Reaction: Supernatural 5.02
Profanity level: Occasionally approaching Deadwoodian. o.O Retroactively toned down, but still contains rather a lot of capslocked profanity, among other things. Shorter and later than last week because evil work is back to monopolizing my Friday as is the norm. Blah.
Spoiler and Theorizing Timeline
NOTHING!! WOOOOO! \o/ Seriously! Nothing, as far as I can tell! Nothing that got written down, and nothing I can remember!
It was touch and go, reading other people's recaps, but thankfully the ones that I read that did turn out to mention the promo (which I don't see because JoyTV is awesome like that) handily flagged it by capslocking things like "OMG THE PROMO!!!" before going into details, and I back-buttoned with a ninja-like quickness. HUZZAH! \o/
So, aside from large portions of fandom appearing to be unbelievably excited about this episode, and future spoilers turning up earlier than I think they will, I know nothing! \o/
Reaction, speculation, meta, and other things for Supernatural 5.02 - "Good God, Y'all"
...heh, well, now I see why people were excited! \o/ I may not be able to restrain my flailing long enough to type up my notes!
-Ooo! The blood-burst is filling in the letters of "The Road So Far" and moving. Cooool.
-MUSIC! They used this in After School Special! Foreigner, "Long, Long Way from Home." [Rewatch: Which, looking at some of the lyrics and considering where this episode ends, Kripke you cruel vicious bastard.]
-Wow! Rufus! Ellen! Jo! ... no way. No way... *shakes head* Naw. Some kind of reference though. Hmm.
-Bobby in a wheelchair. Ouch. He's got his hat on though so it's only a matter of time before he's fine. He'll heal up a bit and get that shillelagh soon. Or the sword-cane. I'm easy. *nods*
-Um, Sam? Dean? Bobby's in a wheelchair. He's not fucking deaf, alright? If you must talk about him like he's not there, then go somewhere where he isn't. *has issues*
-"Bobby might not bounce back this time." Bite me, Sam. *glares*
-X-ray! Awesome! Um, a little messed up in priorities, but nifty. Just wait, body mods a few generations down the line will include bone-engravings. If fandom doesn't figure out a way to do them first. 'Coz that's cool. :-D
-Also, don't know about Enochian, but I see a hell of a pile of Greek Omega characters in there. That's not nervous-making at all. o.O [Rewatch: 13 visible in the paused image. Although, given the spacing and configuration, I wonder if there isn't something spelled out in direct transliteration there. It's not all Greek characters though. The rest are probably all findable here. Hm. There's a rainy-day project for someone. Transcribing Dean's ribcage. XD ]
-HEEE! Castiel has to phone them! Guess that answers that question I had last week about whether he's got a loophole as the installer of the tattoo. Why's he phoning Sam, though? That's intriguing. Also Castiel seems to have gotten a haircut from the archangel fight. Either that or his hair is in stealth mode. (Also, standing in the doorway bookended by Sam and Dean makes him look so pocket-sized! Hee!)
-"I'm cut off from Heaven, much of Heaven's power." Oh, Castiel. Ya know, I'm glad I posted the second part of that damn 4.22 AU tag before this aired, because... yeah. Castiel's on Zach's shit list and cut off from the angel network. *pats him*
-Aw, Bobby. It's only been three days. He'll get past the bitter and get back to himself, and heal in some ways if not all. And get a shillelagh. Or, what the hell, rig up the wheelchair with a jet pack, flamethrower and holy water cannons. And a shillelagh just for whackin' idjits. As I said, I'm easy. Bobby's awesomeness will not be permanently repressed by this setback, regardless of the outcome for his mobility. *nods*
-O!M!G! YOU GUYS!!! DAD'S GOD'S ON A HUNTING TRIP, AND HE HASN'T BEEN HOME IN A FEW DAYS! \o/ Castiel's gonna go looking for God and he can't do it alone!! XD I said that somewhere! [Heh. Point #12 here] Hee! Awesome! I just didn't figure Castiel'd be asking Sam and Dean! Well, Dean, really. So much glee. And Castiel's so damn earnest and hopeful and starry-eyed, and it's the search for the absent father all over again. *smishes Castiel, smishes Show*
-Blood Titles yay! Best yet, I think. Really want to know what the voice is saying though.
-*FLAILS* Episode title! "Good God Y'all" OMG! NO FUCKING WAY!! In other words "WAR! Ungh! Good god y'all! What is it good for? Absolutely nothin'"? OMG, the Horsemen are HEEEEEEEEERE! \o/ And sooner than I thought. Unless it's like, actually God. Now. Which would be mind-blowing and damned efficient of Castiel and the Winchesters to find God in a single episode when Zach and his cohort have been running wild for a very long time. But they could totally do it. *nods*
-"Try New Mexico, I hear he's on a tortilla."/"...No he's not on any flatbread." *loses it laughing and misses the next line* Just so much love for the little pause there, and the thoughtful expression and gravity of Castiel's answer, like he either seriously considered it or may have just mentally scanned every form of flatbread in the entire world and did not find God. XD
-Ow. Castiel listing off what he's done and what he's in for as a result of going against Zach and Company for Dean's sake. Ow. Dean didn't stop Sam, Lucifer's running loose, the Apocalypse is on, and Castiel is technically in a state of rebellion against Heaven, cut off from it. He's pinning his hopes on God now with sheer faith, and will not have his squee harshed have that last hope mocked by anyone, because it's what he's holding on to to prove that he is not rebelling against God, he's resisting Zachariah's usurpation of authority. To Castiel, the only thing that will get them all out of the soup now and save the Earth is finding God and passing the word that Big L needs stuffed back into his cage and the primary angelic Choir is full of jingoistic weasels. Ow. Cas. There's a boatload of anxiety there. Do angels get ulcers?
-Hehe. You know. Castiel just kind of became Heaven's Robin Hood? Rebelling against the illegitimate authority and supporting the absent legitimate authority. No tights and arrows though, more's the pity.
-SAMANTHA FERRIS!!! OMG YOU GUYS SAMANTHA FERRIS IS IN THE CREDITS!!! ELLEN'S ACTUALLY BACK??? HOLY FRAKKING HELL! I mean, seriously, I have rumours of Ellen coming back going back to before the writer's strike in Season 3, and theories associated therewith, amounting to... *peeks* over a thousand words! "Ellen coming back" rumours keep surfacing every so often with varying degrees of 'it's happening', to the point that it totally became the spoiler that cried wolf for me. I wrote off subsequent rumours as simply not gonna happen. So! I'm not going to inflict the thousand-plus-word clump of theories springing from each era of rumours regarding Ellen's return on you in a retroactive spoiler timeline entry and just say that if she ends up working both sides of the 'hunters hunting Sam' fence (which I'm still waiting for, and have just managed to speculatively stick into fic a couple days ago), I totally called it back in season 3. *nods*
-ALONA TOO! OMFG!! \o/ I can't believe it, I MISSED JO!!! HUGELY!!! O.O I'm so thrilled I could cry right now! :-D
-Hm. A God EMF. An amul- Oh no way. FUCK A DAMN DUCK! NO WAY!!!! Seriously??? OMFG, what the flaming fuck! Kripke finally gave it a purpose, and, and, Bobby (or was it really Bobby? *ponders*) gave it to Sam to give to John except Sam gave it to Dean, and now Dean's the- with the- GAH!!! Too much spec and meta, head go 'splody, must brain later! Much later. OMG. O.O In the meantime, HOLY FREAKING CRAP, YOU GUYS!!! THE AMULET ACTUALLY DOES SOMETHING!!! \o/
-Also, OMG Meta. Trust and faith and transference and things. And it being present in Hell. Brain later, again, some more.
-Although, how do you know the damn thing works? How do you beta-test a God-detecting amulet if no one can locate God? (And this kind of squashes the cracktastic theory that The Trickster was somehow God in deeeep and skeezy cover, since the amulet didn't go off. Unless God's in stealth-mode, because seriously, if God doesn't want to be found, God won't be found, right? ...aaaand I'm chalking all of that up on the big board of 'things I never thought I'd think.' o.O)
-OMG! RUFUS TOO!? Seriously? Holy crap, there was a rumour at the end of Season 4, but I'd thought the phone call about the Seals was as much as we were getting! Holy crap, RUFUS! \o/ And he seems to be in the middle of a zombie apocalypse! \o/ No, wait, just demons. Oh well, \o/ anyway.
-Rufus has a satellite phone! Rufus has Bobby on speed dial on his satellite phone! And Rufus calls Bobby for backup during a running gun battle! Rufus kicks freaking ass! HOLY CRAP I LOVE RUFUS!!! Even if he goes adversarial on Sam and Dean at some point as I suspect he might, I love Rufus! \o/ So of course, Kripke's gonna kill him. It's inevitable. *sigh*
-HA! Re-used Impala transition shot from Season 1, Dead Man's Blood. What the hell, they're in "Colorado" again, right? Don't think I'm not gonna check that shot when I have a pause function available. [Rewatch: HA! They CGI'd the new plate in BUT THE SPOTLIGHTS ARE STILL THERE. Aha! Just because I haven't sent a poster in a while doesn't mean I've forgotten about the spotlights! KRIPKE! PUT THE SPOTLIGHTS BACK ON, DAMMIT!]
-Hee! Bridge! No signal for Sam because Sam doesn't have a satellite phone. Verizon doesn't do demon apocalypse zones. *nods*
-OMG MORE MUSIC! "Spirit in the Sky!" \o/ Yay! I don't know what they're skimping on from the budget for extra music, but I'm cool with it. \o/
--Hee! Zombie apocalypse, demon apocalypse, they all need a sporting goods store.
-Written by Sera Gamble, Directed by Phil Sgriccia. Buckle up, y'all!
-*facepalm* Sam, you are a tactical idiot. The car in the street is running and the radio is playing for several reasons. A) It covers minor noises of the area's lurking defenders, allowing them to reposition while interlopers are distracted by the car, which means there are assorted ranged weapons being pointed at you and your brother right this second, B) anyone moving between the source of sound and a defender muffles the sound, regardless of how stealthy they are being, thereby revealing the interloper's presence and approximate position in their firing arc, which means there are assorted ranged weapons being pointed at you and your brother right this second and c) if some idiot comes along and turns the damn thing off, defenders know exactly where to aim the grenade launchers, if they aren't already pre-aimed at the car, which means there are assorted ranged weapons being pointed, oh you get the idea. Except you are both very lucky and the area defenders here suck ass.
-HEY!! Jerry Wanek is on that banner strung across the road! And someone else. Must recheck when I can pause. [Rewatch: Lee Lee Laschuk, who is sadly not ringing bells. Maybe it's a pseudonym? Pause too blurry to see picture, dammit. Someone in the crew, I bet.]
-Wow, location design had fun with the apocalyptic town. Nifty! There's some reeeeeally squicky details there. O.o
-HI ELLEN!! Same intro as last time with the gun pointy I see! Why is she not splashing Sam though? And for that matter, why are the boys not requesting a return splashing? If I was a demon in an over-run town, I'd go around splashing people with "Holy Water", proclaiming them clean, taking them off to 'safety' and, uh, do nefarious demony-things to them. I guess. o.O *handwaves*
-She only hugs Dean, hunh? *tries not to read anything into that*
-Hee! Um. That fic I just posted? *points at "you never called" conversation in episode* Hee! Except canon!Dean is much less paranoid and Sam isn't riding backseat in his own body while Big L drives him around.
-Ellen's hunting with Jo! \o/ So much glee! Yay for the family business!
-See? Sporting goods store. For most of your zombie demon apocalypse equipment needs.
-"Somebody's gotta stay here and start giving them Shotgun 101." Ah, yes. Trust issues. The real 'Big Bad' of the episode. *nods*
-Sam? The salt is not fragile, or explosive. You do not need to read the label on each can. Scoop it all into the bag and run, you ninny. Hm. Unless he's having big deep Sam thoughts there... Or wanting to get ambushed so he can do a little cathartic ass-kicking. Or he's not as over the demon-blood addiction as he said and is jonesing and looking for a free-range snack.
-Guys! Sam's getting (incompetently because Sam's neck is the size of a freaking tree trunk) choked! WHAT DAY IS IT?? \o/
-VERBAL EXORCISM! \o/ ABOUT TIME ONE OF THESE TURKEYS REMEMBERED TO AT LEAST TRY THAT! Magic items and demonic powers are great and all, but nothing beats doing it in Latin.
-Was that Ruby's knife? There was no flashy demon-go-zap... They can't cut budget corners on that, it wouldn't make sense. Maybe it's not Ruby's knife. But if it wasn't, it'd have no effect on the demons... Something's not right.
-Uh hunh. Sam with the blood fascination. Yeah, I thought there'd be more to it than insta-detox.
-Loving the random background signs in the church basement hideout. So far there's a Pancake Breakfast and a Potluck that are going to have pretty sparse attendance after this is done. :-P
-Heee! Gun lessons. Man, some of these people are incompetent. Love the veteran guy. *nods*
-"Hell. Seriously, Hell." *snerk* I guess the Apocalypse cancels out the Winchester Rule of 'we do what we do and we shut up about it'. :-)
-"I can't sit here on my ass, my daughter's out there somewhere." God, I love Ellen. Just so much yay! \o/
-Angst! Yay! Oooo, shoving. Ooo. Yeah. Trust issues are definitely the real big bad here.
-If that sprinkler's not spraying holy water, I'll be disappointed in the town's priest. And Ellen.
-Demons don't get cold. Good to know. *nods*
-"You black-eyed bitch!" Possessed!Jo is... very confused... o.O
-Ooo! Possessed!Rufus! \o/ Bobby needs to start answering his phone with "Christo!" Hard to see the colour of someone's eyes over the phone.
-Hee! That's the same fireplace as several prior eps, I'm certain. And that's Bobby's ceiling. I'm certain of that too. Maybe it's even a shot re-use, from just before they panned down to Meg in Devil's Trap. However, if re-using shots saves cash in the budget for extra music, go for it! But how did these guys manage to paint a full-on seal of Solomon in such a short time. Hm. Okay, so.... maybe... I dunno, maybe Rufus has a giant folding Seal of Solomon stencil in his back pocket, specifically for use on ceilings. Sure! Bobby made it for him! There! It makes sense! \o/ *handwaves*
-Ooo! Show has a better concept of bondage effective restraint methods this season! At least this time! \o/
-WTF? Black eyes... and exorcism... Maybe... has everyone in town started drinking demon blood??? Something is seriously not right there. o.O [Rewatch: Wow, was I clueless watching this the first time through! I blame work.]
-Hee, their knock-sign is S.O.S. "Save Our Souls" That's freaking adorable! And the thing blocking the peep hole is a Bingo card. Wonder if the priest blessed it?
-Hey, wait a second, they didn't have a knock-sign before, Ellen just knocked and said "It's me." Inconsistent. Not good. Your security procedures suck, gang. Unless maybe it's based on time of day. Morning, a couple knocks and "It's me." Afternoon, knock S.O.S. Evening, maybe knock the 1812 Overture. Yeah. *nods*
-Dude! Splash Ellen!! Anyone who leaves and comes back needs re-tested! Never mind the traps in the way. They can be disrupted. I mean, it's not like you can't make more holy water. You've even got an actual priest on the team.
-Trust issues. Ow. Dammit Dean! Okay, also, if Sam had never met Ruby, never drank demon blood, never broken any trusts, and been the same Sam you picked up at Stanford, and he'd gotten his ass captured by demons, you'd be out that door like a shot. So what the hell, Dean? Your issues are blinding you. Deal with them.
-Possessed or not, getting salt poured over your face would be all kinds of unpleasant. And with a fresh cut.
-Ring wiggle man! He's making hallucinations! No one's possessed! OMG! Nifty!
-"She may be an idiot, but she's not stupid." Hee!
-Really liking veteran guy. If he doesn't die, he better become a hunter. And maybe hook up with Jo. What?
-"This isn't X-files, pal." Aw, that was a Kim Manners shout-out. :-)
-Shooting star. Heheh. Yep. I read that bit not too long ago, but hearing Dean read out loud from the book of freaking Revelation is giving me shivers.
-"That cherry Mustang parked on Main?" BWAH! Mustangs are kind of infamous in this fandom. Which, by the way, HAR HAR HAR. Mustang. Horse. Horseman. Get it? :-) So then, by extrapolation, if they stick to the horse-named transportation theme and automobiles for the rest of the Four, one of the others will be driving a Ford Bronco, another a Hyundai Pony, and the last a Dodge Colt? I will fall over laughing if any of them is driving a Pinto. Even though in my opinion that particular Pinto has 'Pestilence' written aaaaall over it. XD
-"It's the Apocalypse?" Yeah, Padre is quite understandably freaked, because I suspect he's been figuring the Apocalypse is just a metaphor. Not nice when a metaphor comes to life and makes you kill your neighbours.
-HI! HI WAR! *flappyhandswave* I was hoping you'd be a girl, but I've read "Good Omens" far too many times. Also, I'm really really glad I posted that damn fic, because after seeing this I wouldn't have posted it, because War's "I was in..." speech is way too close to something in that fic. This freaks me out a little.
-Hee! War's fun. I think I'll like to hate him if he recurs. He better recur. A little over-the-top on the cultural stereotyping, but that suits War too. It's fugly. *hopes War recurs if only so that Bobby can beat him with the shillelagh that he's totally going to get*
-Okay, okay, fine I'll shut up about Bobby's hypothetical shillelagh now. But War brought up Ireland, not me. *crosses arms and huffs*
-Also *facepalm* Wow, I'm slow tonight. That's why there wasn't a flashy when Sam used Ruby's knife. No demons to go flashy. Which means these people have... wow. Anyone in the town who survives this will never ever be the same again when they realize they've been killing each other over a misperception. War is fucking evil. [Rewatch: Very very slow. *glares at work*]
-Roger didn't give the knock sign. That totally wasn't the 1812 Overture! Splash him! Actually it wouldn't matter, but these people's concept of a secure base is so lax I'm surprised they aren't all dead already. Also, when did 'Roger' get out? Did I miss it? No one's questioning it though because it's hard to focus on detail when someone is panicking about an imminent attack right in your face. See, War has tactical sense. And a shiny hallucination ring.
-DEMON DEAN!!! *Flails* DEMON ELLEN!!! EEEEE! *FLAILS AGAIN* THIS IS SO COOL!!!
-OMG yay, I am filled with so much incomprehensible glee that I ran around my apartment during that commercial break! My cat is now very confused!
-Still liking veteran guy. Still want him to survive and become a hunter. Even though he's being duped right now.
-Yay Jo with the rationality! \o/ Someone has to be rational, why the hell not Jo! \o/
-Dean vs. Rufus! Show your tattoo, Dean, SHOW YOUR TATTOO! ...Why do I feel like I should be at a strip club or something all of a sudden? o.O
-Yay Rufus! Way to pick up the clue phone before you murder an innocent hero character. \o/
-Too much awesome to take notes, big gap. Hee!
-Aw no. Preacher down. :-(
-"Stop firing usually means stop firing." I love Rufus. I so love Rufus. He rocks. Him and Bobby (and what the hell, Ellen, even though she's not old) need to get a spin-off where they kvetch at each other and snark sense into the youngsters while kicking ass. "Grumpy Old Hunters". Curmudgeonly badasses FTW! \o/
-Okay, minor Canadian content, the gun that veteran guy (what the hell's his name?) just tried to shoot Ellen with has a Maple Leaf stamp on the... um, gun-part thing. The bit the ammo magazine goes into. Will check later. [Rewatch: Can't make out the text above. Wonder where the Winchesters picked that one up? Although, it may be the same gun as Ronald had in Nightshifter, so in that case Ronald didn't pick that up at the Walmart. I think it's a C7 without the bayonet attached and with a scope on it. Regardless, it's probably the most unique example of Canadian Content I've seen on a US show. o.O]
-Hee, cut off the ring, fingers and all. Sauron, much? XD
-Poor upstairs shooter kid. He was the one with the tourniquet earlier. That's a wonderfully evocative shot there, of the sniper-kid realizing what's happened and what he's done and sitting alone in the room, silhouetted and horrified. The whole damn town's going to need so much therapy. Hoo.
-So. The Winchesters have War's ring now. Plenty of uses for a ring that messes with people's perceptions. Hm. Is this going to turn into a Rod of Seven Parts quest to get trinkets from all the Horsemen? Death's got a sickle, we know this from "Death Takes a Holiday." I'm thinking it might. *nods*
-"Pit stop on Mount Doom?" HA!! SO. MUCH. GLEE. \o/
-Oh, Sam. Trust issues and addiction recovery. Oh Sam.
-"...how far I'll go. There's something in me that scares the hell out of me." Where have we heard this particular speech before, hm??? Dean? Little cabin right before YED said howdy and started using your Dad to slice you up? Ringing any bells?
-"Maybe it's best we just go our separate ways." Oh no you don't, Sam!
-"I think you're right." O.O DEAN! NO! "I spend more time worrying about you than about doing the job." How is this any different from most of your life?? And how is Sam being in a random unknown and unsupervised and untraceable by angel location going to make you stop worrying about him???? And Sam! How is being miles away from your only family and support system going to help you get through this??? There is no Demon-Bloodsuckers Anonymous! It-! Just-! You-! ARG! They're just such BOYS!!!
-Also, family and brothers and all the primary character and emotional stuff aside, are you both idiots??? The worst possible thing you can do is separate right now! It's not just that you'll both get in heaps of trouble and realize almost too late that you really do trust each other and all will be right in the end, it's tactically moronic! Everything in the world is after you or will be soon, I'm betting, Enochian Sigil or no! Sit down, talk it out, get your heads on straight and get at it! Together! You just aren't thinking with your brains right now, you're thinking with your issues! Stop it! No cookies for anyone! I'm not mad, I'm just frustrated. Winchesters!
-Wow, I don't think I've ever seen the Impala that dirty before. That's oddly deliberate... maybe?
-ALSO also, and here's a totally random thought, the last time they were in Colorado they killed off most of a nest of vampires. If Sam goes hitch-hiking across Colorado, Luther's old mate and surviving nestlings (last seen in Colorado, and who must have re-built a brood by now unless Gordon got them) might catch his scent and track him down, since the sigil won't be any use vs vampires. And... Sam's been on the other end of a kind of vampirism for a while so... hunh. That'd be cool as a continuity bomb, and it'd fit the addiction recovery arc Sam appears to be experiencing. It's also yet another reason why the Winchesters separating and going off alone is frigging idiotic of them to do, but not like there's a shortage of those. If nothing else, it's a plot-bunny. Hm. *releases into the wild*
-Ooo, and speaking of bloodsuckers anonymous, what about Lenore and her cow-sucking vampires? They might have a few pointers if Sam can find them. *ponders*
-Wait. Wait. OMG, wait. Dean offered Sam the Impala there. And he gave up the pendant to Castiel earlier. Um. Um. Oh no. Horrendous feeling of boding here guys. Dean has given up or is trying to give away treasured things, and things that in a way form a part of his identity. That's... That's not a good sign. He's cutting his ties. He's undoing his identity on a conscious or unconscious level. Something's not right with Dean or it's more patented Winchester walls, or he's- Crap. Sam! Don't leave! O.O *shakes* (Although I may be on complete crack there. It's just a feeling)
-...Is it just me being paranoid, or did the guy driving that camper look like Nick/Lucifer? O.O
-Ya know, I see what Kripke and the writers are doing here (especially with that endless drawn out "Sam leaving and Dean not stopping him" bit, (which, fucking OW, Kripke)). Endangering the things that people who watch the show care most about. In the past, it's been the boys, the car, now it's the family dynamic, the familial bond between the brothers. Find what's most important to the audience and imperil the crap out of it. *nods* Which means we are in for a demonic semi-truckload of hurt before things start to right themselves. It will happen, though. They'll be back together and trusting each other and themselves before the end of the season (unless there's a season 6 in which case the summer hiatus between 5 and 6 may be deleterious to fan sanity) just you watch. I have Zen. You hear me, Kripke? I have Zen. YOU WILL NOT SHAKE MY ZEN, KRIPKE! *breathes and is calm*
-AAAAAARG! PROMO AMBUSH! *flails around for remotes and scares the cat again* Gah! That was close. JoyTV doesn't show the promos, like ever! Not cool, JoyTV!!! *glares*
(PLEASE, NO SPOILERS OR REFERENCES TO SPOILERY MATERIAL IN COMMENTS! The definition of spoiler for this journal is located in left hand sidebar and includes references to promo material as spoilers. Theory and speculation based on aired episodes only.)
Spoiler and Theorizing Timeline
NOTHING!! WOOOOO! \o/ Seriously! Nothing, as far as I can tell! Nothing that got written down, and nothing I can remember!
It was touch and go, reading other people's recaps, but thankfully the ones that I read that did turn out to mention the promo (which I don't see because JoyTV is awesome like that) handily flagged it by capslocking things like "OMG THE PROMO!!!" before going into details, and I back-buttoned with a ninja-like quickness. HUZZAH! \o/
So, aside from large portions of fandom appearing to be unbelievably excited about this episode, and future spoilers turning up earlier than I think they will, I know nothing! \o/
Reaction, speculation, meta, and other things for Supernatural 5.02 - "Good God, Y'all"
...heh, well, now I see why people were excited! \o/ I may not be able to restrain my flailing long enough to type up my notes!
-Ooo! The blood-burst is filling in the letters of "The Road So Far" and moving. Cooool.
-MUSIC! They used this in After School Special! Foreigner, "Long, Long Way from Home." [Rewatch: Which, looking at some of the lyrics and considering where this episode ends, Kripke you cruel vicious bastard.]
-Wow! Rufus! Ellen! Jo! ... no way. No way... *shakes head* Naw. Some kind of reference though. Hmm.
-Bobby in a wheelchair. Ouch. He's got his hat on though so it's only a matter of time before he's fine. He'll heal up a bit and get that shillelagh soon. Or the sword-cane. I'm easy. *nods*
-Um, Sam? Dean? Bobby's in a wheelchair. He's not fucking deaf, alright? If you must talk about him like he's not there, then go somewhere where he isn't. *has issues*
-"Bobby might not bounce back this time." Bite me, Sam. *glares*
-X-ray! Awesome! Um, a little messed up in priorities, but nifty. Just wait, body mods a few generations down the line will include bone-engravings. If fandom doesn't figure out a way to do them first. 'Coz that's cool. :-D
-Also, don't know about Enochian, but I see a hell of a pile of Greek Omega characters in there. That's not nervous-making at all. o.O [Rewatch: 13 visible in the paused image. Although, given the spacing and configuration, I wonder if there isn't something spelled out in direct transliteration there. It's not all Greek characters though. The rest are probably all findable here. Hm. There's a rainy-day project for someone. Transcribing Dean's ribcage. XD ]
-HEEE! Castiel has to phone them! Guess that answers that question I had last week about whether he's got a loophole as the installer of the tattoo. Why's he phoning Sam, though? That's intriguing. Also Castiel seems to have gotten a haircut from the archangel fight. Either that or his hair is in stealth mode. (Also, standing in the doorway bookended by Sam and Dean makes him look so pocket-sized! Hee!)
-"I'm cut off from Heaven, much of Heaven's power." Oh, Castiel. Ya know, I'm glad I posted the second part of that damn 4.22 AU tag before this aired, because... yeah. Castiel's on Zach's shit list and cut off from the angel network. *pats him*
-Aw, Bobby. It's only been three days. He'll get past the bitter and get back to himself, and heal in some ways if not all. And get a shillelagh. Or, what the hell, rig up the wheelchair with a jet pack, flamethrower and holy water cannons. And a shillelagh just for whackin' idjits. As I said, I'm easy. Bobby's awesomeness will not be permanently repressed by this setback, regardless of the outcome for his mobility. *nods*
-O!M!G! YOU GUYS!!! DAD'S GOD'S ON A HUNTING TRIP, AND HE HASN'T BEEN HOME IN A FEW DAYS! \o/ Castiel's gonna go looking for God and he can't do it alone!! XD I said that somewhere! [Heh. Point #12 here] Hee! Awesome! I just didn't figure Castiel'd be asking Sam and Dean! Well, Dean, really. So much glee. And Castiel's so damn earnest and hopeful and starry-eyed, and it's the search for the absent father all over again. *smishes Castiel, smishes Show*
-Blood Titles yay! Best yet, I think. Really want to know what the voice is saying though.
-*FLAILS* Episode title! "Good God Y'all" OMG! NO FUCKING WAY!! In other words "WAR! Ungh! Good god y'all! What is it good for? Absolutely nothin'"? OMG, the Horsemen are HEEEEEEEEERE! \o/ And sooner than I thought. Unless it's like, actually God. Now. Which would be mind-blowing and damned efficient of Castiel and the Winchesters to find God in a single episode when Zach and his cohort have been running wild for a very long time. But they could totally do it. *nods*
-"Try New Mexico, I hear he's on a tortilla."/"...No he's not on any flatbread." *loses it laughing and misses the next line* Just so much love for the little pause there, and the thoughtful expression and gravity of Castiel's answer, like he either seriously considered it or may have just mentally scanned every form of flatbread in the entire world and did not find God. XD
-Ow. Castiel listing off what he's done and what he's in for as a result of going against Zach and Company for Dean's sake. Ow. Dean didn't stop Sam, Lucifer's running loose, the Apocalypse is on, and Castiel is technically in a state of rebellion against Heaven, cut off from it. He's pinning his hopes on God now with sheer faith, and will not have his squee harshed have that last hope mocked by anyone, because it's what he's holding on to to prove that he is not rebelling against God, he's resisting Zachariah's usurpation of authority. To Castiel, the only thing that will get them all out of the soup now and save the Earth is finding God and passing the word that Big L needs stuffed back into his cage and the primary angelic Choir is full of jingoistic weasels. Ow. Cas. There's a boatload of anxiety there. Do angels get ulcers?
-Hehe. You know. Castiel just kind of became Heaven's Robin Hood? Rebelling against the illegitimate authority and supporting the absent legitimate authority. No tights and arrows though, more's the pity.
-SAMANTHA FERRIS!!! OMG YOU GUYS SAMANTHA FERRIS IS IN THE CREDITS!!! ELLEN'S ACTUALLY BACK??? HOLY FRAKKING HELL! I mean, seriously, I have rumours of Ellen coming back going back to before the writer's strike in Season 3, and theories associated therewith, amounting to... *peeks* over a thousand words! "Ellen coming back" rumours keep surfacing every so often with varying degrees of 'it's happening', to the point that it totally became the spoiler that cried wolf for me. I wrote off subsequent rumours as simply not gonna happen. So! I'm not going to inflict the thousand-plus-word clump of theories springing from each era of rumours regarding Ellen's return on you in a retroactive spoiler timeline entry and just say that if she ends up working both sides of the 'hunters hunting Sam' fence (which I'm still waiting for, and have just managed to speculatively stick into fic a couple days ago), I totally called it back in season 3. *nods*
-ALONA TOO! OMFG!! \o/ I can't believe it, I MISSED JO!!! HUGELY!!! O.O I'm so thrilled I could cry right now! :-D
-Hm. A God EMF. An amul- Oh no way. FUCK A DAMN DUCK! NO WAY!!!! Seriously??? OMFG, what the flaming fuck! Kripke finally gave it a purpose, and, and, Bobby (or was it really Bobby? *ponders*) gave it to Sam to give to John except Sam gave it to Dean, and now Dean's the- with the- GAH!!! Too much spec and meta, head go 'splody, must brain later! Much later. OMG. O.O In the meantime, HOLY FREAKING CRAP, YOU GUYS!!! THE AMULET ACTUALLY DOES SOMETHING!!! \o/
-Also, OMG Meta. Trust and faith and transference and things. And it being present in Hell. Brain later, again, some more.
-Although, how do you know the damn thing works? How do you beta-test a God-detecting amulet if no one can locate God? (And this kind of squashes the cracktastic theory that The Trickster was somehow God in deeeep and skeezy cover, since the amulet didn't go off. Unless God's in stealth-mode, because seriously, if God doesn't want to be found, God won't be found, right? ...aaaand I'm chalking all of that up on the big board of 'things I never thought I'd think.' o.O)
-OMG! RUFUS TOO!? Seriously? Holy crap, there was a rumour at the end of Season 4, but I'd thought the phone call about the Seals was as much as we were getting! Holy crap, RUFUS! \o/ And he seems to be in the middle of a zombie apocalypse! \o/ No, wait, just demons. Oh well, \o/ anyway.
-Rufus has a satellite phone! Rufus has Bobby on speed dial on his satellite phone! And Rufus calls Bobby for backup during a running gun battle! Rufus kicks freaking ass! HOLY CRAP I LOVE RUFUS!!! Even if he goes adversarial on Sam and Dean at some point as I suspect he might, I love Rufus! \o/ So of course, Kripke's gonna kill him. It's inevitable. *sigh*
-HA! Re-used Impala transition shot from Season 1, Dead Man's Blood. What the hell, they're in "Colorado" again, right? Don't think I'm not gonna check that shot when I have a pause function available. [Rewatch: HA! They CGI'd the new plate in BUT THE SPOTLIGHTS ARE STILL THERE. Aha! Just because I haven't sent a poster in a while doesn't mean I've forgotten about the spotlights! KRIPKE! PUT THE SPOTLIGHTS BACK ON, DAMMIT!]
-Hee! Bridge! No signal for Sam because Sam doesn't have a satellite phone. Verizon doesn't do demon apocalypse zones. *nods*
-OMG MORE MUSIC! "Spirit in the Sky!" \o/ Yay! I don't know what they're skimping on from the budget for extra music, but I'm cool with it. \o/
--Hee! Zombie apocalypse, demon apocalypse, they all need a sporting goods store.
-Written by Sera Gamble, Directed by Phil Sgriccia. Buckle up, y'all!
-*facepalm* Sam, you are a tactical idiot. The car in the street is running and the radio is playing for several reasons. A) It covers minor noises of the area's lurking defenders, allowing them to reposition while interlopers are distracted by the car, which means there are assorted ranged weapons being pointed at you and your brother right this second, B) anyone moving between the source of sound and a defender muffles the sound, regardless of how stealthy they are being, thereby revealing the interloper's presence and approximate position in their firing arc, which means there are assorted ranged weapons being pointed at you and your brother right this second and c) if some idiot comes along and turns the damn thing off, defenders know exactly where to aim the grenade launchers, if they aren't already pre-aimed at the car, which means there are assorted ranged weapons being pointed, oh you get the idea. Except you are both very lucky and the area defenders here suck ass.
-HEY!! Jerry Wanek is on that banner strung across the road! And someone else. Must recheck when I can pause. [Rewatch: Lee Lee Laschuk, who is sadly not ringing bells. Maybe it's a pseudonym? Pause too blurry to see picture, dammit. Someone in the crew, I bet.]
-Wow, location design had fun with the apocalyptic town. Nifty! There's some reeeeeally squicky details there. O.o
-HI ELLEN!! Same intro as last time with the gun pointy I see! Why is she not splashing Sam though? And for that matter, why are the boys not requesting a return splashing? If I was a demon in an over-run town, I'd go around splashing people with "Holy Water", proclaiming them clean, taking them off to 'safety' and, uh, do nefarious demony-things to them. I guess. o.O *handwaves*
-She only hugs Dean, hunh? *tries not to read anything into that*
-Hee! Um. That fic I just posted? *points at "you never called" conversation in episode* Hee! Except canon!Dean is much less paranoid and Sam isn't riding backseat in his own body while Big L drives him around.
-Ellen's hunting with Jo! \o/ So much glee! Yay for the family business!
-See? Sporting goods store. For most of your zombie demon apocalypse equipment needs.
-"Somebody's gotta stay here and start giving them Shotgun 101." Ah, yes. Trust issues. The real 'Big Bad' of the episode. *nods*
-Sam? The salt is not fragile, or explosive. You do not need to read the label on each can. Scoop it all into the bag and run, you ninny. Hm. Unless he's having big deep Sam thoughts there... Or wanting to get ambushed so he can do a little cathartic ass-kicking. Or he's not as over the demon-blood addiction as he said and is jonesing and looking for a free-range snack.
-Guys! Sam's getting (incompetently because Sam's neck is the size of a freaking tree trunk) choked! WHAT DAY IS IT?? \o/
-VERBAL EXORCISM! \o/ ABOUT TIME ONE OF THESE TURKEYS REMEMBERED TO AT LEAST TRY THAT! Magic items and demonic powers are great and all, but nothing beats doing it in Latin.
-Was that Ruby's knife? There was no flashy demon-go-zap... They can't cut budget corners on that, it wouldn't make sense. Maybe it's not Ruby's knife. But if it wasn't, it'd have no effect on the demons... Something's not right.
-Uh hunh. Sam with the blood fascination. Yeah, I thought there'd be more to it than insta-detox.
-Loving the random background signs in the church basement hideout. So far there's a Pancake Breakfast and a Potluck that are going to have pretty sparse attendance after this is done. :-P
-Heee! Gun lessons. Man, some of these people are incompetent. Love the veteran guy. *nods*
-"Hell. Seriously, Hell." *snerk* I guess the Apocalypse cancels out the Winchester Rule of 'we do what we do and we shut up about it'. :-)
-"I can't sit here on my ass, my daughter's out there somewhere." God, I love Ellen. Just so much yay! \o/
-Angst! Yay! Oooo, shoving. Ooo. Yeah. Trust issues are definitely the real big bad here.
-If that sprinkler's not spraying holy water, I'll be disappointed in the town's priest. And Ellen.
-Demons don't get cold. Good to know. *nods*
-"You black-eyed bitch!" Possessed!Jo is... very confused... o.O
-Ooo! Possessed!Rufus! \o/ Bobby needs to start answering his phone with "Christo!" Hard to see the colour of someone's eyes over the phone.
-Hee! That's the same fireplace as several prior eps, I'm certain. And that's Bobby's ceiling. I'm certain of that too. Maybe it's even a shot re-use, from just before they panned down to Meg in Devil's Trap. However, if re-using shots saves cash in the budget for extra music, go for it! But how did these guys manage to paint a full-on seal of Solomon in such a short time. Hm. Okay, so.... maybe... I dunno, maybe Rufus has a giant folding Seal of Solomon stencil in his back pocket, specifically for use on ceilings. Sure! Bobby made it for him! There! It makes sense! \o/ *handwaves*
-Ooo! Show has a better concept of bondage effective restraint methods this season! At least this time! \o/
-WTF? Black eyes... and exorcism... Maybe... has everyone in town started drinking demon blood??? Something is seriously not right there. o.O [Rewatch: Wow, was I clueless watching this the first time through! I blame work.]
-Hee, their knock-sign is S.O.S. "Save Our Souls" That's freaking adorable! And the thing blocking the peep hole is a Bingo card. Wonder if the priest blessed it?
-Hey, wait a second, they didn't have a knock-sign before, Ellen just knocked and said "It's me." Inconsistent. Not good. Your security procedures suck, gang. Unless maybe it's based on time of day. Morning, a couple knocks and "It's me." Afternoon, knock S.O.S. Evening, maybe knock the 1812 Overture. Yeah. *nods*
-Dude! Splash Ellen!! Anyone who leaves and comes back needs re-tested! Never mind the traps in the way. They can be disrupted. I mean, it's not like you can't make more holy water. You've even got an actual priest on the team.
-Trust issues. Ow. Dammit Dean! Okay, also, if Sam had never met Ruby, never drank demon blood, never broken any trusts, and been the same Sam you picked up at Stanford, and he'd gotten his ass captured by demons, you'd be out that door like a shot. So what the hell, Dean? Your issues are blinding you. Deal with them.
-Possessed or not, getting salt poured over your face would be all kinds of unpleasant. And with a fresh cut.
-Ring wiggle man! He's making hallucinations! No one's possessed! OMG! Nifty!
-"She may be an idiot, but she's not stupid." Hee!
-Really liking veteran guy. If he doesn't die, he better become a hunter. And maybe hook up with Jo. What?
-"This isn't X-files, pal." Aw, that was a Kim Manners shout-out. :-)
-Shooting star. Heheh. Yep. I read that bit not too long ago, but hearing Dean read out loud from the book of freaking Revelation is giving me shivers.
-"That cherry Mustang parked on Main?" BWAH! Mustangs are kind of infamous in this fandom. Which, by the way, HAR HAR HAR. Mustang. Horse. Horseman. Get it? :-) So then, by extrapolation, if they stick to the horse-named transportation theme and automobiles for the rest of the Four, one of the others will be driving a Ford Bronco, another a Hyundai Pony, and the last a Dodge Colt? I will fall over laughing if any of them is driving a Pinto. Even though in my opinion that particular Pinto has 'Pestilence' written aaaaall over it. XD
-"It's the Apocalypse?" Yeah, Padre is quite understandably freaked, because I suspect he's been figuring the Apocalypse is just a metaphor. Not nice when a metaphor comes to life and makes you kill your neighbours.
-HI! HI WAR! *flappyhandswave* I was hoping you'd be a girl, but I've read "Good Omens" far too many times. Also, I'm really really glad I posted that damn fic, because after seeing this I wouldn't have posted it, because War's "I was in..." speech is way too close to something in that fic. This freaks me out a little.
-Hee! War's fun. I think I'll like to hate him if he recurs. He better recur. A little over-the-top on the cultural stereotyping, but that suits War too. It's fugly. *hopes War recurs if only so that Bobby can beat him with the shillelagh that he's totally going to get*
-Okay, okay, fine I'll shut up about Bobby's hypothetical shillelagh now. But War brought up Ireland, not me. *crosses arms and huffs*
-Also *facepalm* Wow, I'm slow tonight. That's why there wasn't a flashy when Sam used Ruby's knife. No demons to go flashy. Which means these people have... wow. Anyone in the town who survives this will never ever be the same again when they realize they've been killing each other over a misperception. War is fucking evil. [Rewatch: Very very slow. *glares at work*]
-Roger didn't give the knock sign. That totally wasn't the 1812 Overture! Splash him! Actually it wouldn't matter, but these people's concept of a secure base is so lax I'm surprised they aren't all dead already. Also, when did 'Roger' get out? Did I miss it? No one's questioning it though because it's hard to focus on detail when someone is panicking about an imminent attack right in your face. See, War has tactical sense. And a shiny hallucination ring.
-DEMON DEAN!!! *Flails* DEMON ELLEN!!! EEEEE! *FLAILS AGAIN* THIS IS SO COOL!!!
-OMG yay, I am filled with so much incomprehensible glee that I ran around my apartment during that commercial break! My cat is now very confused!
-Still liking veteran guy. Still want him to survive and become a hunter. Even though he's being duped right now.
-Yay Jo with the rationality! \o/ Someone has to be rational, why the hell not Jo! \o/
-Dean vs. Rufus! Show your tattoo, Dean, SHOW YOUR TATTOO! ...Why do I feel like I should be at a strip club or something all of a sudden? o.O
-Yay Rufus! Way to pick up the clue phone before you murder an innocent hero character. \o/
-Too much awesome to take notes, big gap. Hee!
-Aw no. Preacher down. :-(
-"Stop firing usually means stop firing." I love Rufus. I so love Rufus. He rocks. Him and Bobby (and what the hell, Ellen, even though she's not old) need to get a spin-off where they kvetch at each other and snark sense into the youngsters while kicking ass. "Grumpy Old Hunters". Curmudgeonly badasses FTW! \o/
-Okay, minor Canadian content, the gun that veteran guy (what the hell's his name?) just tried to shoot Ellen with has a Maple Leaf stamp on the... um, gun-part thing. The bit the ammo magazine goes into. Will check later. [Rewatch: Can't make out the text above. Wonder where the Winchesters picked that one up? Although, it may be the same gun as Ronald had in Nightshifter, so in that case Ronald didn't pick that up at the Walmart. I think it's a C7 without the bayonet attached and with a scope on it. Regardless, it's probably the most unique example of Canadian Content I've seen on a US show. o.O]
-Hee, cut off the ring, fingers and all. Sauron, much? XD
-Poor upstairs shooter kid. He was the one with the tourniquet earlier. That's a wonderfully evocative shot there, of the sniper-kid realizing what's happened and what he's done and sitting alone in the room, silhouetted and horrified. The whole damn town's going to need so much therapy. Hoo.
-So. The Winchesters have War's ring now. Plenty of uses for a ring that messes with people's perceptions. Hm. Is this going to turn into a Rod of Seven Parts quest to get trinkets from all the Horsemen? Death's got a sickle, we know this from "Death Takes a Holiday." I'm thinking it might. *nods*
-"Pit stop on Mount Doom?" HA!! SO. MUCH. GLEE. \o/
-Oh, Sam. Trust issues and addiction recovery. Oh Sam.
-"...how far I'll go. There's something in me that scares the hell out of me." Where have we heard this particular speech before, hm??? Dean? Little cabin right before YED said howdy and started using your Dad to slice you up? Ringing any bells?
-"Maybe it's best we just go our separate ways." Oh no you don't, Sam!
-"I think you're right." O.O DEAN! NO! "I spend more time worrying about you than about doing the job." How is this any different from most of your life?? And how is Sam being in a random unknown and unsupervised and untraceable by angel location going to make you stop worrying about him???? And Sam! How is being miles away from your only family and support system going to help you get through this??? There is no Demon-Bloodsuckers Anonymous! It-! Just-! You-! ARG! They're just such BOYS!!!
-Also, family and brothers and all the primary character and emotional stuff aside, are you both idiots??? The worst possible thing you can do is separate right now! It's not just that you'll both get in heaps of trouble and realize almost too late that you really do trust each other and all will be right in the end, it's tactically moronic! Everything in the world is after you or will be soon, I'm betting, Enochian Sigil or no! Sit down, talk it out, get your heads on straight and get at it! Together! You just aren't thinking with your brains right now, you're thinking with your issues! Stop it! No cookies for anyone! I'm not mad, I'm just frustrated. Winchesters!
-Wow, I don't think I've ever seen the Impala that dirty before. That's oddly deliberate... maybe?
-ALSO also, and here's a totally random thought, the last time they were in Colorado they killed off most of a nest of vampires. If Sam goes hitch-hiking across Colorado, Luther's old mate and surviving nestlings (last seen in Colorado, and who must have re-built a brood by now unless Gordon got them) might catch his scent and track him down, since the sigil won't be any use vs vampires. And... Sam's been on the other end of a kind of vampirism for a while so... hunh. That'd be cool as a continuity bomb, and it'd fit the addiction recovery arc Sam appears to be experiencing. It's also yet another reason why the Winchesters separating and going off alone is frigging idiotic of them to do, but not like there's a shortage of those. If nothing else, it's a plot-bunny. Hm. *releases into the wild*
-Ooo, and speaking of bloodsuckers anonymous, what about Lenore and her cow-sucking vampires? They might have a few pointers if Sam can find them. *ponders*
-Wait. Wait. OMG, wait. Dean offered Sam the Impala there. And he gave up the pendant to Castiel earlier. Um. Um. Oh no. Horrendous feeling of boding here guys. Dean has given up or is trying to give away treasured things, and things that in a way form a part of his identity. That's... That's not a good sign. He's cutting his ties. He's undoing his identity on a conscious or unconscious level. Something's not right with Dean or it's more patented Winchester walls, or he's- Crap. Sam! Don't leave! O.O *shakes* (Although I may be on complete crack there. It's just a feeling)
-...Is it just me being paranoid, or did the guy driving that camper look like Nick/Lucifer? O.O
-Ya know, I see what Kripke and the writers are doing here (especially with that endless drawn out "Sam leaving and Dean not stopping him" bit, (which, fucking OW, Kripke)). Endangering the things that people who watch the show care most about. In the past, it's been the boys, the car, now it's the family dynamic, the familial bond between the brothers. Find what's most important to the audience and imperil the crap out of it. *nods* Which means we are in for a demonic semi-truckload of hurt before things start to right themselves. It will happen, though. They'll be back together and trusting each other and themselves before the end of the season (unless there's a season 6 in which case the summer hiatus between 5 and 6 may be deleterious to fan sanity) just you watch. I have Zen. You hear me, Kripke? I have Zen. YOU WILL NOT SHAKE MY ZEN, KRIPKE! *breathes and is calm*
-AAAAAARG! PROMO AMBUSH! *flails around for remotes and scares the cat again* Gah! That was close. JoyTV doesn't show the promos, like ever! Not cool, JoyTV!!! *glares*
(PLEASE, NO SPOILERS OR REFERENCES TO SPOILERY MATERIAL IN COMMENTS! The definition of spoiler for this journal is located in left hand sidebar and includes references to promo material as spoilers. Theory and speculation based on aired episodes only.)