Quick Reaction: 8x01 We Need To Talk About Kevin

[hells_half_acre]

First Quick Reaction of the season! WOO!



Okay, I'm going to do my best to remember the sequence of events, but I may just talk about the flashbacks in a chunk somewhere in this, since I can't remember what order they came in or when...

Or cut-text song tonight is Boots or Hearts, seriously, give it a listen - if Supernatural were a Canadian show, there'd be a lot of Tragically Hip songs in it. This one in particular has a couple of apropos songs.

I don't know what song played over the montage, but I liked it.

I also liked Dean's return - the big light, and the campers (Side question: Do people actually camp in those weird white tents, or is that a Supernatural thing because they wanted an easy exit and entrance?)

I especially like Dean appearing almost like a Wendigo...and definitely psychotic-killer-lost-in-the-woods. I thought Jensen played him really well too - kind of animalistic...especially when he took the bag and bolted.

It was also kind of funny that they actually put him in a flannel shirt that was the wrong size (and a style that Dean would never wear).

So, then he digs up the grave and we come to something that I'm actually really not happy about... guys: I hate vampires. Like... I really really hate them. Remember how Dean gave that speech to Sam in Bloodlust back in S2 about how their father had raised them to hate these things and Dean REALLY hates them? Well, that's me, only I'm not willing to make exceptions. So... yeah, I was spoiled for the existence of Benny, and I had a sinking feeling this might happen...but as of right now, I'm really really hoping that Sam or Kevin or Cas or SOMEBODY kills that motherfucker before the end of the season... now it's true, I DO like the Alpha Vamp, but Benny is not the alpha vamp. So, yeah, I'm actually... I think this is the first time Supernatural has actually pissed me off...like, completely. Now, I'm not saying that I hate the show now and I'm never going to watch again, and I'm not saying I'm not going to TRY to give Benny a chance - I'm just saying that this is going to be an uphill battle for all of us.

Also, I really just don't think Benny is good news. I really think he's not a good guy. I really think that he's got something over Dean, and he means to blackmail him or double-cross him or SOMETHING... and that Sam really will have to kill Benny... so I do have a lot of hope. If he's one of the big bads for this year, then that's fine... I just don't want to be told to sympathize with him. It's like Dean became friends with Dick Roman. That is what it's like for me.

Anyway, let's get back to the awesome...

Sam leaves a dog and a girl... gets in the Impala and drives to Rufus's cabin. I'm going to assume that Dean DID manage to get him a message, or else Sam would have freaked out when Dean jumped him.

I LOVE the greeting! With Dean testing Sam and then demanding Sam test him, and Sam's "can I say hello!?" and "I KNOW IT'S YOU, DEAN!" Hahaha...so good.

And the HUG! Oh HUGS! They needed more hugs!

ETA: Sam also has A NEW COAT! It's GREEN like two of his other coats! 

But Cas is gone..."didn't make it" - I'm calling bull. I've got a theory about that. But I'll save my theories to the end of the post. Anyway, I think they should have hugged again after Dean told Sam about Cas...because MOAR HUGS.

Haha... anyway... Sam got out of hunting. Everyone was dead. Hunting killed his entire family. I kind of get his point. I'm pretty sure Sam must have been ABSOLUTELY devastated. You can see it later in the episode too, when Sam's first reaction to the mission to close the gates of hell forever is to say "Kevin's going to die now too."

And Sam abandoned Kevin - because he ditched the phones... but I think Sam just figured it was only a matter of time until Kevin died, and he didn't want to have to see it. Think about it? Everyone Sam has ever tried to save has ended up dead, really.

I'm willing to bet that a lot of people will probably side with Dean though and be mad at Sam for not hunting or looking for Dean while Dean was "dead." But, whatever. Dean spent all of last season being really tired and suicidally depressed... Sam's due for being really tired of hunting and just wanting to get away from the thing that reminds him of everything he lost. Plus, he had no way of knowing that Dean was in purgatory.... though disappearing BODILY is kind of weird.

Anyway... I do like Dean's line about how they always ignore the promise to get a normal life because of their "deep and abiding love for each other."

Where was I?

Oh, Kevin's messages - I liked them. I liked how they started off so formal. "Sam Winchester, this is Kevin Tran blah blah blah, please call me. Kevin Tran." and then got drunk, and then were informal "I assume you're dead."

I also agree with Dean though - Kevin WAS their responsibility. They were the only ones who knew he existed and Sam was the only one to know he was in trouble - and it's not like he could have counted on Kevin saving himself.

So...go find Kevin....

I was also spoiled for the girlfriend ending up being possessed, but I didn't know she was possessed the whole time...and I loved her comment about only being Kevin's girlfriend when he was going to Princeton. :P

I liked Sam and Dean in the coffee shop - how Sam got Dean food, and Dean acted like it was the greatest gift ever....and called his burger a treasure. :) I mean, it's kind of sad when you think about it.... so just don't think about it.

Okay, let's talk about Sam's flashbacks now: I think they were the most sort of - out of place, in the episode. But Sam was very Sam in them. For instance, he immediately takes ALL THE BLAME for hitting the dog. Yes, he admits that the dog just ran out in front of him out of nowhere, but then he's like "I DID THIS." And then he gets all yelly because animal hospitals are supposed to fix animals! And it reminded me of Dean yelling at the hospital guy about Bobby. Man, the Winchesters get REALLY pissed at you if you don't do your designated job. :P Maybe in Sam's case, that's residual guilt for not doing his.

I thought it was kind of weird for Vet-lady to be like "Take the dog!" I mean...how does she know it doesn't belong to anyone? Maybe it looked abandoned? Okay, we'll run with that....but even so, wouldn't she be concerned that Sam wouldn't be a good owner?

When was the motel scene? Anyway, let's jump to the motel scene...  I really liked how they heightened all the city sounds while the camera is on Dean... pointing out the fact that all of a sudden he's in an environment that is no longer familiar, and he's obviously still running on adrenaline required for Purgatory but not for Earth.

I like Dean being like "I KNEW I SMELLED DOG!" and Sam is like "I KNEW YOU'D FREAK OUT ABOUT IT!"

ETA: The line "Two rules, Sam: Don't accept joints from guys named Don and no dogs in the car!" - My grandfather's name was Don... I'm not sure what Dean is trying to say about Dons here, but I'm insanely curious. :P

Oh, I skipped the vending machine... I think that was Dean's "hurt locker" moment with the cereal isle.... and then he goes into a flashback where he meets Benny.

I DID like Benny's line about not being able to trust anyone, and then asking Dean to trust him, and then when Dean points out that that doesn't make sense, Benny is says "see, now you're getting it." But it's cool that there's a gateway for humans...sucks that obviously Benny DID hitch his ride... mainly because it damages my enjoyment of the show so much...ugh, but I will POWER THROUGH IT.

So, let's talk about Dean's flashback... he's madly running around trying to find 'the angel" - which means either he lost Cas completely from the get-go, or he lost him after that...but he WAS trying to find him. Interesting...

Back to the motel...

I like how Sam can see that Dean has PTSD, and I think that's why he ends up talking to Dean a lot during the night...maybe trying to calm him down enough to sleep. We never see if it works.

Oh, and girlfriend is possessed and kills her roommate to use the bowl thingy.

OKAY, off to see Kevin!

Kevin has taken the year off to become a badass! Woo! I love how he offers them a towel. It's so...Kevin Tran.

I also love Kevin's story about what happened after he was taken. I love how he outsmarted Crowley. CROWLEY. Brilliant. Kevin Tran is my new hero. He will replace Dean, since Kevin didn't bring a bloody vampire to the show! (Only joking...a little. I really hate vampires, you guys.)

In Kevin's flashback, when we saw Crowley start talking to him, it was SO FLIRTY. Haha, oh Crowley.... anyway, I absolutely love the fact that Crowley ended up in a goat field while Kevin killed his men and escaped.

So, Kevin read on the godrock that they might be able to close the gates of hell forever! Woo! I guess that's reason enough for Sam to get back in the game...that and the massive guilt-trip, and the fact that someone really has to look after PTSDean.

I liked Sam apologizing to Kevin. When Kevin said "I can't believe this is my life now." And Sam was like "I know it doesn't feel like it now, but it does get better." My friend laughed, and then Kevin said "I'm not gay, you know" and then we both laughed.

Meanwhile, I was thinking all the way back to Ava and how she thought doing crazy things was AWESOME...and I kind of missed her, even if she did go darkside. I think Kevin traded one high stress life for a different high stress life...and it's true academia won't kill you, but it doesn't necessarily make you feel very alive either. You end up living solely in your head...or at least, that was my experience.

I'm getting off topic...

So, Crowley and girlfriend show up! They still have the demon knife...for some reason I thought that had disappeared at some point, but I guess I'm crazy.

I loved the part where Crowley gets the demon in girlfriend to let girlfriend talk, and Kevin tells her "There is a demon inside you and you are going to your safety school" and girlfriend is takes the demon news well and then is like "WHAT?!" Hahaha....

Then, Kevin puts one over on Crowley FOR THE SECOND TIME! (Third time?!) WHATEVER! Brilliant.

That shot of them driving away in slow-mo and Crowley snapping girlfriend's neck was awesome.

My friend said, "She's better off. She was going to her safety school." Ah hahahaha.

Kevin is upset that his girlfriend is dead, and Dean tells him to suck it up - and then he goes off to call his secret Vampire boyfriend...ugh.

It's interesting though - I mean, what would Benny want with Dean now that he's out of purgatory? Why call? Why did Dean give him the number even? "Like we talked about, just take it one day at a time." What did you talk about? Why still be in touch? 

Benny saying that Dean was right and purgatory was "more pure" - is true though. In purgatory everything is instinctual and about survival, there's not a lot of higher level thinking. That's appealing to people like Dean, I think, who only get really really depressed when they higher-level-think. I mean, isn't that why people like D/s and S&M and all that stuff? 

I wonder who's funeral Benny was at.

Was that the end of the show? I guess it was.

Okay, theory: Dean is going to be giving Sam a hard time about abandoning the life and blah blah blah...but then we'll discover that Dean totally ditched Cas in purgatory for some stupid reason, so he's a giant hypocrite. Also, Benny is evil and needs to die. Cas will come back, and/or be rescued...and the whole time in the background/foreground, they'll be trying to get godrocks and close the gate to hell.

I'm not sure what Sam's storyline will be with his flashbacks...I mean, the way I picture it - it'll probably be him crying a lot, then shaking up with Vet-lady and dog...and then having that relationship fall apart... so, it'll be a very weird monster-free storyline for Sam to have, really...not sure what the interest there will be or how it'll impact the present.

But yeah, we're totally not getting the full story from Dean. This is like S4, but instead of Sam keeping secrets about what he did in the summer, it's Dean. I'm perfectly fine with this. I really really liked S4. ... I just don't like vampires.



And there you have it! The good, the bad, the huge gaps of things I've probably forgotten to talk about... seriously, leave me comments with things that you thought were important but that I didn't touch on at all, please! :)

Comments

[cordelia-gray.livejournal.com]

I think the "Road So Far" song was Jethro Tull (which I liked!) and then later there was Styx (which, not so much).

I kind of agree with you about Benny. And I really don't like what they've done with Sam, if it isn't anything other than what it appears to be. Though wasn't there a shadowy figure watching him drive away from Amelia's? So maybe there's more to it. The vet making him take the dog was weird. And - I can see Sam being done with hunting, but not even trying to look for Dean - that's weird to me, and kind of upsetting. I felt like he was "off" this whole episode, I just don't know where they're going with it.

I did like Dean being all twitchy and manic, and having trouble adjusting to life topside, I thought that was well done.

Kevin is 100% awesome.

Overall, it did feel a bit like parts of the beginnings of a bunch of other seasons, all mashed up. There were definite references to the Pilot, and to S4 (with Benny as Ruby) and also to S6 (with Sam being the one with a normal life). I'm far less excited than I was after the S7 premiere, but then I thought S7 started strong and fizzled out, so maybe this one will get better as it goes?

Sorry for the TL:DR! I have a lot of thoughts :)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

That was DEFINITELY not a TL;DR so no worries and no apologies necessary!

And I really don't like what they've done with Sam, if it isn't anything other than what it appears to be. Though wasn't there a shadowy figure watching him drive away from Amelia's? So maybe there's more to it.

Oh yeah!! I forgot about that. Okay, yeah, there's totally something more going on with him then.... maybe he was forced out of it somehow? Though, that doesn't make sense. I do agree that not looking for Dean when his whole body disappears is a little odd...it'd be a little different if Sam had been left with a corpse.

I'm far less excited than I was after the S7 premiere, but then I thought S7 started strong and fizzled out, so maybe this one will get better as it goes?

My thoughts exactly. ETA: I also agree about it being a mash-up of season openers... and the Benny-Ruby comparison. Out of all the season openers, it reminded me of S4 the most.

[elliemurasaki.livejournal.com]

Huh. Did not see Benny-Ruby. Should have, because it's very obvious now you mention it, but didn't. What jumped out at me? Benny-Castiel. Complete with thinly disguised sexual tension.

[elliemurasaki.livejournal.com]

Dean is [...] a giant hypocrite.

ALREADY ESTABLISHED. Remember last missing year, Dean? You know, when you quit hunting and shacked up with a cute girl because you couldn't face the life you knew if it didn't have him in it, and you did it because he told you to? For bonus points, I think 'my brother told me to' was only part of the motivation for quitting. The rest being, if he (either he) had gone hunting and forgotten at a crucial moment that there was no brother around to watch his back, he'd be dead. And since heaven's done with them, there'd be no takebacks. Neither of them was actively suicidal, and if either had been, both had enough pointy things and things that go bang to get it over with quick. So, since neither wanted to die, it was advisable for both to avoid situations that would probably end in dying.

Crowley snapping girlfriend's neck

GODDAMN FUCKING FRIDGES.

The more I think about this episode the more worked up I get. My initial reaction as posted on my DW, quoted in full: "underwhelmed."

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

ALREADY ESTABLISHED. Remember last missing year, Dean? You know, when you quit hunting and shacked up with a cute girl because you couldn't face the life you knew if it didn't have him in it, and you did it because he told you to?

In fairness, Dean did READ BOOKS while Sam was gone, in the hopes of finding a way to save him. (He mentioned this in the opener, I believe). But Dean at least knew where Sam WAS. Sam didn't. For all he knew, Dean was in heaven...and it was only a matter of time until Sam joined him. (Assuming they can still get into heaven - seriously, at this point, I don't think any of the afterlife's want them).

GODDAMN FUCKING FRIDGES.

I don't understand that reference.

The more I think about this episode the more worked up I get. My initial reaction as posted on my DW, quoted in full: "underwhelmed."

I don't actually think a season premiere has whelmed me since S4. Though, last year's may have come the closest since then...but then the season that followed was a disappointing.

[raloria.livejournal.com]

Gee. I'm starting to get the impression you don't like vampires. LOL :P

Anyway... I do like Dean's line about how they always ignore the promise to get a normal life because of their "deep and abiding love for each other."

When I read that line in a review of the episode the other day, I thought it was just Sam/Dean shippers getting hopeful, but it was really there! And Jensen totally made it work in a non-slashy way. Bravo to him. After all...it's not like the two of them have ever said the L word to each other before. Being in Purgatory has obviously made Dean much more appreciative, despite his disappointment over Sam not looking for him.

I love that there's a rule about no dogs in the Impala. Hee! Gotta wonder if that was a John rule that Dean carried over.

[elliemurasaki.livejournal.com]

I bet it was. And I bet it's because this is not Sam's first stray dog. I mean, we knew that, but I bet wee!Sam tried to adopt every stray dog he ever met and John wasn't having any of it.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Jensen is very good, I find, at delivering dialogue in exactly the right way. ;)

I think the only other time they say the L word is in The End, when Dean tells Sam that whatever they have between them "love, family, whatever it is..." or something along those lines - but love is in there. But yeah...

Dean definitely seems to be much more straight forward and no nonsense then he was before purgatory!

(And yeah, I REALLY hate vampires. :P)

[fourtenpm.livejournal.com]

it's not like the two of them have ever said the L word to each other before.

They did, also said by Dean in the End, he said '.... Because whatever we have between us—love, family, whatever it is...'

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

Back-from-Purgatory-Dean is my new favorite flavor :)

I am banking everything on the writers messing with us about Sam not looking for Dean...if Sam had even just said "I thought you were in heaven maybe" I could have bought his retirement...but as is, it makes Sam look like he really doesn't love Dean as much as Dean loves him, and that is wrong...But I think something is up from the way Sam just left his lady and his dog in the middle of the night without saying goodbye (and I'd forgotten about someone watching him!) Also, I thought Dean said he wasn't able to contact Sam. So what made Sam randomly drive to Rufus' cabin in the middle of his retirement? I understand shy Dean would have gone there, but awfully coincidental that Sam just decided to show up. And in Winchester world, there are no coincidences...

The writers sure set up enough mysteries to last for a while!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, I think Dean's line was "half your phones don't work" or something like that, which to me implied that he got in touch with Sam on a phone that DID work. But I might be wrong about that...

I definitely thought it was a bit odd that Sam said that he didn't have the girl anymore, yet he was leaving her house with her in bed... so, yeah, kind of strange.

Something fishy is definitely going on either way you slice it!

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

I have a pretty clear scenario regarding what happened to Sam in terms of his helplessness. I don't think Sam gave up... I just think he was completely out of options.


It is too bad he ditched his phones, tho to be fair no one expects a phone call from hell (which is where I would have thought Crowley would take Kevin).

[marlowe78.livejournal.com]

Not to mention his appearance. He either liked the scruffy-look while being a civillian, or he'd had a few rough hours before leaving.

Sure, it could of course just be because he left in the middle of the night.... We'll see.

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

Just to make you happy I'm gonna focus on the vampire.

First off, I'm really pretty certain you're not supposed to like him! He has USE DEAN tattooed on his forehead.


Also, I really just don't think Benny is good news. I really think he's not a good guy. I really think that he's got something over Dean, and he means to blackmail him or double-cross him or SOMETHING... and that Sam really will have to kill Benny... so I do have a lot of hope. If he's one of the big bads for this year, then that's fine... I just don't want to be told to sympathize with him.

To me, I think Benny is very clearly bad. I think the creepiest moment of the whole episode is when Dean HUGS A VAMPIRE. offering his neck to the guy. WOW. In a certain way, I think what they're doing there is brilliant, because the show has always been about the attempt to define what a monster really is. In purgatory, by definition, everyone is a monster. So Dean had to fall back on the old line, the enemy of my enemy (360 combat) is my friend. But of course that line is really a question, not a statement, and the answer is NO HE ISN'T.

what would Benny want with Dean now that he's out of purgatory? Why call? Why did Dean give him the number even? "Like we talked about, just take it one day at a time." What did you talk about? Why still be in touch? ...I wonder who's funeral Benny was at.

1. Benny was probably initially killed by Hunters. I assume he wants to keep Dean as a friendly informant in case he begins to hear about Hunters coming after vampires.
2. Benny doesn't want to let Dean get to comfortable without him?
3. The one day at a time speech means that Dean thinks Benny is on the wagon. My assumption is that in Purgatory they talked about being monsters and wanting to change. Of course Dean is now way more of an automatic killing machine than he's ever been, and Benny was certainly playing him the whole time. Dean and Benny are supposed to be each other's support group for sobriety now that they are out.
4. Whose funeral? Benny's victim. There's no one else it could possibly be. Benny is already munching down on humans and Dean can't see it.

I love Benny's name, a phonetic play on the word for "good" -- when he's clearly not good at all!!

For me there were two emotional centers to the episode -- Dean's experience of Purgatory and how it changed him so much that he made friends with a vampire, and two, Sam's helplessness. I think we're going to learn more about the helplessness aspect, so I'm going to let that lie. I have nothing but sympathy for Sam, very deep sympathy.

There's one more aspect to the nastiness of the vampire that you don't mention. How was he riding inside Dean's arm? Clearly we don't know exactly how yet. The thing we see is that Benny is INSIDE Dean. Second creepiest moment of the ep. And it gets more disturbing the more you think about it. How did he get IN THERE. urgh!!! more than a bit Not Good, no matter how you look at it.

I fear for Cas. I want to believe that Dean just couldn't find him. It's being played much worse than that though. o_O I'm very anxious to learn more about Cas and his fate.

I have a kind of underwhelmed response to Kevin. He's doing pretty well for himself, but I keep waiting for the other foot to fall. Idk. Wouldn't it be awesome though to imagine Kevin meeting Chuck? I should totally write that up this morning. :)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm glad you also think Benny has "Bad Guy" written all over him. This makes me a little more optimistic about the season, as I REALLY don't want to be asked to sympathize with the guy.

But yes, I agree with everything you said about him above!

For me there were two emotional centers to the episode -- Dean's experience of Purgatory and how it changed him so much that he made friends with a vampire, and two, Sam's helplessness. I think we're going to learn more about the helplessness aspect, so I'm going to let that lie. I have nothing but sympathy for Sam, very deep sympathy.

Yay for Sam-sympathy! Also, yes, I agree - these are the two storylines that are going to keep me watching the show... the closing the hell gates thing is just something for them to do while they work through their issues.

I'm also thinking that Cas' story is far more sinister than Dean just not being able to find him. Which makes me worried for him, of course.

It's true, Kevin IS a little too good to be true at the moment...but I still like him, even if there's going to be a shoe that smacks us out of nowhere :P

[mymuseandi.livejournal.com]

It's not that I don't like vampires (I hate the sparkly ones, am ambivalent on the non-sparkly :p), it's that I don't like Benny who clearly has his own agenda. It's so obvious, and please tell me that Dean is not blind to that. I knew there's a character called Benny, I just didn't know what or who he is, so him being a vamp is a surprise to me.

I thought it was kind of weird for Vet-lady to be like "Take the dog!" I mean...how does she know it doesn't belong to anyone?

EXACTLY. When I was writing my review I kept on getting more annoyed the more I thought about it. I mean, Sam could be a murderer or an evil person for all she knows, and she insisted on him taking the dog? If Sam isn't Sam, he might just abandoned the dog somewhere else.

Kevin is a BAMF. And clearly very self-sufficient enough to keep himself alive for a year without any help.

Benny saying that Dean was right and purgatory was "more pure" - is true though. In purgatory everything is instinctual and about survival, there's not a lot of higher level thinking.

That's rather deep, although when Dean and Benny keep on describing Purgatory as pure, it just gives me the chills.

I don't think Sam did the wrong thing, and he was trying to explain his side of it to Dean, who is obviously not listening, and I think everyone should just cut him some slack. Between him and Dean, Sam has a healthier attitude towards just accepting your dues and thinking that you do deserve happiness. Dean has a rather self-destructive view of himself, and he can't see that he deserves happiness, and I think that lashing out at Sam is a bit like he's feeling sorry for himself as well.

Let's wait for the next episode!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

EXACTLY. When I was writing my review I kept on getting more annoyed the more I thought about it. I mean, Sam could be a murderer or an evil person for all she knows, and she insisted on him taking the dog?

Yes. It was a little too "we have to force Sam to take this dog somehow" on the part of the writers.

I don't think Sam did the wrong thing, and he was trying to explain his side of it to Dean, who is obviously not listening, and I think everyone should just cut him some slack. Between him and Dean, Sam has a healthier attitude towards just accepting your dues and thinking that you do deserve happiness. Dean has a rather self-destructive view of himself, and he can't see that he deserves happiness, and I think that lashing out at Sam is a bit like he's feeling sorry for himself as well.

Good point!

[dairygirl.livejournal.com]

I am totally behind Sam. He had no idea where to begin to look for Dean or if he should even look, all the Hunters and friends he knew were dead, why not leave hunting behind and just drive aimlessly? I'm not sure I like the vet/love interest in this episode because why would she harrass Sam into taking a dog and then sarcastically state "Now there's my hero"? Vets deal with injured animals coming with some regularity that are not necessarily brought in by an owner. That was just too staged and too harsh for me. Then again, it was more than a bit harsh on Sam episode. Still, I did not like Sam leaving without a word to the love interest and he made no effort to call her once reunited with his brother.

Dean was an interesting feral man from Purgatory. I did not expect the gateway only for humans and Benny hitch a ride thing but I liked its use. I agree that Castiel was abandoned not dead or unable to be found. I'm not sure about Benny but I have hope he will add an interesting dynamic to the series. Not sure about the phone calls to Dean. A bit Rubyesque when Sam was hiding his power training/demon-blood consumption. As for Benny at the funeral, it was an ambigious situation but my first thought this is the crowd the vampire targets? Not sure I'm accurate or not.

I wonder how long we will encounter Kevin Tran and if the Hell Gate thing is the season quest or is there something more?

I do have hope this season will be better than the last.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Vets deal with injured animals coming with some regularity that are not necessarily brought in by an owner. That was just too staged and too harsh for me. Then again, it was more than a bit harsh on Sam episode. Still, I did not like Sam leaving without a word to the love interest and he made no effort to call her once reunited with his brother.

I feel like the only one who didn't interpret Sam leaving in the dead of night as "Sam leaving without a word". In my mind, Sam had explained that he was leaving, and then he left. Also, in my mind, Sam wasn't lying when he said it was over between them - just because he was leaving from her bedroom doesn't mean that they were still together and that she deserves a phone call. But then, I'm someone who has really only ever had casual relationships, so maybe my opinion of what is okay/possible is skewed.

I do have hope this season will be better than the last.

Me too. I'm hoping that they'll handle the character plot-arcs better this year, so that one-off episodes feel more connected to the main plot than they did last year.

[ellecc.livejournal.com]

Okay, I have to say that your post made me feel a lot better about the ep (Sam) because you pointed out something I hadn't realized (even though I watched the damn thing twice): Sam had to have gotten at least one of Dean's messages, because why on earth would he have driven to Rufus' cabin right then? That he knew Dean was going to be there helps explain his seriously underwhelmed reaction to Dean returning. I thought it was strange, the way he said he knew it was Dean without having to go through the silver/holy water/borax (nice addition!) routine. And they definitely left enough room in what Dean said about "half" of Sam's phones for it to be possible that Sam actually got a message. So some of it makes more sense to me now.

I also feel better this morning because it seems like Sam didn't really hesitate to leave his chick and dog and go and join Dean. He could have ignored the message, but he didn't. PHEW. That he left her without saying goodbye makes me think he took into consideration how things went with Dean and Lisa. Sam watched Dean try over and over again to maintain something with Lisa after Sam showed up, and everyone just ended up hurt (or with their memories wiped). I can see Sam not wanting to put his chick through that, so he just bailed.

I think there has to be a lot more to Sam's story than what we've seen so far. There's no way he was just "oh whatever" about Dean vanishing. Yeah, they've been through a lot and lost just about everyone, and yeah, Sam's gotta be tired of the life, but not looking for Dean? Not giving a damn that Dean was MIA? Being all "you were okay" and blase about Dean being back? That's not Sam. And Sam's lying to Dean about the chick--he didn't tell Dean that there is still a chick, that he was with her just days ago. We know Sam lies when he's afraid Dean will be upset with him (see: dog in the impala, Ruby, using his psychic whatever to exorcise demons), and he lies when he thinks he should be able to handle something himself or when he thinks Dean will worry (see: Hallucifer, Amy Pond). He probably also lies when he's been threatened or when someone is threatening someone he loves, so... I'll take all that to mean there's something else that happened, something that's keeping Sam in check, someone that convinced him not to look for Dean or to give up. Maybe that'd help explain the weird way he questioned Dean about Cas being dead? That was definitely more interrogation than concern, so maybe whatever's up has to do with Cas or the angels. Whatever it is has to be pretty serious for the attractive alternative to be allowing Dean to believe that Sam didn't really care when he vanished.

There's no way it's as simple as it seems, because when is it ever? How long did it take us to find out Sam was drinking demon blood? Forever. Hopefully they won't keep us in the dark for long--I don't think they can get away with making Sam unsympathetic for any sustained period of time. I hope they wouldn't want to after all that Sam's already been through and how a lot of people already consider him to be the "bad" brother.

Re: Benny the Louisianan vampire--is this turning into some sort of Supernatural/Southern Vampire Mysteries crossover? :)

"PTSDean" made me LOL :)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Sam had to have gotten at least one of Dean's messages, because why on earth would he have driven to Rufus' cabin right then? That he knew Dean was going to be there helps explain his seriously underwhelmed reaction to Dean returning.

Haha, yeah... for me, it was quite obvious that Dean got in touch with Sam and asked him to come out to the cabin. I didn't even realize people didn't know that until people started commenting in confusion!

Sam had the whole drive out there to wrap his head around the fact that Dean was alive and back.

I also feel better this morning because it seems like Sam didn't really hesitate to leave his chick and dog and go and join Dean. He could have ignored the message, but he didn't. PHEW. That he left her without saying goodbye makes me think he took into consideration how things went with Dean and Lisa.

I guess time will tell on this one - but I actually took Sam at his word and assumed that even though he was leaving from her house in the middle of the night - the relationship was already over. After all, she woke up and watched him go... if I woke up in the middle of the night and my boyfriend was leaving without any explanation, I wouldn't just lay there and watch him. So, I just naturally assumed they had already broken up and Sam was either just sleeping with her on occasion (as you sometimes do with exes), or he had moved in with her and didn't have anywhere else to go when they broke up, so she just said he could stay... and then he got the phone call from Dean and was like "okay, um, thanks for everything - I don't need to stay here anymore. I'll leave tonight."

But, I could be wrong about all that of course...but yeah, to me, just because Sam was leaving her house, didn't mean that there "still is a girl"... it just means he was staying at the girl's house.

There's no way that things with Sam are as simple as they seem (when are they?) And there WAS the weird shadowy figure watching him leave the girl's house. Personally, I think this storyline is a bit inconsistent character-wise so far - but I don't think that it makes Sam into a bad-guy... it just leaves the long-time viewer with the feeling that something fishy is going on...which is probably what it's meant to do. Any fan that harps on about Sam being a bad guy is probably one of those fans that would find fault with him unless Dean got back to find Sam had been sobbing uncontrollably for an entire year... IMHO anyway :P

"PTSDean" made me LOL :)

Hehehe, what can I say, I'm a lazy typist. ;)

[katsheswims.livejournal.com]

It's interesting though - I mean, what would Benny want with Dean now that he's out of purgatory? Why call? Why did Dean give him the number even? "Like we talked about, just take it one day at a time." What did you talk about? Why still be in touch?--I'm not sure what Benny wants with Dean, but I'm sure Dean warned Benny about hurting/killing people and if he hears about Benny doing that he'll go after him. Or so I think...

I'm also sure that Dean just ditched Cas. Possibly not for a stupid reason...though it could be. Maybe it was Cas couldn't leave because he wasn't human and Dean could only take one being into his body to sneak out and he chose Benny for some strange reason...?

Someone said they thought it's possible Sam's flashbacks might be not really real--like his crazy isn't gone and he was hallucinating. (The way the vet talked to Sam and belittled him seemed very out there.) I think it would be cool if that was so, but I really doubt the show would go there.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Maybe it was Cas couldn't leave because he wasn't human and Dean could only take one being into his body to sneak out and he chose Benny for some strange reason...?

Oh man, it had better be a good reason if that were the case - otherwise, I'll be mad at Dean.

Someone said they thought it's possible Sam's flashbacks might be not really real--like his crazy isn't gone and he was hallucinating. (The way the vet talked to Sam and belittled him seemed very out there.) I think it would be cool if that was so, but I really doubt the show would go there.

As sad as I am to say it, I really think the show has completely ditched Sam's hell-trauma. Which sucks. A lot. So, as cool as this idea is to play with, I highly doubt it's the case.

[mekina.livejournal.com]

Most people I saw shared my opinion: that Dean was a dick in this episode. I mean, I love Dean, and I know Purgatory was horrible and all...but I'm on Sam's side for this one, I'm annoyed with the writers or whoever decided Sam didn't look for Dean, but I'm not angry at Sam. He was by himself and he must have been so lost and devastated. D: I just want to hug him.

I HATE when they don't get along, I hope it's better next week.

I like Benny alright. I have to admit I have my suspicions about him...highly doubt he's a good guy, but I don't hate him.

Don't care about Castiel. He could not show up for the rest of the season and I wouldn't be bothered.

I officially love Kevin. And Crowley is awesome. Despite having some problems with it, I actually enjoyed the ep.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I HATE when they don't get along, I hope it's better next week.

I like Benny alright. I have to admit I have my suspicions about him...highly doubt he's a good guy, but I don't hate him.

Swap the emotion verbs in these two statements and you get my feelings! :P

Haha, I know your feelings on Castiel. So, enjoy these Cas free episodes while you can - because it's only a matter of time....

I'm annoyed with the writers or whoever decided Sam didn't look for Dean, but I'm not angry at Sam. He was by himself and he must have been so lost and devastated.

I think there has to be a little more there than meets the eye somehow...but yeah, even if Sam really did not look for Dean, I highly doubt that it was as easy a decisions as Dean seems to accuse him of.

Most people I saw shared my opinion: that Dean was a dick in this episode. I mean, I love Dean, and I know Purgatory was horrible and all...but I'm on Sam's side for this one,

Interesting... It seems that for some reason a lot of the people I follow/interact-with fall more into the catagory of Dean-can-do-no-wrong fans... which drives me a bit batty, I've got to say, but whatever. It's nice to know there are people out there who don't fall into that catagory... even though I do have sympathy for Dean, because he's only being a dick because he's obviously messed the hell-up now. It was VERY similar when he got back from Hell.

Man, yeah, this season is reminding me a LOT of S4. But that's not a bad thing, I really liked S4.

[khek.livejournal.com]

Two things that no one has brought up that I thought:

The funeral Benny was at could have been someone he knew before he went to Purgatory. It was very quick on the heels of him telling Dean "a lot has changed in 50 years." So if he was killed in 1962, it could easily be family member, or an enemy, or someone he turned for a specific reason.

Second, the shadowing figure watching Sam. The first person I thought of was Castiel. Why? I don't know. But it still seems to me like it could be someone "watching over" Sam. Maybe his idyllic interlude wasn't as happy as it seemed.

And I wouldn't be using any vet who would send a seriously injured dog out the door after a long operation with someone who didn't want it. There has to be more to the story.

I'm a little worried about our boys, but I enjoyed this episode quite a bit. I'm just waiting to see where this is going, because I think we're in for a bumpy ride!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

The funeral Benny was at could have been someone he knew before he went to Purgatory. It was very quick on the heels of him telling Dean "a lot has changed in 50 years."

Good point.

Second, the shadowing figure watching Sam. The first person I thought of was Castiel. Why? I don't know. But it still seems to me like it could be someone "watching over" Sam. Maybe his idyllic interlude wasn't as happy as it seemed.

Interesting theory. They had their collar turned up, thus to block their silhouette from being recognizable, I'm guessing. Now, if it were Castiel, he doesn't usually change his appearance (ie: turn up his collar)... on the other hand, why would they be worried that we'd recognize the silhouette? In any case, I definitely think something weird is going on!

I'm a little worried about our boys, but I enjoyed this episode quite a bit. I'm just waiting to see where this is going, because I think we're in for a bumpy ride!

Same here! In which case, I call it a successful season premiere, as it's left me interested in what happens next!

[marlowe78.livejournal.com]

Hey there!

Yeah... I'm feeling bad since I only come here when the show is running... *hits self* Now I'm over feeling bad ;-)

I'll go check what happened in your life later. :D

So, on to topic:

Me liked it. Completely. I even liked Benny, though I think that he's not really a good guy. But ... I guess it's much more like it was with Sam and Roby: tied together by a common goal and common enemies. Like I assume a lot of soldiers made friends with each other even though they have NOTHING in common.

I LOVED Dean being all wild and bloody - and damn, that shirt... yeah, it looked good on him. Like you want to peel it off his shoulders ;-)

I'm willing to bet that a lot of people will probably side with Dean though and be mad at Sam for not hunting or looking for Dean while Dean was "dead."

Hm. In some way, I am with you. Sam certainly is due a little break - or a big one, as such. I'm not begrudging him his choices, but what I'm a bit pissed on Dean's behalf is that he apparently didn't even LOOK. I mean... he acted like it was a good thing to be finally alone. I know that's not what it was, I do. I like Sam, and I wish he could have a life outside of hunting. But he shut out ALL of it, not even caring about that part.

It's a hard thing to figure out if I can be a bit angry over his lack of interest, or if I can completely understand. So I'm sticking with "I can understand a lot of it, but not all."

Since I've always better understood Dean than Sam, I just can't get over the fact that he wouldn't even look, you know?
But maybe he did - we'll see, I bet.

I thought it was kind of weird for Vet-lady to be like "Take the dog!" I mean...how does she know it doesn't belong to anyone? Maybe it looked abandoned?

Uh, yes. Definitely weird. It was a pure-bred dog, and apart from being bloody, he didn't look all that bad off. In Germany, there's a long period of time until you can really take the dog as YOURS. But maybe she needed the place in her hospital, and didn't want to be burdened with a dog that wouldn't be picked up?

Yeah... well. Just rolling with that. America - who knows how they work over there ;-)


ETA: The line "Two rules, Sam: Don't accept joints from guys named Don and no dogs in the car!"

LOL. I wondered how that wisdom with the joints came to be a rule... I could easily assume the dog-rule to come from John, but how about the Don-rule?

Loved that vending machine-scene.

I like how Sam can see that Dean has PTSD, and I think that's why he ends up talking to Dean a lot during the night...maybe trying to calm him down enough to sleep. We never see if it works.

He would certainly know such things, right? I loved the way they talked, with Dean on the floor like the bed was too soft.

He will replace Dean, since Kevin didn't bring a bloody vampire to the show! (Only joking...a little. I really hate vampires, you guys.)

O.0 *kicks your ankle*

Just wait. Vampi is going to get done in one way or another.

I wonder who's funeral Benny was at.

Indeed! Though since he wore a chauffeur's uniform, maybe he got a job as a hearse-driver?
Still, why?

but then we'll discover that Dean totally ditched Cas in purgatory for some stupid reason,

I'm sure he ditched Cas - but I'm not going with "stupid reason". I mean, he was asking the evil monsters for "the angel", so maybe Cas did something ditch-worthy? We'll see.

I could actually be happy with Cas being dead for real now... and I'm aware that I'm a minority, but he really IS getting on my nerve. More so than vampires or veterinarians. Either be dead and mourned or be alive and leave - but I hate this hick-hack around him.

[marlowe78.livejournal.com]

Oh, and since I haven't found anyone pointing it out already:

We knew the Benny-vamp! He was with Lenore, the bartender. So for him being "on the wagon", there was certainly evidence of it being the case already before going to Purgatory.

I'm not saying he doesn't have his own agenda, we already know he does. It is, in part, Dean's as well, so... yeah. I like it.

[cookiemom6067.livejournal.com]

Dean gave that speech to Sam in Bloodlust back in S2 about how their father had raised them to hate these things and Dean REALLY hates them?

But that was ALL supernatural monsters, not vampires. In fact, until the 1st vampire episode, almost the end of Season 1, Sam and Dean actually thought they were mythological.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yes, I know, I was just using that speech to illustrate how much *I* hate vampires. It wasn't a comment on how much Dean is supposed to hate them. Though, technically, he's supposed to hate them a lot, since they fall into the category of "Supernatural monster" whether Dean knew they existed before 1x20 or not.

[silverruffian.livejournal.com]

I like Benny. He could turn out to be either good or bad, but he's interesting. I love the comraderie between he and Dean, the way they call each other 'brother'. I have my suspicions about what Benny really is, but I'm not here to spoil anybody.

I'm willing to forgive Dean for whatever he did in Purgatory. It was clearly not a nice place. I'm also willing to forgive Sam for not searching for Dean. Yeah, that seemed very OOC, and I'm not personally thrilled with Sam's decision, but I bet there's not a person here who has ever said one thing and then turned around and done the exact opposite. The Winchesters are some of the most magnificently flawed characters I've ever seen. That's why I like them.

And anyway, I think everyone has forgotten what Castiel did to Dean the moment they arrived in Purgatory:

Castiel ditched Dean.

"We have to get out of here," Castiel says, and then he leaves Dean standing alone and unprotected, smack in the middle of a dark forest crawling with red-eyed fuglies. He didn't try to protect or shield him, didn't even attempt to evac Dean with him. "WE?" He might as well have said "I have to get out of here."

I've seen fans make up all kinds of excuses for Castiel's actions, but there really is no excuse for him ditching Dean like that. So if Dean ditched Castiel, that's fine by me. Just from the little bit we've seen in the premiere, it's obvious that Castiel was no help at all in that horrible place. That so-called 'profound bond' between them is just talk as far as I'm concerned. I never believed a word of it, no matter how hard the show tried to ram it down our throats.

I'm back watching the show to see what the interaction between Dean and Sam will be with Benny hanging around. Dean seems warmer and much more relaxed towards Benny than he ever did with Castiel. Benny clearly had Dean's back, not Castiel, and I believe that's what's rankles those fans' feathers.

I hope Carver continues with this storyline. I really want to see what happens next.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I don't think we should be throwing accusations around until we get the full story, which we haven't gotten yet. So, I'm reserving judgment on Castiel, Sam, AND Dean.

Benny, I still don't like because he's a vampire - and don't trust further than I can throw him. Dean might be warm towards him, but that hardly means anything. Dean was also warm towards Gordon when he first met him. Dean and Benny became friends because they had a common goal of escape, but now that they've escaped, there's nothing to keep everything from going south and quickly...but, time will tell. I'd prefer not to be proven wrong, however, because I really hate vampires and don't want a recurring one.

I definitely want to see what happens next, so I think Carver did a good job with this premiere.

[nanloo.livejournal.com]

So let me see if I understand correctly? You don't like Benny? LOL

You forgot the best part. I loved when after all the tests, Dean tells Sammy 'come here' and opens his arms wide, and Sammy practically jumps into his big brother's arms. That is love in a nutshell.

Just a thought, but the Impala is 100% Detroit steel, baby. It hit the dog and the dog lived? What, was Sam driving like an old lady or something? LOL

I wondered that as well, why was she insisting that this man take a dog that he hit with his car? Shouldn't the dog be kept in the hospital for at least a day or so, so that he could rest and his owner be found?

Kevin is starting to grow on me. One minute he ia all badass, almost a hunter and then his nerd side reappears.

You forgot to mention that Sam fixed the Impala!! I guess those lessons from season three actually sunk in. But why does Sam abuse her so?? Dean goes to Hell, Sam installs an ipod dock. Dean 'disappears', Sam allows a dog to stink up the car. Come on Sam, show some love.

Please don't hate Benny because he is a vampire.
He may actually turn out to be a good guy like Ruby, nope scratch that, like Gramps, nope scratch that one too, like Anna, nope that's wrong, like Gordon, nope, like Jake, nah that's not good, like Nick the fed, nope, like.......Jody Mills.
Yeah, Benny could be a good guy like Sheriff Jody.
Please, just keep an open mind. :)

But I did love this episode and I hope that Jeremy Carver can keep the goodness all season long. Haven't we had enough of sub-par seasons? Mr. Carver please return Supernatural to the greatness of its earlier seasons.
Nancy

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

You forgot the best part. I loved when after all the tests, Dean tells Sammy 'come here' and opens his arms wide, and Sammy practically jumps into his big brother's arms. That is love in a nutshell.

I know! So much love! I keep saying it in my rewatches, but I LOVE HOW MUCH SAM LOVES DEAN. It melts my heart every single fuckin' time.

Just a thought, but the Impala is 100% Detroit steel, baby. It hit the dog and the dog lived? What, was Sam driving like an old lady or something? LOL

I just assumed he was in a school zone :P

Kevin is starting to grow on me. One minute he ia all badass, almost a hunter and then his nerd side reappears.

Yes, he could turn out to be a really awesome well-rounded character.

Please don't hate Benny because he is a vampire.
He may actually turn out to be a good guy like Ruby, nope scratch that, like Gramps, nope scratch that one too, like Anna, nope that's wrong, like Gordon, nope, like Jake, nah that's not good, like Nick the fed, nope, like.......Jody Mills.
Yeah, Benny could be a good guy like Sheriff Jody.
Please, just keep an open mind. :)

Well, the funny thing about my particular brand of vampire-hate, is that I'll actually hate Benny MORE if he's a good guy. So, I'm hoping that he's evil so that I can like hating him, if that makes any sense.

But I did love this episode and I hope that Jeremy Carver can keep the goodness all season long. Haven't we had enough of sub-par seasons? Mr. Carver please return Supernatural to the greatness of its earlier seasons.

I hope so too!! I just read a report from Jared's Q&A at the Toronto Convention today, and he said that he's liked every single episode they've shot so far - which he couldn't necessarily say about previous seasons. And they just finished filming #8, so yeah, really hoping that that means there are good things to come...