oselle | SPN 6:01: Exile on Main Street

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supernatural

SPN 6:01: Exile on Main Street

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.

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

Yo. Dean went soft. Didn't you hear? A few too many baked potatoes with the steaks you know he's been grilling couple of times a week. (On sale, from Sam's.)

And a few too few actual-factual hunts, because God knows -- hah -- you can't rest on your Apocalypse-ending laurels. EVERYONE knows you forget everything you know after one year.

I just posted my review! I HATED this episode. Hate. Between the extreme OOC'ishness of Sam (and to a lesser extent, Dean), the stupid Campbell storyline (so don't care), and the general "bzuhh?" of it all...just, no.

I'm really kind of angry right now, which is not a reaction I expected to have.

1: "It makes Lisa and Ben look like the consolation prize and I don't like that." YES.

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?"
I think it was more to hint at Mitch Pileggi being in the episode by ripping off the X-Files tagline. Ah C-dub...so clever.

3: "Speaking of all those Campbells...too many Campbells." It felt very Buffy-ish (with all those other random slayers that appeared out of nowhere) and just...yeah, NO.

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." Just cling to the hope that Lucifer!Sam will bust out in one of these episodes and save the season.

10. At least I enjoyed the first 10 minutes.

1 and 3 - oh yes, I so agree with you. Way too many new characters I don't care about. And where was the epic reunion and ....

Too many things to complain about. But for me Jensen with a little extra weight is not one of them. I'd take him any day.

Yes, to all of that. Did not like that ep.

I wrote more about this on my lj, but I felt like this ep was really trying to establish a new status quo without dealing with a lot of the stuff it set out. Tbh, it seems like a lot of people agree that the first 10 minutes was the best. Dean the awkward fit in suburbia was a lot more interesting as a hunter than the pack of hunters who showed up!

OK I'll be the voice crying in the wilderness- cause I'm an easy SPNslut.. I'll give Sera a pass on this episode cause it's the first one and she's still trying to find her feet.
I haven't re watched it so I'm writing this out of memory--
1. I like Lisa and Ben, I don't need to see them all the time,but I'm glad Dean has them..
2. I think there is something hinky with the Campbells,I just haven't figured it out yet..
3.Yeah where did they all come from,unless because Samuel was dead,the rest didn't know about Sam and Dean until Grandpa came back..
4.
5. Djinns might not have been able to get near Dean and Sam because of Castiel's protection.. So now they can,and their touch can be used for either euphoric or horrific experiences(I'm not an expert on djinns:).
6.Sam has to be a little different,who wouldn't be, I see him at sometime telling Dean his hell experience but not right away.
7.Yeah Dean needs to share his job hunting skills(my friend has been out of work over a year).
8.I also noticed the tucked in shirt,and thought WTF??
9.It can be hot in Oct,it's the end of Sept and it was 87 here yesterday.
10. Why do they always have their jackets on indoors???

Now please don't shout at me all at once. I'm really not into debates,just stating my thoughts:)

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.

I'm seeing a Very Special Thanksgiving episode in full period costume.

To be honest, I think that's the least of our worries :)

Hee! I am so glad that somebody else articulated the flabby Jensen thing! I'm sure you've seen those photos of him playing soccer shirtless....All of fandom seemed to think he looked hot. I was all "Whoa! Dude had a very cruisy summer off and obviously didn't hit the gym once".

Apart from a bit of flabbyness, I do think the shirt tucking in thing was deliberate though. I was paying attention to the horrible cut of the jeans and the totally dorky belt they put Dean in. I guess just a subtle reminder of the "wrongness" of Dean's life. For all this scruffy dressing whilst hunting, there was always an inherent coolness in what he wore. Those clothes just did not "fit" Dean.

As for the rest of the episode, I am interested for the season to progresses, with a few caveats. Mostly I want to find out about Sam and how different he is and why, and to see Dean struggle with maybe having a family. But so many Campbells? Urgh. No thanks Sera.

Sera - Please also keep Ben to a minimum. I think that kid may suck balls at acting. He's no Colin who knocked it out of the park as mini Sam and I think they'll have the same problem they had with the last mini Dean. They cast a kid who is not that great and realise later when they want him to play a bigger part that he doesn't have the chops to back up the dialogue and storyline.

Wait, something happened in the episode after those images of Dean scrambling eggs? Um, I mighta gotten a little stuck there...

Seriously, JA, fat or not (there's a reason they call them love handles *g*) gave the episode what little emotional continuity it had--he's just such an expressive actor.

And, since we're in the business of home truths--the ep was a little like Yellow Fever for me: I couldn't tell if Sam's inexpressiveness was a character point or just a byproduct of JP's acting...

I'm back, because nobody on my flist is posting on my own entry. ;)

I thought about something today. Remember last season when Bobby had a come-to-Jesus moment about Sam's pure awesomeness and how it would be no sweat for him to fight the Devil? That was based on how Sam unflinchingly kept going back for survivors in the Croatoan virus warehouse.

And then yesterday Sam tells Dean that he should get back in the game because of the way he just throws himself into a situation and never hesitates, and how he, Sam, wouldn't even think about trying to do that. @$*&! retcon!!! Which is it? Is Sam the most awesome hunter on the planet, or is he a spineless wimp who holds back?

I saw someone else refer to Sam as Robo-Sam, which is now stuck in my head. I loved how Robo-Sam is all, I totally just dropped into your life all non-chalant and have given you exactly four seconds to readjust to the idea that I am alive and well and then demanding a hug but then smirking when you actually do so. Oh Dean and your silly human emotions!

Also if I had balls this episode would have made them crawl back up. I was just so uncomfortable for Dean the whole time. And I had no idea I could hate canon-Sam any more than when he was trying to choke out a stunned and down Dean.

I hope if Sam ever gets back to "normal" and talks about his, what - one day, two days tops in Hell? - that Dean says boohoo.

ALSO AGAIN I forgot to mention that because I've spent so much time reading Sam written as a human being by awesome fic authors, the incompetence presented by show writers often staggers me. I forget that the Sam character I love IS NOT REAL!

(Hi! I read your comments at sistermagpie's journal and followed you here.)

So I've never watched an episode of Supernatural, but reading about this abusive yet addictive trainwreck of a show reminds me of exactly what it was like to love the X-Files.

As (early series) Scully would say: Never Again.

You have my deepest sympathies.

(PS - Re: America. It's horrible. It's horrible all over the world. More and more I see something Malthusian in it... People get very ugly when they feel threatened. And to be poor in a society that worships wealth - that alone is a threat. And then the reaction takes on its particular form...)

I just realized I've been butting into your conversations with my bitter snarkiness. Sorry about that.

On the upshot, I actually expected to hate this episode a lot more than I did so I guess that's good.

IKR? See how its done writers? AT this point, it wouldn't surprise me if the costuming was Jensen's or the director's idea rather than the writers considering how often the writers just throw up their hands and tell rather than show.

I am not running around commenting on 6.01 things, because there is too much to say...but #7 - hell to the yes, woman. Seriously. They should do an episode where Dean gets laid off from his job and has to go work at Walmart. Or mow lawns for extra cash. Oh yes, mow lawns shirtless for extra cash!!!
#8 - I kinda love that Jensen is getting his "I've passed 30 years old" gut, just a little one. But he should never tuck in his shirts anyway. I'm glad suburbia means less layers of clothing.

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