(no subject)

[oselle]

Apologies for my drunken, incoherent excesses last night. I promised myself that I'd come back today for a more sensible appreciation of "Fresh Blood." Thought all day about what I wanted to say because there is just so, so much to love about this episode.

Let's just get this out of the way first...

The Bad
Bela must go, and I say that knowing, sadly, that she's not going anywhere. I can dream, can't I?

I didn't think she could possibly have irritated me more than in last week's "Red Sky at Morning" but good heavens, she managed to do it here, even with little more than five minutes of screentime, and none with the boys except for the phone calls. Now I'm even getting annoyed by her wardrobe (that vinylly looking leather) and facial tics (the way she flexes her mouth WIDELY around every single word, like she's trying to overcome a speech impediment). These minor irritants aside, let's focus on the big issue: this character is so poorly conceived and executed (both by the writers and the actress) that she almost seems like some kind of spiteful joke being played upon Dawn Ostroff for demanding a second female character. I've been comparing Bela to something out of a Bond movie, or Alias or Moonlighting, but this week I realized she's worse than any of that -- she's a caricature straight out of Austin Powers. I half expect Austin to pop up from the back seat of her little roadster and JUDO CHOP! her one to the neck. Oh, how I wish he would! This week they not only had her making Sam and Dean looking like complete idiots, they had her one-upping Gordon for no reason other than to make her look tough and savvy (didn't work). Here's an idea: make your character look tough and savvy by having her do tough, savvy things, rather than just dumbing down everyone around her. Gordon can't find the Winchesters without this twat's help? Dean offers up his location because she chirpily calls to thank him for saving her life? I enjoyed Dean's stone-faced assurance that he intended to kill her "if we make it out of this alive," but I'm not believing a word of it. That's Kripke thinking we're still dumb enough to believe that she's not there to be Dean's future love/sex interest, when frankly, there can be no other explanation for her. And I am just hoping they don't get to it in the four episodes remaining before the writer's strike shuts down production. I'm also hoping that Lauren Cohan was only contracted for up to ten episodes and that when (and if) the show returns after the strike, the writers will have had time and free rein enough to write this ridiculous character out of the show. This week's ratings were not good -- a real shame for such a great episode. I can only lay blame for some of that at the feet of last week's boring Belafest. If I were still a casual viewer, or if "Red Sky" had been my first experience of Supernatural, I too would have had little cause to tune in this week. She's got to go. She's a show-killer.

(Note to Dean: You made it out of this alive. Go get the bitch.)

The Ugly
I expect an episode entitled "Fresh Blood" to be on the gooey side, but I really didn't need to see that victim's grisly vertebrae jutting up out of her congealed neck stump. This season's emphasis on gore is getting a little too over the top and funhousey.

That said, I thought it was quite cool and inventive when Sam popped off Gordon's head with that length of razor wire. And my detail-loving nature appreciated the fact that Sam covered his hands before grabbing the wire.

The Good
I loved the VampVision special effects from vamped-up Gordon's point of view, especially when that car was turning the corner and left that big taillight trail. It produced just the right acid-trippy effect. Nicely done!

I was happy to see Jesus-lovin' Kubrick again, and this time for more than comic relief. I've talked about religion's strange relationship with this show before and I thought it was intriguing to have a hunter whose profession had driven him into religious mania -- you'd think it would happen more often. I was reading the Catholic exoricsm ritual (as one does) and there's so much more to it than the little bit you ever hear Sam, Dean or Bobby say, and it's hardcore. I mean come on, Popes wrote this stuff! It's not religion lite. All that aside though, Kubrick was really quite badass and I loved the way the actor played him. I'm sorry he's gone. His death scene was unexpectedly moving and very well played by both actors.

There was a delicious Dean moment that totally hearkened back to Alec in Dark Angel -- when Dean mimics what he imagined Sam would say about killing Gordon. "No we can't, he's a human, it's wrong!" Alec mimicked Max in almost the exact same way in "Borrowed Time." Jensen Ackles has such a nice, light comedic touch and I love to see it used well. Emphasis on "well" -- they've been overdoing the humor a little this season and I was glad this episode was played straight.

On the cheap and dirty side, Dean doing anything with that big machete -- especially slicing himself open and talking about how he tastes even better than he smells -- was pure, stomach-fluttering joy.

The Better
Dean and Sam's restrained confrontation in the motel room was dead-on perfect. We start with Dean trying to joke it off (making a nice little callback to Season One's "Faith" in the process), smirk it off and shout it off and then, gradually, realizes that he can't, not this time, not anymore. Sam's heartfelt "I wish you would drop the show and be my brother again, because...just 'cause," sounds like the simplest of lines but it was so effective. This is how I imagine these guys talking to each other. It was so intimate and so real. Wow, I can't say what other people are watching this show for, but this is why I'm here.

Of course, I can't be all high-toned and serious all the time, and this episode also marked a return (for the first time this season!) to some first-class Dean whupping. Is it just me or are these fights getting really raw? That fight with the "big bad wolf" in "Bedtime Stories" looked brutal, not choreographed the way they sometimes do, and this time around there was something so harsh about Gordon spinning Dean around and just punching him in the back of the head. And then, when Gordon pounces on Dean and starts gnawing on his neck!?!?! I totally didn't see that coming and oh my God...is it hot in here or is an unconscious Dean Winchester getting his neck gnawed on by a strapping vampire? I do believe it's both!

(And nice bit of continuity...later on, the healing punctures are still visible on Dean's succulent neck!)

Loved the look on Sam's face when he popped Gordon's head off. He looked so...Deanish, somehow. He is starting to look tired in the same way, I think, and that's just cool. That is so cool. I also enjoyed Dean staggeringly picking himself up off the floor (the man can stagger like no one else!), and I swear, for one second, I really thought they were going to hug. They didn't and I'm glad because instead they gave us...

The Absolute Best
God, what to even say about that last scene? Big milestone for me -- the first time this show really made me cry.

Beautifully shot and acted, with just the right music and it took me a second to tell what was going on because I just didn't want to believe it. But Dean is going to die and he knows it, and he's not brushing it off or making a joke about it...he's not talking about it either but he's...turning the Impala over to Sam. Basically -- teaching him how to take care of it is the same thing, isn't it? Oh my God. Oh my God.

And as hiyacinth said, Sam didn't get upset or pissy when he realized what was going on. He just...accepted it. It was such a pitch-perfect moment between the two of them, from the way Sam took that wrench to the change in Dean's face when he knew Sam wasn't looking, even to the way Dean sat down and grabbed that beer. "Put your shoulder into it..." Proof that the most thunderous moments can pass in the quietest ways.

Have I ever loved these two characters more than I did when that camera pulled back and the music came up? And the lowering sky and those stark "end of the line" train tracks and the telephone pole like a crucifix behind them and...perfect, just so perfect.

Upon reflection, I realized that this was another scene that worked so well because it felt so real. This is how men act. I don't think there too many of us who haven't had some sort of moment like this with a man in our life -- a father, brother, grandfather, husband. They don't say that they love you. They do things. They help you move house. They put your storm windows up. They pick you up when you're stuck.

They teach you how to fix the car when they know they won't be there to do it.

Golly, Supernatural. When you're bad, you're awful, but when you're good...you're amazing.

A great, great episode, and the perfect way to leave us for the Thanksgiving hiatus. And you know what? I'm thankful.

Comments

[arabia764.livejournal.com]

It was so intimate and so real. Wow, I can't say what other people are watching this show for, but this is why I'm here.

Me too. A episode that made you stop, hold your breath for a moment and think, 'Oh God...'

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I was just saying "Oh, God," during the whole thing, especially the end. I don't think this level of emotion is necessary to every episode, but this is what gives the show its heart and focus -- not any amount of monsters, gore or babes can accomplish that.

[ghyste.livejournal.com]

she's a caricature straight out of Austin Powers

The Liz Hurley impersonation has been reminding me of Austin Powers ever since Bela arrived. Maybe she's going to turn out to be a Fembot?

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I considered the Fembot angle. I just hope she turns out to be something that can be easily dispatched. Every scene she's in grinds to a halt and there are supposed to be, what? Nine more episodes to plug her into? Heh, Fembots...plugs.

Dean needs to make good on his promise. We all know he won't though, the sap. You know, if they're going to suggest that she's so captivating that Dean will give her a pass on all the despicable shit she's done, then they should have at least cast someone who was really charismatic and beautiful. Even then, it would have been a stretch.

[i-o-r-h-a-e-l.livejournal.com]

No apologies ever needed.

And what can I say? I'm getting addicted to your words. Thank you.

This one scene: Dean tilts his head up, eyes closed, when he is bitten by Gordon. *shudders*

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I KNOW. Rewound and rewatched that a ridiculous number of times. Even with Gordon hell-bent on killing Sam, he couldn't resist a taste of that.

[mews1945.livejournal.com]

I loved this episode too. It got back to the meat and bone of this series, the brothers and their relationship and what the evil and violence they experience does to them every day. There's powerful emotion in this, but it's all under the surface, and they've both become such strong actors they can reveal it without overt actions or speeches. I've always thought Gordon was a worthy opponent too, and he really proved it. Great performances from all the actors.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

This episode was really Supernatural in top form. I wish it could keep that up more consistently.