On April 21, 1967, the 100 millionth GM vehicle rolled off the line at the plant in Janesville -- a blue two-door Caprice. There was a big ceremony, speeches. The lieutenant governor even showed up. Three days later, another car rolled off that same line. No one gave two craps about her. But they should have, because this 1967 Chevrolet Impala would turn out to be the most important car -- no, the most important object -- in pretty much the whole universe. She was first owned by Sal Moriarty, an alcoholic with two ex-wives and three blocked arteries. On weekends, he'd drive around giving Bibles to the poor "gettin' folks right for Judgement Day." That's what he said. Sam and Dean don't know any of this, but if they did, I bet they'd smile. After Sal died, she ended up at Rainbow Motors, a used-car lot in Lawrence, where a young marine bought her on impulse. That is, after a little advice from a friend. I guess that's where this story begins.
NOW Baby
Saving people, hunting things, eating burritos.
Finally it's here. The episode we've heard so much about. The episode the boys are so excited for us to see. "Baby", an episode shot entirely from within the Impala!
I feel like everyone is just about as amped up for this one as we were for the 200th episode! There's been so much teasing and talk about it. Everyone who works on the show says they're excited and proud for the episode. It's an episode both the boys love. One that Jensen says has been his favourite of the season so far. And personally, I'm super excited, like SUPER EXCITED, because the idea of seeing an episode where we get to see the 'between' moments with the brothers, the moments we don't normally see, the moments of driving from place to place, silently or talking, the moments with them sleeping in the car, like we know they must have done so many times throughout their lives, but that we've rarely seen...those moments that happen in between the scenes we see. The small moments and the big moments. The brothers (and the green cooler), heading down the road together, in their home on four wheels. My heart.
Yes, we had another Action Ackles episode! And one that was chocked full of arc exposition! Seriously, Jensen must have needed a little lie down after this one! Maybe like this. Heh.
Anyhooo!
There was a lot going on in “The Bad Seed”, and I got the feeling it's job was to tick a few boxes as sorted, advance the mytharc, and start to set the stage for what’s to come. We sorted out the Cas thing, discovered what Rowena has been up to, talked about Metatron - suggesting his presence in this season is going to be important, brought up the secrets issue - hopefully opening the door to some honesty around the information each brother has and has been holding on to, and we found out quite a bit more about The Darkness, via a pretty creepy kid and her way creepy Uncle. Plus we had an extremely interesting meeting between an angel and a demon. Oh, and it was funny! I found I laughed a lot!
Here we go with some thinky thoughts on what happened in this week's episode of Supernatural!
I always enjoy Rowena. I've liked her from the start, even when she seemed over the top, I knew there was more to her ...she's darker than she seems. I think she's even worse than Crowley. Crowley...now there's a BAD SEED right there. I know that Rowena wants to create her own Grand, oh wait, Mega Coven. I can only imagine if she succeeds in that, how truly powerful she will become and I find that notion a bit on the scary side, which I totally dig. I got a kick out of her when she was in the back seat, egging the boys on, wanting to have a wee sing song...karaoke anyone? LOL But what stuck out for me regarding Rowena in this particular episode was her mentioning the deal she had with Sam regarding Crowley and Dean's annoyance at Sam for keeping it a secret. It led me to ponder this.
Baby Baby Baby b b Baby, Baby Baby Baby b b b b b b, Baby Baby Baby...
I can't help it! This episode makes me want to sing! And the promo pics make me want to sing so much, they deserve their very own special post!
So here are the promo pics for next week's very special episode, about a very special girl
BABY
I could make so many jokes here...but I won't. But oh man...so many. Stop it! *slaps side of head like Jensen does when he has a thought he can't say at a con*
In other news, those chicks are fully checking the boys out there in the background. We get it, ladies. We get it.
Baby is always shiny. Which makes me long for the car wash scene.
WHERE ARE THE PROMO PICS FROM THE CAR WASH SCENE! WHEREEEEEE!
*pouts*
In other news, they must have trouble not catching crew reflections in Baby. Wonder if VFX have to get rid of unwanted reflections. Hmmm.
LADY: IS THAT THE GREEN COOLER. OH MY GOSH I'M FANGIRLING! IT'S TOO MUCH!
DEAN: Um, I was just going to offer you a beer. Geesh.
It's that time of the season again, where Jensen steps behind the camera! Yep, this week's episode is directed by Action Ackles!
This will be Jensen's 5th episode he's directed, having directed, 6x04 "A Weekend At Bobby's", 7x03 "The Girl Next Door", 8x03 "Heartache" and 10x03 "Soul Survivor" He didn't direct an episode in season 9 as he had just become a daddy and chose to spend longer at home with his family, rather than head back to work a couple of week's early to prep, which is what he has to do when he directs.
A point of interest, 2 of Jensen's episodes were written by Andrew Dabb and Daniel Loflin (Dan is no longer with the show) and 3 of his episodes, including this latest one, were written by Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming.
Anyhooo...enough about the hottest director ever! How about we do a preview!
Hi guys, welcome to the Think Tank, our brand new Thinky Thoughts article! Here we will look at ideas and theories that have sprung out of the latest episode, and dissect them and discuss them in a fun and positive way! The comments are open for you to join in and we're hoping that you'll add your awesome ideas and get a discussion going! For sometime now - from way back when I was writing for The Winchester Family Business - Anna has been a regular commenter on my articles, offering some wonderful insight into different aspects of the story, as well as, well thought out theories. You may have read some of her amazing comments. I love Anna's thinky thoughts, they always get my brain going too, so I invited her to become sweetondean's first regular contributing writer, and yay for us, she agreed! Anna will be writing regular articles looking at various aspects of the unfolding mythology and offering up some food for thought for us all to discuss. So please join me in welcoming Anna, and let us know you're amazing thinky thoughts in the comments! Now without any further adoo doo, welcome. to the first sweetondean, SUPERNATURAL THINK TANK! -sweetondean Thinky Thoughts on Supernatural 11x02 "Form and Void"
Amy has honoured me with the privilege of writing down my thinky thoughts and sharing them all with you. Thank you Amy for this opportunity. She's given it quite a catchy name and declared it an open forum for discussion of the topic at hand. I thought I might start with "Form and Void" if that's ok.....so here goes my thinky thoughts for last week.
I've always believed that from the moment we found out the boys had to be born, it was because God had wanted it. Supernatural seemingly gives the impression, as declared by the angels and archangels, as well as Metatron, that God has seemingly left the planet. These angels then took it upon themselves to run things, including throwing themselves a little Apocalypse. In watching "Free to be You and Me" last night, it occurred to me, ....Sam asked Lucifer...why me? And Lucifer replied..."It had to be you Sam". But it seemed to me that Lucifer couldn't provide a specific answer to Sam's question. He simply noted, for no other reason that it had to be Sam. It's as though Lucifer couldn't give a reason, he just knew. Same could be said of Zach and his insistence and belief that Dean was the Michael Sword; "You are the chosen one" Zach told Dean...And yet he could never provide an answer as to why. It leads me to believe that the angel's belief that the boys should be the vessels has been ingrained in them by God...because God knew, as he chose them, that it would be Sam and Dean that would prevent the Apocalypse. Any other vessel, any other psychic child would've failed...but Sam & Dean, chosen by God, didn't.
We find out in "Dark Side of the Moon" that God is in fact ever present. Joshua told the boys that God was on Earth. He noted that God didn't think that the Apocalypse was his problem. Yet he saved the boys from the church and put them on the plane. He brought Cas back...So perhaps if we delve deeper behind Joshua's words...God thinking the Apocalypse wasn't his problem was in fact true, because he knew all along that the boys were going to stop it...therefore, the Apocalypse wasn't a problem... and to say God didn't help along the way...I don't believe that to be so. I always found it very interesting that the character of Chuck was in the episode "The End"...the episode which helped Dean realise that he was wrong in thinking that he and Sam were weaker together, that in fact the opposite was true. I highly doubt that Chuck's role was simply to inform Dean to treasure toilet paper....given in "Swan Song", we find out that Chuck is in fact God....this leads me to believe that God is in fact present in the supernatural world and has been there to help the boys...especially given how many times they've come back from the dead.
The reason I mention this is because, I do in fact believe that there was more to this episode in regards to faith and hope than it might seem. I do lean towards the fact that Billie wasn't only there to simply reap that soul and scare the pants off of Sam Winchester. It was all in what she said and the fact that she said what she did. She told Sam he was unclean in the Biblical sense...pretty on the nose choice of words to insult Sam with. That insult didn't even directly have anything to do with why she was angry with him, which was because he supposedly helped in offing her boss. So the whole, you're unclean was kind of out of left field, which is why I don't believe it to be merely an insult, but a clue. She seemed quite calm and though menacing, she didn't seem to give off the impression of hostility or rage at the "supposed loss" of her boss. She also told Sam that Death thought his and Dean's returns were amusing, which seemed odd given that Death had mentioned how Dean's messing around with the natural order was actually quite irksome. Death did mention having to clean up his mess did he not? He even went so far as to teach Dean a lesson by making him wear his ring and be Death for a day. That remark kind of threw me...but I kind of hand waved it, as I believe that God is the one who keeps bringing the boys back, and I feel Death is keen on the boys being the ones chosen by God, so he simply just deals with it. He's even helped once or twice himself. A kind of a well, if I can't reap em, join em, attitude. :D Billie threatened Sam by noting that this resurrection business has come to its end and she threatened to throw them both into the 'Empty"....a place no one can ever come back from. That threat alone didn't seem right to me. First off, I don't believe Reapers decide where souls go, their job is simply to reap them and send them to where God chooses the souls to go. Billie's threat, though scary feels like an empty one to me. Even if she went rogue, I still believe that God trumps rogue Reaper, I even believe God could trump the Empty. I'm therefore leaning very strongly towards the threat wasn't actually meant to be a threat...she gave Sam very important information...nothing can come back from the Empty....so if the Darkness cannot be killed, as it wasn't able to be killed the first time, then it stands to reason that it needs to be re-contained.....and the only place that the Darkness wouldn't be able to escape from would be the Empty. So basically Billie has given Sam the solution to the boy's problem, I just don't think he understands and realises it just yet.
Billie's threat/insult to Sam while intending to or not, did lead Sam to the church to pray. Sam praying for everyone but himself doesn't surprise me in the least...his owning up to his mistakes and dealing with them also, typical Sam Winchester SOP. Sam asked for a sign, some direction, and I do believe as some others do that his prayer was in fact answered by God. It wasn't a direct answer, it was subtle and Sam will eventually figure it out, which leads me to believe he will have more of these visions. His sign was of his time in the Cage, and while it's too early for Carver to show us anyone in the Cage, he did provide us with subtle hints that it won't be too long now before we do get back to Lucifer/Michael. Sam may not have seen his torturer but he saw his torture...and we all know who did that to Sam. I believe God was sending Sam visions of the Cage, because the help the boys need, might just start there...with Michael/and or Lucifer. Carver also made mention of unrest in the Cage as well. I don't believe that Sam's visions a mere coincidence, given that his prayer was answered within, like two minutes after asking for a sign from God. I also don't believe those visions can come from the Cage...if that was a possibility, why bother putting Lucifer in the Cage in the first place? I think as others noted it would've happened already.
"Form and Void"....the Darkness had no form according to lore. When Rowena cast the spell she removed the curse from Dean, but she didn't destroy the mark. To me it seems, she transferred it onto the first child born at the time the mark was removed....and when the Darkness was freed, she entered the vessel with the mark? Does that seem plausible? The Darkness is now form. But as a form it needs to feed, so what does the Darkness need to grow stronger? Apparently so, and by eating souls.. Death foretold how powerful souls are...how it's all about the souls. Will the Darkness always need to consume souls? Does Crowley want to get in good with the Darkness so she can consume souls for him...since he cannot have Purgatory? Or does the Darkness simply eat souls to create a world that is void....that is dark....after all, without a soul, one is evil, cold, empty, without sympathy or empathy...they might even kill..depending on the vessel....in essence, without a soul, the vessel is void...dark. Is that what the Darkness ultimately wants? Ultimately needs? To live in a dark world...a world without light...a world without hope? As it once was when before she was imprisoned by God....the creator of light.
Seems to me this all goes back to Sam and Dean Winchester. Sam has always represented the light. The light of knowledge...the light of empathy. He is sympathetic and patient. He has unwavering faith in his brother, and I believe he's still has unwavering faith in God or at the very most God's goodness. Praying is symbolic of that. Sam had promised once to show Dean the light because he believes in it. It's this faith and his belief in the light that will help in the fight against the Darkness. It's his light that has always helped Dean make it through his own darkness....The Winchester's ....the chosen ones....their, always keep fighting attitude, their never ending love for each other and their unending desire and need to save others....that's what will allow them to beat the Darkness.
I don't foresee the boys being punished in the end...when all is said and done, I believe there's only light in the boys future.... ;)
What do you think?
See you again soon for the next eppy's thinky thoughts. :)
-Anna
That was one hell of an episode! Wasn’t it? I was so stressed. Like super stressed. TENSE! I didn’t even realise until how freaked out I was until the episode ended and my shoulders seemed to be up around my neck and I was clutching a pillow to my heart! OMG! OUR SHOW IS AMAZING!
“Form and Void” left me a little formless, like a jittery, melty, puddle of anxious! I loved it. It was scary…like I was spooked out! Creepy kids do that to me…creepy babies even more so! It was like watching a horror movie! Every little beat of drama was right on the money, and the pace kept ratcheting up. It was unrelenting and really damn awesome.
I never like it when the bros are apart and aren’t fighting shoulder to shoulder, but I do like it when they’re apart, yet still feel very totally together. There was never a time where I was pining for them to be physically in the same space, because, well I couldn’t really breathe for an hour, and when they are emotionally connected, as they are now, I don’t notice the physical distance between them. They still feel like one unit. I love it when they are together, even when apart...it's so them!
Sam, oh Sam. SamFuckinMacGyverWinchester. I think we all have a bit of a kink for the boys being highly capable. Smart Winchesters are my favourite kind of Winchesters. Or maybe it’s funny Winchesters. Or badass Winchesters. Or emotional Winchesters. DO NOT MAKE ME CHOOSE BECAUSE I LOVE THEM ALL! But Sam, in the hardware store, grabbing bits and pieces to battle the Rabids. SO COOOOL. That makeshift cattle proddish device he concocted was brilliant. As was bucket speaker! And working out the Holy Oil thing was Sam at his brainiac best. The Holy Oil toasted marshmallow (okay, gauze bandage)! I loved it! So glad Dean decided to slip that ancient urn into the duffle!
Oh and Sam's prayer in the chapel *sniffle* praying for his brother because he deserves a life…oh Sammy, you both do…but how I loved that he was thinking of Dean in that moment. I thought it was because he wasn’t sure right then and there if he’d ever see Dean again…so he prayed for him to be okay. Oh I’m going to make myself cry! The weight of the guilt Sam’s obviously feeling over releasing the Darkness on the world is obviously heavy, but as he said last week, he’d do it again to save Dean and I’m sure the fact that he knows that, also weighs on him…
Sam has always had a connection to God, outside of the obvious vessel status! He surprised Dean way back in season 2’s Houses of the Holy, when he said he prayed every day. Even though the brothers both know that God has not always been there for, well anyone, Sam still has faith and hope and that's something so beautiful and Sam Winchestery, and I dearly hope that he will never ever change.
Running into Billie the Reaper, as he did, felt super troubling. I think I winced when she talked about how Sam and Dean can die now. It felt like a point was being made by the show. All bets are off and the stakes are back up to eleven. The Winchesters can die again…not that I expect them to…but the risks have been elevated, if not for us, certainly for the boys. They've always had that get out of dead free card, but not anymore, and that'll make them even more protective of each other's back!
I liked Billie a lot. I liked hearing her to sing O Death. I found that super powerful. Like humming while she worked – a song that we know so well and is deeply rooted in the show’s mythology around Death and the Reapers. The shadowy hand reaching for the dead Rabid. Her anger at Sam and Dean. Her threat to let them drift off into the Empty…which does not sound good! And then telling Sam that he was unclean, in the biblical sense. Of all the things to say to Sam! The boy with demon blood, the boy born to be the Devil’s vessel in the Apocalyptic war; I don’t know that I could think of anything worse.
Billie was creepy and scary and sexy and powerful and I hope she is a reaper we see again. I’ve always loved the reapers. I love their place in the Supernatural Universe and I love the relationship we and the Winchesters have developed with them. They are shadowy. Not good. Not bad. Pragmatic. Frightening. I’m sure Sam was well wigged out by what Billie said. I hope he fills Dean in. Pretty sure he’s not going to tell his brother about being infected – though I see that as Sam proving to himself as much as anything, that he can do this, and do it without putting Dean at threat. How could he know that he wouldn’t be so far gone, he’d turn on his brother? I saw this as Sam in protection mode as much as anything. I wonder if he’ll tell Dean about his freaky visions, or like Dean and his Darkness visions, maybe he’s keeping that little nugget close until he can work out what they are. They had to be cage visions though right?? Cage memories - he looked like he was being hung on hooks, like Dean was in Hell. Or were the visions being sent to Sam from the cage? I mean, the whole mention of the cage is a big deal. Now Sam’s having these visions. Sam is right to yell out, “What the hell does that mean?!” I loved that scene though, as mysterious as it was, because the whole cage thing being back in play has me salivating.
Deaaaannnnnnnnn OMG. This character. He was soft and badassed and sassy and heroic and all the things I love. Plus he’s so damn handsome, I can’t even. Him walking down the hallway, all bowlegs and fury, GUH. Holy cow.
The whole chicks dig me. Then the spin around back to rescue Jenna. All so Dean. How I've missed him. I loved that he was snacking in the car on his way back to Sam! And that he rang Sam to get his thoughts on the Rosemary’s Baby thing going on back at Jenna’s grandmas. The way Dean can just roll with his situation has always been one of my favourite traits of his. Not much fazes him. He just gets on with it. He already feels in a much better place, emotionally speaking, and though you know he’s wigged out by all the Darkness stuff, and harbouring his own level of guilt over the Darkness and Mark of Cain stuff, the shift in him is palatable. I love it. I was worried when we got back to the bunker and he saw the pile of books he’d be all…oh God the things I did…but he was, WE NEED A MAID (I offer myself as Tribute!). Bless Dean Winchester. I love this move back to a less dark Dean, and Jensen plays the subtle shift magnificently. Not enough to be jarring, but enough to notice and feel right.
His post breakup banter with Crowley was super fun. Those two can out eye roll and snark the world! Dean’s face when he saw Crowley…and his ebbing tolerance as Crowley made him wait while he finished his tea. Every single conversation between them was magic. Velma. Gold!
Having Crowley almost back to his evil bastard self is great. I say almost, because he didn’t kill Dean and I’m pretty sure he wasn’t bored when soulless Jenna had Dean pinned. I don’t think Crowley is ready to kill the elder Winchester, at least not just yet. Their breakup is still fresh after all! Same goes for Dean not killing Crowley. Though I also think Dean knows that at least with Crowley, they have a pretty good idea what they’re getting, and getting into. Better the devil you know, and all that jazz.
Then finishing the episode with Crowley luring the creepy, now a little more grow’d up, Darkness child into the van with the promise of treats – being souls – was all kinds of wrong, and yet so right. Ewww. I think Crowley may have bitten off more than he can chew.
I was sad that we lost Jenna, I liked her and already had visions of her joining forces with Jody and Donna! I was also sad that we lost Hannah…though not those other angels.
How did dickheads like these guys become angels anyway? I mean, surely you have to have a trace of decency to be an angel! They were total tools. And sure I know they have a slanted opinion of Cas due to his patchy history of late with Heaven, and killing all the angels, then the whole Metatron thing...but still... DICKS! I’m so glad Cas lost his shit and killed the pair of them, because badassed Cas rocks, and dick angels need to DIE! And they killed Hannah, and there was obviously still a connection between our trench coat wearing friend and his old sidekick, even if she did betray Cas here. The actor who played Hannah the last two times we saw her, was wonderful. I'm sad to lose the angel and both the actors associated with her.
And thank goodness Cas bee lined it to the Bunker – which he either has a key to or Sam left unlocked when he went to meet Dean - or the door is still busted after the Stynes. Yeah, probably that. He still can’t zap without the tattered wings, so he must have driven to the Bunker and then let himself in! Maybe there’s a key in a fake rock in the garden out front! Heh. Anyhooo…glad he’s safe with the boys and hopefully, hopefully, they can help him sort out this attack dog spell business.
This was a chock-a-block, action packed, roller-coaster of an episode. A show delivering its A game. It looked gorgeous and sounded amazing. How was that music? Especially at the backend of the ep! That was a very different music choice, but worked so well and increased the tension...like we needed it. There was an amazing sense of flow from one scene to the next, via a sharp edit that often had the audio from the incoming or outgoing shot, playing under the surrounding shot. You'd hear Crowley start talking under the outgoing shot of Cas, for example. This made it feel like the action was all happening at the same time, in the same time period. The scenes also got shorter and shorter, giving a sense of increased urgency. Nice job. Sorry, for the technical, but as well as producing, I also edit my promos! I remember at the start of season 10, we had Carver and Dabb episodes leading off the season, and we’ve had this once again and what a treat. Andrew Dabb’s “Reichenbach” was one of my favourite season 10 episodes, and his “Form and Void” feels like it’s going to be a favourite too. So much happened, but it felt cohesive and beautifully paced. Such good storytelling. We have a terrifying Big Bad in a creepy little body! We have the King of Hell feeling like a threat again. We have a new Reaper that is pissed with the Winchesters and feels otherworldly and scary. We have Cas being all stabby, but in a good way, even though he’s in a really bad way. And we have the Winchesters, on solid footing with each other and being pretty damn smart and awesome (if a little secretive – change can’t happen overnight!). It’s a truly epic start to season 11.
So have we all recovered from the season premiere? Have we all theorised and speculated and extrapolated and hypothesised?
Are we ready to find out some answers...maybe...one or two...
WELL I AM! I'm so excited to see the second part of this season premiere...because it truly is a two parter and that's amazeballs!
So...what did we find out! (I promise no poetry :P )
THEN
Dean and the Darkness nearly made out...she whispered sweet nothings to him, about being bound (not in a kinky way), and always protecting each other, and liking hanging out with him (who wouldn't)...BUT WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
Sam got some icky Rabid-Nurse blood in his mouth and has developed black veins on his neck (not like last time...I don't think), the other Rabids think he either smells kinda bad or kinda like them...BUT WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN?
Castiel has really bloodshot eyes and prayed to heaven for Visine...or help...probably help...but the wrong angels came, at least dickier ones than usual, and they've got him all trussed up like a Christmas turkey...BUT WHAT DO THEY WANT?
Crowley got his end away and then did away with everyone he got his end away with, and then his minions dropped a bombshell, THE CAGE IS CRYING...okay something is the cage is crying OUT LIKE A TORTURED ANIMAL...and OMG WHO IS IT?
A little tiny baby has a itty bitty Mark of Cain, which would be so adorable if she wasn't probably the Darkness....BUT IS SHE REALLY?
And Sam talked and Dean listened...SAM TALKED AND DEAN LISTENED... and they're going back to the whole bumper sticker...
NOW
The brothers are apart, BUT ONLY PHYSICALLY, and dealing with a lot of crap...FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!
I'm very yelly this week!
Let's check out the synopsis!
DEAN AND SAM FACE THEIR OWN BATTLES — Dean helps Jenna (guest star Laci J. Mailey), the nurse he met after the Darkness fell, get back home safely and then sets off to help Sam deal with a town infected by a mysterious and deadly gas. However, when Jenna falls into dangerous hands, she calls Dean for help and Sam tells him to go back to her. Unfortunately for Sam, he isn’t able to handle the townspeople turned monsters as easily as he thought. Phil Sgriccia directed the episode written by Andrew Dabb. Ummmm...pretty sure by nurse they mean DEPUTY! Deputy Jenna, CW marketing department responsible for synopsis! GUH. Anyhooo...I like that Dean heads back to Sam. Yay! Even if he then heads back to Jenna. And I'm worried about Sam not being able to handle the Rabid towns people as easy as he thought...WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO SAM! And mysterious deadly gas? What a funny way to put it! I sorta want to slap this synopsis! ANYHOOOOO! AND WE KNOW CROWLEY IS IN THIS EVEN THOUGH HE'S NOT IN THE SYNOPSIS...'cause...
Excellent
AND WE KNOW CAS IS IN THIS EVEN THOUGH HE'S NOT IN THE SYNOPSIS...'cause...
Pretty eyes! :P
But back to the synopsis. . Last week it was Carver and Singer. This week it's Dabb and Sgriccia. Woohoo! What a start to the season! Okie dokie. Let's check out the promo!
Awwwww it's so short! We were spoiled with all these 1 minute and 2 minute trailers we had before the season premiere. Back to good old 20 seconds! Boo.
THE BABY EATS SOULS! IN HER BOTTLE? Heh.
Is that what the Darkness does, eat souls or is baby Amara something different. Of course Father Fergus is okay, he doesn't have one!
There's loads of soul eater mythology - in movies and comics - so it'll be interesting to see what Crowley means and what the show's take on it is.
And what the hell is going on with Sam. What is that. What's happening? WHAT'S HAPPENING? It's all so choppy. I have no clue what's going on in this promo. People screaming. Bodies flying around. Sammy possibly shirtless..................... What? Oh yeah...
And when is Dean going to change out of the Murder shirt! P-ewww! (Mmmmm eau de Dean)
Then there's the CHCH promo - which has way more stuff about Sam and his struggle in it! I wonder who the chick is who says she knows someone is dying. Sam? Or someone else? I really need to know how Sam gets fixed! (Sorry I can't for the life of me centre this!)
Here's the sneak peek! For a minute I thought we weren't getting one!
KABOOM! HEART AND OTHER THINGS EXPLODE! Dean Winchester with a baby... AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
I love that sneak peek for reasons of adorable, for reasons of how Dean reacts - as in doesn't - to Jenna's virginity comment, he's the coolest dude EVER, for reasons of, "for us the bar's pretty low". I LOVE YOU DEAN WINCHESTER! I love you.
Then there was this fun little number! With some old and some new! TEASE!
GOOD TIMES INDEED!
Argh! I can't wait to see what happens! I hope we end with Sam and Dean in Baby (not with baby), going off to save people whilst hunting things! Just like at the end of that 2nd CW promo! GOOOOOD TIMES!
It's so exciting to have our show back. It's so exciting to have that delicious anticipation every week. That not knowing. That thrill of a new episode and all the happiness, all the angst, ALL THE FEELS!
Enjoy the episode, everyone!
-sweetondean
THE CARVER IS TALKING!
OH THAT BABY IS SMART FOR HER AGE WITH THE SPELLING! Heh,
How cool does that look with the baby having powers and stuff! Oh I think I love this all ready. And Sam, I can't wait to see what he does to sort black veiny virusy thing out. And Crowley wants the baby? I think that sounds like a hilarious sitcom! "My dad, the King of Hell". I'D WATCH THAT!
Of course the clips tell us way more than Carver does! He's such a spoiler volt. GIVE US SOMETHING, CARVER! Anything.
How good does it feel to have our show back? No really, HOW GOOD IS IT? I always know during hiatus that I’m missing Sam and Dean, no matter how many rewatches I do! But it’s never until they're back on my screen, all new and shiny, and I’m once again immersed in the chaos of their lives, that I realise just how much I miss my Winchesters.
On premiere day, I spent the whole day at work watching the clock and trying to figure out exactly when I could escape and get home to watch Supernatural. I kept off twitter, I stayed spoiler free of the day, I hadn’t read or heard a thing about how the episode was or what people thought. I raced home and sat down and prepared myself. I was ridiculously excited. So excited. My show was back!
And it did not disappoint. Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire was epic, and wonderful and I loved every anxious inducing, disorientating moment of it!
Welcome back, Show. In your 11th season, you are still as surprising as you were in your first.
I loved opening up exactly where we left off in the season 10 finale. I always love when that happens. It gives such a nice sense of continuity. Like we’ve never been gone. Like the last 5 months never happened!
Seeing the Darkness roll in through both Sam and Dean’s differing perspectives was genius. As was the disjointed timeline. Hopping back and forth throughout the hour, kept me just a tad off kilter, which added to those tense, and impending doom feelings I was most definitely getting! As did that drone under so much of the soundtrack, and those really loud bug and bird noises that became almost wince inducing! The whole thing made me feel uneasy in the best possible way.
We were promised a backed to basic vibe, and that’s what we got. The episode felt familiar yet new all in one. The brothers were together, and sure, arguing…they’re bull-headed Winchesters after all, but together…whole…talking…and…listening! It felt like the start of something really great, and something the show has been steadfastly working its way towards over the last few seasons. The brothers being brothers again, but with a grow’dupness that allows them to speak out, and even if they don’t like what they’re hearing, stop and pay attention. Weeeeee!
In fact, this episode felt very much like season 2’s Croatoan to me. Sam and Dean trapped in a hospital, a rage-inducing virus overcoming a town, Sam infected. The tautness, the fear, the feeling of helplessness and claustrophobia their situation and the Darkness swirling around them was stirring up. And Croatoan is one of my favourite episodes ever. So colour me an extremely happy fan. Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire, ROCKED.
Remember when Jensen said at the Australian convention AHBL6, that he'd pitched to Carver that when the Darkness clears, one of the boys should be missing? HUH! Guess he either knows his show so well that he was pitching something they were all ready planning, or they listened. Of course, Jensen had an ulterior motive, that of wanting some time off! A few eps with Dean gone, only to find him on a beach in Hawaii. Nice try Jensen! That’s not exactly how it played out!
I loved seeing Sam witness Dean disappear before being knocked out cold in the trauma of the Darkness overcoming him and Baby. Dean in the churning mass of smoke confused, as this new enemy calmly stands before him. It was all so gorgeous.
Have you ever seen anything as pretty as Dean waking up in a bed of wildflowers? I think not! The peculiar juxtaposition of seeing this tough hunter, surrounded by the reds and pinks of nature, all soft and sunlit glowing, made the shot even more striking. Dean asleep is a beautiful thing, Dean asleep surrounded by flowers is stunning! Actually so was Sam coming up over the hill, hair and worried swirling thing on his forehead in full force! We don’t often get to see our boys in sunshine!
*sigh* It was so good to have them back.
And it was great to have them talking.
For a while now, their job, the toll it has taken on lives, has created pragmatism in how they deal with not only the supernatural, but also the victims of the supernatural. Whether it’s killing demons with the demon knife, and in consequence killing the vessel, or openly talking about killing a teenage girl infected with vampirism, when they actually know a cure. It’s hardened them to the plight of those that they may have once considered saving first. Sam was right; they rock at the Hunting bit of the bumper sticker (loved that reference) but the Saving People bit…they’ve strayed away from. Not entirely of course, but it’s somewhat secondary to them now. When facing off against evil, kill first, ask questions later is how they roll, and it wasn’t always like that. It’s the fallout from years of fighting and watching those you love being destroyed by the life.
“If we don’t change, right now, all of our crap is just going to keep repeating itself. I unleashed a force on this world that could destroy it, to save you and I’d do it again, in a second I would do it again. This isn’t on you, this is on us, we have to change."
This was an incredibly self-aware moment for both the show and the brothers, and after so much water under the bridge, it felt like that big reset button being firmly pushed once and for all on the brother’s relationship.
Of course they will always save each other, that’s who they are, that’s who the show is. But facing what they’ve brought about together, without finger pointing, without wallowing guilt, which out anger at each other, that feels new. “We broke it, we brought it.” “Lock and key”. How I loved that.
And sadly, they will always keep secrets – that’s how they were raised, and they’ve been doing this since we first met them. But I give Sam a pass on not telling Dean he was infected by the Rabid nurse in the storeroom (what a great gig to get, fighting Jared!). If he’d had told Dean, Dean would have hightailed it back to Sam without hesitating. And I give Dean a pass on not telling Sam about what he was remembering of the Darkness, they had other fish to fry in that moment, and I’m not even sure Dean knew what he was remembering – and certainly wasn’t able to make sense of it. But I do hope they both come clean at some point…in the near future…she says…knowing better.
And what about all that stuff with the Darkness? What the hell did that mean? I wasn’t even entirely sure that Dean was actually remembering, or if only we were seeing what happened. Or was that yet to happen? Were we seeing a future conversation? Was she there, or did she just manifest in Dean’s mind? I was as disoriented as Dean was – which was so well done and really kinda perfect.
I do think that “I’m screwed” look on his face at the end, probably meant it was all coming back to him in dribs and drabs though, and none of it sounded good. Poor Dean, truly out of the darkness into the fire.
What will it mean to be bound to the Darkness? We certainly saw the affect the always protecting the Darkness thing had on him when it was revealed at the end that the baby named Amara wore the Mark of Cain. A teeny weenie Mark of Cain! I gasped! Then clapped my hands because it was so damn deliciously unexpected!
So was the baby the Darkness herself? The Darkness born into this world, kinda like Damien. That might explain why the mother died. Or maybe she was a new lock against the Darkness, that might explain why the Rabids all focused on the hospital – trying to destroy the new lock? Or maybe the Rabids were the opposite - maybe they were a side effect of the Darkness being released, like antibodies and they were coming to destroy the baby - maybe that's why Dean wanted to kill them all so bad. I saw some people theorising that the baby was in fact the progeny of the Darkness and Dean – they did look like they were about to make out! #Hot. Though that never entered into my head (and I totally hope Show doesn’t go there).
And did it all feel like this was another baby that was carried to saftey by Dean - a baby also infected with something supernatural... Powerful ties back to something so familiar, when Dean carried Sam out of their burning house, Sam infected with demon blood... Nice.
I loved everything about the Darkness. Her menacing stillness, how she said she felt peaceful around Dean (Jensen can be quite calming!), questioning whether Dean was saying he wanted to kill her or he shouldn’t kill her – placing doubt in his mind and ours. She was beautiful, her smoke was beautiful, and she was a scary as hell. She’s everything a malevolent, ancient entity should be, and I can’t wait to find out more about what the hell she is, and what that means to our boys. Being freed after so long locked away and thought forgotten, what are her plans for this world, and the man she has called her protector. Eeeep!
And that was the thing I loved the most about Out of the Fire, Into the Darkness, the questions it raised, the confused and unsettled state I was left in, just like the brothers. It was like we were truly experiencing their loss of equilibrium alongside them, as we all struggled to understand this latest apocalyptic disaster. It was beautifully done. Perfect and intriguing. And I’m desperate to see what happens next - which is just how a season premiere should leave you.
Though the focus was well and truly on Sam and Dean, we also found out what the outcome was for Crowley and Cas.
Cas, whammied by Rowena’s attack dog spell, is trying to control his homicidal tendencies. It was touching to see him reach out to the brothers and check in on Dean, playing down his own dire predicament to ensure his friend was okay. Wonder where he learnt that! I do wish he hadn’t put his faith back in Heaven. Geesh. Maybe he was hoping for Hannah and her sisters (and brothers) to come to his aid. Instead he got who knows what! Two rogue angels? That was my immediate thought. Or two pissed off angels. Metatron’s henchmen? I wonder what they want from him? It doesn’t look good! Especially in the next promo! (Spoiler alert!)
And Crowley made an excellent and crafty escape. Nice work, sir! I love seeing his red smoke, it’s so luscious! And he lucked out getting a bit on the side before calling for his minions to reunite him with his usual meat suit! The aftermath of the orgy…I don’t even want to know. I feel like the Darkness and him are not going to be friends...which will throw him awkwardly back in line with the Winchesters - well, maybe not with Sam after all the trying to kill him stuff!
And then… the Cage was mentioned.
Michael and Lucifer and THE CAGE! O.M.G.!
Okay, bear with me while I indulge my crazy, overactive, fangirl brains!
The Croatoan virus was Lucifer’s end game in the Apocalypse timeline. Lucifer was the original wearer of the Mark of Cain, the lock for the Darkness, and the evil of the curse associated with it rose up inside him, turning him into to what we know now as The Devil. If the Darkness’ smoke did in fact cause this “28 Days Later” affect on the locals of Superior, maybe that’s where Lucifer got the virus idea – from his connection to the Darkness? And the fact that demons, which Lucifer created, are like tiny clouds of Darkness…OMG, I really love all these connections! Even if they’re only in my mind!
What if…when the Mark was removed from Dean’s arm, it was also removed from Lucifer, the original lock and key? I’m assuming, of course, that it was still on him somewhere – Cain retained the Mark and it’s affects, even when he passed it on to Dean. What if that was who was screaming in the Cage…Lucifer, suddenly clear of the Mark? Tormented by what he has become, and knowing that this ancient evil he was the last line of defence against, was now free – and he was now free of its influence.
Lucifer is the Morning Star, the bringer of light… And now we have the Darkness… Huh? Huh? You reading my mail on where I’m going with this?
WAIT! I never theorise because I’m always wrong! Always. Without fail. Usually proven by one of you guys in the comments! But I love Lucifer (that still makes me awkward to write) and I would dearly love his story to somehow be woven into this latest mess…as long as if we get to see him, he's Mark Pellegrino (maybe not so rotty tho)!
Or course it could have been Michael screaming…and I'd like that to be Matt please (which doesn't make sense I know but still), I’d be cool with that too. I AM EXCITED THAT THE CAGE AND LUCIFER AND MICHAEL WERE MENTIONED, CAN YOU TELL? Someone is screaming in the Cage. Someone. Is. Screaming. In. The. Cage.
Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire, was a powerful, intriguing, suspenseful opener, which set the scene for what already feels like an exciting season. It was beautiful to look at, with sassy dialogue and an inspired constructed script by Carver, and more of the spot on performances from our main cast, and guest stars that this show seems to continue to deliver. There was a familiarity to the vibe of the thing that feels good and right and that I was longing for without even consciously knowing it
I’m already loving how the brothers are talking and relating to each other, sharing blame, not wallowing in guilt, (and yeah, lying, but I’ll reserve judgement on that). Sam’s determination to be heard. Dean stopping and actually hearing his brother. Both allowing the other to do what they do best. *swoon*
The questions around what the Darkness is, what she wants, and what’s her bond to Dean is, are fabulously fascinating.
The questions around Sam’s infection – did the Rabids back off because they knew he was already one of them, or because of something else? Demon blood? Lingering Grace? How is he going to cure himself and what will that mean? More deliciousness!
What on earth is the deal with the baby? Who is she really? And will Dean have to ask for some skin to make sure everyone he feels passionate about saving in the future isn’t actually secretly marked? Heh.
The torture angels what's their deal, and the crying out in THE CAGE! Is Crowley going to go check it out? We're going to see the Cage aren't we. Oh God. That's so damn exciting.
There's so much I don’t understand and that’s just awesome. Like, so awesome I can’t even. Because really, should a show 11 seasons in, be this damn surprising? I watched this episode 3 times back to back and every time I was blown away and excited – maybe even a little more than the time before. I’ve since watched it a few more times. And I’ll watch it again when I’ve finished posting this. It’s up there with my favourite openers. There. I said it. I loved the tone of it. I just love the not knowing. I love thinking about what everything means. Reading theories. Talking theories. I don’t do this with any other show, and I know in my heart I never, ever will. Supernatural is just that special.
OH MY GIDDY AUNT! IT'S NEARLY HERE! THE HELLATUS IS NEARLY BEHIND US! IT'S SUPERNATURAL SEASON 11 TIME! SEASON 11! 11! Woo. Gotta calm down! And that means it's preview time! Yay! Yep, it's time to get our hearts ready for lots of Supernatural style love and pain, which is the same as love in our fandom, because season 11 is upon us! So where did we leave our favourite heroes and villains?
Sam did a deal with an evil witch, because Dean's Mark of Cain was making him twitch.
Dean was getting more grrrr by the day, and Sam knew that there was no other way.
So he constructed a plan and started to lie, but he really didn't mean for Charlie to die... :(
She gave her life for her adopted big bro, so Rowena could make that pesky Mark of Cain go.
Then Death got a call to meet Dean face to face, and offered to send him to outer space!
To remove the Mark would let an evil out, an evil called the Darkness, in case there was doubt!
But before Death would let their deal be done, he said Dean had to kill number 2 son!
With Sammy looking up all puppy dog eyes, Dean gave us all a helluva surprise.
He swung Death's scythe away from his bro, and straight into Death, and down Death did go!
Meanwhile Rowena and Crowley and Cas, were concocting a spell that was totally bad ass!
It sent them flying across the room, and out of the window a lightning bolt went zoooom.
Straight to Dean's mark, it made his arm glow, and when the dust cleared he was like, "Where did it go?"
The Mark of Cain totally vanished from sight, and Sam was like, "Cool! It's gunna be all right!"
And Dean was like, "Um I don't think so bro", since when does our luck not totally blow!"
Then out of the ground came great plumes of black, and Sam and Dean were like, "OH. FRACK!"
They ran to the car, but got stuck in a hole, as a big cloud of Darkness towards them did roll!
Meanwhile things for Crowley were not going well, when Rowena hit Cas with an attack dog spell.
Cas all bloody and bleeding eye, charged at Crowley, angel blade raised high.
Back with the boys they sat side by side, just as they should on this epic ride.
Nothing to protect them, but Baby and each other, as Sam reached out to hold onto his brother.
And as we faded to black we were left with sound, of Sam calling Dean...
WAY TO MAKE OUR HEARTS POUND!
I would like to formally apologise for my bad poetry
NOW
SEASON 11 BABY!! WOOOOHOOOO!
So, let's check out the synopsis for episode 1 of season 11, "Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire"
THE WINCHESTERS FACE THEIR BIGGEST THREAT EVER — Picking up where the finale left off, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) must deal with the Darkness that has been unleashed. Castiel (Misha Collins) deals with the effects of Rowena’s (Ruth Connell) spell and recalls his brutal battle with Crowley (Mark A. Sheppard). Robert Singer directed the episode written by Jeremy Carver
The A team! All of our wonderful cast, and Carver and Singer! So we know that we pickup exactly where we left off season 10 - with Cas going for Crowley and the boys facing down the Darkness. Though according to Jensen, when we rejoin the boys, we don't know exactly how long they were in the Darkness and what happened to them whilst they were surrounded by the black ick! Oooooo! We've been kind of spoiled when it's come to trailers and sneak peeks and stuff for this episode! Well, I should say for the premiere of the season, because apart from the sneak peek, we know that there's more than one episode represented in the promos that we've been lucky enough to be gifted with. Like the EPIC 2 minute trailer that was produced by the show! it looks like shots from episodes 1 - 4 to me, because I'd say the point of view shot of the boys eating is from the "Baby" ep, which is episode 4. So here's the very special, secret project, promo that the show put together, just for us!
How lucky are we to have the show itself put together a season opening promo, and a really great one at that! When I saw this promo it reminded me just how dark and bloody our show is. Because this is damn dark, and damn bloody, and damn awesome. And that shot of Jensen driving the Impala at the end is one of the hottest things I've ever seen. Ever. Like...EVER.
We also know that the season opener is pretty much a 2 parter. Not sure if that means a TO BE CONTINUED or just that the events of episode 1 stretch into episode 2. We know that from what The Carver has said, but also the synopsis and promo pics from episode 2 feature the same guest cast as in episode 1. I love this. I love that we get a really fleshed out opening to this season and that the first 2 episodes are to be looked at as one piece.
Here's the CW promo. Which has a lot of different shots in it and a very dark and grungy vibe. I like this promo, it brands the show as totally badassed. It looks like a horror show. As it should!
There's a lot going on here. Is what happens to this town, because of the Darkness? I'm kind of assuming so. I'm totally looking forward to seeing what happened to Sam and Dean when that Darkness rolled over them. And what the hell with the screaming Sam shots - with his face all pulled in some contraption, and blood running down, and he's shirtless (which I ain't gunna complain about). Man, what is even going on! Eeeeeee! My excitement levels are growing exponentially as I talk about it!
Okay, and we also got a sneak peek!
I love how in sync the boys are. The way they get out of the car together, cock their guns together, raise their guns. together. Sam's little sideways glances at his brother, checking in. Love it. I freakin' love this sneak peek. Seriously though, "show me some skin", should become the show's new catch phrase! Right?
I'm pretty damn excited for this season. Okay, yes, I'm excited for every season! But for the first time in a long time...like a really freakin' long time, we go into a season knowing that both the boys are whole, they're not supernaturally affected, or dying, or on some other plane, or with some random chick! They're not separated, they're on the same page, fighting shoulder to should as brothers, and HOLY SHIT, I mean that alone is bloody awesome!
I'm also really glad that Crowley is back to being a bastard and that Cas (once he's sorted out that attack dog thing), is a fully charged up angel again - though not sure what ramifications that will have on the story, it's always been an issue, the Winchesters having a high powered angelic buddy as a get out of gaol free card!
But, mostly, I'm just so damn excited to see my favourite bros being bros. I'm sure they have some stuff to nut out, and Winchesters being Winchesters, they will fight and there will be lies and all that stuff that has been part of their functionally dysfunctional relationship from the get go. But hey, they're Sam and Dean, not possessed, wall broken brain damaged, on deaths door, or demonised. THEY ARE SAM AND DEAN. For now. I think. And that's AMAZEBALLS.
Enjoy the episode. I intend to bask in it. If I could roll around on it I would!
FUCK YEAH SUPERNATURAL IS BACK!
Excuse the language I'm excited. And also Australian....
