Reply To: Let’s all talk about – The Winchesters – Art of Dying (S1 E6)
Okay…I liked several things about this. I liked the lack of space crickets. I liked finally seeing a bit of caring out of Mary (six episodes in!). I liked them going out and meeting/talking to another retired hunter. It has felt a bit like they are acting in a vacuum – not to much contact with anyone outside the core group and it was nice to have another one-episode character which is very much in the tradition of Supernatural.
This is the first hunter’s funeral we’ve seen since Dean. That was surprisingly hard for me! Because it made me think of Dean. I did like how that entire scene was shot (kudos to RSJ!). Especially the arm flopping out as the body was lifted onto the pyre. I always thought the neatly died up bodies on SPN were a bit too clinical for a gory show and I liked the arm flopping out to remind us there was a person in there.
But this show still does not give me any “Supernatural” feeling. It’s like it’s a completely different show on a complete different subject than Supernatural. I am almost thrown OUT of the show by Dean’s voice over. I miss him so much but it’s like hearing him there makes no sense to me because it feels like a show that has nothing to do with Supernatural.
I was annoyed that again Lata “knew someone” who could solve the mystery of what they were dealing with. Carlos getting flustered was cute. I still want Carlos to be more of a badass though!!! At least Lata got a bit more depth here. We know a bit more about why she’s non-violent.
So…there was more to this one between the characters and I liked that.
I can’t get used to these “out in broad daylight” monsters. This show does not have the dark feel of Supernatural at all and that was something I had hoped they’d go back to – more of an early-season SPN feel, but it’s not that.
I did like this one better, but I’m still left oddly not-compelled by this overall storyline.
I’m starting to feel like there is TOO MUCH talking about leaving hunting. It’s like every episode! I want them to SHOW us why she needs to leave, not talk endlessly about it every time. The main theme of the series seems to be MARY NEEDS TO GET OUT OF HUNTING. I feel that we already know that since we saw what came after, and on Supernatural it was unraveled (Mary’s story) much more slowly and in a much more clever way. It was a bit of a shock on Supernatural when we found out that Mary was NOT Dean’s idealized memory of her. (I’m conflicted about THAT, but it WAS unexpected on Supernatural.)
I find it strange that back when travel was more difficult, this other team of hunters went outside the U.S. mainland to hunt monsters! Barbados? I get using monsters from different cultures, but I think I expected a prequel to drill down even more into U.S. lore instead of going for the “monsters being called in from everywhere” idea (which they also did in Supernatural when things went sideways with other big bads).
The traditional SPN blood spatter at the start in the barn was not quite right. It was like someone was just pouring a bucket of fake blood from above on the floor. Lack of kudos to RSJ there. It looked NOT like it’s supposed to look on SPN.
Weird that Carlos got sentimental about the body part that his new love interest touched. It’s weird to me that this young bunch of hunters are so UNBOTHERED by gore. I can get maybe John’s time in Vietnam hardened him to that, but they seem too young to already have seen enough to be totally fine with and not shocked by anything.
I still feel like I’m watching something where it feels like someone is writing about characters in a way that I just don’t see or imagine them (John and Mary). Like I’m reading a fan fic where I think, “Huh, that’s really not how I would write them.” When Robbie Thompson (as show runner, I’m talking; he didn’t write this episode) took this on, when he was so good at understanding the core traits of the characters on Supernatural and what made them compelling, well, it seems absent here.
There were a few little cultural nods that I can’t now specifically remember; like calling one hunter Gellar (or an alias?) – Sarah Michelle Gellar; Buffy the Vampire slayer (but then it wasn’t a vampire they were dealing with and obviously that’s a “today” cultural reference). There was also some sexual innuendo that I found funny at the time.
I still wish this show gave me more of a sense of that other era too; apart from cars and clothes and music. Some indication that Carlos’ interest in another man might not be the easiest thing? Some friction about the perceived roles of women or minorities or something to make the era seem more real and dangerous in cultural ways? This group pretty much breezes around doing whatever they want. Remember Supernatural when Sam and Dean were pursued by law enforcement for grave robbing (hey; no one’s dug up a grave on this show yet!) and murder? There’s none of that here. No tangling with the police. And when there are police it’s conveniently John’s ex-girlfriend so there aren’t any questions. Overall, many things are too convenient for me.
But this episode was more enjoyable for me to watch than some. Lots of talking and exposition. That was a lot. It still just does not feel right to me; not part of the Supernatural universe. I keep hoping that with time, I will get to know the characters and that will make up for that a bit; once I start caring about them. But so far, that has not happened. I do not dislike these characters, but there’s none of that deep caring or even fascination that I had early on for Sam and Dean.