yourlibrarian (yourlibrarian) wrote in mind_over_meta, @ 2009-10-02 21:04:00 |
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Entry tags: | supernatural |
SPN 5.04 - This devil was never a gentleman
I have to say I quite preferred this week's edition of the Dean and Cas show, and the Dean and Dean show wasn't bad either. When I saw the Croatoan recaps in the Then, I was excited to think that this dangling storyline was finally going to have some payoff. While it wasn't the centerpiece of this episode, I was satisfied with the resolution we got for it here. In fact, as a whole I thought this episode had the tightly written feel of Edlund’s best work, Nightshifter. There were few plot holes, if we ignore the idea that the demons would keep the Colt around at all – although even there Edlund hung a lantern on the issue in Dean’s conversation with Castiel. While famous for bad horses, vampire puppets and suicidal bears, Edlund wrote what I still consider one of the best put together episodes for SPN and I think he made this episode equally memorable. This was meant to be an epic episode and I think it mostly succeeded.
Dean’s pretty sure that 2009 Dean won’t change anything he did. The thing is, I don’t understand why the angels would have packed it in and given up. After all, if they can move across time they could hear Dean begging for Michael to come in 2014. What would have changed so drastically that it would be too late for Michael’s intervention then? There’s clearly some information Dean’s not coming back with.
As I mentioned back in my 5.01 discussion, Dean and Sam seem to have switched places. Dean is becoming the “big picture” general, and Sam more concerned about individuals. 2014 Dean is telling 2009 Dean, that this is where he went wrong – both his pride in refusing Michael and his weakness in not making the tough choices. Lucifer believes the same – that Dean won’t say yes to Michael, nor kill Sam. Of course, given what Lucifer told Sam, there would seem little point to Dean killing him. Lucifer already has a vessel anyway, and in any case he planned to bring Sam back. Presumably Zach and the other angels could do the same to Dean – after all he’s already been brought back once. No word on if there’s a statute of limitations to resurrections.
Dean’s message to Castiel “Don’t ever change” was understandably heartfelt. But it also struck me that it was very typical of Dean. He’s not good with change, in anything. His car, his music, himself, but also the people he’s close to. He doesn’t want anything to change. He’s the agent of conservatism, really.
I wasn’t sure why Risa was in the episode or why she had that introduction with Dean. But then it occurred to me that, although Dean is supposed to find his 2014 version rather monstrous, it didn’t seem to me that Dean had really changed much at all. And I think this was supposed to reinforce that idea. (In fact, given what sort of 5 years it’s been, Dean looks remarkably unchanged).
Sam’s rusty after just a few weeks? This is the second time so far that the show has played with expectations by feinting a direction for only an episode or two. I was definitely expecting that we would see a much longer separation. The idea of using this angel-ex-machina to get Dean and Sam back together isn't a problem for me, but there's a lack of real emotional payoff in that respect, given that they've been apart for not quite two episodes. Why not have this episode come later in the season? What's the purpose of having it so early?
This episode seems most reminiscent of Mystery Spot. Even though Dean was more present in that episode, it was one that Sam, for most purposes, spent alone. It was Sam dealing with Dean dying and then being gone. The end result was not good. In that AU verse, Sam was alone though, and in just six months his attitude to the world and the job had changed significantly. In this verse, Dean has been without Sam for years, but he's not alone. Just the opposite, he points out that he is responsible for other people besides Sam. Dean is, as ever, a caretaker. Sam is, as ever, afraid of closeness to others. The end result for both, however, seems the same. They are willing to sacrifice everything to achieve their goals but are extremely resistant to questioning those goals.
For example, in the AU 2014 verse, what will the benefit be to humanity if Lucifer is killed? The virus is already loose, chaos is already upon them, and killing Lucifer will not wipe out demons. Dean accuses Sam in their phone conversation of wanting revenge again, but his effort to kill Lucifer smacks of little else. The main benefit would seem to be to save what's left of Sam by killing Lucifer. But I also think Dean knew he was going to die. As Risa pointed out, why believe the demon? It's not like torture's ever been proven effective in getting useful information from victims, especially if they're very committed to a cause. I think he knew it was going to be a trap from the start, but he'd ceased to care. He said it to 2009 Dean, he used to think he couldn't fail. But he knows better now. He just wants it to be over.
Of course, conveniently unknown in that showdown is whether the Colt would have been of any use anyway.
I have to wonder, given their pattern of keeping things to themselves, if Dean is going to share with Sam, or with Castiel, what he knows of the future. One would think knowing the plan ahead of time would be a strategic advantage.
Other Observations
1) Dean always gets the best parking spaces.
2) We laughed so hard at “the voice says I’m almost out of minutes” we had to stop the recording. And then Castiel’s going to stand there at the side of the road for four hours. I agree with Dean – don’t change, Cas.
And what, no one took me up on my suggestion last week to write a fic about Castiel obtaining his cell phone? Because that would be comedy gold.
3) Why was Dean driving 16 hours straight to get to Kansas City? Something urgent, presumably.
4) I’m assuming Dean went back out to eat and pick up beer after he arrived at the hotel – unless he lugs them around in his duffle.
5) Some reason Edlund (or the special effects people) decided to have Route 666 in particular playing at the theater?
6) I was thinking Jerry Wanek may have pulled out some of his old Dark Angel plans for this episode. We can’t see the apocalypse on this scale every week, but they did a nice job of it this time out.
7) Was “Do You Love Me?” a shout out to Patrick Swayze’s death? It was a great song to pick for that scene, it had that whole Apocalypse Now air to it, it just seemed a bit coincidental.
8) Steve Boyum did a nice job directing this. The whole episode had a great look to it. My sole complaint would be the final scene with Sam and Dean which lacked the larger number of setups that would have given their conversation a less flat feel.
9) Why would Zach tell Dean how they’re tracking him down? Isn’t this poor strategy? It would have been smarter to have Dean figure that one out himself.
10) So that’s where Bobby stashes his journal – and it’s not a secret from Sam and Dean.
11) Apparently the only person who can knock Dean out with one blow is Dean himself. That’s twice he did it in this episode. A little hard to believe given all the abuse he takes from creatures stronger than he is on a regular basis. However, I found it such a welcome change to the absurd poundings these characters take week after week.
12) I'm not clear where Camp Chitawqua is, especially since the sanitarium appears to be in Jackson County which is the county that Kansas City is in. Given the woods, I can't imagine that's supposed to be Missouri though.
13) It’s still not the end of 2009 by this episode.
14) Dean + panties = fandom go boom. Seriously, can someone start a Kripked Bingo Card, because I think they’re trying to hit every fanfic square possible.
15) I’ve no idea how Dean dug that nail out without making a mess of his hand.
16) "Like in a Kibbutz?" I think we need to start the Judaism 101 Bingo Card as well.
17) Castiel + assorted pharmaceuticals = 1 more spot on the bingo card
18) There doesn’t seem to be any shortage of liquor in post-apocalypse world.
19) For what little we saw of her, I liked Risa, I hope maybe we get to run into earlier Risa sometime.
20) I also loved Castiel’s blend of matter-of-fact’ness and snarkiness in the strategy session. Not that there was much strategizing to be done.
21) Poor Chuck. Dean didn’t come back from that mission. Guess maybe he was left in charge of a camp full of people craving TP. It would be hilarious if we see this as a running gag in future episodes. Not that Dean will apparently be needing any for weeks given all the teleporting he did in this episode.
22) I’m going to assume that those other two cars in the caravan were packed full of people – because it doesn’t make sense that there would be enough cars and gas available to be driving them half empty.
23) Dean and Sam meet where they said goodbye to John in Salvation, right?
24) I noticed Sam drove a yellow car, in line with demonic colors. Lucifer!Sam though was dressed in pure white. I wondered if it was meant to be a reflection of how he was an angel, or the idea of the devil being a Southern gentleman. Or as Rolling Stone put it when comparing SPN to the Dukes of Hazzard, Lucifer is Boss Hogg.