Rewatch S10: Hibbing 911 10x08
Dec. 14th, 2015 11:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hells_half_acreTime for some Sheriff Jody and Donna action!
Hibbing 911
I really like Jody and Donna. The interesting thing about Donna is that her first episode wasn't that she was super bad-ass, or super clever, or anything like that - it was that she was NICE. She was KIND.. and everyone was just like "Damn, I want to be her friend and therefore I want Sam and Dean to be her friend." And the Show felt the same way...
Anyway, while I typed that, graffiti guy got killed for having derivative street art.
Jody!
Jody: "How old are you?"
Girl: "Nineteen"
Jody: "Get yourself some lunch."
- Awww, lunch is eating someone, Jody - but your heart was in the right place.
Donna! Awww, she's so nice.
Donna: "What's wrong? Left your smile back in Sioux Falls?"
Jody: "I left a kid back in Sioux Falls, plus a pile of work, but when the mayor insists you go..."
Donna: "You gotta go! Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear you. Here, have a sucker!"
Jody: "No thank you...oh, okay."
- So, again, they play this really well, I think - because Donna isn't doing anything wrong, she's being friendly and kind, but Jody is a much more cynical person and is also in a bad mood already, so, it's happiness is going to annoy her. Donna doesn't insist that she be happy though, she commiserates, and then tries to do something kind. And I just like how she silently insists that Jody take the sucker, and that Jody does, because it's one of those "I need to help, but don't know how, and this is all I can do, and I need you to accept it so that I can feel better about this exchange" and "Ah, I understand this gift is not about me, but about you wanting to help, and I understand, thank you for wanting to help" exchanges.
Donna: "I lost six pounds"
Doug: "Hey, you're a quarter of the way there!"
- I love the look on Jody's face right there, where suddenly switches from "This perky person is slightly annoying" to "I'm gonna have to cut you for being rude to this perky person."
- Also, if 6 pounds is a quarter of the way there, then Doug thinks that Donna need(ed) to lose 24 pounds. I'm actually not a dissimilar body-size to Donna, I may have a few extra pounds on her actually, and the one time that I lost 20 pounds, all my friends started obessessively feeding me... I mean, yeah, I didn't lose those pounds in the healthiest of circumstances, but still.
Donna: "Doug and I used to be married."
Jody: "Got it."
- The thing that breaks my heart about Donna, and also explains why she does have so many self-esteem issues, is that she WAS married to Doug. I don't know how long they were married, but let's assume Donna is the same age as Briana Buckmaster...who I don't know the age of either... but, let's say she's at least in her thirties. If we go with stereotypes of first marriages, they tend to be marriages that occured in your early twenties, you usually date for a few years beforehand, or at least one year, plus one to plan the wedding after your engagement. This is all to say that Donna and Doug were probably together for anywhere from 5 to 10 to 15 years.... now, imagine that you are married to someone who constantly, in various subtle and not-so-subtle ways, puts you down for the way you look. Doug's pretty overt about it even when he thinks he means well "you're a quarter of the way there!"... so, imagine when their marriage was falling apart and he was actually angry about things like her liking milkshakes more than him, or whatever it was... like, geez, Donna has been WORN DOWN. And Briana does a great job at showing that on Donna's face as Jody walks away and Donna doesn't have anyone looking at her anymore.
Dean: "Right? You'd think these eggheads with all the crap they amassed over the years would have actually collected something important. Ah, here, 'He Wolf She Wolf: A Study in Werewolf Transgenderism' six hundred pages, volume 1. But something important, I don't know, maybe the oldest symbol known to man? That's not worth our time. It's not weird enough!"
- I really want to read that paper.
- Also, Dean - why did you even take that paper off the shelf? It's quite clearly NOT APPLICABLE.
- And I should mention that I've seen criticism about this episode that points out that the term "Transgender" wouldn't have been used during the years that the Men of Letters were active, as it's a very modern term... apparently.
- But, I do love that this illustrates the big difference between Men of Letters and Hunters... the MoL were the academics, the theoritical physicists; Hunters were the people in the field, they were the enginners. Yes, theoritical physics can have a big effect on engineering, but not all of it does - string theory is great, but it doesn't help build the Brooklyn Bridge.
Back to the Sheriff retreat and we get HANK! Otherwise known as Fred Ewanuick - who played Hank Yarbo on Corner Gas for (I'm not joking) six seasons and a movie. Anyway, Canadian shows don't usually last that long, because Canadian TV networks/funding people suck. Anyway, in this episode Fred is playing Len.
Donna: "'Preparing for a Riot, Why Not Try It' haha, why not!"
Kevin: "Donna, you hear about the body?"
Donna: "What body?"
- I love the change, because the other reason I like Donna is because she's got a different personality to most of the "cop types" you see on TV - but that doesn't mean that she's not incompetant at her job. Jody is more the classic cop - sort of, a bit more 'masculinized' for lack of a better word. I know Donna is based in large part on Frances McDormand's character in Fargo, but Donna's her own person too, and I like the fact that she can have more 'feminine' personality traits and still be a good cop.
I also love all the little nicknames that Donna gives Jody.
*phone rings*
*Sam looks at phone*
Sam: "No way" *smiles* *answers* "Jody! How's it going?!"
- I love Sam, I love that Sam has a friend. I mean, Jody is Dean's friend too, but by and large she tends to spend more time with Sam, her history is with fighting alongside Sam, and she's calling SAM here, not Dean... and I just really love Sam and Jody as friends.
Sam: "...Dean says Hi"
Jody: "You found him!? Thanks for telling me!"
Sam: "Right, yeah, sorry about that."
Jody: "How's he doing?"
Sam: "Good, good, you know, hold on a sec, I'm going to put you on speaker."
- Oh Sam, I can't believe you didn't phone Jody and let her know that you found Dean. But, I like the fact that Jody knew he was missing - Sam probably called her to ask her to keep her eye out for him and that was it, but I like the idea of Sam having friends that he can turn to for help when Dean's not around (or BECAUSE Dean's not around), because that's way healthier than having no one... mind you, Sam tends to push everyone away when Dean dies, but still.
- I also like the way Dean lifts his head when Sam says "Good" the first time, like he KNOWS that Sam is suddenly feeling awkward because he was just asked a question about Dean.
Dean: "Hey Jody, how's Alex holding up?"
Jody: "Awesome, already head of the cheerleading squad!"
Sam: "Wow. Really?"
Jody: "No, Sam, she smokes grass under the bleachers, but at least she's not luring men to their death."
- Awww, I love it. I love the fact that Jody gives them the perfect first answer as a joke, because it would be unbelievable and hilarious if that were true. I also like the fact that Alex smokes grass under the bleachers figures that's a win too. I just... I like imperfect families. It's gotta be a huge adjustment for Jody to go from having no family (anymore) to having a teenage daughter too, so I'm sure they're both being imperfect for each other.
Sam: "Well, enjoy the retreat"
Jody: "Screw you, Winchester."
Sam: "Heheh, talk soon"
- Awww, I love Sam's little smile there. Seriously, this friendship is killing me. This is probably why Show doesn't give Sam more friends, it's because he KILLS ME WITH ADORABLENESS.
Dean: "I'm going to swallow a bag of knives, I have to keep looking at this stuff, let's-"
Sam: "Jody said she was on top of it, Dean."
Dean: "Uh huh" *puppy eyes of doom*
Sam: "Alright, let's take a drive."
- Haha, again, dead from adorableness...and Dean can't claim that Sam is the one with the puppy-eyes that get him whatever he wants. HE LEARNED IT FROM YOU, DEAN!
I love how Donna USES her kindness to get what she wants. Like, yes, she could just be genuinely kind to the morgue lady, but I think she knows full well how to appeal to people to get what she wants out of them. You have to use what you know - Sam and Dean always use authority. Donna uses seemingly innocuous kindness. I think Jody tends to use honesty - (ie: "I'm just trying to help out") and that usually gets her honesty in return, but not always the kind she wants ("I'm just trying not to lose my job.")
I also like how the morgue lady is a lady too.
I also like how Donna has those cute reading glasses. So cute!
Donna: "You know, I've been hunting since I could hold a mini-rifle, seen darn near every bite in the book, but I couldn't tell you who did the biting here."
Jody: "I was afraid of that."
Donna: "Meaning?"
Jody: "Nothing. Got me stumped too."
- Donna totally knows Jody is lying there.
- Also, I like how they start setting up that Donna, at the very least, is a seasoned regular hunter. Personally, I don't like hunting, but in the SPN universe, it certainly gives characters a leg-up for dealing with monsters. Add in the fact that Donna has firearms training from work, and she's set up to be a really good auxillery Hunter.
Woman: "Don't you go smoking, Howie!"
Howie: "Ugh, just watch your Top Model!"
- I just bingewatched cycle 22 of Top Model. Fun times. I only watched it because I already knew who won and wanted to see them win. And now Howie is dead.
Jody: "Honestly, Donna, I just met the guy, but Doug seems like kind of a dick."
Donna: "But he was my dick."
- In all senses of the word, I'm sure.
Donna: "I'm going to go hit the can, you know, where it's less gross."
- Aww, Donna. I like that line.
Jody: "All good?"
Deputy: "All good with the raffle."
Jody: "Can we get real, please?"
Len: "Alright, um..."
- See, honesty... in a sort of demanding way.
Jody: "Alex, stop! Why do I hear firecrackers?!..."
Donna: "So, maybe your life isn't all cupcakes either."
Jody: "Never said it was."
- I think it's easy for us to put ourselves in Donna's shoes, and assume that Jody was/is looking down at her - we're also used to the narrative of the "cool" cynical people looking down on anyone who displays joy. But, I don't think Jody was ever actually doing that. Donna annoys her, sure, but I don't think Jody holds that against Donna's character.
Donna: "Uh oh, flying the coup without me, again?"
- So, I was all set to argue that Jody COULD have stepped out just to take a phone-call, but I forgot about the keys in her hand - and that THEY'RE the reason that Donna knew she was leaving.
Donna: "Anything I can help with there?"
Jody: "Not unless you've got any gems about how to handle a teenage girl, because mine is-"
Donna: "Kind of a dick!"
*Jody and Donna both laugh*
Jody: "She's got a whole lot more in there too, really good stuff."
- Donna takes a step closer just after they laugh, and that's basically where I start shipping them, because can a step forward be flirtatious? Well, now it can.
- Also, as much as I think Jody actually misses Donna's point here - she also confirms it. People get married for a reason... and Donna had a reason to marry Doug. There were reasons that she loved him that blinded her to the hundreds of microaggressions against her until it was too late. This is why abusive relationships happen. No one is ever pure evil - it'd be really easy to stay safe that way. For the most part, people who end up hurting their loved ones are also super charming and charismatic, they rescue puppies, and they give to charity, and they buy thoughtful gifts and they know how to have a good time... and you don't notice the abusive behaviours until they start escolating. Donna isn't an idiot for having loved Doug once upon a time. (Also, fyi: I'm not saying Doug was abusive beyond the bit of emotional abuse/put-downs that we've seen, I'm just taking the example to an extreme). Just like Jody can still love Alex even though she's a rebellious teenager who is making Jody's life hard.
Donna: "So, fresh corpse, jerk ex-husband, out of countrol teen - want to get blingoed on my minibar and watch pay-per-view?"
Jody: "Thanks, I'm going to crash. It's been a long day."
Donna: "Don't I know it."
- Actually, I'd go as far as to say that Jody isn't looking down on Donna, but rather, the opposite - she thinks Donna has it much more together than Jody does. Jody isn't declining Donna's invite because she doesn't want to spend more time with Donna - that doesn't come across in her face at all. She seems very sincere in the fact that it's been a long day and she's just not up for getting blingoed and watching pay-per-view. Except when looking at Doug earlier, Donna never lets her face fall until Jody has turned away, which means Jody doesn't SEE that Donna is desperately trying to make a friend and feeling rebuffed at every turn.
- Also, there's the fact that Jody is honestly trying to keep Donna in the dark about what's really going on. Jody is a very honest person, as we've seen, and it's probably hard for her to connect as a friend while ACTIVELY keeping secrets.
Sam and Dean do this great thing when they walk into the Sheriff's retreat - or rather, Jared and Jensen do - because for just a moment, you can see that they're NERVOUS. They're literally too (formerly/presumed-dead) wanted men walking into a building full of cops...while impersonating FBI agents. And yes, they walk into police stations all the time, but police stations have a lot more distractions.
Also, it occurs to me that Hibbing is where the Benders took place. Obviously, S1 is too long ago to call-back to, and probably the writers maybe didn't even realize... and Len is now the Sheriff and there's no mention of the Sheriff/cop who helped Dean find Sam and avenged her brother... but, in an alternate reality where you CAN call back to a S1 character nine years later, it'd have been cool to have it mentioned, if only in a passing line. Maybe someone has written a fanfic somewhere of that cop being at the retreat and recognizing Dean... who knows.
Sam: "Hey, isn't that Donna?!"
Dean: "Fat-spa Donna!"
Jody: "You guys know my stalker?"
Dean: "Yeah, she actually nearly blew a case for us last time."
Jody: "I haven't been able to shake that ray of sunshine since I got here. She's actually been pretty helpful, but it's just tough keeping her out of this nightmare stuff, you know."
- I love that Sam remembered her name.
- Also, I didn't realize there was a tradition, set-up by this episode, of Dean and/or Sam, identifying Donna by referring to the case they first met her on...it makes me forgive Sam's "fat-sucker Donner?" question in S11. Though, hopefully it goes away whenever/if-ever she comes back again. I think after this episode and the S11 episode, Donna can just be identified as being Donna, thanks. :)
- Also, again, we have Jody being annoyed, calling Donna a stalker, but she also says that Donna is helpful and also that the most annoying thing about having Donna around isn't DONNA, it's hiding the truth about what's going on.
Jody: "You show up and now I'm a babysitter?"
Dean: "Look, she hasn't gotten mixed up in this crap yet, let's just try to keep it that way."
- I like how Dean always tries to protect everybody. We could have another debate over what's more precious - knowledge or innocense, but I won't go there. Suffice it to say, if I knew the apple opened my eyes, I wouldn't need a snake to talk me into eating it. (I also wouldn't be ashamed - I'd look down at my nakedness and think 'damn, girl! You got it going on!')
Donna: "...what dragged you in?"
Dean: "Uh, well, we can't talk about it."
Donna: "Oh, I hear you. Anything I can help with?"
Sam: "No, no, no, no, nothing."
- See, just, Donna wanting to help... she's SO NICE AND KIND. Like, she's the sort of friend you can really rely on, you know? Man, Donna's the best.
Jody: "Actually, Sheriff, I was thinking we could go check out the gear expo"
Donna: "What about the morgue?"
Jody: "Well, you know, like you said, animal control will handle that."
*Donna glances at Sam and Dean, glances back at Jody*
Donna: "Well, if it's cool with you, it's cool with me..."
- Donna totally knows that she's being babysat, or that Jody is suddenly distracting her from the case - but she takes a leap and trusts that if JODY is also leaving the case for the moment, then it's for a good reason. I think Donna probably gets frustrated when Jody doesn't tell her what that reason is as soon as they are out of ear-shot of Sam and Dean though.
Sam: "...this time, try to be a little less defensive of your pretend job."
Dean: "You know, this badge means something."
Sam: "I made it at Kinkos"
Dean: "Yes, you did. Be proud of that."
- I love Dean. I love Jensen's delivery of this line. Like, he's just not willing to admit that he's being ridiculous... but honestly, I totally get where he's coming from. Dean and Sam having been impersonating FBI agents for so long, it's no wonder that Dean gets personally offended when people insult the FBI. :P
Gundealer: "Officer-ladies! Check this one out!"
- This guy is already getting off on the wrong foot by tacking on "ladies" at the end of "officer" when he really should just be saying "officers"
- And as a further aside, I've got a transmasculine friend and everytime a shopkeeper "ladies" us when we're out together, that shopkeeper USUALLY loses business. I know I'm so gorgeous that it makes everyone around me seem more feminine than they are, but that's no excuse to ignore the visual cues that someone might not like being called a lady. So, if any of you guys are shopkeepers (or servers/waiters) or work in customer service at all - please try to think of gender-neutral forms of address. :)
Doug: "...Sheriff Hanscum here is a wolf in sheepskin."
Donna: "Thank you; wolves are majestic creatures. But save your flattery for other female-people."
- For some reason I love the term "female-people". Also, I agree that wolves are majestic creatures.
- More importantly though, we see a GLIMMER of good in Doug here, because he is saying that Donna is more than what she appears, that she's competant and fierce, and knows what she's talking about when it comes to guns. So, we get at least a hint that Doug supported Donna's career.
Doug: "Cufflinks! It's a dating site for cops... you on it, Donna?"
Donna: "No, I'm not quite there yet."
Doug: "Oh, still getting into date-shape?" *pinches Donna's love handles*
*Donna scoots away*
Donna: "It's more like trying to get through the stuff on my DVR first."
*Donna and Doug both laugh*
Jody: "Oh for the love of God-" *to Doug* "What is wrong with you!? You get off on fat-shaming chicks?" *to Donna* "You are so not fat, by the way." *to Doug* "And you, you are just a douche."
Doug: "Well, okay, I'll just uh... okay, then."
- Briana does a great thing with her face while Jody turns on Doug, because you can see that it's not that Donna disagrees with Jody, it's that she feels sympathy for Doug. Doug and her were married, so, at least, for a period of time, Doug was like her bestfriend... and you never want to see your bestfriend called names. It's not like you stop loving people overnight either, and judging by how hard Donna took the divorce, I'm betting it was Doug who ended it, so Donna has more work when it comes to falling out of love. Doug's already done it, but Donna probably didn't start the process until the divorce... and I mean, on average, it takes seven years. So, as much as Doug IS a douche, Donna still loves him, or, at least the version of him that she thought she married.
- That being said, I think Doug DOES get off on fat-shaming chicks and he deserves every word that Jody said to him and more.
Donna: "What the h-e-double hockeysticks, Jody?! Calling my ex a douche to his face!"
Jody: "Well, it didn't look like you were going to do it!"
Donna: "What would be the point! We're divorced! You really think I'm going to change him now?!"
Jody: "So he gets to treat you like a doormat forever, is that it?"
Donna: "How about this, until you've actually lost a husband, you keep your mouth zipped about mine!"
- So, yes, Donna says the wrong thing at the end there - but she also has a point. You don't know what relationship balances are keeping people together/civil. It could be that being overly pleasant during forced social interactions is the only way that Donna can get THROUGH those social interactions. I mean, it's sort of the relationship I have with my own father - it's easier just to pretend like nothing is wrong with our relationship whenever I see him, which is usually just once a year these days. He's not going to stop believing his version of the story when it comes to how things went-down in our family, and any apology he could ever give me would be as insincere and placating as my pretending there's nothing wrong is... only this way, we also avoid having to discuss it, which is quite nice - because if we discussed it we'd just end up at a point where he's not sorry and I don't forgive him, only it'd actually be out there in the room instead of filed in the filing cabinet. You know? Anyway, I think Donna and Doug are like that - There's no point to Donna putting in the work to change Doug now, because it's better to just be done with him... more than that, since they obviously have to see each other in a work-capacity from time to time, it's probably easier if they avoid talking about the elephant in the room and making things even more awkward than they already are.
I like that Donna can see that she hit a bad button with Jody right away - and this time, when she offers to talk about it and Jody says "not right now", Donna recognizes that the best thing would be for them to step away from each other and take a breath - because at this point their both accidentally hurting each other, due to the fact that they don't REALLY know each other well enough to be having these conversations.
I like how Dean uses the deputy's ambition against him. Again though, it's the use of authority - "someone who can play with the big boys in DC"
Then Donna sees Len's vampire teeth. The thing with Vampires is that back in S1-S3, they could smell-track you, and they could hear a heartbeat three blocks away... now, maybe Donna is downwind, and maybe the heartbeat-thing is only for the newly turned who need to find food more instinctively... but yeah, Supernatural has a weird habit of declawing it's monsters, so to speak.
Jody: "How'ya doing, kiddo?"
Dean: "Me? I'm fine, why?"
Jody: "Word around the campfire is you went off the Rez a couple months back."
- "off the rez" is such an interesting phrase historically, and not one that I think we should be using - as I'm pretty sure that while slight, it's a slur against Native Americans. Like, we wouldn't say, "I heard you left the plantation a couple months back" ... though, I guess eventually "beyond the pale" came to be disassociated with being a slur against the Irish. And both mean that you're acting outside the bounds of acceptable behaviour.... man, the English and their colonists really liked declaring that other cultures were "unacceptable behaviour", didn't they? (Though, I just looked it up, and "beyond the pale" also might have a non-racist origin too - so, maybe people should use "beyond the pale" instead of "off the rez" since they both mean roughly the same, but one doesn't refer to the forced relocation, confinement, and erasure of entire cultures.)
- Anyway, back to the show, I like it that Jody calls Dean "kiddo" - I don't think Kim Rhodes is THAT much older than Dean, is she? Like, maybe just a few years, right? Wrong? Is she the same age as JDM? He's only 12 years older than Dean, I think.
Dean: "You and Sam been passing notes in class?"
- Yes, Dean, because when you go missing, I'm pretty sure it's not outside the realm of possibility that Sam might call a cop that he knows and ask her to keep an eye out - cops see a LOT of people day-to-day... not to mention that Jody would also be able to keep tabs on any strange events that were mentioned in police channels only and not to the public.
- Though, Dean does smile at the end of saying that, so he knows why...and he appreciates the fact that Jody was there fore Sam, I think. Jensen communicates a lot in smiles. ;)
Jody: "Just saying, I make a mean bowl of chowder if you ever need to talk."
Dean: "I appreciate that."
- There friendship and sincerity in this episode is killing me. It's like all the actors decided that they're characters would react to things with normal human emotion.
- Also, I like that Jody is friends with BOTH of the boys...as much as I love that she's a little bit closer to Sam. I love that she holds affection for both of them. Sometimes I feel like Dean's friends are friends with Dean and just sort of acknowledge Sam as exisiting... though, I think that's hard to say with Cas, since he actually boldly declared that Sam was his friend in S5, even if we never really saw their connection until later seasons.
Donna: "... and his mouth was full of... shark teeth! Like some kinda-"
Jody: "Monster."
Donna: "Yeah, you think I'm crazy."
Jody: "No. Did he see you?"
Donna: "No, I hid, like a chump. You really believe me."
- Awww, and now that Jody doesn't have to hid things anymore, they can have a BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP.
- Seriously though, I love the way that Donna tells her - and the fact that Jody doesn't try to put the lid back on the box. And that Donna trusts "those FBI guys" if Jody trusts them.
- I also love that Donna chastizes herself for hiding, because that tells her that it's not normal behaviour for her to hide from the bad guys - and of course it wouldn't be, seeing as how she's a sheriff and had to get that position for REASONS - but it's also TV, so they could have her be whatever way they want, they CHOOSE to make Donna competant, because that makes for a better character and story, rather than just a comic-relief character.
*Sam and Dean come in the room*
Donna: "She just pulled a machete"
Jody: "Sheriff Cruise is a vampire"
- I love how Donna sort of does a "I'm telling on you" thing - even though they can see that Jody is standing there with a machete.
I like how Sam and Dean change out of their suits as soon as Donna knows.
Donna: "Wait, so when we were at the weight-loss spa-"
Dean: "Monsters - sucking on your fat."
- I just love Sam's face there when he glares at Dean for being so blunt about it.
Dean: "You're going to sit this one out."
Donna: "Stuff you, Dean! Or whatever your real name is."
Jody: "Hanscum's good."
Sam: "Jody."
Jody: "I said she's good."
- Sam and Dean always condescend to civilians, unless they need something out of them - Sam didn't condescend to Jody when they first met because he NEEDED her to help him. So, this isn't them being chauvenistic, no matter what Donna might assume... and I think Jody knows this too, which is why her vouching for Donna is enough.
- I also think that Jody is just super happy that Donna is obviously ONLY a doormat when it comes to Doug, and that she's more than capable of standing up for herself with other men.
- I also love that Sam tries to argue just by saying Jody's name... that's a friend thing to do - it's how Sam argues with Dean as well.
They really did pull up far too close to that barn though - again, SPN declawing their monsters. Back in S1, they had to cloak their scent and hike in and all sorts of stuff.
*vampire goes for Dean's belt*
Dean: "Wh-? I'm not in the mood."
- I totally missed that line the first time through. The thing is, you could take it as a joke, but part of Dean must actually fear that's what she's going for.
And Donna breaks her glasses to cut the rope... that's why they had to establish that she had glasses earlier. I just thought it was a cute character choice.
I think Len stalls the vampires on purpose, trying to give the Hunters more time to escape. Poor Len.
VampireGirl: "We love you brother, but we don't know who you are anymore"
- This is sort of the inverse of Dean, where they don't recognise their brother because he's gone good...whereas Sam eventually won't recognize Dean because he goes bad. :P
Dean takes down two vamps, but it's Donna who saves Jody!
Donna: "Hakuna Matata, Lady"
- I love how Jody is surprised, but then immediately goes into "Go you!" facial expression. And it's only then that Donna really realizes what she just did.
Dean: "Now that's what I'm talking about."
*Donna smiles*
- I LOVE that shot of Donna smiling with the blood on her face. It's a gorgeous character moment. (And I think Jody is falling in love in the background).
Donna: "I just chopped off a vampires head"
Jody: "You were great at that!"
Donna: "Thanks!"
- Seriously, they are both SO CUTE. Friends 4eva. Do they have a ship name portmanteau? Jonna?
Dean: "Yeah, you know for the first time I've been back, I didn't feel like the Mark was pushing me."
Sam: "First time?"
- Yeah, good news for Dean, bad news for Sam... because it means Dean's not been honest with him up until now.
Donna: "Knowing that those things are out there, makes the world seem, I don't know...bigger, darker."
- Jody's face here is great, because she loses her smile as she realizes that Donna might have lost a bit of what made her sunshine, and as much as Donna's sunshine annoyed Jody, Jody obviously doesn't want it to go anywhere.
Jody: "If you want any pointers on how to fight this crazy crap, I'm willing to fill you in - you know, what kills what."
Donna: "I'd like that."
- FRIENDSHIP! They just needed to be on equal footing... probably, Jody's been feeling a little isolated as the only person in the north who knew what was what - and now she's got someone close by who does too. And Donna has the friend that she wanted as well! WINS ALL AROUND!
Well, that was fun! It also took me four hours, but in fairness, I got distracted by the internet part way through.
We're getting closer to Christmas, so hopefully I can get more of these done, since I'm ditching one of my jobs for the next two weeks. Mind you, the other job is ridiculously busy over Christmas, so that doesn't necessarily mean that I'll have more time... we'll just have to see how it shakes out.
Hibbing 911
I really like Jody and Donna. The interesting thing about Donna is that her first episode wasn't that she was super bad-ass, or super clever, or anything like that - it was that she was NICE. She was KIND.. and everyone was just like "Damn, I want to be her friend and therefore I want Sam and Dean to be her friend." And the Show felt the same way...
Anyway, while I typed that, graffiti guy got killed for having derivative street art.
Jody!
Jody: "How old are you?"
Girl: "Nineteen"
Jody: "Get yourself some lunch."
- Awww, lunch is eating someone, Jody - but your heart was in the right place.
Donna! Awww, she's so nice.
Donna: "What's wrong? Left your smile back in Sioux Falls?"
Jody: "I left a kid back in Sioux Falls, plus a pile of work, but when the mayor insists you go..."
Donna: "You gotta go! Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear you. Here, have a sucker!"
Jody: "No thank you...oh, okay."
- So, again, they play this really well, I think - because Donna isn't doing anything wrong, she's being friendly and kind, but Jody is a much more cynical person and is also in a bad mood already, so, it's happiness is going to annoy her. Donna doesn't insist that she be happy though, she commiserates, and then tries to do something kind. And I just like how she silently insists that Jody take the sucker, and that Jody does, because it's one of those "I need to help, but don't know how, and this is all I can do, and I need you to accept it so that I can feel better about this exchange" and "Ah, I understand this gift is not about me, but about you wanting to help, and I understand, thank you for wanting to help" exchanges.
Donna: "I lost six pounds"
Doug: "Hey, you're a quarter of the way there!"
- I love the look on Jody's face right there, where suddenly switches from "This perky person is slightly annoying" to "I'm gonna have to cut you for being rude to this perky person."
- Also, if 6 pounds is a quarter of the way there, then Doug thinks that Donna need(ed) to lose 24 pounds. I'm actually not a dissimilar body-size to Donna, I may have a few extra pounds on her actually, and the one time that I lost 20 pounds, all my friends started obessessively feeding me... I mean, yeah, I didn't lose those pounds in the healthiest of circumstances, but still.
Donna: "Doug and I used to be married."
Jody: "Got it."
- The thing that breaks my heart about Donna, and also explains why she does have so many self-esteem issues, is that she WAS married to Doug. I don't know how long they were married, but let's assume Donna is the same age as Briana Buckmaster...who I don't know the age of either... but, let's say she's at least in her thirties. If we go with stereotypes of first marriages, they tend to be marriages that occured in your early twenties, you usually date for a few years beforehand, or at least one year, plus one to plan the wedding after your engagement. This is all to say that Donna and Doug were probably together for anywhere from 5 to 10 to 15 years.... now, imagine that you are married to someone who constantly, in various subtle and not-so-subtle ways, puts you down for the way you look. Doug's pretty overt about it even when he thinks he means well "you're a quarter of the way there!"... so, imagine when their marriage was falling apart and he was actually angry about things like her liking milkshakes more than him, or whatever it was... like, geez, Donna has been WORN DOWN. And Briana does a great job at showing that on Donna's face as Jody walks away and Donna doesn't have anyone looking at her anymore.
Dean: "Right? You'd think these eggheads with all the crap they amassed over the years would have actually collected something important. Ah, here, 'He Wolf She Wolf: A Study in Werewolf Transgenderism' six hundred pages, volume 1. But something important, I don't know, maybe the oldest symbol known to man? That's not worth our time. It's not weird enough!"
- I really want to read that paper.
- Also, Dean - why did you even take that paper off the shelf? It's quite clearly NOT APPLICABLE.
- And I should mention that I've seen criticism about this episode that points out that the term "Transgender" wouldn't have been used during the years that the Men of Letters were active, as it's a very modern term... apparently.
- But, I do love that this illustrates the big difference between Men of Letters and Hunters... the MoL were the academics, the theoritical physicists; Hunters were the people in the field, they were the enginners. Yes, theoritical physics can have a big effect on engineering, but not all of it does - string theory is great, but it doesn't help build the Brooklyn Bridge.
Back to the Sheriff retreat and we get HANK! Otherwise known as Fred Ewanuick - who played Hank Yarbo on Corner Gas for (I'm not joking) six seasons and a movie. Anyway, Canadian shows don't usually last that long, because Canadian TV networks/funding people suck. Anyway, in this episode Fred is playing Len.
Donna: "'Preparing for a Riot, Why Not Try It' haha, why not!"
Kevin: "Donna, you hear about the body?"
Donna: "What body?"
- I love the change, because the other reason I like Donna is because she's got a different personality to most of the "cop types" you see on TV - but that doesn't mean that she's not incompetant at her job. Jody is more the classic cop - sort of, a bit more 'masculinized' for lack of a better word. I know Donna is based in large part on Frances McDormand's character in Fargo, but Donna's her own person too, and I like the fact that she can have more 'feminine' personality traits and still be a good cop.
I also love all the little nicknames that Donna gives Jody.
*phone rings*
*Sam looks at phone*
Sam: "No way" *smiles* *answers* "Jody! How's it going?!"
- I love Sam, I love that Sam has a friend. I mean, Jody is Dean's friend too, but by and large she tends to spend more time with Sam, her history is with fighting alongside Sam, and she's calling SAM here, not Dean... and I just really love Sam and Jody as friends.
Sam: "...Dean says Hi"
Jody: "You found him!? Thanks for telling me!"
Sam: "Right, yeah, sorry about that."
Jody: "How's he doing?"
Sam: "Good, good, you know, hold on a sec, I'm going to put you on speaker."
- Oh Sam, I can't believe you didn't phone Jody and let her know that you found Dean. But, I like the fact that Jody knew he was missing - Sam probably called her to ask her to keep her eye out for him and that was it, but I like the idea of Sam having friends that he can turn to for help when Dean's not around (or BECAUSE Dean's not around), because that's way healthier than having no one... mind you, Sam tends to push everyone away when Dean dies, but still.
- I also like the way Dean lifts his head when Sam says "Good" the first time, like he KNOWS that Sam is suddenly feeling awkward because he was just asked a question about Dean.
Dean: "Hey Jody, how's Alex holding up?"
Jody: "Awesome, already head of the cheerleading squad!"
Sam: "Wow. Really?"
Jody: "No, Sam, she smokes grass under the bleachers, but at least she's not luring men to their death."
- Awww, I love it. I love the fact that Jody gives them the perfect first answer as a joke, because it would be unbelievable and hilarious if that were true. I also like the fact that Alex smokes grass under the bleachers figures that's a win too. I just... I like imperfect families. It's gotta be a huge adjustment for Jody to go from having no family (anymore) to having a teenage daughter too, so I'm sure they're both being imperfect for each other.
Sam: "Well, enjoy the retreat"
Jody: "Screw you, Winchester."
Sam: "Heheh, talk soon"
- Awww, I love Sam's little smile there. Seriously, this friendship is killing me. This is probably why Show doesn't give Sam more friends, it's because he KILLS ME WITH ADORABLENESS.
Dean: "I'm going to swallow a bag of knives, I have to keep looking at this stuff, let's-"
Sam: "Jody said she was on top of it, Dean."
Dean: "Uh huh" *puppy eyes of doom*
Sam: "Alright, let's take a drive."
- Haha, again, dead from adorableness...and Dean can't claim that Sam is the one with the puppy-eyes that get him whatever he wants. HE LEARNED IT FROM YOU, DEAN!
I love how Donna USES her kindness to get what she wants. Like, yes, she could just be genuinely kind to the morgue lady, but I think she knows full well how to appeal to people to get what she wants out of them. You have to use what you know - Sam and Dean always use authority. Donna uses seemingly innocuous kindness. I think Jody tends to use honesty - (ie: "I'm just trying to help out") and that usually gets her honesty in return, but not always the kind she wants ("I'm just trying not to lose my job.")
I also like how the morgue lady is a lady too.
I also like how Donna has those cute reading glasses. So cute!
Donna: "You know, I've been hunting since I could hold a mini-rifle, seen darn near every bite in the book, but I couldn't tell you who did the biting here."
Jody: "I was afraid of that."
Donna: "Meaning?"
Jody: "Nothing. Got me stumped too."
- Donna totally knows Jody is lying there.
- Also, I like how they start setting up that Donna, at the very least, is a seasoned regular hunter. Personally, I don't like hunting, but in the SPN universe, it certainly gives characters a leg-up for dealing with monsters. Add in the fact that Donna has firearms training from work, and she's set up to be a really good auxillery Hunter.
Woman: "Don't you go smoking, Howie!"
Howie: "Ugh, just watch your Top Model!"
- I just bingewatched cycle 22 of Top Model. Fun times. I only watched it because I already knew who won and wanted to see them win. And now Howie is dead.
Jody: "Honestly, Donna, I just met the guy, but Doug seems like kind of a dick."
Donna: "But he was my dick."
- In all senses of the word, I'm sure.
Donna: "I'm going to go hit the can, you know, where it's less gross."
- Aww, Donna. I like that line.
Jody: "All good?"
Deputy: "All good with the raffle."
Jody: "Can we get real, please?"
Len: "Alright, um..."
- See, honesty... in a sort of demanding way.
Jody: "Alex, stop! Why do I hear firecrackers?!..."
Donna: "So, maybe your life isn't all cupcakes either."
Jody: "Never said it was."
- I think it's easy for us to put ourselves in Donna's shoes, and assume that Jody was/is looking down at her - we're also used to the narrative of the "cool" cynical people looking down on anyone who displays joy. But, I don't think Jody was ever actually doing that. Donna annoys her, sure, but I don't think Jody holds that against Donna's character.
Donna: "Uh oh, flying the coup without me, again?"
- So, I was all set to argue that Jody COULD have stepped out just to take a phone-call, but I forgot about the keys in her hand - and that THEY'RE the reason that Donna knew she was leaving.
Donna: "Anything I can help with there?"
Jody: "Not unless you've got any gems about how to handle a teenage girl, because mine is-"
Donna: "Kind of a dick!"
*Jody and Donna both laugh*
Jody: "She's got a whole lot more in there too, really good stuff."
- Donna takes a step closer just after they laugh, and that's basically where I start shipping them, because can a step forward be flirtatious? Well, now it can.
- Also, as much as I think Jody actually misses Donna's point here - she also confirms it. People get married for a reason... and Donna had a reason to marry Doug. There were reasons that she loved him that blinded her to the hundreds of microaggressions against her until it was too late. This is why abusive relationships happen. No one is ever pure evil - it'd be really easy to stay safe that way. For the most part, people who end up hurting their loved ones are also super charming and charismatic, they rescue puppies, and they give to charity, and they buy thoughtful gifts and they know how to have a good time... and you don't notice the abusive behaviours until they start escolating. Donna isn't an idiot for having loved Doug once upon a time. (Also, fyi: I'm not saying Doug was abusive beyond the bit of emotional abuse/put-downs that we've seen, I'm just taking the example to an extreme). Just like Jody can still love Alex even though she's a rebellious teenager who is making Jody's life hard.
Donna: "So, fresh corpse, jerk ex-husband, out of countrol teen - want to get blingoed on my minibar and watch pay-per-view?"
Jody: "Thanks, I'm going to crash. It's been a long day."
Donna: "Don't I know it."
- Actually, I'd go as far as to say that Jody isn't looking down on Donna, but rather, the opposite - she thinks Donna has it much more together than Jody does. Jody isn't declining Donna's invite because she doesn't want to spend more time with Donna - that doesn't come across in her face at all. She seems very sincere in the fact that it's been a long day and she's just not up for getting blingoed and watching pay-per-view. Except when looking at Doug earlier, Donna never lets her face fall until Jody has turned away, which means Jody doesn't SEE that Donna is desperately trying to make a friend and feeling rebuffed at every turn.
- Also, there's the fact that Jody is honestly trying to keep Donna in the dark about what's really going on. Jody is a very honest person, as we've seen, and it's probably hard for her to connect as a friend while ACTIVELY keeping secrets.
Sam and Dean do this great thing when they walk into the Sheriff's retreat - or rather, Jared and Jensen do - because for just a moment, you can see that they're NERVOUS. They're literally too (formerly/presumed-dead) wanted men walking into a building full of cops...while impersonating FBI agents. And yes, they walk into police stations all the time, but police stations have a lot more distractions.
Also, it occurs to me that Hibbing is where the Benders took place. Obviously, S1 is too long ago to call-back to, and probably the writers maybe didn't even realize... and Len is now the Sheriff and there's no mention of the Sheriff/cop who helped Dean find Sam and avenged her brother... but, in an alternate reality where you CAN call back to a S1 character nine years later, it'd have been cool to have it mentioned, if only in a passing line. Maybe someone has written a fanfic somewhere of that cop being at the retreat and recognizing Dean... who knows.
Sam: "Hey, isn't that Donna?!"
Dean: "Fat-spa Donna!"
Jody: "You guys know my stalker?"
Dean: "Yeah, she actually nearly blew a case for us last time."
Jody: "I haven't been able to shake that ray of sunshine since I got here. She's actually been pretty helpful, but it's just tough keeping her out of this nightmare stuff, you know."
- I love that Sam remembered her name.
- Also, I didn't realize there was a tradition, set-up by this episode, of Dean and/or Sam, identifying Donna by referring to the case they first met her on...it makes me forgive Sam's "fat-sucker Donner?" question in S11. Though, hopefully it goes away whenever/if-ever she comes back again. I think after this episode and the S11 episode, Donna can just be identified as being Donna, thanks. :)
- Also, again, we have Jody being annoyed, calling Donna a stalker, but she also says that Donna is helpful and also that the most annoying thing about having Donna around isn't DONNA, it's hiding the truth about what's going on.
Jody: "You show up and now I'm a babysitter?"
Dean: "Look, she hasn't gotten mixed up in this crap yet, let's just try to keep it that way."
- I like how Dean always tries to protect everybody. We could have another debate over what's more precious - knowledge or innocense, but I won't go there. Suffice it to say, if I knew the apple opened my eyes, I wouldn't need a snake to talk me into eating it. (I also wouldn't be ashamed - I'd look down at my nakedness and think 'damn, girl! You got it going on!')
Donna: "...what dragged you in?"
Dean: "Uh, well, we can't talk about it."
Donna: "Oh, I hear you. Anything I can help with?"
Sam: "No, no, no, no, nothing."
- See, just, Donna wanting to help... she's SO NICE AND KIND. Like, she's the sort of friend you can really rely on, you know? Man, Donna's the best.
Jody: "Actually, Sheriff, I was thinking we could go check out the gear expo"
Donna: "What about the morgue?"
Jody: "Well, you know, like you said, animal control will handle that."
*Donna glances at Sam and Dean, glances back at Jody*
Donna: "Well, if it's cool with you, it's cool with me..."
- Donna totally knows that she's being babysat, or that Jody is suddenly distracting her from the case - but she takes a leap and trusts that if JODY is also leaving the case for the moment, then it's for a good reason. I think Donna probably gets frustrated when Jody doesn't tell her what that reason is as soon as they are out of ear-shot of Sam and Dean though.
Sam: "...this time, try to be a little less defensive of your pretend job."
Dean: "You know, this badge means something."
Sam: "I made it at Kinkos"
Dean: "Yes, you did. Be proud of that."
- I love Dean. I love Jensen's delivery of this line. Like, he's just not willing to admit that he's being ridiculous... but honestly, I totally get where he's coming from. Dean and Sam having been impersonating FBI agents for so long, it's no wonder that Dean gets personally offended when people insult the FBI. :P
Gundealer: "Officer-ladies! Check this one out!"
- This guy is already getting off on the wrong foot by tacking on "ladies" at the end of "officer" when he really should just be saying "officers"
- And as a further aside, I've got a transmasculine friend and everytime a shopkeeper "ladies" us when we're out together, that shopkeeper USUALLY loses business. I know I'm so gorgeous that it makes everyone around me seem more feminine than they are, but that's no excuse to ignore the visual cues that someone might not like being called a lady. So, if any of you guys are shopkeepers (or servers/waiters) or work in customer service at all - please try to think of gender-neutral forms of address. :)
Doug: "...Sheriff Hanscum here is a wolf in sheepskin."
Donna: "Thank you; wolves are majestic creatures. But save your flattery for other female-people."
- For some reason I love the term "female-people". Also, I agree that wolves are majestic creatures.
- More importantly though, we see a GLIMMER of good in Doug here, because he is saying that Donna is more than what she appears, that she's competant and fierce, and knows what she's talking about when it comes to guns. So, we get at least a hint that Doug supported Donna's career.
Doug: "Cufflinks! It's a dating site for cops... you on it, Donna?"
Donna: "No, I'm not quite there yet."
Doug: "Oh, still getting into date-shape?" *pinches Donna's love handles*
*Donna scoots away*
Donna: "It's more like trying to get through the stuff on my DVR first."
*Donna and Doug both laugh*
Jody: "Oh for the love of God-" *to Doug* "What is wrong with you!? You get off on fat-shaming chicks?" *to Donna* "You are so not fat, by the way." *to Doug* "And you, you are just a douche."
Doug: "Well, okay, I'll just uh... okay, then."
- Briana does a great thing with her face while Jody turns on Doug, because you can see that it's not that Donna disagrees with Jody, it's that she feels sympathy for Doug. Doug and her were married, so, at least, for a period of time, Doug was like her bestfriend... and you never want to see your bestfriend called names. It's not like you stop loving people overnight either, and judging by how hard Donna took the divorce, I'm betting it was Doug who ended it, so Donna has more work when it comes to falling out of love. Doug's already done it, but Donna probably didn't start the process until the divorce... and I mean, on average, it takes seven years. So, as much as Doug IS a douche, Donna still loves him, or, at least the version of him that she thought she married.
- That being said, I think Doug DOES get off on fat-shaming chicks and he deserves every word that Jody said to him and more.
Donna: "What the h-e-double hockeysticks, Jody?! Calling my ex a douche to his face!"
Jody: "Well, it didn't look like you were going to do it!"
Donna: "What would be the point! We're divorced! You really think I'm going to change him now?!"
Jody: "So he gets to treat you like a doormat forever, is that it?"
Donna: "How about this, until you've actually lost a husband, you keep your mouth zipped about mine!"
- So, yes, Donna says the wrong thing at the end there - but she also has a point. You don't know what relationship balances are keeping people together/civil. It could be that being overly pleasant during forced social interactions is the only way that Donna can get THROUGH those social interactions. I mean, it's sort of the relationship I have with my own father - it's easier just to pretend like nothing is wrong with our relationship whenever I see him, which is usually just once a year these days. He's not going to stop believing his version of the story when it comes to how things went-down in our family, and any apology he could ever give me would be as insincere and placating as my pretending there's nothing wrong is... only this way, we also avoid having to discuss it, which is quite nice - because if we discussed it we'd just end up at a point where he's not sorry and I don't forgive him, only it'd actually be out there in the room instead of filed in the filing cabinet. You know? Anyway, I think Donna and Doug are like that - There's no point to Donna putting in the work to change Doug now, because it's better to just be done with him... more than that, since they obviously have to see each other in a work-capacity from time to time, it's probably easier if they avoid talking about the elephant in the room and making things even more awkward than they already are.
I like that Donna can see that she hit a bad button with Jody right away - and this time, when she offers to talk about it and Jody says "not right now", Donna recognizes that the best thing would be for them to step away from each other and take a breath - because at this point their both accidentally hurting each other, due to the fact that they don't REALLY know each other well enough to be having these conversations.
I like how Dean uses the deputy's ambition against him. Again though, it's the use of authority - "someone who can play with the big boys in DC"
Then Donna sees Len's vampire teeth. The thing with Vampires is that back in S1-S3, they could smell-track you, and they could hear a heartbeat three blocks away... now, maybe Donna is downwind, and maybe the heartbeat-thing is only for the newly turned who need to find food more instinctively... but yeah, Supernatural has a weird habit of declawing it's monsters, so to speak.
Jody: "How'ya doing, kiddo?"
Dean: "Me? I'm fine, why?"
Jody: "Word around the campfire is you went off the Rez a couple months back."
- "off the rez" is such an interesting phrase historically, and not one that I think we should be using - as I'm pretty sure that while slight, it's a slur against Native Americans. Like, we wouldn't say, "I heard you left the plantation a couple months back" ... though, I guess eventually "beyond the pale" came to be disassociated with being a slur against the Irish. And both mean that you're acting outside the bounds of acceptable behaviour.... man, the English and their colonists really liked declaring that other cultures were "unacceptable behaviour", didn't they? (Though, I just looked it up, and "beyond the pale" also might have a non-racist origin too - so, maybe people should use "beyond the pale" instead of "off the rez" since they both mean roughly the same, but one doesn't refer to the forced relocation, confinement, and erasure of entire cultures.)
- Anyway, back to the show, I like it that Jody calls Dean "kiddo" - I don't think Kim Rhodes is THAT much older than Dean, is she? Like, maybe just a few years, right? Wrong? Is she the same age as JDM? He's only 12 years older than Dean, I think.
Dean: "You and Sam been passing notes in class?"
- Yes, Dean, because when you go missing, I'm pretty sure it's not outside the realm of possibility that Sam might call a cop that he knows and ask her to keep an eye out - cops see a LOT of people day-to-day... not to mention that Jody would also be able to keep tabs on any strange events that were mentioned in police channels only and not to the public.
- Though, Dean does smile at the end of saying that, so he knows why...and he appreciates the fact that Jody was there fore Sam, I think. Jensen communicates a lot in smiles. ;)
Jody: "Just saying, I make a mean bowl of chowder if you ever need to talk."
Dean: "I appreciate that."
- There friendship and sincerity in this episode is killing me. It's like all the actors decided that they're characters would react to things with normal human emotion.
- Also, I like that Jody is friends with BOTH of the boys...as much as I love that she's a little bit closer to Sam. I love that she holds affection for both of them. Sometimes I feel like Dean's friends are friends with Dean and just sort of acknowledge Sam as exisiting... though, I think that's hard to say with Cas, since he actually boldly declared that Sam was his friend in S5, even if we never really saw their connection until later seasons.
Donna: "... and his mouth was full of... shark teeth! Like some kinda-"
Jody: "Monster."
Donna: "Yeah, you think I'm crazy."
Jody: "No. Did he see you?"
Donna: "No, I hid, like a chump. You really believe me."
- Awww, and now that Jody doesn't have to hid things anymore, they can have a BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP.
- Seriously though, I love the way that Donna tells her - and the fact that Jody doesn't try to put the lid back on the box. And that Donna trusts "those FBI guys" if Jody trusts them.
- I also love that Donna chastizes herself for hiding, because that tells her that it's not normal behaviour for her to hide from the bad guys - and of course it wouldn't be, seeing as how she's a sheriff and had to get that position for REASONS - but it's also TV, so they could have her be whatever way they want, they CHOOSE to make Donna competant, because that makes for a better character and story, rather than just a comic-relief character.
*Sam and Dean come in the room*
Donna: "She just pulled a machete"
Jody: "Sheriff Cruise is a vampire"
- I love how Donna sort of does a "I'm telling on you" thing - even though they can see that Jody is standing there with a machete.
I like how Sam and Dean change out of their suits as soon as Donna knows.
Donna: "Wait, so when we were at the weight-loss spa-"
Dean: "Monsters - sucking on your fat."
- I just love Sam's face there when he glares at Dean for being so blunt about it.
Dean: "You're going to sit this one out."
Donna: "Stuff you, Dean! Or whatever your real name is."
Jody: "Hanscum's good."
Sam: "Jody."
Jody: "I said she's good."
- Sam and Dean always condescend to civilians, unless they need something out of them - Sam didn't condescend to Jody when they first met because he NEEDED her to help him. So, this isn't them being chauvenistic, no matter what Donna might assume... and I think Jody knows this too, which is why her vouching for Donna is enough.
- I also think that Jody is just super happy that Donna is obviously ONLY a doormat when it comes to Doug, and that she's more than capable of standing up for herself with other men.
- I also love that Sam tries to argue just by saying Jody's name... that's a friend thing to do - it's how Sam argues with Dean as well.
They really did pull up far too close to that barn though - again, SPN declawing their monsters. Back in S1, they had to cloak their scent and hike in and all sorts of stuff.
*vampire goes for Dean's belt*
Dean: "Wh-? I'm not in the mood."
- I totally missed that line the first time through. The thing is, you could take it as a joke, but part of Dean must actually fear that's what she's going for.
And Donna breaks her glasses to cut the rope... that's why they had to establish that she had glasses earlier. I just thought it was a cute character choice.
I think Len stalls the vampires on purpose, trying to give the Hunters more time to escape. Poor Len.
VampireGirl: "We love you brother, but we don't know who you are anymore"
- This is sort of the inverse of Dean, where they don't recognise their brother because he's gone good...whereas Sam eventually won't recognize Dean because he goes bad. :P
Dean takes down two vamps, but it's Donna who saves Jody!
Donna: "Hakuna Matata, Lady"
- I love how Jody is surprised, but then immediately goes into "Go you!" facial expression. And it's only then that Donna really realizes what she just did.
Dean: "Now that's what I'm talking about."
*Donna smiles*
- I LOVE that shot of Donna smiling with the blood on her face. It's a gorgeous character moment. (And I think Jody is falling in love in the background).
Donna: "I just chopped off a vampires head"
Jody: "You were great at that!"
Donna: "Thanks!"
- Seriously, they are both SO CUTE. Friends 4eva. Do they have a ship name portmanteau? Jonna?
Dean: "Yeah, you know for the first time I've been back, I didn't feel like the Mark was pushing me."
Sam: "First time?"
- Yeah, good news for Dean, bad news for Sam... because it means Dean's not been honest with him up until now.
Donna: "Knowing that those things are out there, makes the world seem, I don't know...bigger, darker."
- Jody's face here is great, because she loses her smile as she realizes that Donna might have lost a bit of what made her sunshine, and as much as Donna's sunshine annoyed Jody, Jody obviously doesn't want it to go anywhere.
Jody: "If you want any pointers on how to fight this crazy crap, I'm willing to fill you in - you know, what kills what."
Donna: "I'd like that."
- FRIENDSHIP! They just needed to be on equal footing... probably, Jody's been feeling a little isolated as the only person in the north who knew what was what - and now she's got someone close by who does too. And Donna has the friend that she wanted as well! WINS ALL AROUND!
Well, that was fun! It also took me four hours, but in fairness, I got distracted by the internet part way through.
We're getting closer to Christmas, so hopefully I can get more of these done, since I'm ditching one of my jobs for the next two weeks. Mind you, the other job is ridiculously busy over Christmas, so that doesn't necessarily mean that I'll have more time... we'll just have to see how it shakes out.
