Have at it. The wind is so ferocious right now I lost power earlier this evening for about 20 minutes. Do I need an EMF, you think? What the hell is happening on the East Coast right now, weather-wise? Tornado warnings are south of us, I know that. It’s been pouring torrentially for two days and today the wind is howling so much that my walls rattle. So that’s what I’M up to.
My new day-job is taxing. Plus I put together my huge Zac Efron appreciation post, which took forever. I’ll catch up with you all later.
Thanks for showing up, as always!
Dean gets so giddy and gushy and bashful when meeting his (male) idols, like Gunner and Dr. Sexy. Good to see BAMF Crowley is back.
Dean is adorable when he is in “gush” mode. I didn’t think I would like this episode that much. Let me rephrase that. I like all of season 11 so far. There hasn’t been one episode that hasn’t had something that was worth repeated watching. But I assumed that this would be a MOTW episode and relatively light but it wasn’t entirely. I’m glad to see Crowley back, also, and I was ridiculously happy when Simpson(?) got blown up. I enjoyed the bookend scenes at the beginning and end of the episode and I love that fact that the boys are talking to each other and not at each other, that Sam is assuming more responsibility and power and even taking care of Dean when he needs it.
The show recycled an actor again… the wrestler Gunner appeared way back in S2 in Crossroad Blues. He was the architect the boys interviewed, whose coworker had made a deal.
It’s like old SPN actor bingo! Also the other wrestler (can’t remember his character name but bald in the red cape) was a demon in ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’. He was the one who ambushed Drunk Sam with Ruby 1.5.
Not a big wrestling fan so I was really surprised how much I liked this ep. Dean talking to his wrestler idol at the bar comparing wounds was touching, talking ‘warrior’ to ‘warrior’.
Someone on Twitter said they spotted Poor Giant Tiny/Clff/the bodyguard. I’m not sure about that. I haven’t had a chance to rewatch yet. I find myself very distracted by the shirtless Zac Efron staring at me from the margin…
//Someone on Twitter said they spotted Poor Giant Tiny/Clff/the bodyguard//
I thought I saw him, too – just for a couple seconds. And if I’m not mistaken, he was called Tiny. I will also have to re-watch to be sure, though.
Indeed he was there. He was the wrestler at the wake, wearing the cross.
Tornados on the East Coast? End of days, people.
Another hiatus… yeesh.
In the old days (showing my age) they would throw in the occasional rerun and you barely noticed. Have they statistically determined this is a better way? Are they making room for other programming?
I can’t be the only one who noticed how Dean’s man-crushes always seem to look like John, right?
This episode was so funny. I thought the demons were a lot more- demony- than usual, too, and it was great to see a bit of Hellhound-perspective again.
Really nice how the boys are taking care of each /other this season. Of course they both need it, given how we have God’s sister all over Dean and ol’ Lucifer all over Sam. Thinking maybe the reason they’re managing to make the Lucifer comeback work is that they didn’t /need to bring him back- they already had Amara; Lucifer busting out was just an out of the frying pan sort of deal. Also, pretty sure it wouldn’t have worked so well if they hadn’t already demonstrated with Baby and Devil in the Details that they really do have respect for the events of Swan Song and Season Five.
Drowning in callbacks this season :3
I missed a step somewhere. How did they get from satanic symbol carved on the victims, maybe it’s a witch to crossroads demon collecting souls? Why would the crossroads demon (or his henchman, Lawless) carve symbols on the vics? I really loved that Dean was able to convince Gunnar to do the right thing at the end. He didn’t save him from the hellhounds, but in essence he DID save him. Gunnar was another ambiguous character/unlikely hero following one of our season themes. It’s cool that even though he was the monster in the end he didn’t seem to go down in Dean’s hero worship esteem. Dean ends up quoting his personal philosophy in the BM moment at the end, “Gotta keep on grinding.”
Sometimes I don’t like the jumping back and forth between parallel storylines, but it worked this episode for me. I love having Nasty!Crowley back and I really liked Simmons. All that double crossing and my d**k is bigger than yours between Crowley and Lucifer was fun to watch. Poor Simmons got caught in the crossfire, but it was an appropriate way for her to go. I like my demons sleazy and petty. It’s no good if they are righteously evil, of which Simmons was on the verge.
//I like my demons sleazy and petty. It’s no good if they are righteously evil//
Well said – I concur!
It’s the bit when Sam’s in the car: he says that the symbol carved on the victims is connected to collecting souls. Hence, demons rather than witches.
During the scene where the demon Shawn had Sam pinned to the warehouse wall and was menacing (monologuing) him, I wondered why Sam didn’t bust out the old exorcism to get free. It was just the one demon — one and done.
The two reasons I assume that that didn’t happen is a) the writers forgot or b) the Winchesters have decided that they aren’t going to let demons smoke out/get free – the only good demon is a dead demon.
You’re right. We haven’t had a real exorcism in ages… Calling in Crowley to exorcise baby Amara doesn’t really count.
Make that Father Crowley…
They very rarely go for the exorcism unless the demon is trapped somehow–my guess is, because it takes so long to actually remove the demon, it’s not much help in a fight–even if they have it recorded, it still takes the full length of the recording.
It’s right up there with holy water over “Christo” for detecting demons: all “Christo” does is make the demon flash his eyes. Holy water actually physically affects them.
(Sorry–you managed to nail me in a pet peeve.)
//the demon Shawn// not particularly menacing, is it? Like naming your Rottweiler guard dog, Bob, or your mafia bodyguard, Steve.
I’m not entirely sure what it says about me that I was so *relieved* that Crowley got out from under Lucifer’s thumb.
Dean play-acting in the wrestling ring is a scene I could (and probably will) watch over and over again. And then the awkward climb/fall out of the ring. Priceless.
Rio reminded me of Ellen, with all the “taking care of my boys” stuff. I would love it if they find a reason to bring her back again.
I felt the exact same way! When Crowley was having to lick the floor I felt horrible for him….not to mention utterly grossed out. I knew Simmons was playing him and when Lucifer burst in on him and was threatening him I actually yelled out loud “Come on Crowley….you aren’t stupid…You’re playing him aren’t you?”
My husband was watching with me and he turns to me and says “You do realize this is the King of Hell you are rooting for, right?”
//“You do realize this is the King of Hell you are rooting for, right?”//
LOL!!! Glad it’s not just me!
Even with Simmons playing him – it was such a satisfying moment when he jumped and killed the other demons, and his explanation for it was simply, “I’m Crowley.”
I do love a good bad guy.
I liked the Brazil music playing when Lucifer was doing his real estate agent schtick “Always Be Closing.” Which didn’t really feel like Lucifer to me… but it was a funny scene.
I also liked Crowley being back. It complexifies the world again, after they reduced the number of Powerful Evils with the death of Rowena. Crowley, hated by all. Which calls back to his “I just want to be loved” from season 8. How will he get there from here?
11 seasons, and they keep giving us things we didn’t even know we needed so badly. The brothers at a show, how awesome is that? Sam (Padalecki, actually) BLUSHED when he talked to his old crush. Yes, we briefly saw Cliff/Tiny, and it would have been sad not to, in such an environment, right? Nice blood splatter, when the dad dies! Damn, I had forgotten how the sound of the hellhounds makes my blood run cold. I love Ruby’s knife so much. I honestly don’t really care about Crowley and Lucifer. I didn’t hate it, but I wanted more of the wrestling match/shitty bar/ AC/DC concert crowd. I love them.
*re-reads*
Well, that’s incoherent as fuck. Did you miss me?
/Did you miss me?/
Yes. Coherence is overrated. Don’t be a stranger. But do stay strange.
We always miss you.
On the Lucifer storyline, I have to agree with mutecypher. Some funny bits like ABC but it doesn’t feel like Lucifer. Also, I would think he would hate to hang out with the PowerPoint demons of hell, even if they are doing his bidding. I don’t want to repeat my wank but it feels like we got Hallucifer not the real Lucifer. Sure, he’s funny at times but where is his deep seated bitterness and otherwordly condescension? “Castiel, I understand you rode here in a car. What was that like?”
This is my only beef with Season 11 so far. The rest of it has been glorious including the boys being fangirls.
Sorry for the crass question, but here goes…
I was listening to a podcast about this episode and one of the hosts had a giggle because she was tickled that Dean “tooted” during one scene. It was when Sam confronted drunk Dean in the bar – Dean is trying to get it together to resume the case. I heard a sound during this scene, but I thought it was the noise that happens when pants slide against vinyl seat covers. Also, neither brother seemed to acknowledge that Dean was “gassy”; I thought it was a throwaway background noise.
Again, sorry for bringing the tone of the conversation down, but I’m curious how others took it.
Same here: didn’t notice anything that could be construed as flatulence on Dean’s part. I’ve been a bit baffled by it as well.
I heard it and saw it referenced on twitter, but I also took it as a vinyl friction sound.
//Rio reminded me of Ellen, with all the “taking care of my boys” stuff.//
//////parallels////// I agree Rio was very much an Ellen parallel and Dean obviously was identifying with Gunnar Lawless,
//comparing wounds…talking ‘warrior’ to ‘warrior’// but then I thought about another parallel with our Ambiguous!Amara. Maybe, like Lawless, the key to Amara is convincing her to do the right thing in the end. #GunnarLawlessRedeemed #RedeemtheDarkness
And how are we feeling now about #RedeemLucifer? Whereas I have enjoyed some of his contention with Crowley I have to agree with Paula and Mutecypher.
//I would think he would hate to hang out with the PowerPoint demons of hell…where is his deep seated bitterness and otherwordly condescension?//
Unlike the aforementioned sleazy, petty demons, Lucifer should always have that great, stone cold, evil quality about him. I’m not sure if I want to #redeem Malibu, real estate Lucifer.
Paula, did you hear Lucifer say, last week I think, that “defeating Amara was more of a group effort than I lead some to believe”? We may get Luci & Mikey in the get-along shirt after all. We can hope…
Malibu Lucifer, lol. Got a good feeling about Michael coming back too to contribute to another team effort. My guess as to Lucifer killing Rowena isn’t that she held the secret to putting him back in the Cage, it was to hide the fact that Michael is trapped back there and he’s pissed. Either her spell only brought Lucifer forward or somehow trapped Michael back there. #freemichael
Or maybe we could have an awkward family reunion (Easter dinner perhaps?)
One other thing is killing me. Another “Hand Of God” this ep with Aaron’s staff. Isn’t this the same staff that Balthazar stole from heaven back in season five? Hello, Winchesters, look in your storeroom. Spear of Destiny is sitting there in that nice velvet lined box. Dean didn’t actually touch it with his hands so it is still fully juiced up. Just saying.
Some comments on the episode that aired 3/22/16 “Safe House”.
Hurray for Bobby and Rufus – their partnership will never get old. I loved the parallel actions showing the guys doing their jobs in the past and the present. This episode had some creepy moments, like those ‘sad’ people trapped in the spirit world and spooky possessed Dean with white eyes. I liked the callback to previous seasons, with the looming apocalypse weighing so heavily on Bobby’s mind. He was so worried for his boys.
I want to thank the writer and director for the scenes of protective Sam.
Yeah, Robbie Thompson is a gift.
I have to catch up in the season 2 recap, but I have to re-watch WIAWSNB, and I have to be in the right conditions for that.
But guys, how GOOD was that episode? For starter, the teaser really scared me, which doesn’t happen very often. Reminded me of “Home” and “Something Wicked” — pretty sure the hospital scenes were shot in the same place than in the latter, btw.
So many callbacks. Such great style, visually, it did feel like a few seasons back. And of course, it’s always a pleasure to see Bobby and Rufus. And hey, we never see Dad’s journal anymore, but I was very happy with Bobby’s journal! Stefan Pleszczynski, who also shot Don’t You Forget About Me gives us great shots of cars, that’s nice.
It was so good! Robbie Thompson is the patron Saint of SPN Fandom, delivering these important sacred moments in such cool ways. I thought all the parallels would start to be too much and instead built on themselves resulting in that last shot with Dean and Bobby. “There’s gotta be a better way to dig graves” and then the shot with grumpy old hunters and the back hoe? Lol.
The soul eater and his victims //the ‘sad’ people// as Beau called them, were so creepy with their white faces and dark mouths. Also I liked how the soul eater wasn’t being particularly seductive in its approach to Sam, like most monsters they come across, but more practical. “I can keep him safe in here.” Coming off Sheila’s recap of WIAWSNB, this felt like the anti-djinn showing you disturbing images of those you love the most to keep your soul off balance, rather than complacent.