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roguemI really had not planned on reviewing the Supernatural episodes like I've been doing this season, I thought I'd do a review or recap once in a while like last year. This season won't have any of it though, it's just so damn good, that I'm forced to write down my thoughs, and thus I bring you my thoughts on 204.
"Supernatural: Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (204)"
There are really no words to describe my love for this episode. Recently the second season of my fave shows has been letting me down, but not this show. It's a shining light in between all the decay.
I'll start with the monster of the week. I actually liked the idea, I understood where it was heading with regards to the boys and their issues pretty soon, but it was nicely done. And it does bring up a natural step in the grief process, wanting someone to come back, to be alive again, and what we're willing to do to get that. I do do like the warnings that fiction puts up against this though, that the people who are brought back are not who they used to be, that they are wrong. Okay, am getting sidetracked here, but in short I liked this storyline.
Now for the boys.
I like the fact that Mary has a grave, or headstone at least. The boys should put up a headstone for John beside it. Anyway, I liked that, and that Sam wanted to visit it. I get why dean was hesitant and didn't want to go near it. He had enough trouble returning to their old house, visiting his mothers grave, especially now, it's not something he is ready to do.
When I first saw the tree I thought it had something to do with the tree outside their old house for some reason. I understand how Sam had a hard time buying into that there was a case to be found, but Dean is smart. He does keep his eyes open for suspicious things. Yes, in this case it's to keep busy and keep his mind on other things, but that doesn't mean that he's blind. As much as I like Sam for trying to get Dean to open up, he needs to stop treating Dean like glass.
I liked the scene in Dr. Mason's office, where the boys are pretending to talk to him but are actually talking to each other. Dean seems so pleased that Dr. Mason says that he's felt Angela's precence, and then Sammy shuts him down saying that it's completely normal. Also Dean kind of got to lift a tiny bit of his burden by talking about how death affects people.
Which brings us to Sam bugging Dean again. Sammy, you're a good kid, but you need to give Dean a little space. And also give him the benefit of the doubt.
It was a nice scene though, and the way Dean's face hardens when Sam confronts him, even telling Dean he can take another swing if he wants to. I get why Dean left there though, he'd said he was sorry about hitting Sam and didn't need it thrown back in his face, not now. I'm glad Sam didn't follow him, Dean needed some time alone to sort through things, and to follow up on his gut feeling about this job.
Angela's ex-boyfriend owns 'Apollo 13' on DVD, huh. I don't have much to say about this scene. Plant dies, boy dies, end scene.
Dean breaking and entering, oh how I love it when he does that. Scaring poor room mates, anyone wanna tell me if Alan Stanwick is a real person? I suck at picking up on those referances. Anyway I loved that part. I would have freaked too if some guy was suddenly in my house, no matter how hot he was. Quick thinking by Dean though, especially with the keys.
Aww, Dean consoling the room mate, he didn't really get any good answers out of her. He looked so dissapointed when all he got were three 'greats'. He never seems very comfortable when interviewing grieving people, not that I think anybody would be, but he has a harder time keeping his game face on in those situations...
I love the fact that when Angela's friend says that the boyfriend saw Angela everywhere Dean mimicks Sam's words about that being normal after what he'd been through. But he also seemed kind of pleased when Lindsay said that he saw her. And they way he asks where Matt lives, hehe, loved that.
And now comes one of my favourite parts of the entire show. I'll walk you guys through my reaction.
Sam is sitting watching TV all by himself.
TV: Next on the Skin Channel...
Did she say 'Skin Channel'???
TV: ..."Casa Erotica Four"...
She said 'Skin Channel'. Sam's watching porn!!!
TV: ...the tale of two latin beauties...
Sam's not just watching porn, he's watching lesbian porn!!!
Dean enters the room, Sam quicklu turns off the TV and chucks the remote somewhere behind him. Dean's not stupid though.
Sam: Hey... what?
Dean: Awkward.
Hahahaha!!! I love it!
I bow down to Kripke for that one, or should I say Raelle Tucker who actually wrote this episode. And seriously it's one of the most brilliant things in the series. Yes, Sam might be the innocent one, but he's a guy, and every man on the planet watches porn if he gets the chance, and owns at least one porn mag. No matter how they are in touch with 'their feminine side' or respect women. Might not be the best idea to watch it if there's a chance anyone can come into the room at any moment, but I guess he couldn't contain himself.
I also love the fact that when Dean goes over to the TV afterwards, I think he put his jacket on it, you see the promotion for the TV channels on top of the TV with 'XXX' facing the camera.
And for the rest of the scene. The way dean tells Sam what he's figured out was good. Sam needed that, and he also needed to understand that Dean can still do his job. Or at least knows how to read the signs that there might be something supernatural going on.
Dean stealing Angela's diary. He really knows what to look for. I'm gonna give him points for that one, stealing her 'bestest friend in the whole wide world'.
Posing as grief counsellors, shouldn't they be waring suits or something? Okay, maybe not, but it would have been nice if they did.
Again dean doesn't seem to be that comitted to his cover, Sam is the one who seems like he gets into the role playing and interviewing people.
Burning the bones, poor Sammy was a bit freaked at the prospect. I can't blame him though. But it has to be done, it's what they do. They must dig, oh yes they must.
Loved Dean's face when Sam asked him if he was high.
Sadly there's not that much digging action, at least not from a good camera angle.
And here comes something I've noticed, and love, Dean keeps getting Sam to do the 'dirty work'. Like going down the hole in 'Bugs', digging in the Vamps mouth in 'Bloodlust', and now, getting Sammy to open the casket. It's a sibling thing, the power only an older sibling can have.
There's nothing in the casket though, which I pretty much expected.
Angela is in Neil's basement. Which I kind of figured was where she would wind up as soon as she was first shown crying in the car, and especially when she picked up the cell phone. And like is the standard, she is wrong, she's turned in to this exotic horny woman instead of the shy girl she was.
The boys have discovered the symbols and go to visit Dr. Mason. I was stressed here, I knew they had the worng guy, and I knew Dean was going to blow, and Sam would have to try to hold him back. This is also the point where the slow people get why Dean is so upset by the whole thing; "What's dead should stay dead." I'll come back to that later.
I love how Sam manages to convince Dean they have the wrong guy: "Dean! Look! Beautiful, living plants!" It was the 'beautiful' part that got me for some reason, I think the Plastic!Winchesters florist episode has left its mark on my brain.
Cue another argument. This one was good though. It was about time Sam confessed that Dean was scaring him. You've been able to read it in his face so many times up until this point, and I really believe that was one of the things that made Dean stop and think. I know I wrote earlier that Sam needed to give Dean some space, and that was true, those times were not right to bring this up, now on the other hand was. Dean had his hand ready for another punch in that scene, but was clear headed enough. When Sam finally says that he doesn't want to loos Dean too it looks like it finally sinks in with Dean. They don't really say much after that, but the tone of what they say seems to convey enough between them for the moment. The whole scene was very nicely done.
Angela trying to convince Neil she's an innocent. Blah, blah, blah.
Zombie killing tactics. It's true what they're saying though, there's an enormous amount of lore about how to kill them. We briefly touched in on zombies in my 'Modern Vampire' class at Uni, was very interesting actually. But that's not important now, back to my review. Dean figures out who did it! Yay! Clever boy.
So they go to Neil's place.
Dean: Neil, it’s your grief counselors. We’ve come to hug.
Loved that, oh Dean, your snarkyness is love. And thus comes another porn referance, Dean's not going to leat that down anytime soon.
That basement was creepy though, zombie or no, I wouldn't have wanted to live down there. Funny though how Sam could stand up right down there.
Of course Angela and Neil are gone, which they would be if only to keep the suspense up. Yet again Dean figures out where Angela might be, smart boy.
Dean: It takes two to... you know, have hardcore sex.
The look on Sam's face, ah, he's so fragile.
Angela: Hi Lindsay, I'm home.
Heh, that was cool.
Boys bust in and save the day, as they do, Lindsay will be traumatized for life.
Imapla time, I love it. Oh, another link to my Uni class, how fun. See, this show is educational!!
Neil. Stressed out. Boys bust in, I love it when they bust in.
Snarky Dean, oh, I love that. Sam looked a bit puffyn in his face in this scene, might just be the lighting, but yeah, not the best shot ever.
I liked the scene though. Especially the part where Dean grabs Neil by the throat. And he figures out that Angela is hiding in the closet and sets up the trap, trying to save Neil.
Neil dies, but we knew that would happen, you don't mess with necromancy without paying for it.
Back at the grayveyard- the retudn of the zippo lighter! Yay! And you know it was Dean's idea to light candles. Any excuse to have some fire and he's happy. Sam is the bait, heh, not so suprising really. I loved the shot to the head, they way it flipped back and the came up again, that was just cool. I did feel sorry for Angela though, when she said she'd never asked to be brought back.
I loved the way Dean slid into the grave, the urgency of it, but also because it looked kind of cool. When he stabbed Angela he had some of the same look in his eyes like after killing the Vampire in 'Bloodlust', not as dead though, which I think is good.
They robbed us of the digging shots in this episode, we always came in right at the end.
I love that Sam gives Dean credit for coming up with the idea of how to get Angela.
Dean looking back to Mary's grave. *hugs him*
Which brings us to the final scene, which killed me. And actually brought tears to my eyes, but to be honest so did the beginning. I knew Dean was smart enough to understand that John had given up his life for him. This is the second time, that we know of, that someone else has died to save Dean. Hence him saying "What's dead should stay dead." in one way or another through the entire episode. My heart broke for him here, but I also think this is an important step for him with regards to healing. They both still have a long way to go, and it is a wound that will never fully heal, but they can learn to live with it.
My heart was breaking, but it was a beautiful scene. Jensen did that so incredibly well.
Dean: I never should have come back, Sam. It wasn’t natural... and now look what's come of it. I was dead and I should have stayed dead. You wanted to know how I was feeling, well, that's it. So tell me, what could you possibly say to make that all right...
DAMMIT KRIPKE, WHERE IS MY FUCKING HUG!!!
Ahem, yeah, in other words another amazing episode of this season. I just have no idea about what else to expect right now.
There are really no words to describe my love for this episode. Recently the second season of my fave shows has been letting me down, but not this show. It's a shining light in between all the decay.
I'll start with the monster of the week. I actually liked the idea, I understood where it was heading with regards to the boys and their issues pretty soon, but it was nicely done. And it does bring up a natural step in the grief process, wanting someone to come back, to be alive again, and what we're willing to do to get that. I do do like the warnings that fiction puts up against this though, that the people who are brought back are not who they used to be, that they are wrong. Okay, am getting sidetracked here, but in short I liked this storyline.
Now for the boys.
I like the fact that Mary has a grave, or headstone at least. The boys should put up a headstone for John beside it. Anyway, I liked that, and that Sam wanted to visit it. I get why dean was hesitant and didn't want to go near it. He had enough trouble returning to their old house, visiting his mothers grave, especially now, it's not something he is ready to do.
When I first saw the tree I thought it had something to do with the tree outside their old house for some reason. I understand how Sam had a hard time buying into that there was a case to be found, but Dean is smart. He does keep his eyes open for suspicious things. Yes, in this case it's to keep busy and keep his mind on other things, but that doesn't mean that he's blind. As much as I like Sam for trying to get Dean to open up, he needs to stop treating Dean like glass.
I liked the scene in Dr. Mason's office, where the boys are pretending to talk to him but are actually talking to each other. Dean seems so pleased that Dr. Mason says that he's felt Angela's precence, and then Sammy shuts him down saying that it's completely normal. Also Dean kind of got to lift a tiny bit of his burden by talking about how death affects people.
Which brings us to Sam bugging Dean again. Sammy, you're a good kid, but you need to give Dean a little space. And also give him the benefit of the doubt.
It was a nice scene though, and the way Dean's face hardens when Sam confronts him, even telling Dean he can take another swing if he wants to. I get why Dean left there though, he'd said he was sorry about hitting Sam and didn't need it thrown back in his face, not now. I'm glad Sam didn't follow him, Dean needed some time alone to sort through things, and to follow up on his gut feeling about this job.
Angela's ex-boyfriend owns 'Apollo 13' on DVD, huh. I don't have much to say about this scene. Plant dies, boy dies, end scene.
Dean breaking and entering, oh how I love it when he does that. Scaring poor room mates, anyone wanna tell me if Alan Stanwick is a real person? I suck at picking up on those referances. Anyway I loved that part. I would have freaked too if some guy was suddenly in my house, no matter how hot he was. Quick thinking by Dean though, especially with the keys.
Aww, Dean consoling the room mate, he didn't really get any good answers out of her. He looked so dissapointed when all he got were three 'greats'. He never seems very comfortable when interviewing grieving people, not that I think anybody would be, but he has a harder time keeping his game face on in those situations...
I love the fact that when Angela's friend says that the boyfriend saw Angela everywhere Dean mimicks Sam's words about that being normal after what he'd been through. But he also seemed kind of pleased when Lindsay said that he saw her. And they way he asks where Matt lives, hehe, loved that.
And now comes one of my favourite parts of the entire show. I'll walk you guys through my reaction.
Sam is sitting watching TV all by himself.
TV: Next on the Skin Channel...
Did she say 'Skin Channel'???
TV: ..."Casa Erotica Four"...
She said 'Skin Channel'. Sam's watching porn!!!
TV: ...the tale of two latin beauties...
Sam's not just watching porn, he's watching lesbian porn!!!
Dean enters the room, Sam quicklu turns off the TV and chucks the remote somewhere behind him. Dean's not stupid though.
Sam: Hey... what?
Dean: Awkward.
Hahahaha!!! I love it!
I bow down to Kripke for that one, or should I say Raelle Tucker who actually wrote this episode. And seriously it's one of the most brilliant things in the series. Yes, Sam might be the innocent one, but he's a guy, and every man on the planet watches porn if he gets the chance, and owns at least one porn mag. No matter how they are in touch with 'their feminine side' or respect women. Might not be the best idea to watch it if there's a chance anyone can come into the room at any moment, but I guess he couldn't contain himself.
I also love the fact that when Dean goes over to the TV afterwards, I think he put his jacket on it, you see the promotion for the TV channels on top of the TV with 'XXX' facing the camera.
And for the rest of the scene. The way dean tells Sam what he's figured out was good. Sam needed that, and he also needed to understand that Dean can still do his job. Or at least knows how to read the signs that there might be something supernatural going on.
Dean stealing Angela's diary. He really knows what to look for. I'm gonna give him points for that one, stealing her 'bestest friend in the whole wide world'.
Posing as grief counsellors, shouldn't they be waring suits or something? Okay, maybe not, but it would have been nice if they did.
Again dean doesn't seem to be that comitted to his cover, Sam is the one who seems like he gets into the role playing and interviewing people.
Burning the bones, poor Sammy was a bit freaked at the prospect. I can't blame him though. But it has to be done, it's what they do. They must dig, oh yes they must.
Loved Dean's face when Sam asked him if he was high.
Sadly there's not that much digging action, at least not from a good camera angle.
And here comes something I've noticed, and love, Dean keeps getting Sam to do the 'dirty work'. Like going down the hole in 'Bugs', digging in the Vamps mouth in 'Bloodlust', and now, getting Sammy to open the casket. It's a sibling thing, the power only an older sibling can have.
There's nothing in the casket though, which I pretty much expected.
Angela is in Neil's basement. Which I kind of figured was where she would wind up as soon as she was first shown crying in the car, and especially when she picked up the cell phone. And like is the standard, she is wrong, she's turned in to this exotic horny woman instead of the shy girl she was.
The boys have discovered the symbols and go to visit Dr. Mason. I was stressed here, I knew they had the worng guy, and I knew Dean was going to blow, and Sam would have to try to hold him back. This is also the point where the slow people get why Dean is so upset by the whole thing; "What's dead should stay dead." I'll come back to that later.
I love how Sam manages to convince Dean they have the wrong guy: "Dean! Look! Beautiful, living plants!" It was the 'beautiful' part that got me for some reason, I think the Plastic!Winchesters florist episode has left its mark on my brain.
Cue another argument. This one was good though. It was about time Sam confessed that Dean was scaring him. You've been able to read it in his face so many times up until this point, and I really believe that was one of the things that made Dean stop and think. I know I wrote earlier that Sam needed to give Dean some space, and that was true, those times were not right to bring this up, now on the other hand was. Dean had his hand ready for another punch in that scene, but was clear headed enough. When Sam finally says that he doesn't want to loos Dean too it looks like it finally sinks in with Dean. They don't really say much after that, but the tone of what they say seems to convey enough between them for the moment. The whole scene was very nicely done.
Angela trying to convince Neil she's an innocent. Blah, blah, blah.
Zombie killing tactics. It's true what they're saying though, there's an enormous amount of lore about how to kill them. We briefly touched in on zombies in my 'Modern Vampire' class at Uni, was very interesting actually. But that's not important now, back to my review. Dean figures out who did it! Yay! Clever boy.
So they go to Neil's place.
Dean: Neil, it’s your grief counselors. We’ve come to hug.
Loved that, oh Dean, your snarkyness is love. And thus comes another porn referance, Dean's not going to leat that down anytime soon.
That basement was creepy though, zombie or no, I wouldn't have wanted to live down there. Funny though how Sam could stand up right down there.
Of course Angela and Neil are gone, which they would be if only to keep the suspense up. Yet again Dean figures out where Angela might be, smart boy.
Dean: It takes two to... you know, have hardcore sex.
The look on Sam's face, ah, he's so fragile.
Angela: Hi Lindsay, I'm home.
Heh, that was cool.
Boys bust in and save the day, as they do, Lindsay will be traumatized for life.
Imapla time, I love it. Oh, another link to my Uni class, how fun. See, this show is educational!!
Neil. Stressed out. Boys bust in, I love it when they bust in.
Snarky Dean, oh, I love that. Sam looked a bit puffyn in his face in this scene, might just be the lighting, but yeah, not the best shot ever.
I liked the scene though. Especially the part where Dean grabs Neil by the throat. And he figures out that Angela is hiding in the closet and sets up the trap, trying to save Neil.
Neil dies, but we knew that would happen, you don't mess with necromancy without paying for it.
Back at the grayveyard- the retudn of the zippo lighter! Yay! And you know it was Dean's idea to light candles. Any excuse to have some fire and he's happy. Sam is the bait, heh, not so suprising really. I loved the shot to the head, they way it flipped back and the came up again, that was just cool. I did feel sorry for Angela though, when she said she'd never asked to be brought back.
I loved the way Dean slid into the grave, the urgency of it, but also because it looked kind of cool. When he stabbed Angela he had some of the same look in his eyes like after killing the Vampire in 'Bloodlust', not as dead though, which I think is good.
They robbed us of the digging shots in this episode, we always came in right at the end.
I love that Sam gives Dean credit for coming up with the idea of how to get Angela.
Dean looking back to Mary's grave. *hugs him*
Which brings us to the final scene, which killed me. And actually brought tears to my eyes, but to be honest so did the beginning. I knew Dean was smart enough to understand that John had given up his life for him. This is the second time, that we know of, that someone else has died to save Dean. Hence him saying "What's dead should stay dead." in one way or another through the entire episode. My heart broke for him here, but I also think this is an important step for him with regards to healing. They both still have a long way to go, and it is a wound that will never fully heal, but they can learn to live with it.
My heart was breaking, but it was a beautiful scene. Jensen did that so incredibly well.
Dean: I never should have come back, Sam. It wasn’t natural... and now look what's come of it. I was dead and I should have stayed dead. You wanted to know how I was feeling, well, that's it. So tell me, what could you possibly say to make that all right...
DAMMIT KRIPKE, WHERE IS MY FUCKING HUG!!!
Ahem, yeah, in other words another amazing episode of this season. I just have no idea about what else to expect right now.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-21 01:52 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-21 08:16 am (UTC)More angst and anger is the most likely scenario as far as I can see.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-21 06:19 pm (UTC)jensen is good at anger, and hot at angst. (oh, was that shallow? sorry. heee.)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-22 02:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-22 09:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-21 04:08 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-21 08:21 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-21 06:39 am (UTC)I absolutely love that you quote everything! XD
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-21 08:23 am (UTC)Hehe, thanks. I can't help it really, the show just has so many great quotes.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-21 12:16 pm (UTC)you missed pointing out the missing 'r' in library.. ;-p
xx
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-22 02:51 pm (UTC)Hehe... it demands more study first. Serious research must be done.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-22 11:24 am (UTC)I love this new way they are going this season with blurring the lines. In the opener a Reaper told Dean that angry spirits were once people just like him. Then we got vampires who didn't kill people and just wanted to be left alone. Here Angela the Zombie is really as much of a victim as anyone else. Seriously, I adore my show this new tv year.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-22 02:55 pm (UTC)Am so exited about what the next episode will bring, I have no idea. :D
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-23 12:11 pm (UTC)I was watching with Joe and the Skin Channel scene made us laugh like idiots. And then the broken wrist with Dean answering, yeah sure, that's what that's from. Hilarious!
The last scene was heartbreaking. Poor Dean. It reminded me of Buffy being brought back by Willow in season six. Except this time John gave his life for Dean's. *sigh*
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-24 07:15 pm (UTC)Haha, that was just to great! Seriously, best moment ever.
And then the broken wrist with Dean answering, yeah sure, that's what that's from. Hilarious!
Wait? What? When did he say that!?
Yeah, that killed me. Though I have to say Supernatural is handeling it better than they did in Buffy.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-25 09:23 pm (UTC)Yes, absolutely. As much as I liked Buffy, I think the writing in SN is much better.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-26 02:32 pm (UTC)Agreed.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-26 02:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-26 02:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-02 10:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-03 09:12 am (UTC)The porn moment is an instant classic.
I'm kind of giving up on the hug, so I take joy in the steadying hands for now.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-03 10:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-11-09 03:55 pm (UTC)