(no subject)

[oselle]

Are you familiar with the term "schmuck bait?" That's when a TV show, usually in a "Next On" promo or commercial, dangles some tantalizing tidbit before the audience that, in fact, does not actually happen in the episode. I seem to recall that the TV shows of my youth were notorious for the schmuck bait in their commercials. As a young schmuck, I was suckered in by them every single time.

Man, I haven't been schmuck baited like this since the Seventies. Despite what the preview and the credits led me to believe, Mr. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, aka John Winchester, was not in that episode. His voice was in the episode, at least I assume it was his, but he himself was not. There was no meetup between Dean and his dearly departed daddy. The overlay of Dean's beaten-up face with John saying "how could you do it?" Cruelly misleading. Those were completely different scenes. There was buildup to angst, but no angst.

Show, show, show. Show. Can we talk?

It took me a long time to love you, I know. But when I finally fell for you, I fell hard, didn't I? You've been the center of my world for, what? Almost a year now? My friends are sick of hearing about you. I stopped going out on Thursday nights so that I could be with you. I think I've given an awful lot to this relationship, show.

Then circumstances beyond our control came between us. Contracts and unions and things I don't understand, things a whole lot bigger than just...a girl and her show. But I stayed faithful. I waited for you. I knew that one day, when all the lawyers and agents and arbitrators had had their say, you'd come back to me. Even though there'd be so much less of you than I'd hoped for -- six whole episodes less as it turned out -- I still waited. And now you're back and...I don't know, show. I just don't know.

We've got so little time left, and I don't understand why you want to spend it this way. A silly and vaguely offensive episode last week and then forty minutes of schmuck bait this week? Show! You should be ripping my heart out! There are only two episodes of you left! One of your main characters is dying...going to hell! And you're phoning it in, show! I'm not feeling it! Why are you doing this to me? Is it because I waited two years to buy the Season One DVD? Because I still record you on VHS? Because I like Reaper? Tell me, show! Tell me what I've done wrong!

Oh, show. We only have two episodes left together and you don't even look like you're trying to make them count. And then you're going to take off and leave me hanging all summer. I know it. And I'll wait. You know I'll wait. That's why you do this to me. I let you do it. *sniff* I let you.

You break my heart, show.

Comments

[layne67.livejournal.com]

*pets you*

I was disappointed myself, too. I was kind of expecting something more, maybe John making an appearance at the end of the show. I was so looking forward to seeing him again. That voice was really his, I think, since his name was listed as a guest star.

It just occured to me, wouldn't it be awesome if John's working on the other side, trying to save Dean, and he manages to wrestle the contract from whatever's holding it now?

[oselle.livejournal.com]

The schmuck-baiting aside, what most disappointed me about this episode is that it felt like an average MoTW standalone in a regular season. If this HAD been Episode 14 in a usual 22-episode season, it probably would have been fine. But for crying out loud...they now have only ONE episode left before Dean's number is up and what? They're going to try to pack all of that into the last 40 minutes of the season? Without even building up to it??

Both last week's episode and this week's felt like they were written for a standard-length season -- neither one really did anything to advance the main story arcs. And the previews for 3:15 made it look like a regular MoTW episode, too (unless that's just more schmuck bait). Which is leading me to believe that the last episode before hiatus is going to be a lame, hurried mishmash whose only purpose is to sock us with a cliffhanger. Not that I wasn't expecting a cliffhanger, but getting to the cliff should be just as heart-stopping as hanging off it. Jeez. What were these folks doing during that writer's strike? Did the union prohibit them from even thinking about where the story was going to go?

And the whole John Winchester thing pissed me off mightily because oh lord, I love that dynamic between John and Dean, and especially after what happened in "Dream A Little Dream" I was so, so looking forward to seeing the two of them together or at least to seeing Dean thinking he was seeing his father again. It was such a tease seeing Dean on the phone, and watching the way his whole body language changes when he's talking to his father and then...nothing. Nothin'!!

It just occured to me, wouldn't it be awesome if John's working on the other side, trying to save Dean, and he manages to wrestle the contract from whatever's holding it now?

This would be some rabbit to pull out of the hat and I don't think they could manage it at this point. Frankly, I'm not seeing anything to suggest that Dean will be gotten out of his deal in a way that even makes sense, much less is awesome, unless they do some serious brainstorming over the summer. For which I'd be happy to volunteer my brain :).

Sorry for the rant.

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

Oh. I'm sorry you were disappointed. :(

[oselle.livejournal.com]

It had its moments -- I mean, Dean is just getting prettier than ever -- but the lack of real Jeffrey Dean Morgan was a big disappointment, and they've got so little time left to make sense of this season that I don't really know what they're doing. Like I said, if this hadn't been the third-to-last episode of the season, I'd probably have enjoyed it a lot more.