Picspam Reaction: Supernatural 8.19
Warning: Contains profanity, and an awful lot of Dean's face.
Spoiler and Theory Summary
Sigh.
So I got home from work on the day this aired, determined that I would avoid all contact with Supernatural fandom spaces entirely to avoid spoilers.
I went to a seriously random RPG forum type site. Someone had just finished live blogging the episode in all caps in the repeating Shoutbox scrolling on the side.
Why do I bother? I clicked away as soon as I realized what it was, but damage done. Gaaah....
So. Bobby's returned (however briefly), which makes Jim Beaver a major troll because apparently he's been pulling the "I've got a part in a show that isn't Supernatural but might be filming in the lower mainland" thing on Facebook or somewhere again, like last time with the Abominable Snow Critter fake movie that lead to ghost!Bobby.
Also, Dean kills Benny. No shock there, it was inevitable and the season is running out of episodes. I predict foreshadowing for the finale maybe.
Picspam Reaction, with speculation and randomness for Supernatural 8.19 - "???" "Taxi Driver"
-Almost forgot to skip the THEN.
-HI KEVIN! How are you, glad you're sleeping, hope you're getting some fresh air and staying off the inadvisable 'study supplements' but really I doubt that's the case.
-"Kevin, I know what you're up to." Seriously, Crowley, the kid's got enough problems and stress without you interrupting his sleep.
-"I'm in your head as well as everywhere else." See, this is another problem with extended sleep deprivation, you can't tell if something's a hallucination or if it's the King of Hell playing mind games.
-Sudden nervous thought given what show this is... his mom's under protection wherever she is... right? O.O
-Hello title. "Taxi Driver." Hm, I guess that's a reference to the movie, but I don't know much about it so I won't Google just now.
-You know, for greeting potential evil at the door, a solid iron frying pan isn't the worst option.
-"Where's Garth?"/"On a case or at the dentist, I dunno I haven't heard from him." Could be a ghost dentist... *ponders*
-When someone sounds and looks that unthrilled to have completed the second 33% of a very important, lengthy and maddening task, it's not a good sign that the result will be 'skip down to the pier and get an ice cream'.
-"An innocent has to be rescued from Hell and delivered unto Heaven."/"What?"/"Unto. That's how God talks." I don't think Dean was questioning the grammar, Kevin.
-"We're gonna need an expert." Well, the last place anyone saw the only entity you know for sure busted someone out of Hell, he was on a Greyhound bus to somewhere, holding a funny-looking rock.
-Um. Guys? If you're trying to keep all this from Crowley, calling up one of his sales-demons and asking mission-related questions WILL NOT HELP YOU.
-I guess this one knows he's not likely to get an actual Deal out of this contact since he's not wearing a little black dress. Also, gee, that location looks familiar. From the background and timing of that dance video, I could tell that at some point in the last third of season 8 they would be summoning and trapping a crossroads demon, and lo, here we are.
-"For a price, y'all can be smuggled across Hell's border."/"By who?"/"Rogue reapers." Oooorrrr at least that's what it sounded like. If that's what it was, I wonder what Death thinks about that. O.o
-He did say rogue Reapers. Hm. Death doesn't seem to me to be the type to allow that to happen unless it suits his purposes, or he's being distracted by larger issues.
-Written by the infamous twosome of Eugenie Ross-Leming and Brad Buckner. Directed by slightly less infamous Guy Norman Bee
-HI CAR! Even pretty in the rain.
-Heh. The rogue Reaper is an actual taxi driver. Hah hah.
-"One day, you will owe me a favor." Yeah, I was thinking that paying the guy with a fake MasterCard would be a little too ephemeral.
-Of course he knows you! He's a Reaper! You're Winchesters! He sees one or the other of you flying through his airspace at least once a year! And you're friendly with his Boss, and I'm sure the Reaper break room has post-Winchester therapy sessions every other month.
-"I am the Reaper who took Bobby Singer to Hell." Oh my. Firstly, why did Bobby end up going to Hell? Secondly, Reaper-dude, saying this to Dean Winchester is not going to earn you any brownie points at all. Ever.
-"If you're on the King of Hell's no-fly list, no way you cruise the friendly skies." Oh really. So Crowley gets dibs, or Crowley just bribed this Reaper? In that case, why hasn't he tried to use that he has Bobby as a bargaining/manipulation chip vs the Winchesters yet? *ponders*
-Sam insisting on going to Hell alone to bring back Bobby because of the Trial thing. Firstly, I don't think the Trial rules exclude you having backup or the first Trial would have been disqualified by Dean's involvement, and secondly, Sam, seriously, have you even met your brother? You going to Hell alone when there's a chance he can go with you for back up, and Bobby in Hell needing rescued? There is no way Dean isn't going to find a way to get involved in this.
-Oh dear, it's the alley where bad things always happen. I sense imminent doom.
-Hahahah, for a second there in the whip-pan I thought there was a Tardis in the graffiti. Nope, just a door. Probably the door Sam's going through (because while Reapers' normal methods seem to involve hugging people into the afterlife, this is a temporary trip, so whoever's traveling won't get processed through the Reaper. Or something. *preemptively handwaves*)
-Yep, door. *ooo's at CGI*
-Hey, wait, desaturated forest, isn't that Purgatory? DID CROWLEY PAY THE GUY TO DOUBLE CROSS THEM? Or did the Leviathans? Ooo. I would not be surprised. Although it's probably just part of the alternate route to Hell.
-Yep again. Sam is understandably displeased. Even his dimples are understandably displeased.
-'*plunk* Welp, here we are in Purgatory. Follow the stream, three trees into one, rocks, portal. See ya!' Right. I'm thinking no letting the rogue Reaper out of sight until you're actually in Hell would be a better option than following some half-assed directions alone in Purgatory where all the things want to eat you.
-"I'll be back in 24 hours, precisely." ...buuuuut time runs at different rates in Hell, Earth and Purgatory, doesn't it? Hell (or at least Greater Hell, not necessarily downtown Lucifer's Cage) time passes at one year to one month topside making 24 hours topside 12 and a bit days in Hell, or 24 hours in Hell be *pause for mathing* a little under two topside hours? And what rate does time flow in Purgatory? Is there a Transdimensional Time Zone conversion chart handy somewhere? Do Earthside mechanical devices even function normally in any of those places? These are important considerations, dammit!
-*facepalm* Never trust an admitted liar who is your only way home to come back for you. You should've dug out that Reaper binding spell book that's rattling around in the depths of the trunk after 'Faith' and made sure the guy would come back when you hollered. Just saying.
-Hiding in the closet from your demons usually doesn't help. At least it looks like a roomy and well-lit closet.
-"We should move out and find another place!" Like, oh, I dunno, the impenetrable, well-stocked and elegantly appointed fortress you Winchesters have been camping out in lately?
-"This whole thing sucks, but you suck it up, and you push through, 'cause that's what we do." Anyone else hearing a bit of John in there? Just a smidgen? Patented Winchester family pep talk. Suck it up and deal because no one else will.
-Biggerson's. Aw. With pie. Dean's offering Kevin the pie. Awwwww. He's taking this 'Mentoring Fledgling Badasses 101' thing seriously.
-"I'm gonna be in my room. Let me know when there's a good day." Aw. Not that that hasn't been said in some way or other by countless teens over the millennia. But aw. Can Kevin get a day off and they can take him to the carnival or something?
-"That's my pie." Okay, so maybe it wasn't the altruistic gesture as it seemed.
-Another reason for dragging your only sure ride between the worlds along with you; making sure no one ganks him while you're on the other side.
-"I don't have any virtues." I don't know, there's always that sparkling wit.
-"My operative saw you leaving with Sam Winchester."/"OH! Oh, Sam Winchester." HAHAHAHAHAHAH, lying doesn't work so well for this guy either, which really makes me wonder again how 'rogue' these rogue Reapers are, because there's no way this guy could fool Death that he's not moonlighting.
-OH SO AN ANGEL BLADE KILLS REAPERS TOO, holy crap. O.o
-Ooo. Or rogue reapers can be killed because Death has cut them loose and they aren't under his protection anymore. Ooo.
-*noise*, *Sam looks up, nothing*, *rawr* Really, Sam, the only surprise here is that the entire population of this dimension isn't swarming you already and the Leviathan Artillery Commandos aren't raining down from the sky.
-I'm thinking putting any of your weapons on the ground before you go messing with the portal to Hell is going to turn out to be a tactically moronic move there, Sam.
-He did get a chance to pick it up again though, there's a surprise. Oh and mind that first step.
-Let's see, we've had Hellraiser Hell, Eternal Bureaucracy Hell, Burninating Downtown Lucifer's Cage, what will it be this time?
-The, um. Hm. The thing about leaving your watch behind to mark where the portal is, is how will you know what time to get back to the portal if you don't have a watch? Assuming it shows a relevant and contiguous time? Not that it matters much anyway because your ride's been ganked, but still. I don't think your cellphone's going to be able to get a signal to sync the clock to the time zone from where you are, so unless you've got a second watch or a really old school phone, timing is going to be tricky.
-We seem to be in the Classic Dungeon suburb of Hell (looking a little structurally familiar too. Church hallways from the end of Season 4?), with some disturbingly happy background noises. Or at least some laughing clearly in there along with the moaning and screaming, so someone's having a good time.
-Yeah, that's the thing about only being in Hell to bust one innocent person out. If anyone else seems innocent, you're going to feel like crap for not getting them out too, even if they turn out to be completely un-innocent.
-Oh. Bobby's cage door is open. And he's not even looking at it. Because he thinks he deserves to be in Hell, right? Oh Bobbyyyyy.
(And he's still wearing that damned fraught-with-significance blue hat, but with the bullet hole in it now oh god.)
-And Bobby belts Sam. Because if Sam's not Sam but a demon trying to get at you by looking like Sam, take a shot while you can. And if Sam is really Sam on some hare-brained excursion to Hell after your sorry ass spent so much time trying to pull him out of Hell and put him back together one way and another over the years, a punch in the schnoz is the very least he should expect.
-Sooo. Bobby is a Tori Spelling fan who had a life-changing pedicure at the mall once. Hidden depths, I tell you.
-Gaaaaaaah, Bobby hugs, awwwww.
-"Waitaminute what the hell are you doing here? Don't tell me it's what I think it is." Bobby, come on. He's a Winchester, you're an honorary/adopted Winchester in Hell when you aren't supposed to be, what do you think he's doing here? Just smack him upside the head for being a heroic self-sacrificing dumbass again some more and get on with the explaining why you think you deserve to be in Hell and shouldn't be rescued so Sam can subsequently shout some sense into you and you can all get dogpiled by demons since you're about to be the best entertainment on the cell-block.
-"I'm here to get you out." And no argument? Or maybe not yet. Because that open door has some serious explaining to do. O.o
-It's good to see Crowley panicking a little.
-"His half has the good stuff, and mine has acknowledgements and 'about the author'." Hee!
-"Find. That. Kid." Well, at least we know now it's not Crowley in Kevin's head, he's just going nuts. Which... actually is a bit reassuring.
-HEY! VARIATION ON THE ALL HOT DOG DIET! That's bound to help something.
-It's Dean! Dean's cooking! Real food! For Kevin! *flappy hands* AWWWWWWWWWW!
-"Getting rid of the tablet just takes off some of the pressure." Oh dear. That's probably not wise. Unless of course he has all of it transcribed and has completely destroyed it somehow rather than just dumping it somewhere. But either way, Dean won't see that right away. I think there might be some yelling about to go down here.
-"If I tell you where it's not hidden, is it?" Hee. Kevin's a good little over-worked, paranoid stress-monkey. *pats*
-"Kevin!" *goes to his room with an eye-rolling headshake and slams the door* Just in case anyone forgot Kevin is a teenager.
-*SCREAMS VERY BAD PROFANITY* AAAH!NAOMI!AAAH!AAAH!AAAH!! *FLAIL* AND DEAN WON'T KNOW WHO SHE IS EXCEPT SHE'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THERE AND CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!!
-Well, at least she introduces herself by name so Dean knows it's the entity who's been making nasty shapes out of Castiel's mental Play-Dough all season. So now things go boom. Kevin's "hide in the closet" plan may have merit. (I wonder if she and her minions are the ones making Crowley-flavored whispers in Kevin's head, since the angels do have that knowledge of prophets and whatnot. *ponders*)
-"I was shocked at how damaged he is now." Yeah, well, a mind-control drill-bit in the eye anytime he shows resistance to orders would do that, wouldn't it there, Naomi?
-Naomi spin-doctoring telling Castiel to kill Dean as Castiel interpreting more innocuous orders that way is shooting her right to the top of my "Supernatural villains I'd like to punch in the face" list. Which is pretty short, since I haven't really been keeping track, but the weasel-wording and trying to turn Dean's view of events to favor her is really really nasty. Awesome evil character. And very dangerous if Dean has any hint of doubt.
-"Save it." He has some fantastic facial expressions here.
-"And yet you haven't warded this place against us." This is Dean, possibly making a mental note to 'have a little chat' with Garth the next time he sees him, possibly thinking of the downside to leaving the door open and the light on for Castiel.
-'Oh, BTW, Sam's taking a detour through Purgatory. Byeeee!' Nice. Very nice. Spin all the stuff about Castiel and who should be trusting who, tell him to think about it, then knock him off-balance with that. She's good.
-This just in. Bobby kicks ass. In case anyone forgot while he was in Hell. Also, Sam's getting thrown into a wall and choked. What day is it? \o/
-Ah, two Sams. Of course. Only one has a Purgatory blade and signs of being recently choked though, I think. Alt!Sam's holding something but I can't make it out. Alternatively, a quick cut with the demon knife will turn up whichever one bleeds glowing sparks, though keeping things off balance and not giving Bobby a chance to stop or think is likely to forestall that option.
-"You knew somehow. Right?"/"Took a chance. Fifty fifty." Hehehe.
-Yeah, by the way, as well as taking a detour through Purgatory, your brother's designated driver is also permanently off the clock. In case you weren't worried enough already.
-"Don't get all pissed off. Purgatory."/"Balls!" Hee heee heeeee!
-Um guys? You might want to close the portal to Hell on your way out. Guys? Guys??? Sigh. *facepalm*
-Who would Dean be calling to- Oh, right. The guy who knows how to get out of Purgatory. Dean, I know you're desperate and clutching at straws, but calling someone you told you couldn't hang out with anymore and basically left dangling to sort out his own blood addiction issues because you now need his help is a bit of a douchebag maneuver. If Benny doesn't tell you to get lost, I'd be surprised. But given Benny probably has started up his own nest of vampires in the absence of a sobering influence, he might invite you over for lunch.
-Looks like he's still on the blood bags though, so that's positive. (Maybe even A positive. Hyuk hyuk hyuk.)
-Dean's phone faces always get me.
-"Might be handy to have me around to help." Awww Bobby's faaaaaaace. *pinches his fuzzy cheeks and tousles his beard*
-"Well I guess if there has to be an eternity, I'd pick Heaven over Hell."/"Right. 'Cause there's nothing screwy going on up there." Heeeeeeeeee! Aw come on Bobby, I'm sure Ash will track you down real quick and you can get to the Heavenly Roadhouse in case there's any need to, I dunno, form a resistance against unscrupulous entities trying to control Heaven or something. Just follow the skinny luchador with the mullet.
-There's something about using a desiccated headless corpse as a location marker in Purgatory that seems ultimately futile to me. Either there'll be one draped over every other log, or something will have eaten it, or it'll have re-popped to have another go 'round of Purgatory. Though maybe the repop rate of Purgatory is less than 24 hours/whatever length of time Sam's actually been down for. Because Dean mentioned something or whatever. Sure. *handwaves*
-Yeah, it's a bit awkward to ask the guy who gave you directions for getting out of Purgatory who you subsequently cut all ties with to help you get back into Purgatory and rescue your dumbass brother (who as a bonus, wants to kill him) and your surrogate-father-figure-turned-quest-item.
-"This is the little brother that wants to kill me, right?" Oh yeah, that too.
-Dean has this face you guys. It does all these things. I can't even with this guy's face.
Gaaaaaah.
-"I owe you."/"You don't owe me nothin'." Yeaaaah, we'll see how that goes. Did we ever find out how Benny found out how to get out of Purgatory? Not that I'm paranoid or anything. How could I be, I mean just look at how huggable this freaking vampire is.
-"Has it really been that tough?" DEAN'S FAAAAAACE, OMG.
-SERIOUSLY THESE GUYS I CAN'T EVEN CAP. GAAAAH.
-... OH. SO. YEAH. DEAN KILLS BENNY. RIGHT. BECAUSE THAT'S HOW VAMPIRES USUALLY GET TO PURGATORY. IT SEEMS I WAS BEHIND ON THAT PARTICULAR CONNECTION BECAUSE I WAS BEING PARANOID ABOUT BENNY MAYBE BETRAYING THEM. OH MY FRIGGING GOD. AND NOW THE FACES MAKE EVEN MORE SENSE. OH GOD.
-GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
-FAAAACE. I AM DYING OF FACE YOU GUYS.
-*winces* WELL THAT WENT DOWN IN A WAY I DID NOT ANTICIPATE and really should have, probably. Damn.
-"Must have been hell not being able to get him out all that time." Sam has a face too. It makes me giggle inappropriately.
-"I get the feelin' a lot must've happened while I was gone." Heh. You could say that.
-Ah, I was wondering when everything in Purgatory ever would start attacking.
-Ooo, nice spin on that one guy. Can't cap it, but hey.
-I was also wondering how Sam would deal with Benny showing up. Stopping Bobby from killing him. Positive start.
-"A buddy??"/"A good buddy." Hehehehe. Poor Bobby. Hell was a lot less complicated than life on Earth with Winchesters is, I suspect.
-Great, so demons watched Dean off Benny, and they have a pretty good idea where Sam is. It's got to all be a trap of some kind, because honestly, this busting Bobby out of Hell thing has been a lot easier so far than I thought it might be.
-Yay for big glowing portals. Not that that will stand out as a target or say something the Leviathans might have decided to set up watch around or anything.
-"When we get to Earth and I release you, it's an express straight to Heaven, no time for goodbyes." OH! BOBBY'S GOING TO HITCH A RIDE LIKE BENNY DID BECAUSE BOBBY'S NOT MORTAL RIGHT NOW, AND BENNY PROBABLY KNEW THAT, AND THAT'S WHY HE DIDN'T SAY MUCH ABOUT COMING BACK BECAUSE AS BIG AS SAM'S MASSIVE FOREARMS ARE, THERE'S ONLY ROOM FOR ONE POST-LIVING ENTITY WITH A FIVE LETTER NAME STARTING WITH B INSIDE HIM, OR AT LEAST THAT MIGHT BE HOW BENNY WILL JUSTIFY STAYING BEHIND. *facepalm* I am seriously slow on the uptake with this episode.
-"If they give me a rockin' chair up there, I'm raisin' Hell." Hee. No. When Ash finds you he'll probably hand you a beer though.
-"Come on Benny it's your turn." Awww, Sam. Aw. Not that not having Benny on board is going to look very well to Dean when they get back, but, aw.
-"Just make sure you tell Dean I said goodbye." Aw, Benny. Awww. LOOK AT THAT SQUISHABLE FACE!
-Hee. It's like the portal got tired of Sam standing there dithering, said 'hell with it' and sucked him in whether he stepped fully in or not.
-WINCHESTER HUGGING! That should be worth a bottle if there's a drinking game.
-You know, explaining how his brother's huggable vampire friend sacrificed himself for the good of the party is probably not the most awkward thing Sam's had to admit to Dean in the past eight years, but it might be the most awkward thing Sam's actually face-first admitted to happening in full honesty rather than trying to cover it up and the truth being discovered later.
-"Let's put that old man where he belongs." I may have made a noise there. It may have been a sort of a whimper.
-Oh...
-OH NO YOU DIDN'T CROWLEY. Actually given the space left on the counter and that we haven't had the great big other boot of Crowley knowing the Winchesters are up to something and have snagged Bobby from Hell and that frigging cell door was open, I suspected something was due to come crashing down around our ears here.
-And Sam and Dean get demon-power-flung into trees. What day is it again?
(Looks like Crowley got some good air on them too.)
-Right, Naomi's up to something too. Like showing Dean she's 'a good guy' by shepherding Bobby up to Heaven? Hm. *eyes* (Also, Tie Report for Crowley, same again some more. If Crowley ever changes his tie, there may be serious crap of some kind about to hit some sort of fan.)
-"Don't call me a bureaucrat!" Weeeelll, if the grey suit, buttoned-up shirt, big shiny office and assorted mysterious paperwork seen in the background of previous episodes fits...
-And off goes Bobby. What, no final cry of "Idjits"?
-"I told you you could trust me." Gaaah. No. Particularly since she's now right in the area of Sam for when the second dose of Trial radiation whatever stuff hits. And of course Sam has no idea who she is.
-She fluttered off. Or did she... *eyeballs*
-Was Dean there last time to see this part? I don't know if Dean was there last time to see this part. *checks back to 8.14* Yep, Dean was there for this part. Same hand too.
-"It's okay! It's okay!" Sam, you'd be a lot more believable if you were saying this when your right hand wasn't glowing and emitting... smoke? strange energy vapors?
-*gestures randomly at screen* Dean. *gestures* Face *more gestures* I can't.
-Kevin, what are you up to? And why isn't Garth or someone refreshing and renewing the wards for you so you can get some rest in between baking your brain on tablet translation?
-"It's just a dream." *wards start glowing behind him* WHY DOES KEVIN NOT HAVE MORE DEFENSES? LIKE GUARDS? AND A COOK OR SOMETHING? OR SOMEONE WHO CAN TELL HIM IF THE WARDS ARE REALLY GLOWING OR IF HE'S HALLUCINATING? HE'S A PROPHET, DOESN'T HE GET A STANDARD ISSUE ARCHANGEL? OR WOULD THAT BE A BAD THING. THAT MIGHT BE A BAD THING. I'm shouting, sorry. I am just worried about Kevin. And his mom. Who is at some unknown random, less-protected location, and who Crowley or Naomi would use against him in a hot minute. I mean I would if I were them. Gah.
-Well crap. This is why painting wards on breakable surfaces isn't such a great idea.
-Oh crap. Crap crapcrapcrapcrap.
-"If you can't find one Tran, find another." DAMN IT. STOP THINKING LIKE ME, CROWLEY.
-"So we killed her and got your address off her smartphone." No way. Crowley's lying. Mom Tran is way too awesome to die off-screen. Crowley's lying.
-"I. Am. Forever." Really? What happened to Scotland? Is there some kind of merge/upgrade to an eternal demon *handwave* hoody-hoo when you take over Hell? Maybe. Makes sense. Hard to be lord over all the demons if all you are is some middle ages soul from Scotland, considering there's bound to be older souls in Hell than that. Hm. Maybe it's a Highlander thing? Kill other demons and absorb them? Yeah. It's probably a Highlander thing. *handwaves*
-AAAAH! NO! KEVIN!!! WHY DID YOU IDIOTS NOT BRING HIM TO THE BAT-CAVE? OR SET SOME FREAKING GUARDS? O.O
-Crowley can't kill him though, because he needs him to translate. I think.
-"You okay?"/"Yeah, I'll live." Word choice is really awesome there, Sam.
-"Let's go check in with prophet boy." GREAT IDEA. Any bets on them finding Fizzle's Folly burned down to the waterline (even though it's almost solid metal) when they get there?
-Flashlight-fu! Not burned down, but looking a bit empty, and... the glass is back in the portholes. *looks back at cap of boat exterior* Can't tell. Can't even tell where those portholes are supposed to be. If that was all a hallucination... Kevin's still screwed, but at least Crowley hasn't got him and MOM TRAN IS ALIVE. Or Crowley replaced the glass. And the warding symbols. Eeee..
-That glass hasn't broken. And I have to say how, even with the crazy constant translation schedule Kevin's been wrecking his sanity with, not sleeping, eating crap, how unutterably sad it is that he's still managed to wash the dishes. *points at rack behind Dean* Or maybe Dean washed those when he was last here. Aw.
-"But where?" Okay. Either Crowley's got him or as soon as he set foot outside Crowley got him, or Naomi was pretending to be Crowley and got him (not warded against angels after all). I don't know. We'll see. I'm leaning towards Naomi though.
THIS IS WHY WHEN YOU GET AN IMPENETRABLE FORTRESS BIG ENOUGH TO HOUSE AN ARMY, YOU MOVE YOUR TOP RESEARCHER (AND HIS MOM) INTO THE MOST SECURE BUNKER YOU HAVE IN IT. And since Bobby didn't get a chance to say it, I will. IDJITS!
(PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, NO REFERENCES TO EPISODES PAST 8.19 IN COMMENTS! I'll be catching up as fast as I can, but that's not likely to be very fast. :-/)
Spoiler and Theory Summary
Sigh.
So I got home from work on the day this aired, determined that I would avoid all contact with Supernatural fandom spaces entirely to avoid spoilers.
I went to a seriously random RPG forum type site. Someone had just finished live blogging the episode in all caps in the repeating Shoutbox scrolling on the side.
Why do I bother? I clicked away as soon as I realized what it was, but damage done. Gaaah....
So. Bobby's returned (however briefly), which makes Jim Beaver a major troll because apparently he's been pulling the "I've got a part in a show that isn't Supernatural but might be filming in the lower mainland" thing on Facebook or somewhere again, like last time with the Abominable Snow Critter fake movie that lead to ghost!Bobby.
Also, Dean kills Benny. No shock there, it was inevitable and the season is running out of episodes. I predict foreshadowing for the finale maybe.
Picspam Reaction, with speculation and randomness for Supernatural 8.19 - "???" "Taxi Driver"
-Almost forgot to skip the THEN.
-HI KEVIN! How are you, glad you're sleeping, hope you're getting some fresh air and staying off the inadvisable 'study supplements' but really I doubt that's the case.
-"Kevin, I know what you're up to." Seriously, Crowley, the kid's got enough problems and stress without you interrupting his sleep.
-"I'm in your head as well as everywhere else." See, this is another problem with extended sleep deprivation, you can't tell if something's a hallucination or if it's the King of Hell playing mind games.
-Sudden nervous thought given what show this is... his mom's under protection wherever she is... right? O.O
-Hello title. "Taxi Driver." Hm, I guess that's a reference to the movie, but I don't know much about it so I won't Google just now.
-You know, for greeting potential evil at the door, a solid iron frying pan isn't the worst option.
-"Where's Garth?"/"On a case or at the dentist, I dunno I haven't heard from him." Could be a ghost dentist... *ponders*
-When someone sounds and looks that unthrilled to have completed the second 33% of a very important, lengthy and maddening task, it's not a good sign that the result will be 'skip down to the pier and get an ice cream'.
-"An innocent has to be rescued from Hell and delivered unto Heaven."/"What?"/"Unto. That's how God talks." I don't think Dean was questioning the grammar, Kevin.
-"We're gonna need an expert." Well, the last place anyone saw the only entity you know for sure busted someone out of Hell, he was on a Greyhound bus to somewhere, holding a funny-looking rock.
-Um. Guys? If you're trying to keep all this from Crowley, calling up one of his sales-demons and asking mission-related questions WILL NOT HELP YOU.
-I guess this one knows he's not likely to get an actual Deal out of this contact since he's not wearing a little black dress. Also, gee, that location looks familiar. From the background and timing of that dance video, I could tell that at some point in the last third of season 8 they would be summoning and trapping a crossroads demon, and lo, here we are.
-"For a price, y'all can be smuggled across Hell's border."/"By who?"/"Rogue reapers." Oooorrrr at least that's what it sounded like. If that's what it was, I wonder what Death thinks about that. O.o
-He did say rogue Reapers. Hm. Death doesn't seem to me to be the type to allow that to happen unless it suits his purposes, or he's being distracted by larger issues.
-Written by the infamous twosome of Eugenie Ross-Leming and Brad Buckner. Directed by slightly less infamous Guy Norman Bee
-HI CAR! Even pretty in the rain.
-Heh. The rogue Reaper is an actual taxi driver. Hah hah.
-"One day, you will owe me a favor." Yeah, I was thinking that paying the guy with a fake MasterCard would be a little too ephemeral.
-Of course he knows you! He's a Reaper! You're Winchesters! He sees one or the other of you flying through his airspace at least once a year! And you're friendly with his Boss, and I'm sure the Reaper break room has post-Winchester therapy sessions every other month.
-"I am the Reaper who took Bobby Singer to Hell." Oh my. Firstly, why did Bobby end up going to Hell? Secondly, Reaper-dude, saying this to Dean Winchester is not going to earn you any brownie points at all. Ever.
-"If you're on the King of Hell's no-fly list, no way you cruise the friendly skies." Oh really. So Crowley gets dibs, or Crowley just bribed this Reaper? In that case, why hasn't he tried to use that he has Bobby as a bargaining/manipulation chip vs the Winchesters yet? *ponders*
-Sam insisting on going to Hell alone to bring back Bobby because of the Trial thing. Firstly, I don't think the Trial rules exclude you having backup or the first Trial would have been disqualified by Dean's involvement, and secondly, Sam, seriously, have you even met your brother? You going to Hell alone when there's a chance he can go with you for back up, and Bobby in Hell needing rescued? There is no way Dean isn't going to find a way to get involved in this.
-Oh dear, it's the alley where bad things always happen. I sense imminent doom.
-Hahahah, for a second there in the whip-pan I thought there was a Tardis in the graffiti. Nope, just a door. Probably the door Sam's going through (because while Reapers' normal methods seem to involve hugging people into the afterlife, this is a temporary trip, so whoever's traveling won't get processed through the Reaper. Or something. *preemptively handwaves*)
-Yep, door. *ooo's at CGI*
-Hey, wait, desaturated forest, isn't that Purgatory? DID CROWLEY PAY THE GUY TO DOUBLE CROSS THEM? Or did the Leviathans? Ooo. I would not be surprised. Although it's probably just part of the alternate route to Hell.
-Yep again. Sam is understandably displeased. Even his dimples are understandably displeased.
-'*plunk* Welp, here we are in Purgatory. Follow the stream, three trees into one, rocks, portal. See ya!' Right. I'm thinking no letting the rogue Reaper out of sight until you're actually in Hell would be a better option than following some half-assed directions alone in Purgatory where all the things want to eat you.
-"I'll be back in 24 hours, precisely." ...buuuuut time runs at different rates in Hell, Earth and Purgatory, doesn't it? Hell (or at least Greater Hell, not necessarily downtown Lucifer's Cage) time passes at one year to one month topside making 24 hours topside 12 and a bit days in Hell, or 24 hours in Hell be *pause for mathing* a little under two topside hours? And what rate does time flow in Purgatory? Is there a Transdimensional Time Zone conversion chart handy somewhere? Do Earthside mechanical devices even function normally in any of those places? These are important considerations, dammit!
-*facepalm* Never trust an admitted liar who is your only way home to come back for you. You should've dug out that Reaper binding spell book that's rattling around in the depths of the trunk after 'Faith' and made sure the guy would come back when you hollered. Just saying.
-Hiding in the closet from your demons usually doesn't help. At least it looks like a roomy and well-lit closet.
-"We should move out and find another place!" Like, oh, I dunno, the impenetrable, well-stocked and elegantly appointed fortress you Winchesters have been camping out in lately?
-"This whole thing sucks, but you suck it up, and you push through, 'cause that's what we do." Anyone else hearing a bit of John in there? Just a smidgen? Patented Winchester family pep talk. Suck it up and deal because no one else will.
-Biggerson's. Aw. With pie. Dean's offering Kevin the pie. Awwwww. He's taking this 'Mentoring Fledgling Badasses 101' thing seriously.
-"I'm gonna be in my room. Let me know when there's a good day." Aw. Not that that hasn't been said in some way or other by countless teens over the millennia. But aw. Can Kevin get a day off and they can take him to the carnival or something?
-"That's my pie." Okay, so maybe it wasn't the altruistic gesture as it seemed.
-Another reason for dragging your only sure ride between the worlds along with you; making sure no one ganks him while you're on the other side.
-"I don't have any virtues." I don't know, there's always that sparkling wit.
-"My operative saw you leaving with Sam Winchester."/"OH! Oh, Sam Winchester." HAHAHAHAHAHAH, lying doesn't work so well for this guy either, which really makes me wonder again how 'rogue' these rogue Reapers are, because there's no way this guy could fool Death that he's not moonlighting.
-OH SO AN ANGEL BLADE KILLS REAPERS TOO, holy crap. O.o
-Ooo. Or rogue reapers can be killed because Death has cut them loose and they aren't under his protection anymore. Ooo.
-*noise*, *Sam looks up, nothing*, *rawr* Really, Sam, the only surprise here is that the entire population of this dimension isn't swarming you already and the Leviathan Artillery Commandos aren't raining down from the sky.
-I'm thinking putting any of your weapons on the ground before you go messing with the portal to Hell is going to turn out to be a tactically moronic move there, Sam.
-He did get a chance to pick it up again though, there's a surprise. Oh and mind that first step.
-Let's see, we've had Hellraiser Hell, Eternal Bureaucracy Hell, Burninating Downtown Lucifer's Cage, what will it be this time?
-The, um. Hm. The thing about leaving your watch behind to mark where the portal is, is how will you know what time to get back to the portal if you don't have a watch? Assuming it shows a relevant and contiguous time? Not that it matters much anyway because your ride's been ganked, but still. I don't think your cellphone's going to be able to get a signal to sync the clock to the time zone from where you are, so unless you've got a second watch or a really old school phone, timing is going to be tricky.
-We seem to be in the Classic Dungeon suburb of Hell (looking a little structurally familiar too. Church hallways from the end of Season 4?), with some disturbingly happy background noises. Or at least some laughing clearly in there along with the moaning and screaming, so someone's having a good time.
-Yeah, that's the thing about only being in Hell to bust one innocent person out. If anyone else seems innocent, you're going to feel like crap for not getting them out too, even if they turn out to be completely un-innocent.
-Oh. Bobby's cage door is open. And he's not even looking at it. Because he thinks he deserves to be in Hell, right? Oh Bobbyyyyy.
(And he's still wearing that damned fraught-with-significance blue hat, but with the bullet hole in it now oh god.)
-And Bobby belts Sam. Because if Sam's not Sam but a demon trying to get at you by looking like Sam, take a shot while you can. And if Sam is really Sam on some hare-brained excursion to Hell after your sorry ass spent so much time trying to pull him out of Hell and put him back together one way and another over the years, a punch in the schnoz is the very least he should expect.
-Sooo. Bobby is a Tori Spelling fan who had a life-changing pedicure at the mall once. Hidden depths, I tell you.
-Gaaaaaaah, Bobby hugs, awwwww.
-"Waitaminute what the hell are you doing here? Don't tell me it's what I think it is." Bobby, come on. He's a Winchester, you're an honorary/adopted Winchester in Hell when you aren't supposed to be, what do you think he's doing here? Just smack him upside the head for being a heroic self-sacrificing dumbass again some more and get on with the explaining why you think you deserve to be in Hell and shouldn't be rescued so Sam can subsequently shout some sense into you and you can all get dogpiled by demons since you're about to be the best entertainment on the cell-block.
-"I'm here to get you out." And no argument? Or maybe not yet. Because that open door has some serious explaining to do. O.o
-It's good to see Crowley panicking a little.
-"His half has the good stuff, and mine has acknowledgements and 'about the author'." Hee!
-"Find. That. Kid." Well, at least we know now it's not Crowley in Kevin's head, he's just going nuts. Which... actually is a bit reassuring.
-HEY! VARIATION ON THE ALL HOT DOG DIET! That's bound to help something.
-It's Dean! Dean's cooking! Real food! For Kevin! *flappy hands* AWWWWWWWWWW!
-"Getting rid of the tablet just takes off some of the pressure." Oh dear. That's probably not wise. Unless of course he has all of it transcribed and has completely destroyed it somehow rather than just dumping it somewhere. But either way, Dean won't see that right away. I think there might be some yelling about to go down here.
-"If I tell you where it's not hidden, is it?" Hee. Kevin's a good little over-worked, paranoid stress-monkey. *pats*
-"Kevin!" *goes to his room with an eye-rolling headshake and slams the door* Just in case anyone forgot Kevin is a teenager.
-*SCREAMS VERY BAD PROFANITY* AAAH!NAOMI!AAAH!AAAH!AAAH!! *FLAIL* AND DEAN WON'T KNOW WHO SHE IS EXCEPT SHE'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THERE AND CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!!
-Well, at least she introduces herself by name so Dean knows it's the entity who's been making nasty shapes out of Castiel's mental Play-Dough all season. So now things go boom. Kevin's "hide in the closet" plan may have merit. (I wonder if she and her minions are the ones making Crowley-flavored whispers in Kevin's head, since the angels do have that knowledge of prophets and whatnot. *ponders*)
-"I was shocked at how damaged he is now." Yeah, well, a mind-control drill-bit in the eye anytime he shows resistance to orders would do that, wouldn't it there, Naomi?
-Naomi spin-doctoring telling Castiel to kill Dean as Castiel interpreting more innocuous orders that way is shooting her right to the top of my "Supernatural villains I'd like to punch in the face" list. Which is pretty short, since I haven't really been keeping track, but the weasel-wording and trying to turn Dean's view of events to favor her is really really nasty. Awesome evil character. And very dangerous if Dean has any hint of doubt.
-"Save it." He has some fantastic facial expressions here.
-"And yet you haven't warded this place against us." This is Dean, possibly making a mental note to 'have a little chat' with Garth the next time he sees him, possibly thinking of the downside to leaving the door open and the light on for Castiel.
-'Oh, BTW, Sam's taking a detour through Purgatory. Byeeee!' Nice. Very nice. Spin all the stuff about Castiel and who should be trusting who, tell him to think about it, then knock him off-balance with that. She's good.
-This just in. Bobby kicks ass. In case anyone forgot while he was in Hell. Also, Sam's getting thrown into a wall and choked. What day is it? \o/
-Ah, two Sams. Of course. Only one has a Purgatory blade and signs of being recently choked though, I think. Alt!Sam's holding something but I can't make it out. Alternatively, a quick cut with the demon knife will turn up whichever one bleeds glowing sparks, though keeping things off balance and not giving Bobby a chance to stop or think is likely to forestall that option.
-"You knew somehow. Right?"/"Took a chance. Fifty fifty." Hehehe.
-Yeah, by the way, as well as taking a detour through Purgatory, your brother's designated driver is also permanently off the clock. In case you weren't worried enough already.
-"Don't get all pissed off. Purgatory."/"Balls!" Hee heee heeeee!
-Um guys? You might want to close the portal to Hell on your way out. Guys? Guys??? Sigh. *facepalm*
-Who would Dean be calling to- Oh, right. The guy who knows how to get out of Purgatory. Dean, I know you're desperate and clutching at straws, but calling someone you told you couldn't hang out with anymore and basically left dangling to sort out his own blood addiction issues because you now need his help is a bit of a douchebag maneuver. If Benny doesn't tell you to get lost, I'd be surprised. But given Benny probably has started up his own nest of vampires in the absence of a sobering influence, he might invite you over for lunch.
-Looks like he's still on the blood bags though, so that's positive. (Maybe even A positive. Hyuk hyuk hyuk.)
-Dean's phone faces always get me.
-"Might be handy to have me around to help." Awww Bobby's faaaaaaace. *pinches his fuzzy cheeks and tousles his beard*
-"Well I guess if there has to be an eternity, I'd pick Heaven over Hell."/"Right. 'Cause there's nothing screwy going on up there." Heeeeeeeeee! Aw come on Bobby, I'm sure Ash will track you down real quick and you can get to the Heavenly Roadhouse in case there's any need to, I dunno, form a resistance against unscrupulous entities trying to control Heaven or something. Just follow the skinny luchador with the mullet.
-There's something about using a desiccated headless corpse as a location marker in Purgatory that seems ultimately futile to me. Either there'll be one draped over every other log, or something will have eaten it, or it'll have re-popped to have another go 'round of Purgatory. Though maybe the repop rate of Purgatory is less than 24 hours/whatever length of time Sam's actually been down for. Because Dean mentioned something or whatever. Sure. *handwaves*
-Yeah, it's a bit awkward to ask the guy who gave you directions for getting out of Purgatory who you subsequently cut all ties with to help you get back into Purgatory and rescue your dumbass brother (who as a bonus, wants to kill him) and your surrogate-father-figure-turned-quest-item.
-"This is the little brother that wants to kill me, right?" Oh yeah, that too.
-Dean has this face you guys. It does all these things. I can't even with this guy's face.
Gaaaaaah.
-"I owe you."/"You don't owe me nothin'." Yeaaaah, we'll see how that goes. Did we ever find out how Benny found out how to get out of Purgatory? Not that I'm paranoid or anything. How could I be, I mean just look at how huggable this freaking vampire is.
-"Has it really been that tough?" DEAN'S FAAAAAACE, OMG.
-SERIOUSLY THESE GUYS I CAN'T EVEN CAP. GAAAAH.
-... OH. SO. YEAH. DEAN KILLS BENNY. RIGHT. BECAUSE THAT'S HOW VAMPIRES USUALLY GET TO PURGATORY. IT SEEMS I WAS BEHIND ON THAT PARTICULAR CONNECTION BECAUSE I WAS BEING PARANOID ABOUT BENNY MAYBE BETRAYING THEM. OH MY FRIGGING GOD. AND NOW THE FACES MAKE EVEN MORE SENSE. OH GOD.
-GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
-FAAAACE. I AM DYING OF FACE YOU GUYS.
-*winces* WELL THAT WENT DOWN IN A WAY I DID NOT ANTICIPATE and really should have, probably. Damn.
-"Must have been hell not being able to get him out all that time." Sam has a face too. It makes me giggle inappropriately.
-"I get the feelin' a lot must've happened while I was gone." Heh. You could say that.
-Ah, I was wondering when everything in Purgatory ever would start attacking.
-Ooo, nice spin on that one guy. Can't cap it, but hey.
-I was also wondering how Sam would deal with Benny showing up. Stopping Bobby from killing him. Positive start.
-"A buddy??"/"A good buddy." Hehehehe. Poor Bobby. Hell was a lot less complicated than life on Earth with Winchesters is, I suspect.
-Great, so demons watched Dean off Benny, and they have a pretty good idea where Sam is. It's got to all be a trap of some kind, because honestly, this busting Bobby out of Hell thing has been a lot easier so far than I thought it might be.
-Yay for big glowing portals. Not that that will stand out as a target or say something the Leviathans might have decided to set up watch around or anything.
-"When we get to Earth and I release you, it's an express straight to Heaven, no time for goodbyes." OH! BOBBY'S GOING TO HITCH A RIDE LIKE BENNY DID BECAUSE BOBBY'S NOT MORTAL RIGHT NOW, AND BENNY PROBABLY KNEW THAT, AND THAT'S WHY HE DIDN'T SAY MUCH ABOUT COMING BACK BECAUSE AS BIG AS SAM'S MASSIVE FOREARMS ARE, THERE'S ONLY ROOM FOR ONE POST-LIVING ENTITY WITH A FIVE LETTER NAME STARTING WITH B INSIDE HIM, OR AT LEAST THAT MIGHT BE HOW BENNY WILL JUSTIFY STAYING BEHIND. *facepalm* I am seriously slow on the uptake with this episode.
-"If they give me a rockin' chair up there, I'm raisin' Hell." Hee. No. When Ash finds you he'll probably hand you a beer though.
-"Come on Benny it's your turn." Awww, Sam. Aw. Not that not having Benny on board is going to look very well to Dean when they get back, but, aw.
-"Just make sure you tell Dean I said goodbye." Aw, Benny. Awww. LOOK AT THAT SQUISHABLE FACE!
-Hee. It's like the portal got tired of Sam standing there dithering, said 'hell with it' and sucked him in whether he stepped fully in or not.
-WINCHESTER HUGGING! That should be worth a bottle if there's a drinking game.
-You know, explaining how his brother's huggable vampire friend sacrificed himself for the good of the party is probably not the most awkward thing Sam's had to admit to Dean in the past eight years, but it might be the most awkward thing Sam's actually face-first admitted to happening in full honesty rather than trying to cover it up and the truth being discovered later.
-"Let's put that old man where he belongs." I may have made a noise there. It may have been a sort of a whimper.
-Oh...
-OH NO YOU DIDN'T CROWLEY. Actually given the space left on the counter and that we haven't had the great big other boot of Crowley knowing the Winchesters are up to something and have snagged Bobby from Hell and that frigging cell door was open, I suspected something was due to come crashing down around our ears here.
-And Sam and Dean get demon-power-flung into trees. What day is it again?
(Looks like Crowley got some good air on them too.)
-Right, Naomi's up to something too. Like showing Dean she's 'a good guy' by shepherding Bobby up to Heaven? Hm. *eyes* (Also, Tie Report for Crowley, same again some more. If Crowley ever changes his tie, there may be serious crap of some kind about to hit some sort of fan.)
-"Don't call me a bureaucrat!" Weeeelll, if the grey suit, buttoned-up shirt, big shiny office and assorted mysterious paperwork seen in the background of previous episodes fits...
-And off goes Bobby. What, no final cry of "Idjits"?
-"I told you you could trust me." Gaaah. No. Particularly since she's now right in the area of Sam for when the second dose of Trial radiation whatever stuff hits. And of course Sam has no idea who she is.
-She fluttered off. Or did she... *eyeballs*
-Was Dean there last time to see this part? I don't know if Dean was there last time to see this part. *checks back to 8.14* Yep, Dean was there for this part. Same hand too.
-"It's okay! It's okay!" Sam, you'd be a lot more believable if you were saying this when your right hand wasn't glowing and emitting... smoke? strange energy vapors?
-*gestures randomly at screen* Dean. *gestures* Face *more gestures* I can't.
-Kevin, what are you up to? And why isn't Garth or someone refreshing and renewing the wards for you so you can get some rest in between baking your brain on tablet translation?
-"It's just a dream." *wards start glowing behind him* WHY DOES KEVIN NOT HAVE MORE DEFENSES? LIKE GUARDS? AND A COOK OR SOMETHING? OR SOMEONE WHO CAN TELL HIM IF THE WARDS ARE REALLY GLOWING OR IF HE'S HALLUCINATING? HE'S A PROPHET, DOESN'T HE GET A STANDARD ISSUE ARCHANGEL? OR WOULD THAT BE A BAD THING. THAT MIGHT BE A BAD THING. I'm shouting, sorry. I am just worried about Kevin. And his mom. Who is at some unknown random, less-protected location, and who Crowley or Naomi would use against him in a hot minute. I mean I would if I were them. Gah.
-Well crap. This is why painting wards on breakable surfaces isn't such a great idea.
-Oh crap. Crap crapcrapcrapcrap.
-"If you can't find one Tran, find another." DAMN IT. STOP THINKING LIKE ME, CROWLEY.
-"So we killed her and got your address off her smartphone." No way. Crowley's lying. Mom Tran is way too awesome to die off-screen. Crowley's lying.
-"I. Am. Forever." Really? What happened to Scotland? Is there some kind of merge/upgrade to an eternal demon *handwave* hoody-hoo when you take over Hell? Maybe. Makes sense. Hard to be lord over all the demons if all you are is some middle ages soul from Scotland, considering there's bound to be older souls in Hell than that. Hm. Maybe it's a Highlander thing? Kill other demons and absorb them? Yeah. It's probably a Highlander thing. *handwaves*
-AAAAH! NO! KEVIN!!! WHY DID YOU IDIOTS NOT BRING HIM TO THE BAT-CAVE? OR SET SOME FREAKING GUARDS? O.O
-Crowley can't kill him though, because he needs him to translate. I think.
-"You okay?"/"Yeah, I'll live." Word choice is really awesome there, Sam.
-"Let's go check in with prophet boy." GREAT IDEA. Any bets on them finding Fizzle's Folly burned down to the waterline (even though it's almost solid metal) when they get there?
-Flashlight-fu! Not burned down, but looking a bit empty, and... the glass is back in the portholes. *looks back at cap of boat exterior* Can't tell. Can't even tell where those portholes are supposed to be. If that was all a hallucination... Kevin's still screwed, but at least Crowley hasn't got him and MOM TRAN IS ALIVE. Or Crowley replaced the glass. And the warding symbols. Eeee..
-That glass hasn't broken. And I have to say how, even with the crazy constant translation schedule Kevin's been wrecking his sanity with, not sleeping, eating crap, how unutterably sad it is that he's still managed to wash the dishes. *points at rack behind Dean* Or maybe Dean washed those when he was last here. Aw.
-"But where?" Okay. Either Crowley's got him or as soon as he set foot outside Crowley got him, or Naomi was pretending to be Crowley and got him (not warded against angels after all). I don't know. We'll see. I'm leaning towards Naomi though.
THIS IS WHY WHEN YOU GET AN IMPENETRABLE FORTRESS BIG ENOUGH TO HOUSE AN ARMY, YOU MOVE YOUR TOP RESEARCHER (AND HIS MOM) INTO THE MOST SECURE BUNKER YOU HAVE IN IT. And since Bobby didn't get a chance to say it, I will. IDJITS!
(PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, NO REFERENCES TO EPISODES PAST 8.19 IN COMMENTS! I'll be catching up as fast as I can, but that's not likely to be very fast. :-/)