Let’s all talk about Malleus Maleficarum (S3 E9)

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    • journalbookbinder
        February 9, 2022 at 9:55 am #12285

        Witches! Spewing bodily fluids; they’re downright unsanitary! According to Dean. Isn’t this our first glimpse at witches?

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      • journalbookbinder
          February 9, 2022 at 9:55 am #12295

          I love Dean’s hatred of witches. Made me wonder where ELSE he’d encountered them before? With John? But all of his comments about them are hilarious. So funny how he WANTS to hunt werewolves but wants NOTHING to do with witches.

          I like how great Sam is at finding hex bags. Except the one that tries to take Dean down. GREAT acting job by Jensen there acting like he’s in pain and dying. Only to be saved by Ruby. So crafty, Ruby, getting into Dean’s good graces by saving him.

          I liked the misdirect of the demon. They were witches and as such their spells worked, but such a great idea that they were all kind of “pseudo” witches! Only in it for personal gain but not really “evil” and the real evil came from a demon who figured out how to pull one over on the other women by creating a coven. GREAT idea for an episode!

          The witch demon is truly great. The moment that Ruby enters the room and suggests they were at one time a romantic couple, she and the other demon; the reaction shot on Dean’s face is PRICELESS!

          I thought this one was an interesting intro to witches even though they turn out to not be “real” witches. Also, Dean gets to talk to Ruby alone and finds out that she doesn’t really have a way to get him out of his deal. Ruby was a very interesting character early-on. I LOVE Katie Cassidy’s Ruby so much. It’s hard to figure her because she’s being so honest here with Dean. She seems to really care. To WANT him and Sam to win even though we know eventually that it was all just to get them to do what she wanted. But she’s a true “gray area” and very interesting character to me.

          I also like the glimpse into how vulnerable Dean is here. He has fears about hell and asks Ruby about it. Just like he asked the demon in Sin City. it does not sound good. You can tell he’s starting to sweat it as his time grows shorter.

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        • PigNaPoke
            February 9, 2022 at 9:55 am #12335

            I agree, it’s an EXCELLENT episode! I agree with all your high points, JBB!

            MAN, the guys got WET in the beginning of the episode when they leave the house of the first victim! Crappy weather in Vancouver and it’s POURING so hard in the shot that you can actually see them getting drenched. Of course, then their jackets are magically dry when they get into the car. HAHA.

            I thought the episode highlights very interestingly how powerless Sam and Dean are against witches – or at least against the witch powered magic. And I always thought that this might be part of the reason why Dean hates them so much. He even says it here – the ARE human, so the conundrum of killing them is much more complicated than hunting and taking down a true supernatural monster. Still, they have to do SOMETHING as the witches are killing other humans. It’s another interesting dip into grey areas of hunting.

            I like that in the end Sam and Dean do NOT kill any of the misguided human “witches” but that it is the demon who takes care of it.

            I love the choice the writers made that these “Stepford witches” magic themselves raffle wins, craft career advancements and herb garden success! It’s SO pedestrian and mundane and I find it very funny. Especially in contrast to the nastiness some of the spells require and cause.

            The building tension between Sam and Dean in this episode is also really well done. It’s so heart breaking that Sam thinks that he has to become more like Dean in order to be able to keep on fighting after Dean is gone! Between the acceptance that he feels he can’t stop Dean’s trip to hell and the admittance that he doesn’t think he’s tough enough to go on alone without Dean AND without help from Ruby just makes my heart ache. And Dean being so harshly (and rightly) against Sam working with Ruby but then seemingly accepting that he won’t be there much longer to protect Sam is equally painful. SO MUCH of that is playing out silently through Jensen’s exquisite non-verbal acting both in the conversation with Sam and then with Ruby.
            Some really great scenes. We really get a sense of his sinking feeling and real terror as he understands more and more of what’s to come for him in hell. It’s chilling.

            I really enjoyed the actress’ performance who played the witch-demon! Nice bitchy, annoying, neighbor and then such cold and scary dominance over the entire set of people in the room. Well done.

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        Let’s all talk about Malleus Maleficarum (S3 E9)

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