I’m seeing five different reactions on my dash about tonight’s episode:
Oh hey, the episode is not that bad. I liked [thing(s) they liked about the episode].
I don’t understand why [ a ] is happening. I don’t understand why they went about that way when they could have done [x, y, or z]. What was the point?
This is garbage and I would rather go on a world tour with fork puppets than watch that dumpster fire again.
SamWitch
Speculations and potentials.
Characters* in 14x07:
Sam W.
Dean W.
Jack K.
Castiel
Rowena M.
Impala
Nick
Based on observations on my dash:
Brother fans, Sam and Dean split up during this episode. Not for the entire episode, but if you didn’t like that set up in 14x06, you’re getting it again.
Sam fans might be okay with this one. It really is a mixed bag. Bitter Sam fans were not impressed with 14x07, so ymmv. Not a lot of happy viewers that’s for sure.
Jack fans, you might like 14x07, *coughs* if you focus on the Jack scenes. If you’re a fan of angst and hurt!Jack, 14x07 has that. If you are a Sam fan or bitter Sam fan who likes Jack and their relationship, there are some moments that will satisfy you, while other moments will leave you upset or disappointed.
Dean fans might be okay with this one. More so than Sam fans, but I can’t be sure. Dean and Jack bonding scenes.
Nick and Lucifer fans, you’ll get some Nick moments in 14x07 and a surprise toward the end of the episode. For those who like Lucifer, you might get a Lucifer from season five vibe from watching those scenes. Might. From the looks of things, and how BuckLeming wrote Lucifer so far, I doubt it.
If you do not like Lucifer, oh-ho-boy do BuckLeming have bad news for you.
Castiel fans, Cas is back in 14x07. Ymmv on how he is treated in this episode. Some viewers, from reading their posts on my dash, liked what they saw. Other viewers didn’t like it.
Rowena fans, Rowena is back. You might like her scenes, especially if you like Sam and Rowena on screen together.
SamWitch fans and Sastiel fans might like the Sam and Rowena and Sam and Cas moments in tonight’s episode.
Impala fans will get your fix in 14x07 unless you have a driver preference (ex: you like it when Dean drives or when Sam drives).
No other past side characters (recurring characters like Mary) other than the listed characters above.
All right, that’s it for now.
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* not including the surprise near the end of the episode, side characters, or the shaman.
14x01 wasn’t so bad. An okay episode. There were a few discrepancies that made me pause the video a few times, but overall not a bad start.
Long post of thoughts after the keep reading cut. Maggie and Bobby in this post is Apocalypse World (AW) Maggie and Bobby.
Likes:
Leader Sam. “Chief.”
The bullets at the beginning of the episode.
Sam and Mary moments and the potential parallels that went with them. (Although this is also a dislike. I’ll get to that later).
Everything Sam. Outfit, beard of grief, rational Sam, Sam with a plan, Sam and the bar scene. Sam roar (”Enough!”). Sam in the entire episode.
Sam driving the Impala.
Sam : "Enough! There will be no new King of Hell. Not today. Not ever. And if anyone wants the job, you can come through me. Understood? So, what's it gonna be?"
Sam and Luke scene. Love Jared’s take in this scene. Sam was still afraid, but he not only talked to Luke, he helped clean Luke’s wound. Didn’t expect Luke to return, but this scene is a way to let the audience know if the group use the archangel blade again, Dean will not die. I say if because there is a possibility the group will use other means to get Dean back. Also, see ???? below.
Sam and Jack scene.
A. Sam letting Jack go with them. See B. in the dislikes.
Dislikes:
Not a lot of AU!hunters (Apocalypse world survivors?) to help Sam in his rescue mission. I could reason it away, though. One hunter was injured, and the other guy (the man who showed Mary the bullets and weapons at the beginning of the episode) probably needed to stay at the bunker. Another possibility is they left to go on another hunt before the rescue mission. *shrugs* I don’t know.
The camera shots throughout the episode. A lot of zoom-ins, the shot switched multiple times in one scene . . . at one point I had to look down because it was a little disorienting.
The music wasn’t too bad, but it was distracting at times. Not including the recap song.
Sam and Mary scenes. If I see the scenes in a different perspective, Mary became a surrogate Sam. I can also see potential Sam parallels in those scenes. Like Sam in previous occasions, in 14x01, Mary hopes and focuses on the good and try not to let the bad drown her. It’s one of the reasons why I put these moments down as a like. I’m not sure if she is a plot device this season. If she is then, at least in this episode, she becomes a surrogate Sam, taking on some of Sam’s qualities in order to help Sam keep going, keep trying, despite Sam not finding any leads (until he gets a potential one at the end of the episode). I like to think the scenes were just parallels; it feels wrong to see her like that, like a version of Sam being there for, er, well, Sam, until they find Dean. Also, see next bullet:
“For Dean.” This is not a criticism of what Mary said. It just gives me flashbacks to season ten. It also kind of distanced me from the Sam and Mary moment in the Impala and for the rest of the episode. Despite Sam and Mary being a little closer, working together, what will happen when Dean does return? Will the relationship Sam wanted in season twelve and season thirteen go back to the weird dynamic where he had to join an organization like the BMoLs just to have some time with his mom?*
:( Jack. Poor kid. He’s been through a lot.
I put his scene with Sam as a like but I can’t help but feel like Jack distanced himself from Sam (or did Sam distance himself from Jack, I’m not sure). Just a tad. I think it’s because he feels useless, powerless to help. Again, :(
B. Jack getting beat up by demons. I can see why Sam let Jack go with the group though. Still, ouch.
A moment of silence for the soup Sam almost ate.
It’s growing on me:
The AU/AW!hunters. I like them, er, well I like who I saw in 14x01, so far.
AW!Michael!Dean. I probably just need to see him in another episode. His mannerisms are a little different than Dean. So I can sort-of tell there’s something different, but not quite. There were a few moments where a little Dean was bleeding through, mannerisms-wise, but those moments are few. Still not getting that AW!Michael vibe that I got when he was in his other vessel (wow, that sounded weird).
Jack and Bobby scenes. They weren’t bad. I just need to get used to them.
????:
I thought Luke went to heaven (or somewhere not in the vicinity of Lucifer). His body deteriorated and Lucifer jumped from Luke’s body to Sam’s in 5x22. Also, pretty sure Crowley reconstructed Luke’s body to put Lucifer in as a makeshift flesh-prison (sorry Luke), in season twelve. Did Lucifer just keep Luke along for the ride out of pettiness? I can see that. But if that was the case then Luke was in the cage until season eleven. If that was not the case, did the show retcon so they had a way to get Dean back without killing Dean (see the bullet about the Sam and Luke scene in the likes section)?
If AW!Michael!Dean was disappointed in Jo, and if he felt like the angels weren’t worth saving [and there are so few], why waste the effort going to her? Maybe he was sizing her up. Size her up to see if she would be a fit to his plans? We’ll find out in the next episode, but I am reluctant to watch (14x02 is a BuckLeming episode).
I could believe AW!Michael got the name, Jo, from Dean. I mean, he said so when he met up with her. That he knew about her from Dean. However, wouldn’t he know her name was Anael? Like Jo knew to call him Michael from another world?
I . . . didn’t expect an archangel’s true form to look like that.
I know Castiel has some limitations after coming back from the Empty, but I didn’t know he lost the power to sense other demons in the room. He didn’t smite them either. Not enough grace? If so, why meet up with a demon without a plan B?
Not really a ???? more like a ?: If Bobby was nervous about Jack joining the group to rescue Castiel, why was he not nervous about Maggie? Maggie didn’t seem that skilled either.
* Mary in 14x01 isn’t as bad for me as my criticisms are making it. She does support Sam. She checks in on him, makes sure he’s okay. She keeps hoping they will find Michael and save Dean, despite the group running into dead ends. I also see character in her, not an extension of other. I don’t know if this makes sense but I see Mary Winchester, not a wooden version of her.
* Maybe Sam gave up in trying to pursue a familial relationship (an ideal connection, maybe) with Mary. In a way it felt like that in 13x22, when she wanted to stay in AW despite Sam and Dean’s efforts to bring her back to her own world. I am not critical of her actions in that episode; Mary is her own person and her sons survived thirty plus years without her. It sounds cold, but she has a right to her choices. It would be weird to me, if she did drop her quest to help the AW survivors, knowing she tends to fight for the greater good above herself. Whether that is selfish or selfless will have to be considered in a different post (if I feel up for it). This post is long as it is.
I think . . . that’s it. I can’t think of anything else to add. Grammar mistakes are mine. Ooh, and if you read all of this, you are a trooper and I thank you.
