(no subject)
The parts of the episode that writing I'd have been proud of - managing to keep Los Winchesters true to themselves in the face of the huge mytharc's no mean feat. The first half of the episode? Sure. I can dig that.
My main problem is the one I've had with SPN for the last series or two, which is where it strays into metanarrative and becomes Kripke complaining about the pressures of fandom. Parts of the episode scanned more as a manifesto on why writing is hard and how we don't understand the pressures of keeping an audience happy than anything else (especially a particular mytharc revelation, which I'm still not entirely sure makes sense when taken in context with the preceeding canon).
The other recurrent problem has been pacing, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't think this was still an issue - Kripke seems to tend towards leaving himself a hell of a lot to pack into one episode.
Also - and this is probably heresy, I know - I think they bit off a little more than they could chew with the demands placed on Padalecki. I'll need to rewatch, though, to make my mind up on that one.
The balance between 'bleak and empty' and (for want of a better word) 'cheese' felt a little odd to me, though that's probably just a personal thing as I'm not especially fond of 'chickflick moments' at the best of times.
One good thing, I guess, is that it has me looking forward to S6 whereas before I'd been wanting a definite ending post-Krikpocalypse. Hopefully once S6 rolls around it'll improve in retrospect.
ETA
Kroki-Refur kinda hit the nail on the head (fic here):
"... Sam disappeared into a hole in the ground in a cemetery near Lawrence, Kansas. Jesus Christ, Sammy. Only you could finally kick it by falling into a fucking hole in the ground. It’s ridiculous, is what it is, that all this, all this, twenty-seven fucking years of fighting, comes down to something so simple, so stupid. No hell-hounds, no blinding light, no choirs of angels, just a giant yawning pit and then Sam gone like he was never there, like Dean never had a brother in the first place."
Thematically, this should be brilliant. Looking at the episode from a character-based viewpoint - this being me, am I going to do it any other way? - then it's not so bad. Looking at it as raw entertainment, as my better half is? Yeah. Still kinda anti-climactic.
Hopefully this means most of my issues with the episode'll fade once we have Kripke (or, um, Sera, since we're having a reshuffle for S6)'s coda?
Things which are still bugging me:
- pacing
- meta
- stylistic departure felt a little weird, though I'll tolerate it because a) finale and b) Impala!canon = nice
- Chuck = God. Seriously, Kripke? Your meta is showing again. As spades-fire put it, it was a much better metaphor when it was "writers are under certain compulsions / Chuck is under God's compulsion" rather than "The writer is God, deal with it fans"
- quick fixes for everyone (except, um, Dean, I guess) - not that I'm saying I'd want Cas or Bobby dead!dead, that would suck, but it felt kinda... meh
- the Satan vs. Sam dialogue scene is still feeling a little meh as well - we've seen SPN do that pretty well in the past (see: demon!Dean in Dream A Little Dream), and with all the build up... I don't know. Padalecki did well with keeping the physicality of the characters different but beyond that... yeah. I'll have to rewatch
On a slightly more positive note, things I did like?
- the first half of the episode, in particular the two big dialogue scenes with the brothers
- Impala!canon. I'm such a nut for stupid little backstory details
- Castiel. Oh Cas <3
It's also nice to - potentially, at least - see canon bearing out my hesitations when it comes to the idea of Dean + Lisa = happy ending. It really, really doesn't, and I could discuss this at length but you'd get bored.
My main problem is the one I've had with SPN for the last series or two, which is where it strays into metanarrative and becomes Kripke complaining about the pressures of fandom. Parts of the episode scanned more as a manifesto on why writing is hard and how we don't understand the pressures of keeping an audience happy than anything else (especially a particular mytharc revelation, which I'm still not entirely sure makes sense when taken in context with the preceeding canon).
The other recurrent problem has been pacing, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't think this was still an issue - Kripke seems to tend towards leaving himself a hell of a lot to pack into one episode.
Also - and this is probably heresy, I know - I think they bit off a little more than they could chew with the demands placed on Padalecki. I'll need to rewatch, though, to make my mind up on that one.
The balance between 'bleak and empty' and (for want of a better word) 'cheese' felt a little odd to me, though that's probably just a personal thing as I'm not especially fond of 'chickflick moments' at the best of times.
One good thing, I guess, is that it has me looking forward to S6 whereas before I'd been wanting a definite ending post-Krikpocalypse. Hopefully once S6 rolls around it'll improve in retrospect.
ETA
Kroki-Refur kinda hit the nail on the head (fic here):
"... Sam disappeared into a hole in the ground in a cemetery near Lawrence, Kansas. Jesus Christ, Sammy. Only you could finally kick it by falling into a fucking hole in the ground. It’s ridiculous, is what it is, that all this, all this, twenty-seven fucking years of fighting, comes down to something so simple, so stupid. No hell-hounds, no blinding light, no choirs of angels, just a giant yawning pit and then Sam gone like he was never there, like Dean never had a brother in the first place."
Thematically, this should be brilliant. Looking at the episode from a character-based viewpoint - this being me, am I going to do it any other way? - then it's not so bad. Looking at it as raw entertainment, as my better half is? Yeah. Still kinda anti-climactic.
Hopefully this means most of my issues with the episode'll fade once we have Kripke (or, um, Sera, since we're having a reshuffle for S6)'s coda?
Things which are still bugging me:
- pacing
- meta
- stylistic departure felt a little weird, though I'll tolerate it because a) finale and b) Impala!canon = nice
- Chuck = God. Seriously, Kripke? Your meta is showing again. As spades-fire put it, it was a much better metaphor when it was "writers are under certain compulsions / Chuck is under God's compulsion" rather than "The writer is God, deal with it fans"
- quick fixes for everyone (except, um, Dean, I guess) - not that I'm saying I'd want Cas or Bobby dead!dead, that would suck, but it felt kinda... meh
- the Satan vs. Sam dialogue scene is still feeling a little meh as well - we've seen SPN do that pretty well in the past (see: demon!Dean in Dream A Little Dream), and with all the build up... I don't know. Padalecki did well with keeping the physicality of the characters different but beyond that... yeah. I'll have to rewatch
On a slightly more positive note, things I did like?
- the first half of the episode, in particular the two big dialogue scenes with the brothers
- Impala!canon. I'm such a nut for stupid little backstory details
- Castiel. Oh Cas <3
It's also nice to - potentially, at least - see canon bearing out my hesitations when it comes to the idea of Dean + Lisa = happy ending. It really, really doesn't, and I could discuss this at length but you'd get bored.