hells_half_acre: (Peace Out Bitches)
[personal profile] hells_half_acre
Back to it - that one day off turned into three - sorry. I have poor self-discipline, and for the last three days have been doing almost nothing besides crocheting and watching Boy Meets World, because that's all I felt like doing. Anyway, back ot Supernatural...

Slumber Party

Charlie episode!

Oh yeah, flashbacks to the 1930s, I'd forgotten about this part of the episode.

Peter Jenkins! That always makes me laugh. My sister likes to name her house plants, and that's one of them. Actually, ironically, my house plant - which I named Winchester - is decended from Peter Jenkins.

Seriously though, I make fun of her for it, but it's really fun to give your houseplants full names.

"It took 3 years to build this dump?"
- I love this, because they stay true to the architecture of the Bunker. It's the tail-end of the art-deco period, less elaborate, but still recognizable as the style. I've come to realize that it's really my favourite era of architecture. Gothem, not the TV show - the really expensive steakhouse in Vancouver, was built around the same time. It's really neat. I've only been once, but I know it's one of Jared and Jensen's favourite eating spots - or at least used to be. But it costs $70 for your meat alone, so yeah...

Dorothy!

Back to the present and Sam looks fantastic silhouetted in the light as he walks into the dungeon. (I feel like that should be the opening sentence to a badly written fanfic.)

Sam: "How'd it go with Kevin?"
Dean: "Well, that little nerd is in a lovely warded room in Branson - he's got about 48 hours of pay-per-porn and Kenny Rogers ahead of him."
Sam: "How's he feeling?"
Dean: "Well, he stared at the angel tablet and repeated the word Falafal the entire ride. Kid's cracked. I'm hoping this break will clear his head. You know, after everything that happened, I figured we could use a little break ourselves, so, I uh, picked you up Season 1 Game of Thrones? Figured we'd get a little take out-"

- So, firstly, I know they just did it because they needed Kevin to note be in this episode - but I love the fact that Dean and Sam are actually LOOKING AFTER Kevin. I mean, it's their idea of looking after, but it still counts. The guy needs a vacation, so they make him a warded safe-room in a hotel instead of him being trapped in the bunker... and they're basically giving him a weekend.
- Secondly, I love that Dean picked up Game of Thrones with Sam in mind. Dean doesn't know what it is, and he phrases in a way that clearly means that he went into a store and stared at things until he thought "this sounds like something Sam might like."

Sam: "Okay, but first, I think I might have found a way to help Cas."
Dean: "Did you talk to him?"
Sam: "No, and by the way, I still don't understand why he left in the first place [...]"
Dean: "Hey, look, nobody wants him here more than I do, okay? But, uh, he felt like he'd bring trouble down on us, so he felt like he had to split."

- Another few things to say about this - 1) I love that Sam is concerned about Cas too. I've been going on about this for years, so I'm sure you all know how much I love exploring the Sam+Cas friendship... and yeah, I like when they show genuine affection for each other (in the friendship sense). 2) Dean's playing a dangerous game here, because his lies all hinge on Sam and Cas NOT speaking to each other at all. 3) I like how Dean basically uses Gadreel's reason as Cas's reasons. If you want to lie convincingly, you have to come as close to the truth as possible.

Sam: "Kevin said the table lit up like a Christmas tree when the angels fell, right?"
Dean: "So?"
Sam: "So, it turns out that each light was where a cluster of angels fell. So, I'm thinking that maybe there's a way to hotwire this, make it track angels - that way we can help Cas steer clear of danger."
Dean: "This was your idea?"
Sam: "Do you see anybody else in here?"

- Did anything ever come of this idea?! I had forgotten about it. It's brilliant!
- Dean, that's just rude. What you don't think Sam is smart enough to come up with this idea himself?! It's SAM. You guys are both little geniuses. Plus, I highly doubt Gadreel's the computer-savvy type.

The computer room would be so warm. Maybe that's what heats the place. :P

Dean: "This is a computer?"
Sam: "Yeah, or it was in 1951 when it was installed."

- Woot! 1950s computer technology! I know nothing about it. My parents didn't start working in computers until the late 60s/early 70s.

Sam: "Now, here's the crazy thing: It's not plugged into anything. I mean, I have no idea what's making this thing work."
- I love how the bunker just runs on magic (with magical wifi, apparently - unless Sam has a wifi USB thingy.)

I always like to store my mysterious magical artifacts in my computer room. Also, that bottle really should have rolled from side to side when it fell.

Flashbacks!

Dorothy: "Yes, despite all my lady parts, I managed to capture the wicked witch."
- Ah, Dorothy.

Charlie!

Charlie: "...it's given me more time to focus on my hobbies - like LARPING, macramai... and hunting."
Dean: "What?"
Charlie: "It was just a couple little hunts. I took down a teenage vampire and a ghost - which sounds like a YA novel when you say it outloud."
Sam: "Charlie! How'd it go?"
Charlie: "It was uh... it was intense. I kind of wish hunting was more magical, you know?"

- So, I find this really interesting and I think they played it well. Charlie does well mentioning the YA novel, because what she wants is the romance of hunting... which we'll get into later, of course - but she wants the D&D quest, magic, and clean heroicism.... basically, she wants the fantasy-novel. The point Supernatural has always driven home, though, is that there is nothing romantic about hunting. It's horrible... it's HORROR, not fantasy.
- Charlie sums it up as "intense", but taking down a teenage vampire and ghost means that Charlie has beheaded a teenager and probably dug up a grave.

Charlie: "Sweet Ada Lovelace - this thing belongs in a museum."
- I love the fact that Charlie references Ada Lovelace.

So, Charlie essentially downloads all the computer files onto modern technology for them so that they can have a more userfriendly interface... but so far she hasn't actually answered the "can it be used to track angels?" question. ETA: And she never does. That sucks.

Sam: "So, you've been hunting?"
Dean: "Alone."
Charlie: "I know, not a good idea according to the Supernatural books."
Sam: "You really can't delete those from the internet."
Charlie: "Not even I can do that, come on!"
Dean: "Where do you even find them?"
Charlie: "A top secret place I call Amazon. And, someone uploaded all the unfinished works - I thought it was fanfic at first, but it was clearly Edlund's work."
Sam: "Who uploaded it?!"
Charlie: "I don't know. They're username was BeckyWinchester176, ring a bell?"
Sam: "None, nobody's, there are no bells, no."
*Dean's face*

- Hahaha, I love Dean's face at Sam's horrible horrible lying.
- Also, I wonder if the Winchester's last name made it into the "unfinished works" - since that was a major point in 4x18 for how Chuck knew they were really the characters - and he DID write that encounter down.
- Charlie once again deflected the lecture about hunting here. Good work, Charlie.
- I know lots of people don't like Becky, but I love her (caveat: I don't like what they did to her character in S7, but ignoring that episode, I like her.)

Dean: "Well, that Joffrey's a dick."
Charlie: "Oh, you have no idea, wait until he-"
Sam: "Whoa whoa whoa whoa spoilers! I haven't read all the books yet."
Dean: "You're going to read the books?"
Sam: "Yes, Dean, I like to read books. You know, the ones without pictures."

- Firstly, I think they could have done a little bit better with the delivery of Sam cutting Charlie off. They should have let the actors talk over each other. It comes across as way too acted when they don't. If they really didn't want to do that, than they should have rephrased the dialgue to give Sam time to say no spoilers before Charlie started talking about them.
- Secondly, I guess now I have to give Sam a hard time, because of the two brothers, Dean is actually the one that makes way more literary references - granted, that's because Dean tends to use way more references in general - but still. Dean's very well read. So, Sam, Dean, let me just sit you both down and say: "You are both very very smart. You are both nerds. You are both jocks." Seriously, Dean constantly makes fun of Sam for being a nerd, but Dean's the nerdiest one of them, and Sam constantly makes fun of Dean for being an empty-headed jock, but Sam's actually more of a jock than Dean is... and neither of them are empty-headed.

Charlie: "Plans on moving in any time soon?"
Sam: "I am moved in. This is just my style."
Dean: "Yeah, this is his, ah, style."
Sam: "I'm sorry I haven't hung up the 'Hang In There' Kitty Poster yet, Dean, feel free to redecorate."
Dean: "So, what, our homes not good enough for the 'Hang In There' Kitty Poster?"
Sam: "This isn't our home. This is where we work."
Dean: "What's the difference?"
Charlie: "Okay..."

- Firstly, I actually think this probably IS Sam's style. The guy grew up in motels and abandoned cabins. Yes, you could rebel against that (I'm guessing, as Dean has done) and as a consequence over-decorate when you finally get a permanent place. Or, you could have that kind of life-style get so ingrained in you that you don't LIKE personalized touches - that you're actually more comfortable in inpersonal spaces. People are messy complicated things, and even if Sam's always craved getting out of hunting and getting a house and whatnot, doesn't necessarily mean that he'd paint his name on the mailbox and put up Home Sweet Home needlework. It might be overwhelming enough just having a house, and personalizing it would make him uncomfortable. I mean, I was thinking about my own issues regarding things like that yesterday - because I'm used to having this weird sort of make-shift life. It's how I was raised. EVERYTHING is make-shift. And I was thinking about it the other day, and I realized that even if I someday figured out how to make a decent living and got above the poverty line, I'd probably be super uncomfortable with buying things that I know I could do without. I'd probably be incapable of NOT jerry-rigging, you know?
- Secondly, I really really want Sam to buy a 'Hang In There' Kitty poster now.
- Thirdly, I wonder if Sam associates Hunting with Homelessness... like, even if he were in a Bobby situation, where he owned a house, I wonder if he'd still not feel like he was "home" if he were still hunting. I'm wondering if Sam's idea of a home is "not hunting" rather than a physical place to sleep. Like, I don't really feel like I have my own place unless I OWN a place (which is never going to happen) so as a result, ever since I moved out of my parent's place, I kind of just feel like a college student in temporary living quarters - no matter how long I rent there or how much I decorate - everything is temporary and doesn't really feel like "home."

Sam: "Magic, quests, suck - trust me, they're all-"
Flashback dude: "Dead ends."

- I'll assume that's how Sam was going to end his sentence. And yeah, Sam would know all about this. He went on an epic quest last year and it ended up... well, not so much at a dead end, as at a line that Dean didn't want him to cross, and Sam obviously didn't really want to cross either... and it was all for nought.

Dorothy: "Do you have a lab?"
Guy: "Second floor, room 28"

- So, we know where the computer room is.

JENKINS! Nooo!!!!

I don't know, if I found a weird growth thing on my wall that looked like a cocoon, I'd probably burn it before I cut it open to see what was in there. Do you know what comes out of weird cocoon type things?! BUGS. Gross gross bugs.

Dorothy: "Talk? Typical Men of Letters - standing around having a nice little chat with your noses buried in books, while your little secretary takes notes."
Dean: "We're hunters."
Charlie: "And who are you calling a secretary!?"
Dorothy: "You're not a secretary? You're a woman of letters? How long have I been out?"
Sam: "That's what we need to talk about, you've been gone for over 75 years."

- We need a Dorothy/Captain America crossover. They'd have SO MUCH IN COMMON.
- Seriously though, I love the fact that it's not the clothing or accents that twig Dorothy to the fact that it's been a while - it's the fact that there MIGHT be better gender equality.
- Also, I love Sam... just 'cause.

Ugh, why do they always slice along the palm? It doesn't make any sense.

Dorothy: "I'm helping!"
Sam: "Yeah, I don't doubt it, but for right now, why don't you rest up and help the smartest person in the room."

- Awww, goddamn it, I wish Supernatural wasn't a tragedy so that we could have Charlie and Kevin always be in the bunker as honourary Men of Letters.

Charlie: "... I'm going to get us some bullets from the gun range and make us some poppy bullets. So, are you coming, or what?"
*Dorothy's face*

- I like these two. Charlie is nervous, but trying to take charge, and I like how Dorothy, I think, completely recognizes that... and is amused with being on the receiving end of a woman who has to compensate for being constantly underestimated. I think Dorothy realizes that if she respects Charlie, Charlie will actually respect her in return - whereas Dorothy doesn't respect men, because they've never respect her.

Crowley gets to stand up. Which, really, is the first of many victories against the boys. (He's already had victories againsnt Kevin).

Dean: "Damn it, I just cleaned in here."
Sam: "Really?"

- This once again comes down to the difference between Dean and Sam, because Dean's more concerned about his clean kitchen than the witch that's on the loose, much to Sam's dismay - Sam doesn't care that the kitchen is ransacked, because that's work at work, whereas Dean just had work ransack his home.

*Charlie hands over the poppy bullets*
Dean: "That's my girl!"

- So, yes, Dean means this affectionately, the same way he tells Sam "That's my boy!" when Sam kissed a girl or steals a car... but at the same time, if you don't know Dean, it does come across as a little bit sexist, in my opinion.

Kitchen is room 23.

I love how much of the bunker we get to see in this episode.

Dean: "Charlie, safest place in this joint is the dungeon."
Charlie: "You have a dungeon in this place? Of course you do."
Dean: "So, maybe you should-"
Charlie: "I am not hiding, especially in a dungeon - a wicked witch, a key, a quest - let's do this."

- And Dean's trying to protect Charlie... which is nice, again if Dorothy was around, she'd think it sexist - but really Dean just doesn't like amateurs getting in the way of his hunts, or his civilian friends being in danger, and Charlie is still very much a civilian in Dean's eyes. Also, foreshadowing.

Dorothy: "I can't believe I've lived here for 75 years. How long have you called this place home?"
Sam: "My brother calls it home. Me, I haven't had that much luck with homes."
Dorothy: "Me neither. Overrated if you ask me. Yellow bricks or not, give me the open road any day."

- So, okay, let's revist Sam's mind with this information... firstly, Dorothy is interpreting Sam's words to mean that he prefers the open road. That's more Dean's style, not Sam's. I think what Sam means is that he's never been able to keep a home, so he's reluctant to settle anywhere, because he knows he's going to lose it eventually. He's pulling the whole "if I don't get attached, it won't hurt as much when it's gone." Which is why I no longer want pets. There's a comedian, I forget who, who points out that when you buy a puppy, you're basically just buying a broken-heart in a 11 years. I think that's the mindset that Sam has about homes at the moment. And yes, I know it's a crappy life philosophy to avoid heartbreak by never loving, but *shrug*.

Charlie: "You keep your porn maticulously organized, but not-"
Dean: "Don't judge me."

- Haha... again, I relate... not so much to the porn, but to the fact that I keep some information maticulously organized... and uh, other things, more important things, not so much.

And Charlie saves Dean at the cost of her own life. This is the second episode in a row where Dean's watched a loved one die.

Sam: "Dean?"
Dean: "Zeke!"
Gadreel: "She's gone."
Dean: "No, you can bring her back, like you did with Cas!"
Gadreel: "I cannot keep doing that."
Dean: "Why the hell not?"
Sam: "I am barely back to half-strength, Dean. Everytime I use my power, it weakens me, which means that I'll have to stay in your brother longer than you want, longer than we both want. The witch running around your bunker's very powerful. I can help with the witch, or save your friend."
Dean: "Save her."
Gadreel: "As you wish."

- So, again, it's Dean's choice to not lose his loved ones that means that Gadreel is still around when Metatron catches up to them. Now, mind you, it was Gadreel who chose to save Cas, but here it is clearly Dean who understands that saving Charlie means that Gadreel will be in Sam for longer. Dean is clearly chosing Charlie's life over Sam's body atonomy. I'm not saying it's wrong or right, but that's the choice he's making.

Sam waking up confused is cool... I mean, geez, that's gotta be super jarring, to wake up inside a room that you don't remember running into. I like the little things - like Sam picking up his gun from where it seemed to have been placed on the bed (rather than dropped on the floor).

Charlie: "Can we be bestfriend's now?"
- Awww, yes you can.

Sam: "Who's Zeke?"
Dean: "What?"
Sam: "When I came into your room, before I got zapped, I thought you said the name Zeke - who's that?"
Dean: "Uh, you're still a little punchy, man, just keep moving..."

- When it doubt about how to lie, just pretend the other person is insane... it helps if the other person has a history of mental illness and might actually doubt themselves! :P

Charlie: "I had the weirdest dream while I was out. It was Christmas and my parents were still alive-"
Dorothy: "Dream? Charlie, you died. Don't worry about it though, you're not a real hunter until you've died and come back again."
Charlie: "Slow down! Why would you think I died?"
Dorothy: "Heaven, it's your dream life? ..."

- So, at this stage of the season, Heaven's doors were still open to human souls... which makes sense, because heaven needs souls to be powerful, regardless of how many angels are up there. This of course, gets continuity errored later in the season when heaven seems to be closed to human souls as well as angels and reapers.

Dorothy's backstory... it's a pretty cool way to do a crossover, in my opinion. That's essentially what this episode is - it's a crossover between SPN and the Wizard of Oz.

Charlie: "Yeah, that wasn't in the books."
Dorothy: "Sometimes real life is darker than fiction."

- Ah, the lesson that Charlie is slowly learning. There's no such thing as romance, not really. The sunset is beautiful, but that's when the mosquitoes are most active.

Dean: "Why haven't you moved in?"
Sam: "Is now really the time for this, Dean?"
Dean: "Eh, just asking."
Sam: "Look, I never had what you had with Mom and Dad, okay?"
Dean: "What are you talking about?"
Sam: "I don't have any memories of home, and whenever I've tried to make a home of my own, it really hasn't ended well."
Dean: "Yeah, but a lifetime of abandoned building and crappy motel rooms - this is about as close to home as we're going to get. And it's ours!"

- Yup! That's basically what I said. Sam hasn't "moved in" because a)he doesn't have an instinct for what that would look and feel like, b)everytime he's tried in the past, i's never worked out, so why bother?
- But of course, Dean has a point too - just because abandoned buildings and crappy motels are all Sam knows, doesn't mean that those are all he can EVER know.

The garage! I know where that location is now... it's not far from my house. It's really creepy looking building from the outside.

Charlie: "Did you really walk down the yellow brick road in these?"
Dorothy: "No, I never actually wore them. Seemed a bit tacky wearing a dead woman's shoes, you know? Plus, I'm no good in heels."

- Me neither, Dorothy. Also, if I've learned anything from my study of history, it's that only people with practical footwear get their shoes stolen after death.

So, in the original story, the shoes were silver - but the ruby shoes are so iconic, I can see why they went with ruby.

I like their batman voices.

The VFX guys did a great job with Oz.

Charlie: "Sorry about the nards, Dean"
- Hehehe, Charlie's a good friend.

Dorothy: "Alright, let's see what you pencil necks are made of."
- I love Dorothy continually treating Sam and Dean like geeks.

Charlie saves the day! Flying monkeys are scary!

And we get to see a little bit of the entrance.

Charlie: "Ding dong, bitches!"
- I love Charlie.

And they can finally park the car inside! I love how they didn't know there was a garage - it means they've been there for a while, but they haven't actually looked through the ENTIRE building.

Dorothy: "You have no idea how odd it is having a series of books written about you."
Sam: "Actually, I do know, and it is definitely weird. But you know what? End of the day, it's our story, so we get to write it."

- Aw, Sam, I always start humming "always look on the brightside of life" when you're around. :P

Charlie: "So, thanks for the slumber party - and bringing be back from the dead."
Dean: "Uh, I didn't."
Charlie: "Don't BS a BSer! Am I zombie now, do I need to eat brains?"
Dean: "No, you're you, you're going to be fine - just uh, just keep this between us, okay?"
Charlie: "Alright, but only because you raised me from the dead, which you're going to have to explain to me later."

- I like how Charlie automatically jumps to the zombie conclusion. Also, I'm sure Dean is dreading that future conversation.

Dean: "You have no idea what's in Oz, I mean, there's flying monkeys, armies of witches, there's all kinds of danger!"
Charlie: "Promise?"
*Charlie hugs Dean*
*Sam hugs Charlie*
Sam: "You need anything, just tap your heels together three times, okay?"

- Sam, in general, is much more respectful of people's decisions than Dean is. Even though it's coming from a good protective older-brother type place... Dean still questions every decision other people make, whereas Sam is generally just like "okay, if this is what you want to do."

Charlie: "Me? What about you crazy kids, you going to be alright without me?"
*Sam shrugs, gives Dean a look*
Charlie: "Take care of yourselves, boys."

- Aw, Charlie - you don't even know.

So, the first time I watched this, I wanted Charlie and Dorothy to hook up - but I've since revised my opinion and now I'm happy that they're just friends. Because, I realized that my love for hetero male+female friendships without romantic tension is easily translated over to lesbian female+female friendships without romanic tension. Basically, I'm just happy when shows acknowledge that sex isn't the be all end all of life and not always what is forefront on everyone's mind. Charlie wants to be best friends with Dorothy - and Charlie isn't the type to shy away from hitting on girls that she likes, so we can take this to genuinely mean that she wants to be friends, that she's not looking at Dorothy as a sexual object at all. Now, whether or not that friendship eventually turns into something else is another matter altogether, but I like the fact it wasn't even on the table during this first meeting - that they're only focused on the job and getting to know each other as people, and nothing else.

Dean: "You think she'll be back?"
Sam: "'course, there's no place like home."

- Awww.

So, do you think Oz will be the fantasy quest that Charlie has been hoping for? It'll be interesting, if/when she returns, to hear how it was - if it will stay with the model of SPN and be inescapably shitty, or if it will have actually been the adventure that Charlie hoped for. I think it'll help that it's basically a foreign land - things are always more adventurous when you're somewhere you don't really know, because it's harder to see the cracks in the pavement if you don't know where to look for them.

So, let me know what you think in comments. I'll try not to take another three day break. ;)

Oh and once again: LJ spellcheck isn't working, so please forgive any and all spelling errors. 

Date: 2014-09-26 12:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] percysowner.livejournal.com
1) I love that Sam is concerned about Cas too. I've been going on about this for years, so I'm sure you all know how much I love exploring the Sam+Cas friendship... and yeah, I like when they show genuine affection for each other (in the friendship sense). I totally agree on this. I do wish that they would show Cas showing more genuine affection for Sam. Sam has pretty well always believed in Cas, forgiving him and praying to him in the beginning of season seven, showing concern for him now. With Cas, much of the time I feel like he sees Sam as an adjunct to Dean. He saved Sam from Hell and when Sam didn't go to Dean, Cas washed his hands of Sam even though he had no idea what was wrong with him. He broke Sam's wall as a way to get Dean to step down, not because he even thought about how it would affect Sam. I also felt like he took Sam's insanity to please Dean. The thing is, I think Sam and Cas have a lot in common and could be good friends.

Did anything ever come of this idea?! I had forgotten about it. It's brilliant! I suspect that nothing ever came of it, partly because Gadreel wiped Sam's memory of the idea as soon as he could. If they get the angel tracker up and running, then the closest angel is Gadreel and that means either pretending to be Sam full time and trying to fool Dean, or having Gadreel run off.

I love how the bunker just runs on magic (with magical wifi, apparently - unless Sam has a wifi USB thingy. It has to have magical WiFi, even if you have a USB Wifi thingy it has to connect to the internet somehow. I think the bunker came equipped with a wish fulfiller so that once they say "Wow, what we really need is [insert modern equipment here]", said equipment just appears.

Secondly, I guess now I have to give Sam a hard time, because of the two brothers, Dean is actually the one that makes way more literary references - granted, that's because Dean tends to use way more references in general - but still. Dean's very well read. So, Sam, Dean, let me just sit you both down and say: "You are both very very smart. You are both nerds. You are both jocks." Seriously, Dean constantly makes fun of Sam for being a nerd, but Dean's the nerdiest one of them, and Sam constantly makes fun of Dean for being an empty-headed jock, but Sam's actually more of a jock than Dean is... and neither of them are empty-headed. Totally agree here.

But of course, Dean has a point too - just because abandoned buildings and crappy motels are all Sam knows, doesn't mean that those are all he can EVER know. He is right, but I have problems with Dean this season and this episode. He's overridden Sam's wishes by helping Gadreel trick Sam into consent. He's letting Sam think that Sam is losing his mind again to keep the secret. He's willing to keep Sam possessed by Gadreel for longer than necessary to bring Charlie back. And he wants Sam to see home the way Dean does and just suck it up and see the bunker as home. Dean wants Sam to be happy, but he really has a hard time seeing Sam as an autonomous person who sees life differently from Dean. Maybe it's being a big brother and being responsible for Sam all the time, but it's been one of the things that has caused issues in the relationship. Dean could only see Sam going to college as abandoning John and Dean. Dean couldn't even begin to understand that Sam was truly unhappy under John's thumb, so he took Sam's happy memories about escaping John and a life he didn't want to live as rejecting Dean. Later this season he actually acts as if he can give consent to possess Sam to Cas FOR Sam forgetting that Sam has to give the consent. So right now, I'm feeling like Sam gets to define home however he wants to. If for Sam home means a place where hunting doesn't impinge on him, get him an apartment in the nearest town, so Sam can set up his own place that is as untouched by the supernatural as Sam can make it, don't insist that Sam see the place he works as his home. I worked in one place for almost 40 years and I loved working there, but when I wanted to relax, I wanted to go home and not have to think about work until the next day. OTOH, my ex worked out of our house and loved it. I guess I'm someone who likes to keep work and home separate.

Date: 2014-09-26 04:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hells-half-acre.livejournal.com
. He broke Sam's wall as a way to get Dean to step down, not because he even thought about how it would affect Sam. I also felt like he took Sam's insanity to please Dean. The thing is, I think Sam and Cas have a lot in common and could be good friends.

I agree with the last statement, but not those other too. I think Cas genuinely thought that he could fix Sam as soon as he got enough power from the souls - not realizing that they were going to make him megalomaniacal. Yes, breaking Sam's wall was a way to control Dean, but I don't think Cas did it lightly. I also think Cas took Sam's insanity because he genuinely felt guilty for what he had done to SAM. I don't think pleasing Dean was a factor - I think seeing what Sam had become was a sobering point for Cas, who knew it was his fault. But then, that's just my interpretation.

If they get the angel tracker up and running, then the closest angel is Gadreel and that means either pretending to be Sam full time and trying to fool Dean, or having Gadreel run off.

Oh yeah. :P

It has to have magical WiFi, even if you have a USB Wifi thingy it has to connect to the internet somehow. I think the bunker came equipped with a wish fulfiller so that once they say "Wow, what we really need is [insert modern equipment here]", said equipment just appears.

Must be. Though, there ARE USB wifi-thingies that connect through a data network (like mobile phones) rather than over modem. And they DO get cell reception in the bunker - though, that's another magic thing, since they can make calls without their position being triangulated any closer than a 20 mile radius (as we found out in the last Charlie episode)

Dean wants Sam to be happy, but he really has a hard time seeing Sam as an autonomous person who sees life differently from Dean. Maybe it's being a big brother and being responsible for Sam all the time, but it's been one of the things that has caused issues in the relationship.

This is a good point. And I think this happens in a lot of relationships - and I sort of talked about it in one of the previous episode, but Dean has a tendency to project his own feelings onto other people. If he's bored, he assumes everyone is bored. But you're right in that he takes it one step further and starts acting like his priorities and the way he feels about things are the correct priorities and feelings to have. I've talked about this in previous seasons, but I WOULD actually like Dean to be proven wrong at some point. Everyone, so far, has made a mistake except for Dean - of course, that DOES change this season, where Dean's feelings and motives start being the wrong ones... so maybe I'll get more into that.

But yeah, Dean does tend to see things in relation to himself, and how things affect him, rather than how things might feel or affect Sam. Or he DOES think of those things, but then quickly figures out a way to justify getting things his own way anyway - like when he killed Amelia because of his OWN issues with betrayal and monsters, and then blamed Sam for being "too close to her" and Sam ended up agreeing with him, because Sam was half-crazy that season anyway, so maybe Dean was right. :P

I feel like I'm going off on a tangent, so I'll just stop talking now.

Date: 2014-09-26 12:27 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] grasshopr-molly.livejournal.com
I kind of hope we never see Charlie again, because if we do she'll probably die permanently.

Date: 2014-09-26 04:30 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hells-half-acre.livejournal.com
I know, that's the problem with Supernatural - when you love a character, you actually don't want them to be around too much, because you know it's only a matter of time.

Date: 2014-09-26 12:33 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] borgmama1of5.livejournal.com
The point Supernatural has always driven home, though, is that there is nothing romantic about hunting. It's horrible... it's HORROR, not fantasy.

I think that trips up the fans sometimes too...

I think you are spot on with Sam's not home-ifying his room. Every time he's tried to have a home it's turned out bad...and he just may be more comfortable with the impersonalness because it's what he's most familiar with.

Charlie throwing herself in front of Dean was one of those indelible moments to me. Some people just have heroic instincts.

I think it was very significant that Gadreel voluntarily resurrected Cas. If he hadn't Dean wouldn't have necessarily even thought to ask for Charlie to be brought back because he wouldn't have known Gadreel could do it. The whole mess with Metatron coercing Gadreel might not have happened because Sam might have healed before Metatron found Gadreel. But then we wouldn't still have Charlie...

The Charlie-visiting-heaven bit was definitely retconned later...

Dorothy had a little bit too much of a chip on her shoulder for me to warm up to her, but I hope Charlie gets the adventure she wanted...and I hope she comes back to the boys!!!


Date: 2014-09-26 02:10 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] percysowner.livejournal.com
I'm not sure the Charlie visiting heaven is necessarily retconned. From Road Trip when Gadreel asked why Kevin had to die:

METATRON: He was a threat, but I flipped a switch upstairs, and now that Kevin is gone, there will be no more Prophets. And what about Dean Winchester?

The timing isn't stated, but it could mean that until Metatron flipped that switch Heaven was open for business as usual. In Holy Terror, Metatron tells Gadreel that he finds Heaven boring and lonely without the angels, that he wants to bring angels back Heaven. I took it that part of bringing them back was flipping that switch and making sure no more Prophets will exist. I think that when Charlie died Metatron hadn't flipped the switch so she did make it to heaven. Then, in order to keep another Prophet from coming online, Metatron closed the doors to Heaven. It may have been a simple case that in order to keep a Prophet from being activated ALL the doors had to be shut, so nothing going out or in, except Metatron using his super secret doorway. We don't know about souls being stuck in the Veil until Kevin dies, so it is quite possible that it was open until shortly before Kevin was killed.
Edited Date: 2014-09-26 02:11 am (UTC)

Date: 2014-09-26 04:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hells-half-acre.livejournal.com
It's true. Metatron could have flipped the "no more souls in Heaven" switch at a later date.

Date: 2014-09-26 04:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hells-half-acre.livejournal.com
Very true about Gadreel being the one that let Dean knew that resurrections were on the table. And yeah, I mean, even if Gadreel HAD been out of Sam when Metatron found him - Metatron may have still found him, and Gadreel still knew how to get into the bunker, and could have still killed Kevin and stolen the tablets. So - really, we can't play what if's in this scenario, because there are too many variables.

Yeah, they didn't really give us too much time to get to know Dorothy outside of "Dorothy is annoyed my most things." But, maybe we'll see her again, who knows!

Date: 2014-09-26 03:49 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] shadowsong26.livejournal.com
I'm very fond of this episode. I like Dorothy, I like Charlie, I like the 'what the Winchesters do on their day off' moments, I like the flashbacks, I like the way the Witch is handled...I really like pretty much everything about this episode. I just...it's weird, because I have trouble fitting it in with the rest of the season, thematically? Like, this season seems to be all about loyalty, of one kind or another? Both in the positive and in the negative, when loyalty turns into desperation/despair and accidentally cycles back around to betrayal (with sub-themes about possession and transformation--IDK, I should probably work this out properly in my head before I start blathering about it). And this episode doesn't quite fit with that? I mean, it's not the most blatantly off-theme episode I've seen (no, that prize goes to the poker witch with the gorgeous accent), but it feels...I don't want to say out of place, but it's a definite tonal shift in a way that even the other lighter/MotW episodes this season aren't. Which, actually, I don't necessarily remember liking as much as this one, so there it is.

Anyway, moving on.

These early moments are amazing and adorable and I love them. Both the way they offstage Kevin and the boys being cute and yes.

(Side note--are they still running credit card schemes? I figure all the pool halls in Lebanon are wise to them. But there don't seem to be any questions of 'how do the Winchesters get money' anymore, and there haven't been since s7. So I'm kind of curious how they do that now. Maybe Charlie taught them some tricks?)

Yeah, Charlie wanders off to Oz before she actually finishes working up what they asked her to work up...oh, well.

I like Becky! I think I like her more in abstract than actually watching her onscreen (though that may be just me remembering the s7 episode better than her others), but I think she's fun.

And I don't know about the last names? It's weird, though--because there's things in the books that aren't shown to us (like Bela giving Crowley the Colt), and things shown to us that aren't in the books...it makes me wonder what other discrepancies there are. Whether or not the last name turned up in the later books. IDK.

Sam totally needs a 'Hang In There Kitty' poster.

I am so with you on the Dorothy/Captain America meet-up fic.

Oh, Crowley. See, the thing is, he told them right from the get-go that he could talk anyone into anything, and they keep forgetting this, and letting him talk. I said it before, and I'll say it again--there was no way keeping him as their prisoner like this was going to result in Crowley losing.

On that note, while the dungeon may be safe from the Witch, the dungeon also has Crowley. ...and now I want the scene where Crowley and Charlie meet.

I have no idea what's going on with the Veil here--I read a theory somewhere, can't remember where, that Charlie didn't actually go to Heaven, that her ghost basically had a hallucination based on her expectations of death, or something? I'm not quite sure that works with established mythology, but this season seems to be making a lot of stuff up as it goes anyway, so...IDK.

Totally with you on loving that the boys haven't really explored their giant funhouse of TOTALLY AWESOME SHIT OUR GRANDDAD INDIRECTLY LEFT US. And, I mean, it's also a pretty genius move on the writers' part, because at least for a while, they can get a looooooooot of Plot out of 'oh, right, I never went down that hallway, have you?' 'nope' 'TIME FOR A WEEKEND OF EXPLORING' 'oh crap a manticore' 'why is there a manticore' 'WHO CARES WHY IT'S THERE IT'S TRYING TO EAT ME HOW DO WE KILL IT' ...and now I want THAT scene, too.

I agree with you, about liking the fact that Charlie and Dorothy wander off as friends rather than lovers...because amazing platonic relationships yesssss.

Date: 2014-09-26 04:59 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hells-half-acre.livejournal.com
I agree, this episode is strangely lighthearted (even with the temporary death in it) in an otherwise very bleak season.

Side note--are they still running credit card schemes? I figure all the pool halls in Lebanon are wise to them. But there don't seem to be any questions of 'how do the Winchesters get money' anymore, and there haven't been since s7. So I'm kind of curious how they do that now. Maybe Charlie taught them some tricks?

I'm just assuming that they're either running credit card schemes or Charlie taught them some things... or maybe there was a big ol' vault of money in that Bunker.

it makes me wonder what other discrepancies there are. Whether or not the last name turned up in the later books. IDK.

Me too, me too. I think the boys should read them, just in case there is other info that they should have! Though, I guess the books are years old by now, so maybe nothing else applies.

On that note, while the dungeon may be safe from the Witch, the dungeon also has Crowley. ...and now I want the scene where Crowley and Charlie meet.

Yes, I think that would have also been a recipe for disaster - though perhaps a comical one?

I read a theory somewhere, can't remember where, that Charlie didn't actually go to Heaven, that her ghost basically had a hallucination based on her expectations of death, or something? I'm not quite sure that works with established mythology, but this season seems to be making a lot of stuff up as it goes anyway, so...IDK.

I think it was heaven, and you can either believe that Metatron flipped a switch sometime after Charlie's death that meant that the traffic stopped, or you can just blame the writers for not having their mythology for the season ironed out right from the beginning.

And, I mean, it's also a pretty genius move on the writers' part, because at least for a while, they can get a looooooooot of Plot out of 'oh, right, I never went down that hallway, have you?' 'nope' 'TIME FOR A WEEKEND OF EXPLORING' 'oh crap a manticore' 'why is there a manticore' 'WHO CARES WHY IT'S THERE IT'S TRYING TO EAT ME HOW DO WE KILL IT' ...and now I want THAT scene, too.

Hahaha, me too. But yeah, maybe we'll see more of it this season too?

I agree with you, about liking the fact that Charlie and Dorothy wander off as friends rather than lovers...because amazing platonic relationships yesssss.

YESSS!

Date: 2014-09-26 05:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] percysowner.livejournal.com
(Side note--are they still running credit card schemes? I figure all the pool halls in Lebanon are wise to them. But there don't seem to be any questions of 'how do the Winchesters get money' anymore, and there haven't been since s7. So I'm kind of curious how they do that now. Maybe Charlie taught them some tricks?)

Total head canon here, but I think the Men of Letters had to have funds that they had access to. Hunting for, buying and cataloging supernatural artifacts costs money. So I'm betting there was an MOL account that somebody named Winchester could access (Sam and Dean are Legacies and Henry may have been a legacy as well). Even if it wasn't in their name, I bet they or some magical artifact can forge documents that will let them get to funds that have been accruing interest since 1958. Heck if the MOL invested some of their money in stocks, there would be a boatload of money sitting around waiting to be used.

Date: 2014-09-27 02:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cappy712.livejournal.com
Thank you for a great review.

Something that bothered me was how Kevin said heaven was closed and therefore the spirits were not able to cross over but Yet Charlie seemed to cross? How is that, was it because it was so close after the gates closed that it was congested yet?

Something to think about. Enjoyed the review.

Date: 2014-09-27 05:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hells-half-acre.livejournal.com
Yeah, there's two ways you can think about that: 1)The veil was closed sometime between episode 4 and episode 10. Perhaps as part of the way to prevent more prophets being created. Or 2)the writers messed up.

At least, that's what I see as the two options!

Glad you enjoyed the review!

Date: 2014-10-09 10:31 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] supernutjapan.livejournal.com
I dislike this episode just because they seem to let Charlie go back into her fantasy world after all that talk about facing reality in the past eps. I really hope she gets there and finds out that it is just the same as the world she came from.

Date: 2014-10-09 03:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hells-half-acre.livejournal.com
Yes, I agree. Dorothy seemed to be more down to earth and she's spent a lot of time in Oz, so perhaps it is!

Date: 2014-10-26 03:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pushistyj-koshk.livejournal.com
Re: I love how the bunker just runs on magic (with magical wifi, apparently - unless Sam has a wifi USB thingy.)

Remember how in 8.20 Pac-Man Fever we found out that it's impossible to track the phones to the bunker? You could track FROM the bunker though. So magic, yeah ))


Re: I don't know, if I found a weird growth thing on my wall that looked like a cocoon, I'd probably burn it before I cut it open to see what was in there. Do you know what comes out of weird cocoon type things?! BUGS. Gross gross bugs.

Yes! Who cares what's in it! Just burn the nope-thing.


Re: Ugh, why do they always slice along the palm? It doesn't make any sense.

This! It's going to hurt like hell and not be very comfy afterwards. Also remember how Dean and Frank checked neither of them was a leviathan? Using the same knife?! Dudes!!! STD!!!!

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