Quick Reaction: 5x10 Abandon All Hope

[hells_half_acre]

Apt title.

Well, now that my little heart is broken...let's try to start from the beginning...

Yay the show finally shows a male-male deal taking place. Wish the guys had been hotter, but that's just the sleazy-side of me talking.

My sister got really excited about this scene because she knows EXACTLY where it as filmed...so exactly, that she actually did a painting of it last year. We both agreed it was a fantastic setting for filming something.

I like Castiel being the Winchesters blood-hound.

ETA: I totally forgot to talk about them getting the Colt! Haha...I thought the rumpled carpet was pretty damn sloppy of them. I guess they didn't have much time before Crowley showed up. Crowley was cool though...it was so well done the way he just gave them the Colt, and then the fact that Sam tried to shoot him right after and it wasn't loaded...brilliant.

I also like the short scene of everyone hanging out at Bobby's place. Ellen and Jo trying to get Castiel drunk and failing, and Dean and Sam being all brotherly...and Dean failing in his attempt to give Jo the "last night on earth" speech. Susie and I both agreed that self-respect be damned, we would have taken him up on it. That being said, I like Jo better for not having done it....I've always liked her for being the girl that Dean obviously had a thing for, yet never got with. It made her special. Plus, I mean, dude, her Mum was right there.

I loved the little portrait.

Ok, then we get Cathage. Cathage was always one of my favorite place names...ever since my first ancient history course. It just, the way it feels on the tongue is...wonderful...like promises that you aren't sure are good things. Perfect choice. Um...anyway, my strange fetish for language aside...let's get back to the episode.

I like the way they did the transistions with Castiel's umm..movement. I love that he can seemingly be in two places at once, for just a split second, and you are left feeling a little discombobulated. I thought it was awesome how they did that.

The reapers were cool...interesting how we are back to the visage of the original spn-reaper, which sort of separates Tessa from the herd.

Then Castiel gets trapped and Lucifer isn't looking too good...and man...I love everything about their interaction. How Lucifer tempts Casteil, how Castiel stands his ground...how now that he's chosen the Winchesters, he's loyal.

Meg's back in the body she abandoned before. We get invisible hell hounds...and...then...mortally wounded Jo.

I thought it was so well done, the way Dean stayed away and let Ellen and Sam tend to Jo...I just...it was fitting.

But then we get the part that absolutely broke my heart - the conversation with Bobby.

What do I say? I loved it from even before it started, because Bobby was cursing and worried about his "boys"...and then, he called Dean "boy" and Dean was trying not to cry...and it was so like Dean's call to his Dad's voice-mail in Home, only Bobby was THERE keeping Dean together.

I liked the way Jo went out. Ellen too. I'm sorry to see them go. That scene broke my heart. I mean, first off: Forehead-kisses are my kryptonite. I just...wow...and I'm not surprised Ellen chose to go with Jo. I mean, Jo was all she had...just like Dean and Sam have to go together or not at all. Once I realized that Jo wasn't going to live, I knew that Ellen wasn't going to either, even before she said anything.

Susie was upset because it didn't work, and they died for no reason...but they don't know that, and they DID save Sam and Dean from the hell-hounds, so there's a reason. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

I love how Dean and Sam didn't have any last words - Sam didn't attempt a mushy speech about how much Dean meant to him. I like the idea that they know where each other stands now - that there's a feeling of knowing each other completely.

Then I was sure Dean was going to blow it by announcing his presence before he pulled the trigger. Then when he pulled the trigger...my breath seriously caught, because I realized there was no flash - and Susie and I thought that Crowley had given them a fake, but damn it if the Colt just doesn't work on Fallen Archangels. Which means that they are screwed...because they can't kill the devil. Not unless Castiel finds God or something...not unless Dean kills himself by saying yes.

But Castiel is clever and escaped, and dude if it didn't feel all kinds of nasty when Meg was all leaning up against him. Ugh. Yay for him dumping her in the fire. But we do learn that Castiel can't exorcise demons anymore...so, geez...basically all he can do is heal himself and teleport? Really sucks to be him.

He rescued Sam and Dean though...that was nice of him. But they didn't prevent Death from showing up. So, I guess when we come back from break, they'll be hunting Death and despairing. There's stil Famine and Pestilance to contend with too, if they are going to do all four.

I wish Bobby hadn't burnt that picture.

All in all, a fantastic mid-season finale. It's going to be a long sad winter break. :-(

Comments

[claudiapriscus.livejournal.com]

>>I like the way they did the transistions with Castiel's umm..movement. I love that he can seemingly be in two places at once, for just a split second, and you are left feeling a little discombobulated. I thought it was awesome how they did that.

Me too. It reminded me briefly of something, but it was gone before I could grasp it...until I read that. It's like the end of 2001, but cooler.

Every scene with Castiel was pretty much awesome though.

Though I will say one thing. I think, this was an episode made up of neat and often beautiful scenes. Like a succession of photographs, maybe. But it was kind of shallow when it came to the larger story.

It still feels a bit like they're stalling. A lot of the previous episodes have felt a bit like stalling to me, and certainly people were complaining about it. The more I think about it, the more this comes across a bit as "oh look! we're totally doing the whole apocalypse thing. We even killed people! How dire!" But as sad as it was, they still were characters who have been MIA for a few seasons (basically), and so there wasn't a lot of impact on the plot. Nor did anything else really happen to move things forward; they learned that the colt wouldn't work, I guess.

This was not to say it was bad or anything; it's just something I'm puzzling over.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Hmm...yeah, I agree about the stalling thing. I mean, now that they've got the brother-dynamic pretty much back, I think all that is left is the final-showdown.

Though, I don't think this episode was shallow when it came to the larger story - because it basically told them that the Colt is useless and it summoned Death - so like any good mid-season finale, it left the situation as dire as it could possibly be.

It's true though, that the deaths would have packed a greater punch had Ellen and Jo been present in S3 or S4.

[claudiapriscus.livejournal.com]

I just thought of some other random castiel related thing: Shades of Future!Castiel, do you think? Not in the depressing way, but I don't know, originally, the way he was in "The End" was surprising and almost inexplicable. But I think this episode showed some signs of, I don't know, how that came about.

Also, what was up with Lucifer's detroit crack? Did he get to see the future, too, or does he have something special planned? (Maybe he'll send an invite!)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yes, definitely shades of 2014!Cas...though, I hope he never gets that way really, but you start to see more how it could happen...how he's slowly changing.

I'm not sure what's up with Lucifer's Detroit crack...I mean, we can assume that Dean told Sam about Detroit, which was why Sam seemed angry at the comment and not confused...but how would Lucifer know? So yeah, either someone's let something slip to him, or he's addressing the invites as we speak!

[nwspaprtaxis.livejournal.com]

The tricked-up two-way radio conversation between Dean and Bobby SLAYED me. I swear I started crying right there. Dean was so obviously at the end of his rope and he just didn't know what to do or how to handle it. You're right that there's really that echo of the phone call in S1's HOME. But I loved that Bobby was THERE -- that he was actually on the line and he coached Dean through it. Dean really needed someone external to process everything for him -- give him orders, help him get his head back in. And I adore Bobby for doing that. But damn... *sniffles*

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

It's true, that radio-conversation kills me every time too. And you are also right about Bobby being THERE. And I think that's why it makes a great parallel/echo of the phone-call in Home, because John WASN'T there...I've seen other people comment that they don't understand how Bobby could have supplanted John as Dean's father-figure, but I think it's the hundred of little incidences like this that did it.

[nwspaprtaxis.livejournal.com]

WHAT?!

they don't understand how Bobby could have supplanted John as Dean's father-figure

I was sold on Bobby being Dean's pseudo-dad figure since the first time I ever saw DEVIL'S TRAP. Just watch JA/Dean's face when he turns to close the door when they're leaving Bobby's. It's just Dean and Bobby and Dean's got this naked gratitude in his face. Essentially, I think Bobby was Dean's emotional rock. Sure he had John for a Dad, but to all intents and appearances, John was kind of a coldhearted, obsessed bastard. I mean, sure John did his best and everything, but he just wasn't the warm, fuzzy type. And somehow I think Dean internalized the whole marine thing to such an extent he couldn't feel comfortable going to his Dad unless he was absolutely desperate with nowhere to go and like we saw in HOME, John really WASN'T there.

Bobby though, I think, saw that Dean needed someone to depend on... that being the emotional stability of his family was going to kill him. So I think Bobby just made himself available to Dean -- he doesn't push or interfere, but when Dean needs someone, he's just THERE, plain and simple. He just lets Dean fall apart in all his ugly glory and he doesn't judge or call Dean on it and he just helps the kid focus and pull himself together.

In the Radio-Conservation That Kills, Bobby actually gives Dean a good minute to fall apart before stepping in and coaching Dean and giving the guy some orders and focus at the task at hand.

I think it was a hundred thousand tiny instances where Bobby just proved himself over and over to Dean that it was okay to be human and to crash that made Dean idolize Bobby as a father figure. Or at least as an emotional father.

We never see what happened pre-series, but starting with DEVIL'S TRAP, we really see the dynamic of Bobby and Dean and at Dean's absolute worst and lowest, it's Bobby (and Sam) who climbs in the mess to help Dean clean it up.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Well said. I agree completely.

I should mention that the main person I'm talking about who doesn't understand seems to be the type of person that...well...basically if it's not CLEARLY spelled out ON AN EPISODE, they don't get it. And they don't seem to take the time to interpret looks and gratitude...so, yeah, it's not like their opinion matters. :P

I always watch the show with it in my head that 80% of the Winchester's lives, we don't actually ever get to see. We don't know WHY Bobby threatened John away with a shot-gun...we just know it happened. And we know that long before he was Bobby, he was Uncle Bobby...and I mean really, John raised Sam and Dean SO separate from the greater Hunting community, there was a very select few who got close. Paster Jim, Bobby...they seemed to be the only ones that John trusted to look after Sam and Dean when they were young.

So, yeah, I think Bobby was probably a father-figure long before S1. I mean, really, as someone with a dissatisfying father myself, I know that by the age of 6 I had picked several different father-figures in addition to my actual father.

I also think you are right about the marine-training thing. You can see it at the beginning of Scarecrow, when Dean TRIES to talk to John like a concerned and worried son, and immediately switches to subordinate soldier after John starts talking to him.

John DID have a lot of love for his sons...and I think he WAS demonstrative with it sometimes - the fact that their reaction when they see him in Shadow is to embrace him...the fact that John looks at Sam extremely lovingly as they speak in Dead Man's Blood...but I think instances like that were probably rare, and I think that when John did let them show emotion, it was probably only joy and love - that, like you said, he wouldn't have let Dean break down and be human.

Anyway, now I'm just repeating what you said with different words :P

[nwspaprtaxis.livejournal.com]

Ah. I gotcha. I actually focus on expressions and it's my crack so when people don't get it I'm genuinely baffled because I'm all LOOK AT HIM!!!!

That's a great point about not seeing 80% of their lives. And all those little tantalizing things.

That's true -- John kept his sons apart from the greater hunting community and there really was only Pastor Jim and Uncle Bobby who picked up the slack from John and they seem to be the only people John trusted with his sons. I understand why, but a part of me wishes John trusted Ellen -- she'd have been a great AUNT to the boys. I still have this concept of Ellen calling them on Birthdays and Christmases with individual messages and mailing out cards and presents from time to time. But *le sigh* I get why John and Ellen had the falling out. I think I just have a love affair with Ellen Harvelle.

That scene in SCARECROW kills me... it's so heartbreaking to watch that switch and JA does it with every muscle in his body, not just his voice.

Don't get me wrong. John adored his boys, and you make a point about him being demonstrative and their reactions towards the end of S1... but I also think they were extremely RARE. And for the most part John was undemonstrative. Part of their demonstrativeness, I think, came from the fact they haven't seen one another in FOREVER.... And aside from SHADOW, they don't hug.

I think John just expected way too much of Dean and Dean delivers every time. But I also think John expected obedience and levelheadedness from Dean -- he was the peacemaker, the monkey-in-the-middle. And having Dean break down and be human really isn't part of that.

I think Bobby might've seen that from the start and since he knew John would never change, he just became that person Dean could go to and just tailspin with the absolute knowledge and security that it's okay to break apart and that there's someone there to catch him and he's just HUMAN.

And now I'm getting redundant.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I agree, I agree...and you're right. Seeing John in Shadow was a "come back from the dead" hug, not a "we do this everyday" hug.

I kind of want to jump in here with personal anecdotes...but, I should probably have some objectivity and not let my personal life affect how I interpret the show or something...but yeah...basically, I completely understand what you mean by John expecting so much from Dean that he wasn't really allowed to be human.

I absolutely love expressions too...and that scene in Scarecrow when Dean turns from son to soldier is one of my absolute favorites, because, like you said, it's EVERY MUSCLE. It's his face and body and tone of voice and...man...so well done.

I've noticed though, that there are some people who watch the show and they really need everything spelled out in dialog or else they don't get it. Or worse, which I absolutely hate, is that they don't understand that characters LIE from time to time. So, they call things retcons that aren't retcons and ugh. Anyway...that's a whole other topic.

Bobby is awesome. Ellen would have been an awesome Aunt, but yeah, I have a feeling that John ruined that before it could even get started.

[nwspaprtaxis.livejournal.com]

The Ellen-Being-The-Cool-Aunt is just a personal thing I'd adore to see and wish could've happened, but yeah, John killed and ruined any hope of that before it could even start. And Ellen's really sweet to the guys once she meets them after their rocky start -- especially to Dean. And Bobby's flat-out awesome.

Yeah. That was a "you're alive and back from the dead" hug. So they definitely don't do physical affection on a daily basis.

I feel the same way half the time -- my personal experiences color the way I see the show and why I'm a Dean!Girl... BUT I am sorry if John resembles your own father... I don't think it was John's intent to demand so much of his son that Dean felt he couldn't be human, that he couldn't break down, that he had to be a soldier and peacemaker, but unfortunately that's exactly what happened.

GOD that shot kills me. It makes me want to hug him and tell him he doesn't have to stuff everything down -- that it's okay to feel!

OH MY GOD! I feel sorry for those people... They misss so much of the show if they need everything spelled out and it's such a shame and disservice to the actors... BUT anyways... really?! Do I live in a bubble or under a rock because I completely miss all that drama. Anyways, THE WINCHESTERS MAKE A LIVING LYING AND CONNING OTHERS. I hate to say it, but they really do base their livelihood on lies and cons -- hustling pool? Credit scams? I mean, they aren't choirboys here. And well, yeah, they do lie and fudge up the truth.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I do like how when Ellen met them, she KNEW how much Dean must be torn up about his Dad...so, she was keeping tabs on them over the years, she must have been...if she really hadn't seen John since 1995, and Dean and Sam didn't know who she was...how did she know that Dean idolized his father if she weren't keeping tabs?

My family doesn't do physical affection either, but my Aunt's family does...I think me and my cousins find each other bizarre.

Yeah, I WISH my Dad resembled John Winchester....But it's actually my mother who doesn't like it when I'm too human...my brother nailed it best when he explained it to a friend of his: "We were raised by mathematicians. We are Spock." Not to say that my Dad is any better on the emotions front...when I called him because I was homesick my first week away at University, he basically told me I was being an idiot. My mum at least talked me through it until we figured out what the actual problem was (turned out I just needed to go for a walk...who knew!)

But yeah, I think I'm easier on John than a lot of people are because he DID love his kids, and despite going at it ass-backwards he DID try to do what was best for them...and basically that's all to say that my personal experience totally colours how I see the show. It's why I originally identified with Dean too. I'm not saying I identify with Sam now, but I understand him, which is why I consider myself BiBro instead of a Dean!Girl.

And YES, DEMONS LIE and SO DO WINCHESTERS! I've seen people who think that Dean just suddenly started remembering hell in the bathroom in Lazarus Rising - NO, he REMEMBERED THE WHOLE TIME, he LIED to Sam...in the bathroom he was CHECKING HIS EYES while THINKING about what he did in hell (which is even more horrible than remembering hell, thank you very much). And Crowley didn't want purgatory for "real-estate" HE WAS LYING. We don't KNOW what Crowley's end-game was, because he never explained it and then Cas killed him.

Sigh.

Anyway...yeah, I feel sorry for people who need things spelled out so much - especially since the actors are so good at conveying so much without saying a single word.

[nwspaprtaxis.livejournal.com]

That's a great point about Ellen keeping tabs on the boys. Then again, I don't think she actively kept tabs on them as much as heard word about them here and there with all the hunters coming and going in her roadhouse. I think it was more of something she'd picked up through the grapevine and kept an ear out for because to all intents and purposes, it seems rare for a hunter to haul two little boys around and she probably had a maternal streak that took an interest in the boys.

I'm way harder on John than most people -- but it's because I just see John as being one heck of a negligent parent. I do not dispute John's love for his boys, but I *do* have issues with how he went about raising them -- to me, the most unforgivable moment is just how scared and young Dean looks when John tells him that he's proud in S2's IMTOD.

I grew up in an incredibly physically affectionate family. Probably much the way your Aunt's family is. My brother and I will even hug each other in the middle of a busy sidewalk surrounded by people if we haven't seen each other in forever and it's an everyday hug. I'm actually kind of sorry for you and your upbringing. I would like to give you a hug. So with a very loving and physically affectionate family, to see the Winchesters not have that makes me all maternal and soppy. Ironically, my relationship with my dad mirrors Sam's -- the two of us fight and argue like cat and dogs but that's because we're too much alike not to fight. The family joke is that I'm his clone. We love each other to the death and would die for one another, but we'll also fight every inch of the way and are both too stubborn for our own good.

I actually saw the bathroom mirror scene as a flashback rather than actually THINKING ABOUT IT, but anyways, a flashback to it while you remember every moment of it is just levels of horrible. And Dean totally REMEMBERED THE WHOLE TIME -- just look at his face when he denies it to Sam; he's totally lying. He just doesn't want to emote or to make Sam feel even crappier. And I haven't seen S6 and avoiding Spoilers, but I figured Crowley was lying -- I mean, hello DEMONS LIE. It's a canon truth. So even though we don't know Crowley's end-game, we do know he's at least lying. And WINCHESTERS ALSO LIE.

*sigh*

I feel sorry for those people. Especially since they're missing out on the emotions JA conveys with his eyes and body language alone? Also? There's so much spoken between the brothers with just a look.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I totally forgot you haven't seen S6 yet. I'm an idiot. So sorry about that. I shouldn't have mentioned it. Ugh.

Anyway, you have a point about Ellen - it's probably pretty hard to avoid gossip about a Hunter who's lugging two little kids around with him.

And I agree, John was a horribly negligent parent - and your son shouldn't assume you are possessed when you say nice things to him. That's a bad sign right there. But, yeah, I guess it's experience with my own father that completely makes me cut John a little slack for the simple fact that he did love his boys immensely, and for better of for worse, thought that family should stick together. But yeah, there's no denying that he messed Dean up really badly.

Also, I feel sorry for myself sometimes too, so I'd totally accept and relish that hug from you. Don't get me wrong, my siblings and I are all very close and there is no doubt between us that we love each other dearly - just because we don't visibly express it doesn't mean it's not there and recognized. But yeah...my problem is that I actually AM a physically affectionate person, except that it's been "trained" out of me - so for the life of me I can't initiate any form of physical affection. It really sucks for dating. It actually really surprises my friends when they catch me either half-asleep or drunk, because I'm suddenly all cuddly...and they really never expect it. Fortunately two of my friends realized the problem and make sure they hug me lots when they see me, but unfortunately, they currently live on the other side of the country.

Anyway, small problems in the long run. I'll work my way around it eventually.

[nwspaprtaxis.livejournal.com]

I'm going to take this to email... expect one in a bit.

:))))

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Ok, I hope you definition of "a bit" is lengthy, because I haven't gotten one yet...but I'll keep my eye out for it. :)

[nwspaprtaxis.livejournal.com]

Don't worry -- it will be. And I kind of got sidetracked with fic writing. I'm not ADD but I'm the type that's easily distracted by shiny objects.