hells_half_acre (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hells_half_acre) wrote2020-01-16 11:32 pm
hells_half_acre) wrote2020-01-16 11:32 pm
Entry tags:
Quick Reaction: 15x09 The Trap
Just when I thought I was out....
...not that I really was. It's just that with things being so chaotic IRL at the moment, I found myself noticeably less enthused about the show. Case and point, I didn't bother going to my friend's place tonight for our usual Supernatural night - just because it seemed like too much effort (granted, we've also had a huge dump of snow in Vancouver and part of the problem was that I just didn't want to leave my house.)
But this episode has really pulled me back in!!! Let's talk about it under a cut....
THEN - I just realized that Michael!Adam was hanging out in the Red Wagon and they didn't change the shop name. That's in the far reaches of my neighbourhood - it's a popular diner.
NOW - Sam and Eileen wake up in a casino. Chuck's been setting up Sam and Eileen. Chuck couldn't see Sam, but he can see Eileen, so she was his spy - and then he makes a deaf joke? Jeez, way to be the villain. Still, it looks like he's doing things YED style, where he sets up the situation and then has Sam and Dean make the decision. So, it's not that they don't have free will, but more that they only have free will amidst the options that he presents to them. Like a parent having their kid choose their own dessert, but only presenting a choice between healthy options... only, you know, the evil version, not the 'I need you to go to bed tonight and sugar won't help that' version.
Chuck's stuck in the world as long as he's connected with Sam.
Cas is making bullets. I love seeing Cas making bullets - I think there's something domestic about it. Something human? It speaks to the not-angelness of the being that Castiel has become.
Dean is trying to contact Sam and Eileen, but no luck.
Then in the casino, while Chuck is hesitating over taking a scalpel to Sam in order to get out whatever is festering in the wound that is preventing it from healing, Eileen sneakily calls Dean back. I'm going to go ahead and say that the 1-missed call on Eileen's phone was a video call, rather than a regular call. Just before anyone asks. Though, the fact that she calls him back without video is kind of hilarious - and the fact that he answers with her name... I have a friend with less hearing loss than Eileen and they can't do phone calls. If they ever called me, I'd be like "this is obviously some sort of distress signal... and/or a butt dial."
Chuck spots Eileen trying to contact Dean and throws the phone - And I wonder if this is all part of his game. Like he WANTS Dean and Cas to come barreling through the door for whatever narrative he's constructing.
Cas points out to a distraught Dean that Chuck isn't going to kill Sam - and they need to go to Purgatory. "Stop being stupid!" Tall order Cas.
Sam correctly calls Chuck out on his stalling. "You just like to watch" - kinky. Eileen goads him too. So, Chuck makes Eileen do it. Chuck is a blood-bender now (where my A:TLA fans at?!). Though, seriously, when Eileen spoke up, I was like "Stay quiet! He has no reason to keep you alive!" I'd make a terrible ally to Sam and Dean. :P
Oh yeah, the door to Purgatory and THAT mission - I COMPLETELY forgot that they were on a 12 hour timer, because I got super distracted by the fact that Michael was dining at The Red Wagon.
Cas and Dean search purgatory. Dean mentions running into Benny - that'd be fun! I'm unspoiled for this episode, so maybe it'll be true! (Awww, I'm sad now, reading over this note...)
Sam just keeps making fun of Chuck. Chuck loses patience. He sends Eileen away and questions why Sam is still defiant. "Not my first time on the rack" - I mean, yeah, you helped build this person, Chuck. But Chuck realizes it's hope that's keeping the wound open and connected. It's interesting that to Chuck, hope is something that is festering and preventing him from winning.
Dean and Cas bait a leviathan into attacking so that they can get some info. They find out that the blossom blooms from the corpse of leviathan. Dean asks after Benny - is told that he's dead. That's sad. Hopefully it's a lie. Also, how do you die in purgatory? Is Benny sleeping in the Empty too? Or is there another OTHER place? Or a legit nothingness?
Chuck continues to try to demoralize Sam. He shows him what happens when Sam wins. At first, I'm like "They live a happy domestic life in the Bunker?!?" But then Jody calls and Claire is dead. I mean, Claire could die at any time... that's always a risk... so, to me this isn't world-shatteringly horrible yet.
Chuck presents Sam with a watch that will show him the future...
Cas and Dean grieve Benny as they follow the leviathan to wherever the flower is. I just accidentally called Benny "Bunny" in my notes, and now I'm laughing, which is good, because this conversation is depressing. Dean brings up Mary's death again, and Cas is like "yeah, I've already addressed thiat - I'm actually talking about my DEAD SON, THANKS!" (only, you know, in other words.) Cas is grieving Jack - who Dean still seems to not want to acknowledge. Dean blames Cas for leaving. Cas points out that Dean didn't stop him.
Sam sees a future version of January 6th 2021 - Dean and Sam bloodied after werewolf hunt and they failed to save the victims, and Cas is somehow gone. The monsters are winning.
The leviathan lead Dean and Cas into an angel trap. Eve is pissed and seeking revenge. Dean gets attacked and knocked out, when he wakes up, he finds that Cas is gone and they've burned all the Leviathan blossoms so he can't get them.
Sam jumps forward in the possible future to Nov 3rd 2021 - Sam is getting ready for a hunt. Dean is defeated - wants to quit hunting. They've lost everyone they cared about. Cas had the MoC (I had totally forgotten about how the spell to defeat Chuck would have left Cas with a mark, so I was super confused until later on in the episode when I finally clued in.) They had to bury him in the Malek Box. Jody and Bobby both have death wishes - and Eileen is apparently dead too, and Sam also has a death wish, according to Dean. Sam wants to go out swinging. Butch and Sundance style. Dean just wants to admit that they lost. Dean's done.
That seems out of character to me - and Sam agrees with me! - "Dean I know, the Dean who raised me - he'd never give up." Dean only ever gives up temporarily in canon, so I think Sam is right here.
Dean trying to find Cas in purgatory. Only has a half hour. Dean panics and prays. AND DAMN, Jensen does a great job here. I copied it all out: "I should have stopped you. You're my best friend but I just let you go. Because that was easier than admitting I was wrong. I don't know why I get so angry. I know that it's always been there. When things go bad, it comes out. And I can't stop it. No matter how bad I want to, I can't stop it. I forgive you. Of course I forgive you. I'm sorry it took me so long. I'm sorry it took me 'til now to say it. Cas, I'm so sorry. Man, I hope you can hear me. I hope you can hear me."
Geez, it's so well done. I don't even have words to go into it now - but it's both Dean at his most self aware and also at his most loving. You can tell that he already regrets what his possible last words to Cas were - that he doesn't want it to end like that, so even if the prayer is in vain, he's going to make it and hope that it somehow gets to him.
Sam continues with the vision of Nov 3rd 2021 - Sam leaves to raid the nest. Dean follows, because he feels he has no other choice. Chuck baits Sam to see the end... when Sam forwards the watch, it only goes as far as Dec 9th 2022 - and then Chuck tells him that's the end of the line.
Dean's still in purgatory, while there's only 2 minutes until the door closes.
Cas is alive! But is beat up. Hugs! Cas escaped and took a Leviathan blossom. Cas heard Dean's prayer. Good, that means it's actually him. I was worried that it was a fake, because that seemed WAY too convenient. I'm not even going to complain about the convenience, because I'm just happy that Cas is still a bad-ass sometimes and also that his and Dean's relationship is on steadier ground now.
Sam views Dec 9th 2022... It's their Butch and Sundance ending. Oh, but it's Hunters coming to kill them - they were turned into Vampires, apparently. Dean kills Jody, Bobby kills Sam. Extremely unlikely ending in my opinion, and definitely a manipulation by Chuck. Sam isn't buying it either by his expression afterwards.
Chuck tells Sam that Eileen is in a broom closet somewhere.
Cas and Dean mixing the spell - this is when I remember about how the spell works and am like "Oh! RIGHT! That makes sense now!"
Sam is insistent that it won't end like that. Chuck says that loves that they break the rules, but insists that Sam can't change things. That Sam can't know about the fabric of the universe - and then Sam realizes what Chuck is trying to tell him - It's about the Monsters. With God gone, the monsters take over... Dark forces win without Chuck to keep them in check, apparently. So, it's not so much the details of the ending, as it is the SCENARIO.
Chuck and Dean arrive. Eileen attacks, still under Chuck's power and is tackled by Cas. Chuck and Dean trade punches. The spell gets thrown to Sam to break, but Sam can't do it. The wound heals. Chuck says it's because Sam lost hope. Chuck tells them to take it easy on Sam and destroys the spell.
Chuck tells them that Sam's visions weren't drafts - they were other Sam and other Dean's in other worlds.
Eileen leaves, because she doesn't know what's real anymore. Then my notes say "KISSES!! Yay!!!" Because I love Sam/Eileen ship SO MUCH. I don't even care that she's leaving, because it means that she is still alive, so I can still write my happily-ever-after Saileen fanfiction. Also, even if Sam dies, he got to fall in love one last time... and that's the important bit. It's even part of the poem that I just got tattooed on my leg.... but now I'm getting off topic.
Dean and Cas in the kitchen looking glum. It's always nice to have a buddy to be glum with, I'm glad that they're on good terms now. Sam comes in and he's obviously bracing to be yelled at. Sam is sorry, but still believes what Chuck showed him. Dean forgives him, easy as that - I think Dean has learned his lesson well from almost losing Cas in Purgatory. He's not going to hold grudges. They're back to square one with not knowing how to defeat God.
And then we flash to the Empty, where my notes say: "JACK!!!! I LOVE HIM! Billie! I LOVE HER TOO!"
And I'll leave it there for tonight...
Let me know what you thought in comments! I'm looking forward to next week!
...not that I really was. It's just that with things being so chaotic IRL at the moment, I found myself noticeably less enthused about the show. Case and point, I didn't bother going to my friend's place tonight for our usual Supernatural night - just because it seemed like too much effort (granted, we've also had a huge dump of snow in Vancouver and part of the problem was that I just didn't want to leave my house.)
But this episode has really pulled me back in!!! Let's talk about it under a cut....
THEN - I just realized that Michael!Adam was hanging out in the Red Wagon and they didn't change the shop name. That's in the far reaches of my neighbourhood - it's a popular diner.
NOW - Sam and Eileen wake up in a casino. Chuck's been setting up Sam and Eileen. Chuck couldn't see Sam, but he can see Eileen, so she was his spy - and then he makes a deaf joke? Jeez, way to be the villain. Still, it looks like he's doing things YED style, where he sets up the situation and then has Sam and Dean make the decision. So, it's not that they don't have free will, but more that they only have free will amidst the options that he presents to them. Like a parent having their kid choose their own dessert, but only presenting a choice between healthy options... only, you know, the evil version, not the 'I need you to go to bed tonight and sugar won't help that' version.
Chuck's stuck in the world as long as he's connected with Sam.
Cas is making bullets. I love seeing Cas making bullets - I think there's something domestic about it. Something human? It speaks to the not-angelness of the being that Castiel has become.
Dean is trying to contact Sam and Eileen, but no luck.
Then in the casino, while Chuck is hesitating over taking a scalpel to Sam in order to get out whatever is festering in the wound that is preventing it from healing, Eileen sneakily calls Dean back. I'm going to go ahead and say that the 1-missed call on Eileen's phone was a video call, rather than a regular call. Just before anyone asks. Though, the fact that she calls him back without video is kind of hilarious - and the fact that he answers with her name... I have a friend with less hearing loss than Eileen and they can't do phone calls. If they ever called me, I'd be like "this is obviously some sort of distress signal... and/or a butt dial."
Chuck spots Eileen trying to contact Dean and throws the phone - And I wonder if this is all part of his game. Like he WANTS Dean and Cas to come barreling through the door for whatever narrative he's constructing.
Cas points out to a distraught Dean that Chuck isn't going to kill Sam - and they need to go to Purgatory. "Stop being stupid!" Tall order Cas.
Sam correctly calls Chuck out on his stalling. "You just like to watch" - kinky. Eileen goads him too. So, Chuck makes Eileen do it. Chuck is a blood-bender now (where my A:TLA fans at?!). Though, seriously, when Eileen spoke up, I was like "Stay quiet! He has no reason to keep you alive!" I'd make a terrible ally to Sam and Dean. :P
Oh yeah, the door to Purgatory and THAT mission - I COMPLETELY forgot that they were on a 12 hour timer, because I got super distracted by the fact that Michael was dining at The Red Wagon.
Cas and Dean search purgatory. Dean mentions running into Benny - that'd be fun! I'm unspoiled for this episode, so maybe it'll be true! (Awww, I'm sad now, reading over this note...)
Sam just keeps making fun of Chuck. Chuck loses patience. He sends Eileen away and questions why Sam is still defiant. "Not my first time on the rack" - I mean, yeah, you helped build this person, Chuck. But Chuck realizes it's hope that's keeping the wound open and connected. It's interesting that to Chuck, hope is something that is festering and preventing him from winning.
Dean and Cas bait a leviathan into attacking so that they can get some info. They find out that the blossom blooms from the corpse of leviathan. Dean asks after Benny - is told that he's dead. That's sad. Hopefully it's a lie. Also, how do you die in purgatory? Is Benny sleeping in the Empty too? Or is there another OTHER place? Or a legit nothingness?
Chuck continues to try to demoralize Sam. He shows him what happens when Sam wins. At first, I'm like "They live a happy domestic life in the Bunker?!?" But then Jody calls and Claire is dead. I mean, Claire could die at any time... that's always a risk... so, to me this isn't world-shatteringly horrible yet.
Chuck presents Sam with a watch that will show him the future...
Cas and Dean grieve Benny as they follow the leviathan to wherever the flower is. I just accidentally called Benny "Bunny" in my notes, and now I'm laughing, which is good, because this conversation is depressing. Dean brings up Mary's death again, and Cas is like "yeah, I've already addressed thiat - I'm actually talking about my DEAD SON, THANKS!" (only, you know, in other words.) Cas is grieving Jack - who Dean still seems to not want to acknowledge. Dean blames Cas for leaving. Cas points out that Dean didn't stop him.
Sam sees a future version of January 6th 2021 - Dean and Sam bloodied after werewolf hunt and they failed to save the victims, and Cas is somehow gone. The monsters are winning.
The leviathan lead Dean and Cas into an angel trap. Eve is pissed and seeking revenge. Dean gets attacked and knocked out, when he wakes up, he finds that Cas is gone and they've burned all the Leviathan blossoms so he can't get them.
Sam jumps forward in the possible future to Nov 3rd 2021 - Sam is getting ready for a hunt. Dean is defeated - wants to quit hunting. They've lost everyone they cared about. Cas had the MoC (I had totally forgotten about how the spell to defeat Chuck would have left Cas with a mark, so I was super confused until later on in the episode when I finally clued in.) They had to bury him in the Malek Box. Jody and Bobby both have death wishes - and Eileen is apparently dead too, and Sam also has a death wish, according to Dean. Sam wants to go out swinging. Butch and Sundance style. Dean just wants to admit that they lost. Dean's done.
That seems out of character to me - and Sam agrees with me! - "Dean I know, the Dean who raised me - he'd never give up." Dean only ever gives up temporarily in canon, so I think Sam is right here.
Dean trying to find Cas in purgatory. Only has a half hour. Dean panics and prays. AND DAMN, Jensen does a great job here. I copied it all out: "I should have stopped you. You're my best friend but I just let you go. Because that was easier than admitting I was wrong. I don't know why I get so angry. I know that it's always been there. When things go bad, it comes out. And I can't stop it. No matter how bad I want to, I can't stop it. I forgive you. Of course I forgive you. I'm sorry it took me so long. I'm sorry it took me 'til now to say it. Cas, I'm so sorry. Man, I hope you can hear me. I hope you can hear me."
Geez, it's so well done. I don't even have words to go into it now - but it's both Dean at his most self aware and also at his most loving. You can tell that he already regrets what his possible last words to Cas were - that he doesn't want it to end like that, so even if the prayer is in vain, he's going to make it and hope that it somehow gets to him.
Sam continues with the vision of Nov 3rd 2021 - Sam leaves to raid the nest. Dean follows, because he feels he has no other choice. Chuck baits Sam to see the end... when Sam forwards the watch, it only goes as far as Dec 9th 2022 - and then Chuck tells him that's the end of the line.
Dean's still in purgatory, while there's only 2 minutes until the door closes.
Cas is alive! But is beat up. Hugs! Cas escaped and took a Leviathan blossom. Cas heard Dean's prayer. Good, that means it's actually him. I was worried that it was a fake, because that seemed WAY too convenient. I'm not even going to complain about the convenience, because I'm just happy that Cas is still a bad-ass sometimes and also that his and Dean's relationship is on steadier ground now.
Sam views Dec 9th 2022... It's their Butch and Sundance ending. Oh, but it's Hunters coming to kill them - they were turned into Vampires, apparently. Dean kills Jody, Bobby kills Sam. Extremely unlikely ending in my opinion, and definitely a manipulation by Chuck. Sam isn't buying it either by his expression afterwards.
Chuck tells Sam that Eileen is in a broom closet somewhere.
Cas and Dean mixing the spell - this is when I remember about how the spell works and am like "Oh! RIGHT! That makes sense now!"
Sam is insistent that it won't end like that. Chuck says that loves that they break the rules, but insists that Sam can't change things. That Sam can't know about the fabric of the universe - and then Sam realizes what Chuck is trying to tell him - It's about the Monsters. With God gone, the monsters take over... Dark forces win without Chuck to keep them in check, apparently. So, it's not so much the details of the ending, as it is the SCENARIO.
Chuck and Dean arrive. Eileen attacks, still under Chuck's power and is tackled by Cas. Chuck and Dean trade punches. The spell gets thrown to Sam to break, but Sam can't do it. The wound heals. Chuck says it's because Sam lost hope. Chuck tells them to take it easy on Sam and destroys the spell.
Chuck tells them that Sam's visions weren't drafts - they were other Sam and other Dean's in other worlds.
Eileen leaves, because she doesn't know what's real anymore. Then my notes say "KISSES!! Yay!!!" Because I love Sam/Eileen ship SO MUCH. I don't even care that she's leaving, because it means that she is still alive, so I can still write my happily-ever-after Saileen fanfiction. Also, even if Sam dies, he got to fall in love one last time... and that's the important bit. It's even part of the poem that I just got tattooed on my leg.... but now I'm getting off topic.
Dean and Cas in the kitchen looking glum. It's always nice to have a buddy to be glum with, I'm glad that they're on good terms now. Sam comes in and he's obviously bracing to be yelled at. Sam is sorry, but still believes what Chuck showed him. Dean forgives him, easy as that - I think Dean has learned his lesson well from almost losing Cas in Purgatory. He's not going to hold grudges. They're back to square one with not knowing how to defeat God.
And then we flash to the Empty, where my notes say: "JACK!!!! I LOVE HIM! Billie! I LOVE HER TOO!"
And I'll leave it there for tonight...
Let me know what you thought in comments! I'm looking forward to next week!
no subject
no subject
It's interesting that to Chuck, hope is something that is festering and preventing him from winning.
Yes! Like, why HOPE? Because hope is... the possibility of defying God? Or... narrative convenience for the writers? I'm almost hoping it's not true and Chuck was faking it to make Sam lose hope for other purposes but that would invalidate too much of the previous episodes.
Really I just want Amara to one-punch her brother into a cage and Jack can be the Light to wipe out the monsters. I don't want to see Chuck saved or redeemed or convinced. I liked him once but not anymore. Amara's the one who's grown. Or Jack can be God.
I wish we'd seen Eve, but that would've been too much to pack into one episode.
it's both Dean at his most self aware and also at his most loving.
Nailed it, Dean just can't say these things to Cas's face easily, if at all. Prayer is almost a safe space for him to be vulnerable with Cas (and without, at the same time).
(I worried it was fake!Cas too because shows never skip these things, but I guess it's back to having to pack too much into one episode. This should have been a two-parter)
I'm heartbroken over Eileen. I guess this is the one way the writers could prevent her from being a regular without killing her, which, good, BUT IT HAD BETTER NOT STICK. They're a beautiful couple and I honestly don't think Chuck manipulated their feelings, just, he knew that they'd fall for each other if they were in proximity and meddled enough to let her be alive. I'm FINE with that kind of God-meddling. I hope she and Sam figure that out.
(I'm super curious about your new leg tat.)
I WANT BILLIE TO REAP GOD.