SPN 6:01: Exile on Main Street

[oselle]

The only reason I'm even bothering to post a review is because I'm still high off the four beers and five cigs I had while watching that episode.

Without further ado:

1. It was smart to keep Lisa and Ben's presence to a minimum, and to not hammer us over the head with Dean's domesticity. Truth be told, Dean seems to be an awkward fit with suburban life which is exactly what he should be. Despite Lisa's assertion that this was "the best year of her life" we can at least tell it was and continues to be tough going for them. I'm discomfited by Dean telling Sam that he basically pushed Dean into that life...i.e., that he wouldn't have chosen it for himself. It makes Lisa and Ben look like the consolation prize and I don't like that. That's why I'll continue to insist that Dean's "settling down" should only have come at the END of the series so that we'd never have to deal with the consequences of it. Now we've got this big mess with the very likable Lisa and her twelve-year-old son...and this guy who -- by his own admission -- is only with them because he made a deathbed promise to his brother.

2. The promos were pushing a "TRUST NO ONE" tagline and I don't know if that means we're supposed to be wary of Sam and all those Campbells. Are they not who they claim to be?

3. Speaking of all those Campbells...too many Campbells. Based on what I heard from ComicCon, I thought the various and sundry Campbell relatives would be rolled out over the season...HAHAHAHA I should know better than to expect anything approaching subtlety. No, instead we get FOUR of them in the premiere, including Gramps, who apparently has been "brought down" from heaven (?) to chaperone Sam and OH MY GOD doesn't anyone besides me remember that all of Mary's relatives were supposed to be dead? And OH MY GOD are we honestly supposed to believe that these Campbells who, apparently, are to hunting what the Kennedys are to politics, WOULD NOT HAVE LOOKED OUT FOR MARY CAMPBELL'S SONS AFTER SHE DIED? That for the past THIRTY YEARS they have been unaware of the existence of Sam and Dean Campbell-Winchester? Please. I DEFY you to fucking fanwank that shit.

4. BOY, Sera Gamble is sure in love with that Mayflower business, isn't she? I'm seeing a Very Special Thanksgiving episode in full period costume.

5. Speaking of Sera Gamble...bringing back the djinns from Raelle Tucker's great "What Is And Never Should Be" final episode does not make Sera Gamble into Raelle Tucker. Frankly, bringing back the djinns made no sense at all and was one of the klutziest plot bridges I ever saw. So what, they've been hanging around for four fucking years waiting to get revenge on Dean?

6. I'm giving Sam a temporary pass on his behavior because I don't know if Sam is really Sam or if Sam was so fucked up by hell that he's all dead inside or what. But there's simply no excuse for Bobby at all. Oh right, Dean's having such a wonderful life in suburbia that HE WOULDN'T WANT TO KNOW HIS BROTHER WAS ALIVE. Mmmhmm.

7. How did Dean even manage to find a manufacturing job in this economy?

8. Jensen clearly put on weight and should not be wearing his shirt tucked into his jeans. Hey, someone had to say it.

9. If Sam Adams Oktoberfest Ale is in the supermarket it shouldn't be ninety fuckin degrees out.

10. Whatever.

Comments

[dnalia.livejournal.com]

After that episode, I'd rather watch Dean, Lisa, and Ben do their own thing with Castiel and Crowley occasionally dropping by for tea and snarking at each other. Sam and the rest of the Campbell clan can just fuck off.

What bothered me was the entire episode seemed to be centered around showing how wonderful Sam is by being apparently totally unaffected by hell and how awesome this bunch of assholes, that unfortunately happen to be Dean's relatives, are and how pathetic Dean is now that he left the "life". Gah.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I hear some of the SPN true believers saying that we just have to hold on and wait because something's clearly "off" about both Sam and the Campbells and if we're just patient with the show we'll all be blown away by some shocking plot twist. Sadly, I've heard that song before from the true believers, and at one time I believed it myself, but I've spent too many seasons waiting for shocking plot twists that just never came. What we saw last night should be taken at face value -- Sam is awesome, the Campbells are awesome, and Dean needs to get his mojo back and grow a pair so he can be as awesome as they are. Which I presume is what the rest of the season will be about. I'd challenge the show to prove me wrong, but I know it won't.

[salty-catfish.livejournal.com]

You think? I didn't feel they were seriously going for laughs with the lifestyle-bashing but rather wanted to show how much the Campbells suck. It was so unfunny. Maybe wishful thinking on my part.
What audience would even buy into the premise that Dean had to prove anything to anyone? Not the longtime-viewers, I believe.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I never know what the show is going for. Are we supposed to think the Campbells are awesome or think they suck? Are we supposed to laugh along with them because Dean's "wife" reads InStyle or interpret their mockery as childish envy? I just don't know. And that's a big part of the problem.

[mangokulfi.livejournal.com]

Agree with this. The show is so terrified of Dean's popularity no matter what incarnation he takes that they deliberately undermine the character even when it makes absolutely no sense. It's bizarre.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I don't know if they're terrified of Dean's popularity or feel so secure about his popularity that they know they can undermine him or poke fun at him or even humiliate him with no consequences. I think it's mostly the latter...but I do agree that they seem to knock Dean down a lot in an attempt to make Sam look better, and often wind up with the exact opposite effect. Maybe if they invested a little time in actually figuring Sam out, Dean wouldn't have to play the chump so often.

[mangokulfi.livejournal.com]

Yeah how about writing up to Dean's level instead trying to tear Dean down and pretend he's a shallowly written as Sam. It's lazy. Also do they really think the dumb Dean jokes are funny anymore? If they ever were.