Picspam Reaction: Supernatural 8.03
Warning: Contains profanity.
Spoiler and Theory Summary
...Nothing I can remember off-hand, so I'm not going to go dredging through my currently rather addled brain for it.
Going back to the old school "watch the whole thing first without pausing" method, so we'll see how that goes, considering I do have access to a pause button and a compulsive need to stop and blither.
Picspam Reaction, with speculation and randomness for Supernatural 8.03 - ??? "Heartache"
Here we go!
...and yeah, that watch the whole thing first is totally not going to work at all. I got three minutes in, scrawling notes as fast as I could, gnawing my arm of before the need to pause and blither in more detail became too great and went back to the start because, well you'll see.
-Vancouver is a pretty pretty city, even when it's trying its damnedest to be Minneapolis.
-Jogging. At night. On this show. With a spinny overhead camera shot. Dude, you are so dead before the title card.
-Passed by the big guy, ha. Who will either eat you or who is running from what will eat you.
-Looks like he'll be eating you. "I do a lot of cardio" indeed.
-DANGER! APPLES! Are they freaking worth it? ...Looks like, actually. Very pretty. Yay, BC apple producers! They don't even have to sacrifice anyone! I think anyway! \o/
-Title: "Heartache" Har har har.
-Apples that size for 25 cents each? That seems frigging cheap for any kind of produce, never mind organic. It's a roadside stand yeah, but still... *side-eyes apples*
-*Dean lists off involuntary heart-ectomies in Minneapolis* "What does that tell us?"/"Stay out of Minneapolis." Ha ha. Yeah, for a Sam that quit hunting for a year and erected a 'not my problem' field around himself, it totally would.
-And here's where I had to hit pause and start over, because since I had a notepad to scrawl on like I used to while watching episodes live the first time, my capacity to block guest star names was impaired and I saw this one:
Alan Ackles. Jensen's Dad. At which point my need to flap and flail and go eeeee became too great to not pause and do so, just because. I mean, Jensen had him do a newscaster voice when he directed Weekend at Bobby's but them together in something that isn't a laughably dire festival of (mostly) suck like Devour is something that I need to burst forth with joy about. So. There. *tosses notepad* *flap* *flail* EEE! All hail the mighty pause button.
-"Some sort of a possessed Satanic heart-sucking crackorbat." I second Sam's what, because Google's got jack on crackorbats, which I admit I could be spelling wrong. Makes sense though, Dean spent a year in Purgatory, killing things that may have been exterminated from Earth centuries ago, and getting some up close hands on research into monster behaviour and modus operandi.
-"We just spent a week chasing our asses trying to lock Kevin down." Behold the rare between-episodes concrete time-stamp. Is it not a thing of beauty? So, it's been a week since 8.02, which was about a year since 7.23, which was... uh... earlier.
-"Where the hell are we?"/"Farmer's Market. Organic." Heeee, on some things, Sam never changes.
-"Are innocent people supposed to die so you can shop for produce?" I'm still on Dean's side there. Really, even if Sam didn't want to contact anyone in the hunting scene when he noticed potential cases in the paper or wherever, it's not hard to set up a burnable e-mail address, drop the note and delete the account. With knowledge comes power and with power comes responsibility, and sad to say but in the absence of a compelling reason for Sam dropping out of the life, he did fall down in the responsibility department. See a problem, fix a problem, or signal boost so that people who can fix it know about it.
-SO ANYWAY. What have we run into that rips out hearts? Werewolves? Didn't seem like one. ...and I'm drawing a blank, aside from all the other general eviscerators, I don't remember off hand any that went for hearts, but my memory is crap.
-HI! HI ALAN ACKLES! JENSEN'S DAD'S CHARACTER'S TIE REPORT: ABSOLUTELY DEFINITE STRIPES sorry I should probably stop capslocking now, but hee! Hope he's not evil or doomed, but his tie gives me great hope.
-Tie Report for the Boys: Stripes everywhere, Sam's very red, Dean's very green, new ties all around, stripes sloping down toward each other right now, but they did have a bit of a chat where Dean talked about stuff that bugged him and Sam kinda sorta had the guilty-puppy look like maybe he could see Dean's side so there has been a sort of communication, or at least as much as what passes for communication if you're a Winchester not currently discharging weaponry. So, progress towards progress, maybe? Yay! \o/
-And I have to say that green tie on Dean is making his eyes wonderfully luminous in their greenness.
-"He was in town for a conference, no local connections." And he was jogging alone in an unfamiliar park at night? Did the dude have a death wish? Or at least a mugging wish?
-"Sure he can run a little bit but Thor he ain't." Heeehehehehehe. Considering Sam and Dean have Mjölnir in the trunk (or at least they better, or it better be following Sam now since he actually managed to get it to do the zappy thing, and Mr '5/8ths of a virgin' seemed quite impressed by that before poofing out), that's hilarious.
-I'd also like to randomly thank the show for giving me a reason to type Mjölnir so frequently and getting me to look up how to put umlauts on things on a Mac keyboard. Option(or alt)+u, and then the letter you want an umlaut on. Über, brüderlich, doppelgänger, Äpfel, und so weiter und so fort. Sorry. My high school German ran away with me there, apologies to actual German-speakers.
-"Think he's going to throw down Freddie Fitness here and rip out his heart? I don't think so!" And this is why you should never assume things about people based on their appearance.
-Written by Brad Buckner & Eugenie Ross-Leming, familiar again, but after 8 years everyone is.
-Directed by- OH HEY.
I didn't know that! Aw. Family business! *squee!* \o/
-Smoothies, exercise gear, he's certainly got his health nut alibi well-covered. Although that giant thing of yogurt next to the... grass? on the guy's kitchen counter is actually a brand of frozen yogurt (Chapman's, Canadian brand), and about as healthy as a kick in the head. I should know, I have one exactly like it in my freezer, except mine's Mixed Berry. Though the health thing is just a cover, and if we're going to start questioning this guy's dietary choices, we should probably start with the human hearts. ...If it actually was him and not some opportunistic beastie taking his form... hmmm...
-"Now your body's a temple?"/"Where I worship every day!" Craaaaaazy eyes. The more nuts this guy looks, the less I think it actually was him in the opener.
-Sitting together in a cafe with pie in their logo, working a case. Awww. It's almost like they aren't completely broken.
-My US geography is woeful, but Iowa is a hell of a long way from Minnesota, isn't it? *googles* No, sorry, I was thinking of Idaho. Des Moines is a four hour drive from Minneapolis. Day trip. Drive down, rip out a heart, drive back. Easy peasy.
-TIE REPORT NUMBER TWO: Stripes everywhere, going the same direction, BUT. These are more new ties, I think, or at least ones that haven't been too common before. Starting over, or at least trying to? (Giggles at the random ball of rubber bands on the officer's desk)
-So, corpse, blood-covered cop freaking out vs corpse, non-freaking out runner, and a pre-credit sequence where we saw the runner rip the guy's heart out. Runner would probably be freaked if he found himself covered in blood with no reason why, so this isn't a possession thing, unless the possessing entity learned something and didn't let the big guy go until after a shower, but there'd still be the matter of the missing time, so not likely a possession. Something that can mimic. Cop would be covered in blood because he would have found the guy on his doorstep bleeding out and attempted to do first aid, during which there would have been a lot of blood. So. Separate mimicking, but non-possessing entity, that likes ripping out hearts and making the occasional pun. Maybe Ammut, the Egyptian goddess who ate the hearts of the insufficiently good in the afterlife? Mimicry would be handy considering she's half crocodile and half hippo. Hmm.
-Oooo, random babbling in a different language and hand-wringing. That's different.
-"You getting a statement?"/"Yeah. Kind of. ...probably not." Heee
-OOOO, heterochromia! This show and its fascination with eyes, I'm surprised heterochromia hasn't turned up significantly before. His eyes were both a similar sort of lightish color in the newspaper photo, I think, so if there's anything weird specifically in one of his eyes, it'll be the not-his-usual really dark one. Maybe. Heterochromia is ringing a bell though... why is it ringing a bell? No, not Mr. Teatime off Discworld, though that would be... trippy. O.o
-"I'm gonna sprinkle your arm with holy water, and it's gonna steam and burn if you're possessed by a demon." Nice to give warning now and then.
-Trying to figure out what it is he's repeating so I can google it. Coozhakakowzhe? Oizhakakowzhee? Dunno.
-Ohh this isn't gonna go well. Will it be suicide, or maybe self-enucleation? What am I saying? Since when has this show missed an opportunity to gouge out an eyeball in the name of plot? *shudders*
-"I bought a translation app." Things you never thought you'd hear Dean Winchester say. Also possibly, ways to make a smartphone explode; asking it to translate ancient Aklo. But look at that face!
-Language unknown doesn't equal babble. Language unknown equals your phone doesn't know it, and there are a lot of things your phone doesn't know. Ooo! Did it transcribe it though? That'd be useful.
-"Agent Sambora." *sneeeeeerk* The last time he used that alias he was Meg, wasn't he? I think he may have used it since then, but I don't remember off-hand.
-YES! SELF-ENUCLEATION OF THE 'BAD' EYE FOR THE WIN! \o/ ...okay, that may have been the first time I've ever fist-pumped because someone dug their own eye out with a chunk of prison bed frame. I don't know what that says about me... *goes back and looks at the runners crazy eyes* Doesn't look like there's any heterochromia there, so... hm. I wonder where this guy's 'bad' eye went? And if it had a demon in it that wouldn't have burned and smoked unless they splashed holy water on his eye. *ponders*
-Doctor Kashi, was it? Can we keep her? She's adorable and has an amazing accent, and is helpful!
-"And interestingly it's the transplanted eye he chose to cut out." Aaaaaaaaah! Crap! Haunted donated organs! I've had this in my plot bunny corral since season 1, probably just like everyone else! WOOO!!! \o/
-"...so I pulled up his health records from Minneapolis-" Aw, look they're communicating without using their words again. Okay, Sam uses some words eventually, yes, but shhh. *handwaves*
-"Doctor Morrison, the Anthropology Professor who helped us out with the Amazons?" Yay background character continuity! And there should totally be an app for translating dead and quasi-mythical languages. There's probably one for Klingon, so why not?
-*raising an eyebrow at the name of the bar (sorry "gentleman's club") and the neon sign* Moving on...
-Those shoes are ridiculously impractical. Unless they have storage compartments, because that would be cool. Not so handy for running away from things that want to eviscerate you though. And the dress which isn't capping well could be practical if you, I dunno, needed to patch a tire. Or hold a wound closed, I guess, so it might have a practical use in a minute if the person wearing it isn't the one about to do the slaughtering. Do organ donations usually have to be the same biological gender recipient? Hmmm.
-I can almost make out the music playing in the background. Not quite. Too muddy. Anyone know what it is?
-Nice convenient murdery alley. Someone needs to start running now, still not sure which one.
-Apparently, he should have started running. At least he was probably wearing more practical shoes for it.
-Dean: *making an effort to be all yay case-working togetherness and progress towards regaining Winchester Normal* "It's all good."/Sam: *brooding stone-face of imminent emotional doom* Oh crap, it's dark and there's a car ride and it's the perfect time for an emo dump from Sam, right? Well, it's about time he said something other than 'I hit a dog' about why he left hunting so completely.
-"I know where I'm at my best. That's right here, drivin' down crazy street, next to you." *deep inhale* Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Just awww. So much awww. Oh Dean. And this is probably the point where Sam turns around and rips your heart out. Metaphorically. Unless he had a transplant while you were gone.
-"Or, maybe you don't need me. Maybe you're better hacking and slicing your way through the world's crap alone." Yeah, going straight for the heart indeed there, Sam.
-And then there is ow and more ow.
-And then the phone rings for a temporary reprieve from ow to generate a more deeply stewing and festering ow. All I've gotta say is Sam had better have a darn good reason for this change of priority or I will be very vexed with him for a long time. Considering Dean was missing, and in essence presumed dead or otherwise no longer accessible by the plane of Earth, getting him back after a year and then treating his obviously traumatized uncommunicative doofus brother like he's an inconvenient job offer in Detroit is kind of not on. Dean at one point did want Sam to have a more normal life, yes, and he probably will want that for Sam again in time. But right now, Dean's a little over a week out of Purgatory, traumatized as hell, and clinging to any stability he can find, that being Sam. Only now Sam wants change and it's just a really bad time for Dean to cope with change in one of the very few stable elements of his life. Even worse than usual. Sam has to know this on some level, and so must have a damn good reason for wanting this change. So, I'm suspecting now that Sam, dog and (probably veterinarian) girlfriend have a kid on the way that Sam's trying to keep completely away from hunting for blindingly obvious reasons given his own childhood. Well, I mean Sam and the vet are having a kid, not the dog. You know what I mean. That's the sort of impression I'm getting now anyway, and of course that will be going nothing but wrong no matter what Sam tries, won't it?
-And breathe.
-"This is gonna singe your axons." *blink* Has Dean been dropping more sciencey-nerdy references since going to Purgatory? Was Benny a scientist at some point and Dean picked up some references from him? But then there's the app thing...? I don't know. There's something odd about Dean...
-"The guy played at the top of his game for like a million years, didn't he?"/"He bought it in a car crash last year, nose-dived off a bridge or something?" Hm. Famous all star quarterback with a long career, sudden random solo death... Brick Homes made a Deal, demonic or otherwise, didn't he? And there's some kind of lingering influence left over in his parts. Interesting...
-"Kawazhan kakawa shizhii." There's the thing the guy with the eye was chanting. Starting to sound more like Japanese, but Dean's phone app probably had that. *fiddles with Google translate* Hm. It's trying to tell me it's Swahili, where Kaka wa is 'brother', and if the zh sounds are actually j sounds, jii means 'came to them'... Hmmmm... Mangling it a little via phonetic typing and forcing it into Japanese as "Kawajan ka ka wa jiji." gives "Old man involved in a leather jacket." Soooo, uhhhh... I got nothing.
-OKAY! Well! That's interesting... Does that glow under the skin not look a bit like Benny the huggable vampire looked before Dean reincorporated him?
-Oh hi! I don't know what you are but you're interesting!
-Yes, I'll take one of everything. Don't bother wrapping it, I'll just curl up and purr in it for a while. Sigh.
-Sam's a football fanboy? I suppose it could be research, but... hidden depths, or a recent 'let's bet as normal as possible right the heck now' hobby? O.o Also, 18 seasons of football is too long for a ten year demon deal.
-Conspicuous book about China on the coffee table there... And what the hell? TIE REPORT NUMBER THREE: Dean reddish, Sam blue. Unsettled slow-burning energy vs confidence. Stripes, going the same direction, not towards each other, Dean's tie leaning toward Sam, Sam's leaning away. Dean also may be wearing... nope, not Sam's tie from the top of the hour. Sam's wearing a tie one of them has worn before, but I'm not sure which. Aside from the obvious Dean stripes toward Sam, Sam stripes away from Dean, they have been swapping ties more often in this episode than in any other episode ever. I'm halfway through and there have been three separate sets of ties. Either this is a sign that things are very unsettled between the boys (well, duh) or it's a sign that, as the director of this episode and overseer of everything including costume elements, Jensen Ackles himself wants me to do more tie reports. Um. Iiiii think I'll go with the less completely bonkers interpretation there and say it's a representation of things being unsettled between the boys. Yeah. Heh heh.
-"When things happen that aren't supposed to happen, they're called accidents I believe." Ooohoo. Someone's gotten a bit defensive suddenly.
-"Anything new in his life?"/"No, no." But in that 'No, no, there's this momentary glance... Hmmmm....
-"No new interests: fly-fishing, stamp-collecting, the occult?" Subtle Dean. Although the danger fly-fishing presents to the unguarded soul cannot be underestimated. *nods and is silly*
-"There is always one more question in life, isn't there? That's what I find." She's totally hiding something, but at the same time it's kind of lovely to see her block them on the questioning.
-Bam! Gratuitous car shot! I love it!
-"Don't tell me someone got their heart ripped out here in Boulder."/"Right, then I won't tell you." Hee!
-Oh yes, mommy dearest is in it up to her nose. In what, I'm not exactly sure, but she's in it.
-HOTEL ROOM SCREEN!!! YAY, IT'S LIKE FIRST SEASON DECOR! \o/
-"Yes, I am totally looking into adding you as a technical advisor." Hee. Your face really cannot lie, Sam. It's a good thing you're on the phone.
-"Ancient Mayan." Swahili, Japanese, ancient Mayan, close, right? ...oh crap, are we getting something relating to the Mayan calendar cycle thing on Supernatural this year? O.o
-"The divine god Kakow is born." Oh sure, throw in a proper name to mess with Google translate. Bastards. *googles desultorily for Mayan deities named Kakow* ...Oh, wait. not Kakow. Cacao. Like cocoa. PFFFFFFFT. PEOPLE ARE HAVING THEIR HEARTS RIPPED OUT BY THE MAYAN GOD OF CHOCOLATE. Which is, from what very little I know of ancient Mayan theology, rather appropriate. As is the use of a star athlete in the process, since if I recall the microscopic bits we got on the Mayans in Social Studies in school, they were very big on chocolate, competitive sports and occasional ritual eviscerations. And it fits rather well with the subliminal health-consciousness this show seems to have once in a while, with the Leviathan HFCS last year, and assorted gross-outs with burgers, red meat, that turducken ooze thing, candy with razor blades and the mouth cam, etc. *nods*
-*goes to make a cup of cocoa* What?
-"Mayan god of corn, maize." Okay, yeah sure, that too. Given Dick Roman messing around with corn (and chocolate too, since some major US chocolate bar manufacturers use HFCS) last year, I wouldn't be surprised if a corn god or two got pissed off someone else was using their grain to subdue the populace without their say-so.
-"From a university answering questions about admissions." OH CRAP. Sam, you are kind of seriously busted.
-"Nice job on changing the subject though." Hah. Yes. So busted.
-Okay, I admit, Sam does have a point about having options being a good thing, but still, if you're one of a very small group of people who can help stop people from being messily killed, you need to have an exit plan that includes getting a replacement trained, or passing the workload of saving people that you see needing dealt with off to other people in that small group. You can even do that while in university, as long as you accept and handle the responsibility. And maybe turn the case research into a project for Sociology to manage your time better. The point is, responsibility. Dean's point is he needs someone, especially when it seems he doesn't, and aside from the needing stability thing, going off hunting on his own would probably in all honesty revert Dean to what he was like in Purgatory or Hell, and that's not a good way to be on Earth. It tends to irk the humans. There is a balance to be found, which involves them both getting part or most of what they want and still being there for each other and working together, but it's going to take a long while for them to see and accept that, because they are both Winchesters, and stubborn as dried pitch on a car windshield. WINCHESTERS! *fistshake*
-It even looks pretty in the dark. Hmm. Brick Homes. *eyes the house* Maybe it's a pseudonym? Naw, because that's not brick so his name would have been Stone House, or maybe Rock D'Omicile. O.o
-So. His mom moved into his room. Is his mom hosting his soul? Is the woman with Brick's heart living in Mom's room? Hmm.
-I sense an closet mounted wall-o-weird like thing inbound.
-Or a hidden door, that works too.
-I was thinking it'd be the more traditional ritual room, but somehow this is creepier. That is a lot of different sports.
-I don't think he has all the stuff because he's a fan... but... hm. Well, if it was any other show there'd be more of a doubt. Pretty certain he's an old Mayan athlete that was being kept alive by unnatural means, mainly because a pro athlete randomly stumbling across an ancient Mayan corn god ritual and implementing it is a tad far to reach. Although, maybe the corn god is a deal-maker too? Hmm...
-"Who's Betsy?" Hm. Probably the mom, who isn't his mom, and he's been with her all along?
-"Sugar Ray?" Yep. There is definitely some kind of life-extension deal going on with the corn god, or something.
-*facepalm* Okay, boys, lets review some basic clandestine stuff. If you are somewhere you shouldn't be that has a window visible from anywhere someone who doesn't want you there might see, you do not turn the lights on. If you find a big box of old letters or whatever you want to read, you take them away with you for review, you do not plunk down in the house you've broken into that is probably under the influence of an eviscerating sports-nut corn god and read through them all in detail in the secret room with the window visible from the outside, with the lights blazing. I repeat, *facepalm*
-Yes, see? Sneak in and out quickly in the field, then research at your base of operations. Honestly!
-My what impressive Photoshopping we have tonight! Really, this guy missed the mark by not having different facial hair with each go. The bald boxer looks the most different.
-"For a ninety-five year old, Brick Homes could take a hit!" Heee! Dean has the best faces.
-It's so good to see Dean doing research. Although is that another something geeky to go with the snark about Pluto and axons? Tell me I'm being nuts here guys.
-"Killing a victim, pulling out his heart and eating it." Good thing that practice died out. Oh, hey, the sports thing works for the first guy doesn't it, with the healthy stuff and the running. Not so much for the cop, who went nuts, and the woman in impractical shoes... well, they say pole-dancing is a kind of sport sometimes, right? They offer it in exercise classes, so ...maybe?
-"Maybe the spell could compel him to keep carrying out the ritual." Yep! I'm liking this episode quite a lot. It's providing enough of a puzzle to be a nice light challenge without being incomprehensible. *nods*
-And yep. "Mom" is Betsy. I shall now take a brief moment to be smug. *is smug* Okay, I'm done.
-"Once for the planting, once for harvest." Hm. And since deities kind of sort of exist on belief, this would have kept Cacao around, but in hibernation as all the other believers died out or lost faith, on a sort of faith trickle-charge. Brick gets sick of sports after a thousand years (who wouldn't? Though he may have missed the chance to get in on competitive parkour in a year or two...), kills himself, parts go to new people, Cacao now has eight new followers, all being compelled into making sacrifices... power base expands, charge level increases, deity goes active.... Yeah. Heh. And suddenly the running guy's quip about his body being a temple where he worships every day takes on a whole different meaning. Ha ha ha show, well played.
-*glances back to writer credit* Congratulations to Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming, your ability to plot has come a long way from-*googles* Ah. Heh. "Route 666". A very long way indeed.
-"Brick used to say, 'the heart was key'." Given he had to eat two a year for a millennium, that's unsurprising. So, deal with the one who got his heart and all will be well, and we'll worry about whether all the rest of the transplant recipients will suddenly have thousand year old organs in their bodies later. Hopefully they won't have to eat his heart to break the spell. Because that would suck.
-Yeah, see, sports! Some sort of pole-dancing/Greco-Roman wrestling combination, in heels! It's going to be an Olympic event one of these days, just you watch.
-"Smell that?" DEAN! Well I suppose that's a sign Purgatory didn't change you too much. *facepalm*
-Another bad sign when sneaking around is when all the lights come on on their own.
-Random moment of wondering, but... if she had a heart transplant, wouldn't she have a scar that might impede her career as a stripper? Maybe she uses body paint or something. Or maybe it's just a thing that she's incorporated into her act? Either way *handwave*
-Oh great, she's controlling the rest of the transplantees. or at least the ones who could get there fast enough. The guy from Phoenix must have flown in. Fantastic.
-One, where is Sam right now? Two, it's time for another attack on Dean's heart! There was Faith, and Folsom Prison Blues, and another one in there somewhere I think, and now this. In an episode where Dean's abandonment issues are getting poked, he's hearing Sam saying he wants to leave, and metaphorically, his heart is under attack, in an episode titled "Heartache". How very apropos.
-Um, hey, Sam? Any time now would be good, okay? O.o
-An uncappable bottle over the head, Sam? Seriously? You've got the freaking Hammer of Thor in the trunk! Or at least you should. I guess he's trying not to kill the non-heart people, though, to give them a chance after the spell breaks. Plus it kind of splodified the head of an immortal, so using it on Joe Slightly-More-Than-Average here might be a tad bit of overkill. *nods*
-OH CRAP, SHE'S GONNA BLOW! DUCK!
-And there go the other two, either dying or being un- de- re- um. Thinged. *handwave*
-Not a messy explosion, that would have been even harder to explain.
-See, Sam? Dean needs you, even if it's only to keep him from getting his heart torn out by a stripper.
-Oh Dean, with the enthusiasm and the trying to talk Sam around. I get the feeling your heart's not done getting ripped out for the night.
-"When this is over, when we close up shop on Kevin and the tablet, I'm done." And so it goes.
"A normal life. I got to see what that felt like."
"I think that's just how you feel right now."
And yeah, like I said above, Dean's wanted Sam to have that, but Dean is a little too broken to cope with instability right now.
-Sam flashback! To a super-saturated happy world! It must be eeeeeevil!
-Girlfriend of as yet undetermined vocation's name is Amelia. Dog's name is... Riot? Really? Okay, I mean, my cat was named Chaos, I shouldn't say anything about Sam's dog's name, it just seems a little too violent for a Sam that's trying to get 'normal'. But whatever, Riot is an awesome name for a dog.
-I'm starting to wonder if this is a memory, or if this is Sam, imagining his 'normal' getting away from him in slow degrees. *ponder*
-Or it's a memory. One that echoes Dean's dream from Dream a Little Dream really thoroughly. Oh boys.
-I think she's the vet, but I am easily fooled by hairstyles on non-regular characters.
-Sorry to say, but I'm still waiting for some bigger reason from Sam. I think there is one, but... I don't know.
-Getting Kevin and the tablet dealt with and locking down Hell would make it a more reasonable way to retire from hunting, especially now he knows Dean's back, but still... ARG.
So far this season seems richer on a few different levels than recent seasons, in terms of character interaction, development and plot, and I do hope that remains through the year, but we shall see, won't we?
AND NOW I'M CAUGHT UP! WOO! \o/
(PLEASE, NO SPOILERS OR REFERENCES TO UNAIRED EPISODES IN COMMENTS! Any and all promo material for unaired episodes is considered to be a spoiler in this journal. The further definition of what constitutes a spoiler for this journal is located in left hand sidebar. Theory and speculation based on aired episodes only.)
Spoiler and Theory Summary
...Nothing I can remember off-hand, so I'm not going to go dredging through my currently rather addled brain for it.
Going back to the old school "watch the whole thing first without pausing" method, so we'll see how that goes, considering I do have access to a pause button and a compulsive need to stop and blither.
Picspam Reaction, with speculation and randomness for Supernatural 8.03 - ??? "Heartache"
Here we go!
...and yeah, that watch the whole thing first is totally not going to work at all. I got three minutes in, scrawling notes as fast as I could, gnawing my arm of before the need to pause and blither in more detail became too great and went back to the start because, well you'll see.
-Vancouver is a pretty pretty city, even when it's trying its damnedest to be Minneapolis.
-Jogging. At night. On this show. With a spinny overhead camera shot. Dude, you are so dead before the title card.
-Passed by the big guy, ha. Who will either eat you or who is running from what will eat you.
-Looks like he'll be eating you. "I do a lot of cardio" indeed.
-DANGER! APPLES! Are they freaking worth it? ...Looks like, actually. Very pretty. Yay, BC apple producers! They don't even have to sacrifice anyone! I think anyway! \o/
-Title: "Heartache" Har har har.
-Apples that size for 25 cents each? That seems frigging cheap for any kind of produce, never mind organic. It's a roadside stand yeah, but still... *side-eyes apples*
-*Dean lists off involuntary heart-ectomies in Minneapolis* "What does that tell us?"/"Stay out of Minneapolis." Ha ha. Yeah, for a Sam that quit hunting for a year and erected a 'not my problem' field around himself, it totally would.
-And here's where I had to hit pause and start over, because since I had a notepad to scrawl on like I used to while watching episodes live the first time, my capacity to block guest star names was impaired and I saw this one:
Alan Ackles. Jensen's Dad. At which point my need to flap and flail and go eeeee became too great to not pause and do so, just because. I mean, Jensen had him do a newscaster voice when he directed Weekend at Bobby's but them together in something that isn't a laughably dire festival of (mostly) suck like Devour is something that I need to burst forth with joy about. So. There. *tosses notepad* *flap* *flail* EEE! All hail the mighty pause button.
-"Some sort of a possessed Satanic heart-sucking crackorbat." I second Sam's what, because Google's got jack on crackorbats, which I admit I could be spelling wrong. Makes sense though, Dean spent a year in Purgatory, killing things that may have been exterminated from Earth centuries ago, and getting some up close hands on research into monster behaviour and modus operandi.
-"We just spent a week chasing our asses trying to lock Kevin down." Behold the rare between-episodes concrete time-stamp. Is it not a thing of beauty? So, it's been a week since 8.02, which was about a year since 7.23, which was... uh... earlier.
-"Where the hell are we?"/"Farmer's Market. Organic." Heeee, on some things, Sam never changes.
-"Are innocent people supposed to die so you can shop for produce?" I'm still on Dean's side there. Really, even if Sam didn't want to contact anyone in the hunting scene when he noticed potential cases in the paper or wherever, it's not hard to set up a burnable e-mail address, drop the note and delete the account. With knowledge comes power and with power comes responsibility, and sad to say but in the absence of a compelling reason for Sam dropping out of the life, he did fall down in the responsibility department. See a problem, fix a problem, or signal boost so that people who can fix it know about it.
-SO ANYWAY. What have we run into that rips out hearts? Werewolves? Didn't seem like one. ...and I'm drawing a blank, aside from all the other general eviscerators, I don't remember off hand any that went for hearts, but my memory is crap.
-HI! HI ALAN ACKLES! JENSEN'S DAD'S CHARACTER'S TIE REPORT: ABSOLUTELY DEFINITE STRIPES sorry I should probably stop capslocking now, but hee! Hope he's not evil or doomed, but his tie gives me great hope.
-Tie Report for the Boys: Stripes everywhere, Sam's very red, Dean's very green, new ties all around, stripes sloping down toward each other right now, but they did have a bit of a chat where Dean talked about stuff that bugged him and Sam kinda sorta had the guilty-puppy look like maybe he could see Dean's side so there has been a sort of communication, or at least as much as what passes for communication if you're a Winchester not currently discharging weaponry. So, progress towards progress, maybe? Yay! \o/
-And I have to say that green tie on Dean is making his eyes wonderfully luminous in their greenness.
-"He was in town for a conference, no local connections." And he was jogging alone in an unfamiliar park at night? Did the dude have a death wish? Or at least a mugging wish?
-"Sure he can run a little bit but Thor he ain't." Heeehehehehehe. Considering Sam and Dean have Mjölnir in the trunk (or at least they better, or it better be following Sam now since he actually managed to get it to do the zappy thing, and Mr '5/8ths of a virgin' seemed quite impressed by that before poofing out), that's hilarious.
-I'd also like to randomly thank the show for giving me a reason to type Mjölnir so frequently and getting me to look up how to put umlauts on things on a Mac keyboard. Option(or alt)+u, and then the letter you want an umlaut on. Über, brüderlich, doppelgänger, Äpfel, und so weiter und so fort. Sorry. My high school German ran away with me there, apologies to actual German-speakers.
-"Think he's going to throw down Freddie Fitness here and rip out his heart? I don't think so!" And this is why you should never assume things about people based on their appearance.
-Written by Brad Buckner & Eugenie Ross-Leming, familiar again, but after 8 years everyone is.
-Directed by- OH HEY.
I didn't know that! Aw. Family business! *squee!* \o/
-Smoothies, exercise gear, he's certainly got his health nut alibi well-covered. Although that giant thing of yogurt next to the... grass? on the guy's kitchen counter is actually a brand of frozen yogurt (Chapman's, Canadian brand), and about as healthy as a kick in the head. I should know, I have one exactly like it in my freezer, except mine's Mixed Berry. Though the health thing is just a cover, and if we're going to start questioning this guy's dietary choices, we should probably start with the human hearts. ...If it actually was him and not some opportunistic beastie taking his form... hmmm...
-"Now your body's a temple?"/"Where I worship every day!" Craaaaaazy eyes. The more nuts this guy looks, the less I think it actually was him in the opener.
-Sitting together in a cafe with pie in their logo, working a case. Awww. It's almost like they aren't completely broken.
-My US geography is woeful, but Iowa is a hell of a long way from Minnesota, isn't it? *googles* No, sorry, I was thinking of Idaho. Des Moines is a four hour drive from Minneapolis. Day trip. Drive down, rip out a heart, drive back. Easy peasy.
-TIE REPORT NUMBER TWO: Stripes everywhere, going the same direction, BUT. These are more new ties, I think, or at least ones that haven't been too common before. Starting over, or at least trying to? (Giggles at the random ball of rubber bands on the officer's desk)
-So, corpse, blood-covered cop freaking out vs corpse, non-freaking out runner, and a pre-credit sequence where we saw the runner rip the guy's heart out. Runner would probably be freaked if he found himself covered in blood with no reason why, so this isn't a possession thing, unless the possessing entity learned something and didn't let the big guy go until after a shower, but there'd still be the matter of the missing time, so not likely a possession. Something that can mimic. Cop would be covered in blood because he would have found the guy on his doorstep bleeding out and attempted to do first aid, during which there would have been a lot of blood. So. Separate mimicking, but non-possessing entity, that likes ripping out hearts and making the occasional pun. Maybe Ammut, the Egyptian goddess who ate the hearts of the insufficiently good in the afterlife? Mimicry would be handy considering she's half crocodile and half hippo. Hmm.
-Oooo, random babbling in a different language and hand-wringing. That's different.
-"You getting a statement?"/"Yeah. Kind of. ...probably not." Heee
-OOOO, heterochromia! This show and its fascination with eyes, I'm surprised heterochromia hasn't turned up significantly before. His eyes were both a similar sort of lightish color in the newspaper photo, I think, so if there's anything weird specifically in one of his eyes, it'll be the not-his-usual really dark one. Maybe. Heterochromia is ringing a bell though... why is it ringing a bell? No, not Mr. Teatime off Discworld, though that would be... trippy. O.o
-"I'm gonna sprinkle your arm with holy water, and it's gonna steam and burn if you're possessed by a demon." Nice to give warning now and then.
-Trying to figure out what it is he's repeating so I can google it. Coozhakakowzhe? Oizhakakowzhee? Dunno.
-Ohh this isn't gonna go well. Will it be suicide, or maybe self-enucleation? What am I saying? Since when has this show missed an opportunity to gouge out an eyeball in the name of plot? *shudders*
-"I bought a translation app." Things you never thought you'd hear Dean Winchester say. Also possibly, ways to make a smartphone explode; asking it to translate ancient Aklo. But look at that face!
-Language unknown doesn't equal babble. Language unknown equals your phone doesn't know it, and there are a lot of things your phone doesn't know. Ooo! Did it transcribe it though? That'd be useful.
-"Agent Sambora." *sneeeeeerk* The last time he used that alias he was Meg, wasn't he? I think he may have used it since then, but I don't remember off-hand.
-YES! SELF-ENUCLEATION OF THE 'BAD' EYE FOR THE WIN! \o/ ...okay, that may have been the first time I've ever fist-pumped because someone dug their own eye out with a chunk of prison bed frame. I don't know what that says about me... *goes back and looks at the runners crazy eyes* Doesn't look like there's any heterochromia there, so... hm. I wonder where this guy's 'bad' eye went? And if it had a demon in it that wouldn't have burned and smoked unless they splashed holy water on his eye. *ponders*
-Doctor Kashi, was it? Can we keep her? She's adorable and has an amazing accent, and is helpful!
-"And interestingly it's the transplanted eye he chose to cut out." Aaaaaaaaah! Crap! Haunted donated organs! I've had this in my plot bunny corral since season 1, probably just like everyone else! WOOO!!! \o/
-"...so I pulled up his health records from Minneapolis-" Aw, look they're communicating without using their words again. Okay, Sam uses some words eventually, yes, but shhh. *handwaves*
-"Doctor Morrison, the Anthropology Professor who helped us out with the Amazons?" Yay background character continuity! And there should totally be an app for translating dead and quasi-mythical languages. There's probably one for Klingon, so why not?
-*raising an eyebrow at the name of the bar (sorry "gentleman's club") and the neon sign* Moving on...
-Those shoes are ridiculously impractical. Unless they have storage compartments, because that would be cool. Not so handy for running away from things that want to eviscerate you though. And the dress which isn't capping well could be practical if you, I dunno, needed to patch a tire. Or hold a wound closed, I guess, so it might have a practical use in a minute if the person wearing it isn't the one about to do the slaughtering. Do organ donations usually have to be the same biological gender recipient? Hmmm.
-I can almost make out the music playing in the background. Not quite. Too muddy. Anyone know what it is?
-Nice convenient murdery alley. Someone needs to start running now, still not sure which one.
-Apparently, he should have started running. At least he was probably wearing more practical shoes for it.
-Dean: *making an effort to be all yay case-working togetherness and progress towards regaining Winchester Normal* "It's all good."/Sam: *brooding stone-face of imminent emotional doom* Oh crap, it's dark and there's a car ride and it's the perfect time for an emo dump from Sam, right? Well, it's about time he said something other than 'I hit a dog' about why he left hunting so completely.
-"I know where I'm at my best. That's right here, drivin' down crazy street, next to you." *deep inhale* Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Just awww. So much awww. Oh Dean. And this is probably the point where Sam turns around and rips your heart out. Metaphorically. Unless he had a transplant while you were gone.
-"Or, maybe you don't need me. Maybe you're better hacking and slicing your way through the world's crap alone." Yeah, going straight for the heart indeed there, Sam.
-And then there is ow and more ow.
-And then the phone rings for a temporary reprieve from ow to generate a more deeply stewing and festering ow. All I've gotta say is Sam had better have a darn good reason for this change of priority or I will be very vexed with him for a long time. Considering Dean was missing, and in essence presumed dead or otherwise no longer accessible by the plane of Earth, getting him back after a year and then treating his obviously traumatized uncommunicative doofus brother like he's an inconvenient job offer in Detroit is kind of not on. Dean at one point did want Sam to have a more normal life, yes, and he probably will want that for Sam again in time. But right now, Dean's a little over a week out of Purgatory, traumatized as hell, and clinging to any stability he can find, that being Sam. Only now Sam wants change and it's just a really bad time for Dean to cope with change in one of the very few stable elements of his life. Even worse than usual. Sam has to know this on some level, and so must have a damn good reason for wanting this change. So, I'm suspecting now that Sam, dog and (probably veterinarian) girlfriend have a kid on the way that Sam's trying to keep completely away from hunting for blindingly obvious reasons given his own childhood. Well, I mean Sam and the vet are having a kid, not the dog. You know what I mean. That's the sort of impression I'm getting now anyway, and of course that will be going nothing but wrong no matter what Sam tries, won't it?
-And breathe.
-"This is gonna singe your axons." *blink* Has Dean been dropping more sciencey-nerdy references since going to Purgatory? Was Benny a scientist at some point and Dean picked up some references from him? But then there's the app thing...? I don't know. There's something odd about Dean...
-"The guy played at the top of his game for like a million years, didn't he?"/"He bought it in a car crash last year, nose-dived off a bridge or something?" Hm. Famous all star quarterback with a long career, sudden random solo death... Brick Homes made a Deal, demonic or otherwise, didn't he? And there's some kind of lingering influence left over in his parts. Interesting...
-"Kawazhan kakawa shizhii." There's the thing the guy with the eye was chanting. Starting to sound more like Japanese, but Dean's phone app probably had that. *fiddles with Google translate* Hm. It's trying to tell me it's Swahili, where Kaka wa is 'brother', and if the zh sounds are actually j sounds, jii means 'came to them'... Hmmmm... Mangling it a little via phonetic typing and forcing it into Japanese as "Kawajan ka ka wa jiji." gives "Old man involved in a leather jacket." Soooo, uhhhh... I got nothing.
-OKAY! Well! That's interesting... Does that glow under the skin not look a bit like Benny the huggable vampire looked before Dean reincorporated him?
-Oh hi! I don't know what you are but you're interesting!
-Yes, I'll take one of everything. Don't bother wrapping it, I'll just curl up and purr in it for a while. Sigh.
-Sam's a football fanboy? I suppose it could be research, but... hidden depths, or a recent 'let's bet as normal as possible right the heck now' hobby? O.o Also, 18 seasons of football is too long for a ten year demon deal.
-Conspicuous book about China on the coffee table there... And what the hell? TIE REPORT NUMBER THREE: Dean reddish, Sam blue. Unsettled slow-burning energy vs confidence. Stripes, going the same direction, not towards each other, Dean's tie leaning toward Sam, Sam's leaning away. Dean also may be wearing... nope, not Sam's tie from the top of the hour. Sam's wearing a tie one of them has worn before, but I'm not sure which. Aside from the obvious Dean stripes toward Sam, Sam stripes away from Dean, they have been swapping ties more often in this episode than in any other episode ever. I'm halfway through and there have been three separate sets of ties. Either this is a sign that things are very unsettled between the boys (well, duh) or it's a sign that, as the director of this episode and overseer of everything including costume elements, Jensen Ackles himself wants me to do more tie reports. Um. Iiiii think I'll go with the less completely bonkers interpretation there and say it's a representation of things being unsettled between the boys. Yeah. Heh heh.
-"When things happen that aren't supposed to happen, they're called accidents I believe." Ooohoo. Someone's gotten a bit defensive suddenly.
-"Anything new in his life?"/"No, no." But in that 'No, no, there's this momentary glance... Hmmmm....
-"No new interests: fly-fishing, stamp-collecting, the occult?" Subtle Dean. Although the danger fly-fishing presents to the unguarded soul cannot be underestimated. *nods and is silly*
-"There is always one more question in life, isn't there? That's what I find." She's totally hiding something, but at the same time it's kind of lovely to see her block them on the questioning.
-Bam! Gratuitous car shot! I love it!
-"Don't tell me someone got their heart ripped out here in Boulder."/"Right, then I won't tell you." Hee!
-Oh yes, mommy dearest is in it up to her nose. In what, I'm not exactly sure, but she's in it.
-HOTEL ROOM SCREEN!!! YAY, IT'S LIKE FIRST SEASON DECOR! \o/
-"Yes, I am totally looking into adding you as a technical advisor." Hee. Your face really cannot lie, Sam. It's a good thing you're on the phone.
-"Ancient Mayan." Swahili, Japanese, ancient Mayan, close, right? ...oh crap, are we getting something relating to the Mayan calendar cycle thing on Supernatural this year? O.o
-"The divine god Kakow is born." Oh sure, throw in a proper name to mess with Google translate. Bastards. *googles desultorily for Mayan deities named Kakow* ...Oh, wait. not Kakow. Cacao. Like cocoa. PFFFFFFFT. PEOPLE ARE HAVING THEIR HEARTS RIPPED OUT BY THE MAYAN GOD OF CHOCOLATE. Which is, from what very little I know of ancient Mayan theology, rather appropriate. As is the use of a star athlete in the process, since if I recall the microscopic bits we got on the Mayans in Social Studies in school, they were very big on chocolate, competitive sports and occasional ritual eviscerations. And it fits rather well with the subliminal health-consciousness this show seems to have once in a while, with the Leviathan HFCS last year, and assorted gross-outs with burgers, red meat, that turducken ooze thing, candy with razor blades and the mouth cam, etc. *nods*
-*goes to make a cup of cocoa* What?
-"Mayan god of corn, maize." Okay, yeah sure, that too. Given Dick Roman messing around with corn (and chocolate too, since some major US chocolate bar manufacturers use HFCS) last year, I wouldn't be surprised if a corn god or two got pissed off someone else was using their grain to subdue the populace without their say-so.
-"From a university answering questions about admissions." OH CRAP. Sam, you are kind of seriously busted.
-"Nice job on changing the subject though." Hah. Yes. So busted.
-Okay, I admit, Sam does have a point about having options being a good thing, but still, if you're one of a very small group of people who can help stop people from being messily killed, you need to have an exit plan that includes getting a replacement trained, or passing the workload of saving people that you see needing dealt with off to other people in that small group. You can even do that while in university, as long as you accept and handle the responsibility. And maybe turn the case research into a project for Sociology to manage your time better. The point is, responsibility. Dean's point is he needs someone, especially when it seems he doesn't, and aside from the needing stability thing, going off hunting on his own would probably in all honesty revert Dean to what he was like in Purgatory or Hell, and that's not a good way to be on Earth. It tends to irk the humans. There is a balance to be found, which involves them both getting part or most of what they want and still being there for each other and working together, but it's going to take a long while for them to see and accept that, because they are both Winchesters, and stubborn as dried pitch on a car windshield. WINCHESTERS! *fistshake*
-It even looks pretty in the dark. Hmm. Brick Homes. *eyes the house* Maybe it's a pseudonym? Naw, because that's not brick so his name would have been Stone House, or maybe Rock D'Omicile. O.o
-So. His mom moved into his room. Is his mom hosting his soul? Is the woman with Brick's heart living in Mom's room? Hmm.
-I sense an closet mounted wall-o-weird like thing inbound.
-Or a hidden door, that works too.
-I was thinking it'd be the more traditional ritual room, but somehow this is creepier. That is a lot of different sports.
-I don't think he has all the stuff because he's a fan... but... hm. Well, if it was any other show there'd be more of a doubt. Pretty certain he's an old Mayan athlete that was being kept alive by unnatural means, mainly because a pro athlete randomly stumbling across an ancient Mayan corn god ritual and implementing it is a tad far to reach. Although, maybe the corn god is a deal-maker too? Hmm...
-"Who's Betsy?" Hm. Probably the mom, who isn't his mom, and he's been with her all along?
-"Sugar Ray?" Yep. There is definitely some kind of life-extension deal going on with the corn god, or something.
-*facepalm* Okay, boys, lets review some basic clandestine stuff. If you are somewhere you shouldn't be that has a window visible from anywhere someone who doesn't want you there might see, you do not turn the lights on. If you find a big box of old letters or whatever you want to read, you take them away with you for review, you do not plunk down in the house you've broken into that is probably under the influence of an eviscerating sports-nut corn god and read through them all in detail in the secret room with the window visible from the outside, with the lights blazing. I repeat, *facepalm*
-Yes, see? Sneak in and out quickly in the field, then research at your base of operations. Honestly!
-My what impressive Photoshopping we have tonight! Really, this guy missed the mark by not having different facial hair with each go. The bald boxer looks the most different.
-"For a ninety-five year old, Brick Homes could take a hit!" Heee! Dean has the best faces.
-It's so good to see Dean doing research. Although is that another something geeky to go with the snark about Pluto and axons? Tell me I'm being nuts here guys.
-"Killing a victim, pulling out his heart and eating it." Good thing that practice died out. Oh, hey, the sports thing works for the first guy doesn't it, with the healthy stuff and the running. Not so much for the cop, who went nuts, and the woman in impractical shoes... well, they say pole-dancing is a kind of sport sometimes, right? They offer it in exercise classes, so ...maybe?
-"Maybe the spell could compel him to keep carrying out the ritual." Yep! I'm liking this episode quite a lot. It's providing enough of a puzzle to be a nice light challenge without being incomprehensible. *nods*
-And yep. "Mom" is Betsy. I shall now take a brief moment to be smug. *is smug* Okay, I'm done.
-"Once for the planting, once for harvest." Hm. And since deities kind of sort of exist on belief, this would have kept Cacao around, but in hibernation as all the other believers died out or lost faith, on a sort of faith trickle-charge. Brick gets sick of sports after a thousand years (who wouldn't? Though he may have missed the chance to get in on competitive parkour in a year or two...), kills himself, parts go to new people, Cacao now has eight new followers, all being compelled into making sacrifices... power base expands, charge level increases, deity goes active.... Yeah. Heh. And suddenly the running guy's quip about his body being a temple where he worships every day takes on a whole different meaning. Ha ha ha show, well played.
-*glances back to writer credit* Congratulations to Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming, your ability to plot has come a long way from-*googles* Ah. Heh. "Route 666". A very long way indeed.
-"Brick used to say, 'the heart was key'." Given he had to eat two a year for a millennium, that's unsurprising. So, deal with the one who got his heart and all will be well, and we'll worry about whether all the rest of the transplant recipients will suddenly have thousand year old organs in their bodies later. Hopefully they won't have to eat his heart to break the spell. Because that would suck.
-Yeah, see, sports! Some sort of pole-dancing/Greco-Roman wrestling combination, in heels! It's going to be an Olympic event one of these days, just you watch.
-"Smell that?" DEAN! Well I suppose that's a sign Purgatory didn't change you too much. *facepalm*
-Another bad sign when sneaking around is when all the lights come on on their own.
-Random moment of wondering, but... if she had a heart transplant, wouldn't she have a scar that might impede her career as a stripper? Maybe she uses body paint or something. Or maybe it's just a thing that she's incorporated into her act? Either way *handwave*
-Oh great, she's controlling the rest of the transplantees. or at least the ones who could get there fast enough. The guy from Phoenix must have flown in. Fantastic.
-One, where is Sam right now? Two, it's time for another attack on Dean's heart! There was Faith, and Folsom Prison Blues, and another one in there somewhere I think, and now this. In an episode where Dean's abandonment issues are getting poked, he's hearing Sam saying he wants to leave, and metaphorically, his heart is under attack, in an episode titled "Heartache". How very apropos.
-Um, hey, Sam? Any time now would be good, okay? O.o
-An uncappable bottle over the head, Sam? Seriously? You've got the freaking Hammer of Thor in the trunk! Or at least you should. I guess he's trying not to kill the non-heart people, though, to give them a chance after the spell breaks. Plus it kind of splodified the head of an immortal, so using it on Joe Slightly-More-Than-Average here might be a tad bit of overkill. *nods*
-OH CRAP, SHE'S GONNA BLOW! DUCK!
-And there go the other two, either dying or being un- de- re- um. Thinged. *handwave*
-Not a messy explosion, that would have been even harder to explain.
-See, Sam? Dean needs you, even if it's only to keep him from getting his heart torn out by a stripper.
-Oh Dean, with the enthusiasm and the trying to talk Sam around. I get the feeling your heart's not done getting ripped out for the night.
-"When this is over, when we close up shop on Kevin and the tablet, I'm done." And so it goes.
"A normal life. I got to see what that felt like."
"I think that's just how you feel right now."
And yeah, like I said above, Dean's wanted Sam to have that, but Dean is a little too broken to cope with instability right now.
-Sam flashback! To a super-saturated happy world! It must be eeeeeevil!
-Girlfriend of as yet undetermined vocation's name is Amelia. Dog's name is... Riot? Really? Okay, I mean, my cat was named Chaos, I shouldn't say anything about Sam's dog's name, it just seems a little too violent for a Sam that's trying to get 'normal'. But whatever, Riot is an awesome name for a dog.
-I'm starting to wonder if this is a memory, or if this is Sam, imagining his 'normal' getting away from him in slow degrees. *ponder*
-Or it's a memory. One that echoes Dean's dream from Dream a Little Dream really thoroughly. Oh boys.
-I think she's the vet, but I am easily fooled by hairstyles on non-regular characters.
-Sorry to say, but I'm still waiting for some bigger reason from Sam. I think there is one, but... I don't know.
-Getting Kevin and the tablet dealt with and locking down Hell would make it a more reasonable way to retire from hunting, especially now he knows Dean's back, but still... ARG.
So far this season seems richer on a few different levels than recent seasons, in terms of character interaction, development and plot, and I do hope that remains through the year, but we shall see, won't we?
AND NOW I'M CAUGHT UP! WOO! \o/
(PLEASE, NO SPOILERS OR REFERENCES TO UNAIRED EPISODES IN COMMENTS! Any and all promo material for unaired episodes is considered to be a spoiler in this journal. The further definition of what constitutes a spoiler for this journal is located in left hand sidebar. Theory and speculation based on aired episodes only.)