Sunday 29 May 2016

Supernatural Think Tank - Thinky Thoughts and Theories on the Supernatural Season 11 Finale

-by Anna



I liked this season finale, granted, for me it wasn't as emotionally intense as other season finales have been, but what it lacked in intensity, it totally made up for in emotional satisfaction. There were awesome brother moments, awesome Sam moments, awesome Dean moments and of course there's Crowley. He is delicious. Most importantly it was a fitting end to a story that began all the way in Season 5. 


If you all don't mind, I would like to elaborate on the emotional satisfaction I felt by the hour's end. I have posted for years now how I had always believed that God had not abandoned his creation, but had been around this entire time. I've also postulated time and time again, ever since learning that Heaven commanded Sam and Dean be born in My Bloody Valentine, that God not only was still around, but that he created the Winchesters as a gift to all of humanity. While God was no longer hands on, he still gave the world Sam and Dean and has often saved them and provided for them when they needed it the most. God created angels. He created Castiel, the apparent spanner in the works, yet who turned out to be an ally to the Winchesters, betraying the angels, to help Sam and Dean stop the Apocalypse. Cas has been the Winchester's guardian angel, and if one were to think about it, it was Chuck/God who created Castiel in the first place. The square peg in the round hole. 

Saturday 28 May 2016

Supernatural Review: Alpha and Omega - Love, Family and Understanding

-by sweetondean


Supernatural finales terrify me. I’ve been severely, emotionally damaged by them in the past! I’ve learnt, through stupid errors of judgement, that I have to go home and watch in solitude, so that I can immerse myself in the experience as well as give myself completely over to the emotion…because there was that time I watched Swan Song at work and spent about an hour in the loo sobbing, and that time I watched Do You Believe in Miracles in my car at lunchtime, and then couldn’t think or even function, and had to leave work early, and no one knew why I was so out of sorts! 

Of course my acute pain is also having to wait to watch the damn thing…as at 11am my time, the East Coast goes in, and then 3 hours later the West Coast and I’m still HOURS AWAY FROM GETTING HOME! No social media, no going online, no looking at my phone…and hoping against hope that for a change I can get out of work at a decent time, because by 5pm I am well and truly desperate! Damn you other side of the world!


I loved so many things about Alpha and Omega, so many, but the thing I loved most was, in the end, the world was saved by the theme of this show, family and love…and a newer theme…understanding. 

Dean could stand in front of Amara and talk to her about betrayal, the anger and the hurt that family can cause, and he could stand in front of her and say that all of that is unimportant, that family is more important than any of that, because he knows. He and Sam have been down that path together so many times, they’ve had rocky and tough moments filled with rage and disappointment, and yet here they are, closer than ever, because they came to understand that all of that, all of that crap that they waded through and carried around with them for so long, is not as important as having a strong relationship with the person you love most in the world. It’s not as important as family. It’s not as important as each other. When you’re faced with losing that forever, as the boys have been many times, as Amara and God were, all of this becomes crystal clear.

“But no matter how bad it got we always made it right because we’re family. I need him, and he needs me and when everything goes to crap, that’s all you’ve got, family.”

Wednesday 25 May 2016

Supernatural Light on Spoilers, Heavy on OMG IT'S THE SEASON FINALE *RUNS AROUND SCREAMING* Preview of Episode 11x23 - Alpha and Omega


-by sweetondean


OMGGGGGGGGG IT'S FINALE TIME! YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS DON'T YOU!?



So here we are, my friends...the end of another season. Season 11. I would never have thought that when I started writing about this show in season 5, that 6 years later I'd still be writing about it! But here I am, still with the needing to say stuff about the show I love. And I love it even more now than I did back then. With a passion. I am so committed to all the characters in this show, that the finale instills in me feelings of deep anxiety! Because when they hurt, I hurt. The pain of season 5's Swan Song and season 9's Do You Believe in Miracles is still etched into my heart...kinda like those little marks the cupids leave.

Sunday 22 May 2016

Supernatural Review: "We Happy Few" - Episode 11x22

-by sweetondean


Sooooo there was a moment in “We Happy Few” where I literally thought, SHOW, IF YOU DO THIS TO US I CAN’T EVEN WITH MY HORROR! Yep, that would be the moment that Chuck/God looked at Sam and Sam nodded and I was just like, NO JUST NO NO NO NO NO. I was screaming that at the TV by the way. NOOOOOOO. The thought of that damn Mark of Cain torturing another Winchester brother was too much. I think my heart stopped. Seriously. I couldn’t bear the thought of Sammy having that ugly assed thing on his arm, not after all he’d been through with Dean, and of course all Dean had been through. JUSTTTTT NOOOOO. Then the plan failed and I thought, oh thank God, or Chuck or Amara or whomever I need to send the fruit basket to! No Mark of Cain on Sam. Phew! This show has had me screaming at my TV this season more than any other season, in sheer terror, and overwhelming feels!

Oh, and then there’s that moment where you’re sitting there thinking…wait, did my show just kill God? Well. Ohhhhhkay. Oh Supernatural, how I love you (and your great big balls).

“We Happy Few” was a jammed packed episode, so much was going on I found myself looking at the time and freaking out, wondering how they were going to get through everything! I started to wonder if the finale was a 2 parter…and then I realised, it was kind of a 4 parter, starting off with “Don’t Call Me Shurley”. So before this week’s big episode, I’ll be watching 20-22 again to prepare…at least mentally, I’m pretty sure nothing is going to prepare me emotionally.


Friday 20 May 2016

Supernatural Think Tank - Thinky Thoughts and Theories on 11x22 "We Happy Few"

-by Anna


As I began reading posts, I had begun to notice that the title of this episode seems to describe the fandom more than it does the episode.  I've been reading a lot of negativity towards this episode, more than I would've thought to be honest. Now of course this is a safe zone, one where we come to read about the positive, especially after swimming in all the negativity and my post is a positive one. I will say this much coming from a neutral standpoint, I can understand and see where most of their frustrations lie. As much as my perspective is positive, I will admit that I had higher expectations given where we are at and who penned it. We didn't get half the amount of emotion that I truly had expected and in all honesty, the episode was rather confusing. Then again, I have a different way of looking at things, so the things that bothered so many didn't really bother me. I guess the way I see it, is from an entirely different perspective....but then again, that's pretty much standard.

Thursday 19 May 2016

The Light on Spoilers, Heavy on the OMG IT'S THE PENULTIMATE (who says penultimate) EPISODE OF SUPERNATURAL SEASON 11 - 11x22 "We Happy Few"

-by sweetondean

dem bow legs!


Yep. We have just 2 episodes left in season 11....


(Me basically. For the next week!)


Only 2 episodes...count 'em...



I repeat.


Yes...we have 2 episodes left this season and SO MUCH TO GET DONE! There are so many characters in play. We have God (who is now an actual, physical character in this whack-a-do show!), Lucifer, the Darkness - AKA Amara, Crowley, Crowley's mum Rowena, and of course our dynamic duo, the wonderful Winchester brothers.

Sunday 15 May 2016

Supernatural Think Tank - Thinky Thoughts on 11x21 All in the Family

 -by Anna 



I have always seen Supernatural as "the big picture" type of story.  I've postulated on many a post that everything happens for a reason.  I've most recently noted that Chuck/God is not disappointed and disillusioned with humanity, that He, on the contrary, has always been about protecting it.

I remember writing a post in the recent past which I had theorised that God had known, since the moment Lucifer betrayed him and the Mark was transferred to a human, to Cain, that Amara's release was inevitable. God couldn't or wouldn't  kill his sister, so trapping her was his only other option. He'd entrusted Lucifer with the key, but Lucifer betrayed God and was corrupted by the Mark.  Lucifer then gave the Mark to Cain.  Still God tried to protect his creation, by declaring Cain not to be killed, as a matter of fact, Cain had become immortal. Yet still, this wasn't foolproof that Amara would stay locked away.  So Chuck/God came up with Plan W....the Winchesters.

Saturday 14 May 2016

Supernatural Review - 11x21 All in the Family


- by sweetondean


First up, I'd like to apologise as this is probably going to be a bit brief – as some of you know I had a little bit of an accident the other day and got conked on the head by a big lump of tree and ended up getting a few stitches in my noggin! Last night my eye started swelling and is now all swollen and black! Yay me! So it’s all a bit uncomfortable and weird… But it was an important episode, so I did want to write something…

Anyhoo!

I was commenting on my Facebook today that as I see show after show cancelled after 2 or 3 seasons, I marvel at the fact that our show is about to head into its 12th season. But then, I really don’t…because of the complex stories, and mind blowing performances that we are privileged to share in, like those in All in the Family. What show has God show up? A God that doesn’t seem to have all the answers and a God whose grand plan for fixing things is most definitely flawed. What show has one of its lead characters confront God and question his judgement and commitment to the human race with a powerfully, heartbreaking speech? Our show, our show does that! 

Okay…obviously I’m jumping right to Dean and Jensen!

Thursday 12 May 2016

The Light on Spoilers, Heavy on Squee Preview of Supernatural 11x21 "All in the Family"

-by sweetondean


3 episodes left in the season and shit is getting extremely real! Like really, real! Really, really real! Are we scared or excited? Or scarcited? Or excscared?


THEN

OH MY CHUCK! CHUCK IS GOD!
AND THE AMULET. THE AMULET!



Also Amara wants to destroy the world and everything and everyone on it...except for Dean...she just wants to live happily ever after with Dean. Just the two of them...forever...I mean we get...you know...Dean Winchester...sure...BUT STILL!



NOW

OPERATION SAVE CASTIEL!

Sunday 8 May 2016

Supernatural Think Tank - Thinky Thoughts and Theories on 11x20 Don't Call Me Shurley

-by Anna



When this episode ended I began to cry.  No scratch that, the tears actually began to fall as Rob/Chuck/God began singing.  I'm not talking "single man tear" cry, I'm talking Sam "ugly crying" tears.  I haven't cried like that in Supernatural this entire season.  So thank you Robbie Thompson for breaking me.  I'd almost made it.  LOL.

When I was able to recompose I asked myself what exactly it was that made me cry. Was it the reappearance of our beloved Samulet?  Was it the moment Chuck transformed back into Rob and sang that beautiful song?  Was it the Crotoan moment shared by our boys reminding us once again that neither one will ever leave the other's side?  Or was it the feeling of validation I felt about every post I'd ever written concerning God?  I guess the answer to the above is that all of these made me cry to the point of being utterly ridiculous.

Saturday 7 May 2016

Supernatural Review: Episode 11x20 "Don't Call Me Shurley". Robbie Thompson's Beautiful Swan Song. #ThankYouRobbie


-by sweetondean


It’s with a heavy heart that I write this piece, because as I’m sure you all know by now, “Don’t Call Me Shurley” was Robbie Thompson’s last episode of Supernatural. Robbie is beautiful writer who not only gets the show, the characters in the show and where the heart of the show lies, he gets why we, as fans, love it. That’s because he loves it too. 


From crazy, sexy Leviathan Sam and Dean, to the LARPing, to the brothers connecting across time (as Dean wore an amazing 40’s wardrobe). He gave us Cain, he took us to Oz, he let us share in more time with beloved characters like Bobby and Rufus and Gabriel. He created Charlie, he wrote a metatastic musical, he let Baby shine, and let us peek into the moments in the brothers’ lives we don’t usually get to see, through their home on four wheels, and through the little domestic nuggets he allowed us to share in. He dared to try different things, he pushed the boundaries of the show’s creativity, he made us feel our feels in a profound and real way. From season 7 – 11 he wrote 18 episodes, many of which have become favourites for a lot of us. 

We’ve lost great writers before and the show has gone on, in fact it’s continued to thrived. We lost Kripke, we lost Gamble, we lost Edlund – all of whom wrote episodes that have become synonymous with what makes this little show that could. great. And the show will continue without Robbie and it will continue to kick it in the ass. It’s a force of nature, with many talented people working hard to make it amazing. But Robbie’s unique voice, like those before him we’ve loved and lost, will be missed. In many ways, his voice was our voice.

Thursday 5 May 2016

The Light on Spoilers, Heavy on Squee Preview of Supernatural 11x20 "Don't Call Me Shurley"

-by sweetondean


LOOK WHO'S BACK
OMGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Yep here we are with 4 episodes to go, which means we're in the final leg of Season 11! It's all mytharc and, most likely, pain from here on end! PAIN AND SADNESS!


THEN

Amara has Lucifer, which means Amara has Cas
Crowley has split - but he's still playing the frenemy card
Rowena has split - but she's not playing with Amara anymore
Sam and Dean have no leads on the big picture, so they've been doing the family business thang.

Monday 2 May 2016

Supernatural Think Tank - Thinky Thoughts and Theories on Supernatural 11x19 "The Chitters"


-by Anna


Welcome back everyone. I know this mini hiatus wasn't long, but when we're at the end of the season, they feel eternal none the less. I'm just glad our boys are back.  I hope they have an awesome and restful summer break. They have been amazing this season and they totally deserve a most enjoyable summer hiatus.

It's not always easy coming back from a hiatus with a new episode that will rock one's world.  I guess expectations are higher when we're made to wait to see the boys after so long.  Sometimes eps come back that are super amazing and other times, not so much. I liked this episode for the most part. I don't really have the same complaints as others have, as there were a lot of issues mentioned in many of the posts I've been reading, the most popular one being how boring it was. As for myself,  I didn't find the episode boring. It was an okay ep overall, but I have to admit I did have one issue with it. I don't know if it was the same for anyone else, but by the time it was over, my first reaction was one of confusion.  I couldn't quite place it at first, but then I realised how off the whole episode felt to me.  It was as though they were in an alternate universe.

Sunday 1 May 2016

Supernatural Review – Episode 11x19 “The Chitters” - Love, Loss and Revenge.

-by sweetondean


We came back from a 2 week hiatus with The Chitters, a quiet episode – it wasn’t the jam packed mythology filled action of Hell’s Angel, or the scared out of your wits terror of Red Meat…it was character built episode that reminded us of what this story is really about, not monsters, or epic battles between Heaven and Hell, but family and loss and revenge, and the power of love and all that comes with it. It reminded us of the brothers’ history, what they have been through together, what they have overcome, and what they mean to each other, how their strength together is the thing that conquers all, how having each other’s backs is the thing that helps them triumph and sets them apart. And all this was shown through the mirror of a pair of new hunters. As we head into the final 4 episodes of the season, you know with a gnawing pit in your stomach that there’s a reason we’re being made to feel these feels…and it’s probably not good.


One of the things I love the most about this show, and which Supernatural does extremely well, is holding a mirror up to the brothers. It’s something that’s needed for both us, and them. Sam and Dean live such an insular life, tightly wound up in each other and inside themselves, sometimes the only way they can see the bigger picture of the thing that is them, is to see it through other’s eyes, sometimes to help them process their own experiences, they need to have other’s experiences shone back at them, sometimes to help them analyse a problem they’re too deep in to see over, they need to have a light shined on it from the outside. The show does parallels and mirrors brilliantly, and The Chitters was a great example of this, it also took me back to my personal feeling that the brothers’ relationship is the true mytharc of this season! And everyone and everything happening around them is about reflection and putting behind them past loss and hurts and personal demons. Bringing them back to the brothers we know they can be. There’s been so much talk of the future, Sam’s wistful thoughts about retirement homes, or settling down with a hunter, not running from the job, but focusing on a possibility beyond the job to something other than the die bloody scenario. And now we have 2 hunters doing exactly that. 

The brothers have both tried and failed at having a “normal” life, but strangely, what they have now, a base with comfort and each other, is the closest thing they’ve had to normal since their mum died. It is a home, and there’s a layer of safe haven that comes along with that. They never expected to live this long…technically they haven’t, having both died on numerous occasions, so you can understand, that as they keep on surviving, that thoughts of possibly living through this thing are starting to simmer. I feel like the harmony between them is starting a shift in their thinking, maybe they can allow themselves to dream…just a little.


Right from the opening scene the Winchester feels were thick; the younger brother who didn’t fit in and wanted to get away, the older brother who just wanted to keep him safe. The desperation that Jesse must have felt when Matty was ripped away from him; the fear, then the hate that brewed inside, causing him to become a hunter. The need for revenge drives most hunters – at least it gets them started in the job. John, Bobby, Eileen…Sam and Dean in the early days – though they were different as they were born into it – and also there’s the whole vessels of the apocalypse thing! Now it’s just their life, one they've both embraced, with one shit storm after another…this rolling catastrophic horror show that’s kind of like a domino line…hit one thing down and it starts some horrible chain reaction! 

I picture others hunters killing off a nest of vamps, killing a wendigo or two… errr Sam an Dean, losing souls, becoming demons, going to hell and heaven, fighting Lucifer and Leviathan and megalomaniacal angels and…um, yeah…okay...they’re a bit different!


I love when new hunters are introduced to our Universe. It colours in the Winchester’s world. I imagine a network of these men and women out there, hiding in the shadows, doing the job with no recognition, killing things that no-one even knows exist. Jesse and Cesar were lovely, well-rounded characters with a history that made you instantly connect with them, and a relationship that, after the penny drop moment, was simply allowed to be, without comment. I internally hugged the show for that.

When I realised that Jesse was the kid from the teaser, I was instantly onboard. I instantly cared. I cared about Jesse and Cesar. I could see their love. I could see how Cesar supported Jesse in his fight to get some kind of closure. These characters felt complete and whole from the get go. That’s some good writing and some good acting right there. I didn’t want to let them go. And I was terrified they were going to die. Good on you Supernatural for surprising me on that front.

I always worry when the brothers separate, that never seems to go well! But I enjoyed both of the conversations Sam and Dean had with Jesse and Cesar. 


Dean and Cesar talking about loss that never goes away is something the Winchesters understand all too well, as is revenge and how you have to get it, even if you know it’s not going to fix anything. The Winchester’s lives were built on revenge, they understand its destructive power, it’s a heartache too familiar. Dean’s seen the people he loves most be tortured by it – as he’s been tortured himself.

Loss and revenge have been a theme of the show since its very first moments, and these themes also ties through to the mytharc of the season – the other one with Amara and Lucifer. Amara, who was betrayed by her brother, feels that pain all too acutely as she seeks out God, for revenge or acceptance or an apology, I’m not sure which she truly wants! I’m not sure she knows. Lucifer carries the sting of rejection by God too, and even through his sassiness and devil may care attitude (excuse the pun), you can’t help but see that there is pain and anger and hurt at the root of all he is. The need for revenge can cloud your judgement; it can strip you of control. It’s interesting that revenge was such a big theme in this episode.


Sam and Jesse also talked about loss, framed through Jesse’s loss of his big brother and the fact that his big brother turned into something no longer human. Every word Jesse said about Matty seemed to resonate on Sam’s face. Sam has dealt with the loss of Dean – more than once - and the not human thing. He’s been through that and knows that agonising wound it leaves on your soul. Once again, this also ties into the season arc of Dean’s apparent bond to Amara, the fact that the Mark of Cain still seems to exert some power even when removed, and what that will all end up meaning in relation to Dean and The Darkness. 

I have started to feel like maybe, because of that bond, because of the Mark of Cain tie, maybe Dean will be the one who must wield the Hand of God against Amara. If so, these conversations hold even more poignancy…especially at the end, when Jesse and Cesar give Matty a hunter’s burial, and Sam admits he used to be terrified that John and Dean would not come back…and that even though he tried to think what to do, he just felt lost. I don’t think anything’s changed much, even as a grown up Sam was lost when Dean was thrown into Purgatory. That fear has never gone away…what if Dean doesn’t come back - and we saw Dean face that in Red Meat, and saw what that still does to him. But Dean said, that they always came back, every time… I hope he’s right. I wasn’t sure if this made me feel optimistic or more scared! But I sure as hell felt like the conversation was there for us to pay attention to. And my heart broke for a young Sam holed up in some motel room, worrying that he’d never see his family again. Damn. It was amazingly powerful moment, and another heart clenching insight into these guy’s childhoods. I can’t stand the thought of Sam and Dean being apart from each other ever again.


The brothers’ relationship this season continues to be an utter delight! There’s a return to playfulness that’s a joy to watch. There’s lightness to Dean in his interactions with Sam that boils down to what Jensen said about Dean knowing that Sam has and will always have his back. No more doubt. It’s changed him, it’s changed them both, that admittance and acceptance that they BOTH will do anything for each other. The relationship is more balanced because of it. Their discussions, even when at odds are discussions now – even if they get loud. There is an understanding that seems to be growing…it’s like they’ve finally opened up to who their brother is, and who they are and with that, there’s a harmony that can only make them stronger. It will also make any tragedy befalling one of them even more gut-wrenching - they've come so far.... meep!



Dean sitting on the edge of the desk teasing Sam about his foray into weed was unbelievably adorable, and the fact that you could tell Sam loved it made it even better. “You’re an idiot,” says so much more than you’re an idiot!

I loved Etta flirting with Sam and Dean enjoying it – even if Sam didn’t pick up on it straight away. His eyebrows were a treat when he realised what was happening!

I loved the little domestic moment – Dean obsessively researching for a change as Sam chastised him while eating cereal. I hope they do kick karma back. They’re owed a win.


In the end, Jesse and Cesar did the job that started it all, and looked to their future beyond hunting, something Dean had no intention of stopping, no matter how much the brothers needed their help. He wasn't going to spoil their finish line...

Somewhere inside me it gave me a glimmer of hope…because I think somewhere inside Sam and Dean it gave them a glimmer of hope…even if they wouldn’t acknowledge, or admit it. It’s that little nugget of maybe there’s a different ending out there that’s been touched on more than once this season. But as Jesse and Cesar drove away, we knew the immediate future for both sets of hunters was a very different one, and the aloneness of the Winchesters filled the final moment. They’ve still got work to do. Maybe they always will. 


The Chitters was definitely a monster of the week episode, with a new critter and some nice horror themes delivered by The Blair Witch director Eduardo Sánchez, and written by Nancy Won, who is most definitely a keeper. There were lovely performances from everyone involved, especially Jensen and Jared (as usual) but also Lee Rumohr and Hugo Ateo who played Jesse and Cesar respectively – I connected to both of those characters more than I would have expected for episodic players. But like any good episode of Supernatural, there was so much more going on than what was happening on the surface. Themes of family, loss, revenge, love and putting the past behind you and moving on. The Chitters had a hell of a lot of depth. I found it emotionally fulfilling. But these deeply satisfying bro feels, these moments of harmony and even happiness, these small glimmers of hope, at this point in the season, fill me with dread. I’ll just hang on to Dean’s words that he always comes back…I have a sneaking suspicion I’m going to need them.


-sweetondean