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First time lurker, long time writer. Or the other way around. Anyway, good day to you all in Sheila’s retreat for those who do like writing, reading and intelligent conversation.
First of all, yay, we got a Brothers In The Baby Night Talk. Classic, precious (even without raindrops casting shadows on jaws and cheekbones) and rare. Or maybe even 1.5 talks, if we count the build up with Sam’s request.
And no “that’s what we do, because we are heroes and saviours and family” during it. What a relief.
Ackles was (as usual) phenomenal. Loved how his face went through the microexpressions that are supposed to be impossible to fake. Raw and so much convincing because of the almost tranquil voice. Shivers all over.
Another powerful 5 seconds of the episode was Dean shedding off Michael’s skin in his room. Or that was how I saw it. All disgust and futile rage at something that cannot be helped; and you could see him remembering things better left buried. Another small lesson from Jensen Ackles in the power of movement – you don’t need to say what’s happening, when you can show it. It was poetic, how it was done, a extra short film worth an extra high academy award.
But I would love to have a few warm words in a language of their choice with the person or persons in charge of film editing. Or more important for the general decision on editing. This constant cross cutting drives on my nervers. It isn’t Ocean’s +Insert a number here+, I don’t need this fast changing +Insert a smelly substance here+, I want to get sucked into a scene and I bloody well want to drive my own conclusions from what I see.
I admit to fast forwarding most of the spin-off plot line. Blablabla, Jack saved the day while being only human after all. Blablabla, we can safely say that Cas is a moron who does not listen to victim describing witches while dealing with witchcraft induced effects, no less. Although I admit that this plot line if taken seriously shows so vividly that the Testosterone Hunter Squad rely on the all purpose witch-killing-bullets so hard they do not take a bloody moment to investigate. Who cares about what someone has to say about the case, we’ll kill the bad guy and be done with it. I am so relieved they don’t have an access to the nuclear weapon push-button with this attitude. (It might be argued that those people are forged by the parallel world “kill or be killed” rules, but I am not invested in them anyway, and neither are the showrunners, so to hell with them and their lack of psychological development.)
Such a relief to see no Mary for 40 min and to hear of her only at passing. Oh, small mercies.
Also such a joy to see Jody and not to see the teenage human ninja sisters. I was expecting the hormone swinging unstable girl squad when I read about Kim Rhodes guest starring in the episode. So happy to be wrong. To those who loved the Wayward Sisters spin off – sorry not sorry for being harsh.
Also the music, oh the music. I try not to bitch too much, but in this ocasion I just can’t stop.
Remember those times when music in the background added another layer to the pleasure we got from this show? As I am not a native speaker and was not caught up on 70s rock culture by then (hell, now I might pass for a decades long “mallet rock” fan, thanks to Kripke et al) it required some googling to see the meaning of music choice. And I laughed and shook my head more often than not upon reading on it. And I love it when the creators of the show manage to cobverse with me on different levels simultaneously.
Nowadays (in the precious Sam Dean Baby scene in particular) if we get any sound at all it is usually a musical equivalent of a banner “YES it is a sad/heroic/touching moment, FEEL IT FEEL IT FEEL IT” being waved and then slammed at our heads.
I am showing season 1 to my dad these days so the difference is painful and plain once more and I can’t unsee it or shut up about it.
Last thing about this week music choice. I just dare you to imagine Dean driving through the night to plaintive piano & mournful cello duet. Right from Sioux Falls. While composing an elegy. It seems Michael’s refined taste in clothes leaked into Dean’s taste in music.
Delurking managed.
Sahaja, it’s nice to see you!
This episode felt so aggressively substandard in about every way it could be. I could not agree MORE about the abysmal music and the cross cutting — THANK YOU — not to mention flashbacks (a scourge of these last few seasons). And that dissolve from Dean’s final scene to Jack enrages me! Not only the choice to finish on Jack — frankly, I don’t care, and found the whole B plot intensely embarrassing — but the fact that they had to go for a dissolve — Singer could not find interesting points of entry and exit into scenes? What has happened to him, that his framing and lighting has become so shallow and cheap? All that forest business was physically painful. The Impala scenes, aside from those real close-ups, looked like the flight deck of the Enterprise with the lights turned off. The performances felt first-take and banal. Aside from a couple of those bookend moments I don’t feel like either of our leads were actually working, let alone anyone else — where is Jerry? where is Serge? I will have to cling to those closeups, I suppose. Woeful, I am full of woe. Please forgive my rant. What a terrible introduction!
The dissolve to Jack is such a perfect example of everything that’s wrong. Also it shows exactly where everyone’s head is at “over there” and it’s why I’m not interested.
The creators/Dabb/whoever are enraptured by Jack – and enraptured by Cas and Jack – hence all the pep talks – and the sad misunderstood sensitive youth – and another pep talk … and Jack saving the day, and all that … which is fine as a SIDE thing- but when Sam and Dean are the side thing to THAT, I suddenly feel like, “Wow. I am way too old for this YA shit.”
Jody’s mini-monologue about all the Wayward Sisters felt very pandering – and also … un-Jody-like … I don’t know, the characters themselves have started to dissolve.
I was thankful that freakin’ Rowena didn’t show up but even the fact that she had to be mentioned – “we called Rowena” – is another example of just how destructive an influence Rowena has been to the show. We called Rowena?? Cas is an angel – isn’t he?? He “called Rowena”???
It’s so broken.
Agree with your comments, but I take what I can get these days. It’s only the third episode in a shortened season so I’m hoping that things get better or at least less sloppy in the details.
//I just dare you to imagine Dean driving through the night to plaintive piano & mournful cello duet. // God, you are so right. Who is in charge of the music these days? I know that the producers or whoever don’t want to overuse “The Family” theme that would be expected in these moments, but come on?! If not then, then when.
I’ve said this before and I am starting to sound like a broken record, but despite the denials coming from the cast, etc., I think this is the beginning of the end for the series. Marriages, 8 kids between the three of them, takes a toll. 14 years is a fantastic run even with the spottiness of the last 6 or 7 seasons, so I’m not complaining and I hope the makers at least have the grace to end the series the way it began, with just the Winchesters and the Impala driving off into the night with Bob Seger or Led Zeppelin blaring from the speakers.
// so I’m hoping that things get better or at least less sloppy in the details. //
i hope so too – it’s just disheartening because these early episodes are the ones where they were least rushed in putting them all together. Everyone just seems really bored, and that – I think – is what is most upsetting.
I do hear what you’re saying about all the rest and of course I agree. I am going to continue to critique just how much I think this series has gone off the rails – not to be whiny or tiresome – but because I find it fascinating in a kind of horrifying way.
Kaia’s freakin’ costume. Leaping in slo-mo. I mean. God almighty. It’s embarrassing.
Yes! What the hell was up with Kaia’s getup? I felt like I was watching a scene from Star Wars!
Sahaja – hello, and welcome! Loved your comment!!
Soooo true about the music. The music is just super awful – in particular during the fight scenes. It’s like we’ve reverted to 1984, and not in a good way.
Also, I cannot STAND the brand new “slo-mo” moments during fight scenes. It looks so cheesy. It’s really “off brand”.
// Testosterone Hunter Squad rely on the all purpose witch-killing-bullets so hard they do not take a bloody moment to investigate. Who cares about what someone has to say about the case, we’ll kill the bad guy and be done with it. //
Yes. This tendency is really upsetting – really jarring. I’ll never get used to it.
I don’t want to.
hahahaha
My head dropped to my chest, I closed my eyes and said “oh, please, no” when Jack decided not to leave and to sit at the bedside of the rescued girl. I do not want to see human!Jack fall in love, nor Cas stepping up to teach him the basics of interpersonal relationships. That is not what I want to see when I watch this show — The CW has plenty of other programs for that.
Other than that, I got nothing. The plot with that girl popping up from last season did not pull me in.
// nor Cas stepping up to teach him the basics of interpersonal relationships. //
It really does seem to be going that way.
:(
I see I’m not alone in my feelings towards the episode.
I liked the opening scene, and I liked the scene with Dean, alone in his room, shedding the remnant of his Michael clothing. I thoroughly enjoyed the Impala scenes with Sam and Dean, especially that last scene between them. Finally, amazing acting that allowed for facial expressions and body language to speak above the dialogue. Do a lot of viewers not watch for things like that anymore? So many people were complaining on twitter during that last scene in the Impala that Dean was doing all the talking and Sam wasn’t “saying” anything. All I could think was “people are you not looking at his face?” Sam said a million things in that car with his brother, and a whole lot better than any dialogue the writers could have come up with.
The rest of the episode…..sigh.
My interest in Jack is waning every passing episode. More father and son talks between him and Cas? Nope.
I love Jody, but I honestly think that the whole little speech at the end was Berens bitterness at the CW over the passing of Wayward Sisters. “I feel like I’ve lost before I even began.” I mean, really?
I’m not interested in watching Waywardnatural, but I have a bad feeling that again plot and common sense will be sacrificed to keep those “badass” gals around, because obviously seeing Sam, Dean, and Jody (strong, mature characters that we have years invested in) overpowered by monsters but saved by a teenage girl is the reason that we’re all here watching right?
The pointlessness of Cas is almost becoming painful to watch. The whole, lets completely ignore the whole glowing like a beacon necklace, so that Jack can be validated plot line was so AWFUL that all I could do was shake my head.
Ah well, on to the next episode.
Michelle, recent studies are finding teens and young adults ard losing the ability to read body language and facial expressions because so mych of their interpersonal interactions are virtual. They spend more time texting than anything else so to them Sam was a cipher I that scene. Sad.
I have a feeling the changes for the worse we’re seeing are pandering to and trying to attract a younger audience. Instead of Sam & Dean hunting the denizens of The Vampire Diaries the showrunners seem to be trying to mutate Supernatural into a knock off version. At this point I’m only hanging in there for Jared & Jensen.
OMG! Intelligent discourse about this show! Thank you Sheila for this oasis in a desert.
My take on this episode: I enjoyed the brotherly bickering over Sam’s beard (although it did feel artificial). Watching Dean shed Michael’s skin was fascinating as was watching how differently Jensen moved his body when fighting as Michael – truly poetry in motion. It was great to see Jody but that got old quickly when they insisted on referencing the angst squad.
Best moment was the bro talk in the Impala. Everything else sucked!!
What the hell gave these jackasses done to this show?!!
Michelle —
My interest in Jack is waning every passing episode.
This is a big problem for me too! After him being one of the only bright sparks of last year he’s now had a haircut and is Learning Lessons and Building Relationships and Getting Tuberculosis. Desperately dull, subtle as a sledgehammer and clumsily done to boot.
I laughed at first when they dragged the witch victim in and Cas was like, I can’t come on the mission, I have to fix this girl. I thought, what a hilariously obvious way of getting him out of the picture so that we can have a proper episode of S&D. But then it was this whole terrible dumb amulet plot! More fool me I suppose.
Sheila–
“we called Rowena” – is another example of just how destructive an influence Rowena has been to the show. We called Rowena?? Cas is an angel – isn’t he?? He “called Rowena”???
I mean, how did they ever get by without her?! Oh well, at least Cas and random hunter lady have a chalice they can explode purple smoke out of. Riveting!
It really does seem to be going that way.
The other way it seems to be going is that hunters are just a pervasive, banal presence who all do busy-work bleep bloop “research” at home base or wherever and then go and kill the monster with a spell or a special bullet and then come back and start again and everyone is butch (or soft-butch) but non-threatening and has long eyelashes. Thankfully there are more monsters than people in the world now so everyone’s kept busy (because I guess the BMoL didn’t make a dent after all) and all the alt-world refugees have transitioned easily into hunting and money isn’t an issue and it’s all just so lovely and efficient. (Having poured this screed out I remember that BMoL went around and killed most hunters in S12 so maybe there is a severe lack of hunters or something? In which case they really need to find a way to help us care and make it relevant to Sam and Dean because this does not cut it).
I liked how Dean was taken aback at the buzz of the bunker and I suppose time will tell whether those in charge will actually engage with this concept of the invaded bunker and whether that is actually a destabilising experience for S&D. My secret hope is that all these bodies are being kept around because TPTB are planning a massacre. Kill them all, Michael! I deserve it after only getting the barest taste of Desperate!Sam looking for Dean!
It’s such a confusing, dispiriting experience to have this weird, beautiful show wrench sideways into CW Team Helper Fantasy right under our feet. That genre was never part of its DNA and it has broken many things right at the core. It does not make a good CW Team Helper Fantasy Show and it does not make a good itself any more either. What a bummer.
Jessie, I couldn’t agree more.
My hope, if they keep those superfluous Apocalypse ‘verse critters around, is that Sam & Dean cede the bunker to them and hit the road again. Like Sheila, I’m done with the bunker – bring back tacky motel rooms!!!
//It’s such a confusing, dispiriting experience to have this weird, beautiful show wrench sideways into CW Team Helper Fantasy right under our feet.//
Agree Jessie. I’ve literally the past two years have been dubbing the final episodes of the season the “Avengers Assemble” moment.
They did it at the end of season 11 and now it’s become a formula that you can just about take to the bank.
Threat introduced at the beginning of season. Team is together the first couple of episodes and they valiantly begin to fight the threat. That sneaky threat though is always just beyond their reach. The team must disassemble and go their separate ways to find clues about that sneaky threat and most often members of team have problems of their own that must also be dealt with. They do come together again periodically (usually the end of November and then again in January) because that elusive threat is in their grasp again! Wait…nope, sneaky threat got away again.
More separation, searching for threat, and personal anguish side stories from various members of team. Then at last the threat is on the radar again and Avengers Assemble!! We must fight!! And hug!! (There is always a hug now…usually in episode 22) We fight!! We eliminate threat!! But wait!! There is another.
Those Avengers Assemble moments have happened the past 3 finales now. Gathering to battle the Darkness, gathering to battle the BMOL, and gathering to rescue Mary and Jack from AU.
It’s not that I don’t care about the side characters they’ve created. I’ve loved many of them, but Sam, Dean, and that car are what drew me into the show and the lack of that focus on them is what is pulling me back out.
I thought that maybe with a shortened season it would be better and there would be more focus on Sam and Dean, but so far I’m not seeing much of a change.
I’m really hoping ( probably futilely) that Michael is still “hiding” within Dean as a subterfuge… I get why they had to resolve the S10 DemonDean problem so quickly to set up for the 200th Very Special Episode Musical. But there is no rush this time and I was soooooo looking forward to JA playing out Michael for as long as possible– imagine the actual tension this would have offered, the possibility for Sam to become obsessed with finding and saving Dean at any cost. The way Ackles spoke of how challenging but fun it was to portray a new character after 13 years, it sure sounded like it was going to last more than 1.8 episodes.
I am also hoping, Dawn. Here’s a question… If AU Michael’s vessel was so badly injured that he needed Dean’s vessel to survive, then what vessel is he using now that he has supposedly “vacated” Dean’s vessel? Was all the experimenting in hopes of beefing up a monster vessel to occupy?
Not sure where to jump in here…
I just finished Mint Condition, right after watching The Scar. And then the first two season 14 episodes yesterday.
I did like Mint Condition. I got a kick out of Samantha and Dirk. They weren’t quite Harry and Ed or Barnes and Demian – but they were fun San and Dean stand-ins. I also liked that there was a conversation in the car – though Sam’s chills do seem to be multiplying (suddenly I want to sing songs from Grease). Clowns, Christmas, now Halloween. If they get to season 20 we may find out he has qualms about Flag Day and Arbor Day. But the car conversations (including the one in The Scar) seem as if Sam is still getting to know Dean, or wanting him to be different. There isn’t much of a feel for the brother’s history in them. I did like that Dean recognized and thanked Sam for finding them a case and getting Dean out of his funk. I didn’t like Dean thinking he could just punch out a ghost. I’ll leave it to others to comment on the newly clean-shaven Sam. And that hideous jacket that Dean wore. And the glasses.
I don’t have much to add with respect to the general disappointment. It feels like a double whammy that the show is so much weaker – and then there’s so little to talk about here. Like so many other folks – in addition to the show, I miss the great conversations we had. I remember when I would sit down with a little notebook to scribble things to be sure to talk about the next day. Now…
I will disagree with Lyrie from the season premier thread (and I think just about everyone else on the planet) Sam and Dean fighting dinosaurs (I was hoping for Godzilla) would have been cool. But I recognize that’s a minority opinion.
Mutecypher,
I have not watched much of Mint Condition, but I agree with what you’re saying about Sam. There is a lot about recent Sam that I do not like (ever since, why are planets round??!??). (To be fair, the not liking Halloween was actually in the pilot.) There was an episode last season where he asked Dean why he ran ahead into the fight. My thought was, do you know your brother AT ALL? He also stammers constantly which drives me crazy. Even my close captioning stammers on Sam’s speeches. It makes him seem hesitant and insecure. 99% of his interaction with Dean seems to be, are y-y-you ok? I’m not a fan of whiny, worry wart Sam. In seasons 1 & 2 when Sam was being particularly sensitive he dropped his voice to a stage whisper. It worked for him then, but the stammering doesn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I love Sam being sensitive, but not insecure and emasculated. Like you, Mutecypher, I know it is an unpopular opinion, but I have not enjoyed the BM scenes recently because it doesn’t feel like they really even know each other. When Dean first came to get Sam from Stanford they had been apart for years and needed to get to know each other again. Now adult siblings having lived “closely” for 14 years wouldn’t have some of those conversations, imho. Allow some of it to be unsaid. The beard bickering seemed very realistic of brothers to me.
I agree that the BM scenes are mostly moldy bread crumbs from a table that should have been reset with the family’s everyday flatware and not the plastic sporks from Bed, Bath and Beyond Anyone Who Knows History Writing The Scenes.
I did like “Thelma and Louise, just floor it out of here.”
I think that has been suggested as a series ending by other folks here.
The hideous jacket and pocket protector were surely a nerd Halloween costume…? As for dinosaur fighting I would rather see them throw down with Godzilla than AU Kaia!
//I would rather seen them throw down with Godzilla than AU Kaia!//
Eh, paisano!
I absolutely loved his jacket and pants. He looked fantastic.
I have always told my children that with costumes and theme parties you have to go for it 110%! The jacket, pants, tie, and glasses scream nerd. I love that Dean always goes 110% – wild west, untouchable, whatever. Sam’s 80% with the pocket protector and windbreaker leaves room for the idea that maybe he really is a nerd instead of a hot guy pretending to be a nerd. Sorry to come down so hard on Sam this week. I really did enjoy the episode, reminiscent of some very good MOTW episodes, lots of good banter, and a cameo of the racist truck!
Little things that gave me big pleasure:
*the pizza not going straight into Dean’s mouth
*Sam’s face like a dolphin’s belly
*Thundercats?! – oh hell no, Panthero is mine!
*Blood spatter on the candy machine
*Mom’s dressed for a sock hop – random
*Slice and dice with 2 axes swinging
*that girl’s outfit (1986?). I may have worn that, wow!
*Dean’s choice for best Hatchet man movie
*I like to watch movies where I know the bad guy gets it in the end – oh Dean!
*Leaving hatchet dude for the night watchman to find o-O
*the list of future Halloween costumes – not any of theme were monsters
This one may well go on the rewatch list.
If they get to season 20 we may find out he has qualms about Flag Day and Arbor Day.
Arbor Day, mutecypher, haha! Sam gets trapped in The Happening.
This one was appealing in its clownishness, had some wonderful moments (ducking down in the car! Getting the axe!), a narrative playfulness, a metric ton of behaviour, a focus on the characters, solid jokes, and a nicely done conversation at the end in which there was acting and listening – I really enjoyed JP’s voice. Wasn’t perfect but it was actively enjoyable and engaging and I’m happy about it!
THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN AND IT MADE ME SO HAPPY.
We just got back into our home a few days ago and it’s all been dragging out destroyed stuff and soothing freaked out animals and humanely expelling the family of squirrels that moved in and trying to get someone to agree to restore our house and the semi-regular middle of the night panic attack, and I needed exactly this ep right at this time. Silly and sweet and personality- (rather than character- or plot-) driven and goofy, thistledown light but so soothing.