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Funny how I remembered the humor in this one and forgot that this one was also full of EXTREME darkness!
That whole speech that Famine gives to Dean. UGH! He’s not hungry for anything because inside, he’s already dead??? I love how Dean is valiant even in the face of that. He likes to think that he’s immune to Famine due to his “strength of character”. God, I love him and his refusal to back down no matter what. No matter what horrible thing is said to him or happening to him.
Sam with the demon blood craving was super effective. Wow. Dean’s disappointment. Sam’s kinda scary relapse. When he tells the second demon to “Wait your turn”, I totally believe he’s out of control. It was clear that Famine was affecting him just like the other people in town. And Dean’s look of complete defeat when he saw Sam flex his powers again. That was totally heartbreaking.
I liked the funny coroner.
The funny stuff about Cupid also made me think about the Winchesters and how they completely left out that John and Mary can’t stand each other at first until a Cupid steps in.
GREAT Supernatural with how funny it was and how complex and how depressingly dark. The Famine character was truly horror/disgusting with the bad teeth and creepy high-pitched singsong way of talking. So good! I MISS how scary and gory and disgusting Supernatural was! They got away from that in later years and that was a mistake. The fry chef eating burning hot fries and then face-down in the hot oil…Cas shoving in raw meat…all done so so so well.
Sam; chained to the sink and when he hears the demons come in and thinks it’s Dean and Cas coming back…he’s so HOPEFUL that it just kills me when he calls out to them! To know later that Famine sent those demons to feed Sam’s addiction…kind of nice payback that it was Sam’s abilities that did Famine in…I am assuming he was destroyed by the pulling of the souls back out of him? I love that Sam, even under the influence, is so smart. Thinking of a way to use Famine’s own need against him. I loved it!
Then the end with Sam back in the panic room at Bobby’s and Dean outside asking God for help; at his wits end over what to do about Sam. THAT kills me.
The whole thing killed me!
Season five is THE BEST! I might actually watch this one again before moving on to the next.
I had not seen this episode in a very long time. Wow. It might have to be top 10. It is even better than I remembered! the LOOK that Sam gives Mary while they’re sitting on the couch; tears in his eyes…just to see his mom alive. It was just as impactful as the first time I saw it. And Dean sitting there, having time-traveled once before already, trying to cover for Sam talking about how beautiful Mary is, etc…it’s just…perfect. Dean trying to soften the truth all along and then just telling her. I think perhaps Amy Gumenick was the best Mary. Her range is awesome. Her fear and sadness and disbelief…it’s just amazing. And Matt Cohen did a fine job as John too; AND Michael. I totally believed that character shift. There is just SO MUCH in this one. I don’t even really know where to start.
The LOOK that John gives Mary in the garage after the fight with Anna – you can just see the “what ELSE haven’t you told me?” look on his face and that just reminds me of Sam and Dean and Sam with his demon blood…UGH!
I loved getting the full picture from Michael here, as depressing as it is. That Sam and Dean were destined to be vessels and fight each other as Michael and Lucifer (according to Michael) right from the start of time. I thought it was interesting that Michael would bring Sam back to life just to be able to fight Lucifer wearing Sam’s body later! I mean, no Sam, maybe no Lucifer so if Michael had just left him dead, would he win by default?
I had actually forgotten that Sam dies in this one!!!
I LOVED John’s angry acceptance of this new reality. He was NOT happy that Mary’s prior life was a surprise, but he STILL wanted to draw a sigil; be useful; help with no questions asked. I really don’t see how fans can hate John!
It was especially interesting to watch this episode while The Winchesters is currently airing new episodes. I do not know HOW they will make the story line of The Winchesters align with THIS!
And this episode was just so complex and gut-wrenching and good. So many relationships…John and Mary, Sam and Dean, Dean and Anna, Anna and Cas, Cas and Sam and Dean, and they are ALL advanced (or ended in the case of Anna) in terms of story here. SO SO SO SO good.
Compared to The Winchesters…there’s just no comparison.
The scene where Sam tells John how much he loved and now understands his father is just MASTERFUL. Getting to tell the person about themselves, but they don’t know it…but it’s still so important to say…yet in the end, as it often does not well for Sam and Dean, John and Mary’s memories are wiped and Mary won’t remember the “don’t go into the nursery” warning (though Dean also warned her of that the first time he went back in time…does this memory wipe erase that too?) and John won’t remember Sam telling him how he feels. It was probably still good for Sam to say it, but knowing that it ultimately meant nothing to John is hard!
The enthusiasm with which Dean embraces the idea of him and Sam “never existing” is heartbreaking too. I get that never existing is better than going through dying now…with the same result…Sam and Dean are no longer around to be inhabited by Michael and Lucifer. And I guess it’s very self-sacrificing of them for the greater good of the world, but it’s so sad that they are both immediately okay with that idea!
I did wonder how Dean could exist in two places at once…there back in time AND as an embryo inside Mary.
I had forgotten that Uriel was somewhat resurrected for this episode! That was a fun sidebar touch.
This part of Supernatural is also PEAK Castiel character. He’s so perfect. Showing up a few inches from someone…being so matter-of-fact about everything. I just love Cas as he is written in season 5!
A seriously excellent, complex, emotional, layer episode. Near-perfect.
Oh my God, how could I forget that Carlos got to kiss his boyfriend onscreen! That was a lovely little moment. And I like that the boyfriend then played hard-to-get with Carlos who thought HE was holding all the cards by not calling the guy back. Really liked that scene.
I liked this episode better than some. I am glad to have another episode that has nothing to do with the Akrida. That monster has not, so far, interested me at all and I feel no real “end of the world” threat from it because there was no build-up to give it urgency. It’s too “video game” with the space crickets and not scary to me. So I was glad that this one focused on a traditional SPN monster.
My favorite parts were the scenes with Millie and John. I continue to think that their acting is superior. Millie DID buy in to this whole hunting life pretty quickly, though if Henry was a Man of Letters, she knew about it then at least a bit, right? She just seems like a very natural character. SHE makes me feel the emotion of a scene. When she had to zap John, while I felt it unlikely that a mom could do that to her son, she made me feel like she was really against the idea. I wish they had just FILMED that plan in real time; not shown us as a flashback. I rarely like that technique. Having Millie zap John in real time would have been very dramatic. Where did Millie go once John was dead? Just hid somewhere?
I liked John’s problem solving on the fly. When they were locked in there I thought it was going to be something silly; like he “happened” to have or find some dead man’s blood. I did NOT see it coming that he would offer to die in order to buy time for everyone else to get there and save them! That might be the first time in this series that I was impressed with a character decision; that it was unexpected and gave me a better insight into John’s reckless nature (or protective nature; trying to save his mom). The actions of the characters in this show haven’t surprised me in a good way that much. This did!
That was a long time at attempted CPR! Done the 70’s way with the breathing into the mouth (no longer taught as necessary) – so good detail there. I guess it went on and on to make us think maybe he had died; but of course we know he didn’t – unless it was an alternate reality. Or perhaps they let it go on to show Mary’s emotional desperation of John dying? It would have been effective to have something change in their relationship in a major way right after that; like she now realizes HOW invested she is, having almost lost him. She did say that she’s now willing to consider the future as long as he’s in it. Maybe that was the breakthrough.
I do like the traditional SPN tactic of having a prophecy, then finding yourself IN that prophecy no matter how hard you try to avoid it. The best SPN example of that would be Monster at the End of This Book where Dean tries to do everything the opposite of a prophecy and it still ends up following that prophecy. Here, with the red carpet, it was sort of a traditional SPN thing to do – he still ends up there. John is very cool about dying! I have to say that! He seemed very accepting of it! Then actually volunteered! But I do enjoy that sinking feeling when they pan to the carpet in the vault and it’s red. They ended up right where they tried not to end up. Very “Supernatural”.
I did like the angle of the vampires stealing a map! To find a way into the bunker. Instead of just stealing the amulet they wanted. The amulet story was a bit convoluted…the vampires wanted the amulet to tell them who to “turn” next? Did I miss something there?
The conversation with John and Millie while doing research in the bunker felt so natural. I can’t say it enough. When a lot of conversations on this show have NOT seemed that way. When he does the motion for cutting off the head of the vampire, it just seemed like two people talking. In reality. Drake is a natural.
Another good part was getting to see Carlos actually BE a badass hunter and decapitate some vampires. I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting for that. The hair thing? Sorry, that was almost laughable to me. It would have made sense if they were somehow without any other weapons and it was their only option, but with the van right there and where was the holy water water gun? I don’t know; I guess it photographed well because Carlos’ hair is gorgeous (and we always seems to like our characters getting wet!) but as a hunting move? Seemed ridiculous to me. Other than that? Loved Carlos completely in this one. I’m starting to “get” his character and his personality and I like it.
There was a moment of natural dialog that felt really real with Lata too…at the end when she and Carlos are bickering about how Carlos had a feeling that Mary and John were together. When Lata says “Get that blade out of my face” as she and Carlos are bickering and Carlos is gesturing with the machete. It didn’t sound at all scripted and that was great.
I could get on board with Lata more if she wasn’t “the assistant”. She’ll do the research (still annoying that she finds all the info they need in every episode!), she’ll put holy water on your hair…I want her to have to DO something. Or, as I was wishing with Carlos, give me a really good flashback to tell me WHY she’s anti-violence in general.
Mary. Sigh. I still don’t think she’s up to the task. I just never believe her! Her look changed here (as did John’s) – more makeup; looking older. More moving towards the feathered hair we saw in the Supernatural flashbacks to THAT Mary played by Amy Gumenick. They tried to make Mary a badass in this episode. I just DID NOT BUY IT. First of all, even Sam and Dean would act like they had been injured when being thrown by a monster. Mary just pops back up. She’s TINY and these things are powerful and she just is THAT good that she can take on at least 5 BY HERSELF? It was filmed well; very dramatic with some of the slow-mo, but it didn’t feel dangerous to me, it felt RIDICULOUS! Her expression of determination – I can SEE Dean doing that expression on his way to save Sam and I never doubted his emotion for a minute. Here? I don’t know, it’s just not working for me yet. Did others feel it was more intense or effective? There were a few times where the vampires seemed to conveniently wait for her to decapitate them! There were many moments in that fight sequence that I didn’t buy.
One exceedingly stupid moment…they go to the locker room in the “clubhouse” (I hate that they call it that!) and go to the right locker based on the initials of the box that was taken and Mary says, “There’s the amulet; just like the one the vampires are after.” Okay, HOW does she know THAT’S the one they’re after? I can go with them following the trail of the initials to the locker room (and I do like that this MOL bunker is kind of vast like the SPN MOL bunker!!!), but to immediately know that the amulet is THE ONE? Nope! Did Lata find a drawing of it or something first? Did I miss that? Is that how they could ID it?
I did like the addition of the possibly ongoing story line of John and Mary’s ex’s teaming up to try to figure out what John and Mary are up to. That seems like a good real-life threat like the FBI chasing Sam and Dean. I liked that part.
At first I thought the vampires were a bit comical or overacted, but when I thought about it, that’s pretty much how many of them were on Supernatural so they were staying consistent.
I find it hard to believe that suddenly John and Mary are a couple! The pacing of this is so weird to me! Make Mary a closed-off woman who can’t be bothered with a relationship…then one kiss…now they’re together??? I would have liked to have seen some of the steps in between! There was that one aborted kiss at the end of the last episode when John got distracted by the photos of Dean…what happened after that? Did they talk about it at all? Or just jump into a physical relationship? That was far too sudden from Mary not allowing herself to go there and John wanting more to what we saw last night.
Dean. The narration continues to not sound like something Dean would say. “I’ve danced with free will” …. DANCED? Dean just does not talk like this! His narration is very cryptic. He didn’t know it would go this way when he “pushed over that first domino”??? I know they want to keep us guessing, but mostly it’s just annoying me! Where is he? When is he? What is he trying to accomplish? I’m not saying tell us that all up front, but give us a bit more as we go along!!!! I guess we’ll learn what it’s all about 5 episodes from now in the last one of S1. But I’m not charmed by the narration and would like it more if there was no narration. Dean can pop up in photos, etc., but I’m not a fan of the narration.
Overall, I liked more in this episode that I disliked. John and Millie and Carlos were the standouts for me.
Stedan; yes, it seems like they are getting further from the show we know and love…not explaining some missing piece which is what I somewhat expected The Winchesters to do. I also kind of now hope it is some kind of alternate reality that Dean goes back in time to stop so that we end up with what we know instead of this.
I like figuring out a mystery (and always enjoyed episodes of Supernatural where we are figuring it out along with Sam and Dean), but I agree that it’s frustrating to have so much strangeness (with the monster and not knowing where in time Dean is narrating from) and no explanation until the very end.
Some folks online were saying that Loki was the REAL Loki…and by having him trapped in a mirror now, forever (which was weird but I’m sure probably part of existing folklore?), that would allow Gabriel to “hide” as Loki later. I don’t know.
I agree with Stedan about the viewership. I don’t think they are helping themselves build a fan base by not sticking to canon, by keeping us in the dark about where and when this is taking place (AU or real world and where is Dean narrating from?) and there are such large breaks between episodes there is no real “flow” to it. It does not have enough of the feel (horror and darkness) of the Supernatural we all love. So how will it attract that viewer base? It’s kind of odd. And I had such high hopes for Robbie’s writing! He seemed to understand Sam and Dean so well, but given the chance to really fill out characters we didn’t know as much about, it doesn’t feel right.
All that said, I too enjoyed all the Carlos in this episode. I liked that he was used less for comedic relief and the few comedy lines were very natural and understated (like his “I’ll allow it.”). PigNaPoke; I thought Carlos agreed to the deal so fast ONLY to take the curse off his musician partner friend. Like the Mark of Cain – you can take it from someone else, it seemed, and they were free but it was passed on to you and I felt that’s why Carlos agreed and that was the only reason.
The Lata “metalhead” moment WAS one of the first times she’s seemed more three-dimensional!
I do want to know if Dean is back there running around giving notes to his younger dad from heaven? Or from some point in time before he died?
The clothes fit because it’s the same bodies. 🙂 Though we see Gary in Sam’s clothes, when Dean is looking at Sam (with Gary inhabiting his body), Dean sees Sam in Sam’s clothes. 🙂
Those mirror scenes WERE really good!
I thought Sam did indicate that something was sore when he was back in his body? Maybe I’m thinking of him rubbing his butt after Changing Channels when he “was” the Impala and Dean was rummaging around in the trunk.
You’ll have to be a bit more specific. Published fiction? Fan fiction? What type of fan fiction?
Another thing:
Winchester surprise. I always had in my mind that this was something Mary invented out of whatever was in the cabinets because she wasn’t a great cook. I NEVER thought it was a “family recipe” from her mother-in-law! Bianca Kajlich who plays Millie said she thought it should be included and Robbie Thompson humored her.
I guess now I know the backstory of Winchester Surprise too, but it’s not as I always imagined it!
The morning after… I liked this episode more than some of the others. I liked the focus OFF the space crickets this time! I am still not invested in the “big bad” because it’s so non-Supernatural-AU-otherworldly. It’s not what I wanted. But anyone that’s read these comments from me on TW as we go already definitely knows that.
So a break from the Akrida-focus was something I enjoyed. Even though the last episode we saw was Akrida-heavy when them trying to chase down the queen. Now recovered Samuel is off to do that alone.
What I liked most about this episode was the glimpse into Carlos’ past. His singing voice honestly blew me away. I didn’t expect it. That was probably my favorite scene in the entire episode. It has nothing to do with the story! But it was my favorite. I love that his voice lived up to the hype they kept hinting at in the story; no one wanted him to quit, the duo wasn’t as successful without him. I’m still unclear on why he left the music world and chose hunting. He doesn’t seem to enjoy hunting sometimes – he’s very emotionless about it when he says things like “then you have to kill something”. But I enjoyed this look at some of his past and I thought the actor playing is ex-music duo partner was very natural and convincing.
Louden Swain was totally wasted in this episode, but the focus was supposed to be on Carlos. Louden Swain’s wigs were comical. I kept wanting to say, “Hey, Carlos, God is RIGHT BEHIND YOU!”
I thought Lata was an enjoyable partner to Carlos for most of this. But I STILL hate that she ALWAYS has all the answers. She brought her books (though Carlos’ comment about her heavy books wrecking the van suspension I did like!) and of course the answer is in there! I don’t dislike her character; she’s just too convenient a solution to the information-gathering problem. They DO interview witnesses. Lata and Carlos talked to people at the bar; but it’s always overshadowed for me by Lata knowing EVERYTHING they need to know to go up against whatever the monster is. I thought the end where she played with Loki trapped in the mirror was a bit too cute-sy too. Going for funny, but it was too cute.
Loki. I am confused as hell. What was his motivation? Just the fun of cursing humans in a very demon-like deal where he promises enhanced abilities or fame and fortune in exchange for watching a human suffer having to choose who they sing to knowing whoever they sing to will die? And what ever happened with the bartender? He went up in flames and Carlos’ ex-musician partner said he was NOT singing to that guy. Were ALL of those guys Loki? The roadie…the bartender…just messing with the victim’s heads? I just don’t get what Loki wanted out of it. To make humans squirm and suffer. As when Carlos smashed the guitar, refusing to perform instead of choosing one of his friends to spontaneously combust? I would like someone to explain this to me because I was quite lost with the whole point of it.
I know Loki is an exaggerated character, but there were too many finger snaps (which RSJ originally did on Pepsi commercials and I thought SPN adopted that as kind of a nod to his commercial career years ago?) and RSJ was overacting to me. But I’m not gonna nit-pick that because the character IS kind of a sarcastic jerk. I felt like, as RSJ played these characters on SPN, they were much more nuanced. Or maybe the WRITING was much more nuanced. I think about his performance in Mystery Spot which was more nuanced.
Samuel. I just got not much feeling from him. I know it was only his first appearance, but Mitch Pileggi just OWNED that role and I have a hard time divorcing it from him. To me, this Samuel fell a bit flat, but he’s not really established yet. And now he’s off hunting so not much chance to GET established so far.
I did enjoy the scenes between Samuel and Millie. A lot. Two very decent actors there and that felt real. I guess somehow I bought Samuel as gruff when Mitch played him. Here? He seemed overly-harsh.
I do love Millie. I think John and Millie continue to be the most natural and believable characters.
John and Mary. I didn’t like that the first line out of John’s mouth when Samuel started coming around was, “So, are you out then?” I am SICK TO DEATH of all the talk about Mary leaving hunting! They hit us over the head with it every episode. I did like the inkling at the start of the episode that Mary CAN be softer. I’ve though maybe I don’t like her much because that’s how she’s written. Hard and wary and closed-off. But I’m still just not feeling the “realness” of the Mary character like I feel from John.
Mary told John at the start she didn’t regret the kiss, but wasn’t really ready for more. Then she out of the blue kisses him (really awkwardly!) at the end while John’s looking through Samuel’s printed photos. (BTW, “setting up the darkroom”…it’s not an instant thing. I used to HAVE a darkroom. I guess they always had the chemicals available, etc. and know how to process film.) That kiss came out of nowhere…and then as much as John’s been pining for Mary, she kisses him, obviously telling him she wants more, and he easily gets distracted by the photo? I bought “them” a bit more in the opening scene where Mary finally talked to John like a real person about their first kiss. I didn’t buy “them” in that scene at the end. I am still just not seeing the chemistry Jensen talks about! Not at all!
The photo. So Dean gave John the letter from his father. So Dean has to mess with history to get John and Mary together? To get John searching in the direction of the Men of Letters? But is it just that – go find out about the MOL to save the world and Mary HAPPENS to show up? Future-Dean or heaven-Dean would have known that Mary would show up. I DO look forward to episode 13 when Robbie Thompson said it will then be clear where Dean is narrating from.
The narration. It sounds nothing like anything Dean would say! It sounds oddly “greeting card”. Seriously, Dean would never say, “But when you follow your heart”…. What. The. Fuck. I would honestly like the show better without any narration.
Fans are very upset about the lack of mention of Sam. Fans found the episode photo that they used here for that photo of Dean at the end. It was a photo from Clap Your Hands if You Believe and Sam was standing on the other side of the car (it was a screen still) but of course here Sam was conveniently missing due to the bright flare on the damaged film. Fans are upset about THAT. Saying TW is erasing Sam from existence. I don’t think that! I do wish Sam were somehow mentioned or involved here; even if he just shows up at the very end as a voice in the background if we learn Dean IS narrating from heaven. But maybe Dean is narrating from heaven before Sam gets there, hence no Sam. Kinda lazy to use an old screenshot…
It really doesn’t sound like I liked this one at all! I actually did. I enjoyed several moments of this one. The shortcoming continue to puzzle me though.
All that said. I am drawn to John, Carlos, and Millie (and sometimes Ada). I DO want this show to have the chance to continue though I fear it won’t.
This episode airing on Dean’s birthday and the cast posting on Instagram singing “happy birthday, Dean” to Jensen was really sweet. I thought so. I do feel like Jensen is trying to keep this universe going for him and for Jared for Jared to come back to when he’s not busy with his own projects. I love Jensen for that. This is not how I would choose to do this show (not the focus I’d have – I’d make the cast smaller – not the monster I’d choose, etc.), but I want it to continue.
And JoJo can sing to me any day!
It’s late. Thoughts in a few hours. But I loved Carlos’ voice.
I give Jared huge credit for the comedy here which is usually Jensen’s forte. Jared is GREAT! I LOVE the mirror or window reflections scene where Gary is looking at himself as Sam and vice versa. This has so much great comedy, but then gets pretty dark with the devil-worshipping kids summoning a rather nasty demon.
Seeing Sam with a normal family is hilarious. The big message being, I guess, that everyone is where they are supposed to be and stepping into someone else’s life is not the perfect thing it might be. Gary becomes hot (as Sam) but is in way over his head. Â Sam has the perfect family, but they’re annoying.
So many funny lines. “Crystal, I would love to have the sex with you!” And then she turns out to be a dominatrix! Sam going through Gary’s stuff to try to learn what he’s up to, “Virgin…frustrated virgin.”
It was so sweet and sad when Gary told Dean to turn up the music and Dean thought his brother was really on board, but of course that tipped him off too. But Sam drinking with him, thinking their lives were cool, loving hunting…even though it was all Gary, it was pretty sweet.
I also wanted to strangle those kids. Such arrogant assholes! The curly-headed guy who just wanted money. I was so glad when he was killed!
The girl who played the possessed teen did an incredible job in both roles!!!
This one had lots of twists and turns and ANOTHER funny but serious one. I really like this for a “funny” episode.
I really enjoyed this one. It had the perfect SPN mix…funny, a bit creepy, and unexpectedly revealing in what they say when they start to go insane and when Sam is shot up with drugs. Sooo many good scenes and I remember it was fun the first time trying to figure out who the wraith was. Great creepy wraith makeup. So many misdirects…when Dean started seeing wraiths everywhere and we find out his therapist is not real; it made me wonder what was going on. So it was fun to unravel. Great guest casting in the wraith and the doctor and the crazy make out with everyone lady and the retired hunter. Martin was GREAT. He really made me feel for him as someone who was just incapable of doing what he used to do because he’s just not well enough.
It was fascinating to see inside of Dean’s head…to hear about how he’s not dealing with all the pressure. To hear he only sleeps a few hours every few days and drinks 50 drinks a week.
It was so much fun for them to get to TELL THE TRUTH about what they do because no one would believe them!
I loved so many parts of this one and the monster was really great.
I had a bit of a hard time believing that Sam, with no medical training, could remove a cranium like that (but he didn’t notch it to get it back in the right alignment).
I loved the scene with drugged-up Sam and Dean tolerating him. So good.
A good classic Supernatural episode.
Just; wow. I had not watched this one in awhile and it was one of those episodes that felt like it was 90 minutes long in the best way. So much was crammed into this one! Sometimes there are a ton of characters and they ALL have great lines and a purpose.
It starts with meeting Crowley for the first time. I love the way he is introduced. Combating homophobia in a demon deal! Â I just love him.
Many times in this episode, I LOVED the jump cutting of the supernatural beings (Cas, Crowley, Reapers) appearing and disappearing a flash. The difference between the human-seen world and the supernatural being world was GREAT and just made me feel like so much more was (is?) going on that meets the eye. Cas appearing and disappearing to move around the town of Carthage was especially good.
We have the “last night on earth” photo at Bobby’s. Â Cas doing shots. Dean getting shot down trying to convince Jo that her last night on earth should include a roll in the hay with him and she chooses “self respect” instead. I have to think that Dean fell in love with her a bit more for REJECTING him that night!
We get a lot of time with Lucifer and Mark Pelligrino is AMAZING. I always liked the way they decided to make Lucifer somewhat sympathetic. Very persuasive and sometimes “nice” – but then the callous way he disposes of people and demons shows you he really isn’t very empathetic at all.
I loved the scene of Dean shooting Lucifer in the head with the barrel entering the frame from the side while Lucifer is talking to Sam.
It’s unnerving that Lucifer is not bothered at all by Cas zapping Sam and Dean to safety in the end – it’s like he is just certain that he’ll get to inhabit Sam at some point so waiting isn’t a problem.
I really liked Bobby talking to a falling-apart Dean via CB radio. That whole exchange was great.
I enjoyed finding out more about Lucifer as he talked to trapped-in-holy-fire Cas.
The invisible hellhounds are always so scary.
But this episode belonged to Sam Ferris and Alona Tal. I’ve been rewatching since the SPN finale and this episode; specifically the two of them, this was the first time since I started the rewatch that I had tears in my eyes. Watching Jo make the practical decision and Ellen decide to go down with her daughter. It was so sad and so beautiful and so brave. I loved Ellen’s satisfaction at being able to blow up the hellhounds even though her daughter just died in her arms. The little blow of her hair with the breath of the hellhound next to her was PERFECT! As was her smug smile knowing that she was about to take them all out in one giant fireball.
Dean kissing Jo goodbye was incredibly touching, but it was Ellen and Jo that just destroyed those roles and were, arguably, the bravest characters we’ve seen up to this point (including Sam and Dean, to this point).
Also, what a great evolution of Jo from “kid sister/hunter wannabe” to the bravest one in the room – the one thinking most like a practical, strategic hunter; how to save the most people with the fewest casualties.
I liked this one. I liked them making fun of us; fans and conventions…because in the end, it was not all in fun. The “fans” turned out to have good hearts; to really want to be heroes and get a break from their regular lives. Â The twist that the two main fans were boyfriends was GREAT! I loved that. Met in a chat room!
The best part of this was Dean hearing “fan Dean” talk about why they admired Sam and Dean; to try to see their horrible lives through the eyes of someone who saw them as heroes was really good. That exchange was the best part and how he tried to take the fact that they are boyfriends in stride.
Even the ghost story was good. The ghost orphanage lady was not the problem, she was keeping the creepy scalping children in check. The fact that Sam and Dean guessed the kids may have been playing “cowboys and Indians” and it got out of hand doesn’t read as well today! Stereotyping Native Americans. But the kids were creepy and it was a good twist that the kids were evil.
Wouldn’t the ghost kids have KNOWN that the actress wasn’t their ghost headmistress?
There were a bunch of funny parts. Chuck stalling for time (especially the clips at the end), the weapons on a bungee suggestion, Becky trying to let Sam down easy and Sam playing along, the super-critical German fan was hilarious – so true of so many fans who love the show and do nothing but criticize! Â Guess we know what they thought of him as he was the only one killed by the ghost children. One of my more-favorite funny ones since I don’t usually love the funny ones. This one had a lot in it.
Also, Supernatural conventions are AWESOME!
I am less a fan of the humorous ones sometimes. I didn’t love the “TV land” clips. Especially wasn’t into the Japanese game show or the sitcom. I died laughing on first watch at their send-up of CSI Miami – it was SO GOOD at calling out how silly that show was. I was thinking that people finding Supernatural today won’t understand why that is so funny. And reaching WAY back to Knight Rider!
There were some cute touches like when Dean was rummaging around in the trunk while Sam was the car and Sam said it was uncomfortable, then when Sam is brought back to this true form he walks out of the car rubbing his butt. Funny.
The Dr. Sexy (Grey’s Anatomy send-up) was fun though. Revealing how much Dean likes trashy TV…loved that Dean pointed out that Dr. Sexy was sexy because he wore cowboy boots. He was such a fanboy when he “met” Dr. Sexy, it was great.
When the episode got serious at the end, when we find out that the Trickster is an archangel (I thought that happened later!), then it got good. All the discussion about brothers and family and Dean calling Gabriel out – all of that was great. I did wonder why they let Gabriel go. Because he brought Cas back?
I liked about half of this episode. I have to wonder what Jared and Jensen thought when they got this script! I am assuming they have fun doing this.
