Before the next episode airs, my very late reaction to
Dark Side of the Moon.
OMG I loved this episode. Loved it. What I loved about it most was that it was a return to the issues between Sam and Dean from season 1.
yourlibrarian has done an excellent breakdown of these issues, the differences in Sam's and Dean's perspectives and insecurities,
here. She's done so well, I don't have to restate them all.
But what I liked was that it showed that Sam and Dean have never really dealt with Sam's leaving for Stanford. Sam no longer is bucking for a normal life, but not because what he wants has changed, or that he has realized Dean's view of things is right (which is what I think Dean assumed, right up until this episode), but because Sam has stopped believing a normal life was possible. So all of those old emotional wounds between them have never been healed, they've just been ignored. And this episode--pow! Right for the gut.
Also, I think I squeaked when Ash appeared. Ash! Hacking heaven! Two things that I love, giving a character I liked a happy ending and continuity! It also makes me feel weirdly better about Ellen's and Jo's deaths now that I can picture Ash yanking them out of their individual heavens to hang in the heavenly Roadhouse. And I loved seeing Pamela again, too.
And Mary! And Dean so Jensen Ackles so perfectly playing an adult and a four-year-old. That hug with Mary could have been creepy, but was so adorable. And Dean's heaven is watching Sam happy. Aw... Of course it is.
One thing I've been reading in a lot of metas is that Dean throwing away the amulet is him rejecting Sam. I don't really buy that. Or I think that's only part of it. Before the amulet was just a sign of Sam's love. Now it's a failed god detector. After Castiel says it's worthless, I just can't see Dean putting it back on. It means something different than it did before. So I see him throwing it away as him finally throwing away the last of his faith in a lot things--Sam, God, but also that there is some way out of this for them. Cause now Dean knows what will happen when he dies. He'll go to his own bubble heaven, isolated and controlled by angels, and maybe he'll share it with Sam, but right now I think he thinks Sam doesn't want him in it. So throwing away the amulet is rejecting Sam, but it is a more profound giving up than just that.
Also, Sam totally grabbed that out of the trash.
I've been kind of avoidant about SPN lately, ever since they KILLED A CERTAIN TWO CHARACTERS. Actually, no. Ever since the atrocity that was the fan convention episode. But this has me stoked for tonight.