SPN month, angel week day (4)
Generally, one doesn't wish to be cavalier with harsh language like "foul stank of pigeon crap."
And yet, sometimes circumstances and intellectual honesty compel exceptional measures.
Such is the case with Swan Song.
I am one for concept over execution. Obviously, I prefer both to be strong, but I can usually forgive just about anything in service of dedication to a good idea. And Swan Song is, in theory, an excellent idea. The story itself was exactly what I'd wanted for Sam's arc ( NO, this is not retroactive opinioneering); my heart simply broke for all the characters; even the cinematography was simply beautiful.
But.
Whenever I'd start to get into it, whenever the emotion would get really powerful, there would be another interruption from FRIGGING CHUCK, who had suckered me into ACTUALLY LIKING HIM for the season and a half we'd known him. And it would go ON. and ON. and ON. And when you are having an emotional moment, the last thing you need is for someone to jump out and yell "EMOTIONAL MOMENT!!! RIGHT HEEEEEERE!!!"
I was ALL SET to give it up, you guys. I WANTED to be all
and instead I was all
Which brings me to:
(17) Do you think Chuck is God?
Placement of this question in "angel week" is probably a SPOILER!
NO. I honestly had no clue 5.22 was supposed to be suggesting this until I started seeing it pop up everywhere. I don't like the idea because the unsubtle Chuck-insertion in Swan Dive took what should have been an OH MY GOD ALL MY TEARS episode that was, again, exactly what I wanted, and turned it into a cringe-fest, and so I am obviously reluctant to DEIFY it. If Chuck, already textually recognized as an authorial avatar, is GOD, then it's not just a writing choice that missed the mark. It's the show having deliberately traded off pure excellence for the sake of an act of self-indulgence embarrassing enough to make Aaron Sorkin tell you to zip up on the bus, perv.
Particularly since there's a mythologically consistent (this is my diplomatic way of saying non-stupid) explanation for Chuck? I think the prophets are the line of vessels for Metatron. Metatron, for those who were not teenagers in the mid-Atlantic region of the US during Kevin Smith's heyday, is a messenger angel of the highest order, known as the voice of God. Perfect, right?
As of Survival of the Fittest, I assumed that my theory was jossed. We had the writing of Metatron, we had the prophet Kevin, and...it wasn't what I'd pictured. But having seen the season play out, I have decided that it only supports my hypothesis. It confirms the existence of the archangel Metatron in the SPN-verse, and establishes Metatron as having power and mission distinct from the the other archangels, and confirms that Metatron has a particular but as of yet mysterious connection to the human beings known as "prophets."
So, yeah. God-Chuck:
Metatron-Chuck:
This has been a rant.
And yet, sometimes circumstances and intellectual honesty compel exceptional measures.
Such is the case with Swan Song.
I am one for concept over execution. Obviously, I prefer both to be strong, but I can usually forgive just about anything in service of dedication to a good idea. And Swan Song is, in theory, an excellent idea. The story itself was exactly what I'd wanted for Sam's arc ( NO, this is not retroactive opinioneering); my heart simply broke for all the characters; even the cinematography was simply beautiful.
But.
Whenever I'd start to get into it, whenever the emotion would get really powerful, there would be another interruption from FRIGGING CHUCK, who had suckered me into ACTUALLY LIKING HIM for the season and a half we'd known him. And it would go ON. and ON. and ON. And when you are having an emotional moment, the last thing you need is for someone to jump out and yell "EMOTIONAL MOMENT!!! RIGHT HEEEEEERE!!!"
I was ALL SET to give it up, you guys. I WANTED to be all
and instead I was all
Which brings me to:
(17) Do you think Chuck is God?
Placement of this question in "angel week" is probably a SPOILER!
NO. I honestly had no clue 5.22 was supposed to be suggesting this until I started seeing it pop up everywhere. I don't like the idea because the unsubtle Chuck-insertion in Swan Dive took what should have been an OH MY GOD ALL MY TEARS episode that was, again, exactly what I wanted, and turned it into a cringe-fest, and so I am obviously reluctant to DEIFY it. If Chuck, already textually recognized as an authorial avatar, is GOD, then it's not just a writing choice that missed the mark. It's the show having deliberately traded off pure excellence for the sake of an act of self-indulgence embarrassing enough to make Aaron Sorkin tell you to zip up on the bus, perv.
Particularly since there's a mythologically consistent (this is my diplomatic way of saying non-stupid) explanation for Chuck? I think the prophets are the line of vessels for Metatron. Metatron, for those who were not teenagers in the mid-Atlantic region of the US during Kevin Smith's heyday, is a messenger angel of the highest order, known as the voice of God. Perfect, right?
As of Survival of the Fittest, I assumed that my theory was jossed. We had the writing of Metatron, we had the prophet Kevin, and...it wasn't what I'd pictured. But having seen the season play out, I have decided that it only supports my hypothesis. It confirms the existence of the archangel Metatron in the SPN-verse, and establishes Metatron as having power and mission distinct from the the other archangels, and confirms that Metatron has a particular but as of yet mysterious connection to the human beings known as "prophets."
So, yeah. God-Chuck:
Metatron-Chuck:
This has been a rant.