JA being all… slightly manic… and sitting on the other bed.
            ‘You should sit in the dark and suffer!’
            ‘Yeah, but can’t I do all that… and have sex with the hippie chick?’
            ‘No, because you would be suffering!’
            And re Beautiful Loser, same. I watched it nearly back-to-back with Swan Song. It HURTS. Like, he’s happy, and he’s (almost, kind of) content, but he also feels jaded, he misses how things used to be even though they were constantly in danger. Ugh. So tragic.

            And people all want different things from SPN. If the show goes in a direction a particular group doesn’t like, there’s no need to bitch- that’s what the ‘off’ button’s for. It’s a personal show. People tend to be in it for personal reasons.
            It was SO stupid! And taken so seriously. And Kim Manners made it so gorgeous too. I love that he just… RAN with it… despite how ridiculous it was.
            Actually, I love Grotesque, one of the preceding episodes… another Manners one, one of the most striking-looking episodes so far. It reminds me so much of the Gormenghast books.

            Also, Re Gillian Anderson, I’m currently reading/watching the TV show of Bleak House- she plays Lady Deadlock- and she’s fabulous. Icy-cold at first and then genuinely distressing. (She also has more close-ups than all the other characters combined. These people know what they’re about.)

            No, I haven’t seen shirtless Skinner… sounds surreal. The show is practically sexless. Like, don’t Mulder and Scully have lives outside their job? (Laughed SO hard at Scully smoking in Syzyrgy. And Mulder with his vodka.)

            The pimp-mobile is half the fun of Cas’s role in the last two seasons.

            Re SPN and X-Files, I enjoy the mythology of SPN- as a kid I was literally OBSESSED with faeries, dragons, you name it- and I’m not a conspiracy person, but I find all that stuff really interesting anyway. (I was actually in a queue in CEX, with the X-Files box set in hand, waiting to pay, when an old man in front of me started talking to an old lady behind me about how ‘all that stuff’ in the X-Files, well, there was more truth to it than most people knew, and how the old lady had seen a UFO when she was nine years old, and et cetera. But I’m really in both shows for the relationships. Though- at least at this point- Mulder and Scully strike me as having a much healthier relationship than Sam and Dean. But I love that about SPN as well, that we know how awful their bond can be yet we can’t bear it to be destroyed.

            Re Hannah: I’m barely 16 and know zilch about acting, but yeah. I think if Misha had said that line in s4 we’d’ve been in stitches. He’d’ve said it absolutely stone-cold. (Some of the STUFF they used to have that poor man say. My God.)

            Yeah, I don’t want to make out like Hannah spoiled the early episodes for me or anything, because I thought they were great on the whole. Like you say, it was just… odd.

          • sheila says:

            I am laughing out loud all over again remembering Dean saying to Soulless Sam: “You should sit in the dark and suffer.”

            And then of course my favorite line in perhaps the whole entire series, and I am laughing as I type this:

            “Do you have bigger cups?”

          • Paula says:

            I’m with you Wren – Sera Gamble and S6 were so underappreicated, but it took a rewatch for me to see that. Coming off S5, watching the eps back to back, it was so disconcerting to drop into the world of Domestic Dean and Not-Right Sam. Once you understood what was going on, Soulless Sam was brilliant. Great discourse on what does it mean to have a soul (be a soul, whatever).

            //Soulless Sam and the Winchester Tribe// Samuel as father figure and the extended family had such great potential. I like to think there are still other psycho hunter Campbell cousins running around out there. Christian’s wife knew about the life, what happened to her?

  4. Wren Collins says:

    And yesterday I actually googled whether or not Jim Beaver appeared in the X-Files. A thing came up saying he played a coroner or something. I was just like, ‘Of course. Of course they’d need Jim Beaver.’
    Also, the reverend from Faith appears a few times. He was in Soft Light. And in an episode in s3.

    • sheila says:

      And of course Benny has a tiny role, gone in a flash, as a prison guard.

      Yes, Jim Beaver was a coroner! Not just in one scene either – they brought him back in the end. Really good to see him.

      • Wren Collins says:

        Do you know which episode Benny was in? Or Season? I’ll keep an eye out. I really like Ty Olsson. Thought it was great that they brought him back in Werther Project. The Purgatory scene was gorgeous…
        Jim Beaver is so wonderful that he has made NINE post-mortem appearances on SPN. It’s so cool to see all the same faces. The X-Files is like alien-flavoured SPN ten years earlier. And with worse VFX, but that can’t be helped.

        • Lyrie says:

          I think it was season 5.:)
          And yes, that Purgatory scene in season 10! Awesome to see Benny again. Ah, Benny.

        • sheila says:

          He played the inexperienced security guard in Season 5’s “Kitsunegari” – he’s so baby-faced I almost didn’t recognize him.

          and yes, it was so so awesome to see him again in Season 10. Bah! If it only had been real!

          • Lyrie says:

            Wren:
            //Benny, you lovely fanged teddy that everyone was suspicious of back in the day.//
            They were? Of course, they were. I didn’t really have time to be suspicious because I was binge-watching. So to me it was clear that it was probably the healthiest relationship Dean ever had.
            But yeah, I remember Benny’s introduction and thinking: “That was some weird hug. Who the hell IS this guy?”

            Sheila:
            // he’s so baby-faced I almost didn’t recognize him.//
            Yes, but the blue, blue eyes!

            // Bah! If it only had been real! //
            Someone really ought to go get this man out of Purgatory.

  5. Helena says:

    Another fascinating month’s viewing diary, Sheila. Somehow there’s always a film on your monthly list that makes me go, ‘how come I still haven’t seen this?’ This month, Moon. Still can’t figure out how I haven’t sat down to watch it yet. I mean, I love Sam Rockwell. And this film has gazillions of him. And Phoenix sounds super intriguing. Came out last year in the UK, I think, but passed me by :-( maybe because UK reviewers lack your gusto when it comes to talking about films.

    ‘Ends with a musical number’/’Ends with a fist fight … If only it wasn’t always a case of either/or. What’s wrong with both? I would have been very happy if Executioner’s Song had swapped the final fight for an aria. (warning, link probably starts with an ad.)

    • sheila says:

      Helena – Oooh, excited for you to see Moon!! I love Duncan Jones’ enthusiasm – he wrote the script too. There’s a great scene where Sam Rockwell plays ping-pong with himself – and it somehow manages to elevate itself over a “ooh, look at the CGI trickery” and actually feels like a real game.

      I also love how they went old-school with the space station. It looks like something out of 1960s sci-fi. Thought that was great. But yeah, it’s about this dual role played by Rockwell. So excellent!! Look forward to hearing your thoughts about it.

      American critics are going crazy for Phoenix! Although yeah, I’ve read some reviews that talk about the unbelievable coincidences, and how “obvious” it is – but I really disagree with that. This is not totally a realistic story. It’s a nod to noir and melodrama. Also, I think some were offended by the use of the Holocaust, but I figure: this is a German film. Come on. It’s about guilt and identity. Despite the fact that they started two World Wars in a 15 year period … I think at this point, they’re allowed to continue to explore that event and what impact it had on Germans and Jews alike.

      Nina Hoss blows me away, too. :)

      I am so curious about what you are linking to – but cannot watch it at present. Will do so later!

      An aria would have been awesome for Executioner’s Song.

      “Then they burned my mooooother …” (Dean bopping his head to the beat and then catching himself.)

    • Wren Collins says:

      SWEET JESUS THAT LINK

    • Jessie says:

      You have to see Moon, Helena! All the pieces work really well. The soundtrack is terrific!

  6. Lyrie says:

    // (and it’s been fun when he’s “showed up” on my site too to comment from to time on my John Wayne posts – I was like, “Bobby??”) //
    He has? ELLSWORTH was here? (sure, he’ll always be Bobby, but Deadwood lives in my heart forever too, so.) Holy shit, that’s awesome! I love him.

    When Mulder disappeared, I tried to keep watching like I had been, but I slowed down… Then watched Sons of Anarchy in its entirety. Then the season 4 of Once Upon a Time (Jennifer Morisson does the Single Woman Tear so well. She also does the Perfect Tear when kissing. I love her.)

    But now I’m back on track, and Mulder is back! At least for a few episodes. The fist time Doggett and Mulder meet broke my heart. I really love Doggett. And I love Monica Reyes, even though I have seen her only in two episodes. I love the actress – who happens to be in one of the hottest scenes I’ve ever seen in Sons of Anarchy (it involves bikes – of course – a cop car, and a Scottish man. Too much. Too much!)
    And I love that Scully says “I like her.”

    I re-watched the end of the season 2 of Supernatural, and started season 3. This summer has not been the worst, but some stuff were definitely shitty. Summer usually is. I had been waiting for a very important answer. The kind of decision that can be life-changing but once you’ve done your part you can only wait like a poor soul refreshing the page of the government of Canada. Waiting by the phone was maybe a little less cruel. For obsessive idiots like me, having to refresh a fucking page is torture. After several weeks of being unable to do anything else, I started refreshing it in my dreams.

    After a sleepless night watching Sons of Anarchy, I decided I was ready to watch What Is and What Should Never Be. Sleepless me cried like the sleepless idiot I was. Then I thought “Sure, it’s 4 in the morning, but maybe I should check that page again. Wouldn’t it be fun if the answer I’ve been wishing for appeared RIGHT NOW? It would be either a cosmic sign, or a sign that I’m in a djin-induced dream myself? God, I’m insane and maybe I should just go to bed.
    I refreshed the page.
    THE answer was there. At 4 in the morning.
    I cried and laughed at the same time for a while, then decided I was ready for All Hell Breaks Loose.
    This show keeps me company in my madness, and I love it.

    // can’t stand “Cutesy” Castiel: Ugh//
    Ugh. UUUUGH.

    Helena!! I really have to watch Galavant. So many tv shows! It will never end!

    • sheila says:

      Lyrie – you have alluded to your shitty summer, and I am so sorry to hear that. But wow, what a story about What Is and What Never Should Be, and Sons of Anarchy, and waiting for “the answer.” Girl, I haven’t experienced exactly that but I KNOW that feeling.

      I swear, some of my “escape routes” have (probably literally) saved my life. Certainly perked up my mood (which, in my case, is kind of the same thing.)

      // This show keeps me company in my madness, and I love it. //

      Yes! It’s one of the many reasons I’m glad it wasn’t just a 2 or 3 season show. Good or bad, we have 10 seasons (soon to be 11) to re-live, re-watch, keep us company. Thank God!

      and yeah! Ellsworth! He linked to a couple of my John Wayne posts on his FB page, and also left comments here, and I am awed and grateful – not just because he is who he is, but because he is basically a film historian, and John Wayne is his favorite actor – so it’s always good to get the stamp of approval from someone like that. (John Wayne fans can be tough cookies.)

      // I love that Scully says “I like her.” //

      I know, me too! The stamp of approval from the series’ star. Annabeth Gish went to college with my cousin Kerry (also mentioned in this post – will the connections never cease??) – and I remember her way back when from Mystic Pizza (filmed about 20 miles from my house, actually) – and it’s nice to see her continuing to get good roles. Also, I LOVE her wardrobe in X-Files. She looks like a million bucks, but in a very ‘real woman’ kind of way.

      Very glad you got your “answer,” Lyrie!! Bureaucratic red-tape stuff is some of the most soul-sucking experiences in modern life.

  7. Helena says:

    Sheila you have sold me on Phoenix and I now must now track it down. Coincidences and melodrama? I’m in. A couple of this month’s most enjoyable watches were a couple of Douglas Sirk films including Written on the Wind – how pink, how red, how drunkenly crazy can you get? I love his Transgressive Happy Endings.

    Lyrie, I’m very glad for you re the life changing thing and psyched that somehow SPN interwove itself into a crucial moment. And Galavant – I’ve actually not watched the whole thing, just snippets. But what snippets. Timothy Omundsen looks so hot in a crown.

    I’d hazard for SPN-character-spotting games Battlestar Galactica is hard to beat. It turned into my post-surprise surgery (clearly this year’s must have) viewing after Sheila’s Roadkill recap and all that Tricia Helfer love. God, EVERYBODY from SPN is in it – every demon, grumpy old sheriff, pagan god, pool attendant, doctor, the girl-who-gets-shot-by-soulless-Sam – as well as Benny, Ellen, Rick Worthy the Alpha Vamp.

    • sheila says:

      // Written on the Wind //

      Yes!! There is definitely a lot of Sirk-ian qualities to Phoenix, as well as the obvious noir aspects. I also loved its examination of identity/beauty. A beautiful woman’s face is destroyed. It has to be rebuilt. She is given a choice of how her features should be re-built (implicit, there, I think, “wouldn’t you prefer to look more Aryan, even still?” although I could be reading into that). She says she wants to look just like she used to look. Very understandable. But then – when that job is (supposedly) done (we never see what she looked like before) – her experience has altered her so much that she cannot “fit” into her own skin anymore. She doesn’t relate at all to who she used to be. But are we our faces? How much of what we look like is us? And if people react to our beauty, or lack of it – doesn’t that BECOME who we are?

      I LOVED that aspect of it. And wait til you see the hunk-ish husband. Amazing actor.

      // every demon, grumpy old sheriff, pagan god, pool attendant, doctor, the girl-who-gets-shot-by-soulless-Sam //

      That sentence, in a nutshell, is why I love this crazy Supernatural show.

    • sheila says:

      Helena – yikes, I missed the mention of surgery somehow. Hope all is well!!

      Good elevision/entertainment is a total requirement for recovery from surgeries.

  8. Lyrie says:

    // (Laughed SO hard at Scully smoking in Syzyrgy//
    Right? That was so great. I love the silly episodes so, so much.

    // He’d’ve said it absolutely stone-cold. (Some of the STUFF they used to have that poor man say. My God.) //
    Deadpan Castiel is one of my favorite thing in the whole show. Nothing makes me laugh like “HE’s your prophet?” “You should have seen Luke.”
    “YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN LUKE?” I. Just. Can’t.

    Wren Collins: I’m about to write very spoilery stuff about X-Files, if you haven’t already seen the whole show. Now’s your chance to avoid them, if that’s something you care about.:)

    // The show is practically sexless. Like, don’t Mulder and Scully have lives outside their job?//
    Yes. Now, almost at the end of season 8, I can say I am worried for these people. I mean, Mulder is the father and they haven’t even fucked? WHAT THE HELL?
    At this point, I must say I imagine them masturbating all the time. At the end of almost every scene where they’re together. Masturbating in the car, masturbating at home, at the office before and after a meeting, masturbating in the FBI elevator,… I mean COME ON! That’s unbearable otherwise!

    • Wren Collins says:

      Silly episodes! Yes! Humbug was just like, OH GAWD. And Cophrages! ‘Her name is Bambi?’
      Love deadpan Cas. ‘So we’re looking for some kind of insect-rabbit hybrid.’ ‘Oh, he’s one of the funniest angels in the garrison.’ Just. Omfg. Wut.
      Haha okay, stopped reading :)

      • sheila says:

        That “funniest angel” is one of the funniest moments in the entire show.

        Once I saw the gag reels and saw how much laughing goes on between these guys – it is amazing to me they ever get through a take without bursting into laughter.

        “You should have seen Luke.” GREAT.

        • Wren Collins says:

          Have you seen the s10 gag reel? There’s one take of a scene from Soul Survivor where JP, JA and Misha are all wearing Christmas jumpers, trying to keep their faces straight as they play a very serious scene.

          • sheila says:

            I haven’t seen it yet. But JA and JP have it easier than poor Misha who has to do that deadpan thing. There’s that one desperately huge closeup in one of the gag reels (can’t remember which one) – and he is right in JA’s face, violating the whole personal space thing, and with every take, you can see Misha DYING inside, BARELY holding onto himself. And JA practically shaking with laughter in the corner of the frame.

            I have no idea how they get through it.

            It was like watching some of the outtakes for the British “Office.” One tiny scene took THIRTY TAKES. They could barely look at one another. They were completely out of control. It’s incredible that they somehow white-knuckled their way through it and got a clean take.

          • sheila says:

            and Misha saying Colorado wrong and JA and JP giggling like little kids.

            “Color-ehh-do.”

            He gets so insecure – like, what the hell am I saying that is so funny? They’re like, “THAT is how you say Colorado?”

    • sheila says:

      I loved Scully standing in the totally destroyed convenience store saying to Mulder on the phone: “Mulder, this town is insane.”

      // At this point, I must say I imagine them masturbating all the time. //

      hahahaha

      By the end, as that same vibe starts up with Doggett and Reyes, I find myself thinking: “Okay. This is a show about people who have no lives outside of work. They are obsessed to the point of mental illness. They sublimate ALL feelings into their jobs.”

      I also am inclined to agree with you. How do these people stand it?

      It’s even worse with Sam and Dean because they’re both so “hot” (as opposed to “cool” like the X-Files people) – these guys are sexual powerhouses. And they sit in the bunker watching Youtube clips and bickering over maps and sigils. Uhmkay.

      • Wren Collins says:

        Just like, wherefore art thou, Sam’s sex life? And we’ve not exactly seen much of Dean’s lately either.

        • sheila says:

          It’s getting annoying. And not realistic.

          Please note that I am saying this about a show where I accept the presence of hell hounds, angels of the lord, ghosts, vampires … and I find their CELIBACY unrealistic.

          Introducing women into that male-fest is definitely a challenge, no doubt. Especially since we don’t see them having sex/romances all that much anyway. It’s just not a real part of the show. But it is starting to get weird. I’d like to see some branching out, which seems like it’s coming. A romance that sort of blind-sides one of them, for example.

          Or maybe even something more twisty. I don’t know.

          Sam definitely seems ready.

          • sheila says:

            But I loved Demon Dean’s fling with the waitress, and LOVED the “relationship” with the woman in “About a Boy.” When I re-watched it, I liked it just as much as I did the first time.

            So well-written. I like the women they “pick” for interactions with these guys. Interesting choices.

          • Wren Collins says:

            Haha, yes. I’m totally down with the pishtacos, but the thing, the ONE THING that will never stop bothering me: why, in God’s name WHY, would Dean use his REAL. NAME. On the dating app. WHY.
            I liked Dean’s thing with the waitress. But when was Sam’s last love interest- Amelia? And I wasn’t keen on that. The whole ‘sickly golden haze’ thing. And I wasn’t seeing the chemistry.

          • sheila says:

            // why, in God’s name WHY, would Dean use his REAL. NAME. On the dating app. //

            Because he’s an idiot? hahahaha I know. And I cringed for him when I saw his ridiculous texts to her. Like – no. Too intimate and too gross. Funny though.

            and yeah, the Lysol haze-flashbacks with Amelia was AWFUL. Especially Sam having mini-strokes every 5 minutes as he went into his own flashbacks.

            I liked, though, that Amelia was a total mess. It was very eloquent of how much Sam has changed (and not in a bad way, necessarily). She was on the run, so was he. She was a wreck, so was he. Once upon a time, he dreamed of the woman who dressed up as a sexy nurse on Halloween and left him homemade cookies on the table. By Season 8, he was shacking up in a motel with some woman who is an adult, apparently, but still has not managed to learn that you don’t shove limes down the sink.

            I didn’t “like” Amelia as a person – know what I mean? – but I really liked the character, her mess, her rudeness, her weirdness. I know the fans were so hostile to her – “why is she being so rude??”, etc. but to me, that was just good script-writing.

            Like – Sam no longer dreams of domesticity like he did once upon a time. Amelia’s mess was comforting to him.

            But yeah: the filming of it and that yellow haze was GHASTLY.

          • Paula says:

            //and I find their CELIBACY unrealistic// hahahaha, I’m dying.

  9. Lyrie says:

    Re: Jim Beaver. That’s really awesome, Sheila !

    Helena: // I’d hazard for SPN-character-spotting games Battlestar Galactica is hard to beat. It turned into my post-surprise surgery (clearly this year’s must have) //
    I’m feeling so left out, now! But seriously: I hope everything went well and your recovery is/was quick and painless (or as much as possible, anyway).

    // God, EVERYBODY from SPN is in it //
    The X Files, SPN, BSG, but also Dark Angel and even, to a lesser extent, Once Upon a Time and iZombie: always the same actors! The Vancouver pool, I guess? Very often, you also see the same locations: the lake from Dead In the Water, the hospital from In My Time Of Dying,etc… I love these shows.

    // I swear, some of my “escape routes” have (probably literally) saved my life. Certainly perked up my mood (which, in my case, is kind of the same thing.) //
    That’s so familiar it’s a little scary.

    And re: “the answer”: Sheila, Helena, thank you both so much! Actually, Supernatural is what prompted me, in a way, to change SOMETHING about my life. Of course, it had been brewing for a while, but the show brought it to the surface. And without knowing it, you both helped a great deal (Helena, after you tweeted this to me, and after crying in the bathroom for 10 minutes, I was ready to take on the world!). Now, I just have to not fuck it all up, which is another kind of scary.
    But that’s still better than boring.

  10. Wren Collins says:

    // I am laughing out loud all over again remembering Dean saying to Soulless Sam: “You should sit in the dark and suffer.” //
    THAT ENTIRE EPISODE. Dean microwaving the faery. ‘It was… a little, naked lady. With… nipples. And… she hit me.’ Sam trying to hook up while Dean is being abducted on the other end of the phone. ‘Third kind already? You better run, man. I think the fourth kind’s a butt thing.’ That RIDICULOUS David Bowie music cue, which also happens to be one of my favourites of the entire series. Sam and the hippie girl when Dean comes back from being abducted. ‘Oh, Dean, hey!’ ‘Oh, that’s Dean?’
    And of course, ‘Do you have any bigger cups?’
    DYING.
    And- oh god- ‘If you wanna put glitter in that glue you’re sniffing, that’s fine, but don’t dump your whackadoo all over us. We’d rather not step in it.’
    ‘Sam, it’s not the lady’s fault she took the brown acid.’
    Petition for Ben Edlund to return to the pantheon.

    • Wren Collins says:

      I should get some kind of medal for quoting that from memory.

    • sheila says:

      Sam putting his hand on Dean’s knee comfortingly and Dean being all like, “that is totally weird.”

      JP’s face as JA says the line about a “little naked lady”. He can barely hold it together.

      Dean’s face when he sees Sam in bed with the hippie chick. HA.

      Also, how NUTS JA looks when he “shares” about his abduction experience with Sam – when he says, “There was a … white light …” – and he looks like a maniac. You know the moment I mean?

      And lastly: a moment that defies description – or screen-grabbing – but is my #1 favorite funny moment in the series. Dean on the phone, hissing in alarm to Sam – saying the words “bunch of fairies” and then getting self-conscious about saying those words on the street, and then his face goes dead, and he moves off-screen quickly. I mean, you cannot teach someone to “act” a moment like that. WHY is it so funny?? I never ever get sick of it.

      It’s pure schtick.

      • Wren Collins says:

        Some of the STUFF the show gets away with… add the entire episode to the collection of lines including ‘A little boy fingered a clown’, and ‘You hold him down while I knife him, and then we’ll all go out for ice-cream and strippers.’

      • Wren Collins says:

        And yes, that little disgusted look when Sam puts his hand comfortingly on Dean’s knee… and I know the exact moment. That was where my description of ‘manic’ came from. I’ve never seen anything quite like that scene, ever.

        Can you imagine the gag reels for this episode?

        And YES YES YES. Makes me laugh out loud.

        • sheila says:

          oh, and Dean moving so he’s sitting on the OTHER bed, not the one that Sam and the hippie defiled.

          One of my other favorite lines, made even funnier by JA’s line-reading:

          “They were grabby incandescent douchebags. Good night.”

          • Wren Collins says:

            //“They were grabby incandescent douchebags. Good night.”//
            I totally forgot about this line and now I’m trying not to laugh so loud that I awaken my ten-year-old brother.

          • sheila says:

            hahahaha for me, the officious “Good night” is just as funny as the first part. Oh God, I’m laughing out loud.

      • Wren Collins says:

        Omigod- another shticky episode- Red Sky At Morning. Dean hyperventilating over the Impala’s disappearance. The ‘don’t objectify me’. Bela swooning and Dean eating a canapé.
        ‘Can I shoot her?’
        ‘Not in public.’
        Yet that episode gets so much crap. I have no idea why.

    • sheila says:

      and yes: Ben Edlund!!

      You definitely deserve a medal.

      That is SUCH a quotable episode.

      • Wren Collins says:

        Some of Soulless Sam’s lines tho.
        ‘Oh, we’re just here to answer the questions of mouth-breathing dick-monkeys.’
        The freaking sass.

        • sheila says:

          and that cocky taunt of his head. It was so painful to watch. I was in agony – please, Sam, come back!

          But I loved the almost spiritual element of that whole soulless arc: what IS the soul? Is it just a conscience? Is Sam a psycho? When his soul is removed, he is still himself, still functioning, but without limits, remorse, or emotional understanding. But, on the other hand, he lets his freak flag fly and takes home the hippie chic a mere hour after his brother is abducted. (dying.)

          I loved the patience of that examination – how they really delved into the soul and what that actually MEANT. Gamble talked about it a lot on the commentary track for that episode and I really appreciated what she had to say.

          • Wren Collins says:

            I just ACHED for Sam to come back the whole way through. Like, in s5 he’s like this gentle, wounded giant, and then comes Soulless, and it’s like… run that by me again? What is this creature wearing Sam?

            And yes. I also love that they revisited that in s9, in Mother’s Little Helper- going even further into the concept of the soul. ‘Because if you had a soul, your soul wouldn’t let you.’ It’s so funny, but it’s really… thinky. And man, did they draw it out.
            I also love the little nuances of Soulless’s relationship with Dean. Like, he doesn’t fight back when Dean beats him up. He rips a pipe off a wall with his bare hands to bash in ghoul heads so Dean doesn’t die. The season starts because he goes to rescue Dean from djinn. He’s not some evil loon.

  11. Helena says:

    //But yeah: the filming of it and that yellow haze was GHASTLY.//

    And ew, BOILED PINK AND WHITE WORMS for dinner with dad.

    Bleugh.

  12. Wren Collins says:

    //Because he’s an idiot? hahahaha I know.//
    DEAN DAMMIT THREE YEARS AGO YOU WERE #2 ON THE MOST WANTED LIST FOR GOD’S SAKE.

    And re Amelia: I didn’t LIKE her like her, but I agree about it being well-written. I’ve seen a lot of whingeing about her being bitchy and why would anyone want to date her, but that’s just it, isn’t it- Sam does, despite this. But how awful would it have been if they HAD tried to go the whole perfection route, like a kind of Jess replacement? I can’t see it having worked at all.
    But yes. Lysol haze totally ruined the arc for me. Especially contrasted with the gorgeousness of the Purgatory flashbacks. I saw a thing you wrote a while back lamenting that Kim Manners hadn’t shot the Samelia flashbacks, and now I’m pretty sure I’m going to be dreaming about what they could have been like… *sniffles* don’t mind me, I’m just overly invested…

    • sheila says:

      Those Amelia flashbacks are, hands down, the worst this show has ever looked. It was barely competent!

      // why would anyone want to date her, //

      I do not understand fans who look at fictional stories this way. Or, I guess I do – but Amelia is one of those cases when it made total sense to me that she would be the way she was and that Sam would be attracted to that, feel safe in that. Because he didn’t have to pretend either.

      I also think that judging characters on whether or not they are “nice” to Sam and Dean is kind of limiting. I saw some Tumblr post (I know, I should stay off there) – where someone referenced the moment when Bobby flies off the handle, yells at Dean and calls him a “princess” – in a VERY heated moment – and that Tumblr person said, “This is why I will always despise Bobby.”

      I get feeling protective of the characters you love. But not to this degree . It makes you too resistant to conflict – and you need conflict for stories to continue.

      and yeah, Amelia, Lysol Haze or no, if she was a Jess replacement it would have been really juvenile and not right at all. Big lug Sam, with his haunted face, fitting in with some lovely domestic woman? Nope.

      That’s why I liked Lisa, too. Some thought had been given to that character. She wasn’t generic (although she did turn Oompa Loompa orange at one point and that made me sad.) I am not sure how a yoga teacher could afford the house she was living in – with that back yard – however: she had a lot going on, had room for Dean if he wanted to show up, but was busy being a mother otherwise. She was not a nag. She and Dean seemed to have the same level of commitment towards one another – if you know what I mean. It wasn’t “the greatest love of all time” – it didn’t start that way, and SPN didn’t make the mistake of presenting it that way. I found that really realistic.

      • Wren Collins says:

        I have the same problem with Tumblr. Right now there’s a giant cloud of Charlie-death wank going round and raining on imbeciles like me and Misha Collins, who are of the opinion that not killing people to be PC would be a very stupid idea indeed.

        And actually, the ‘princess’ moment- which is, I believe, in Lucifer Rising? Anyway, that argument just gave me so much satisfaction. It cleared the air.

        I don’t get people like that, if I’m honest. You can personally dislike a character- like Metatron- and that does not make him a bad character in a storytelling sense. And there’s something called moral ambiguity which I think Tumblr should acquaint itself with. And there’s also something called ‘teaching the Winchesters some fucking sense.’

        //big lug Sam, with his haunted face//
        Perfect description.

        I love Lisa. She reminds me of my stepmother, who is similarly nice. She was very… reasonable… like she wasn’t some ‘wronged woman’ archetype. And she GOT Sam and Dean’s relationship.
        Though the oompa-loompaism makes me sad, too.

    • sheila says:

      and yeah, can you imagine what Manners would have done with Amelia? And how dark her house would have been, how grungry-dark-sexy the motel room would have been? It would have done half the work for the actors!

  13. Wren Collins says:

    Also, what the hell with all the ‘rape apologist’ accusations? Based on the TRAILER? I just watched the promo. Do those people actually know what rape apology IS?

    • sheila says:

      I was baffled. The poor guy was like, “Please watch the episode first … I am not a rape apologist …” He seemed truly hurt (from what I could gather from his brief scared Tweets in response.)

      I would need to think like a Tumblr person to understand what they found objectionable. The sexy women in tight skirts? The “dating app”? The title? (Which is actually the title of an actual Elvis movie – so I’m gonna just make believe that that was deliberate).

      “Objectifying” women? It was all beyond me. and yeah – none of that adds up to rape apology.

  14. Lyrie says:

    You guys are KILLING me with the quotes of Clap Your Hands! I love everything about this épisode. And I’M sure I like it even more now that I’ve watched X Files.

  15. Lyrie says:

    After the major 5 seasons arc, I find that season 6 had some sort of that all-over-the-place quality that I loved in season 10 too, even if they are very different.

    Really, how can you not love a season with The French Mistake in it?

  16. Michelle says:

    I’ve jumped on the X-Files train! Friday night is my binge watch night that I allow myself as a treat after a long week at work. (I work in a child care center and work in the infant room….8 babies between 2 workers…I have no brain by the end of the week.) I’ve gotten through 16 episodes of Season 1 so far. So far, really enjoying it and it sounds like it gets even better in the second season.

    Fall of last year, I finally convinced my husband to watch Supernatural….I hooked him in with the Impala. It’s been a lot of fun re-watching it with someone else and getting another person’s perspective. Plus I get a lot of commentary on the car as we are watching…..A LOT of commentary. Apparently they have about 8 different cars that they use in the show…and my husband generally catches it every single time that they switch cars. We’ll be watching along and suddenly it will be “Pause there!! Rewind….Ah ha!!the radio dial in that shot was different then the one in the previous scene!”

    We finished the first 5 seasons a few weeks ago and just started Season 6. I adored the Souless Sam arc as well. I’d forgotten just how entertaining season 6 was. We watched Weekend at Bobby’s this past weekend and it was hilarious and yes, I am eagerly awaiting Clap Your Hands If You Believe…that is one of my absolute favorite episodes of the season.

    • Wren Collins says:

      Weekend At Bobby’s is hysterical.
      ‘Hey, are you there? You gotta help me bury a body!’

      Why’d you tell him to go outside?’
      ‘You said you had a body downstairs.’
      ‘Yeah, but I’ve got another body buried in the yard!’

      • Michelle says:

        Oh yes, I loved that part. I also loved Crowley imitating Bobby. “I want my soul back you idjit.” Also, “But I’m surly and I have a beard…” That whole part was hysterical. Rufus was pretty hysterical too. Bobby: “Don’t swallow the ring.” Rufus: “I’m swallowing the ring!”

        • Wren Collins says:

          And when the nice neighbour came to the door and offered him the peach pie thing!
          Bobby: …thanks.
          *distant screams of I’M DOWN HERE!*
          Bobby: Just some old horror flicks. Guilty pleasure.
          Neighbour: Me too! Have you seen Drag Me To Hell?
          Bobby: *thinks of Sam*
          Bobby: *thinks of Dean*
          Bobby: *winces*

          • Michelle says:

            Ahhh the neighbor. :-) Bobby bursting in her house with his gun yelling “Where’s your bedroom?” Then that scene of her standing there completely drenched in blood and him going “Well, I guess we could do dinner sometime…it might be fun.”

            Oh Bobby….how I love and miss you.

  17. Wren Collins says:

    So I watched Avatar, Jose Chung’s ‘From Outer Space’ (HYSTERICAL), and Quagmire… which was hardly less funny… poor Scully mourning that ridiculous dog…

    • sheila says:

      I love the scene in Quagmire with Scully and Mulder “shipwrecked” on the rock.

      and yes: Jose Chung!!! One of my favorite episodes – with the no-swearing? “that blankity blank …”

      • Wren Collins says:

        Laughed so hard when I realised they weren’t actually in the middle of the lake. Moby Dick’s been bumped up to next in line on my reading list.

        And Jose Chung was SO FUNNY. The twin interrogation scenes. The not-swearing. Mulder with the sweet potato pie. Ohmygod.

        Plus I thought Pileggi was awesome in Avatar.

  18. Jessie says:

    Speaking of stars and guests, I just saw Rob Benedict in the first episode of Documentary Now! which turned out to be Grey Gardens crossed with Ghostfacers. Synergy!!

  19. Paula says:

    So glad to see Moon on your list. Such a quiet twisty movie and Sam Rockwell can take on any role and absorb it. Of all the truly great roles, I’m a little embarrassed but my all-time favorite is Guy in Galaxy Quest. Cracks me up every time and I’ve seen that movie eight times. “Did you guys ever WATCH the show?!”

    • Jessie says:

      Galaxy Quest is a true classic, you’re not allowed to be embarrassed about it! He’s amazing in it. So funny in how naturally he starts applying sci-fi rules to reality. And his deliveries are magnificent. “I think we’re the green thingy.” “Can you form some sort of rudimentary lathe?” “Is there AIR? You don’t know! (gasp)”. The point-and-grin in the credits!

      My crush on Rockwell dates back to his betrayal of Drew Barrymore in Charlie’s Angels. The turn from milquetoast to evil dancing charisma god broke my brain. He is so great!

  20. Lyrie says:

    Fine.
    Watching Clap Your Hands if You Believe.

  21. Wren Collins says:

    Paula- I think Helena means that bit in Sympathy For The Devil where Chuck goes ‘Becky, it’s all real’ and she goes ‘I KNEW IT!’

  22. Paula says:

    I didn’t make the connection! How did I not know this?!

  23. Maureen says:

    How have I not seen We’re Not Dressing??? That gif of Lombard is hilarious-I love her so!!

    Thanks for the heads up, Sheila!

    • sheila says:

      Maureen – it is one of the craziest movies EVER. It’s included in my little box-set called The Carole Lombard Glamour Collection – I’m not sure if it’s on Netflix, although you can probably track it down elsewhere.

      And I felt concerned for the poor bear on roller skates but I admit I laughed!

      and also so much fun to see George and Gracie together!!

  24. Lyrie says:

    // The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 4, “4-D” (2001; d. Tony Wharmby) //

    Oh, OK, THEY’RE DOING IT AGAIN, AREN’T THEY? The sexuality of the characters of this show is to us what the truth is to Mulder: it’s out there, maybe, but never for us to find, never in a satisfying way. IS THAT IT, YOU FUCKER CHRIS CARTER?

    I’ve almost (almost) forgotten about Mulder and Scully. I love Doggett and Reyes. And I love Reyes and Scully. I love their relationship. When Scully was about to give birth, the way Reyes talked to her (“you’re beautiful”), looked at her, cared for her… It was beautiful and said a lot about that character. I love them. I’m so going to cry when this is over.

    Poor Doggett. He’s too honest for his own good.

    • sheila says:

      Lyrie – I am loving your responses!! I, too, love all the pairings in the new triangle of late Season 8 and Season 9. Mulder was gone – but there was so much else there – and also he sort of haunts the whole thing somehow.

      Doggett kills me.

  25. Lyrie says:

    // Another gross bug episode. What is it with Kim Manners and bugs? //

    Right? Every time!
    That episode was so stupid and gross and funny. I mean, the girl’s car is a bug! Ha!
    Aaron Paul! Jane Lynch, Samaire Armstrong!
    What a silly metaphor – no wonder nobody’s having sex in that world.
    I LOVED it.

    // The X-Files, Season 9, Episode 6, “Trust No 1.” (2001; d. Tony Wharmby)
    HOLY SHIT. “Dearest Dana.” Dearest Dana???? Breath-taking. //

    The teaser made me cry.
    With the first movie, it’s the third appearance of Terry O’Quinn in the X Files, I think.
    So, Scully was afraid of clowns. She should meet Sam Winchester. Also, Super Soldier said on a lonely night she invited Mulder in her bed. I can’t help but wonder when that was: when she has JUST given birth, or some other time? I want details, please, thank you.

    So far, I’m really enjoying season 9.

  26. Barb says:

    Hi, Sheila and everyone-

    I don’t know if this is the right place to put this, and I don’t want to hijack this thread, but we got back from the Supernatural VanCon last week, and I’ve been going around the web, pulling on my online acquaintances’ coatsleeves and trying to talk about it. I still feel a little like that poncho-wearing guy from Fan Fiction, covered in purple goo but smiling about it–it was, in fact, Awesome.

    I don’t want to take over this thread, though if anyone wants to hear me gush about it a bit, let me know. I am writing some short reports on my LJ, too, if anyone is interested,at http://tyrsibs.livejournal.com/

    • Jessie says:

      That’s so cool you had a good time, Barb! *high five*

    • mutecypher says:

      I read your reports. It sounds like an awesome experience. Good for you and your husband!

    • sheila says:

      Fun!! Thanks for sharing. What an adventure!

      • Barb says:

        It was a lot of fun–even my husband got into the spirit by Sunday. He said that the J’s were “true gentlemen” and fun to listen to.

        A side note on the photo ops. When we got home, I told the kids the “insisting on a hug from Jensen” story and then set the photo down in front of them with, I admit, a little flourish. My teenaged son physically moved away from the table, shouting, “oh, man!” He was so embarrassed–for me? for himself somehow? He wouldn’t say.

        Later I was teasing my husband about how I now need to make a little Supernatural shrine, and my son said, “You Cannot do that! What will I say to my friends when they come over and I open the closet door and they see THAT?” My husband came back with, “First of all, what are you doing in my closet?”

        :-) Just a funny for the day.

        • sheila says:

          Your husband sounds great! And hahaha your son. :)

          It reminds me a little bit of the couples I see at Graceland who come every year – some of them are in their 70s, 80s. One couple I met at the gospel show – were SO AWESOME – she was a plump woman with glasses, white hair, and covered head to toe in Elvis Bling. Pins and medallions and rings. He had on a trucker’s cap and a flannel shirt and looked like he had just stepped off of his tractor. They were in their maybe mid-70s. Have been married since they were teenagers – and she was such a huge Elvis fan that she saw him in concert 17 times or something like that – they went to Vegas every year to see him – and they went to Graceland every year (while Elvis was still alive before it was a tourist site – they would just sit at the gate and have a picnic and sometimes would see him riding his horse around or whatever).

          It was so obvious that she was the real Elvis fan. She was all a-twitter with flirty feelings and sexual feelings as she talked to me – (at a gospel concert – it was so awesome – a perfect encapsulation of Elvis’ cross-cultural appeal) – just all girlish and excited – and she showed me a TCB diamond ring her husband had bought her for their 40th wedding anniversary or whatever.

          She did ALL the talking, and John-Deere-hat-farmer husband stood right by her,not saying a word. I saw it as letting his wife shine. Letting her be herself. He wasn’t judging her or rolling his eyes. She even said to me at one point, and I wasn’t even sure I heard right because we had only been talking for 10 minutes – “Listen, I’ve been in love with Elvis since I was a teenager and hubby and I would come back from one of his concerts and guess who got the benefit of all those feelings?” And she grabbed hold of her husband’s arm – literally giggling as though she was 17.

          I almost started crying.

          So basically she was telling me, at 8:00 a.m. at a gospel concert at Graceland that over the years her crush on Elvis was then transformed into awesome-sex with her husband – so she would “take out” all of those feelings on her husband. I glanced at him – to see how this silent elderly farmer would take it – and he just grinned at me mischievously, and nodded, still not speaking, but with a humorous look on his face like: “Who’s the lucky one?”

          How many husbands would be jealous? Or pissed? This guy knew the score. He supported her fandom, got into it, wasn’t threatened, was right there with her. They were awesome.

          Not that this is exactly what is going on with your husband – :) – but I love it when spouses are cool with the passions of their mate.

          • Barb says:

            //So basically she was telling me, at 8:00 a.m. at a gospel concert at Graceland that over the years her crush on Elvis was then transformed into awesome-sex with her husband //

            WOW, what an amazing story, and amazing couple! We should all get so lucky.

            I don’t know that my husband has completely refrained from a bit of eye-rolling, and he is “jealous” of Jensen–but yeah, for the most part, he’s supportive of my fandoms, and yeah, participates in his own way. And reaps any benefits to be had. (TMI? Sorry.)

            Thank you so much for that story, Sheila! It made my day.

          • sheila says:

            Ha! I’m glad you took it in the spirit it was meant.

            I hadn’t thought about that couple in a while – I should probably write a post about them, they were so awesome and symbolic of so much I think is important!

          • Lyrie says:

            What an awesome, moving story.

          • sheila says:

            Isn’t it so great? Never forgotten them – and it was one of the reasons I was so glad we hauled ass out of bed in Arkansas at the crack of dawn, drove over the bridge to Tennessee and Graceland, to get to that damn gospel concert starting at 8 a.m.

            It wasn’t a huge crowd. Maybe 40 people? This couple was seated across the aisle from me, and the wife just struck up a bubbly conversation because she was so excited.

            Heart-crack.

  27. Wren Collins says:

    Sheila, I’d never normally say this- I usually HATE the SPN promos- but the s11 trailer is AMAZING. I’m so psyched.

    • sheila says:

      Ha! I won’t be watching – I avoid trailers/promos – I’m weird that way!!! – part of my critic-self who really tries to avoid bias before going in – but yeah, I’ve heard awesome things.

      Season eleven. I mean, can we even believe it/

      • Wren Collins says:

        I’m frankly shocked at the fact that it’s actually maintained the quality- and with s10 even got better. I’ve only been watching since February but I’m so impressed. (And obsessed… lol. Can’t wait for your next recap too :) take your time though!)

        • sheila says:

          Bah – I know – and Hollywood Babylon too!! My day job is killing me right now. I have (at least) re-watched twice in a row to take notes.

          So … progress?

          and yeah: Season 10 was really good, a re-commitment to some things I hold dear – but also – wow, what a transformation in both those characters from Season 1. I look forward to seeing where it goes next.

          • Wren Collins says:

            //My day job is killing me right now.//
            Well, good luck! And take it easy where you can.

            And yeah- I’m getting a friend to watch the early seasons at the moment- he’s pretty hooked- but every 12 seconds or so I’ll start snivelling about how young and inexperienced they were.
            It’s some marvellously organic character growth, really. They’ve transformed.

            // I look forward to seeing where it goes next//
            Remarkable that the show’s ‘held up’ over the seasons for so many people. I hear things about X-Files (of which I am stuck on s4- blame A-levels) slacking off in the last couple seasons, but with SPN- I’m not an s7 fan, though I love the Hallucifer stuff, but after that I really do think it’s just improved with each season. And they’ve never taken the larger focus off the brothers- never even attempted to.

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