Supernatural 10x7 GIrls, Girls Girls
(Simul-post with Tumblr) Because...Because.
Recap
A blonde with her tits hanging out is fleeing. Her heel breaks. SPN...you better make this worth it...
It was worth it when she stabbed him in the eye. I liked that bit, that this thing used to hamper women, generally, she used as a weapon.... unfortunately the dude was a demon and killed her. Media entertainment, built on the backs of dead prostitutes. I mean, she's a hooker, right? Neon and leopard print. 'Plenty more where you came from' takes on some layers, here...
The boys are getting steak. It's nice to see Dean be enthusiastic about his food again.
*Sigh* And still SPN, some more? Look, while I wouldn't say I read quite so many people wanting to attack Jensen Ackles with their teeth, the way they do Misha Collins, but Jensen Ackles is gorgeous, yes? Isn't that what Matt Cohen said? He's a straight dude, but even he looks at Ackles and goes gay for a few seconds. So I guess the show thinks it's funny to pretend that he isn't obscenely attractive? It continues to baffle me. Not that hot men don't use prostitutes, but if you were a lady looking for business on a dating app, wouldn't you be more likely to pick a lonely unattractive dude who would be, presumably, even more desperate to get laid rather that one as good looking as Ackles who could probably get laid without having to pay for it?
Although, as a completely random aside, how much do I love that Dean texts in complete sentences? I mean, I was expecting some sad, sad spelling. His profile says 'Rolling through' and 'No Strings'.
Dean, you are not 35. You are 36, possibly even 38.
I love Sam's reaction, and the fact that he just scrolls right through Dean's conversation with Shaylene, and basically s being the bratty little brother.
'Are we talking mini golf or are we talking adult fun?' is among the messages.
….aaannnd she's 26.
*Heavy sigh*
Alright Sam, stop reading your brother's raunchy sexts.
Sam doubts Shaylene could exist, and seems ready to give Dean the talk about Internet Axe Murderers, except, the IAM for bad-ass hunters who have killed everything that needs killing, which, I suppose in Dean' case, might be, OH NOES, that the girl might be unattractive. Or not a girl.
But Lo, Sam is wrong, and Shaylene pops up, just as hot as advertised. Dean leaves with her, full of exaggerated BRO I'MNA TAP THIS HOTNESS.
Cut to Castiel and Hannah in a motel, and working on tracking down rogue angels. It's going normal until Hannah disrobes unexpectedly (AND CAS'S FACE.) Cas is not sure where to look, poor baby, but it's obvious how calibrated he is to understand human appropriateness and how this is outside. He asks her what gives. She's going to shower, despite angels not needing to do so. Cas is...I'm not sure. It could be pure discomfort, in that he understands the human aspect of this, and Castiel is really between being human and angel, so he's affected. On the other hand, we could be seeing some hints of his emergence as a being of sexual awareness. Also concern, for Hannah wanting to do this thing she has no need to do, what with it being a pure interaction with the physical plane.
Hannah detects his discomfort and inquires, but Castiel hastens to assure that No No Wut? No He Isn't Bothered.
Cut to Dean and Shaylene is a prostitute. Poor Dean. He mistakes her term for 'sexy rules' (HIS SAFEWORD IS TOTES IMPALA) . Poor Dean. What is this, the third episode on the row to point out effectively how old or undesirable he is?
Well, Dean has a rule 'No Cash for Ass', but that's okay, Shaylene just wants his soul. At once, you can see Dean go from Playtime Dean to Work Dean. In seconds he has this sussed out, that Shaylene is not so into this as she might seem.
Cas and Hannah are getting ready to leave to carry on with their mission of restoring all wayward angels to heaven. When Hannah is ready to pay the motel a fellow catches her by the wrist and calls her Caroline.
Back to Team Winchester. A Pimp heads in for a signature on his paperwork for Dean's soul in exchange for sex (the sad thing about this is that there must have been dudes who went through with it.), and walks into a trap laid by the Winchesters- and I kind of love them being so totally on top of shit, that low level stuff like this is a cakewalk. They start to interrogate him, but Shaylene manages to snag Dean's angelblade and kill the demon. Which does negate all that professionalism we just saw. With the help of a business card for Raoul’s Girls, off they go to find the source of this hooking in the name of the King of Hell.
And, speaking of Raoul’s Girls, here we are! Aww. And a pimp is being shitty to a prostitute and Raoul okay with the pimp beating her into compliance until a red-headed woman walks in and then-HOLY SHIT SHE JUST KILLED RAOUL BY MAKING HIM PUKE HIMSELF UP AND WAS A SCOTTISH BADASS AN INVITED THE PROSITUTES FOR LUNCH SHE'S SO AWESOME CAN SHE STAY FOREVER AND EVER?!?!
Back to Hannah and Joe. Joe is Caroline's husband, and Caroline is Hannah's vessel. He is clearly distraught, and refuses to go anywhere until she explains. On the fly, Hannah claims she ran off with Castiel, who chose that moment to walk back into the room and who just looks confused through the whole exchange. Joe disbelieves that his wife would run off with someone else, so Hannah lays one on Castiel. Who is really not into it. Castiel and Hannah leave.
Dean and Sam roll up to Raoul’s place and find the puked demon. They survey the scene, but when it's witches Dean won't even touch the liquor he pilfered.
Cut back to Scottish Witch Of Awesome (Rowena) and two ladies (Elle and Caitlin) in a fancy restaurant. The waiter tries to boot them out because, effectively, they don't want women of that class in the joint, though they dress it up to make it sound like a wardrobe issue. Rowena casts some magic, and soon the waitstaff are kissing their asses.
In Hell, the demon who was in the pimp with Raoul has smoked out, gotten a new vessel and is reporting to Crowley in his wine cellar. Apparently, the soul for sex operation was not hell-sanctioned, cause Crowley was too 'distracted' to give approval. And Crowley is annoyed by the 'tackiness' of the entire enterprise.
Sam and Dean, meanwhile, following the trail.
Back to Rowena. Our previous experience with witches has been minimal, but Rowena is a font of information; Apparently there is a grand coven of witches, witches may borrow power from a demon, or possess it themselves. Caitlin and Elle want to train, but the conversation ceases when the ensorcelled waiter kind of drops dead so they need to beat a hasty retreat.
Cut to....Heeeyyy Cole! Cole is torturing a demon. Looks like all his time in the library has paid off.
Castiel and Hannah have a talk about vessels at a gas station. Hannah tries to reconcile what she did to get rid of Joe and Castiel FINALLY mentions Jimmy- though come on Supernatural, would it kill you to tell us whether Jimmy Novak is rattling around up there? I tend to think no, because Castiel refers to Jimmy in third person, and says is that he had to take his vessel, twice, but that the sacrifice was required. Castiel turns around and Hannah is gone.
Sam and Dan are doing their thing on the trail- and indeed, Rowena is the red-head from Black who had the guy pinned to the ceiling. She has expensive taste, so off the Winchesters go.
Back to Castiel and Hannah. Hannah makes a surprising turn; realizing that her craving for human experiences and her emotions belong to her vessel, Caroline, she realizes that using them and indeed, getting the vessels killed is wrong. She is going to step back from her self appointed mission, and return to her mission from God; to tend humans. So Hannah leaves Caroline. I was always confused why angels took their vessels into heaven to do the scenes among other angels, other than they were scenes we needed to see. Still, typewriters in heaven always confusing.
Our story lines begin to converge. At a hotel Rowena preps her new students to handle the bellman at the door, except it's not, it's some demons come to take Rowena to Crowley, except they're interrupted and killed by Sam and Dean, who then want Rowena. She spells Elle to act like an attack dog and Sam is all I'LL TAKE THE BEAST-WOMAN DEAN, THEY'RE KIND OF MY THING, YOU GO GET ROWENA. Caitlin, who is brighter of the two, realizes this is a bad deal, and has the brains to deck Rowena and leave. Rowena almost curses her, but Dean pulls a gun on her … only to have Cole pull a gun on him. Rowena gets away and Cole, thinking he's got it down now, splashes Dean with holy water. They fight, but Dean tries to talk Cole down.
Elle dies and frees up Sammy.
The fight kind of settles, and Dean and Cole have a heart to heart. It's almost interrupted by Sam, but Dean keeps Sam out of it. We learn that Dean knows every one of his kills, knows who Cole's father was. Then Dean, who believes himself past saving, saved only because of those who love him. He advises Cole to stay out of the darkness, because once you go in, it never leaves you. Dean is so dead and torn up and reminds me so much about Famine's line about Dean having 'a whole lot of nothing'.
Castiel drives Caroline home, and then, to break my heart, googles Jimmy Novak, whose family has offered a reward in return for information on his whereabouts.
Sam and Dean see Cole off, and we're in for heartbreak number THREE; Sam. Dean is factual about his not being worth the saving, proving to us that in many ways, Dean has come no farther in his personal growth since season 1. After all the things he's done, he's still got rock bottom self esteem. And this clearly crushes Sam, who wants for his brother to love himself.
Meanwhile; Rowena did not get away. Demons scooped her up and she was in hell. Crowley moseyes in...and...
...Rowena is his mother...
...is it weird I'm not surprised?
Thoughts
This episode did a good job of balancing out five separate story lines. We have Dean and Sam, Castiel and Hannah, Cole, Crowley and the demons and Rowena. It moved quickly, and there was both an economy and a directness of dialogue I really appreciated. Scenes tended to be short, but rather than do Supernatural's usual thing of being frustratingly vague, there was a lot of information here. On the other hand, I felt that some elements needed more time. We've been building what we thought was a romance with Hannah, and it takes an abrupt left turn here. I think it's a reasonable turn, and I liked it, but I felt like it happened way too fast, and there's more to look at there. Also, Cole. I buy him doing what he did, just not this fast.
I like the turn this season is taking with family. The show started, and indeed, ran the first five seasons on family torn apart. The death of Mary Winchester/Jessica shaped the men in her life, and so too did John Winchester's death affect his kids. The first five seasons are founded on loss of family and the people left behind; People losing loved ones which made them into Hunters, family selling their souls for each other, and, heaven's family, which was ripped apart when Lucifer was tossed down by Micheal. Early seasons look a lot at what loss does to people; they seek vengeance or they hide. It looks at the survivors as they try and pull themselves together.
Seasons 6-8 look more at once the loss has quieted, how the remaining family tries to arrange itself around a power void. How they try (and fail) to create new families, and who is the head of the family. We have questions about what a family should be, and who should be in the family, but also, how the family is dysfunctional from the loss. Should Dean continually sacrifice himself and undermine Sam's decisions for himself? Should the angels kill each other for control of heaven? No, the series has decided, this is not what family should be.
What I'm hoping is what we're seeing is early strains of the next step; families coming together, and families proving to be the healthy thing. It would be a fitting way to end a show which has always been about family. We've seen Adam mentioned for the first time in four years, and John, all-father Chuck has reared his head. What we saw in this episode was Dean facing a version of himself, and turning this shadow-self back from this dark Hunter's path, back to his family. Hannah chooses to reclaim her heavenly duty as her father originally intended and departs her vessel so her vessel may return to her home and family. Castiel looks up Jimmy Novak to see what became of those he loved and called family.
But all is still not well.
Dean seems to be handling the Mark of Cain better, but he still is not a well boy. Dean signing up for a dating app is...pointed. Yeah, he puts on his profile that he just wants to hook up, but Dean has repeatedly been shown as a man who mocks domesticity, and yet longs for it. This episode has largely been about Sam reacting to Dean. Dean is trying so hard to play himself; the big steak thing, his exaggerated dude-bro demeanor when he leaves with Shaylene, but the cold hard truth is that Dean is where he was in season 3, only wearier. All that development that seemed to have happened in 8 is lost. He's basically marking time until he dies. This is a sobering thing for Sam to discover. Sam's journey has often been about making the wrong choice, and if asked, I think Sam would aspire to be Dean, in some ways. And yet, here is this person whose best is something Sam wants to aspire to, and yet he hates himself..and you can see how this destroys Sam, and how it connects with Dean wanting to be a demon.
I'm curious about where Sam's road will take him next. So far this season he has been purely reactionary. All he's done is respond to Dean's problems.
Regarding Crowley: one thing I have always liked about him is that he does keep his word and he does have standards. His evil is a bureaucratic kind, as he makes people wait in lines in hell and plays fast and loose with word games, obeying the letter though not the spirit. I never would think he wasn't evil, but I enjoy the dependability of his brand of evil. They can't all be crazy and changeable, after all, and by being measured, informed and, in his own way, fair, Crowley has also ensured survival for himself.
I find his pining for Dean interesting. On the one hand, in 8 we learned that Crowley's innermost emotional turmoil seems to be rooted in his deserving to be loved. We knew he sold his soul for a big penis, and that in the end, he did save his son, despite having what is obviously an extremely antagonistic relationship with him. Meeting his mother, who is clearly selfish to the nth degree (I'm not entirely sure if Crowley is in a vessel, but didn't his son recognize him? And yet his mother didn't..? That says a heap there, and as someone who that has actually happened to, it hurts no matter how over your estranged parent you think you are), suddenly we have a rather clear picture of ole Fergus, and he and Dean do make sense as brothers in arms, in a fashion. They both crave love, much of it stemming from a parental deficiency of same, and yet are in no position to have it, and wouldn't really know what a healthy relationship was if it bit them in the ass.
Dean uses sex as a coping mechanism as well as a sensual escape, and if getting a giant penis wasn't Fergus' way to try and get some nookie, I don't know what is. But sex is not a loving relationship, though men can often mistake the two. Before Dean became a demon, Crowley was already rather fond of the Winchesters, though he was willing to use them. When Dean became a demon he became a viable companion for Crowley, long term. While it does come off as a a bit ho-yay, I understand it. It's a yearning for family and connection, and Crowley and Dean might not be all that different. Although Crowley is more a dark reflection of Dean; by selling his soul for sex, it has someone become a weapon for him. He breaks most encounters down and gives them a sexual angle. Dean does this too, when threatened, particularly by men who want to beat him up.
SPOILER: I know we're expecting Claire Novak on the show. Continuing this theme of bringing family together, wouldn't it be awesome if the show was smart enough to remember that Claire was a vessel? So some residual bit of grace could be inside her, a Sam had Gadreel's, so that it is reclaiming Claire that saves Castiel? I'd love that. That'd be great.
And continuing in our efforts to bring up Destiel, and yet never let Dean and Cas share screen time... Yet, I cannot help but notice that Dean goes out to have meaningless sex....followed by scene possibly showing Castiel is not so asexual as he might or should be. The scene is supposed to be about Hannah, and her strange behavior, but it's also as much about Castiel. Contrast it with even the premiere, Black, when he opened the door presumably pantsless. The overall response on the part of Hannah was 'Uh, couldya cover up the human physicalness please?' It's interesting to see how they both have changed in seven episodes. I can't wait to see what new way they dream up to keep Cas separate from Sam and Dean, because it is reaching grotesquely comical proportions.
BTW, I don't think Dean including Castiel into the 'people' who love him is shippy significance. Of course Castiel loves Dean, he's a member of Dean's family. Dean's said this. It's not some big revelation, as the show could translate it into pure brotherly love. So. Not proof of Destiel, as much as I would like to see what Dean's conclusions regarding Destiel were, since Fan Fiction neer quite said. Maybe it will wait until they are in the same scene again, see above for the ridiculousness that is putting Castiel and Dean in the same fricken state let alone room.
I was sad to see Hannah go, but was also delighted to see the manner in which she departed. She didn't die. She found her higher purpose, but with affection for human kind. She recognized what humans were, and that she was not one, and that Caroline had a right to her life. It was nice to see the show treat vessels in a respectful manner. Season 10 seems to be a lot about picking up things that the showrunners have forgotten, but the fans have not.
The episode was called 'Girls Girls Girls' and I'm not sure about the title.
On the one hand, we've been introduced to Rowena, and Unnamd Prostitute Shaylene, Caitlin and Elle. Shaylene just sort of drops unexpectedly off the map when she stops being of use to the plot, despite having murdered a demon. Half the prostitutes died. Shaylene and Caitlin lived, which was refreshing, since I expected them all to die. I was worried about the way they would handle prostitution, and it wasn't bad. Don't get me wrong, it ended up being a little...I'm not sure how to say it, but I expect this all started with a joke that went 'what if Dean accidentally went out with a hooker?' All in all I felt there were too many stretches to make the prostitute thing work, and I didn't see any particular benefit to going into that world. Yeah, it was nice to see the demon pimp die, but the jury is still out until we know more about Rowena.
Rowena though, is different. She's clearly been locked up or something, because she's just now started to prowl around, trying to build a coven. She was sweet, but kind of arch and a lot of fun. I like that she, likely Crowley, has a zingy line at all times.
However, the uncomfortable element comes from the fact that the show still is very scared of female centers of power, and happily labels them as being evil, despite the fact that the boys use witchcraft and Hoo-doo often enough. It goes in with all the female deities being assholes. Not that most people aren't assholes in this 'verse, but I continue to find the show's pants wetting terror of female communities just a little insulting. Also, about mothers. Mothers are either saints (Mary, Lisa, Linda) or crazy evil (Eve, plethora of supernatural mothers). I'm hoping Rowena does not fall firmly into the latter category.
All in all, I'm interested, cautiously.
Recap
A blonde with her tits hanging out is fleeing. Her heel breaks. SPN...you better make this worth it...
It was worth it when she stabbed him in the eye. I liked that bit, that this thing used to hamper women, generally, she used as a weapon.... unfortunately the dude was a demon and killed her. Media entertainment, built on the backs of dead prostitutes. I mean, she's a hooker, right? Neon and leopard print. 'Plenty more where you came from' takes on some layers, here...
The boys are getting steak. It's nice to see Dean be enthusiastic about his food again.
*Sigh* And still SPN, some more? Look, while I wouldn't say I read quite so many people wanting to attack Jensen Ackles with their teeth, the way they do Misha Collins, but Jensen Ackles is gorgeous, yes? Isn't that what Matt Cohen said? He's a straight dude, but even he looks at Ackles and goes gay for a few seconds. So I guess the show thinks it's funny to pretend that he isn't obscenely attractive? It continues to baffle me. Not that hot men don't use prostitutes, but if you were a lady looking for business on a dating app, wouldn't you be more likely to pick a lonely unattractive dude who would be, presumably, even more desperate to get laid rather that one as good looking as Ackles who could probably get laid without having to pay for it?
Although, as a completely random aside, how much do I love that Dean texts in complete sentences? I mean, I was expecting some sad, sad spelling. His profile says 'Rolling through' and 'No Strings'.
Dean, you are not 35. You are 36, possibly even 38.
I love Sam's reaction, and the fact that he just scrolls right through Dean's conversation with Shaylene, and basically s being the bratty little brother.
'Are we talking mini golf or are we talking adult fun?' is among the messages.
….aaannnd she's 26.
*Heavy sigh*
Alright Sam, stop reading your brother's raunchy sexts.
Sam doubts Shaylene could exist, and seems ready to give Dean the talk about Internet Axe Murderers, except, the IAM for bad-ass hunters who have killed everything that needs killing, which, I suppose in Dean' case, might be, OH NOES, that the girl might be unattractive. Or not a girl.
But Lo, Sam is wrong, and Shaylene pops up, just as hot as advertised. Dean leaves with her, full of exaggerated BRO I'MNA TAP THIS HOTNESS.
Cut to Castiel and Hannah in a motel, and working on tracking down rogue angels. It's going normal until Hannah disrobes unexpectedly (AND CAS'S FACE.) Cas is not sure where to look, poor baby, but it's obvious how calibrated he is to understand human appropriateness and how this is outside. He asks her what gives. She's going to shower, despite angels not needing to do so. Cas is...I'm not sure. It could be pure discomfort, in that he understands the human aspect of this, and Castiel is really between being human and angel, so he's affected. On the other hand, we could be seeing some hints of his emergence as a being of sexual awareness. Also concern, for Hannah wanting to do this thing she has no need to do, what with it being a pure interaction with the physical plane.
Hannah detects his discomfort and inquires, but Castiel hastens to assure that No No Wut? No He Isn't Bothered.
Cut to Dean and Shaylene is a prostitute. Poor Dean. He mistakes her term for 'sexy rules' (HIS SAFEWORD IS TOTES IMPALA) . Poor Dean. What is this, the third episode on the row to point out effectively how old or undesirable he is?
Well, Dean has a rule 'No Cash for Ass', but that's okay, Shaylene just wants his soul. At once, you can see Dean go from Playtime Dean to Work Dean. In seconds he has this sussed out, that Shaylene is not so into this as she might seem.
Cas and Hannah are getting ready to leave to carry on with their mission of restoring all wayward angels to heaven. When Hannah is ready to pay the motel a fellow catches her by the wrist and calls her Caroline.
Back to Team Winchester. A Pimp heads in for a signature on his paperwork for Dean's soul in exchange for sex (the sad thing about this is that there must have been dudes who went through with it.), and walks into a trap laid by the Winchesters- and I kind of love them being so totally on top of shit, that low level stuff like this is a cakewalk. They start to interrogate him, but Shaylene manages to snag Dean's angelblade and kill the demon. Which does negate all that professionalism we just saw. With the help of a business card for Raoul’s Girls, off they go to find the source of this hooking in the name of the King of Hell.
And, speaking of Raoul’s Girls, here we are! Aww. And a pimp is being shitty to a prostitute and Raoul okay with the pimp beating her into compliance until a red-headed woman walks in and then-HOLY SHIT SHE JUST KILLED RAOUL BY MAKING HIM PUKE HIMSELF UP AND WAS A SCOTTISH BADASS AN INVITED THE PROSITUTES FOR LUNCH SHE'S SO AWESOME CAN SHE STAY FOREVER AND EVER?!?!
Back to Hannah and Joe. Joe is Caroline's husband, and Caroline is Hannah's vessel. He is clearly distraught, and refuses to go anywhere until she explains. On the fly, Hannah claims she ran off with Castiel, who chose that moment to walk back into the room and who just looks confused through the whole exchange. Joe disbelieves that his wife would run off with someone else, so Hannah lays one on Castiel. Who is really not into it. Castiel and Hannah leave.
Dean and Sam roll up to Raoul’s place and find the puked demon. They survey the scene, but when it's witches Dean won't even touch the liquor he pilfered.
Cut back to Scottish Witch Of Awesome (Rowena) and two ladies (Elle and Caitlin) in a fancy restaurant. The waiter tries to boot them out because, effectively, they don't want women of that class in the joint, though they dress it up to make it sound like a wardrobe issue. Rowena casts some magic, and soon the waitstaff are kissing their asses.
In Hell, the demon who was in the pimp with Raoul has smoked out, gotten a new vessel and is reporting to Crowley in his wine cellar. Apparently, the soul for sex operation was not hell-sanctioned, cause Crowley was too 'distracted' to give approval. And Crowley is annoyed by the 'tackiness' of the entire enterprise.
Sam and Dean, meanwhile, following the trail.
Back to Rowena. Our previous experience with witches has been minimal, but Rowena is a font of information; Apparently there is a grand coven of witches, witches may borrow power from a demon, or possess it themselves. Caitlin and Elle want to train, but the conversation ceases when the ensorcelled waiter kind of drops dead so they need to beat a hasty retreat.
Cut to....Heeeyyy Cole! Cole is torturing a demon. Looks like all his time in the library has paid off.
Castiel and Hannah have a talk about vessels at a gas station. Hannah tries to reconcile what she did to get rid of Joe and Castiel FINALLY mentions Jimmy- though come on Supernatural, would it kill you to tell us whether Jimmy Novak is rattling around up there? I tend to think no, because Castiel refers to Jimmy in third person, and says is that he had to take his vessel, twice, but that the sacrifice was required. Castiel turns around and Hannah is gone.
Sam and Dan are doing their thing on the trail- and indeed, Rowena is the red-head from Black who had the guy pinned to the ceiling. She has expensive taste, so off the Winchesters go.
Back to Castiel and Hannah. Hannah makes a surprising turn; realizing that her craving for human experiences and her emotions belong to her vessel, Caroline, she realizes that using them and indeed, getting the vessels killed is wrong. She is going to step back from her self appointed mission, and return to her mission from God; to tend humans. So Hannah leaves Caroline. I was always confused why angels took their vessels into heaven to do the scenes among other angels, other than they were scenes we needed to see. Still, typewriters in heaven always confusing.
Our story lines begin to converge. At a hotel Rowena preps her new students to handle the bellman at the door, except it's not, it's some demons come to take Rowena to Crowley, except they're interrupted and killed by Sam and Dean, who then want Rowena. She spells Elle to act like an attack dog and Sam is all I'LL TAKE THE BEAST-WOMAN DEAN, THEY'RE KIND OF MY THING, YOU GO GET ROWENA. Caitlin, who is brighter of the two, realizes this is a bad deal, and has the brains to deck Rowena and leave. Rowena almost curses her, but Dean pulls a gun on her … only to have Cole pull a gun on him. Rowena gets away and Cole, thinking he's got it down now, splashes Dean with holy water. They fight, but Dean tries to talk Cole down.
Elle dies and frees up Sammy.
The fight kind of settles, and Dean and Cole have a heart to heart. It's almost interrupted by Sam, but Dean keeps Sam out of it. We learn that Dean knows every one of his kills, knows who Cole's father was. Then Dean, who believes himself past saving, saved only because of those who love him. He advises Cole to stay out of the darkness, because once you go in, it never leaves you. Dean is so dead and torn up and reminds me so much about Famine's line about Dean having 'a whole lot of nothing'.
Castiel drives Caroline home, and then, to break my heart, googles Jimmy Novak, whose family has offered a reward in return for information on his whereabouts.
Sam and Dean see Cole off, and we're in for heartbreak number THREE; Sam. Dean is factual about his not being worth the saving, proving to us that in many ways, Dean has come no farther in his personal growth since season 1. After all the things he's done, he's still got rock bottom self esteem. And this clearly crushes Sam, who wants for his brother to love himself.
Meanwhile; Rowena did not get away. Demons scooped her up and she was in hell. Crowley moseyes in...and...
...Rowena is his mother...
...is it weird I'm not surprised?
Thoughts
This episode did a good job of balancing out five separate story lines. We have Dean and Sam, Castiel and Hannah, Cole, Crowley and the demons and Rowena. It moved quickly, and there was both an economy and a directness of dialogue I really appreciated. Scenes tended to be short, but rather than do Supernatural's usual thing of being frustratingly vague, there was a lot of information here. On the other hand, I felt that some elements needed more time. We've been building what we thought was a romance with Hannah, and it takes an abrupt left turn here. I think it's a reasonable turn, and I liked it, but I felt like it happened way too fast, and there's more to look at there. Also, Cole. I buy him doing what he did, just not this fast.
I like the turn this season is taking with family. The show started, and indeed, ran the first five seasons on family torn apart. The death of Mary Winchester/Jessica shaped the men in her life, and so too did John Winchester's death affect his kids. The first five seasons are founded on loss of family and the people left behind; People losing loved ones which made them into Hunters, family selling their souls for each other, and, heaven's family, which was ripped apart when Lucifer was tossed down by Micheal. Early seasons look a lot at what loss does to people; they seek vengeance or they hide. It looks at the survivors as they try and pull themselves together.
Seasons 6-8 look more at once the loss has quieted, how the remaining family tries to arrange itself around a power void. How they try (and fail) to create new families, and who is the head of the family. We have questions about what a family should be, and who should be in the family, but also, how the family is dysfunctional from the loss. Should Dean continually sacrifice himself and undermine Sam's decisions for himself? Should the angels kill each other for control of heaven? No, the series has decided, this is not what family should be.
What I'm hoping is what we're seeing is early strains of the next step; families coming together, and families proving to be the healthy thing. It would be a fitting way to end a show which has always been about family. We've seen Adam mentioned for the first time in four years, and John, all-father Chuck has reared his head. What we saw in this episode was Dean facing a version of himself, and turning this shadow-self back from this dark Hunter's path, back to his family. Hannah chooses to reclaim her heavenly duty as her father originally intended and departs her vessel so her vessel may return to her home and family. Castiel looks up Jimmy Novak to see what became of those he loved and called family.
But all is still not well.
Dean seems to be handling the Mark of Cain better, but he still is not a well boy. Dean signing up for a dating app is...pointed. Yeah, he puts on his profile that he just wants to hook up, but Dean has repeatedly been shown as a man who mocks domesticity, and yet longs for it. This episode has largely been about Sam reacting to Dean. Dean is trying so hard to play himself; the big steak thing, his exaggerated dude-bro demeanor when he leaves with Shaylene, but the cold hard truth is that Dean is where he was in season 3, only wearier. All that development that seemed to have happened in 8 is lost. He's basically marking time until he dies. This is a sobering thing for Sam to discover. Sam's journey has often been about making the wrong choice, and if asked, I think Sam would aspire to be Dean, in some ways. And yet, here is this person whose best is something Sam wants to aspire to, and yet he hates himself..and you can see how this destroys Sam, and how it connects with Dean wanting to be a demon.
I'm curious about where Sam's road will take him next. So far this season he has been purely reactionary. All he's done is respond to Dean's problems.
Regarding Crowley: one thing I have always liked about him is that he does keep his word and he does have standards. His evil is a bureaucratic kind, as he makes people wait in lines in hell and plays fast and loose with word games, obeying the letter though not the spirit. I never would think he wasn't evil, but I enjoy the dependability of his brand of evil. They can't all be crazy and changeable, after all, and by being measured, informed and, in his own way, fair, Crowley has also ensured survival for himself.
I find his pining for Dean interesting. On the one hand, in 8 we learned that Crowley's innermost emotional turmoil seems to be rooted in his deserving to be loved. We knew he sold his soul for a big penis, and that in the end, he did save his son, despite having what is obviously an extremely antagonistic relationship with him. Meeting his mother, who is clearly selfish to the nth degree (I'm not entirely sure if Crowley is in a vessel, but didn't his son recognize him? And yet his mother didn't..? That says a heap there, and as someone who that has actually happened to, it hurts no matter how over your estranged parent you think you are), suddenly we have a rather clear picture of ole Fergus, and he and Dean do make sense as brothers in arms, in a fashion. They both crave love, much of it stemming from a parental deficiency of same, and yet are in no position to have it, and wouldn't really know what a healthy relationship was if it bit them in the ass.
Dean uses sex as a coping mechanism as well as a sensual escape, and if getting a giant penis wasn't Fergus' way to try and get some nookie, I don't know what is. But sex is not a loving relationship, though men can often mistake the two. Before Dean became a demon, Crowley was already rather fond of the Winchesters, though he was willing to use them. When Dean became a demon he became a viable companion for Crowley, long term. While it does come off as a a bit ho-yay, I understand it. It's a yearning for family and connection, and Crowley and Dean might not be all that different. Although Crowley is more a dark reflection of Dean; by selling his soul for sex, it has someone become a weapon for him. He breaks most encounters down and gives them a sexual angle. Dean does this too, when threatened, particularly by men who want to beat him up.
SPOILER: I know we're expecting Claire Novak on the show. Continuing this theme of bringing family together, wouldn't it be awesome if the show was smart enough to remember that Claire was a vessel? So some residual bit of grace could be inside her, a Sam had Gadreel's, so that it is reclaiming Claire that saves Castiel? I'd love that. That'd be great.
And continuing in our efforts to bring up Destiel, and yet never let Dean and Cas share screen time... Yet, I cannot help but notice that Dean goes out to have meaningless sex....followed by scene possibly showing Castiel is not so asexual as he might or should be. The scene is supposed to be about Hannah, and her strange behavior, but it's also as much about Castiel. Contrast it with even the premiere, Black, when he opened the door presumably pantsless. The overall response on the part of Hannah was 'Uh, couldya cover up the human physicalness please?' It's interesting to see how they both have changed in seven episodes. I can't wait to see what new way they dream up to keep Cas separate from Sam and Dean, because it is reaching grotesquely comical proportions.
BTW, I don't think Dean including Castiel into the 'people' who love him is shippy significance. Of course Castiel loves Dean, he's a member of Dean's family. Dean's said this. It's not some big revelation, as the show could translate it into pure brotherly love. So. Not proof of Destiel, as much as I would like to see what Dean's conclusions regarding Destiel were, since Fan Fiction neer quite said. Maybe it will wait until they are in the same scene again, see above for the ridiculousness that is putting Castiel and Dean in the same fricken state let alone room.
I was sad to see Hannah go, but was also delighted to see the manner in which she departed. She didn't die. She found her higher purpose, but with affection for human kind. She recognized what humans were, and that she was not one, and that Caroline had a right to her life. It was nice to see the show treat vessels in a respectful manner. Season 10 seems to be a lot about picking up things that the showrunners have forgotten, but the fans have not.
The episode was called 'Girls Girls Girls' and I'm not sure about the title.
On the one hand, we've been introduced to Rowena, and Unnamd Prostitute Shaylene, Caitlin and Elle. Shaylene just sort of drops unexpectedly off the map when she stops being of use to the plot, despite having murdered a demon. Half the prostitutes died. Shaylene and Caitlin lived, which was refreshing, since I expected them all to die. I was worried about the way they would handle prostitution, and it wasn't bad. Don't get me wrong, it ended up being a little...I'm not sure how to say it, but I expect this all started with a joke that went 'what if Dean accidentally went out with a hooker?' All in all I felt there were too many stretches to make the prostitute thing work, and I didn't see any particular benefit to going into that world. Yeah, it was nice to see the demon pimp die, but the jury is still out until we know more about Rowena.
Rowena though, is different. She's clearly been locked up or something, because she's just now started to prowl around, trying to build a coven. She was sweet, but kind of arch and a lot of fun. I like that she, likely Crowley, has a zingy line at all times.
However, the uncomfortable element comes from the fact that the show still is very scared of female centers of power, and happily labels them as being evil, despite the fact that the boys use witchcraft and Hoo-doo often enough. It goes in with all the female deities being assholes. Not that most people aren't assholes in this 'verse, but I continue to find the show's pants wetting terror of female communities just a little insulting. Also, about mothers. Mothers are either saints (Mary, Lisa, Linda) or crazy evil (Eve, plethora of supernatural mothers). I'm hoping Rowena does not fall firmly into the latter category.
All in all, I'm interested, cautiously.