This Year's Model of Humanity

So, hmm. Quite a lot of that I loved. Pretty much everything involving Amara was A+, yay! and I really enjoyed the introduction of Lady Toni, who is, indeed a MoL and an antagonist. Seeing Billie again was fantastic. And… was that the first finale ever where no one died? (at least, I don’t think anyone died).

 

( alpha and omega )

Original Post: spn 11x23 - alpha and omega

I am so happy that I wasn’t spoiled for Kevin’s brief appearance. I yelled and practically fell out of my chair. Oh my GOD. Kevin! Baby! I missed you! It sucks that you’re still dead! But it was really good to see you!

 

( all in the family )

Original Post: spn 11x21 - all in the family

The first episode I’ve been able to watch on the east coast feed for a long time, and a great one to do it on!

The reveal in the cold opening that Jesse was gay perked me up right away, of course, and I spent pretty much the entirely of each commercial break doing a happy dance that he (and his hunter husband!) survived each of the tense moments in the episode.

I thought the horror in the episode was sharply drawn, too. The Chitters were creepy, kinda in a Stephen King way, and we had a very tragic and touching ending with Jesse finding his brother and an element of closure. And then a happy ending! With retirement and a horse ranch!

The parallels weren’t lost of me either, of course, and I squeed with glee when Dean asked what it was like to settle down with a hunter. <3 <3

Jesse was able to balance the Winchester and Destiel parallels very nicely – note how the show had him expressively say how much Matty had meant to him, but obviously his love for his brother was completely unrelated to and didn’t interfere at all with his love for Cesar.

Original Post: spn 11x19 - the chitters

“I did what I had to do,” says our werewolf victim/monster, after having (believed he) killed someone who was trying to help him, having decided that this terrible choice was the only way to save the person he’d decided to place above all other lives. The mantra of the Winchester family (especially in S9/10), shown from an outside perspective as a monstrous act (Corbin was even wearing plaid at the start, iirc). 

We also saw the futility of that course of action, played out in both relationships. Corbin’s desperate choices to save his wife ended up destroying both his relationship (it causes Michelle to shut down on him and seek out Dean instead) and caused his own death (because if he hadn’t ‘killed’ Sam, the Winchesters might have been able to save him, since being a werewolf isn’t an absolute death sentence these days).

I like the flip we got over the course of the episode, how it started out seeming like the husband was going to be the ‘active’ person they were saving but then Michelle ended up getting to do more and more once they got to the hospital (and, of course, getting to survive the ordeal).

Dean’s conversation with Billie was great (of course, I just remain happy every time she makes it out of a Winchester encounter alive tbh). Though I’m still not at all concerned that one of the Winchesters will die For Real, given that J2 have contracts signed through season 13 (if one should happened).

Overall, it was a very tense episode with strong characters and good horror moments.

Original Post: spn 11x17 - red meat

I didn’t have any real expectations about this episode, but if I had, I suspect it definitely would have surpassed them. I really liked it.

First, we see that Dean is still determined to save Cas (actually bookending the Winchester parts of the episode), then we had those amazing Dean’s crush vs Sam’s crush scenes, then we had Dean’s wrestler crush mirroring Cas so heavily, plus we had Dean being able to enact some self-care on himself (realizing he needs to get out of the bunker to clear his head).

There were some parts of the episode where I had to hide my eyes from the screen out of second-hand embarrassment, but they seemed pretty intentional.

We’re also continuing the theme from last week of Dean helplessly unable to save a good person/good people but while last week Dean was somewhat despondent at the end of the episode, this week Dean seemed even more determined to fight against that fate from happening to Cas (again placing Cas as his top priority).

Original Post: spn 11x15 - beyond the mat

Carmelo and Snyder seem write Dean as… idk, grosser? than most of the other writers do. Is that just me thinking that or do other people see it too? Like, he even makes weirder noises in their episodes than normal. At least, since they’ve gotten back onto the show. I don’t remember it being a feature of their episodes before?

Anyway, the main thrust of the episode seemed to be to make the ~threat~ to Dean from Amara feel more real by couching in terms of him being ~seduced~ by her (obligatory note: if you’re being forced into feeling something by a magical force beyond your control, then there is no real consent involved /obligatory note complete).

I’m still really not into the show deciding to play the Amara threat this way when they had a really interesting character to start with and didn’t need to make her yet another sexually-predatory female villain trying to Kilgrave her way into Dean’s life.

I mean, I guess at least the conversation at the end appeared to making the attempt to explain that Dean is being forced (magically) to feel this way and the ‘feelings’ aren’t genuine. Sorta? Sam was kinda weird in the conversation tbh, maybe because of what he went through with Ruby. I mean, the show does realize that this is something Dean doesn’t want and is being forced into? I think, at least, though again, the conversation was kinda weird in places.

Original Post: spn 11x13 - love hurts

Sam made a friend! And she didn’t die this episode! Very pleased that Mildred and Eileen saved the day. And didn’t die. <3

So, Dean continuing to ‘keep his game face on’ for Sam while telling “Cas” everything about his emotional issues.

The sexual assault/compulsion aspect of the Dean and Amara stuff appears, at the moment, to being used to hold the balance of het-text vs queer-subtext. Because if we didn’t have that aspect of Dean and Amara, if they hadn’t put in the sexual assault back in 11x09, heterocentric glasses would have literally nothing to attach Mildred’s words onto (because they dismiss Cas out of hand). So I’m kinda making a scrunchy face at the show about that if they don’t actually take that subtext textual this season. Because that has major ugly implications if they don’t make it explicit as not being about the relationship based on compulsion and sexual assault.

If I ignore society, then that line is really promising and great? But society sucks so… yeah.

Misha is doing a great job. The Dean and Lucifer scene was really good and effectively gave me the creeps as Dean was confiding all of this deep emotional stuff to the worst possible person to confide it to and has no idea.

Original Post: spn 11x11 - into the mystic

Still disappointed about no Cas tbh.

 

( o brother )

Tags: negativity for ts i guess a lot of this episode make me go ??? also rape cw sexual assault cw dean x amara cw bucklemming cw most of this season has been so good why do bucklemming have to happen to good seasons?
Original Post: SPN 11x09 - o brother where art thou?

I’m not sure I can be qualified to judge whether or not tonight’s subject matter was handled appropriately, so I’m going to table any thoughts on that for now.

 

( Plush )

Tags: sorry i don't have more thoughts right now! my concentration is not entirely as it should be as i just started watching black sails so my brain is a bit distracted and prone to muttering 'two bisexual main characters?!?' in disbelief and joy eleanor is obvious from the first episode and i've been spoiled about flint <3 (at least two -- there's also Max but idk if she's bi or if she's lesbian and sleeps with men b/c of her job) (her feels for ladies are obvs real but the dude stuff could all be professional)

Original Post: SPN 11x07 - Plush