#ep analysis

[hecates-corner]

THE VENGEANCE SAGA

🌊 SPOILERS AHEAD 🌊

PLUS, MENTIONS OF S.A.

🔱 NOT SORRY FOR LOVING YOU

Even though Calypso’s actions infuriate me, her actress’ voice (Barbara Wangui) is incredible and so compelling. She sounds like a lotus flower, and just that notion is marvelous, now that I say that. She is the island of the lotus eaters, and I do really like that she isn’t blindly in love with Odysseus.

She can see she hurt him, but she still believes she was in the right. She’s sorry she did all she did, but she wouldn’t take a single moment back. Calypso only admits she’s wrong for “pushing” him. This allusion only shows that she regrets the pain she caused him when she forced him into bed with her, for several years. But does she regret the action?

It’s so well written, an apologist song to make excuses for her. But still, it’s only meant to toy with your emotions. And yet, she doesn’t play the “one song character”, the “tiny plot point”. Jorge gave her pain, and anguish, and loss. He made her seem human, while still holding the godlike apathy and blamelessness.

🔱 DANGEROUS

And onto my favorite song, for the reason alone that it’s a crazy banger with HERMES IN IT! I knew half of this song when it came out, and can lip sync this in my sleep. By the gods, it’s incredible.

Ahem. Right, the analysis. Okay.

Odysseus’ first four of lament in the beginning hurt extra hard when the silence plays out. The crew would have responded… had they lived.

(Anyone else getting nostalgia for last winter from this?? How fast time goes! We have one saga left, and— shoot, right. Ahem ahem.)

And then, the beloved Trickster Lord comes whirling into frame. Dancing. I can just FEEL the light-up floor, the disco ball… you’d think he and Hera would be good friends, huh?

This gives us a little glimpse into Hermes’ lordly self. That he is great with instructions, that he’s almost prophetic with them. He’s not specific, he’s vague, but looking back, you can only go, “OHHHH!” Hermes is a cunning god, and aside from that, he lifts Odysseus’ spirits. He really is Odysseus’ friend.

And then the parallels. To Wouldn’t You Like, to Keep Your Friends Close. Ouch. No, wow. No, scratch that— both.

It makes me wonder if Odysseus “Danger is my middle name” of Ithaca will ever figure out that Athena rooted for him, in the end. Makes me wonder if we’ll hear from Athena again.

🔱 CHARYBDIS

GYATT DAMN. TALK ABOUT INCREDIBLE?!

THIS might be my favorite song, for the typical reasons. You can hear the actions, and when I watched the animatics, it only showed me what I pictured. Perfectly portrayed.

I avoided spoilers for this song, not knowing how good it would be. Damn, am I glad.

Storm parallels, of course. And then, the sheer terror and turn of relief, when suddenly you realize he’s not as close as he thought he was. One last obstacle.

Love the fact that when he sings, “So if you don’t have much to say,” you realize Charybdis won’t be singing. I adored that. This song shows off how smart Odysseus really is.

🔱 GET IN THE WATER

This song is just plain terrifying. It’s scary. It’s cold.

The screaming shakes me to my core. At first, I hadn’t been fully on board (haha) with the choice of Poseidon’s voice actor, and then I took a few more listens to Ruthlessness, and reevaluated that thought. Besides that, he’s quite literally perfect for this song, specifically.

Let me tell you that Steven Rodriguez understood the assignment when he was told to say, “I can’t,” “No,” and “Ruthlessness is … mercy upon … ourselves … DIE!”

Realizing that the line about “gouging [his] son’s eyes” is a cheeky revenge for Polyphemus is incredible. You know what’s funny? Poseidon and Odysseus aren’t so different from each other.

Especially now.

Besides that, oh god, the memories of his loved ones singing into his “final moments” is painful. Thought we’d heard the last of Polites, Jorge? REMEMBER, JORGE?

It’s a double entendre, too. They’re singing to him, telling him to keep going, and yet, they’re telling him that they’re waiting for him, too. Now… some for better, and some for worse.

Will they forgive him the same way he’s forgotten how to do, when he dies?

🔱 SIX HUNDRED STRIKE

Aka, Poseidon discovers the indomitable human spirit.

Let me tell you, hearing the guitar made me gasp. Missed that riff, in all its glory and power, let me tell you. Plus, the wind bag’s theme, too!

This is a boss battle. That’s it. I swear to god, put the instrumental of this banger in Hades by Supergiant.

The screaming in this really made the song. The voice acting. The change of tone. The change of Odysseus’ tone. He’s never been afraid to talk back to gods, has he?

I was only miffed that there was blood on the trident in the animation, and not ichor. But that’s what you get when you’ve been devoted to Greek mythology all of your life, you become an accuracy snob. All in all though, I ADORED that animation. Like… holy shit. Holy FUCKING SHIT!!!

Then, the stabbing and gasping. Poseidon attempting to make him feel bad, second-guess himself, by screaming and calling him a monster.

“Look what you’ve turned me into! Look what we’ve become!” Odysseus KNOWS that he and Poseidon are similar. Fathers willing to defend their honor, and the honor of their sons. However, Poseidon was always defending his own honor, and Odysseus was always protecting the lives of those involved.

And the CHOKING NOISES from POSEIDON??

“After everything you’ve done… how will you sleep at night?”

“Next to my wife.”

AND I GASPED. AND I CHEERED!!!!!!!!!!!

On a much more hilarious note, I saw @justvea18 post a version of this meme as Poseidon. Was giggling my ass off. Go check it out, please.

[vulcunt]

I think All Those Who Wander is a very interesting episode in terms of Star Trek storytelling. People on here have rightly compared it to TNG’s Skin of Evil and Tasha Yar’s unexpected and horrific death. All Those is also firmly in the science fiction horror genre as an episode- the switch in tone compared to the rest of the season to discomfort and terror, the themes of violence and violation, of loss of control and “humanity” in the face of evil, allusions to popular sci-fi horror like Alien and The Thing, and so on.

But also in terms of storytelling, it’s still very much like TNG. Those Who shows that while maintaining episodic storytelling, SNW also has an internal continuity. It’s very different from Disco and Picard in that way, which concentrates on season long arcs with one big bad to defeat at the end. Those Who is full of trauma, and horror, and loss. It changes the make up of the bridge crew, through death and departure, and will likely have long term effects on the crew, as we saw with Spock. The show definitely takes notes from the internal continuity of trek shows like TNG, and will likely reference back to Hemmer on and off in future episodes, as they did with Tasha in TNG ( who even went so far as to bring Tasha Yar’s actor back for a related role).

While SNW is the “on paper” successor to TOS, its storytelling and character growth is not siloed and episodic in the style of TOS. TOS was very genocide one episode, shore leave the next. SNW kind of has that too, but it also has more narrative continuity. SNW is really the spiritual successor of TNG and similar Trek shows from the 90s. Which is really not like our 2010s/2020s storytelling at all, with all consuming, concrete season long story arcs with a couple of B plots here and there, in the style of Disco and Picard. It’s meandering storytelling styles with multiple binding storylines is something I didn’t expect from SNW but is something I’m enjoying immensely.

SNW’s wandering and relaxed storytelling styles from episode to episode is something I’ve been looking forward to from week to week, personally. And it’s struck me that this is how it must have been in the 90s when TNG, VOY and DS9 where airing. People were looking forward whatever would be happening in this week’s Trek episode. They didn’t know what would happen, they didn’t know what was in store for them. It could be a silly goofy Laxwana ep or it could be Year of Hell. But they were excited about that, the not knowing what to expect is what makes the experience and the viewing better. I didn’t even realize TNG-style storytelling was something I missed, but I’m really glad I realize it was, in fact, something I really, really missed.

[tortugabros]

things change aka “change is good” - splinter

the premise of tmnt 2003′s first episode is simplistic yet still very entertaining  - turtle introductions and fighting the bad guys. 

front and centre of the episode are the turtle’s core character traits and personalities which essentially drive the plot forward in this episode. for example, it’s raph’s ‘action first’ mentality which ends up with him jumping the back of the purple dragons van when in hindsight that is the worst place to hide.

we get to meet two groups of enemies; the purple dragons (rip johnny) and the mysterious group of ninjas (the foot clan). all in all, it’s a fun episode but introduces darker tones which only persist from here on out. 

see under the cut for a more detailed breakdown!

the voice over introductions. so nostalgic! leo is up first - could it be anyone but our leader. also gives us our first look at nyc and the guys. immediately obvious that the show is going to be ‘dark and edgy’. he’s wrong. we’re not wearing costumes. YES. 

the theme song is still a bop. we also get shown the main villain of the show, the shredder. 1,2,3,4! Turtles!

first scene of the show is a training scene where everyone sucks except for leo (who is pretty smug about that!). establishes that he’s gonna be in charge and the one everyone looks to. teacher’s pet. ninja dropout. gotta establish that leo and raph rivalry asap.

splinter gives us a lot of exposition this episode. but they do it well. talking about the need for stealth and the importance of keeping their existence a secret from the surface world as they must never be discovered. </3

enter the mousers. 1. they’re adorable 2. their theme music is also a bop 3. our first taste of seeing the boys in combat. lair is destroyed + the turtles get separated from splinter. leo very dramatically yells nooooo. 

don is prepared with map (rather than being don’s the smart one!! look how clever!! we’re shown that he is organised, practical, and thoughtful. i dig that).

hello cruel world. ha! you have no idea. 

blocked route. gotta go topside. leo, ever the dutiful son, reminds them about staying on task with no distractions much to everyone’s disappointment.  further cements that he is the leader.

if memory serves, this is one of the only times we see ‘traffic’ and people at night in nyc. if new york is truly the city that never sleeps, where is everyone (i’ve been to new york. it is busy).

first look at the purple dragons. raph jumps in the truck for plot purposes. poor choice, raphael. but we get this glorious sequence with leo, don, and mikey’s silhouettes running across the rooftops set to yet another bop. 

splinter is attacked by more mousers. floor crumbles. finds the new lair.

mikey knocks out two-tonne. their personalities are turned up to eleven - leo’s focus; mikey’s exuberance; raph’s anger; don’s practicality.

purple dragons fight. happens in a blink of an eye, a simple street gang is not a match. suddenly, are those guys...ninjas? the foot clan are a challenge and in the end the guys have to retreat. by stealing the stolen armoured truck. 

don’s driving isn’t pretty but how did he learn to drive in the first place - driving simulator? - is it an automatic? the guys find the money and although mikey is elated, leo steps in and they throw it out onto a nearby cop car. acab. cos they’re altruistic. 

boys in blue be eastman and laird. so i’ll give them a pass i guess.

they all reunite and splinter leads them to their new home. the space is incredible albeit in need of renovation. change is good.

we think its all over them boom, meet oroku saki. he looks menacing and is clearly someone very powerful. johnny is grovelling. saki stands. we cut to outside. johnny screams. he is never seen in the show again. THE END.

[idontneedasymbol]

13x21: Beat the Devil (the good)

So, obviously and unsurprisingly, I liked this one. Enough that I'm putting my issues with it in another post and saving this one for the squee.

Which was mostly the last 10 minutes, because I am a very particular sort of fangirl, and that particular sort will never get enough of one Winchester brother dying and the other completely falling apart. Sam shouting Dean’s name, Cas wrestling Dean back. Dean's gasps and then his silence, him flashing back and the girl shying back from his face, his mute tears with Mary -- the first time he sees her after a  year of searching so desperately, and he can’t even manage a smile. And then his first words are about getting Sam’s body back -- and you know it’s not to burn it, not to mourn, not with Sam. And Mary doesn’t say anything -- maybe doesn’t know what to say, or maybe knows too well that there isn’t anything. (This is one reason to enjoy SPN moving more toward an ensemble show; this is more of an outside perspective on the brothers’ grief than we usually get, and I like having the new angle on it.)

Have seen a bit of upset about Cas pulling Dean back and his "there's no time," but I am positive he didn't mean there wasn't time to save Sam but that there wasn't time to get his body, not when they had the living to worry about. And it wasn't about time anyway; it was about not letting Dean see Sam's body. Both to spare him the pain of it and because if he did see it, Cas maybe wouldn't be able to drag Dean away.

Jack’s reaction, though brief, was also lovely -- this would be his first big loss, and he takes it in classic Winchester style, rage and denial. (His expression when Sam comes back is...I don’t quite ship it, because Sam so clearly sees Jack as a kid, but Jack on the other hand...)

(In the context of Dean's recent behavior -- it's hard to say that he was being overprotective, when within a day of coming to the AU, Sam is dead. I really wish the show would address this, that there's something off with Sam -- either he's become fantastically unlucky, the universe actually stepping up its game to yet another level to bring him down, or else he's lost his edge for some reason. Whatever the reasons, he's had a really terrible track record lately, enough to justify Dean being concerned.)(I’m starting to have my own headcanons about Dean otherwise; the way he was flashing back there made me wonder if maybe he’s been seeing this already, in his dreams...)

Before that, nice that Dean was back to letting Sam take the lead in planning and decisions in this one. Also how closely they stuck together -- even before going through the rift, coming into the library clustered together. Glad to see personal space is still the true nemesis of the Winchester brothers.

Then there was Sam's resurrection. Which so directly paralleled "Red Meat" that I am taking it as support of my longtime headcanon that Lucifer was responsible for that. Otherwise, I gotta admit, I liked it, precisely because it was so horrible -- this was Lucifer as he should be, and that's a difficult trick, to make bringing someone back to life an act of absolutely cruel, selfish, manipulative evil. It could have been a redemptive act, but it's not, a world apart from Rowena making the choice to stay and fight.

Lucifer didn't need to do it this way -- he could've brought Sam's body back to the camp and resurrected him in front of Jack, shown off that way. There were two reasons he did it like this instead. One was probably because he wasn't sure himself if he had the juice. But more importantly, it's to make Sam feel complicit. It wasn't a deal that brought him back, but by giving Sam the supposed "choice" of going with Lucifer or getting killed again, it feels like it is. Even if choosing not to die is a whole different game from being brought back -- and Sam letting Lucifer go on without him wouldn't accomplish anything; Lucifer is proving how manipulative he is, how dangerous he could be to Jack, with or without Sam. (Not to mention Lucifer could always just revive Sam and ask him again...) But oh, Sam's complete and undeserved shame and guilt at the end, ouch.

Also, Sam looks as gorgeous as Dean in terror and pain and covered in blood. Okay, I may have a problem. But damn. (Also also Jared is really good at playing dead. He’s had a lot of practice, but still...so very still...)

There was one element missing -- am really hoping we get a classic post-death reunion brothers hug in the next episode. Not counting on it, but fingers crossed!

[idontneedasymbol]

13x22: Exodus

The best part of this episode? It's months before we get another Bucklemming episode!

--Actually the real best part of this episode was the brother hug. Short but such a sweet scene, just the capper that the angst of 13x21 demanded. (And that we didn't get in 12x02, and I am very glad season 13 managed to get back on the brothers train.) ...Also from what I've seen mentioned from the SPNUK con panels, J2 pretty much wrote it themselves, which explains a lot.

There was more I liked. Dean wanting to kill Lucifer dead on sight, yes, please. Make that happen. More importantly, Dean trusting Sam to handle Lucifer -- and not only saying so but following through. Him going through the rift first at the end there was one of the deepest signs of trust imaginable. (And I have no doubt Dean was standing by the rift back in the bunker, ready to dive back through if it started closing and Sam wasn't through -- but he waited, believing Sam would show, and then he did.) I was disappointed that Sam didn't get to stab Lucifer rather than just shove him away -- even if it wouldn't have killed him, would've been gratifying to see. But at least Sam got a moment. (As for the question of how they're going to get back to the AU with no archangel grace, @owehimeverything was guessing that Sam believed Jack could do it? But you'd think Sam could've swiped a little grace from Lucifer before he left.)(Just a little stabbing, is that too much to ask?)

AU!Michael is thoroughly unconvincing as a big bad -- we just have seen so little of him, there's no sense of what drives him or what he really intends to do. But damn that actor is smoking hot.

And I liked the rescue -- okay, it was pretty small-scale when you're talking about a world, but it was a good solution to Mary's dilemma, I like how quickly Sam thought of it and how quickly Dean jumped on board, and hey, I'm always up for saving people along with hunting things. (I do want to know how they apparently made it from Sioux Falls to Kansas in 2 hours, in a bus, on unpaved roads? Is the USA just smaller in the Apocaverse? It was pointed out that AU!Bobby’s camp wasn’t in Sioux Falls, and I’d forgotten the rift conveniently wasn’t in Kansas anyway but Kentucky. They are damned lucky everyone was so close, though. And also that they had one of those rare off-roading buses.)

Plus the boys riding in a Jeep gave me such Saiyuki flashes, oh man. (Minekura's Saiyuki, of course, which for those not in the know is a manga/anime series about four guys on a roadtrip through a demon-ridden fantasy land who have collectively about as much angst and tangled-up, agonizing and beautiful devotion as the Winchester brothers.)

The rest of the ep. Well.

As has been discussed much elsewhere, the whole conceit of everyone talking in vague terms to Jack about Lucifer being evil, without once specifying any of the many, many, many terrible things he's done, is just so absurd and so breaks the suspension of disbelief that it's mind-boggling. I cannot come up with a single in-character reason for it.

Maybe I can imagine Sam not being able to bring himself to speak of it, given that he hasn't ever really been able to talk about it with anyone. But him trying and going speechless would say a lot in itself. And even if Sam couldn't bring himself to do that much, Dean sure as hell could tell Jack about trying to pick up the pieces after Sam nearly shattered from just his memories of the Cage. Or what about Cas, who took Sam's pain and trauma then?

There's other things they could tell Jack too. Like about the many people killed when Lucifer tried to start an Apocalypse -- Jack is so angry about Michael, he needs to know that his father is the exact same kind of monster.

They could've played it that they try to tell Jack any of this and Jack refuses to listen -- it would be a bit OOC for Jack, but having everyone else be so wildly OOC is so much worse.

I wasn't sure how sympathetic we were supposed to feel for Lucifer -- whether he was meant to make you feel something at the end, or were you supposed to despise him for aping feelings he has no right to? Or just assume he's playing Michael? (Let's hope it's that last.)(Also I know he cried at one point but I have no idea why as @owehimeverything needed to get to bed so we did some fastforwarding. If anyone writes up a transcript of the ep I might read the Lucifer parts so I know what's happening, but no way am I going to subject myself to his dialog otherwise.)

Dean ordering Jack not to listen to Lucifer was just stupid -- come on, Dean's dealt with teenagers, he knows the surefire way to get them to do anything is to tell them not to do it. That's all I'll say about that because I'm running out of ways to express my frustration with the heroes being made into morons to advance the so-called story.

--No, I have more; it's also annoying because in some contexts it could almost make sense, if Lucifer actually were the honey-tongued snake he's supposed to be, Dean could be that desperate for Jack to just not listen to him. But that's not the case. The only reason Lucifer can talk his way out of anything is because everyone else's tongues were cursed. Like, Sam isn’t able to convince Jack not to go after Michael, but Lucifer can? No. That's just silly. No.

Also why is everyone ignoring Jack at the party at the end? They could all see he was getting close to Lucifer; it doesn’t occur to anyone that he might be distressed that Lucifer didn’t come through? Why is no one talking to Jack? They’re setting it up for Jack to take Lucifer’s side in the finale and it’s going to be sympathetic on Jack’s part because he’s getting so little understanding.

I still don't like Ketch, I don't understand why he's suddenly not a sociopath, I don't want him being slashy with Dean. Also did I miss it or was there nothing between Ketch and Mary, after her supposedly being a major motivating force for him?

I still don't like Bucklemming's love of torture, and having the boys/Dean especially gleefully torture someone. I also could not wrap my mind around why AU!Bobby would let them handle that interrogation rather than do it himself, as it involved his people more than theirs.

If Gabriel is really dead...what was the point of bringing him back at all? Did he contribute anything to the story? I guess his grace, once, but otherwise, why?

We fastforwarded through most of AU!Cas -- did he have a wacky accent or was I mishearing that? Why would either the angel or the vessel have an accent? And why was he in the same vessel as in our world, when no other angel has been?

And now AU!Bobby and AU!Charlie are back in our universe. Where’s that going? The show knows it can’t just pick up where it left off as if those characters never died, because these are completely different people -- it knows that, right? Right??? (Besides, I still want to know what happened to our Bobby’s soul, off in Heaven’s jail or wherever...)

Also they have achieved their reunion, everyone at home and safe until Michael and Lucifer show up. I admit, I am mildly curious where this all is going, because I don’t have a clue (even the major spoiler most of us know about is difficult to fit in with what we know, much less imagine where it goes from there?)

[idontneedasymbol]

13x17: The Thing

So this episode had three parts. Part one was the MotW/get the Seal story. Part two was Ketch, Asmodeus, and Gabriel. Part three was the last five minutes or so in the bunker.

Part one was great fun. Tentacle hentai! Brother worrying about each other! Star-crossed Elder Gods! Dean actually did research -- grudgingly, until he found something and then he was excited about it. Sam isn't dead yet -- good for him! And he teases Dean about his cholesterol and reading habits, and gets all drugged and floppy and calling for his brother. And yeah, I prefer Sam to do more than be a damsel in distress, but he makes a lovely damsel.

And Dean makes a lovely everything, holy moly, I don't know if it was the director or because last week was mostly ugly cartoon Dean so I lost some immunity, but woooooow Jensen was looking amazing in this episode, just breathtaking. And Dean makes Ghostbusters references when chained to an altar and is into tentacle hentai and isn’t even embarrassed by it, yeah, you own your kinks, dude.

There was a lot of ??? for the sake of moving the plot along (so were all the people in robes all the various descendants of the former MoL? Why when they say the MoL died out do they not mention the BMOL at all -- in an ep Ketch is in, no less, so it’s not like the writers could have forgotten them? Would Sam & Dean really take an immortal woman chained in a MoL bunker to a diner, as opposed to just getting take-out? Do the hunters’ tests of silver etc. actually ever catch anything supernatural, that we’ve ever seen?) But said plot was fun enough to excuse that rushing.

Part two we didn't actually watch -- @owehimeverything lost patience and fastforwarded through most of it. Asmodeus is a grace-junkie, Ketch got beaten up and then rescues/kidnaps Gabriel, have I mentioned how much I don’t want Ketch to be an ally? If anything else happened I missed it; maybe someone will summarize it ( @caranfindel​ you're my only hope!) because I can't be bothered to go back and watch it myself.

And part three...I will say that I really liked that Dean is 100% confident that Sam can and will get him back, considering last time Dean was stuck alone in another monstrous world. They’re a long ways past Purgatory and I like that.

The rest goes under a cut for negativity and WTFing.

Because seriously. WTF??? I don't get the point of that. Like, I understand the plot demands, that they needed Dean and Ketch in the apocaverse alone, for whatever will happen in the next episode(s). But why was it told like that?

Apparently Davy Perez said something on Twitter about how Dean was channeling John. But no. He wasn't. And not just because Dean should be better than that, has been better than that, and I don’t get why he’s regressing now. But because John Winchester was a lot of things, but outrageously stupid wasn't one of them. Dean charges off into the other universe without even taking a few hours to sleep and change after a 20+ hour drive. He doesn't prepare, doesn't plan what weapons or protection to take. Doesn't strategize how they're even going to find Mary and Jack in a whole other universe.

Much less prepare the other side, what they're going to come back to, leaving Sam alone with a trickster archangel who previously tortured him and whom a Prince of Hell is gunning for.

Dean deciding that he should be the one to go is pretty Dean -- he's always set himself as the protector of family; he would see saving Mary as his responsibility. And of course he doesn’t want to risk Sam if he can help it. But doing it this stupidly isn't Dean.

But as out of character as that was for Dean, it was even more out of character for Sam. Because since when has Sam fucking Winchester just rolled over and done what Dean (or anyone else) says? Especially when what Dean is saying is completely idiotic? If Dean was being threatening, or going behind Sam's back, that'd be one thing. But he wasn't? He said "this is the way it’s gonna be" but usually when Dean pulls that bullshit, Sam tells him no way. Like with the Trials. Like with the Mark. Like with going to the Cage in season 11. But here Sam realizes the plot demands it so he just goes along with Dean. He makes a token protest that is as brainless as Dean is being -- "it's safer together" -- no, it's not. The last time you two were both stuck together in another universe you were completely helpless. Splitting up here is the better choice; just not like this.

There were reasonable arguments Sam could make. Like pointing out that Cas also went to the other universe so could use the spell (wait I forgot, Cas doesn’t exist in this episode). Or apparently it just needs a hair anyway, so they could leave some of that behind? Or hell, if one of them should go and one should stay, why is it a done deal that it's Dean and not Sam who goes?

The most annoying thing is there are logical reasons why Dean should be the one to go -- he's got more experience in other nightmare worlds (see Purgatory) and also Sam is better at spells and at longer-term planning, so him serving as backup makes sense. Why couldn't Dean have said any of that? Why did this have to be framed as an argument rather than a reluctant but mutual decision? Right, because this is a TV show, and TV shows need drama.

There was an easy way to add extra stress, make the conflict more plausible: put a time limit on it. They find out the spell has to be done on the solstice or something.  Even the full moon -- gotta do it now, rather than wait a whole month.  No time to delay, so you cut corners, take risks.

But no, last week they were so worried about Mary & Jack that they went off and solved a random case rather than research the Seal, but now, despite having no additional info, it’s suddenly so urgent to go right now that there’s Dean laying down the law and Sam rolling over and them both being stupid, and I don't get why. Especially when it’s done twice in a row, with Dean unilaterally making the decision about Ketch, too (and without the context of his later dictatorialness, I'd have taken that decision as him and Sam coming to a silent agreement that they couldn't talk about in front of Ketch; but with what follows it's clearly meant to be Dean overruling Sam. But why?)

Was it meant to show how desperate Dean is to save Mary? Or setting up that Sam needs to stand up for himself? Were we meant to see these interactions as an unhealthy relationship dynamic, or the natural order? Is this going to be addressed in any later episodes, or, like Dean pulling the gun on Kaia, is this a random Dean-is-an-asshole/Sam-is-indecisive-and-ineffectual moment that will never come up again? Or was it just that Buckleming demanded Dean & Ketch alone, and Davy Perez had fifteen minutes to write the end and was like fine, Dean’s a dumb jerk, this’ll work? I don't know.

All I do know is that I am really tired of the characters being warped completely out of character for the sake of advancing a plot that I will never care about as much as I care about the characters themselves.

[FWIW I later headcanon’ed a better way to look at this.]

[idontneedasymbol]

13x13: Devil’s Bargain

Wow. Just, wow. Every time I think I’m prepared, Bucklemming proves me wrong. Okay, it wasn’t their worst episode ever in that it wasn’t as outright offensive as some, and it didn’t have the unrealized potential of 12x02, but it made up for those assets by being impressively, comprehensively, overwhelmingly boring. I think it was more boring than 12x08 last year (the one with Lucifer in the president, which was so dull I can’t recall the title). It was hard to follow what little was happening because it was so impossible to care about any of it.

The rest goes under a cut for negativity and putting more thought into this episode than it deserves:

I feel bad for Daneel, who turned in a decent performance with a character who could be interesting in other writers’ hands, but in this was reduced to being ickily sexual with Lucifer. Also, what is Bucklemming’s obsession with pillow talk? (Incredibly monotonous pillow talk.) We should add it to the bingo squares.

I am also disappointed because I was spoiled that a character came back, though not which character. @owehimeverything had the spoiler, though, and so could confirm my guess partway through. She didn’t know how he came back, though, and so for the last 20 minutes or so we were thinking that Asmodeus was Gabriel -- which would explain his shapeshifting, and his new mind-control powers, and also why he’s supposedly a big bad but hasn‘t done all that much really evil (such as keeping Cas alive for hazy reasons). So the end was a big disappointment (@owehimeverything is still hoping the prisoner could be part of Gabriel’s trick, but there is no way the writers would do something that clever.)

Ketch’s storyline with the boys illuminated the huge problem with how Bucklemming tries to write their villain redemption. Heroes having to work with villains against an even worse threat is a tried and true classic. But usually it’s the hero who is trying to get the villain to team up. Appealing to their better nature, reaching out -- see Thor with Loki. Because that’s what heroes do, try to see the best in people. Flipping the script, having Ketch be the one appealing to Sam & Dean for the sake of the world, makes Ketch look noble and our actual heroes look small-minded and unreasonably mistrustful -- even though they’re not, not with all Ketch has done, and they should just shoot him and actually burn his corpse this time. But the structure of this story, how it’s told, makes Ketch look sympathetic. It’s Ketch who is cast as the protagonist, while Sam & Dean are the obstacles to his road to redemption. That’s not the way it’s supposed to work.

Lucifer’s story has similar problems, though it’s more uneven; in any given scene we’re expected to either sympathize with Lucifer (which is impossible) or fear him -- which is also impossible, because he’s just not scary anymore. It shouldn’t matter whether Lucifer has his powers. He’s Lucifer. His true face is so terrifying that it inflicts lasting nightmares on some of the strongest people in the world. When they confront him in the hotel room, he should be able to dismantle them with just a few words. But that’s not who he is this week. (Except at the end, maybe? Was Lucifer on Heaven’s throne meant to be frightening? Or triumphant? Or what?) And meanwhile all the development of Sam’s character last week was completely left by the wayside; the script didn’t even give Jared an opportunity for a meaningful reaction shot, much less address in dialog how Sam’s worst nightmare is back in person.

Ultimately, the biggest problem with the episode is that, yet again, this isn’t Sam & Dean’s story anymore. The only useful thing they did in the episode was fail to lock Ketch in their trunk. When the heroes are only there to be incompetent, maybe you should rework your plot.

The usual plotholes and retcons are hardly worth mentioning. As usual, any one isn’t worse than what’s in any other ep; there’s just so many. Why was Lucifer begging for money and dumpster diving, rather than just killing someone for their wallet? He had no trouble killing an angel for its grace; even a cupid is stronger than a normal human being, and Lucifer historically has (or had) more respect for angels than for humans.

Why would Cas be so dismissive of Anael (sp?) because she had a crap job before? After the angels fell, everything got reorganized. As far as we know Hannah was just a regular low-level angel, but later she was running Heaven. Cas himself was just a soldier. For Cas to think so little of an angel who’d survived on Earth for years is yet another case of making the heroes petty to make Bucklemming’s preferred anti-heroes look good.

Why would Sam & Dean assume the world-crossing spell would be on the demon tablet, when we’ve never heard of the angel and demon tablets having any other info in common? Why had they not thought to put Donatello on the demon tablet before this, once they found out he was alive (especially knowing they have a demon with new superpowers on their hands)?

What was up with Donatello’s line about “I couldn’t live with myself”? He’s your character, Bucklemming, how did you forget he’s sans soul? And in that same scene, Casmodeus’s expression made it clear that Sam and Dean had in fact never “looped Cas in” on Jack being in the other world with Mary; it appears to be news to Asmodeus. Which...why? Why, if they did not suspect for a moment that “Cas” on the phone wasn’t who he claimed to be, would they let Cas go for weeks looking for Jack’s trail, already knowing that trail led nowhere?

A basic failure of Screenwriting 101 -- the scene in the Impala that Sam mentions tracking Sister Jo’s credit card was 100% pointless. A throwaway line could’ve covered the card-tracking; it didn’t need a separate scene. On the other hand, it was a perfect opportunity for a conversation about, say, Lucifer being back and how Sam’s dark place has gotten that much darker -- but we couldn’t have that; it would’ve taken time away from pillow talk with the devil.

Finally, it’s a minor point but it bugged me -- how did Cas get to the bunker in the beginning? I thought Crowley’s hell-throne was in New England somewhere. Did the boys drive out and get him? Did they paypal him bus money? Did he just jack a car? It’s an awkward transition that skips over one of the few opportunities in the episode to have any emotion between the characters we actually give a damn about.

[idontneedasymbol]

13x07: War of the Worlds

Bucklemming is back in form!

Some fans really enjoyed this episode, and I get that. If you are a fan of Lucifer and/or Ketch, there was a lot to like. For me, though, both of those characters were a drawback, not a plus, and there was little else I was into.

Things I did like:

Kevin!!! Post-apocalyptic angel-enslaved geek, whatever, I love Osric Chau. I’ve been enjoying the hell out of him in Dirk Gently and I loved seeing him again here.

Rowena!!! Is not back yet but obviously will be! Can’t wait.

Lucifer getting tortured. (Or were we not supposed to be cheering Michael on – are we supposed to forget he was doing to Lucifer the same kind of stuff that Lucifer did to Sam? I wouldn’t want to see the Winchesters doing that. But one villain to another – yeah, hurt him more.)

The witch going to the Winchesters for help, because that’s what they do (did Sully post a review on monster Yelp or what? ‘Superlative assistance, Sam is so awesome and brave, 5/5 stars, would reveal our secret world to again.’)

The labeled FBI/CIA/etc. phones.

Then there was the rest. I admit, I don’t watch SPN for the plot. “Red Meat” is one of my all-time favorite episodes, and you could drive a semi through its holes. But this ep was…inconsistent, even for Bucklemming. Some of the many points that confused me (corrections/counterpoints/explanations for any of these would be appreciated!):

Witches being natural enemies of hunters. Did no one ever tell the Banes this? Max was open about his witchcraft in a house full of nervous hunters. The witch in this ep didn’t seem like a wicked sort, considering she didn’t even hurt Ketch when escaping. Is this a regional thing? Has she just met the wrong sort of hunters?

Sam & Dean being so confused that Ketch could be back to life. Without mentioning shifters. Or shapeshifting demons. Or that in just the last episode they faced a ghoul who took the form of a century-old corpse, and because they didn’t burn Ketch’s body, nothing was stopping anything from taking a bite.

And why didn’t they burn the body again?

I already asked this but seriously, why? Forget about magic spells bringing people back to life, why weren’t they worried about Ketch’s vengeful spirit haunting the bunker?

Putting aside how annoyed I was to see Dean enjoying torture (that’s not OOC, but it’s usually a sign he’s in a dark place, except when Bucklemming writes him) – what the hell was happening in that interrogation? Why did Ketch take so many blows before he mentioned the identical twin thing, as opposed to going right away, ‘hey, are you talking about my brother?’

What was the deal about the evil twin? Did Ketch actually have one for real? Otherwise, how long had he had that ruse going on? Because Sam mentions that he found records of Alexander on the harddrive he stole from the BMOL’s bunker – that he stole before Ketch died. Was this some kind of long con or what?

Also, Ketch has been dead at most a month, given how little time has elapsed in-show since the finale, but everyone was acting like he’d been doing this for a while?

I would’ve better liked Dean figuring out Ketch if he had used a little more logic and a little less “gonna say it’s gut instinct so I have an excuse to beat up a guy whose face I hate.”

Why are Sam & Dean so mindbogglingly stupid about keeping prisoners now? Because yeah, Ketch wasn’t a demon, so he would need food and basic amenities, Dean should know that. But then Sam letting Ketch wander around the bunker, repository of the MOL’s knowledge and weapons, totally unsupervised, is just blockheaded. Even if Sam doesn’t think he’s really Arthur Ketch, the guy still tortured and murdered several possibly-innocent witches. And Sam was keeping him chained, so he didn’t trust him anyway, but what chains would stop him from picking up a sword? Or a much more dangerous artifact?

(The only explanation I have is that Sam actually was using the cameras he was watching Jack with to spy on Ketch, giving him a chance to prove the truth about him, but he couldn’t explain that to Dean in front of Ketch?)

Ketch explained how he got out of the chains, but how did he get out of the dungeon? Or is that unsecured? Sam was maybe too trusting but Dean didn’t trust him at all, so apparently he just sucks at securing a prisoner?

Like, he couldn’t hold Ketch for even 5 minutes, given how quickly Ketch caught up with them?

I admit I wasn’t paying attention to most of Lucifer’s scenes because I find it so grating that they’re trying to turn the show’s one-time biggest bad into an anti-hero a la Crowley, but was there any reason why Cas didn’t tell Sam & Dean that Lucifer was back the moment he reached them on the phone?

Also why didn’t Cas ask Lucifer what happened to Mary?

Or does Cas not know that Mary ended up stranded in the AU?

In which case where does Cas think Mary is?

Or has he forgotten she existed, for all he killed Billie for her before?

And why didn’t he just stab Lucifer – come on, Cas, he was right there! Stabbing angels is one thing you’re really good at!

What was Asmodeus’s plan at the end here? I’ve seen mixed opinion about whether Ketch at the end there was just joining up with Asmodeus, or was the hunter in Asmodeus’s circle all along. Either way, I can’t figure out the plan. If Ketch was working for him, why did Asmodeus send demons after Sam & Dean, only to have Ketch kill them? Was it to try to get them to trust Ketch (a big failure)? Or was Ketch not working for Asmodeus yet at that point, in which case why would Asmodeus hire the guy who just killed his demons?

And anyways, how could a few minor demons get the drop on Sam & Dean so completely that Ketch had to save them?

I’m getting really tired of Sam & Dean being unable to take out a single monster without help.

Come on, get it together, dudes.

Speaking of which, you guys know there is a shapeshifting demon around. Why have you taken zero precautions? If you had a simple pass-phrase, Asmodeus couldn’t have tricked you with his fake Cas voice.

I know they’ve never really taken precautions against shapeshifters, but it hasn’t gotten them in serious trouble before. Now it is, so they just look like idiots for not being prepared.

Getting really tired of our boys looking like idiots.

Also getting tired of the obligatory ‘Sam & Dean sit around in front of laptops in the library and hang a lampshade on how useless they are.’

Like at least have them doing laundry or changing lightbulbs or something! Give us domestic cuteness to make up for how they’re not doing anything plot-relevant!

But at least they were very pretty.

Richard Speight can come back and direct any time, he makes everyone gorgeous!