Rewatch S5: Swap Meat (5x12)

[hells_half_acre]

 Ok, so I actually had time on my birthday to watch this episode...but I didn't. I think this is my least favorite Supernatural episode ever, and I did not want to watch it on my birthday...so I saved it until my older sister's birthday, which just so happens to be the day after mine. Yay!

Comments

[trystan830]

nothing wrong with your ranting.... it sounds kinda meta-ish, like Dean and Sam (still) don't know what they want.. y'know?

anyway, i enjoyed your review, like always!

[hells_half_acre]

Thanks!

And yes, that was the point of my rant: Nobody really ever knows what they want - we shouldn't expect Sam and Dean to. :)

[trystan830]

welcome.

and yep, exactly!

[claudiapriscus]

This episode was not one of my least favorite...because it was so easily forgettable! This is how I define hating an episode: I'll be inescapably reminded of it during the course of the season, perhaps over and over again, and each time it will bring up so many unpleasant feelings towards the show that my enjoyment of even the best episode is lessened somewhat.

Thankfully, nothing in this episode is anything I will ever recall (hopefully).

Though it did get really really absurd with the lack of consequences. I will say that. Both in the small things you point out...and the dead body they left on the floor!

[hells_half_acre]

Yeah, I didn't bother writing about the lack of consequence, because I figured the review was complainy enough without me driving a truck through the plot-holes :P

I think this episode is my least favorite because I can't watch it without seeing the myriad of ways they could have easily made it better (despite the poor script). It's frustrating.

[mymuseandi]

I feel like the cougar-lady that's hitting on him, even though I'm only two years older than Sam (one year older than Jared).

LOL I feel like that too, when watching that particular scene, and i'm the same age as Sam!

Awww...Dean even causes 17 year old straight dudes to fall a little in love with him.

Well, he is Dean Winchester.. :p

I like this episode, although it's not one of the most memorable ones, because it's one of the few that involve witches or witching or something like that, even though the bad guys are not necessarily bad, and see at least one of the boys in a family setting (before the reset for s6). Plus, there's also the little insight into the Winchesters' lives pre-series, something that i hoard like crazy. :)

[hells_half_acre]

True, it IS one of those rare episodes where the bad guys aren't really bad...also, one of those rare episodes where they don't kill the "bad guys"...instead they just reform them (actually, it might be the only episode like that).

And I'm also a sucker for pre-series insight...so yeah, definitely the beginning was going pretty strong for me, and then it just descended into annoying-ness. But that's me. I'm glad other people enjoy the episode!

:)

[mymuseandi]

Oh, by the way, i know this is late, but Happy Belated Birthday! Hope the day was good for you, and you get to do all sorts of fun things and good food to eat!!!

[hells_half_acre]

Thank you!

My birthday was fantastic - and it ended with good wine, good music, and chocolate torte. So, I have absolutely no complaints!

[ext_197277]

Yea, this was my least favourite episode of the season too. (I usually don't like body-swapping as a plot device, this episode took out the few things I do like about it, namely having actors play other characters)

On the subject of giving consent and when it is rape, there was an interesting case a couple of years ago in which a man was convicted of raping a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder because one of her alternate personalities gave permission, but her more dominant personality didn't. The point then is that it doesn't matter who is in possession of your body, it's still your body and no one has the right to do anything you disagree with to it. Carrying your rape/possession metaphor, if Gary had said yes to Lucifer, Luci would still have been violating Sam, and Gary could then be seen as an accessory to the crime. That being said, based on Swan Song, I get the impression that Lucifer needed Sam to be in the body for him to use it.

If you want more info on the case mentioned, go hereFor more info on DID and rape, there

[hells_half_acre]

I don't really like body-swapping as a plot-device either...mainly because nobody does with it what I would want to do with it.

Interesting about the DID comparison! I hadn't thought of that. I was trying to think of a metaphor I could use to break down the consent issues, and I couldn't figure out one...but DID actually works pretty well, because it can be said that the person "isn't present" in their body at certain moments, yet a person IN that body can still give consent (or not, seeing as how the judge ruled it didn't count.) I was trying to think of it like a stolen car or something or someone trashing your house while you are on vacation, but yeah...DID is a good practical parallel.

But yeah, I also got the impression in Swan Song that Sam had to be in the body...why else would his anger make a difference?

[elliemurasaki]

I think the demon who put out the hit on Dean and the demon occupying Nora were both working on insufficient information. Lucifer could have killed Dean in 5x10 and chose not to. And I don't know what woulda happened if Gary-in-Sam had said yes to Lucifer but I doubt it woulda been pretty.

I think the reason we got Jared playing Sam and whatsis playing Gary except in mirrors is whatsis wouldn't have been able to play a convincing Sam. Especially in the first scenes with Sam in Gary's body.

[hells_half_acre]

See, I think whatsis COULD have played a convincing Sam. He seems like a good little actor, and if he WASN'T good enough to play a convincing Sam, then they shouldn't have cast him.

But I agree with you about the possibility that the demon was working off of insufficient information...that would explain a lot. I mean, if it were so easy to gain control of Sam's body that teenagers could do it - you'd think they'd have a more capable man/demon for the job.

[elliemurasaki]

So how would you have made it clear which times were Sam in Sam's body and which times were Gary in Sam's body if Jared was playing both parts?

[hells_half_acre]

Acting!

Also, PLOT! You do the reflection thing both times when they switch bodies, and then it's just a matter of remembering that they haven't switched back yet (and seeing how weird Sam is acting when it's Gary in Sam).