Free to be you and me

[norwich36]

SPN spoilers ahoy.

Hmm. I didn't like this one as much as the previous two episodes. I liked bits of it, but it felt kind of disjointed to me, which is odd, since they were so careful to draw those marvellous visual parallels between Sam and Dean at the beginning of the ep, so I guess I expected the episode as a whole to be thematically tighter, or something.

Things I did like:

1. Dean's dialogue was some of the best I can remember. I can't decide if I liked "Mutant Ninja Angels" or "you full on rebelled against heaven, iniquity's one of the perks" more. I also really liked the Thelma and Louise reference. And "this whole industry runs on absent fathers, it's the natural order."

2. Dean and Castiel as the odd couple were often quite hilarious, especially Castiel's complete incomprehension about the need to lie to that cop, and his total inability to impersonate an FBI agent.

3. Dean laughing.

4. Sam shirtless.

5. JESS!!! Ok, this would have been first, since I've been wanting to see Adrianne Palicki again FOREVER, if it had really been Jess and not, you know, Lucifer.


Things that made me cringe:

6. Dean taking Cas to a whorehouse. RLY? I mean, yes, it's sort of in character, but RLY? Also, I really can't see why an angel would care about dying without having sex. Jimmy's had sex--doesn't Cas get all those memories?

7. Sam's sideburns. Also, he needs to get a better haircut, honestly. I don't even usually notice these things, but blech.

8. "Maybe someday, but today you're my little bitch." Ok, I actually laughed and then cringed--I can't decide if that's just a line Castiel really wouldn't say, or if it was MC's delivery, but wow that was bad. (Dean could have said that line, but not Castiel).

9. And once again the bad angel is black. Oh, SPN. Could you at least, I don't know, make Raphael a somewhat complex character? Ok, I'll give you the daddy issues, that's a slight attempt, but his threats to torture Dean kind of cancel that out, I think.


Things that were good plot developments but really so anvilicious that all of fandom has been predicting them for years:

10. Sam is Lucifer's true vessel. OH SAM. *Pets him* I feel so bad for him, since not even suicide is going to get him off the hook. That's just a world of suck. And speaking of worlds of suck,

11. Demons are spreading the word that Sam is the one who started the apocalypse. OF COURSE. Poor Sammy, now you have angels, demons, hunters, and Lucifer out to get you. Here's a hint: GET OUT OF TOWN WHEN SOMEONE RECOGNIZES YOU. Duh.

12. God is an absent father just like John. Oh, WE SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE, show. Though I will forgive you the anviliciousness if you could get JDM back to play God, because I personally think that would ROCK.

13. So: Michael v. Lucifer showdown in Dean and Sam's bodies: series finale? Or is it actually going to be averted after Dean sees the future? Speaking of which, I'm pretty excited about next week's episode, I have to say.

Comments

[yaycoffee.livejournal.com]

I loved this episode, but it STRESSED ME OUT, and made me sad :-( I still really think it was pretty strong.

6. I can sort of see Cas taking the whole eff it attitude about the whole thing, choosing to do this because Dean is his Human Hero (as also noted in how many times Cas purposely swore and said very Dean-like things to Rafael). I can see that he's in a nothing-left-to-loose place, and so sex? Yeah sure. Why not? (Until he GOT there and it got a little too REAL... ;-) And also? TEH LOLZ! They were awesome.

7. YES! The sideburns are all POINTY and WEIRD. STOP IT! And, he just looks so much better with bangs covering his forehead. The scruffy haircut from the first two seasons is SO much more flattering for his gorgeous, gorgeous face.

4. !!!!!!!!!!!1 Bznnnnaaaahrregjk I KNOW RIGHT!

12. LOL! JDM as GOD? That would be equal parts awesome and HELLZ NAW! I have a hard time not HATING John Winchester (but respecting the HUGE impact he had on the boys' lives and also respecting that he didn't mean to suck quite so badly)

13. I'm going with aversion with a lingering threat. *hopes*

How are we possibly going to wait until NEXT WEEK without EXPLODING??? ;-)

I am so loving this season so far. So much. Even though it is KILLING ME!

[norwich36.livejournal.com]

6. I can see Cas eventually *getting* to that point--like the five years in the future preview, where he's participating in orgies, apparently?--I just don't think we've seen that he's there yet.

7. Yes, yes, yes. Bring back the bangs PLEASE and kill the sideburns of pointiness. It sort of distracts me from the beauty of #4.

12. The reason JDM as God works for me is that one gets the impression that God in this universe is also kind of a dick. I mean, I love JW as a man (humina) and a hunter, but agree with you he was a pretty crap father. (Except in certain fanonical stories, but in canon? Crap father. True, his death kind of redeemed a little bit of that in my eyes, but on the other hand Dean wouldn't have been so emotionally screwed up had his dad not gone to hell for him, so even that is not an unambiguous sacrifice). But God in this universe also abandoned his kids, and look what happened! Maybe he thinks he has a good reason, I don't know. Maybe he actually does have a good reason--but his kids have still been suffering for his decision. So it works for me.

I don't know how I'm going to wait until next week!!

[rsadelle]

I loved the opening parallels and the whole Dean and Castiel odd couple bits - those were HILARIOUS.

[norwich36.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I want to go back and rewatch some of the Dean/Castiel scenes, they were so funny.

[elgraves.livejournal.com]

I was thinking "I think I know where God is", while I watched Sam's interaction with the cocktail waitress. She was constantly trying to get Sam to talk to her about his past, was a recovering alcoholic working in a bar, and more importantly told Sam that there is nothing that he has done that is so terrible that he can't be forgiven. She looked on as Sam debated to kill that hunter, but did nothing to stop him. She let it be his decision. She gave him hope.

[norwich36.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's a terrific theory! And makes her (somewhat annoying) persistence a lot easier to swallow, to be honest.

[elgraves.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I found her very annoying until the point she told Sam that there was nothing that he could of done that he couldn't be forgiven for. That's when I thought here is God.

[starry-dawn.livejournal.com]

1. I think the best part was seeing Cas totally not react to any of them. I mean, not that Sam did, but Cas was just a hundred times worse in that respect. ;)

2. I thought the part with the cop was the only funny part about the whole odd couple thing. The rest I just found lame or cringeworthy.

3. It was good to see him smile genuinely, no? :)

6. I know. I was pretty "eh" on this too. I mean, I know it was meant for comedic purposes, but still. It felt like overkill.

8. Oh, this was probably the worst part of the entire episode. SO BAD. Thank God for Dean's "What he said" line, though, because it kinda saved it for me.

11. Kripke loves piling the torture on Sam. *sighs and pets poor Sammy*

12. HEE. JDM as God would be the BEST THING EVERRRR.

13. I think that's what they're building towards, but let's see if Kripke can surprise us.

[norwich36.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Cas's non-reactions to Dean's dialogue made them funnier. But I guess I also liked more of the odd couple stuff than you did, like "personal space" and Dean trying to explain why they had to lie, and fixing his tie.

I seriously want JDM as God. I doubt it'll ever happen, though. (Dammit, JDM, why did your career have to take off in sync with Supernatural? Why couldn't that Gray's thing come a couple of years later so you could still make guest appearances, dammit!