Thoughts on SPN 8.09

[emmram]

Geez, Show. You’re supposed to be a stress-buster, not an additional source of stress.

SPOILERS under the cut. Includes minor discussion of the 8.10 promo.

Comments

[amberdreams]

I don't really understand (technically) Dean's trick with Sam's/Amelia's phone - I mean I might have missed something but surely all he knows is her name, how did he do the whole text thing??? And yes, it was weird that he'd think it was an ok device to distract Sam when it would obviously be like a knife to the heart (let alone the whole stress factor - it's not on a par with itching powder in the pants boys, this ain't no joke).

All in all this epi left me dazed and confused! But I'm still loving this season so don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining.

[quickreaver]

I puzzled over "How'd he do dat?" too, with Dean and the phone switcheroo. He might've gotten into Sam's phone and changed the number Sam had in there for Amelia, so now, instead of calling back to Amelia, he called back to one of Dean's many back-up cells. I don't think they ever display the number and Sam had no reason to check the actual digits ... at first. But Sam got through to her voice mail once, didn't he? Hmrm. I'll have to go back and watch the episode again...

[emmram]

From what I understand, Dean, at some point, had taken Sam's phone and replaced Amelia's number with one of his spare ones. It's interesting that he knew Sam wouldn't even call to check--after all, something similar happened in s6 to Dean, yeah? When Ben tricked Dean into coming to Cicero by making him believe Lisa was in danger?

weird that he'd think it was an ok device to distract Sam when it would obviously be like a knife to the heart

Scary is what it was. I'm half dreading, half looking forward to seeing Sam and Dean confront each other about this.

[amberdreams]

I love that neither brother can maintain the high moral ground in this show - they both act like dicks on occasions and despite how the more rabid fans rant and rave, this is actually quite realistic. Relationships are like that, especially when they are as close (hey! co-dependent!) as these two are.

So there will be consequences I'm sure...

[quickreaver]

YES YES YES. *skips in little circles* AND YES. (Though I'm a teensy bit dismayed at the soap opera melodrama of a love triangle. It might, however, serve a very salient point in the Big Plot Arc later. It's also serving as a curious comparison: ragingly tragic supernatural war-time stress vs. everyday stress. Boy, if you're a Winchester, you're screwed either way.)

[emmram]

:D

I kinda like the soap opera effect? IDK, call it a guilty pleasure. :p But seriously, now that we've finally met present day Amelia, it'll be interesting to see her outside of a gigantic Sam-filter.

Boy, if you're a Winchester, you're screwed either way

Aren't you, though? :(

[pocochina]

2.5 This show is disproportionately fond of the slippery slope business. Hey, we do know that's a logical fallacy, right?

2.789. YES. Martin disagreed with Dean, and so he deserved to die.

4.5. Not just the hypocrisy, but like. Dean's whole thing is that Benny SAVED HIM, right? Well, Amy SAVED SAM, and she had a much better case for her survival than Benny looked to have. So what is with the discrepancy in goodwill? Dean's life is worth THAT MUCH more than Sam's? That's not just hurtful. That is yet another indicator that Sam is not safe around Dean.

7.45 IKR? Sam, I WORRY. But I thought that was done on purpose, to underscore just how dangerous Dean's stunt really was.

8.5. Yeah. Sam thinks the "right call" was collecting information. Dean thinks the "right call" was LYING to Sam, in such a dangerous, personal way.

[emmram]

So what is with the discrepancy in goodwill?

Right?! It just seemed too big and too much to seem anything other than deliberate.

Haha, I wring my hands over Sam a lot. :p But seriously, the idea of him driving so fast and just retreating into his head at the same time... kinda sent chills down my spine.

Dean, WTF?

[auroramama]

It's never been Dean's way to treat Sam's life as worth less than his; just the opposite. I couldn't believe it when he killed Amy Pond. He had a blood debt to her for saving Sam that I thought would be more important to him than any other.
I don't mind the bonding with Benny. A year in Purgatory must have meant saving each others' lives hundreds of times. I don't want him to be OK with offing Benny. But a year sure as hell isn't long enough to prove that Benny is more reliable than Sam. Wait for season 4 of the Dean and Benny show and see if there isn't a little illicit blood-drinking going on, Dean.

[ravelqueen]

I really, really, really hope that where there are going with this is that Dean has to acknowledge that what he did was shitty. Because we are reaching sub-zero levels of dickish behaviour here and I'm really scared, because historically, the narrative never rewarded Sam in a situation they did reward Dean for his choices.

It's also why I can't really bring myself to like Benny that much? I just kind of hate that we had to loose Ruby and then Amy (and basically every connection Sam made over the years), because they turned out to be monsters and Dean gets to keep his buddy...

[emmram]

Dean has to acknowledge that what he did was shitty. Because we are reaching sub-zero levels of dickish behaviour here

That's my hope, too. Show does have an unfortunate history of glossing over/justifying/accepting all of the shitty things that Dean does, however.

I just kind of hate that we had to loose Ruby and then Amy (and basically every connection Sam made over the years)

YES. (My resentment over losing Ruby, let me show it to you.) After all of this, could you really blame Sam for being on edge about Benny? Does the fact that Benny's Dean's friend instantly grant him a higher privilege than someone like Amy Pond?

[monicawoe]

Agreed on sooo many points here, but man:
4.5. There’s also the prickly history Sam has with trusting Ruby, and then the Amy Pond incident, where Dean DID go behind Sam’s back and kill Amy DESPITE the fact that Sam made a persuasive case for Amy (complete with flashback) AND asked Dean for his trust. Later Dean tells him that he HAD to because MONSTERS ARE MONSTERS OKAY THAT’S JUST HOW IT IS and Sam, after some initial resistance, concedes that he’s right. I can imagine Sam’s feeling just a tad resentful about the hypocrisy right now. Just a tad.

OMG Yes. That's actually why I think my two favorite moments from the ep were Sam's reaction to Dean (for the second! time) telling him how Benny is the only one who never betrayed him. Ouch doesn't even begin to cover it. And then Sam hanging up on Dean at the end. He should have called him again and then hung up again!

Seriously- I hope they stay apart for a bit again, and I hope there is some form of apology from Dean whenever they do reunite.