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hells_half_acre) wrote2016-02-18 12:20 am
hells_half_acre) wrote2016-02-18 12:20 am
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Quick Reaction: 11x14 The Vessel
Oh man, I stayed up too late and am super sleepy - but here we go.... blah blah, only watched the episode once, while drinking, forgive mistakes, etc.
EPISODE TIME!
So, the recap sets up Men of Letters, time travel and the Thule... so, we know who all our players are this episode. Fun times!
Then we get 1943 Nazi-Occupied France. We get a guy speaking VERY PROPER German on the phone, to, it seem, Hitler... so, hotshot dude, I guess. My friends and I were wondering if the set-dressing people MAKE the nazi stuff, or if they get it from some creepy nazi collector. Meanwhile, on the screen, the nazi's french lover is getting a peak at the secret box... and basically as soon as she asked if she could see it, I was like "OO! A DOUBLE AGENT! This is when she turns on him!" And here i my notes, I have written "Stabby stab!" So, we all know what my favourite part is. :)
And she's a Men of Letter's! AWESOMESAUCE!
Flashforward to the future, and Sam has been up all night researching, it seems. Sam, you know, you probably have time to sleep. I know you are feeling the pressure now that killing the Darkness is your job, but you can't do anything without a good night's sleep. Also, now poor Dean has to go without coffee - though I very much appreciate sleepy!Dean stumbling around the kitchen all pouty.
But, the long and the short of it is that Sam's discovered that there are artifacts in the world that are said to contain the power of God - and they're all called The Hand of God. And the nazi's used to try to collect them - and I have no idea what word Sam was saying for the archaeological branch of the SS (or whatever it was) - so, either he was really mangling his German, or it's just German words that I don't know. If any of the Germans reading this want to help a DaF speaker out, let me know what he said please! (Also, what was that word the nazi guy used for "artifact"? It sounded like "Gegenstand" to me, but that doesn't make any sense in my brain.)
Meanwhile, in Hell, Lucifer is bored and the demons are directionless... I like that young whippersnapper who tries to sweet talk Lucifer though. She's got gumption! (Sorry, I delightedly using all my old phrases tonight, because it fits with the THEME, instead of ONLY making me weird... at least I'm weird ON THEME.)
She makes fun of Crowley to gain points, and Crowley takes offence at that - or at least makes a noice from where he's chained up in the wall. Lucifer has him collared and chained, and calls him a doggy - but what I love most is that he's in a hawaiian shirt, a graphic tee, and khakis. I don't believe there is a torture greater for Crowley.
Crowley is taking the submissive approach to Lucifer (in all senses of the word, it seems, given the puppyplay)... basically, grovelling at his feet and treating him like the proper King of Hell. I could tell though, that Crowley didn't REALLY mean it - Crowley's the best at playing people, so this is just the latest angle he's working. He's at a disadvantage with Lucifer, because Lucifer already knows that Crowley is his enemy coming in. Usually, Crowley's approach to enemies is to play ally. But, alas, not possible here... though... he might be slowly warming up to it... we'll get to that later.
Back to Sam and Dean first. They discover that the artifact in 1943 was stolen by Delphine, a Woman of Letters... only, in butchered French, because Sam is fromTexas Kansas. Dean's surprised that the Men of Letters accepted women back in the 40s, because the name itself is pretty sexist... Sam guesses it might have been a war-time measure (and all I could think of was Peggy Carter - I admit, that I haven't watched what's aired so far yet, but I'm super sad the show was cancelled.)
Sam has a fancy scanner to scan in the French documents and run them through a translator. I mean, Sam knows Latin..., and Spanish... could he not pick out the basics? Mind you, I grew up in Canada, two of my closest friends are French-Canadian, and I'd probably need a translator too, so who am I to judge.
They find out that Delphine and the artifact, sunk in January 1943.... which, means that Delphine must have also killed that guy (or, killed him temporarily) in January 1943.. busy January. Anyway, Sam is all like "aw shucks, so much for that" but then Dean is like "Wait! My BFF 4va can time-travel us!"
Back with Lucifer, he calls Crowley out on mostly lying with his grovelling... that he knows that he's still working an angle. So, Crowley is honest with him - he knows that Lucifer isn't confident in his abilities, that he called for his weapons and is disappointed in them, so is obviously not sure that he can actually take on the fight. Lucifer admits that the first trapping of Amara was "more of a team effort" than Lucifer might have told certain people it was. (Poor Cas).
What interests me though is that Lucifer really does seem hell-bent (punintended) on defeating Amara. He must know that he can't really rule the world if Amara is on the loose. So, step one of his freedom plan is to remove the competition, I guess?
And then Dean and Sam call, and Lucifer starts his acting gig.
He does really well when he arrives and they explain everything to him. And yeah, breaks my heart that Sam is all concerned about Cas' well-being and that it's too dangerous for him when he's not at full power, etc. How could Cas ever think that these boys don't love him to the moon and back?! Oh Cas. You have learned so much from Dean, that you accidentally learned his shitty self-esteem.
I also liked Dean and Lucifer's reaction to Sam's Jules Verne reference. But, basically, Dean announces that the plan is for "Cas" to take only him, leaving Sam behind to fight the good fight if something should go wrong and Dean is lost at sea. Sam is not impressed, but after "Cas" promises not to let Dean out of his sight, he relents.
Then it's back in time for Dean! Only, Lucifer doesn't arrive with him! At first, I wondered if it were on purpose for some reason.... but we find out in the next scene that it's because there is warding on the submarine, and Lucifer was bounced out and into the ocean. He returns to the present (oddly, outside the bunker) sopping wet after having landed in the ocean.
I have to say, Lucifer's acting starts falling apart here, and I'm surprised Sam doesn't pick up on it. Lucifer is too frustrated and defeatest in comparison to Cas. Cas would be freaking out, but not in an angry-way - more of a panicked way. Sam still treats the freakout like it's a panic though, so maybe he's just seeing what he expects to see.
Dean rolls a quarter and attacks a crewmen, and then steals his clothes... right, because blending in as a FRESH FACE on a SUBMARINE is really going to work for you Dean. I'm not sure how much crew those submarines held, but I'm pretty sure that everyone probably knew each others faces pretty damn quick. But hey, could be wrong! It's not like I've ever been stranded in a long tube with a bunch of seamen.
Dean can't get the lingo down either, calling a girl a "hottie" and then fumbling with the "gams" expression. So, when he's inevitably caught out in all of five seconds, he just goes full hog and blurts the truth all over the place. My friend and I thought that maybe MAYBE he should have exercized a little tact and not told the CREW they were about to die, maybe just the captain.... but alas, maybe he's just too pressed for time.
The captain doesn't believe him, but soon enough, they detect a surface ship just like Dean said there'd be. The Captain goes to deal with it, while Dean has a conversation with Delphine, that is pretty great. She basically believed him straight-away, even more so when she saw his phone (and I wonder if he got that back, hopefully!)
The crewmen set to guard them keeps interrupting with questions, and I love the fact that it's a World Series question - because that's such a trope, and I don't know ANYONE but REALLY hardcore sports fanatics that would know those sorts of facts. I liked that Dean got the president wrong the first time too, because, again, I'd fail that question in Canadian History with the Prime-Minister, and I was a goddamn history major (I'm just not great on years, you guys....Pearson? Goddamn, it now, I have to look it up. AH! It was MacKenzie King! Damn, that was my first choice, but then I second guessed myself! Pearson was in the stupid 60s, man, I suck at this game. At least I knew Diefenbaker was the start of the Cold War times. And thus ends your Canadian History lesson for the evening, I'm sure it meant absolutely nothing to you and you've long since stopped reading.)
Dean admits that he's there for the weapon only. The guy asks if they really all die - it's clear he now believes Dean too, and is super bummed about the dying bit - though, my friend figured it shouldn't come as too much of a shock, seeing as how he was in a war where thousands of people were dying every day.)
Sam meanwhile, has found a spell that can get angels (or anyone) past wards - only problem is that it needs the power of an archangel. "Cas" is like "might as well try *innocent look*" but Sam is all "no, it is too dangerous and pointless - sadtimes forever" - also, good job Sam, in teaching Lucifer a spell that can get him past wards. Oops.
Delphine tells Dean that you can't touch the artifact, because it will burn through a human (much like, it seems, the power of the TARDIS in Doctor Who... but even quicker!)
The crewmen asks Dean when they win the war - he's gone from accepting his own death, to now worrying about his friends and family. Dean, again, goes for honesty, and tells him the truth - it'll be years, not months or days. The crewmen accepts this too, and admits to believing Dean is from the future, and also admits that he's a Flash Gordon fan (and this is where I admit that I don't know who Flash Gordon is, besides the fact that he's someone (superhero, I'm guessing) that Americans reference a lot.)
This is the point where I remembered that time-travel in the Supernatural universe always works on closed loops. And I began to wonder if the submarine would have been destroyed if Dean HADN'T traveled back in time. I thought this, because the captain was arming to engage instead of following orders not to... so, I thought maybe him engaging is what caused the German ship to kill them, and that he only engaged because Dean told him he the ship would kill him. BUT, I was wrong - I mean, the time-travel is still a closed loop, but it looks like the German ship would have killed them any which way (and maybe Dean prevented the Germans getting their hands on the artifact).
Delphine is removing the wards, but the last one is embedded in her skin, and as long as she's living, it can't be removed. So, she asks Dean to kill her. I mean... she's about to die anyway, but Dean is SUPER RELUCTANT. Also, Dean, if you're going to kill someone even though you don't want to, at the very least, DON'T DO IT SLOWLY!
Back to Sam and "Cas" - Sam is super worried about "Cas" using the spell. And ugh, I can't even imagine how the destiel shippers must be feeling, because this is breaking my little Sassy heart. Sam even goes as far as to offer that "Cas" can power the spell using Sam's soul - even though it might kill Sam - in order to both further protect himself and increase his chances of rescuing Dean.
Of course, Lucifer just finds this hilarious - I'm not sure if he just can't take how stupid Sam is anymore, for not seeing that it wasn't Cas - or if he's actually insulted that Sam would trust Castiel so much, when Sam has only ever hated Lucifer with all his heart and soul - or, more likely, it's as Lucifer says, and he just REALLY REALLY hates Sam (and who wouldn't, after what Sam did to him), and he really just realized that there was absolutely no point in keeping Sam alive, and that Sam had just handed him the perfect excuse not to. Lucifer saying all this, of course, reveals his true identity to Sam, who has the appropriate reaction... which, you know, is the reaction of someone seeing all his worst nightmares come true and THEN some, since Lucifer is currently inside the body of his brother-in-law. :P
Lucifer goes to kill Sam, but then... CAS IS STILL INSIDE!!! And not only that, but Cas can wrest control of Lucifer!!! This is HUGE GUYS! YAY CAS!
Meanwhile, in 1943, a message comes through from the German ship for Delphine, revealing the fact that the nazi dude was Thule (and I admit, I had completely forgotten them at this point, even though they were in the recap) and that the sub can either surrender or die. Dean really wants to save Delphine and the crew, but the Captain and Delphine are both accepting of their fate.
Back with Sam and Cas! Sam comes to and Cas is still in control of his body, partially. Cas is not strong enough to eject Lucifer, and also, Cas still seems to buy into the idea that Lucifer is the only one who can defeat the Darkness and that therefore Cas doesn't want to leave him vessel-less. Well, really, Cas "wanted to be of service" and "we need him to save Dean" and yeah, there goes what was left of my heart, geez. Characters with low self-esteem who love people - they appear to be my weak point.
Back in 1943, Delphine uses the Hand of God to take the Germans out with them. Lucifer comes in at the last minute to pull Dean out.
As soon as Dean's back, Sam yells the warning "THAT'S NOT CAS!" but Lucifer is faster and pins Dean to the wall. Lucifer says that they were insufferable mortal enemies, but they're worse when he's pretending to be their ally. He takes the Hand of God artifact from Dean, only for everyone to discover that the artifact only seemed to have one charge. It's now just a chunk of wood.
Meanwhile, Sam has sliced open his own palm and drawn a sigil, and he manages to banish Lucifer before Lucifer can make good on his threat to kill Dean. (Though, I doubt Cas would have let him.)
So, now the cat's out of the bag (as Lucifer said...)
And we get the depressing end scene, where the boys have to sit by the car and/or a body of water and feel lousy. Dean declares that ther plan is clear - hunt Lucifer, save Cas. Sam wonders if they have a hope of saving Cas, when Cas CHOSE this... but Dean refuses to believe that Cas chose it. Sam asks how Dean's feeling about what happened "today"... Dean's kinda messed up about it, because he couldn't do anything back in time. He was "just a witness" and that he can't talk about it right now. Still, love the fact that Sam asked, and that Dean could just say "not yet" and Sam was like "okay, whenever" (only, not in those words, obviously). Dean asks what happened to the German ship, and Sam explains that it went down in flames, with a huge hole blown through it - that something must have hit their fuel tanks. Dean knows it was Delphine taking out the Thule guy by burning him.
Anyway, great episode. Loved it. The promo for next week seems tonely inappropriate, I gotta say, but promos can be misleading!
As per usual, let me know what you thought in comments!!
EPISODE TIME!
So, the recap sets up Men of Letters, time travel and the Thule... so, we know who all our players are this episode. Fun times!
Then we get 1943 Nazi-Occupied France. We get a guy speaking VERY PROPER German on the phone, to, it seem, Hitler... so, hotshot dude, I guess. My friends and I were wondering if the set-dressing people MAKE the nazi stuff, or if they get it from some creepy nazi collector. Meanwhile, on the screen, the nazi's french lover is getting a peak at the secret box... and basically as soon as she asked if she could see it, I was like "OO! A DOUBLE AGENT! This is when she turns on him!" And here i my notes, I have written "Stabby stab!" So, we all know what my favourite part is. :)
And she's a Men of Letter's! AWESOMESAUCE!
Flashforward to the future, and Sam has been up all night researching, it seems. Sam, you know, you probably have time to sleep. I know you are feeling the pressure now that killing the Darkness is your job, but you can't do anything without a good night's sleep. Also, now poor Dean has to go without coffee - though I very much appreciate sleepy!Dean stumbling around the kitchen all pouty.
But, the long and the short of it is that Sam's discovered that there are artifacts in the world that are said to contain the power of God - and they're all called The Hand of God. And the nazi's used to try to collect them - and I have no idea what word Sam was saying for the archaeological branch of the SS (or whatever it was) - so, either he was really mangling his German, or it's just German words that I don't know. If any of the Germans reading this want to help a DaF speaker out, let me know what he said please! (Also, what was that word the nazi guy used for "artifact"? It sounded like "Gegenstand" to me, but that doesn't make any sense in my brain.)
Meanwhile, in Hell, Lucifer is bored and the demons are directionless... I like that young whippersnapper who tries to sweet talk Lucifer though. She's got gumption! (Sorry, I delightedly using all my old phrases tonight, because it fits with the THEME, instead of ONLY making me weird... at least I'm weird ON THEME.)
She makes fun of Crowley to gain points, and Crowley takes offence at that - or at least makes a noice from where he's chained up in the wall. Lucifer has him collared and chained, and calls him a doggy - but what I love most is that he's in a hawaiian shirt, a graphic tee, and khakis. I don't believe there is a torture greater for Crowley.
Crowley is taking the submissive approach to Lucifer (in all senses of the word, it seems, given the puppyplay)... basically, grovelling at his feet and treating him like the proper King of Hell. I could tell though, that Crowley didn't REALLY mean it - Crowley's the best at playing people, so this is just the latest angle he's working. He's at a disadvantage with Lucifer, because Lucifer already knows that Crowley is his enemy coming in. Usually, Crowley's approach to enemies is to play ally. But, alas, not possible here... though... he might be slowly warming up to it... we'll get to that later.
Back to Sam and Dean first. They discover that the artifact in 1943 was stolen by Delphine, a Woman of Letters... only, in butchered French, because Sam is from
Sam has a fancy scanner to scan in the French documents and run them through a translator. I mean, Sam knows Latin..., and Spanish... could he not pick out the basics? Mind you, I grew up in Canada, two of my closest friends are French-Canadian, and I'd probably need a translator too, so who am I to judge.
They find out that Delphine and the artifact, sunk in January 1943.... which, means that Delphine must have also killed that guy (or, killed him temporarily) in January 1943.. busy January. Anyway, Sam is all like "aw shucks, so much for that" but then Dean is like "Wait! My BFF 4va can time-travel us!"
Back with Lucifer, he calls Crowley out on mostly lying with his grovelling... that he knows that he's still working an angle. So, Crowley is honest with him - he knows that Lucifer isn't confident in his abilities, that he called for his weapons and is disappointed in them, so is obviously not sure that he can actually take on the fight. Lucifer admits that the first trapping of Amara was "more of a team effort" than Lucifer might have told certain people it was. (Poor Cas).
What interests me though is that Lucifer really does seem hell-bent (punintended) on defeating Amara. He must know that he can't really rule the world if Amara is on the loose. So, step one of his freedom plan is to remove the competition, I guess?
And then Dean and Sam call, and Lucifer starts his acting gig.
He does really well when he arrives and they explain everything to him. And yeah, breaks my heart that Sam is all concerned about Cas' well-being and that it's too dangerous for him when he's not at full power, etc. How could Cas ever think that these boys don't love him to the moon and back?! Oh Cas. You have learned so much from Dean, that you accidentally learned his shitty self-esteem.
I also liked Dean and Lucifer's reaction to Sam's Jules Verne reference. But, basically, Dean announces that the plan is for "Cas" to take only him, leaving Sam behind to fight the good fight if something should go wrong and Dean is lost at sea. Sam is not impressed, but after "Cas" promises not to let Dean out of his sight, he relents.
Then it's back in time for Dean! Only, Lucifer doesn't arrive with him! At first, I wondered if it were on purpose for some reason.... but we find out in the next scene that it's because there is warding on the submarine, and Lucifer was bounced out and into the ocean. He returns to the present (oddly, outside the bunker) sopping wet after having landed in the ocean.
I have to say, Lucifer's acting starts falling apart here, and I'm surprised Sam doesn't pick up on it. Lucifer is too frustrated and defeatest in comparison to Cas. Cas would be freaking out, but not in an angry-way - more of a panicked way. Sam still treats the freakout like it's a panic though, so maybe he's just seeing what he expects to see.
Dean rolls a quarter and attacks a crewmen, and then steals his clothes... right, because blending in as a FRESH FACE on a SUBMARINE is really going to work for you Dean. I'm not sure how much crew those submarines held, but I'm pretty sure that everyone probably knew each others faces pretty damn quick. But hey, could be wrong! It's not like I've ever been stranded in a long tube with a bunch of seamen.
Dean can't get the lingo down either, calling a girl a "hottie" and then fumbling with the "gams" expression. So, when he's inevitably caught out in all of five seconds, he just goes full hog and blurts the truth all over the place. My friend and I thought that maybe MAYBE he should have exercized a little tact and not told the CREW they were about to die, maybe just the captain.... but alas, maybe he's just too pressed for time.
The captain doesn't believe him, but soon enough, they detect a surface ship just like Dean said there'd be. The Captain goes to deal with it, while Dean has a conversation with Delphine, that is pretty great. She basically believed him straight-away, even more so when she saw his phone (and I wonder if he got that back, hopefully!)
The crewmen set to guard them keeps interrupting with questions, and I love the fact that it's a World Series question - because that's such a trope, and I don't know ANYONE but REALLY hardcore sports fanatics that would know those sorts of facts. I liked that Dean got the president wrong the first time too, because, again, I'd fail that question in Canadian History with the Prime-Minister, and I was a goddamn history major (I'm just not great on years, you guys....Pearson? Goddamn, it now, I have to look it up. AH! It was MacKenzie King! Damn, that was my first choice, but then I second guessed myself! Pearson was in the stupid 60s, man, I suck at this game. At least I knew Diefenbaker was the start of the Cold War times. And thus ends your Canadian History lesson for the evening, I'm sure it meant absolutely nothing to you and you've long since stopped reading.)
Dean admits that he's there for the weapon only. The guy asks if they really all die - it's clear he now believes Dean too, and is super bummed about the dying bit - though, my friend figured it shouldn't come as too much of a shock, seeing as how he was in a war where thousands of people were dying every day.)
Sam meanwhile, has found a spell that can get angels (or anyone) past wards - only problem is that it needs the power of an archangel. "Cas" is like "might as well try *innocent look*" but Sam is all "no, it is too dangerous and pointless - sadtimes forever" - also, good job Sam, in teaching Lucifer a spell that can get him past wards. Oops.
Delphine tells Dean that you can't touch the artifact, because it will burn through a human (much like, it seems, the power of the TARDIS in Doctor Who... but even quicker!)
The crewmen asks Dean when they win the war - he's gone from accepting his own death, to now worrying about his friends and family. Dean, again, goes for honesty, and tells him the truth - it'll be years, not months or days. The crewmen accepts this too, and admits to believing Dean is from the future, and also admits that he's a Flash Gordon fan (and this is where I admit that I don't know who Flash Gordon is, besides the fact that he's someone (superhero, I'm guessing) that Americans reference a lot.)
This is the point where I remembered that time-travel in the Supernatural universe always works on closed loops. And I began to wonder if the submarine would have been destroyed if Dean HADN'T traveled back in time. I thought this, because the captain was arming to engage instead of following orders not to... so, I thought maybe him engaging is what caused the German ship to kill them, and that he only engaged because Dean told him he the ship would kill him. BUT, I was wrong - I mean, the time-travel is still a closed loop, but it looks like the German ship would have killed them any which way (and maybe Dean prevented the Germans getting their hands on the artifact).
Delphine is removing the wards, but the last one is embedded in her skin, and as long as she's living, it can't be removed. So, she asks Dean to kill her. I mean... she's about to die anyway, but Dean is SUPER RELUCTANT. Also, Dean, if you're going to kill someone even though you don't want to, at the very least, DON'T DO IT SLOWLY!
Back to Sam and "Cas" - Sam is super worried about "Cas" using the spell. And ugh, I can't even imagine how the destiel shippers must be feeling, because this is breaking my little Sassy heart. Sam even goes as far as to offer that "Cas" can power the spell using Sam's soul - even though it might kill Sam - in order to both further protect himself and increase his chances of rescuing Dean.
Of course, Lucifer just finds this hilarious - I'm not sure if he just can't take how stupid Sam is anymore, for not seeing that it wasn't Cas - or if he's actually insulted that Sam would trust Castiel so much, when Sam has only ever hated Lucifer with all his heart and soul - or, more likely, it's as Lucifer says, and he just REALLY REALLY hates Sam (and who wouldn't, after what Sam did to him), and he really just realized that there was absolutely no point in keeping Sam alive, and that Sam had just handed him the perfect excuse not to. Lucifer saying all this, of course, reveals his true identity to Sam, who has the appropriate reaction... which, you know, is the reaction of someone seeing all his worst nightmares come true and THEN some, since Lucifer is currently inside the body of his brother-in-law. :P
Lucifer goes to kill Sam, but then... CAS IS STILL INSIDE!!! And not only that, but Cas can wrest control of Lucifer!!! This is HUGE GUYS! YAY CAS!
Meanwhile, in 1943, a message comes through from the German ship for Delphine, revealing the fact that the nazi dude was Thule (and I admit, I had completely forgotten them at this point, even though they were in the recap) and that the sub can either surrender or die. Dean really wants to save Delphine and the crew, but the Captain and Delphine are both accepting of their fate.
Back with Sam and Cas! Sam comes to and Cas is still in control of his body, partially. Cas is not strong enough to eject Lucifer, and also, Cas still seems to buy into the idea that Lucifer is the only one who can defeat the Darkness and that therefore Cas doesn't want to leave him vessel-less. Well, really, Cas "wanted to be of service" and "we need him to save Dean" and yeah, there goes what was left of my heart, geez. Characters with low self-esteem who love people - they appear to be my weak point.
Back in 1943, Delphine uses the Hand of God to take the Germans out with them. Lucifer comes in at the last minute to pull Dean out.
As soon as Dean's back, Sam yells the warning "THAT'S NOT CAS!" but Lucifer is faster and pins Dean to the wall. Lucifer says that they were insufferable mortal enemies, but they're worse when he's pretending to be their ally. He takes the Hand of God artifact from Dean, only for everyone to discover that the artifact only seemed to have one charge. It's now just a chunk of wood.
Meanwhile, Sam has sliced open his own palm and drawn a sigil, and he manages to banish Lucifer before Lucifer can make good on his threat to kill Dean. (Though, I doubt Cas would have let him.)
So, now the cat's out of the bag (as Lucifer said...)
And we get the depressing end scene, where the boys have to sit by the car and/or a body of water and feel lousy. Dean declares that ther plan is clear - hunt Lucifer, save Cas. Sam wonders if they have a hope of saving Cas, when Cas CHOSE this... but Dean refuses to believe that Cas chose it. Sam asks how Dean's feeling about what happened "today"... Dean's kinda messed up about it, because he couldn't do anything back in time. He was "just a witness" and that he can't talk about it right now. Still, love the fact that Sam asked, and that Dean could just say "not yet" and Sam was like "okay, whenever" (only, not in those words, obviously). Dean asks what happened to the German ship, and Sam explains that it went down in flames, with a huge hole blown through it - that something must have hit their fuel tanks. Dean knows it was Delphine taking out the Thule guy by burning him.
Anyway, great episode. Loved it. The promo for next week seems tonely inappropriate, I gotta say, but promos can be misleading!
As per usual, let me know what you thought in comments!!
no subject
But if Dean hadn't gone back, would the destroyer have found the sub or would they have made it to safety, Delphine gotten the weapon to the Men of Letters and it would have been in the bunker for them to find? Damn closed time loops!
Oh Cas. You have learned so much from Dean, that you accidentally learned his shitty self-esteem.
Yeah. :(
I appreciated Dean's comment that he was just a witness because my first reaction when it ended was that the boys were just bystanders, it was brave Delphine's and evil Luci's episode.
And I am stealing this from another review because dreamsofspike said it so well I couldn't paraphrase it better:
What's Dean Winchester's worst nightmare? Being useless. Being a burden. Being the "witness" - the helpless bystander - who has to be protected rather than do the protecting. To Dean, having to watch those people die and not being able to save them, not being able to do anything BUT watch, is horrible - and it's also foreshadowing for the situation with Amara, and how he's unable to do anything but watch THERE, either, while all the work is left to Sam. If Dean isn't the hero, if he isn't the one sacrificing himself to save the day - then what good is he? That's how he sees it, I think, and why he's having such a hard time with this. (From here: http://raloria.livejournal.com/2645874.html)
ETA: Where the heck was that final location supposed to be? There is water and a busted pier by the bunker which has always looked to be solidly land-locked?!? And guys, if you know Lucifer is out and probably looking to kill you, why would you step outside your warded bunker to have a little chat?
no subject
I had the same thought, but I think it would have gone done the same (or worse) regardless of Dean went back again. With the Thule chasing her (and the ship right on the sub's tail LONG before Dean got there) - I think no matter what, that submarine was going down. Best case, Dean's not there, Delphine still uses the artifact to take the Germans out with them. Worst case, Dean's not there, Delphine doesn't use the artifact, the sub goes down, the Thule get the artifact again and maybe use it against the advancing allied troops after D-Day (or against the Russians on the Eastern front - which were the German's main problem in 1943). I think in no version does the artifact make it back to the Bunker.
And I am stealing this from another review because dreamsofspike said it so well I couldn't paraphrase it better:
What's Dean Winchester's worst nightmare? Being useless. Being a burden. Being the "witness" - the helpless bystander - who has to be protected rather than do the protecting....
Yup, like I said... Cas has learned so much from Dean, that he accidentally learned his shitty self-esteem. Being helpless against impossible odds hardly makes a person worthless, but Dean and Cas both have it in their heads that it does - at least when it comes to themselves. I'm sure if Sam announced he felt that way, Dean would yelling about how he was completely wrong and still the most important Winchester etc. And I'm sure once Dean has a chance to talk to Cas again, he'll also attempt to set him straight... all the while not realizing that he does the same thing.
But yeah, super harsh episode for everyone really - but you're right that it's a brilliant parallel for Dean's feelings of uselessness in the fight against Amara.
Personally, I think being a Witness (and I'm capitalizing it for a reason) is actually a really important thing to be - and I wondered when Dean said that if it would come back to prove to be useful. I don't know... it's not like I support their beliefs or ideologies or anything, but there's a reason the Jehovah Witnesses are called the Jehovah Witnesses, you know? At least one religious sect out there thinks it's an important noun to be.
Mostly, I think it's an important thing to be because I studied history - and there's nothing greater than eye-witness accounts in that field.
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Um, not to nit-pick, but it's quite clear that Lucifer can come and go from the bunker as he pleases - since, you know, we've seen him do it SEVERAL times. So, there's no reason for Sam and Dean to stay in the bunker unless they reward it for angels - and even then, Sam JUST gave Lucifer a spell to bypass warding...so....yeah, perfectly reasonable to go wherever they want because they're no safer one place than another.
As for where a giant river came from with a giant pier, in the EXACT MIDDLE of the US, in KANSAS.. we'll just have to believe that in the SPN-Universe, the US has vastly different river systems than in our reality. :P
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Delphine’s introduction was the best. I, too, approve of the stabby :D
I think Sam’s at least partially staying up all night cramming to feel like he’s Doing Something, as opposed to just spinning his wheels. As much as he is probably panicking about being more or less without effective backup on this one, anyway. But, yes, groggy!Dean was awesome. I love the way the last few episodes have given us little moments like this, where they’re just…doing normal routine stuff/being people for a few minutes before they go kick butt, if that makes sense.
You’re probably right, being deprived of his suits was probably super effective torture for Crowley…man, I remember how pissed he was when his tailor got eaten. I wonder if someone told Lucifer about how pissed Crowley was or he just learned from observation or something…
Yeah, I’m trying to decide whether or not I’m brave enough to see how much new Crowley/Lucifer porn there is now…
As for Sam maybe being able to stumble through the French…eh, maybe? I know French and I can sometimes stumble through Spanish, if it’s simple…but, then again, there’s a lot more day-to-day exposure to Spanish in the US than there is to French, so I don’t know how much of it is crossover and how much is just osmosis or whatever…so IDK. I’d probably have gotten a translator or something for something this important anyway, though.
I’m pretty sure Lucifer does genuinely want to shut Amara down, yeah. But I don’t know if it’s as much about removing the competition as, if he lets her run free, there won’t be a world for him to run anymore? Like…he just wants to excise certain parts of it (mostly humanity/other non-angelic sapient entities), but she seems to want to consume everything, and there are parts of existence that he seems to actually like? Or something…
And agreed, Sam possibly should have started getting suspicious when Lucifer came back super crankypants after failing to get on that sub with Dean. But you’re probably right, seeing what he wants to see/wishful thinking/it probably doesn’t even occur to him that it’s possible Lucifer got out that way, so he might notice the weirdness and find some other explanation for it…or figure he can sort out what the shit is wrong there after they’ve fixed the more immediate problem of Dean being trapped alone in the past.
Oh, man, I didn’t even think of the longer-term implications of Lucifer knowing that spell…yeah, even if they did figure out how to fix the warding on the bunker so everyone and their dog couldn’t get in anymore…wouldn’t keep him out.
The heartwrenching dramatic irony of Sam and Dean trusting Casifer is just…yes, heartbreaking, like you said.
And then Lucifer decides this isn’t worth the effort and…yeah, Sam’s face.
But Cas is alive! Tiny, tiny silver lining, but silver lining nonetheless!
Poor Cas, though…man…
Maybe the boys went to that body of water because the Bunker is no longer safe, but the warding on their ribs is still miraculously intact? So they went somewhere remote to try and figure out their next move, somewhere they never took Cas so Lucifer wouldn’t have the location that way…or something…
But, yeah. This episode was pretty awesome. Next week’s looks…interesting? We’ll see…
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True true.
I wonder if someone told Lucifer about how pissed Crowley was or he just learned from observation or something…
Probably he just had to take one look at him. Crowley always dresses so nicely.
Yeah, I’m trying to decide whether or not I’m brave enough to see how much new Crowley/Lucifer porn there is now…
Haha, I'm definitely not!
As for Sam maybe being able to stumble through the French…eh, maybe? I know French and I can sometimes stumble through Spanish, if it’s simple…but, then again, there’s a lot more day-to-day exposure to Spanish in the US than there is to French, so I don’t know how much of it is crossover and how much is just osmosis or whatever…so IDK. I’d probably have gotten a translator or something for something this important anyway, though.
True true - like I said, I've had much more exposure to french than Sam (possibly) has, and I'd need a translator... but then, the only second language I ever learned was a Germanic one, not a romantic language. But then, my French-Canadian BFF once tried to learn Spanish and found it impossible because things, although similar, weren't the same, so he was constantly being tripped up by assuming things were like French when they weren't.
But I don’t know if it’s as much about removing the competition as, if he lets her run free, there won’t be a world for him to run anymore?
True true, Amara has a beef against ALL of God's creation - rather than just a part of it. :P
Maybe the boys went to that body of water because the Bunker is no longer safe, but the warding on their ribs is still miraculously intact? So they went somewhere remote to try and figure out their next move, somewhere they never took Cas so Lucifer wouldn’t have the location that way…or something…
I think they had just gone out to buy coffee. :P
Who knows...another question is why bring the artifact with them? It's beyond strange, but *shrug*... obviously, after a week on set, the crew just wanted a day where they could be out in the open air again. ;)
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:)
I liked this episode, even though it was super depressing. I think a lot of it was watching everyone for their feelings--so much emotion kept flashing across everyone's faces. It was especially interesting to see how Lucifer kept trying to break through Castiel, and Crowley trying to hide his feelings.
And I have decided that there's a door inside the bunker that works like the door in Howl's Moving Castle. There's a dial with a few different, set destinations, and by dialing that destination and opening the door...voila! You're somewhere else! Like the Vancouver seashore!
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I'm not convinced he's dead either and would love for him to come back. That being said, it's a spell to get past wards - so... not sure what having an ally with it would do, besides just... you know, having an ally too. :P
And I have decided that there's a door inside the bunker that works like the door in Howl's Moving Castle. There's a dial with a few different, set destinations, and by dialing that destination and opening the door...voila! You're somewhere else! Like the Vancouver seashore!
I feel the need to pedantically point out that the pier looked like a river-pier to me, not an ocean pier - but, I could be wrong. I don't actually know where it is, it just reminds me more of the piers along the Fraser than the ones sticking out into the Georgia Strait. Annnnnnnnnywhooo...
Yes, it's either that or the Winchesters are like me and when they are suffering from anxiety, they feel a very strong urge to get as far away as possible from the place where they are... so, we have just caught up with them hours later, after they have driven all the way to the mighty Mississippi in a futile effort to avoid their problems. :P
I think I like your answer better. ;)
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Oh. Right.
Got a little too excited there at the archangel requirement. :/
River pier, ocean pier...same diff, right? (Says the woman who grew up in Vermont...not quite as land-locked as Kansas, but pretty close.) I did see land though, and trees, and no sand, so I'm guessing you're right.
I want the bunker to have a magic door (besides the Oz one), so I'm liking my idea too. :) I may have had a little too much wine tonight though to be addressing these issues...
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Eh, I'm just a nitpicky local. There just aren't that many ocean piers in Vancouver that aren't like... ports, or you know, rigorously maintained. And hey, I could also be wrong.
I want the bunker to have a magic door (besides the Oz one), so I'm liking my idea too. :) I may have had a little too much wine tonight though to be addressing these issues...
Maybe whenever Sam and Dean are feeling down, they dip their hand into the "key box" and see where the next door takes them. ;)
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