Reply To: Let’s all talk about The End – S5 E4)
I cannot sing praises any louder than you, two, already have! I agree with EVERYTHING you both said!
One of the top 5 best EVER episodes for me, too.
There isn’t a minute in this one that DOESN’T work.
VERY GOOD Question, Kate, about if any of this was real or not or an alternate universe. Any of that could be the truth.
EXCELLENT point, JBB, about the flip phone being so much more effective to “slam”. HA!
Jensen is giving a freaking MASTERCLASS in acting in this episode! There is no question about that. The range of emotions he has to go through from BOTH Dean’s is off the chart and it’s no wonder he was exhausted by the end of it.
I also agree with both of you that Jensen is overall the better actor (by a good clip) of the two but Jared is holding his own very nicely throughout the series and shines on many occasions very brightly, too. I don’t want to take credit from him but I do think that Jared acting with and opposite Jensen makes his performances better! That HAS to be it, because I honestly fail to see how he can be very good in this show and makes such utterly bad or at least questionable acting choices at the moment on Walker!!!!
UGH, you can see it’s KILLING Dean to say to Sam that they need to stay apart to dodge Michael and Lucifer. Having this scene on the heels of Dean telling Cas that he’s happier without Sam, makes me even more convinced that Dean doesn’t WANT to be apart from Sam, but that it was a necessary break and now it’s the smart choice for the time being.
It’s so interesting to me how I feel about the two Deans in this episode! Because they really aren’t the same person. At the beginning of the episode I feel squarely in 2009-Dean’s corner. Discovering his future self and how far that Dean has been gone past anything Past-Dean can imagine himself do is so shocking, you can see him shaken to his core and I feel for him deeply. I want to shake Future-Dean by the collar and snap him out of it. But when Future-Dean tells the other about Sam having said yes and he’s begging him to make other choices and say yes to Michael, I understand him, his choices, his closed off demeanor. And I want Past-Dean to listen. Just for a moment. Future Dean is SO DEEPLY desperate, still caring for the planet’s population, trying to save what he can. It’s heartbreaking. Then he suddenly gives up and stops trying to convince his counterpart because he does know that it’s pointless. (ABSOLUTELY STELLAR SCENE by the way! The writing and the execution are just out of this world!!) Then once you realize Future-Dean uses his team pretty much as canon fodder, I am again completely on 2009-Dean’s side with the outrage and disbelief, horrified that Dean’s been pushed past where loss of close allies even registers as wrong. What a rollercoaster ride.
Hippie-Cas is a DELIGHT but it’s also oddly sad to see him that way, feeling useless and hopeless, trying to numb the paid, basically. Misha must have had a blast playing him.
I do think Jared is doing a very good job NOT being Sam when he’s playing Lucifer. The confrontation between Dean and Lucifer is chilling for sure. Lucifer’s condescending manner is creepy and infuriating. Dean’s bravado to sass at the devil is impressive and even more impressive is Jensen’s way to make Dean look both cocky and terrified all at the same time. GREAT scene all around. ONE criticism I do have is that I never liked the white suit look!! I know Lucifer is the Lightbringer etc. etc. but it’s too on the nose for me the stick him into a white shiny suit. And a cheap looking one at that.
Seeing Dean UTTERLY alone at the end of this conversation is also truly disturbing!!! The idea that he might end up RIGHT THERE in five years with all of his allies dead and his brother being the sock puppet for the devil must be crushing and we can see that in his expression. UGH.
LOVE the “ghost of Christmas screw you” line!!!
I also agree with Dean’s words of “Don’t ever change” to Cas! Unfortunately the writers had other plans.
I LOOOOVE most of all that Dean in the end does the ONE thing he CAN control in this whole mess! Get Sam back by his side. Cause if THAT was the beginning of the end, that they didn’t talk for five years…..well, then, THAT Dean can fix.
I really think the tentative nature of their reunion is the perfect way to bring them back together here. They are not ok….not yet and not fully, but they haven’t given up trying either and that is so realistic to me, it makes it most believable. And I very much appreciate that Sam is truly thankful for being let back in, because he knew it was not a given.
And to me the very end of the episode with Dean saying “We make our own future”, effectively saying that they HAVE a choice to change , and Sam saying “Guess, we have no choice”, to me implying that their hand was forced, is GENIUS writing!!!
Mindboggling how TV can be THIS good!!! GLAD to have it recorded for the ages and being able to go back to it regularly. JUST AMAZING!