(no subject)

[oselle]

If I hadn't turned into an instafan within the past couple of months, this episode would have blown right over my head just like the first two seasons did when they originally aired.

Of course, I have instafanned and so I come to this show with higher expectations than I should have. Supernatural is sort of like...an idiot child. You gotta love it for what it is and be patient with it for what it's not.

So I loved Dean's pretty face (as always) and I thought the changeling kids were genuinely creepy and revolting.

That said the whole monster-of-the-week storyline seemed like an afterthought, a frame for the more important "Is Dean a Daddy?" and "Ruby's a demon!" storylines.

As for Dean being a Daddy, I'll shamefacedly admit that my rusty biological clock coughed up a mordant little TICK when Dean hauled Ben out of that cage and hoisted him on his shoulder. Okay? You happy? There's still a little estrogen coursing in these narrowing veins. But if this show is going to gratuitously manipulate me, I prefer it to be with Dean Winchester looking gorgeous while he gets his pretty ass kicked. That's what got me on the bandwagon in the first place. Dean's regretful musings about his fruitless loins were both cringingly expected and not terribly believable. Why would he want to think that he has a kid who's just like him while he's rotting in Hell? But I've never gotten into the whole need to leave a little-me behind after I'm gone, anyway, so that could just be a personal quirk. And the whole COMPLETELY IMPROBABLE blood test thing served up the usual dish of classic SPN illogic, though I'm pretty relieved that the kid turned out not to be Dean's after all.

And I just have to add -- there's nothing terribly charming or amusing about an eight-year-old horndog. If Ben were my kid, I'd be worrying that he was getting too much growth hormone in his RBGH-treated milk.

As for Ruby -- I liked the way she carried herself in this episode but the tough cookie thing is already boring me. At least her demon status is out in the open now, so people can stop wondering about it. She's a demon, she's got some dirt on Sam's mother and the late yellow-eyed demon and if Sam helps her figure it out, she's going to help him save Dean. Okay, I can dig that she's got to offer him the one thing he can't turn down. But she's a demon, I'm not entirely sure why she'd even need Sam's help to figure this stuff out. She's got the inside track, for Christ's sake.

I liked Ruby's interaction with Sam but just felt like there was too much of it. I suppose it was good that the show got a lot of this stuff out of the way by the second episode rather than dragging it out over half the season. I'm glad I know that Ruby is a demon, I'm glad I have a clear idea of what she wants and what she's offering Sam to get it. That's good. But wow, I'm not cool with Sam and Ruby teaming up while my beloved Dean Winchester turns into the third character on this show. It's probably way premature to say that but yeah, that's sort of how I felt, especially when Dean was completely absent for the entire last five minutes of the episode. I don't suppose it could have played out any other way -- they had to have this scene between Sam and Ruby and the end of the episode was the logical place to put it. I'm just hoping it isn't a pattern for the rest of the season. This episode was so devoid of Sam and Dean together that it felt as off-kilter to me as some people said the premiere felt to them.

On the whole I feel weird about Ruby offering her demonic assistance to save Dean. What's bothering me is that she made the offer. It's sort of got convenient deus ex machina written all over it and I'm still burned out on that from Deathly Hallows. Guess we'll have to see how that plays out -- demons are liars after all, so Ruby could just be bullshitting Sam. I rather hope she is. And I rather hope Sam figures it out. He was really passive in this episode and I'd like to see him do more to help Dean rather than just doing whatever Ruby tells him to do. Come on, Sam!

Other strikes against this episode? Complete lack of rocking music and the Dean-abuse was blink-and-you-miss-it. Sigh.

I did have to laugh at the reappearance of the famous SPN midnight sun -- when Dean goes to Lisa's house, it's still early enough in the evening for both Ben and Lisa to be up. Presumably, the under-construction McMansion development (looking very much like the one in "Bugs") is not too far from Lisa's house. But in the time it took them to get there, rescue the kids and drive back to Lisa's house, a good ten hours of night seem to have elapsed and the sun is up. Okaaaay.

I'm also happy to see that the weather in British Columbia appears to be better than it's been for the past two years. Lack of regular sunlight can cause rickets which results in...bowleggedness. Ah, it's all making sense now.

Comments

[mews1945.livejournal.com]

Yep, yep and yep. I loved the changelings. They were genuinely scary, and the woman with the little girl did a helluva job. I could feel her fear and dread, and when she walked into the house and the kid was there, dripping on the floor, and smiling. . .jesus, I got chills just writing this.

If the writers are at all smart, the demon Barbie doll will turn out to have all kinds of ulterior motives and she will kick some Winchester ass before being dispatched in an appropriately gruesome manner.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

As long as her ulterior motives don't dominate the season, I'm cool. Appropriately gruesome dispatching definitely works for me, too.

I've been reading one fanboard and am surprised to hear that most people liked this episode far more than the premiere. My reaction was exactly the opposite. Go figure.

[ghyste.livejournal.com]

I've been doing a bit of surfing around and, apparently, it's not just that the weather is good, they've also stopped using something called a blue lens. I have no idea what that is, of course.

Alas not even Dean Winchester is enough to get my biological clock ticking, but I will admit that the scenes with the main little girl and her mother were genuinely creepy.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Hmm, no blue lens. I don't know what that is but I'd assume it was what gave the show its moody, murky look for the past couple of seasons. I have to admit, I miss it. Season One was too dark (more brown than blue and freaking grainy half the time) but I really liked the way Season Two looked. It's a little too sunny now. A little too...Stars Hollow. You mentioned that the premiere looked different to you, but I didn't pick up on it until this week. Thought the skies over Vancouver had just cleared!

[ghyste.livejournal.com]

If it was Stars Hollow it's be an amber lens that they'd be using. Always Autumn but never Halloween, that place.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

You forgot Christmas. It's always either autumn or Christmas.

That was a pretty creepy show in its own way.

[cpsings4him.livejournal.com]

I suck. I totally missed the show whilst out to dinner with a friend. Can you believe I've managed to miss most of two episodes in a row? Clearly my priorities are out of order. Thanks for the little rundown.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Can you believe I've managed to miss most of two episodes in a row?

BAD fan. BAD!