Quick Reaction: 7x21 Reading is Fundamental

[hells_half_acre]

It's an Edlund-Edlund episode, as I like to call them! 



CELLO! God, I love cellos. CEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Cello. 

Sorry, um... Kevin Tran provides us some beautiful musical accompaniment as Sam and Dean set up in an abandoned warehouse/loft space to check out what's inside their redclay (suddenly turned grey). And yeah, also ASIANS! I don't even care that it's the stereotype of the Asian overachiever...I'm just happy to see Asians.

Anyway, I loved the whole lightening everytime Dean struck the clay with the hammer...and Dean's whole shrugging it off with an "oh well" thing! Haha, oh Dean, I love the hardened hunter you have become even if it means you are too grouchy to forgive your friends while you are still alive.

But we'll get to that...

Kevin Tran gets possessed without consent! Or, I thought he did, and was freaking out about it because it was unprecedented...but no, not possessed, awakened. He's a prophet in charge of the Word, who is compelled to act, even against his will. VERY interesting. I wonder if that was what it was like for Chuck...if he was compelled to write, even against his will (it would explain the drinking...and yes, we're ignoring the Chuck=God debate for the purposes of this wondering).

Also, Cas wakes up! Woo! So much can happened when you do a bit of archaeology, who knew!

I do like how they explain away Bobby...clever, for them to have written ghostly black-outs into the show so that ghost Bobby doesn't have to be in every single episode. It also makes sense from a mythology standpoint...because you have those ghosts that kill on a cycle...like every 7 years or whatever. Maybe that's how long it takes some ghosts to get enough power to kill again. 

I'm getting off topic here. The boys drive from wherever they are to Indiana after Meg calls. Kevin is in...Michigan. 

Oh, I forgot to mention how much I loved that radio weatherman that Sam was listening to who was all offended at the weather for acting up. I can't remember the exact words, but it was brilliant.

Anyway, off to see Cas!!

Cas is crazy!

Okay, no, Cas is...well, there are very much shades of 2014!Cas here. He's taken the happy pills. But there's always truth to madness...so, what can we glean from Cas' particular form of madness? Cas loves the Winchesters. He wants them to laugh and have good times together. He wants everyone around him to be happy, and be happy with each other. Which all stems from the fact that he screwed up so very badly and made the people he loves have bad times...he made his friends unhappy and unhappy with him and each other. He IS sorry, but he doesn't know how to express it without feeling sad...without acknowledging that Dean feels sad...and Cas does not want to acknowledge any of these things. He wants to skip right to the part where he's forgiven and everyone is happy again...only, you can't do that.

Anyway...

As soon as Sam left the bag behind to talk to Meg, I knew someone was going to swipe it. I feared it would be the angels - since I had seen from the preview that they were going to be involved. Also, I'm sure it wasn't just me, but as soon as Meg mentioned leaving WITH Castiel, I was like "NO! HE'S NOT YOURS!" Hahaha, oh me.

But it's Kevin Tran! 

Have I mentioned that I love Kevin Tran? Because I do. The actor who played him was so good. I loved Sam practically lifting him off his feet trying to pry the word out of his fingertips.

Anyway, the angels arrive! Oh noes! 

I love how Castiel knows...I love how he's happy. I love how he knows that Sam is talking to them....I don't ship Sassy, dammit, I just like the name!

Oh, before that though - did it bug anyone else that Dean was playing Sorry! wrong? That was my favourite game when I was a kid...we could only play it up at my cottage and my older brother and sister never wanted to play with me...but damn, it was so much fun. But Dean takes a piece out of HOME, you don't take a piece out of HOME! :P

Back to Hester and Anais. Awesome.

I love how Anais is such a Castiel fanboy, even though Castiel totally MURDERED A BUNCH OF ANGELS. I mean, seriously, Anais should probably get his head examined...but he acts sort of smitten. It's adorable. Also, unless there's a male form of the name that I don't know about Anais is a form of the name Anna and is feminine...which supports my theory that angels are inherently genderless. Which, while we're on the topic: How does Dean know that they're junkless? Last I checked that was a Kevin Smith decision...and yeah, when has Dean ever seen an angel in its true form? I mean...what's he basing this on and how come he's so sure of himself? But anyway, if Dean's right, angels are at least sexless (in their true form) so it's not that huge a leap to consider them to be without gender. Though, my hypothesis is ruined by how Balthazar made fun of Raphael for taking a female vessel....which, hey, uncool Balthazar, uncool.

I'm getting way off topic. I apologize.

I do like how as soon as Hester called Castiel insane, Dean was like "HEY!" Awww..of course, then he angel-sigiled them all away including Cas.

And then Kevin makes me fall in love with him even more, because he has a believable reaction to the whole affair: WHAT IS HAPPENING!?! WHAT IS HAPPENING!!?!?

Oh man, good character. Last week we had an awesome character who was able to take things in stride and rise to the occasion, and this week we have an awesome character who does not take things in stride and really doesn't rise to the occasion...and I love them both equally.

So, it's off to Rufus' cabin! Woo!

ETA: When Cas had that line about "I don't fight anymore. I watch the bees." My first thought was "My god, he's Sherlock Holmes!" and then I laughed inside my own head for a while. #Imightbecrazy

Meg plays the "is she double-crossing them?" game, while Kevin plays the "I am much beloved and sorely missed back home" game...and Dean and Sam play the "aw crap, we're fugitives...again, or still...or...whatever" game.

Once at Rufus' cabin, Dean and Kevin hang out in the sex torture dungeon... and yeah, maybe not the BEST place to bring a teenager who is already freaking out? But whatever...upstairs Sam and Cas chat.

So, whose chat do we want to consider first? 

Dean and Kevin's?

So, Dean tells Kevin that it sucks to be chosen...and well, he would know. And then he tells him that angels don't care, and when they do it breaks them. And OUCH...because I think that just sums up all of Dean and Castiel's relationship problems. Dean, of course, is a very deeply caring individual...so, I think what really gets him about the betrayal is not what Castiel did, but that Castiel  did it rather coldly (at least from Dean's POV...and I'm mostly talking about breaking Sam here.) Then, on the other hand, Dean has a point, every time Castiel has CARED - every time Dean has felt that Castiel was on the same page as him...Castiel has been broken somehow. Think about it: The apocalypse? Dean watched as Castiel slowly lost his powers - he had a preview of a broken, stoned, future!Cas...and then when Cas realized that he wasn't god, he was dying...and when Dean found him still alive, and Cas cared that he had broken Sam and wanted to fix it, it broke him in turn. Dean feels he can't be friends with Castiel, because Castiel is either whole and an asshole, or he's a friend and it's destroying him. Dean is both the cure and the poison in Castiel's life.

And Hester agrees...and I did love her line about how the minute Castiel touched Dean, he was corrupted and doomed. It reminds me of one of my favourite Jann Arden lyrics - "The salt inside my body ruins everyone I come close to."

But, before we get to Hester, let's go back upstairs and sit with Sam and Castiel...

I like this conversation because Sam doesn't come at Castiel wanting him to be the Castiel he knows. I also like the conversation because Sam doesn't want Castiel to apologize - which, let me just say, how amazing is Sam? Castiel BROKE him, and yet Sam forgives him so easily...not only that though, there's what Sam DOES do. Sam is GRATEFUL for Castiel. Even though Castiel's actions were wrong and he's caused such a mess, Sam basically thanks him for trying to do the right thing, for trying to help - it doesn't matter to Sam that it went horribly awry...Castiel isn't a friend who betrayed him (as he is to Dean); Castiel is a friend who thought he was helping.

At JIB Con, Misha said that Cas loved Sam (and I'm not talking shipping here, people...as much as I love the word Sassy)...I think he's right. And I think, if Castiel and Sam could hang out, it'd do wonders for Castiel. I think Sam, more than Meg and more than Dean, would be able to help Castiel comes to terms with everything. And I think that's what Castiel is doing inside his madness, he's just trying to come to terms with everything.

But, there's no time. Kevin translates the Word, and Meg kills the demons...though how much we can trust her, we still don't know. Is she really trying to usurp Crowley? Or is she trying to get in his good graces? Here's a question: Would Hell be less dangerous run by Meg or more so? This is a case where we actually know both devils (or at least think we do.)

Then the angels arrive! And Hester has anger-management issues. I think she's not so much mad at Castiel as mad at the chaos that he caused. It's interesting that Anais said "there's so few of us left"...it makes me wonder how new angels are created...because seriously, they did have a really high body count.

Anyway, Meg kills the angel, and they strike a deal with Anais...and then Meg disappears and Sam and Dean get the Word in a nice little school book, and Kevin gets to go home, and everyone is happy...

Except NOT! Because LEVIATHANS! They are STRONGER THAN ANGELS! AND THEY ARE KILLING PEOPLE! AND KEVINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I don't want anything bad to happen to Kevin, you guys! I LOVE HIM. 

And I was despairing about him on the way home...how long would the leviathans keep him alive? Could the Winchesters save him? Will we ever see him again? Then I realized...if he's a prophet, does he have an archangel attached to him? But then aren't all the archangels dead?!  Oh god. 

Kevin...Kevin....you had me a cello. :'(




Alright, I'm going to end off there. Let me know if I missed anything crucial that you desperately would like to talk about!

Comments

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

"He wants to skip right to the part where he's forgiven and everyone is happy again...only, you can't do that."

Yep, you have that exactly right.

"Castiel is either whole and an asshole, or he's a friend and it's destroying him. Dean is both the cure and the poison in Castiel's life."

Another spot-on observation.

Angels would have junk when they are in their human vessels, right? Otherwise all the Dean/Cas shippers are going to be very disappointed.

Little line I loved that you didn't mention: when the two leviathins are talking about some blueprints and the one says something about 'if they come down the corridor and see this'--delightful detail!

I have to say that I didn't have the overwhelming positive reaction you did...I thought Kevin was kind of flat and Meg just annoys me. Felt to me like the set-up episode for the last two, not an episode in it's own right.

[monicawoe.livejournal.com]

Kevin...Kevin....you had me a cello. :'(

Me too! I played cello as a kid also ; )

Great ep! I love Edlund-eps! The Sam & Cas interactions and the Dean & Cas interactions were just beautifully done.

[lusciniate.livejournal.com]

When he mentioned "watching bees" my first thought was also about Sherlock Holmes (and I had to pause the show :D, to collect myself), and then I came here wondering whether you will mention that or not. And you did!
How did that happen that watching bees is now so connected to Holmes? That it's the first thing that comes to mind. I doubt bee watching has ever been intended as something that should have any associations at all.

So, the game "Sorry" is a real game? Then it is an even more awesome detail (and I don't care that it was played wrong on the show), that they didn't invent a way for Cas to try to "play sorry", but they had this real thing with which to toy..

[khek.livejournal.com]

I missed a lot of the episode because my CW station was having issues...there were random weird pixelations, green blotches in the middle of things and sound cutting out. I'll need a second viewing of a complete episode to really get what happened, but still, I caught enough so that I got the gist.

I really did like it! It did feel a bit like it was setting up the last three episodes, but there were so many elements that worked. Both Kevin and his friend were great at the beginning, and I loved panicked Kevin as he was fulfilling his mission and interacting with the Winchesters and angels. He didn't handle it well, but...most people wouldn't. Finding out you're a prophet? Learning that angels and demons exist? Most people would run away screaming!

I thought that Dean's bad Sorry game was because he didn't care about the game, and was just moving pieces around to keep Castiel talking. I have a feeling that Sam and Dean are probably board game experts...if they spent a lot of time at random hunting cabins and weird motels, they usually have them.

I find Meg really annoying, so I just suffer through her presence. Her bits were okay. Sam and Dean and Castiel, on the other hand...they alternately broke my heart and made me smile. And it should be a crime to look that good!

I have to find somewhere to dl'd it now...I think the whole East Coast feed must have been effected by whatever I saw, because none of my regular connections have anything. :(

[katsheswims.livejournal.com]

I loved your thoughts!

As soon as I saw Kevin I thought of you!

I agree with what you said about Dean and Kevin's talk and Sam and Cas's. I had very similar thoughts.

[mekina.livejournal.com]

I wasn't very impressed by this ep... Meg and Castiel bore me. But I liked Kevin, and Sam and Dean, I love them more than ever now. So it could be a lot worse.

[farfadine.livejournal.com]

And yeah, also ASIANS!
I thought the same!!

As for fanboy angel, the subtitle I had spelled his name as Inias. And I liked him too, and he wasn't there when the leviathan killed the angels so maybe he'll come down to protect Kevin?

[phyllis2779.livejournal.com]

Back in season 4, in Heaven and Hell, I recall Dean characterizing Uriel as junkless. It's an insult that he (Dean) uses a few times to insult angels. I don't recall any of them objecting to the term.
I thought the point about Archangels protecting prophets was an interesting one. Are there any Archangels left? Gabriel, Michael, Lucifer, and Raphael are destroyed or imprisoned. Is that all of them?

[franztastisch]

I think Dean referring to angels as junkless is a reference to the film Dogma where Metatron, played by Alan Rickman, pulls down his pants and says that angels are woefully "ill equiped" and "about as anatomically correct as a Ken doll". Or at least, I'm pretending it's a reference to Dogma because I love that film. It's so delightfully stupid and wonderfully accurate.

I'm not sure what I thought of this episode. It didn't feel very cohesive to me. But there were some excellent exchanges and I'm happy angels are back. AND I did like Kevin and Penny and the cello. :D

[metallidean-grl.livejournal.com]

The 'Sorry' scene was one of my favorite scenes in this episode. There was so much going on in that scene, not only in what was being said, but what was NOT being said. The frustration in Dean with Cas being all crazy and simple minded and him wanting Cas to own up to his mistakes and help them, but Cas not being ready yet to accept the responsibility and burden. So much going on there.

And the scene with Dean and Kevin, another great scene with so much going on with what was said and what wasn't said. Dean totally understanding what it means to be chosen and the ramifications of that. Dean didn't want to be chosen, he bucked against that with all his might, but the angels forced it. Castiel may have been broken the minute he touched Dean, but Dean and Sam were broken because of the rouge angels interference and their desire for a speedy apocalypse. So, the breaking thing here does go both ways.

This was a great episode in that there was so much under the surface to think about and analyze. I love these kinds of episodes. And yes, Kevin was great, I hope we see him again, and that he survives the Leviathans. And I love the cello as well. Such a beautiful warm instrument.

[marlowe78.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm doing this backwards, but I thought I'll read this as well, since I'm here and all that...

anyway, I liked this as well, I liked this Cas. Not as in "I want him to be that way always", but I liked how he turned out. It's... strange. And it resembles - you said so - his 2014version. Crazy and overwhelmed by all that crap inside.

Last I checked that was a Kevin Smith decision...and yeah, when has Dean ever seen an angel in its true form? I mean...what's he basing this on and how come he's so sure of himself? But anyway, if Dean's right, angels are at least sexless (in their true form) so it's not that huge a leap to consider them to be without gender.

Hm, well, I wondered about this as well. I always took that "junkless" thing as a quote from "Dogma", which would fit well with Dean knowing the name "Metatron", but it COULD also be meant as an insult to Cas' refuse to fight on their side, and choosing the easy way. But it's a wild guess, so..

I like this conversation because Sam doesn't come at Castiel wanting him to be the Castiel he knows. I also like the conversation because Sam doesn't want Castiel to apologize - which, let me just say, how amazing is Sam? Castiel BROKE him, and yet Sam forgives him so easily...not only that though, there's what Sam DOES do. Sam is GRATEFUL for Castiel. Even though Castiel's actions were wrong and he's caused such a mess, Sam basically thanks him for trying to do the right thing, for trying to help - it doesn't matter to Sam that it went horribly awry...Castiel isn't a friend who betrayed him (as he is to Dean); Castiel is a friend who thought he was helping.

Oh yes, Sam's always been the more forgiving character. And he wasn't ever really MAD at Cas, but see, he might have thought a bit different on the subject if it were Dean who got broken. Just thinking about how he went off the rocker and after Lilith when Dean went to hell... So I'm not saying it'd be exactly the same, but I'm saying that Dean could maybe forgive Cas easier if he was the one who got hurt and eventually cured. He did forgive Sam when Sam was the one doing the betraying, (or, well, following a demon rather than Dean, which is kinda exactly like Cas did) but that might have been because Sam's just... well, more than a friend, and the outcome wasn't another year in hell (even if it was "only" imagined Hell)

I liked that scene a lot, I liked how much Sam cared about what Cas saw. And I very much liked the insight into Cas's experience with the broken Wall...

I really had fun with this ep, though I was a bit surprised that the quip about "What? A transformer told the word of God" came from Sam.
I would have been MAD as hell if it came from Dean, because I hate it when he appears dumber than he obviously is, but coming from SAM, who should KNOW that kind of thing... Well. It made me roll my eyes. I shoved it under "he is too muddled still with Cas saving his sanity and getting crazy himself to listen properly and also he never watched "Dogma"", but ... ah well.

I like Meg as a character, I do NOT like the "new" Meg, though. She's... hm. Not right. I wonder - now that I've watched the next ep - if her goal with Cas is completely different from what she says it is ... Oh, duh, of COURSE it would be. Still, I'm not sure it's to get one over Crowley. She's not even half-smart enough to out-do him in the brain-department, and she knows that. So her way out would be an alliance... and that one would/might involve an angel as leverage.

Oh, and I have never known there is a game called "Sorry"... It looks like something that would make me nuts if I played it enough ;-)