hells_half_acre (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hells_half_acre) wrote2018-11-29 11:01 pm
hells_half_acre) wrote2018-11-29 11:01 pm
Entry tags:
Quick Reaction: 14x07 Unhuman Nature
Yarrr...
BUT, usual rules still apply! So, I gotta keep this positive - AND I WILL - And I can't spoil you before the cut, so let's get to the cut....
Okay, so this was a BuckLeming episode and it shows, because they did the thing that I figured BuckLeming would do if no one stopped them, because if it's one thing BuckLeming love it's everything I hate! Which includes both Nick and Lucifer. BUT, they also like giving Jensen weird things to deal with, and I like seeing what Jensen comes up with when handed weird things - and he did not disappoint!
Let's take this thing in order of appearance.
We start with Nick, just to set the tone of what I'll be dealing with this episode. Beyond small d death, he's our villain of this episode - only, sadly, this episode does not follow the regular format of the Winchesters defeating the villain.
Instead, we get Nick saying "I hate... I HATE..." and not finishing up with "...this storyline as much as Alix does." Instead, he talks about how he hates what he's turned into, but he can't stop.... not until he finds out what happened to his family. And sadly, the dead priest that he's crucified in his office has failed to give him the answers he sought.
With sweet relief, we join the Winchesters - or, Jack and Cas first off. With Cas trying to heal Jack. I just spent a week with my nephew named Jack, who we sometimes call Jackie (possibly Jacky? I have never written it down before.) As a result, I wonder ideally if the Winchesters ever call Jack anything other than Jack. I think Dean calls him "kid", but that's probably it.
ANYWAY, outside of Jack's room, Sam and Dean hover anxiously - Cas comes out and sadly does not deliver the news they want. He doesn't know what's wrong with Jack. There's a thump from Jack's room, and he's having a seizure... so they rush him off to the hospital. There, we get an awkward scene where they apparently have never taken the time to make Jack a fake id before, or come up with a plausible identity for him. So, he becomes Jack Klein, born May 18th, 2000, though Dean also suggests 1999, and their honest that Jack's father was stabbed through the heart and exploded.
Back with Nick, he meets up with a former crime reporter, who once covered his family's murder. Her name is Diane Fargo, which is a pretty boss name. She gives him the name of the beat cop who first came upon the scene of the crime. He now lives in Manitoc. (Does everything circle back to Manitoc in SPN, do they just like that town?)
We cut to Jack again, woot! Only, everything is grime. Dean talks about how he worried about monsters, but never thought of just sickness. Meanwhile, I wonder if they ever got Jack his vaccinations... have they checked for TB? Polio? Meningitis?
The doctor comes out and tells them that they can't figure it out. But that Jack is experiencing systemic failure - which yeah, basically means death... so Dean and Sam are IMMEDIATELY DONE WITH MODERN MEDICINE. I mean... fair enough, that's their MO and it's always worked out for them in the past. Dean does that awkward thing where you try to bring up an option of calling Rowena in a "this is ridiculous, let's laugh at me for thinking about it" way, instead of a "I'm actually serious that we should consider this" way... and Sam is like "yeah, I already did" because Sam got over the hang-up of calling Rowena 3 seasons ago. Then they sign Jack out AMA and go back to the Bunker.
Rowena shows up with the Book of the Damned, which she apparently stole back while she was hanging out in the Bunker at the end of the previous season. She believes she's there for Dean, but Sam breaks the news that it's for Jack, and that Jack is the son of Lucifer. (I thought Rowena already knew this? Maybe I'm remembering wrong.) Rowena is very much not on board with helping anything related to Lucifer and suggests that Jack can die. And then Jack appears behind her and agrees with her, and takes the time to thank her for her help in the past and how much he appreciates it, and he's glad he got a chance to tell her before she left... and Rowena is like "goddamn, why does he have to be adorable?" (only with her eyes) and then helps.
It doesn't work though! Nephilim really need their grace as it turns out, otherwise their system is thrown into chaos, and I guess Jack isn't regenerating his grace fast enough to not die. Cas offers his own grace, but Jack needs an archangel's grace.
Dean listens to all this and has a really weird dizzy spell that's not explained.
Unfortunately, we then cut to Nick, who is now stalking a night club for no reason, and trying not to stalk and kill girls who come out of that club and have absolutely no sense of self-preservation. It's all very strange.
Thankfully, we then jump back to Dean, who brings Jack a snack only to find Jack getting his pack.... but he doesn't give him any flack....or...put him on the rack?
I've gotten distracted. Jack wants to go out and live life, now that he realizes he's dying - he wants to experience the world. Dean decides to help - and he's smart for doing it really, because this way someone is around Jack to keep an eye on him.
They go and tell Cas, Sam, and Rowena, who are trying to research up another cure.
Sam has got a lead from Ketch on a shaman named Sergei. Dean gets weirdly dizzy again. It's still not explained.
Cas is going to go see the shaman. Dean is going to take Jack out in the Impala.
Dean shows Jack how to drive, and it's a really cute scene. Jack is all like "it's like I'm you!" and Dean shakes his head...but Jack declares it the best day ever, so mission accomplished there.
As Cas is leaving to go see Sergei. Sam is like "you sure you want to go on your own?" and Cas says that he basically just wants to be doing something. Then they have a little chat about how hard Dean seems to be taking Jack's illness (deflecting much?) and Sam points out that Dean is probably regretting how hard he was on Jack in the beginning. And then Sam talks about how they've lost so many people, but this feels different.. and Cas calls out the elephant in the room by pointing out that it's different because they're "losing a son."
Jack is still jazzed about being able to drive now. Dean asks if he wants to go to a bar next and try to score (oh Dean, your toxic masculinity is showing), and Jack says he has another idea.
Sadly, first we have to return to Nick, who is paying the beat cop, Frank (because all beat cops are named Frank) a visit, and being creepy.
But then we get to go back to Dean and Jack right away, and we see that Jack has taken them fishing. (And those are some BC rocks, my friend, I highly doubt those are Kansas/mid-west rocks... but hey, who am I to say, I've never been there.) Jack explains how Dean told him that fishing was his happiest memory with John. Dean disputes claiming it was his happiest memory - Jack insists that it was contained in the tone in which he told Jack about it. In any case, Jack has come to realize that it's not seeing foreign wonders of the world that he's going to miss about living, it's spending time with his family. He tells Dean that he thinks he's had a good life. (And this reminds me of when I've driven with my dad in the past, who is not the most careful driver, and I've sat there in the passenger seat and also made peace with the fact that I'm going to die and also come to the conclusion that I've lived a good life and it's okay if I do... and then I survive somehow!)
Cas meets up with the shaman, who traps him in holy fire, just so we know that the shaman knows what's what, I guess? Because he then lets Cas out of the fire and into his trailer and they have a chat. Sergei says they need a recharging agent - and luckily, he happens to have some archangel grace that he got off Gabriel in exchange for a cloaking spell that got him to Monte Carlo. Cas asks how much it's going to cost him, and Sergei does the whole "the Winchesters will owe me a favour" thing - which is really the best sort of debt to have in my opinion, but also the most circumspect deal to enter into.
Unfortunately, we have to join Nick for the second to last time... where he has tied up the beat cop and is now torturing him for information. The cop finally comes clean that he DID do it, but he was met outside the house by a guy named Obraxis (possibly spelt much differently than that), and then didn't remember anything until he was sitting in his patrol car covered in blood. Nick realizes that Frank was possessed, so it wasn't really his fault - but then kills him anyway, because that's the sort of guy Nick is now. (Also, it TOTALLY MAKES SENSE that the demons would be prepping Lucifer's potential vessels in the lead-up to the apocalypse, so OF COURSE a demon did it.)
Back at the Bunker, Rowena performs Sergei's spell while Jack consumes the angel grace. It seems to work for a split second, but then Jack collapses. Cas calls Sergei and finds out that it was just an experiment, and that Sergei didn't actually know what would happen or if it'd work or not. Cas is NOT THRILLED and threatens to hunt Sergei down... and uh, Cas, maybe don't tell the dude you're going to do that, because it means he'll stop smoking up and possibly move his ridiculously uniquely painted trailer someplace harder to find.
We return to Nick for the final time, which would ordinarily lead me to rejoice - only, we join him while he is praying... to Lucifer... and apparently it's not just an all powerful Nephilim that can call things awake in the Empty anymore, it's random idiots too. Because we see Lucifer begin to form, T1000 style. And my notes literally do just say "Yarrrrr................"
But, thankfully, we don't finish the episode there - instead we finish it with some good old family drama... with Dean regretting taking Jack out, that maybe he should have been more careful with him. And Sam telling him that Dean made him happy and that was more important... and then Rowena breaking the news that the only thing they can do is watch over Jack, and sit by him, as he dies. AND EVERYONE IS SAD.
Which means we'll get some great family angst in episodes to come, which I do like... and also they never did explain Dean's dizzy spells... so that might be something. (Maybe they were supposed to be trauma induced? But that's never happened before, so I think it must be something else?). Maybe it's Michael related, and they can use Michael to cure Jack... he could be conveniently still residing inside Dean, and that's why Dean is getting a case of the dizzies. There's is DEFINITELY something going on there.
And... yeah, maybe when Lucifer comes back, Sam will be able to kill him this time, and that will be a positive. They can take turns, and I get to see a character I hate die multiple times... I mean, I'd prefer him only dying once, for good, but I'm already not going to get that, so I'll happily settle for seeing him die multiple times.
So, we'll see what happens! This is mainly just the start of the set-up for the back-half of the season - and it looks like I'll only loath PART of it with every fibre of my being! Yay!
As usual, let me know what you thought in comments.
BUT, usual rules still apply! So, I gotta keep this positive - AND I WILL - And I can't spoil you before the cut, so let's get to the cut....
Okay, so this was a BuckLeming episode and it shows, because they did the thing that I figured BuckLeming would do if no one stopped them, because if it's one thing BuckLeming love it's everything I hate! Which includes both Nick and Lucifer. BUT, they also like giving Jensen weird things to deal with, and I like seeing what Jensen comes up with when handed weird things - and he did not disappoint!
Let's take this thing in order of appearance.
We start with Nick, just to set the tone of what I'll be dealing with this episode. Beyond small d death, he's our villain of this episode - only, sadly, this episode does not follow the regular format of the Winchesters defeating the villain.
Instead, we get Nick saying "I hate... I HATE..." and not finishing up with "...this storyline as much as Alix does." Instead, he talks about how he hates what he's turned into, but he can't stop.... not until he finds out what happened to his family. And sadly, the dead priest that he's crucified in his office has failed to give him the answers he sought.
With sweet relief, we join the Winchesters - or, Jack and Cas first off. With Cas trying to heal Jack. I just spent a week with my nephew named Jack, who we sometimes call Jackie (possibly Jacky? I have never written it down before.) As a result, I wonder ideally if the Winchesters ever call Jack anything other than Jack. I think Dean calls him "kid", but that's probably it.
ANYWAY, outside of Jack's room, Sam and Dean hover anxiously - Cas comes out and sadly does not deliver the news they want. He doesn't know what's wrong with Jack. There's a thump from Jack's room, and he's having a seizure... so they rush him off to the hospital. There, we get an awkward scene where they apparently have never taken the time to make Jack a fake id before, or come up with a plausible identity for him. So, he becomes Jack Klein, born May 18th, 2000, though Dean also suggests 1999, and their honest that Jack's father was stabbed through the heart and exploded.
Back with Nick, he meets up with a former crime reporter, who once covered his family's murder. Her name is Diane Fargo, which is a pretty boss name. She gives him the name of the beat cop who first came upon the scene of the crime. He now lives in Manitoc. (Does everything circle back to Manitoc in SPN, do they just like that town?)
We cut to Jack again, woot! Only, everything is grime. Dean talks about how he worried about monsters, but never thought of just sickness. Meanwhile, I wonder if they ever got Jack his vaccinations... have they checked for TB? Polio? Meningitis?
The doctor comes out and tells them that they can't figure it out. But that Jack is experiencing systemic failure - which yeah, basically means death... so Dean and Sam are IMMEDIATELY DONE WITH MODERN MEDICINE. I mean... fair enough, that's their MO and it's always worked out for them in the past. Dean does that awkward thing where you try to bring up an option of calling Rowena in a "this is ridiculous, let's laugh at me for thinking about it" way, instead of a "I'm actually serious that we should consider this" way... and Sam is like "yeah, I already did" because Sam got over the hang-up of calling Rowena 3 seasons ago. Then they sign Jack out AMA and go back to the Bunker.
Rowena shows up with the Book of the Damned, which she apparently stole back while she was hanging out in the Bunker at the end of the previous season. She believes she's there for Dean, but Sam breaks the news that it's for Jack, and that Jack is the son of Lucifer. (I thought Rowena already knew this? Maybe I'm remembering wrong.) Rowena is very much not on board with helping anything related to Lucifer and suggests that Jack can die. And then Jack appears behind her and agrees with her, and takes the time to thank her for her help in the past and how much he appreciates it, and he's glad he got a chance to tell her before she left... and Rowena is like "goddamn, why does he have to be adorable?" (only with her eyes) and then helps.
It doesn't work though! Nephilim really need their grace as it turns out, otherwise their system is thrown into chaos, and I guess Jack isn't regenerating his grace fast enough to not die. Cas offers his own grace, but Jack needs an archangel's grace.
Dean listens to all this and has a really weird dizzy spell that's not explained.
Unfortunately, we then cut to Nick, who is now stalking a night club for no reason, and trying not to stalk and kill girls who come out of that club and have absolutely no sense of self-preservation. It's all very strange.
Thankfully, we then jump back to Dean, who brings Jack a snack only to find Jack getting his pack.... but he doesn't give him any flack....or...put him on the rack?
I've gotten distracted. Jack wants to go out and live life, now that he realizes he's dying - he wants to experience the world. Dean decides to help - and he's smart for doing it really, because this way someone is around Jack to keep an eye on him.
They go and tell Cas, Sam, and Rowena, who are trying to research up another cure.
Sam has got a lead from Ketch on a shaman named Sergei. Dean gets weirdly dizzy again. It's still not explained.
Cas is going to go see the shaman. Dean is going to take Jack out in the Impala.
Dean shows Jack how to drive, and it's a really cute scene. Jack is all like "it's like I'm you!" and Dean shakes his head...but Jack declares it the best day ever, so mission accomplished there.
As Cas is leaving to go see Sergei. Sam is like "you sure you want to go on your own?" and Cas says that he basically just wants to be doing something. Then they have a little chat about how hard Dean seems to be taking Jack's illness (deflecting much?) and Sam points out that Dean is probably regretting how hard he was on Jack in the beginning. And then Sam talks about how they've lost so many people, but this feels different.. and Cas calls out the elephant in the room by pointing out that it's different because they're "losing a son."
Jack is still jazzed about being able to drive now. Dean asks if he wants to go to a bar next and try to score (oh Dean, your toxic masculinity is showing), and Jack says he has another idea.
Sadly, first we have to return to Nick, who is paying the beat cop, Frank (because all beat cops are named Frank) a visit, and being creepy.
But then we get to go back to Dean and Jack right away, and we see that Jack has taken them fishing. (And those are some BC rocks, my friend, I highly doubt those are Kansas/mid-west rocks... but hey, who am I to say, I've never been there.) Jack explains how Dean told him that fishing was his happiest memory with John. Dean disputes claiming it was his happiest memory - Jack insists that it was contained in the tone in which he told Jack about it. In any case, Jack has come to realize that it's not seeing foreign wonders of the world that he's going to miss about living, it's spending time with his family. He tells Dean that he thinks he's had a good life. (And this reminds me of when I've driven with my dad in the past, who is not the most careful driver, and I've sat there in the passenger seat and also made peace with the fact that I'm going to die and also come to the conclusion that I've lived a good life and it's okay if I do... and then I survive somehow!)
Cas meets up with the shaman, who traps him in holy fire, just so we know that the shaman knows what's what, I guess? Because he then lets Cas out of the fire and into his trailer and they have a chat. Sergei says they need a recharging agent - and luckily, he happens to have some archangel grace that he got off Gabriel in exchange for a cloaking spell that got him to Monte Carlo. Cas asks how much it's going to cost him, and Sergei does the whole "the Winchesters will owe me a favour" thing - which is really the best sort of debt to have in my opinion, but also the most circumspect deal to enter into.
Unfortunately, we have to join Nick for the second to last time... where he has tied up the beat cop and is now torturing him for information. The cop finally comes clean that he DID do it, but he was met outside the house by a guy named Obraxis (possibly spelt much differently than that), and then didn't remember anything until he was sitting in his patrol car covered in blood. Nick realizes that Frank was possessed, so it wasn't really his fault - but then kills him anyway, because that's the sort of guy Nick is now. (Also, it TOTALLY MAKES SENSE that the demons would be prepping Lucifer's potential vessels in the lead-up to the apocalypse, so OF COURSE a demon did it.)
Back at the Bunker, Rowena performs Sergei's spell while Jack consumes the angel grace. It seems to work for a split second, but then Jack collapses. Cas calls Sergei and finds out that it was just an experiment, and that Sergei didn't actually know what would happen or if it'd work or not. Cas is NOT THRILLED and threatens to hunt Sergei down... and uh, Cas, maybe don't tell the dude you're going to do that, because it means he'll stop smoking up and possibly move his ridiculously uniquely painted trailer someplace harder to find.
We return to Nick for the final time, which would ordinarily lead me to rejoice - only, we join him while he is praying... to Lucifer... and apparently it's not just an all powerful Nephilim that can call things awake in the Empty anymore, it's random idiots too. Because we see Lucifer begin to form, T1000 style. And my notes literally do just say "Yarrrrr................"
But, thankfully, we don't finish the episode there - instead we finish it with some good old family drama... with Dean regretting taking Jack out, that maybe he should have been more careful with him. And Sam telling him that Dean made him happy and that was more important... and then Rowena breaking the news that the only thing they can do is watch over Jack, and sit by him, as he dies. AND EVERYONE IS SAD.
Which means we'll get some great family angst in episodes to come, which I do like... and also they never did explain Dean's dizzy spells... so that might be something. (Maybe they were supposed to be trauma induced? But that's never happened before, so I think it must be something else?). Maybe it's Michael related, and they can use Michael to cure Jack... he could be conveniently still residing inside Dean, and that's why Dean is getting a case of the dizzies. There's is DEFINITELY something going on there.
And... yeah, maybe when Lucifer comes back, Sam will be able to kill him this time, and that will be a positive. They can take turns, and I get to see a character I hate die multiple times... I mean, I'd prefer him only dying once, for good, but I'm already not going to get that, so I'll happily settle for seeing him die multiple times.
So, we'll see what happens! This is mainly just the start of the set-up for the back-half of the season - and it looks like I'll only loath PART of it with every fibre of my being! Yay!
As usual, let me know what you thought in comments.