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Sheila, I think you just got a shout-out from the writers.
I’m not watching. What happened? Did Elvis show up??
Only in the form of an alias.
What was the alias? Elvis Aron Presley? I imagine even the Winchesters wouldn’t be that bold.
Just Mr. Presley. Could there really be any other inspiration, though? :-)
Well, January was Elvis’ 80th birthday month, so it all makes sense!
This episode just was all over the place. I also have a complaint about the special effects, if you use them please use them properly. Okay those were the things that bothered me.
I loved how supportive Sam is and I liked bad Charlie. I thought the man she was after was a bad man, he showed his true self to Dean, the oh please I am sorry routine he put on for Charlie was an act.
I am getting very worried for Dean. How much more guilt are the writers going to pile on him. I am looking forward to the next episode. Teen Dean. LOL, poor Sam the hits just keep coming.
So, I’m finally catching up with your S2 reviews Sheila, and I went directly from watching Hunted to tuning into tonight’s episode. The color change was almost disorienting.
I thought there were good moments tonight, the final scene between the boys and Charlie was (to me) Felicia Day’s best scene in the whole episode. She played thoughtful and subdued much better than dark. Her final hug with Dean, the only character on the show that can do that and it feel natural. I can’t wait to hear what everyone else thinks.
Do you think Dean bought the self help casset at the used bookstore? ;)
“Rocket and Groot”
Crap, I was hoping I didn’t have to watch Guardians of the Galaxy.
I want a Charlie versus Rowena Battle Of The Redheads. There could be oil of some kind involved (my BtVS reference).
I’m confused about good and bad. Clive Dillon said that his id was released, separated. Is the id bad? The rule-follower is good? Good Charlie didn’t want to chase the hot bartender, just send her to college. Why is college good for a bartender? Just needless debt and the usual indoctrination. Ah, rules are good. Learning more rules is more good (gooder?, an improvement?). Bad Charlie/Celeste said there was no good or bad, just us and them. Now, that sounds like an id. So the id knew what it was. And could win wars. That calls to mind Robert E. Lee’s quote “It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it.” Ethan Edwards, stay outside.
The id-less Charlie perceives herself as good, but she’s really only inhibited, rule-bound, sober, and sexless. And unable to be of help all on her own. That’s an obnoxious example for a certain squirrel/raccoon to avoid. Now, that makes up for the cheesy special effects. There was fun in this episode, if you knew where to look. We can hope that a cured Dean (or one capable of living with the MOC) can enjoy burgers and a few shots. And hot bartenders.
Dillon’s id slew the coven of witches that separated him from his ego/superego. Hmm, covens of witches.
Charlie in Tuscany looking for the “Book of the Damned.” Wow. So I froze the screen and wrote down the ISBN number. 1 58509 278 9 There really is a “Book Of The Damned,” written by Charles Hoy Fort in 1919 – with a paperback version in 2006. It’s public domain and available from Project Gutenberg. But, she can still read it in Tuscany. The original publisher was Boni and Liveright. “Live right” is a perfect apertif for tonight’s episode. Boni and Liveright were the first American publishers of Sigmund Freud (id!), Hemingway, John Reed’s “Ten Days That Shook The World,” and T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land,” among other gems. They ran afoul of an organization called “The New York Society For The Suppression of Vice” in the 1920’s and filed for bankruptcy in 1933 – the Liveright name and their Modern Library series have had several owners over the years and are still around. Wow, at one point there were people in New York working to suppress vice. You learn so much by reading.
So they go see Mrs. Old Bitch as FBI agents, then wait in the car for Evil Charlie. In their normal clothes. Do they change in the car? Right there in the suburbs? I’ve wondered before, and that never stops puzzling me.
The colours are beautiful in this episode right? (the music, though… Was everybody drunk?)
Speaking of which: Mirror moment! Yes, honey, being sober is a pain in the ass. I feel you.
Mister Presley? MISTER PRESLEY? AH AH AH! And the way he moves his head when he says «let’s do this» is soooo funny! That guy manages to move his head funny, like in my favourite moment in Clap Your Hands, or in the Mystery Spot Rise-and-shine-Sammy moment. I love him.
I love Sam and Charlie together. I love Sam more than ever, this season. I want him to be the big brother I never knew I wanted. Overall, I liked this episode – I don’t care much about the plot or the visual effets, I’m an idiot like that, all that matters to me are the interactions, and some of them were pretty awesome.
I was a little annoyed by the sex drive being presented as the bas side of a person. But then, we finally see that it’s more complicated than that, that even when split in two every side of us has the potential for everything. At least that what I got from it, and I’m OK with that. I want Charlie to have some comfort with that very, very hot bartender, now.
Mutecypher: // I want a Charlie versus Rowena Battle Of The Redheads. There could be oil of some kind involved (my BtVS reference) //
What a great idea! I love that reference. You make me miss Buffy and AtS.
Meanwhile, I’m pretty sure the writers are taunting me. “Anti-authority disorder” is not a real diagnosis! Did they mean oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder? Also, aside from the fact that a social service file would probably be the most difficult record to unseal, there were only 2 pages of information inside? Social services = government agency. No self-respecting bureaucracy would allow a record to be sealed with only 2 pages of paperwork!
Other than that, I loved this episode. (Also, I want Dark Charlie’s haircut.) Charlie gently challenging Dean at the end? “Prove it.” I reiterate: LOVE.
Did anyone else recognize the drunk driver from Tall Tales?
Oh Yeah we’ve got a slew of them here in New York, just step outside of New York City and you are swamped with religious nuts and redneck hicks. For all of you not from here.
I am trying not to think about how beautifully the earlier seasons were shot, it will make me weep. I did enjoy the end scene with Charlie and the boys. I just found the ep to be kind of, all over. I couldn’t focus on the story even though it was obvious what they were trying to tell us. Stop beating me over the head, remember subtle. Didn’t Star Trek do this episode and better, now that is saying something. I wasn’t paying attention to the writers, who wrote last nights ep?
I was upset for Dean, Charlie messed with Baby, flattened her tires and stole her. You know the spiritual part of Baby was devastated. A bad year to be Baby.
I don’t want Dean to change, get rid of the Mark yes but change much No! I want him to be honest with Sam, that is Dean’s flaw his closed offness and lack of self worth. Actually I believe his lack of self worth causes his keeping himself from opening up to Sam. He seems to be working on that.
On another note, wow, Dean whaling away at Charlie. I was afraid he would finally lose it when they were fighting. I just don’t know why bad Charlie would think she had a chance of besting Dean in a real fight. He was just trying to restrain her in the beginning of the ep, he didn’t hit her. She had to know that. Dean has a set of shoulders and arm muscle made for one powerful punch. I was glad they showed us the damage a man can inflict on a woman when he hits her you don’t often see the results. Dean has to feel so low, Charlie said all the right things to him and I hope he heard her.
Yes to Dean hugs, he gives the best hugs.
Still researching Sam’s Legs. It is taking many hours of diligent rewatching of episodes. My problem is that Dean is always distracting me. He is always doing something.
Oh, almost forgot: Genesis aliases? Was that supposed to be a veiled biblical reference? Because I don’t really think of Genesis (or Peter Gabriel or Phil Collins as solo artists) as classic rock. More importantly, I can’t quite see Dean thinking of them as classic rock. So did those aliases have more to do with Cain?
Yes, he was in that episode, he played the doctor on Stargate Atlantis. I like him.
This episode for me was really all about Dean trying to live a healthier lifestyle to keep the Mark at bay. The (crap) egg white omelettes and that kale wrap thing. The shudder of revulsion at the green smoothie. I loved he tried a self help tape. I like all of it because it means he is not only trying to keep himself from the MoC rage but that he is using stuff Sam would do as a model for healthy behavior. I know the Mark is the main reason but I’d like to hope that his willingness to try all this means that once the Mark is gone, he is going to want to try and be healthier mentally.
Natalie –
//Oh, almost forgot: Genesis aliases?// That stuck out for me, also.
Maybe Charlie will listen to “Supper’s Ready” for clues about any upcoming apocalypses.
Maybe Collins and Gabriel were just nods to Misha and Richard Speight?
mutecypher, the nod was to Genesis as tweeted by the episode writer Robbie Thompson. He also included The Lamb Lies Lays Down On Broadway youtube link.
Special Agent Collins & Gabriel! Genesis shout out! #Supernatural #imold http://youtu.be/5pteh5hdZlg
Anita –
Thanks for the info. Some good thematic similarity with the episode http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lamb_Lies_Down_on_Broadway
You know, I’m not that big a fan of Charlie. I’m not quite sure what it is about her, but…I don’t know. I find her…forced? Fake? It might just be me. Maybe I just don’t like Felicia Day. I did like her moment at the end, though, gently calling Dean out. I thought that was exactly the thing he needed to be told, in that sort of gentle way.
Charlie pretty much seems to be the only person who doesn’t yell at him. She doesn’t berate or blame him for his feelings, like so many of the other characters (his friends and family) seem to. “So, uh, hey Dean. You really seem to hate yourself, huh? That is such a stupid thing to do! YOU ARE SO STUPID WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU. CHEER UP.” Because blaming people for their depression is so effective.
Jill — //I like all of it because it means he is not only trying to keep himself from the MoC rage but that he is using stuff Sam would do as a model for healthy behavior.//
I liked that, too! I can’t tell if it is a compliment or an insult to Sam that he models his recovery behaviour after him.
Whoops! Messed up my html. Who knew I’d have to pull out this gif again so soon.
hello. evil encourages goodness. all the evil deeds in dean’s past reveal themselves onto the MoC forcing him to look at the Mark, literally, and deal with it for one and for all. rage, bitterness…all the emotions pent up, the mark will vanish apart.
Another Dean mirror moment. Almost one an episode now.
I loved the episode.
In general, I’m loving Season 10. There’s a lightness to it, on the edges, even with the Mark. A whimsy, a little bit of space opened up around them – the wolf is not at the door. It feels good. I’m having fun with it.
//“Rocket and Groot”
Crap, I was hoping I didn’t have to watch Guardians of the Galaxy.//
mutecypher, no need, just keep watching Supernatural.
Enjoyed the music aliases in this episode. Love that they are now ploughing the fields of prog. Yes, I am old. Would have been just perfect if Rick Wakeman had turned up as the Wizard.
mutecypher and Natalie–I was thinking maybe Dean let Sam pick the aliases this time out?
On the question of Charlie’s split personality–I think it’s your basic id-ego-superego division. “Good Charlie” isn’t so much a manifestation of her “goodness” so much as her rule-based superego. Secrets are Bad! Breaking any kind of rule is Bad! The hot bartender is too young, send her off to college! It’s a bit on the nose, but neither the id or the superego can integrate without the ego, right? That’s Charlie, in her complete-ness. (Digging deep into my past for my psych 101–help me out, here!) I loved the moment when the Man of Letters reveals himself, echoing Charlie’s “it’s Bad–I know-”
Dean and Sam were great in this episode, I thought. Dean trying to toe the line was both really funny and sad–I’ve seen people try to do this, to be “extra good” to stave off some aspect of themselves. It never works for long. And Sam’s role reversal is continuing–he is learning how to be the rock for his brother and others, a role that Dean usually played when they were younger.
Overall, I liked this episode quite a bit–I think the plot worked, and the performances were what I want from the show. Shelia, this season is definitely lighter in tone, which is kind of confusing, but consistently entertaining.
Supernatural has been in slight danger of taking itself too seriously in the last two seasons. I love the new whimsy, it allows for funny silly one-off episodes, for things to not be such “crunch-time” all the time. Yes – consistently entertaining! I’m enjoying it a lot.
I loved this episode. Charlie has always been one of my favorites. I adored Dean making egg white omelets and Sam loving them and Dean barely able to choke them down.
I am absolutely loving Sam this season. I loved the scenes with him and Charlie. Dean and Charlie are so wonderful together but this episode showed how much Sam cares about her too.
I am really enjoying t his season a lot too. Before this season most of my “top favorite” episodes and moments occurred in season’s 1-6….and mostly seasons 1-3. Fan Fiction totally rocketed to the top of my favorites this year and I think those opening episodes with Demon Dean have also hit that list. (Well….maybe not the Cas and Hannah parts) Overall it has been great.
I can’t wait to see next week’s episode. I know there have been fanfiction stories written about it….looking forward to seeing how the show handles it.
Has anyone here read the graphic novel series “Locke and Key” by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez? I think there may have been some inspiration taken from that story, which is about a set of keys that can open doors to different places, give people different abilities–or open someone’s mind and enable the removal of aspects of one’s psyche. The teenaged sister of the Locke family removes both her fear and her ability to feel sadness early in the series, with interesting results. I thought of her with regards to the division of Charlie (or should we call her Celeste?) and Dark Charlie. Don’t you think that Dean would remove some parts of himself, too, if he could? It’s sort of what he was trying to do in this episode.
Thanks, Barb, that book sounds interesting.
//Still researching Sam’s Legs. It is taking many hours of diligent rewatching of episodes.//
Grean, thank for doing this, you are a true hero and I look forward to the fruits of your research.
Other than that, I don’t have anything to say about this episode. I quite enjoyed it. But everything you could possibly say about it was already said in the episode itself at some length, by the characters themselves. Subtext, not so much. I love Charlie in all her manifestations, and she’s strong enough character in the Winchester-verse to warrant yet another backstory episode. Celeste, how lovely and fitting. I quite liked Dark Charlie, as a concept, but even on second watch it didn’t catch fire for me. Dark Charlie seemed more like a public service announcement than a dark mirror.
I think my attention was more caught by what’s going in the Winchester kitchen. Egg white omelette (loved the garnish, great detail), glasses of green slime, rhubarb leaf wrap or whatever that thing was. Also, terror alert orange: I hope the health kick means we have not bid adieu to crisps (or potato chips, as I believe they are called in the States.) I love watching Dean Winchester eat crisps, preferably while driving. And talking of Public Service Announcements: Dean, ffs stop eating those bloody awful kale sandwiches. Kale is the vegetable equivalent of eating shoe leather. Why not just eat your jacket instead? At least it’s not pretending to be food.
Loving the second shout out to Charles Fort in a week (in this part of the forest, at least). God bless those crazy Victorian vicars.
Helena –
The kitchen is its own story. I love how Sam is like, “This omelette is AWESOME” and Dean was like, “It sucks ass.” It actually looked delicious. And yes, the garnish!
So Dean has bought a blender. Or a juicer, maybe. SO FUNNY. His gesture when he took a gulp of the green slime. Comedy.
I see what you’re saying about Charlie as PSA. Kind of driving the point home to Dean. Sometimes the show gets obvious – like in that last Ghostfacers episode, which I didn’t mind so much. (I hope we see those guys again!!)
and yes, Charles Fort!!
I loved Dean’s wounds in the last scene. They looked tender, as opposed to jagged and bloody and scary.
//So Dean has bought a blender. Or a juicer, maybe. SO FUNNY. His gesture when he took a gulp of the green slime. Comedy.//
Juicers are often a sod to clean properly – all that mush, all those bits – and it’s the cleaning that often stymies the health kick in its tracks.
There were lots of great moments in the episode, don’t get me wrong – sonatas of rueful glances, symphonies of tortured looks, will-he-won’t-he drink-that-shot?, Sam-hugging. Overall I preferred the wordless moments to the actual script. But, Barb, I also loved the moment when the Man of Letters echoed Charlie’s “it’s Bad–I know-”. That was sweet. But, I dunno, maybe someone can help me feel the love for the episode as a whole.
The whole alcohol business was great. I love how they handle Dean’s drinking, which I know I’ve talked about before. I mean, I wanted him to take that shot. I liked, “My friend strike out?” Ha.
I guess, for me, while I love Rowena, and Crowley – they are feeling peripheral to me right now. As is Castiel and all the angels, especially the one in her rolled-up jeans and blunt-bangs. Yawn. The outer-plot – whatever is coming – Demons vs. Angels, the big apocalyptic stuff – is somehow in abeyance right now – and I feel a huge sense of relief. Not like, “Yay, everyone is safe” but relief like: “Thank God we don’t have to suffer through some of those plot-driven episodes” – like the ones earlier in the season.
Those things are still THERE, but they’re … muted somehow … leaving a lot more space for emotion/behavior/all that stuff that I find far more interesting. And that was the “space” of this particular episode. That’s why it worked for me – and that’s why I’m digging Season 10. It’s a bit all over the place, but I prefer Supernatural all over the place. when it’s a mishmash, ups, downs, goofball episodes followed by poignant episodes, you know.
The plot just doesn’t grab me, and it never really has!
And the episode was a way to drive home – and be real explicit (as only Charlie can bring out of Dean) – about what’s really wrong. Like those repetitive awesome brother scenes in the second half of Season 9. Driving home the real issue. So I liked that here – that last scene with Charlie. A moment like that could only happen with her.
So I liked the episode because it provided that space … where people sat around talking, and behaving, and joking, and then saying, “What’s wrong with him?” “Is he okay?” and looking into the mirror at themselves, and being all tormented and guilty, and friendship coming into the picture, and food jokes, and health food jokes …
No obligation to a plot. Or a larger arc. I mean, it’s there – with the Mark – that’s the plot I’m interested in right now. I like Rowena a lot, but honestly I have to force myself to care about Heaven and Hell. It’s obvious that those plots are being worked on due to the obligations required by actors who are regulars on the show. But it feels a bit like the Heaven and Hell thing has run its course. I’m sure there will be some twists and turns coming up – and Crowley is always good for a laugh, and always watchable. But Castiel losing his grace? I feel no sense of urgency about that at ALL. It’s just not present for me in the texture of the season. I’m sure Castiel fans feel differently, and obviously that’s cool.
For me, it’s about the Mark, and about all the brother behavior stuff and where this is taking them. I really liked the brothers in this episode.
“You good?”
“No.”
That feels pretty major to me. And I like the episode because of those types of moments, if that makes sense.
Anyway, my two (or five, more like it) cents.
//The outer-plot – whatever is coming – Demons vs. Angels, the big apocalyptic stuff – is somehow in abeyance right now – and I feel a huge sense of relief.//
Yes. I mean, if you’ve already saved the world 3 times over, then maybe you deserve a season off.
Maybe I didn’t enjoy the episode so much because I particularly like to see Charlie and Dean joining hands and skipping off together and this episode withheld all that, dammit, dammit to hell. Though it was lovely to see Sam and Charlie interact so much this time round – those scenes were great.
I loved Dean’s perception of her that she “sparkles.” And that he lets a sparkler into his life so deeply? He’s still capable of that? I love that.
And YES – to see Sam and Charlie together, very satisfying, since normally it’s Dean and Charlie as the main bond. I loved the two of them talking about the Mark at the end.
//I loved Dean’s perception of her that she “sparkles.” //
I’m a sentimental soul. This is what I think of with that line.
//The whole alcohol business was great. I love how they handle Dean’s drinking, which I know I’ve talked about before. I mean, I wanted him to take that shot.//
I kind of lost track in this episode, though, of whether the MoC was supposed to be a metaphor for alcohol, or alcohol was supposed to be a metaphor for the MoC.
I loved when Dean called Charlie “our Charlie.” I love how they’re both so protective of her. Sam carrying her out of the house was so touching.
Perhaps next episode they’ll be Agents Emerson and Agent Lake. :)
I’m noticing framing and camera shots so much more now (thank you Sheila) and the two that stood out for me this episode were the shot of Dean in the bar mirror, framed by liquor bottles. What a metaphor for his life so far. And the one swooping shot that started at Baby’s front bumper and swept up her side before rising to look into the passenger window at the boys. Love.
Since we’re facing yet another four weeks sans Supernatural this seems the right place to ask, what did everyone think of the last two episodes?
I for one have been going round trying to train my hair into Cain’s elegant grizzled bouffant and perfect that amazing blue-eyed-1000-yard-gentlemanly-psycho-killer stare.
Also, in related news, thanks to Chris Pine for bringing Single Man Tears to the Oscars.
Helena –
Cain was just great. I told Lyrie that I wanted him to be the season’s Big Bad, with how menacing he had become. Not to be, but he was implacable. Nearly.
The Winchesters have gotten way off the Classic Rock list with Grohl and Cobain as their aliases in “Halt and Catch Fire” and then Moore and Ranaldo in “The Executioners Song.” Somehow I can’t see Dean preferring Sonic Youth’s version of “Superstar” to The Carpenters’ version. Not sure what he’d think of Taylor’s version – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9H0xD4RLfw
And Dean, what is he becoming? Will Hell have any fury like a Crowley Scorned? Especially with his mom playing Madame Defarge/Lady Macbeth. “The Executioner’s Song” was an excellent episode.
So, the rock aliases are going all grunge now? What’ll be next, Malkmus and … Mascis? – have they done that already?
//And Dean, what is he becoming?//
No idea! It just seems to be taking a very long time. But I’m liking that Sam’s very worried about it.
Well, if he turns into Cain doing that, stalking around with a world-weary glint in his eye as if for all the world he’s wearing an cape made of actual bat skins, then I’d be happy. But Sam’s worried and Sam worried is the best thing ever.
Honestly, I can’t even remember what was going in the episode before, Cain and beard and his bleeding stump absorbed all my attention.
What’s with this four week gap thing, do you know? Did that happen last year?
//What’s with this four week gap thing, do you know? Did that happen last year?//
In the US we have “sweeps” months: November, February, May, and July. The ratings of shows during those months are used to help networks justify advertising rates. Hence, shows always have new episodes during those months (July being optional). So, with a 22 episode season, many shows have a bit of a break after February so that they will still have new shows through the month of May.
With shows being streamable, DVRs allowing viewers to watch at non-broadcast times, non-traditional networks (Amazon, Netflix, etc), and services like Hulu, the ratings situation has become complex. But no network ignores the sweeps months.
//So, the rock aliases are going all grunge now?//
Who knows? If Sam or Dean said they were agent “Zimmerman” would it be a Dylan reference or a Deadmau5 reference?
Thanks, mutecypher. I just thought it might be because everyone just needed a little rest. All these hiatuses are not a tradition on UK tv, at least not on terrestrial channels and on the other channels who knows because I can’t watch them. On the other hand, you wouldn’t get a season here lasting 23 episodes. Although Downton Abbey does seem to go on and on forever, so maybe I’m wrong.
//Especially with his mom playing Madame Defarge/Lady Macbeth.//
Loved all the ‘Crowley scorned’ stuff going on. What a kick in the teeth, when he’s done so much to help the Winchesters. The ungrateful bastards! This ep finally gave the pay off for all those interminable scenes previously in Crowley’s Cardboard Dungeon.
I also love Rowena’s gowns and hair very, very much. I like it when she really shows her teeth, the actress is just great in those moments. She’s kind of Scots Catherine de Medici, good at court intrigues and murder, all to protect her wee boy.
I think I’m jus gonna go with the idea that Crowley’s Cardboard Dungeon looks so dull because Crowley is generally a pretty shit and unimaginative king of hell, particularly at this moment. He’s a contract man, a broker. He’s not really bred for it. His mother on the other hand…..She could put together a good hellscape I’m sure.
Crowley needs to find some demonic former management consultants (not at all rare, I suspect) who can help him with a non-fatal transition from power.
As Faith might have said, “Find the fun, C.”
You remember that there was a character named Faith on Buffy, right? Don’t make me link to something on Wikipedia.
//If Sam or Dean said they were agent “Zimmerman” would it be a Dylan reference or a Deadmau5 reference?//
Have they done Goffin and King? Lieber and Stoller? Mann and Weil? Brecht and Weill?
//Have they done Goffin and King? Lieber and Stoller? Mann and Weil? Brecht and Weill?//
With Dean liking Taylor Swift, a whole range of pop duo is now available. Agents Simon and Garfunkle (well…). Agents Ashford and Simpson. Agents Bangalter and Homem-Christo (had to look that one up). Agents Bono and Sarkisian. With them being picked up for an eleventh season, they’re gonna need more names.
Rowena does get better and better. This is an excellent season. The hero is getting more demonic, the demon is looking for love, the abandoner of family is working to keep the brothers together, the mom does not really belong in a white nightgown. Good times.
Whoa! Indenting comments is working again!
Thanks Sheila!!!!
//Indenting comments is working again!//
Just making my own little test.
Nope, Rowena will never rock the White Nightie of Doom.
//This is an excellent season. The hero is getting more demonic, the demon is looking for love, the abandoner of family is working to keep the brothers together, the mom does not really belong in a white nightgown. Good times.//
Holy roll reversal, mutecypher! I love how you put that! Put Rowena in a blood-red gown instead, definitely. I’m really enjoying this season, too–it somehow all feels like pay-off of the previous two.
//Holy roll reversal//
Thanks Batgirl.
Season 9 is seeming more like Season 6 BtVS in hindsight, though I will re-watch more of season 9 SPN than season 6 BtVS (only “Once More With Feeling” gets any replay).
More names:
Dekker and Middleton
Gilbert and Sullivan
Whitfield and Strong
Hope and Crosby
The Wright Brothers
The Righteous Brothers
The Andrews Sisters
Bert and Ernie
Goscinny and Uderzo
That should do us until the end of this season, at least.
Bert and Ernie! Yes!
Bardot and Gainsbourg. (guess who’s the kitten)
Maybe they could work Bonnie and Clyde onto the soundtrack. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY9PY4r83p8
Mutecypher! Where do you find these clips! You’re my hero. :0)
I left out:
Bang and Olufsen
Ulvaeus and Andersson
Piramus and Thisbe
Pelion and Ossa
Tango and Cash
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
Harley and Davidson
With Brigitte’s version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd71eWNolVM&list=RDdY9PY4r83p8&index=9
What’s up with the French taking her to court every few years just for speaking her mind?
Malone and Chambers
Ha ha ha ha
Sam and Diane, Sam and Dean – nice!
:-D
Grande and Azalea
Tegan and Sara
Common and Legend
Masters and Johnson
Granted, I don’t get all the references, to say the least, but Tegan and Sara really made me roar with laughter. Lesbian twins? Dean might implode.
Torville and Dean
//Torville and Dean//
ha ha ha ha!!
And of course, Dean is Torville.
I’m looking forward to the ice dance episode, with perfect scores right across the board.
//Season 9 is seeming more like Season 6 BtVS in hindsight, //
And for those of us who don’t speak Buffy, could you elucidate?
Damn I forgot to indent!
Season 6 had many terrible things happen to characters – perhaps too many bad things. Two characters – Xander and Anya – were engaged and Xander broke off the engagement at the wedding. One of the main Scoobies – Willow – became addicted to magic, bad magic, and went totally evil. Buffy had to leave college and get demeaning (for someone who had saved the world several times) entry-level jobs, since her mom had died in the middle of season 5. Buffy was pulled out of heaven by her friends (they thought she was in hell).
The common consensus was that it was all too much of a bad thing. A lot like the Sam/Dean relationship in season 9.
Thanks for the explanation.
//The common consensus was that it was all too much of a bad thing. A lot like the Sam/Dean relationship in season 9.//
Hmm. I thought all that season 9 ‘too much of a bad thing’ was a good thing. I loved all those bad things happening.
I made the comparison more equivalent than I intended. Season 9 was dark, but not the “I never want to watch these people I love go through this character-destruction again” darkness of BtVS-6.
Season 6 of Buffy makes me think of Bleak Expectations, which is a radio series spoofing Dickens and Victorian novels in general. Your summary of Season 6 is exactly what happens in any given episode. It has characters such as Mr Gently Benevolent (who is thoroughly evil) and Miss Ripely Fecund, the hero goes to school at St Bastards where the pupils are killed when they reach 18. Episodes are called things like A painful life further re-miserabled, A happy life cruelly re-kippered, A horrible life un-ruined and then re-ruined a lot.
Oh yes, and Anthony Head plays Mr Gently Benevolent and lots of other characters as well.
Don’t leave Tara out of your litany of s6 woes, mutecypher!
This latest ep was directed like a mofo. What an opener! Driving! Hiding behind columns! Views through doors! Shoulder rolls and hay! Heads in the darkness! What a close! Could only have been better if they let Sam take us out with just the look. Delicious.
Oh god, Tara. That bastard Warren got what he deserved.
Ah, Buffy season 6! Not my favorite, either, for all the reasons you mentioned, mutecypher, but it has some of my favorite episodes in it, and one of my all-time favorite shots of the show (remember in the amnesia episode, when they all open the door together and then scream in unison? So funny to me). “Once More with Feeling”–I have the soundtrack–and the one with the mummy hand, and Normal Again, which wrecked me completely. Also Buffy and Spike, which was so very wrong but also so very very hot!
Buffy and Spike are my favorite pairing. Spike trying to become a better person is my favorite part of season 7. And everyone screaming when they open the door, that was great. I watch “Once More With Feeling” probably every 4-6 months, it’s just delicious. I have the soundtrack, too. It’s tied with “Moulin Rouge” for favorite soundtrack.
I like in season 7 that Kennedy notices and comments to Willow that Willow always stops the “Moulin Rouge” DVD at chapter 32 so that the movie has a happy ending.
Who is Kennedy? I don’t remember a Kennedy. There is no Kennedy.
There is no spoon.
Kennedy was Willow’s girlfriend in season 7.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_(Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer)
So you even created a Wikipedia page to back up your lies about this so-called Kennedy!
Jessie, I must be right. I am right.
I am, I am, I am!
;-)
I didn’t want to be the one to bring up the hot vampire stuff (again). Thanks, Barb.
I was expecting Spike! Thank YOU, Lyrie. Not a huge fan of hot vampires, actually, but I’ll make exceptions.
Buffy and Spike are my favorite couple too, and one of the best things Joss Whedon ever did was to spare Spike in season 2, so that he could become one of the show’s most compelling characters.
Aaah, season 6, my favourite of BtVS. :) I love my heroes desperate.
Four weeks break? I’ve kept hearing “Cas, Dean’s in trouble” in my head all week long (because I’m not an obsessive idiot, obviously).
I loved Cain. I love Rowena. I loved loved loved the fight. And that last scene!! The teaser was just beautiful, too. I’ve missed talking about it with you, guys – Mutecypher, I was just so happy when you talked to me on twitter!
Four weeks?
Damn.
Season 6 is your favorite? Lyrie you are made of sterner stuff than I.
What can I say, I’m a very cheerful person – a joy to be around, really.
I thought the teaser was awesome – a real return to form, and I loved every thing that happened in the prison: the weeping prisoner, the horse, the grumpy governor, the crummy cell.
And that rack focus at the end with Sam saying ‘Dean’s in trouble.’
And Cain. Cain could only have been more perfect if he had arrived on horseback.
And now we have to wait four (well, three) weeks, Lyrie. Hiatus is bad enough but all these friggin’ interruptions? What are we supposed to do in the meantime, learn about famous serial killers? (Sam, that is not a hobby. Do not do that hobby.)
Can we just talk about the music and sound effects in the teaser? How the music was timed with the guard tapping his nightstick on the cells? And then Cain echoes that sound with his chain-rattling. Everything about that scene gave me chills.
Helena, //What are we supposed to do in the meantime, learn about famous serial killers? (Sam, that is not a hobby. Do not do that hobby.)// Hey, if our shelves at the Library are any indication, it is a hobby, or at least a morbid interest, for a lot of people. It’s one of our biggest non-fiction sections.
//Hey, if our shelves at the Library are any indication, it is a hobby, or at least a morbid interest, for a lot of people. It’s one of our biggest non-fiction sections.//
Thanks, Barb – I think this is the perfect example of the difference between a hobby and a morbid interest!
Oh, has anyone wandered in recently asking for books in Enochian?
Not from me–sadly, I was just looking for our copy of “John Dee’s The Five Books of Mystery” and it has mysteriously vanished from our shelves and our records! We still have “The Greater Key of Solomon”, though. *sigh
Have not seen anyone in a bulky jacket and plaid shirt in that section of late, will have to pay closer attention.
That is NOT a hobby.
Instead, I’m going to re-watch Breaking Bad and learn the riffs of Carry On Wayward Son on the guitar. That should keep me busy.
Bleak Expectations, wow! (the titles only!) Thank you, Helena.:)
Lyrie,
Funny you should watch Breaking Bad waiting for SPN, as I started SPN while waiting for Breaking Bad. I thought SPN would be fun & camp while I waited for Breaking Bad’s last eps to come back. Surprise.
Ha! Yes, I’m re-watching it listening to the podcasts Kelley Dixon, on of the editors of the show, did. And now she’s doing them for Better Call Saul, great stuff!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/breaking-bad-insider-podcast/id311058181
Thanks for the link Lyrie I look forward to getting into them!
Breaking Bad is one of my all time favorite tv shows. I found during my rewatch that I hated Walter White. During my initial watch I had sympathy for him, but during the rewatch I saw so much more, the seeds of his evil were already there in his bitterness and resentment. I enjoyed it much more taken as a whole rather than the spooling of the story over several seasons. If I didn’t have so much on my plate right now I would do a rewatch as a refresher while I watch Better Call Saul (which is genius and so beautifully shot) Thanks for the podcast link.
Ha, Lyrie!
These are the episodes from one of the series
A lovely life rekippered once more
A now grim life yet more grimified
A sort of fine life de-iced completely
A horrible life unrefined then re-ruined a lot
An evil life sort of explained
Lives lost, ruined, wrecked and redeemed.
Could be Buffy or Supernatural!
Could totally be!
It reminds me of when I was working in a video store. As a minor, I was not allowed in the porn section. But I didn’t care, because I used to sort the movies by genre on the computer, and just read the porn titles: HILARIOUS!
A buddy of mine used to work up in Prudhoe Bay for a week and then come back for Anchorage for a week. Lather, rinse, repeat. There are lots of folks in Anchorage in the oil industry on schedules like that, with lots of single (or family-less) guys. So the brothels in the area were tolerated and often had the little signs out front with humorous invitations or endorsements.
His favorite advertisement was “ET came here.”
//Can we just talk about the music and sound effects in the teaser? How the music was timed with the guard tapping his nightstick on the cells? And then Cain echoes that sound with his chain-rattling. Everything about that scene gave me chills.//
We can talk about it a lot. But I will then have to watch it again. It’s the kind of episode that makes me want to watch it a lot.
I like what they are doing with the music in this Season. It’s more orchestral, more cinematic – hopefully the comedy electric organ has been tipped off a cliff for good.
Can we also talk about the fight at the end? So many good bits. As Jessie said, straw! Lots of it. That eye roll from Dean going up the stairs. Door opening slowing to reveal legs! Cain standing in that circle like Prospero meets Terminator. It’s a bit like a cage fight between that guy from the Princess Bride and the other guy, except … ok maybe not.
Cain expositioning/hazing away like a pro. When Metatron does this, I wish he would shut up. When Cain does this I would like him to go on forever.
All that ‘don’t make me do this’ anguish. He has to kill Cain, he doesn’t want to kill Cain, he quite possibly can’t kill Cain, he’s actually killing himself … aaaaagh, stop!
An arm gets chopped off! That was honestly quite surprising.
Cain lowering his tousled head for the final blow, Dean rising up on his frigging toes to deliver it.
Alas Cain, that’s the last we will ever see of your aquiline profile. (Unless there is a flashback episode.)
Portugal.
It’s a convenient midpoint between Crowley and Rowena’s Scotland, Charlie in Tuscany, and the US – right?
I’m suggesting this place for the season finale. “Shapes and symbols related to alchemy, Masonry, the Knights Templar, Rosicrucians.”
http://www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_obscura/2015/02/24/quinta_da_regaleira_palace_in_sintra_portugal.html?wpsrc=fol_tw
Oh mutecypher I’ve been there and it’s even better than it sounds! More a setting for Famous Five Goes Occult than an episode of Supernatural BUT…I do think maybe we already missed Sam and Dean’s visit. Certainly a hunter of some kind got there before me.
Jessie, that is awesome!
Whaaaaaat!!!!!!
Damn those Winchesters! How did they even get passports?
Did a quick pop in to see what everyone was up to – I’m glad to see you guys discussing “The Executioner’s Song” I’ve been wanting to talk about it with someone for the last week. I really think this was my favorite episode all season. It was beautifully shot, and the fight scene was mesmerizing. JA and Omundson have great chemistry. Very intense.
Helena – that eyeroll, so quick but so telling.
I’m in the middle of listening to Diana Gabaldon’s “Outlander” for a book talk I’m doing this week so the sound of all those lovely Scot’s names are rolling around my head right now. Looking up Celtic holidays and such so SPN has moved to the back burner for a bit. (It has to, I have like 20 hours left to listen to by Thurs.) But you all have great thoughts. And now I have to do a Buffy rewatch???? Sheesh
I’m so behind – I will never catch up!!
I can’t wait to read everyone’s thoughts and I will – hopefully this weekend.
And eventually … I’ll get to Houses of the Holy re-cap, which I’m really excited about. Also because it takes place in Rhode Island. I’m pathetically excited about that aspect of it.
Oh and humorous side note:
While I was in LA, I found myself locked out of the house I was staying in. It was 4 a.m. I had no keys. It was very cold. I was trapped.
But the door-knob and lock were very simple – and I thought, “Huh. Sam and Dean make this look so easy …” Took the bobby pin out of my hair and tried to pick the lock. Huddled over the door, wiggling the bobby pin around.
Yeah. It WASN’T easy. I feel gypped!
I ended up sleeping in my car and felt like the real estate values of the neighborhood plummeted by my mere presence in the area.
When I told my brother the story I was like, “So I tried to pick the lock – because they always do it so easily on Supernatural -” and he interrupted me: “Okay, so that sentence alone is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard.”
Oh no! I thought about making a joke that you should always wear pants when you were in LA, in case you need to change a tire on the freeway. But I didn’t want to jinx anything. Now you’ll need to remember to have a lock-picking set (don’t know how that’ll get past TSA).
And duct tape. Cause… duct tape!
I love that a grown up thought of doing that, and was candid enough to tell her brother. You’re my kind of grown up.
hahahaha
4 a.m., taking out my bobby pin, somewhere in Hollywood, thinking: How hard can it be??
//and I thought, “Huh. Sam and Dean make this look so easy …”//
hahahahahaha! Maybe performing an exorcism would have been easier?