SPN 7.21 - Reading is Fundamental
I did like this episode overall. It left me feeling a bit out of sorts, which is why this review is late, but I did like it.
Mostly, I was just a bit confused about what was going on, exactly. So clearly Cas is crazy...but...what does that mean exactly?
So Cas took on Sam's hallucinations of Lucifer. These were an after-effect of Sam's wall breaking, and him now remembering being tortured in Hell. But Cas doesn't see Lucifer anymore, or so he tells Sam. Instead, he sees...everything? He was definitely not all there, but I really don't know WHAT happened to him at all.
Which made everything that followed hard to make sense of, for me. For one thing, the Cas/Meg relationship. I'm not feeling it. There's clearly...something going on, a fondness, if nothing else. It seems like crazy!Cas does trust Meg. As for Meg, I don't know what to make of her. My gut instinct is not to trust her. As far as we've seen, there's never been a truly trustworthy demon - even Ruby and Crowley were always really, at heart, working for their own ends, as much as I wanted to believe otherwise. And I think the same is true for Meg, really. She's working with the Winchesters and Cas right now because that serves her interests. But I don't think she feels any real loyalty to them, and so I don't trust her.
So seeing Cas...even crazy!Cas...trust her makes me feel out of sorts, to say the least.
I was pretty satisfied with Dean's interactions with Cas. I think that there's obviously been a LOT of bad water under the bridge, a lot of hurt, anger, and betrayal. All the same, I do think Dean's on his way to forgiving Cas. You can see that he wants to, and that he clearly still cares about Cas. Take the Sorry! game scene, for instance. There's clearly a lot of frustration there, but Dean really does want to get through to Cas. I love when Dean tells him, "I want you to button up your coat, and help us take down leviathans." Dean just wants to fight beside Cas again. And I don't know where Cas's head is at, really, but I feel sure that he still wants to redeem himself.
Oh, and then Cas's super awkward hug! He finally gets one, and it was just such a bizarre sort of half-hug. Damn it, I want him to get a real one! But this one was amusing all the same.
I was also moved by Dean's scene with Kevin, where he talks about how angels aren't capable of caring - and that when they try, it breaks them apart. He's pretty clearly talking about Cas there, I think. He seems to realize how inherently different angels are from humans, and maybe on some level, Dean realizes how that Cas really was always trying to do the right thing. That this is what happens when an angel gets free will, tries to experience human emotions. I've always seen Cas's arc as an inevitable turn for him, so I love that Dean seems to be getting this now, too. There's a bit of tragedy in the line, too, which hurts me, but on the whole, I think it shows a lot of understanding on Dean's part. Which I was really glad to see.
I liked Cas's conversation with Sam, too. Cas explains his brand of crazy to Sam, which I still don't really get. But he says that taking on Sam's pain is what helped him. That's pretty significant, and makes me think that this is all part of Cas's redemption path. This is all what he has to go through. Sam seemed pretty forgiving of Cas, which wasn't too surprising to me (it makes sense that Dean would have a harder time forgiving, especially for what happened to Sam himself).
Another touching line: the angel Hester telling Dean, "The very touch of you corrupts. When Castiel laid a hand on you in Hell, he was lost." The look on Dean's face - he totally agrees with her, thinks that he's tainted in this way. And that really was the turning point for Cas, too, for better or worse - that was the first step on his path to free will, and everything that has followed since then. It really does all come back to Dean (which I hope Dean realizes, too, on some level).
Cas leaving at the end - I'm not really surprised, but again, I don't know where this is going. Is Cas going to get better at some point? I don't know. I'm definitely intrigued, but I don't know.
The whole Word of God plot did seem a bit contrived to me. Oh, how convenient. I liked Kevin, though I wasn't crazy about the Asian stereotypes (but I guess, at least there are Asians at all). There were some more lighthearted funny moments from crazy!Cas, which were entertaining. It was a good ep overall and I liked it, and am intrigued for the rest of the season.
Mostly, I was just a bit confused about what was going on, exactly. So clearly Cas is crazy...but...what does that mean exactly?
So Cas took on Sam's hallucinations of Lucifer. These were an after-effect of Sam's wall breaking, and him now remembering being tortured in Hell. But Cas doesn't see Lucifer anymore, or so he tells Sam. Instead, he sees...everything? He was definitely not all there, but I really don't know WHAT happened to him at all.
Which made everything that followed hard to make sense of, for me. For one thing, the Cas/Meg relationship. I'm not feeling it. There's clearly...something going on, a fondness, if nothing else. It seems like crazy!Cas does trust Meg. As for Meg, I don't know what to make of her. My gut instinct is not to trust her. As far as we've seen, there's never been a truly trustworthy demon - even Ruby and Crowley were always really, at heart, working for their own ends, as much as I wanted to believe otherwise. And I think the same is true for Meg, really. She's working with the Winchesters and Cas right now because that serves her interests. But I don't think she feels any real loyalty to them, and so I don't trust her.
So seeing Cas...even crazy!Cas...trust her makes me feel out of sorts, to say the least.
I was pretty satisfied with Dean's interactions with Cas. I think that there's obviously been a LOT of bad water under the bridge, a lot of hurt, anger, and betrayal. All the same, I do think Dean's on his way to forgiving Cas. You can see that he wants to, and that he clearly still cares about Cas. Take the Sorry! game scene, for instance. There's clearly a lot of frustration there, but Dean really does want to get through to Cas. I love when Dean tells him, "I want you to button up your coat, and help us take down leviathans." Dean just wants to fight beside Cas again. And I don't know where Cas's head is at, really, but I feel sure that he still wants to redeem himself.
Oh, and then Cas's super awkward hug! He finally gets one, and it was just such a bizarre sort of half-hug. Damn it, I want him to get a real one! But this one was amusing all the same.
I was also moved by Dean's scene with Kevin, where he talks about how angels aren't capable of caring - and that when they try, it breaks them apart. He's pretty clearly talking about Cas there, I think. He seems to realize how inherently different angels are from humans, and maybe on some level, Dean realizes how that Cas really was always trying to do the right thing. That this is what happens when an angel gets free will, tries to experience human emotions. I've always seen Cas's arc as an inevitable turn for him, so I love that Dean seems to be getting this now, too. There's a bit of tragedy in the line, too, which hurts me, but on the whole, I think it shows a lot of understanding on Dean's part. Which I was really glad to see.
I liked Cas's conversation with Sam, too. Cas explains his brand of crazy to Sam, which I still don't really get. But he says that taking on Sam's pain is what helped him. That's pretty significant, and makes me think that this is all part of Cas's redemption path. This is all what he has to go through. Sam seemed pretty forgiving of Cas, which wasn't too surprising to me (it makes sense that Dean would have a harder time forgiving, especially for what happened to Sam himself).
Another touching line: the angel Hester telling Dean, "The very touch of you corrupts. When Castiel laid a hand on you in Hell, he was lost." The look on Dean's face - he totally agrees with her, thinks that he's tainted in this way. And that really was the turning point for Cas, too, for better or worse - that was the first step on his path to free will, and everything that has followed since then. It really does all come back to Dean (which I hope Dean realizes, too, on some level).
Cas leaving at the end - I'm not really surprised, but again, I don't know where this is going. Is Cas going to get better at some point? I don't know. I'm definitely intrigued, but I don't know.
The whole Word of God plot did seem a bit contrived to me. Oh, how convenient. I liked Kevin, though I wasn't crazy about the Asian stereotypes (but I guess, at least there are Asians at all). There were some more lighthearted funny moments from crazy!Cas, which were entertaining. It was a good ep overall and I liked it, and am intrigued for the rest of the season.