Episode 5.02 - Discussion/Review [spoilers]
Another episode that just knocks it out of the park. Where ever do I begin. Oh . . . I KNOW . . . .
Castiel is one kinky bastard! How many brands of Cas' does Dean have on him now? Two by my count - unless we're considering each symbol a separate brand, then we're counting in the triple digits. Kinky angel!
And then Cas uh, persuaded Dean to give him the one possession, other than the Impala, that means something to him. Haaaaaa. I love, love, love that all along Dean has been wandering around with this amulet - but recall that Sammy gave him that amulet years and years ago. Sam had originally bought it to give to John, but when his father didn't show up for Christmas Sam instead gave the amulet to Dean. The implications behind this are huge.
First, there is the idea that "John was intended to be the One, but instead it turns out to be Dean." So, we initially see this theme with the amulet that turns out to be able to track down God, and then again with the Righteous Man issue. The demons first got John into Hell but he never caved in -- instead it was Dean who ended up being the Righteous Man. Pretty cool.
Once again Show gets epic points for continuity.
Next up we have the fact that Dean has had this God hunting necklace all along, which to me points out rather clearly that God is indeed in the building and he's been pulling strings all along. Frankly, this makes a ton of sense and I cannot wait to see what the Big Guy has planned. I mean, it seems like everything is going just swimmingly for him and things are finally coming together.
I felt bad for Bobby in this episode, but not really - because Bobby was too perfect as a hunter . . . too powerful I guess. By that I mean that since he was so all knowing, whenever Dean and Sam had a problem Bobby would pull the answer out between the pages of a book - sometimes a book written in Japanese-- it was all a little too pat.
Now, Bobby can still provide them with intel but he can't sweep in to save the day. Does this sound familiar? It should, because its exactly what they had to do to Castiel after they decided to keep him as a permanent character - they de-powered him and gave him flaws. For me now that Bobby has, literally, had his legs cut out from under him I think we'll actually be seeing more of the character. If anyone is familiar with the Batman comics, I see Bobby as being equivalent of the Oracle just in the Supernatural universe.
On to Dean . . . once again he grew so much as a character in this episode. It broke my heart when, for the first time ever, he had to choose not to save his brother. It was heart breaking to watch, but it also shows the leader that Dean is becoming. It demonstrates that he is able to see the bigger picture and sacrifice his wants and needs for those of the group.
We also saw that Dean has been reading the Bible, big time. He knew instantly what the comet "Wormwood" meant and what page to find it on. The fact that Dean is reading the Bible enough to have know it so well gives me hope for humanity because as the saying goes, "Know thine enemy." I dare you to find a better field guide to what's up above and down below than the Bible, which is also known as the "Torah, N'vi'im, K'tuvim" which stands for "The Law, the Prophets and the Writings."
Sam, well, for the first time I finally felt some hope for him. I mean he really, really got it this episode.
He. Fucked. Up. Royally.
The end. No excuses, no scapegoating - Sam Winchester made a mistake and he has no one left to blame for it but himself. The fact that he has finally accepted this truth means, to me, that he can actually begin to honestly heal and then redeem himself. He can become the Sam that he was, his brother's Sammy. But before that happens life is gonna suck pretty hard for Sam because he has to change on a fundamental level - he has to defeat his own innate sense of crippling greed. Because that's what it comes down to - he wants: he wants power, and then he wants even more power, and then some more. . . until its all he can see.
So the world gave Sam what he wanted, power and as power is wont to do - it corrupted him until he lost track of who he was, a Winchester. And now, once again Sam has something he wants - he has finally escaped his family, and soon enough he's going to realize how horrible life is without his brother. But, like I said before, I think that Sam is finally walking the right path and when he reaches his destination he is going to be incredible.
It's also incredibly ironic that Sam wants power, but ultimately has none. While Dean wants nothing to do with any type of power and instead ends up not only being the Messiah, but also Michael's Sword - the General of Heaven.
Speaking of creatures that belong to neither Heaven nor Earth . . .
I love how they're introducing the Four Horsemen! The fact that their horses are Mustangs is just perfect. I mean, how sweet was that cherry Mustang? For a moment I cheated on the Impala.
*is ashamed*
Alrighty, now for the part you really want to read : the Dean and Cas fangirling. Since the first time I saw Dean and Cas interact, one question has plagued my mind: who is on top? Yes, I mean that way. Bear with me - my bread and butter when I was but a wee slasher was anime in which there was always a clear-cut seme [a top] and an uke [an bottom]. After many years, and some very hard work I finally managed to break my preconceptions. Yes, I admit it - I am a rehabilitated "character A must always be a top and character B is always his bottom" girl.
Okay, except really I fall off the wagon all the time . . . kinda.
I don't care who the top or bottom is, for me it all depends on how the author writes a character's personality in their fanfic, but once that's sussed out I do like there to be a top or a bottom in the relationship. Yesyes, silly, I know. But in my opinion, it takes a great author to write their characters believably as switches and great authors pop up rarely.
SO - when it comes to Dean and Cas who tops and who bottoms? At first I was like, "Well Cas is an angel and all powerful so he must be the top." Except he wasn't. . . and then he was. . and then he wasn't . . . and then he's shoving Dean up against a wall and taking on Archangels.
*tears out hair*
THEN we find out that Dean is the vessel for the Biggest Bad Ass that ever Bad Assed: the Archangel Michael. GREAT! And that Dean is going to be taking on the role of Leader this season - EVEN BETTER!! But then we also have Cas who starts killing angels and delivering the verbal smack down to Dean, Sam, and Bobby. I wont even get into the whole "I killed two angels . . . and I did it all for you."
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
It breaks my brain. And I have a feeling next episode isn't going to help.
*headdesk*
Oh! One last tidbit that some of you already know:
I said, war, huh
Good God, y'all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
War, whoa, Lord
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me
Yep, another episode whose name was yanked right from a song. In this case, the song by Edwin Starr is rather aptly named War. Don't know it? Well, you should!
Finally, I present to you my prediction as to how the season will end:
macro done by
ember_firedrake
Oh and I totally forgot to talk about Ellen, Jo, and Rufus who really cares about them. Hmmm. It was nice to see them and know they were alive and that other hunters realize the End-O-Days is here, but they were just kinda there. I really just experienced them as characters being moved about like chess pieces for plot filling. I suppose that now that we know they're alive again they'll be pulled into future episodes? I hope so - because if not they were totally underused. Though, I ♥ Ellen!
Castiel is one kinky bastard! How many brands of Cas' does Dean have on him now? Two by my count - unless we're considering each symbol a separate brand, then we're counting in the triple digits. Kinky angel!
And then Cas uh, persuaded Dean to give him the one possession, other than the Impala, that means something to him. Haaaaaa. I love, love, love that all along Dean has been wandering around with this amulet - but recall that Sammy gave him that amulet years and years ago. Sam had originally bought it to give to John, but when his father didn't show up for Christmas Sam instead gave the amulet to Dean. The implications behind this are huge.
First, there is the idea that "John was intended to be the One, but instead it turns out to be Dean." So, we initially see this theme with the amulet that turns out to be able to track down God, and then again with the Righteous Man issue. The demons first got John into Hell but he never caved in -- instead it was Dean who ended up being the Righteous Man. Pretty cool.
Once again Show gets epic points for continuity.
Next up we have the fact that Dean has had this God hunting necklace all along, which to me points out rather clearly that God is indeed in the building and he's been pulling strings all along. Frankly, this makes a ton of sense and I cannot wait to see what the Big Guy has planned. I mean, it seems like everything is going just swimmingly for him and things are finally coming together.
I felt bad for Bobby in this episode, but not really - because Bobby was too perfect as a hunter . . . too powerful I guess. By that I mean that since he was so all knowing, whenever Dean and Sam had a problem Bobby would pull the answer out between the pages of a book - sometimes a book written in Japanese-- it was all a little too pat.
Now, Bobby can still provide them with intel but he can't sweep in to save the day. Does this sound familiar? It should, because its exactly what they had to do to Castiel after they decided to keep him as a permanent character - they de-powered him and gave him flaws. For me now that Bobby has, literally, had his legs cut out from under him I think we'll actually be seeing more of the character. If anyone is familiar with the Batman comics, I see Bobby as being equivalent of the Oracle just in the Supernatural universe.
On to Dean . . . once again he grew so much as a character in this episode. It broke my heart when, for the first time ever, he had to choose not to save his brother. It was heart breaking to watch, but it also shows the leader that Dean is becoming. It demonstrates that he is able to see the bigger picture and sacrifice his wants and needs for those of the group.
We also saw that Dean has been reading the Bible, big time. He knew instantly what the comet "Wormwood" meant and what page to find it on. The fact that Dean is reading the Bible enough to have know it so well gives me hope for humanity because as the saying goes, "Know thine enemy." I dare you to find a better field guide to what's up above and down below than the Bible, which is also known as the "Torah, N'vi'im, K'tuvim" which stands for "The Law, the Prophets and the Writings."
Sam, well, for the first time I finally felt some hope for him. I mean he really, really got it this episode.
He. Fucked. Up. Royally.
The end. No excuses, no scapegoating - Sam Winchester made a mistake and he has no one left to blame for it but himself. The fact that he has finally accepted this truth means, to me, that he can actually begin to honestly heal and then redeem himself. He can become the Sam that he was, his brother's Sammy. But before that happens life is gonna suck pretty hard for Sam because he has to change on a fundamental level - he has to defeat his own innate sense of crippling greed. Because that's what it comes down to - he wants: he wants power, and then he wants even more power, and then some more. . . until its all he can see.
So the world gave Sam what he wanted, power and as power is wont to do - it corrupted him until he lost track of who he was, a Winchester. And now, once again Sam has something he wants - he has finally escaped his family, and soon enough he's going to realize how horrible life is without his brother. But, like I said before, I think that Sam is finally walking the right path and when he reaches his destination he is going to be incredible.
It's also incredibly ironic that Sam wants power, but ultimately has none. While Dean wants nothing to do with any type of power and instead ends up not only being the Messiah, but also Michael's Sword - the General of Heaven.
Speaking of creatures that belong to neither Heaven nor Earth . . .
I love how they're introducing the Four Horsemen! The fact that their horses are Mustangs is just perfect. I mean, how sweet was that cherry Mustang? For a moment I cheated on the Impala.
*is ashamed*
Alrighty, now for the part you really want to read : the Dean and Cas fangirling. Since the first time I saw Dean and Cas interact, one question has plagued my mind: who is on top? Yes, I mean that way. Bear with me - my bread and butter when I was but a wee slasher was anime in which there was always a clear-cut seme [a top] and an uke [an bottom]. After many years, and some very hard work I finally managed to break my preconceptions. Yes, I admit it - I am a rehabilitated "character A must always be a top and character B is always his bottom" girl.
Okay, except really I fall off the wagon all the time . . . kinda.
I don't care who the top or bottom is, for me it all depends on how the author writes a character's personality in their fanfic, but once that's sussed out I do like there to be a top or a bottom in the relationship. Yesyes, silly, I know. But in my opinion, it takes a great author to write their characters believably as switches and great authors pop up rarely.
SO - when it comes to Dean and Cas who tops and who bottoms? At first I was like, "Well Cas is an angel and all powerful so he must be the top." Except he wasn't. . . and then he was. . and then he wasn't . . . and then he's shoving Dean up against a wall and taking on Archangels.
*tears out hair*
THEN we find out that Dean is the vessel for the Biggest Bad Ass that ever Bad Assed: the Archangel Michael. GREAT! And that Dean is going to be taking on the role of Leader this season - EVEN BETTER!! But then we also have Cas who starts killing angels and delivering the verbal smack down to Dean, Sam, and Bobby. I wont even get into the whole "I killed two angels . . . and I did it all for you."
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
It breaks my brain. And I have a feeling next episode isn't going to help.
*headdesk*
Oh! One last tidbit that some of you already know:
I said, war, huh
Good God, y'all
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
War, whoa, Lord
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Listen to me
Yep, another episode whose name was yanked right from a song. In this case, the song by Edwin Starr is rather aptly named War. Don't know it? Well, you should!
Finally, I present to you my prediction as to how the season will end:
macro done by
ember_firedrake
Oh and I totally forgot to talk about Ellen, Jo, and Rufus who really cares about them. Hmmm. It was nice to see them and know they were alive and that other hunters realize the End-O-Days is here, but they were just kinda there. I really just experienced them as characters being moved about like chess pieces for plot filling. I suppose that now that we know they're alive again they'll be pulled into future episodes? I hope so - because if not they were totally underused. Though, I ♥ Ellen!