7:06

[oselle]

Let's admit first off that the only reason the episode has this title is because the writers are once again getting their rocks off tweaking fans, because it really doesn't apply in any way to the content of this episode. I mean, obviously, there was never going to be any "slash" in our meaning of the word, and the literal slashing that went on was no more abundant than in any other episode.

I just want to insert the word "sigh" whenever I say Sera Gamble's name because that's how I hear it in my head these days: "Sera-Gamble-Sigh." At last, it seems, we've gotten up to the purported "Butch and Sundance" theme of this season and it's little more than a retread of ground that was covered way back in "Skin" and "Night Shift"...with the exception that it seems to have been wrapped up in this episode, since the FBI and all concerned think the boys really are dead this time. So how they're going to keep the "outlaw" theme up for the rest of the season is beyond me, but it's possible that Sera-Gamble-Sigh may have already forgotten about it except for the passing reference in this week's ep.

This is the second episode now where we've had a montage of episodes from past seasons, this time around from the first few episodes of Season One, and I don't know what that's supposed to mean other than an attempt to remind us all why we fell in love with SPN in the first place. It has an air of desperation to it, like a couple trapped in a dying marriage looking through photo albums and hoping memories of the good times will keep them together. To me, it also feels like they're trying to remind us of a time when Castiel was not an integral part of the story and I'm sure that works for some viewers but it doesn't work for me. I still miss him.

I AM a sucker though, and I did greatly enjoy and LOL at Dean surreptitiously singing along to dreadful '80s soft rock. I swear, Jensen can sell anything. Speaking of which, I have a new co-worker who used to work at Soap Opera Digest and she was telling me how at SOD, most of the advertising revolved around "the talent" and all I could think about were those two awful Soap Opera Digest ads Jensen did in his Days of our Lives time, one in which he was hawking that necklace from Titanic and the other where he was schilling ladies' face cream with his mother. Unfortunately, my colleague was not at SOD during the Ackles-face-cream era. Good thing for her because she would now be my new best friend.

I was kind of intrigued by who this Dick fellow might be -- is he a Leviathan too, and is this finally the "terrifying hit man" we were promised? If so, why is someone so powerful that he can tell the King of Hell to fuck off so hell-bent on taking out the Winchesters? I won't get too worked up about it because I'm sure Sera-Gamble-Sigh will find a way to make this wholly uninteresting and most likely senseless.

Speaking of senseless, I don't really know what was the point of those murderous Sam-and-Dean doppelgangers except to allow the show to briefly turn the Winchesters into "outlaws" so that Sera-Gamble-Sigh could work in a Butch and Sundance reference. If "Dick" wants the Winchesters dead then there must be more expeditious ways to do it than making them the target of a national manhunt, which stood more chance of landing them in supermax instead of the morgue. And now the authorities just think the Winchesters are dead, which closes that avenue to the Leviathans or whoever Dick represents.

I'm sure we're supposed to be quite stunned at Sam walking away from Dean there at the end but that's another thing I'm not going to get worked up about because I'm sure it'll be more or less forgotten by next week. And I don't know how or why Sam can be so offended by Dean killing some chick who essentially meant nothing to Sam and whom he hadn't even seen in about twenty years, and I guess I can understand Sam being upset at Dean lying to him but come on...why does Sam of all people get to be upset about lies? We're just back at Sam coming across like a petulant kid while we all feel sorry for Dean, and at this point, I really don't know what it would take to make Sam likable again.

I know what I do like, though, and here it is, courtesy of midnight_road



That's from last week, and yeah, it's gratuitous, and yeah, I know the show's manipulating me but really...I'm okay with it. Except for the fact that I just want to curl right up next to that and snuggle, and I can't, which is most definitely not okay, but I'm reading a lot of philosophical stuff about how important it is to have the "right desires" in order to have a happier life and so I'm just going to work on understanding that this a desire that will not lead me to fulfillment but in the meantime I'm sure as hell going to enjoy the view.

Comments

[mangokulfi.livejournal.com]

Sleeping Dean. *smish*

Since I have given up on expecting any kind of quality in the writing or consistency in terms of plot or characterization, I actually mostly enjoyed this episode. But like, you Jensen sold this one for me wholely and completely for me. He makes Dean so ridiculously charming whether he is the original flavor or the Leviathan Dean. I honestly have no idea what this show would do without him because he is really the only reason that pretty much everyone I know, is still watching this crap.

The other thing I actually liked about this episode is all the nice references to Cas. At least we finally got a sense that he hasn't been forgotten. Also did you see Dean's manpain face whenever Cas was mentioned? *smish* Not that I actually think Cas is coming back any time soon but it's more than what have been getting so far.

Not sure why it was necessary for multiple characters to call Dean stupid in this episode, but then again, I've never understood what point the show is trying to make with that because they usually show us a Dean who is the man with a plan or has the right instincts, which he did again this week. Not that anyone would ever acknowledge that after calling him stupid. Yes, Bobby, I'm looking at you, you dirty old man.

I am also actually kind of enjoying Sam's massive, massive hissy fit over Amy because of just how bad it makes him look. I mean, are we really supposed to believe that Dean killing a monster that Sam himself would have killed if he hadn't played kissy face with her about a hundred years ago, is on the same level of betrayal as Sam lying to Dean and denigrating him for more than a year and ultimately releasing Lucifer as a direct result of that betrayal? Or Castiel spending an entire season lying and turning his back on everything that he learned from Dean, thus destroying himself in the process and releasing the oldest evil into the world?

Sam's stompy little sense of victimhood just looks so petty and small in comparison. I mean his brother went to Hell for him, saved him from Hell and stuck with him through multiple betrayals but Sam can't stand to be around Dean any longer over some day-long high school crush or the fact that Dean has some doubts over his sanity when he, himself, admits he having regular conversations with Lucifer?

Sera-Gamble-sigh! (I love that) really needs to get some perspective, methinks. Or she needs a beta because the shit she is churning out is damaging her woobie more than all the other crap they have had Sam do over the years.

[oxer12.livejournal.com]

This episode was worth it for the following:

1. Dean's love of Air Supply (and honestly, I really enjoyed Jared's reaction shots)
2. Leviathan boss is a very appealing type of Big Bad (so far, anyway. No doubt they'll fuck it up somehow).

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Not sure why it was necessary for multiple characters to call Dean stupid in this episode

Were they? I swear, that's become so commonplace that I don't even hear it anymore.

Sam can't stand to be around Dean any longer over some day-long high school crush

I don't know why they keep showing us a Sam who has deep feelings for everyone except his own brother. One of his worst memories of his "soulless" year involved the death of a random bartender, and the best moments in his afterlife were populated with stray dogs and classmates while Dean was conspicuously absent. Like I said, I don't know what we're supposed to think Sam is so upset about (Dean killing Amy or Dean not telling him the truth about it), but either way Sam's flouncing off doesn't inspire much sympathy for him.

or the fact that Dean has some doubts over his sanity

For years and years, Sam's been getting his fee-fees hurt over Dean thinking he's a freak or he's crazy or whatever and I don't even know why it fucking matters when, regardless of what Dean may think, he's always got Sam's back when it counts. I would say that Sam should judge Dean by his actions and not by whatever he suspects Dean thinks of him, but Sam doesn't seem capable of such wisdom or understanding.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

No doubt they'll fuck it up somehow

Yes, that seemed interesting but I'm sure it'll go nowhere just like everything else.

[mangokulfi.livejournal.com]

One thing I didn't quite get was Levi-Dean's comment about how every relationship is an application for sainthood. What did you make of that comment? Are we supposed to think that he wants everyone to think he's a saint or that there are so many lying shitheads in his circle of friends that just putting up with them, practically makes him a saint? Not sure what the point of that line was but I do recall the excessively rabid Sam girls on TWoP/sntv/cwlounge calling him St. Dean for a while when they were supporting Sam in his blame-Dean game, so I guess Sera-Gamble-sigh was just making another dig? I dunno.

[aubergineautumn.livejournal.com]

I know people have issues, and sometimes they get new issues, but mainly they have their primary issues. But Sam leaving is so old I don't even care. It does nothing to advance the characters or plot, although in real life that might indeed keep occurring. It just seems like Sam never cared as much for Dean as Dean did for him. I also get that Sam had this image of Amy as a symbol of a monster (Sam) doing bad stuff but still being redeemable, and that Sam was using that symbol to deal with Hell. And that Dean just ripped that symbol away. But still. Old. This might be realistic, but it is not a way to make me care about the characters. Take them back to Season 2 or end the show. Real life might be about the end of hope and despair, but that's not why we watch tv, tv is suppose to be an escape.

[aubergineautumn.livejournal.com]

Leviathan boss IS interesting.

[shoofus.livejournal.com]

what a beautiful man

and yes, jensen can sell anything....

a great actor trapped in a deathspiraling show

definitely agree with you that there is more than an air of desperation about the montages from the past being used now

and amy means more to you than dean? seriously, sam...seriously

[oselle.livejournal.com]

Since martyrdom is the fastest track to sainthood, I'd suspect they were making some kind of klutzy martyr joke, though I'm not sure about what. Either they were joking about how the Deangirls bitch that the writers have made Dean into a martyr, or joking about how the Samgirls hate Dean for "acting" like a martyr all the time. Either way, the writers are the ones who turned him into a martyr so do they think they're clever by hanging a lampshade on it?

[mangokulfi.livejournal.com]

These idiotic writers always think they're clever. I think they use the same dictionary for "clever" as they do "redundant."

[ghyste.livejournal.com]

I was kind of intrigued by who this Dick fellow might be -- is he a Leviathan too, and is this finally the "terrifying hit man" we were promised?

I liked Dick because infiltrating big business is the first thing any self-respecting monster should do, but he doesn’t strike me as the kind to do his own dirty work. I suspect that our “terrifying hit man” was (like the single episode nod to Butch and Sundance) just some bollocks that Gamble threw out when she hadn’t worked out what was going to happen this season – assuming that she ever will!

Speaking of senseless, I don't really know what was the point of those murderous Sam-and-Dean doppelgangers except to allow the show

It’s sad that none of the Big Bads over seven seasons have managed to figure out what Walt and Roy did – the best way to kill Sam and Dean is to sneak into their room when they’re asleep and shoot them.

[amber1960.livejournal.com]

Ha ha I have the right desires too then, and you've got to love the red check shirt of angst....

[salty-catfish.livejournal.com]

I approve of that screenshot.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I'd say 9 out of 10 women who have a pulse approve of that screenshot.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I love that shirt. I think it's new. He always looks great in red.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

infiltrating big business is the first thing any self-respecting monster should do

I know, which is why the "off the grid" stuff really strains belief. I can buy it when it comes to bump-in-the-night beasts like werewolves, but any self-respected demon would head straight to Wall Street, not Skid Row.

the best way to kill Sam and Dean is to sneak into their room when they’re asleep and shoot them.

LOL, can you imagine how many times they'd have been killed if any of these bad guys had even a little more gangster common sense? Once again, reminds me of Austin Powers: "Just shoot them! Bang! I'll do it myself!"

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I also get that Sam had this image of Amy as a symbol of a monster (Sam) doing bad stuff but still being redeemable, and that Sam was using that symbol to deal with Hell.

Like you said, "old." We've been going down this road with Sam literally for years, and not only am I tired of it, but I'm constantly amazed that Sam can be so furious about being perceived as a "freak" or a "monster," but so disinclined to make any redress for actual monstrous behavior, whether of the supernatural or pathetically human variety.

[oselle.livejournal.com]

I think the writers are the ones who should be looking over those montages, not us.

[kinkthatwinked.livejournal.com]

I don't know about Dean singing Air Supply. While I fully agree Jensen can sell anything (do TPTB realize that's one of the main reasons they still have an audience?) it would have been better if Dean had been sort of "unconsciously" singing; just the notion that Dean has all the lyrics in his head would have been priceless enough.

Regarding Sam, I really don't know what to say. Frankly I'm surprised that there are still Sam girls out there who find a way to defend his behavior; hell, I haven't even been able to fully understand his behavior since mid-fourth season. I miss symphathizing with both of the brothers. Watching an S&M relationship without the sex and bondage isn't doing it for me. If I wanted to watch one guy be a total jerk towards someone who loves him anyway, I'd watch the abusive husbands on the Lifetime Channel.

Can someone remind me why we love this show again?