Quick Reaction: 9x02 Devil May Care

[hells_half_acre]

Alright!! So, I watched this episode on the east coast feed and then took off to a local Vancouver event for free drinks - so, not only did I watch the episode hours ago and I now have to remember it, but I've also been drinking since then...It's a good thing I'm unemployed, because I sound horribly irresponsible for a Tuesday night. But, come on, free booze!!

No song for the cut-text this week...so, ummm... maybe I'll use a quote from the show or something... I'll think about it while I type.

We open with an extremely brief scene of someone dragging a charred body into a bathtub. Gross. Would a body really burn that much on it's own? I don't know the science of bodies burning, but I always just figured that there was a limit to how much bodies would burn without an outside fuel source to feed the fire. But, um, probably if I can buy the angels and demons, I should just shut up about how scientifically realistic the charred body is given the circumstances of the burning..

Cut to Dean, who is just chilling on a picnic bench. How did they get there? Is this something they do..just stop the care so that Dean can nap on a picnic bench while Sam wanders off somewhere? I'm not complaining, I really like it. I love seeing the Winchester's in mundane "domestic" tasks.

Anyway, there they are, napping in the shade, chatting it up - and then Dean's like, "oh hey, I've still got the King of Hell in my trunk." :P

Oh! But before that, I loved the conversation where Sam was like, "Did you kill him?" and Dean said, "well, I was going to, but then I thought - What Would Sam Winchester Do?" and Sam says, "I'd stab him in the neck." And Dean is just like, "Oh." Hahahahaha... seriously, I love these brothers so hard.

Anyhow, it's off to the Bunker to torture Crowley into giving up the names of all the demons and whatnot. Yay!

Kevin is there and freaking out! Kevin always gets so sweaty and unshowered when he freaks out - I mean, seriously, he should start working in showers to his panic routine, rather than just overturning tables and finding crossbows....though I do commend him on that part. I love Dean just humouring Kevin with the whole "things must have started working again when you came home" thing.

Kevin is not impressed to see Crowley - and you can understand why. He DID lose a finger to the guy... and a mother... and honestly thought that he was going to be killed by him in their last encounter.

Sam and Dean haul Crowley to the torture room and start the interrogation process. I loved how awkward Dean looked when Crowley made the "put the S-A-M into S-&-M" comment - me and my friend made "tippity tap tap" hand motions to each other and giggled. (Did I mention that my mum is visiting? My mum is visiting. This is the first full episode of Supernatural that she's ever seen, though for the past two years I've watched the livestream of Jared's NerdHQ panels with her in the summer - and she frequently reads the comments to this blog - so, say hi to my mum in comments! She's READING YOU!)

I actually thought that Sam and Dean's method of torturing Crowley (solitary confinement) was quite ingenious given his personality. Torture really would only make him happy - and Sam knows enough about him now to know that Crowley secretly may crave attention/love. Also, I think Dean learned from Alistair that using physical torture isn't effective against someone who is a pro at psychological torture too... so it's better to go with psychological torture - and since Sam and Dean can't weave words the way Crowley can, it makes sense that they'd do it through other methods.

Then it's back to the library to get yelled at by Kevin and start researching demonic activity.

Meanwhile, there's a demon resurrecting Abbadon (Abaddon?...to the SuperWiki!...Abaddon). Anyway, Abaddon is getting resurrected and BAM, she's a naked gorgeous woman, who I have to say looks different with her hair down...

She summons demons to her and then is like "What the heck, demon minions? Why are you okay with Crowley being King of Hell?!?!" Okay, it sounds like I'm making fun, but I actually loved her speech about how a king should fight. It's the warrior-king vs. the governor-king. Crowley governs. I loved the grandma-demon - she was good. And Abaddon actually does take what she says and start the journey to try to appease her and the demons who might think like her...she needs Crowley's body.

Now, this is something I'm curious about? Can the demons tell if a demon was killed in a dead body or if it's just a dead body? Because it's a vessel right - it's not like Abaddon can show up with a dead puff of smoke. So, there's still a certain amount of trust going on here, unless the demonds can tell that the demon died inside the vessel just by examining the dead vessel. But again, I guess I'm being super nitpicky.

Meanwhile, Dean is calling his friends to tell them about the angels, and there's a Canada shot out!! Werewolf twins in Saskatoon!!! Bobby always talking about it everytime he drank Labatts! I LOVE IT!

Also, there's a girl getting picked up at the side of the road while wearing shorty shorts... and a vampire picks her up! And you're like "Oh man, vampire!! Are we going to have a vampire problem in this episode too?! But nope, it's a trick! She's not a stereotypical female horror victim, she's a hunter!

Sadly though, she's an abducted hunter.

Abaddon is trying to track down the Winchesters, and she's asking hunters to find them. I love the mirrors in SPN, how Sam and Dean are trying to get demon whereabouts out of Crowley, and Abaddon is trying to get Hunter wereabouts from Hunters.

Oh, possibly before all that happened though - Abaddon and her cronies stole some soldier bodies....poor soldiers. But, that leads Dean and Sam to investigate the three dead people found on the bus and the missing soldiers. They get there and discover that the military police person isn't just going to let the FBI in on her crime scene and wants to talk to their supervisor. The boys don't have Bobby anymore, and I guess Garth never set up a line for the Winchesters or he's MIA or something... so Dean puts in a call to Kevin, who is most confused.

But he's Kevin Solo - oh! and I forgot to mention how Sam and Dean were using Banner and Stark as their aliases! Awesome Avengers love!! Also quite fitting personality-wise for the brothers. Anyway, back to Kevin Solo... I love that Kevin uses the skills he DOES have to help Sam and Dean. He might not know how to impersonate and FBI official that sounds older than a 19 year-old, but he does know how to hack into a military database in less then 30 seconds and come up with blackmail material. Seriously, I'm looking forward to the episode where Kevin meets Charlie... it's gotta happen eventually, PLEASE!

It was Kevin's BAMF moment, and I loved it. I also loved Dean's "good job" - like Kevin just delights him.

Anyhoo, the boys find out that the people on the bus all had fatal wounds... some decades old. I had a momentary thought that maybe Crowley secretly wasn't as evil as we thought and he was using bodies that had died already or something for his demons...but then I remembered that Crowley killed Kevin's girlfriend and tortures people and... yeah... so, that thought was short-lived. That being said, I do think Crowley is a safer King of Hell than Abaddon!! Maybe I'm falling for the "devil you know" syndrome, but honestly...Abaddon terrifies me.

Meanwhile, Abaddon is calling Kevin...and threatening him...and STAY AWAY FROM KEVIN, ABADDON!! Oh man... seriously, Abaddon is going to kill everyone I love and I'm going to be super sad.

But the jist of the phone call is that she's got two hunters tied up in an abandoned town and wants Sam and Dean to come get them and walk into a trap. So, Sam and Dean do, because that's the way they role. Whilst they do that, Dean sends Kevin to the records room to find info on the Knights of Hell and how one might go about killing them.

Kevin, of course, stumbled upon Crowley...or rather, stumbled into proximity of Crowley and Crowley heard him and recognized his footsteps... which I think is cute, because of my own experience with recognizing footsteps (I used to be able to hear my bestfriend approaching my dorm room from the moment he got off the elevator on my floor.)

Sadly, although Kevin was told to stay away from Crowley, he suffers from Marty McFly Syndrome, and cannot withstand someone calling him weak... so he walks into the room and let's Crowley goad him into getting his anger out. And more power to him, Crowley DID torture Kevin, and kill his girlfriend and his mother...if Kevin were a Winchester, Crowley would have been dead by now. Crowley, of course, teases Kevin that his mother is still alive and maybe just wishes she were dead... and then launches into a lengthier and more emphatic speech than his line in 8x02 about how the Winchesters just want to use Kevin up and then leave him for dead like they do with everyone, blah blah blah... Seriously, both 8x02 and 9x02 have the same Crowley to Kevin message. Both times, Kevin lets Crowley convince him of this too... though, in this case, Crowley also emphasizes how Kevin's a prisoner, and that if he frees Crowley they can walk out of Winchester prison together, etc.

Meanwhile, Sam and Dean are walking into a trap! They're going to a section of a town that was abandoned due to a chemical spill... Dean is concerned for his balls. :P Seriously, I think walking into a demon's trap is more dangerous to your balls than walking over contaminated ground.

They rescue the hunters and then discover that the demons have assault rifles...that's not good. I like how Travis(?) asks Dean what the plan is though... again, I'm a sucker for the fact that the Winchesters are basically the absolute elite of the hunters now. I also love the fact that Dean just thinks and comes up with a plan.

The plan, is to lure the demons into the diner and then circle around and take them out. It's very similar to what happened at Stalingrad actually - only with far less people of course. Anyyyyyyyyyyyyyway.... the plan gets momentarily scuffered when the girl doesn't want to work with Sam because the demons that killed her entire family were all happy that Sam had released Lucifer. Sam's feelings are super hurt by bringing up that mistake in his past - a mistake, I would like point out, that he has ALREADY made up for by, oh yeah, DEFEATING LUCIFER AND BREAKING HIS OWN BRAIN! Geeeez... luckily Dean is Team Sam and totally schools the girl on the fact that Sam was only trying to do the right thing and had it blow up in his face.

Sam meanwhile, travels with Travis(?) to the otherside, but Travis has other plans - because speaking about making absolutely horrible mistakes in your past - Abaddon had tortured him into giving up the other hunters and it's ALL HIS FAULT that one of them is dead and Sam and Dean and the girl might soon be dead and sadface forever. In his protests about taking on a suicide mission, he accidentally walks out from out of cover and gets shot in the chest - so, now, not only did he give up his friends, but he also has left Sam with absolutely no backup! Nice one.

Sidenote that just occurred to me: I wander how he and Bobby got across the border with their weapons? Or did they have a connection in Canada for the necessary guns? Or did they rob a gun shop once they were here?

On the other side of the pincer movement, Dean and the girl are ambushed by Abaddon, who is wearing a kevlar vest so the girls' gun does nothing to slow her down, even though they're the special devil's trap bullets in them. THIS IS WHY WE DO HEAD-SHOTS PEOPLE!!! Honestly.

Dean distracts with some holy water and gives the girl the keys to the Impala so that she can drive in and hopefully save him (or Sam). Abaddon and Dean have a talk, after it really looks like she breaks his arm, but apparently she just twists it something fierce. I really liked this conversation and Dean was right, it WAS very mixed signals about whether she was going to kill him or make out with him. But no, she wants to peel the tattoo off his skin and then possess him and torture him that way. Lovely... I'm starting to think that Cas should have taken the time when he was still an angel to crave that antipossession charm into their bones too.

While all this is going on, Sam is getting his ass handed to him by three soldier demons. He lasts a good long time, but it's just to much, and eventually they knock him unconscious... which is when Ezekiel is like OK ENOUGH! And gets to the smiting. I LOVED LOVED LOVED the broken angel wings!!! That was super super cool. And yeah, that whole scene was bad-ass and awesome.

Zeke smites the demons and Abaddon realizes that Dean brought an angel to the party and disappears. Dean runs into the diner place to check on Sam and finds Ezekiel there, giving the dead demons knife wounds as an alibi. This scene was great between the two of them, and Jared did much better with this scene (actually the first filmed) then the scene in the 9x01... I think he's still a little bit robotic, but yeah... I think I'm spoiled by Misha S4 performance. Ezekiel really does remind me of S4 Cas, so I think I keep wanting him to be like that, you know? But yeah, Jared did a good job in this episode.

We also find out that Dean's not only upset because he can't talk to Sam about how he's lying to Sam, but that he's also upset because he feels that all of this is his fault because he was the one that insisted Sam stop the trials - that chose his brother over freeing the world of demons. (Arguably, not only that, but he and Sam were also the ones that killed Abaddon and then sewed her back together again and didn't WATCH HER CLOSELY ENOUGH.)

So, yeah, Dean's feeling hella guilty and he's not even sure if he can trust Zeke. "I'm going to call you Zeke". And I loved Zeke's "I am a good guy. Though, I suppose that's what a bad guy would say..." or whatever the line was. But Ezekiel knows that what Dean did, he did out of love, and that's why Ezekiel is helping them, because apparently Ezekiel digs that sort of thing (if Ezekiel can be trusted that is!!).  I also loved Dean's line about "I don't usually talk about the... love... or the... love."

Anyway, Ezekiel gets back into position and Sam wakes up confused - apparently Dean killed three demons while Sam was unconscious. He can't believe it, but Dean insists that he's just that awesome, and Sam agrees... and it's gotta twist the knife a little further into Dean that he's not only lying to his brother, but Sam thinks he's awesome for something he didn't even do...

Then the girl shows up with the car. Seriously? Didn't Dean say it was only 3 blocks away? I thought Dean and Sam should test her for demon possession because that was CRAZY suspicious!! But nope, apparently she's fine.

Then it's back to the bunker to bring Kevin a bucket of chicken....only Kevin's not immediately visible - so they run off to the dungeon to discover that someone has worked Crowley over. More than that, Crowley is giving them demon names as a gesture of sorts. Apparently, Crowley gets a kick out of winding Kevin up... personally though, I think their isolation torture was working, because Crowley was getting flashbacks and human-emotion thinky-thoughts and latched onto being cruel to Kevin and having Kevin torture him as a way to distract himself from those thoughts.

Anyway, Sam stays with Crowley and Dean runs off to find Kevin, who has packed a bag and is storming off. Kevin didn't fall hook-line-and-sinker into Crowley's words, but maybe just hook. Crowley is still locked up, but Kevin is taking off because his mom might still be alive out there and Dean and Sam are just using him.

And then Dean tells him that's not true - and I NEARLY cried at this speech. I have to say that Jensen and Osric did a fantastic job with this scene. Dean tells Kevin that he's not just useful, he's family - that all he, Sam, Kevin, and Cas have are each other, and that they'd die for Kevin. And OH MAN THE FEELINGS! Kevin cries, Dean is basically telling him that they love him... even though he told Ezekiel that he doesn't do that sort of thing.

Final scene of the episode - Sam and Dean are chillin' while Kevin sleeps off the angst. Dean asks Sam how he's doing - and Sam actually says that he's great, that he's got his friends and his family and he feels like he can make a difference in the world, and that he's actually HAPPY for the first time in...forever... and Dean's like "good to know, I'm going to try not to look shady right now."

My friend: "Angels are an anti-depressant! Who knew!"

So, this episode was all about setting up the season, and even though I'm terrified of Abaddon, and there's someone inside Sam that I'm not sure we can trust...the Winchesters are actually in a pretty good place, and they still have Kevin on their team too - which is good news. So, yeah, I mean, it seems like they've just created WAY more problems by NOT closing the gates of hell for arguably selfish reasons... so, yeah, the shit is going to hit the fan soon, for sure... but I really hope they're able to stay in a relatively good place for a LITTLE bit. I know when Sam finds out about Zeke, he's going to be SO MAD...and I know Dean is slowly drowning in guilt (seriously, he's the worst secret keeper among the Winchesters...John was the best, Sam is second best, even Adam was probably better than Dean.)... but yeah, hopefully all that fall-out will be mitigated by something?

So, good episode!!

Let me know what I missed in comments!!

Mum says: Are you still typing about that one episode? You sure got a lot out of that one episode.
(She said that 15 minutes ago and has since said that she'll see me in the morning. I DID warn her that I'd be a horrible host on Supernatural night! She finished crocheting herself a scarf while I wrote this... seriously, it's been 2 hours. There is nothing "quick" about my "quick reaction.")

Comments

[liliaeth]

It's weird, but I actually find Crowley far scarier than Abaddon. Because with Crowley, he sometimes manages to fool people into believing they can if not trust, but at least rely on him.

Abaddon is cool, don't get me wrong, but... she's a warrior and a pretty straightforward one at that. She's evil and smart and dangerous, but...there's limits to what she'll think of.

Take that demon granny. To Abaddon the idea of making deals in order to get people's soul is beyond her understanding, she sees it as beneath demons. And yet that granny was one of the most horrifying demons I could imagine, worse even than that demon chef who used that nurses body to steal babies for Lilith.
Because at least those babies died relatively quickly.

That granny demon specifically targeted children, children young enough to be comforted by someone who looks like a sweet old grandmother, aka, most likely under the age of 12. Children who have no understanding of the value of what they're giving away when that demon made her deals with them. some of whom might have even sold their souls for something as basic as a new toy. Kids who probably have no idea that they'll be pulled into hell for eternal torture.

See, that's what makes Crowley more dangerous than Abaddon, because he's a business man, an organiser, a governor as you put it. He understand that he could send an army and have more losses and less gain, than he could get out of people signing on of their own volition. Crowley starts far more of a chance of taking over the world, and people not even realizing he's ruling it, than Abaddon ever could by trying to take the world through force.

Because like at the naval base, people will investigate demon attacks, and much as people like to try to ignore the supernatural, I'm pretty sure that that'll only take them so far before someone opens their eyes and sees the truth.

Hell, just because the Winchesters haven't run into them, doesn't mean that there isn't some government task force currently keeping track of hunters and monsters. (esp. considering some of the crap hunters seem to get away with)

Abadon's straightforward attacks are far more likely to get enough attention that the government'll be left with no choice but to respond, eventually. Where Crowley's manipulation and subversion makes him seem manageable.
(the way the authorities sometimes leave certain mob bosses or gang leaders in charge, because it's less dangerous, than the chaos that would come out of directly taking them out, when you can't stop the entire organization with them.)

[ramblin_rosie]

I was looking back through old entries the other day and was reminded of something Mark said a couple of years ago at Comic-Con: "Crowley is what happens when people aren't paying attention." I'm not sure which is more dangerous, Abaddon's overt threat or Crowley's covert threat, but Crowley's certainly more insidious.

[thursdaysisters.livejournal.com]

I wonder if Abbadon will make good on her threat to possess Dean, since we have angel!Sam on one hand and Cas being threatened by that last chick.

[liliaeth]

I swear, if the kink meme wasn't closed for this month already...

Hmm wonder if it'd make a good prompt for the hoody times Dean hc meme.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

It's weird, but I actually find Crowley far scarier than Abaddon. Because with Crowley, he sometimes manages to fool people into believing they can if not trust, but at least rely on him.
Abaddon is cool, don't get me wrong, but... she's a warrior and a pretty straightforward one at that. She's evil and smart and dangerous, but...there's limits to what she'll think of.

Very true. Crowley is arguably actually more dangerous, because he makes me think that he's not. Abaddon is more you classic moustache-twirly villain who is what you think she is.

Hell, just because the Winchesters haven't run into them, doesn't mean that there isn't some government task force currently keeping track of hunters and monsters. (esp. considering some of the crap hunters seem to get away with)

Who, I like this thought. They could have a whole other show with some exasperated feds sitting around an office going, "oh man, Johnson, you wouldn't BELIEVE what the Winchesters are up to now..."

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

My favorite part was Samzekiel smiting the demons and talking to Dean. Jared rocked it! I just really hope Zeke is a good guy...that is the most nerve-wracking part of this season's scenario for me. Abaddon and Crowley also really worry me. Crowley is smarter and twistier, but Abaddon will do a lot of damage before they manage to take her out. (I thought she broke Dean's arm too.) Crowley will disarm you with his words, then strike when you are caught off-guard. With Abaddon, you know she wants to kill you and are braced for her at all times.

I thought both Dean's speech to Kevin and Sam's 'I'm so happy' speech were a little overwritten, couldn't quite swallow the boys being quite so openly emotional...especially Sam, being all fine immediately after saying he felt guilty from what the hunter chick accused him of. Gave me a little whiplash, how fast he went from guilty to happy...I thought the whole speech was a setup so the camera could give us Dean's facial reaction, where Jensen sublimely showed about 20 different feelings on Dean's face in 10 seconds ...

Really hate having to wait a whole week between eps!

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

I was gonna write my own response but this is EXACTLY how I feel about the ep (which I liked a lot, btw!) Some parts were over-played (and this was the writing, not acting), Shazam (as <lj user="monicawoe" likes to call him) was POTENT (as an angel, even booted out of heaven, should be), and I kinda agree with liliaeth that Crowley is still the more challenging villain in that he will think out of the box. Abaddon seems bent on using blatant brute force. But we shall see! We have a nice, fat season ahead of us!

[liliaeth]

I can't say much about Sam's speech, since I've still got some issues with Sam in general since s8. But I had no issues with Dean's speech to Kevin.

Keep in mind that Dean has been more open in regards to his emotions ever since he came back from purgatory, (just look at the increased number of hugs he's given last season alone)

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

I have a feeling that Zeke is a good guy but I also feel there's some huge threat looming there. o_O

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I agree with your first paragraph!

And I can see your point with the second paragraph. Though, I didn't feel the same way. But yeah, it was a quick turn-around on Sam's part. I guess I didn't mind, given the fact that they wanted to tease at the other reason that Dean has a problem with Sam this season.

Definitely agree about hating to have to wait a whole week for the next ep - but then, it also occurred to me that I'm supposed to be timelining as we go, and I haven't done that yet! So I now need time to rewatch the two eps that have aired! :P

[cappy712.livejournal.com]

The review was great - yes I have to agree with the lot of it.

BTW Hi Mom! I know her quick reviews take longer than a few minutes but we enjoy reading them... enjoy the scarf.


One of the things that we have to remember is that Crowley really does know the boys and he is scarier due to the fact that he knows how to twist things up for them and he still thinks of them as those denim wrapped nightmares... He knows that they are so underestimated too much - Azazel, Lilith, Lucifer, (all of them don't really get the Winchesters and the things they are capable of).

Charlie said it when the Winchesters put their mind to something they can do whatever they put their mind to....

I'm still unsure of Zeke but then again, we were not totally sure of Castiel in season 4 - he worked his way into our hearts right.

The one thing that came to my mind with the military was a crossover with NCIS. hehehe

Looking forward to this season - it's gonna be a bumpy ride. Thank you for the review....

[liliaeth]

Honestly after this ep, I want someone to write me an NCIS crossover where Gibbs team shows up to deal with what happened, including the fake Feds. I could so see Abbie pissed off that they contaminated her crime scene, and then finding one of their finger prints and having all alarms go off cause "fuck the Winchesters are back, again"

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

One of the things that we have to remember is that Crowley really does know the boys and he is scarier due to the fact that he knows how to twist things up for them and he still thinks of them as those denim wrapped nightmares... He knows that they are so underestimated too much - Azazel, Lilith, Lucifer, (all of them don't really get the Winchesters and the things they are capable of).

Very good point. Abaddon is more straightforward and also more likely to underestimate them, given that she's been gone for pretty much their entire lives and hasn't learned the lesson not to, like Crowley has.

I'm still unsure of Zeke but then again, we were not totally sure of Castiel in season 4 - he worked his way into our hearts right.

Very true. And fan reaction has also been good to him... I don't know if Carver takes that into account, but I know originally Cas was supposed to go evil, but because fans loved him so much, Kripke went a different route.

[supernutjapan.livejournal.com]

it's not like Abaddon can show up with a dead puff of smoke.

I love that!

I think we had awesome Dean badass moments this episode, Sam looked so much better (I hate seeing him sick and its awfully hard to make banners etc. with such a face...), his hair all shiny, and also the comfort moments - Zeke to Dean, Dean to Kevin and Sam...
I actually think this episode's hidden theme was guilt, aye?

I loved it when Abaddon had Dean at her mercy. Dean/Jensen so close up and beautiful. I wish I had been her...

Oh, and I got a clip of Dean's nap too

By the way... Hi mum!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I agree with everything!!! :)

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

I am really excited for the way season 9 looks right now. I'm spoiler free for future eps, but:

To me, season 6, 7, and 8 form a kind of interlude, all reacting to the big fallout of the end of s5. (S6 -- Dean torn about being a Hunter, Sam with no soul; s7, Leviathans, Sam crazy, everyone dies; s8, Dean having been through Purgatory, Sam put back together, brothers finally reunite). Now, though, we have a much bigger fallout, with the downfall of Heaven, and we're in a place where Sam and Dean have pledged to work together as brothers again, they're both full-on Hunters, they have resources. To me it's a serious reboot in a lot of very good ways.

So I really like this as a moment for Abaddon. She is so scary to me. If she had pulled that domination move on Dean back in s4, he would have folded. It's awesome to see how much he has recovered since then. I loved that she has these crazy powers -- like she can restore her body with someone's blood. btw, her body burnt so horribly because there was an accelerant -- the holy oil. I wondered how they were going to pull Alaina Hoffman back from that, and they did a great job!

I love Zeke. I think Jared did a good job with him. He seems very Angelic to me. That robotic thing is pretty much what the warrior Angels have going on, imho. :) When Zeke went all blue eyed and graced out the demons, I totally cheered. I guess Abaddon ran away? Why weren't the demons' eyes burned out though?

I loved how Dean flinched away from Zeke and couldn't look him in the eye. Seeing Sam possessed hurts Dean where he lives and I love that. :)

The speech Dean gave Kevin was a little off to me. I want Dean to show Kevin a little more love before he calls him family, you know? They never give Kevin any downtime, they just order him about. If I were Kevin, I would NOT be feeling the love, which as far as I can remember, is just Dean handing him two bottles, one of uppers and one of downers. :P I loved Kevin Solo. He can hack like a Master!!

Thanks for your recap, I always enjoy even when I don't have time to answer. :)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I agree about S6-8.

btw, her body burnt so horribly because there was an accelerant -- the holy oil.

Oh yeah!! The accelerate!! Thanks, I'm a dummy.

When Zeke went all blue eyed and graced out the demons, I totally cheered. I guess Abaddon ran away? Why weren't the demons' eyes burned out though?

Me too! I also wondered why the angels eyes weren't burned away - maybe Zeke healed them? I didn't think he was up for that, but who knows. And yeah, I guess Abaddon has a weakness in that she's still afraid of angels? Or maybe she doesn't know that they've fallen? Crowley was always fairly unconcerned about the angels.

The speech Dean gave Kevin was a little off to me. I want Dean to show Kevin a little more love before he calls him family, you know? They never give Kevin any downtime, they just order him about. If I were Kevin, I would NOT be feeling the love, which as far as I can remember, is just Dean handing him two bottles, one of uppers and one of downers. :P I loved Kevin Solo. He can hack like a Master!!

Yeah, I can agree to this - it'd be nice if we saw a bit more of that affection. That being said, personally, I tend to treat those closest to me the crappiest, because I feel like they know me.... that sounds bad, but you know, you know your sister loves you, so you just grunt at her when she walks into the room instead of saying "good morning"... Dean brings Kevin food, and that's really all he does for Sam too. He's also been known to treat Castiel like crap and focus on how useful Castiel is as being his worth to Dean...and Cas is Dean's best friend.

But yeah, they could stand to show a bit more than tell when it comes to Kevin's relationships with the Winchesters.

[immortal-jedi.livejournal.com]

Just a couple of quick things. Abbadon chose sailors, not soldiers, as her military minions. Now, the MPs, they were soldiers.

Also, you want to know what bugged me the most about this episode? The MP that Dean and Sam talked to was not a sergeant. She was a PFC (that's Private First Class), according to her rank insignia. That just... bugged me, a lot.

I know, I know, silly thing to be bugged by, but it's not that hard to get it right. And people will notice if you get it wrong.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Ah, sorry, I see camo and I just think "soldier"... in the old school sense of the word, I guess?

It's funny how our relative experience influences what drives us bonkers. I can't read military ranks, so I was completely unaware of the mistake. :P

However, I remember the French Mistake episode where the angel just walked into a gunshop in Canada and bought something, and I had to remember that this was some weird alternate universe wherein you could buy guns in Canada without filling out paperwork days in advance first. :P

[jeymien.livejournal.com]

Sidenote that just occurred to me: I wander how he and Bobby got across the border with their weapons? Or did they have a connection in Canada for the necessary guns? Or did they rob a gun shop once they were here?


I got the impression it was a while ago - like possibly a decade or so before - so meh, it's the border into Saskatchewan, they probably didn't even bother with a border crossing and went through in the middle of nowhere. :) It's not that hard to get through between alberta, saskatchewan and manitoba if you're sneaky and know what you're doing, which I'd assume Bobby definitely does :)

Oh, also! Abaddon reminds me of a General. Tactics, warfare etc. She's like, biblical times, Knight of Hell.. I don't think she should be underestimated, and this time period may be the perfect leader for her compared to Crowley - after all, there's thousands of angels on Earth now.. she was sort of burnt and hanging out as a black cloud while the angels fell, but she can't have missed that. I'm still trying to figure out the differences in demon powers though - I mean, she was able to force a demon back to hell, her vessel can be resurrected through what looks like blood magic.. Azazel, Crowley, Lilith, they all seemed to come from the same sort of viewpoint - corruption of humans for souls and to break the seals. Yellow, red, white eyes. Have we seen Abaddon's eyes? I can't remember. - correction in edit She has black eyes - But I always sort of remembered the stories of Lucifer's fall and the angels that followed him - they were his knights/soldiers. But Lucifer's the only one that seems to have a grace still, the rest seem to have turned into humans - maybe stripped of their graces but turned into demons and different powers cause of the whole used to be angels thing? Blah.

Also - she called him a vessel. Like the angels do. And recognized the strength of him as a vessel. Winchesters and vessels again...

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

It's not that hard to get through between alberta, saskatchewan and manitoba if you're sneaky and know what you're doing, which I'd assume Bobby definitely does :)

Ah good point. Plus, Bobby owns a junk yard, it wouldn't have been hard to get something that was capable of driving off-road.

I was think too inside the box. ;)

But Lucifer's the only one that seems to have a grace still, the rest seem to have turned into humans - maybe stripped of their graces but turned into demons and different powers cause of the whole used to be angels thing? Blah.

Hmm, you make a good point. If angels strip out their graces, they're reborn (Anna), but if another angel strips their grace they can be human with their vessel's body (Castiel)...however, Castiel doesn't have any power. So, maybe it's more of a Ezekiel situation, where God, in his wrath, only actually tore their wings off and kicked them out of heaven, thus only limiting their powers...so that when Lucifer eventually made them demons (or they became demons through the corruption of their grace?) they were very powerful demons.

It could also be that Lucifer really know how to make demons - Azazel could withstand holy water, but the knife still killed him. Alistair couldn't be killed by the knife... if could be that if human was turned into a demon by Lucifer that they would be more powerful demons...whereas demons created by demons are the regular-type demons.

But yeah, either way, Abaddon is a very interesting big bad this season!

[percysowner.livejournal.com]

Just a note Travis is actually named Irv. I checked IMDB. It's no biggie, but you change it if you want to.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Ha, yeah, I noticed that when I timelined the episode yesterday...but I can't be bothered to fix it. I'm lazy. :P

[metallidean-grl.livejournal.com]

I always enjoy your quirky reviews.

FYI. For a body to burn completely you just need a hot enough source, no outside fuel source necessary. Just think about crematories. They don't use any kind of accelerant, they just burn really really hot - body turns to ashes. Without that hot enough source, then yes, I would suppose that one would need some kind of fuel to fan the flame, so to speak. Thus, why the hunters have used some kind of fuel whenever they have a hunters' funeral.

Abaddon unnerves me a little bit too. She is a different kind of demon than we have come across in the past. We don't know enough about her, or about knights of hell, to know exactly what to expect. So, that unknown factor is a little scary. I just hope the boys can learn more about her and find a way to deal with her and counter anything she might throw at them.

Kevin was all sorts of good in this episode. I loved it how he quickly researched that sergeant and got some intel on her to let the boys into the crime scene. Very smart our boy. And yes, I loved it at the end how Dean told him "good job" and you see that little smile from both of them. I really enjoy those little moments. And the scene at the end between Dean and Kevin, when Dean told him he was family and would die for him - great scene. Dean may say he doesn't do the whole "love" thing, but he really does in his own way. He doesn't come right out and say it, like Zeke was pointing to, Dean always does it in more roundabout ways, calling someone family, or saying he would die for him, or telling him that he trusts him, or something like that. Dean is not one that trusts and loves easily, so when he goes out on a limb and states those things to someone else, that is essentially him say he loves them.

About the girl taking so long with the car. I would think, too, that boy, just 3 blocks away, it shouldn't take that long to get the car and get back. But, we gotta remember, she has no idea what kind of car Dean drives. Maybe there were many other cars around that far back, and she had to try the keys in all of them before she stumbled upon the Impala. Yes, the Impala does seem more like the kind of car that Dean would drive, and you put that one up against some of the newer stuff, I would go for that car, but still, you never know. So, that has become my reasoning as to why it took her so long to get the car. Then the place was probably gated up, so she had to figure that out as well. What surprises me more, is that Dean would allow someone else to drive his baby. He hardly lets anyone else, including Sam, behind the wheel, so the fact that he sent her to get the car was surprising to me. Unless, of course, he only meant for her to get the bullets and holy water, not the car. So, maybe she misunderstood his meaning there.

All in all a good episode and it set up Abaddon's intentions fairly well. It will be interesting to see where they go next with her.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

I agree with everything you say! And good idea that perhaps Dean hadn't meant for her to drive the car.

I'm very interested to see what Abaddon ends up doing. I have a feeling, given how much they are focusing on angels this season, that they might be leaving the Abaddon vs. Crowley thing to simmer on the backburner and use for S10. I'm very interested to possibly find out more about the knights of hell, hopefully they give us a bit more... I've always been curious as to how Azazel fit into things, especially since he's the only demon with yellow-eyes. Part of me wonders if he too had been a knight.

I also agree about Dean, you don't necessarily have to say "I love you" to say I love you... Dean has always been more about actions than words. I think, sometimes, characters that rely more on words can sometimes not realize what Dean is telling them, and Dean does have to meet them somewhere in the middle.