"This is not as appealing as a ghost-proof panic room."

[llywela]

Recap time!

I know it's only two episodes, so far, but I'm really loving season four. I just hope it stays this awesome all the way through!

Okay, here we go: 30+ pages (yeah, I know, typical wordy me) in which I rabbit on about Bobby's network of contacts, Dean's inability to wrap his brain around the concept of an angel or why he should be saved, why Sam is scaring me, the continuing Ruby conundrum, demons versus angels, the unravelling of Bobby, the deceptive nature of spirits and their unjust accusations in this episode, to guilt or not to guilt, Dean's self image, Sam's self image, Bobby's awesome panic room, good versus evil and the impending Apocalypse, the nature of Sam's relationship with Ruby, the way Castiel intimidates Dean, Lilith's long-term strategy, and lots more beside!

To read the recap, click the link below:

"So you thought our luck was going to start now, all of a sudden?"

There are loads and loads of images in there, again, because of the pretty. Screencaps taken from Screencap Paradise and marishna, and messed around with by me.

Comments

[bogwitch.livejournal.com]

Will go away and digest.

Your title is wrong on the web page, btw.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Bah.

*fixes*

Thanks!

[bogwitch.livejournal.com]

I do that all the time with my site. :D

>>So, the very first thing we learn from this conversation is that Dean has opted for full and frank disclosure on his conversation with Castiel

I doubt he had much choice. Bobby at least was going to ask.

>> either Sam has taken time to retrieve his brother's effects from wherever they were stored, or Dean has taken time for a quick shopping trip to re-stock his wardrobe. I'd really like to know which

They look remarkably like his old clothes to me.

>>Where the heck did Bobby learn to read cuneiform?

Maybe he was using a super translation program like Sam was using on his laptop in The Kids are Alright.

>>Bobby summarises his research. "It all says an angel can snatch a soul from the Pit."
>>"What else?" Dean immediately asks, still staring at the picture of the angel, transfixed. "What else can do it?"
>>"Airlift your ass out of the hotbox?" Bobby shrugs. "Far as I can tell, nothing."

All their reseach over the last year or so, and they never came across this fact?

>> And there's nothing self-pitying about his attitude; he's not looking for any kind of sympathy or validation. He just honestly wants to know, because it is incomprehensible to him.

In Dean’s defence, it would be mind-blowing for anyone!

>>The bottom line is that Dean just is not comfortable being at the centre of anyone's attention, and all his flirting and vanity and seemingly attention-seeking ways have only ever been a smoke shield to deflect attention away from that fact. Look over there, nothing to see here.

It’s a different sort of attention though, isn’t it? I have no doubt Dean enjoys parties and girl attention etc, as long as no one looks too closely as who he really is.

>>Shouldn't the attendant in the service station have heard that shot and come running?

If it was me, I’d be running in the other direction!

>>Why, when all those other hunters were ripped apart so very bloodily and we saw how fast Olivia met her end, are these ghosts wasting so much time toying with Bobby?

Maybe they did play with them first (although the evidence doesn’t seem to point that way), or maybe due to the personality of the spirit she was dealing with, he was more to the point.

>>But wouldn't you expect Bobby's panic room to be fully stocked with such essentials?

They can always use more, or perhaps Bobby kept some supplies there as a creative project in case he had to lock himself in.

>>The four horsemen

Do you think Kripke will go there? I think he’ll go there!

Too, too tempting. I hope they’re really horrible.

>>places a mug of coffee on the floor at his feet

And none again for Dean? Insult to injury!

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

I doubt he had much choice. Bobby at least was going to ask.
Very true. But there is no sign at all of the kind of deflection and prevarication we've seen from Dean in the past when he hasn't wanted to talk about something. He wants to talk about this, needs to puzzle it through aloud.

All their reseach over the last year or so, and they never came across this fact?
I'm going to guess they were so utterly focused on finding ways to stop Dean going to hell in the first place, looking at ways of getting him out again never really entered into it. Also, for all that Sam wanted to believe in angels, there had never been any evidence that they existed before, certainly no way of summoning one to ask for a favour. So Bobby could have read those texts a hundred times before and they would never have been anything more than theoretical - fantasy, even. It is only now that they become a solid source of evidence.

It’s a different sort of attention though, isn’t it? I have no doubt Dean enjoys parties and girl attention etc, as long as no one looks too closely as who he really is.
Quite. All his usual flirting and whatnot draws a particularly superficial kind of attention, and he's perfectly happy with that. He just isn't comfortable with the kind of attention that actually looks past the surface to who he really is inside.

If it was me, I’d be running in the other direction!
At the very least, he should be dialling 911. The boys would have to get out of there pretty sharpish...

I wonder if Sam paid for the gas before or after using the restroom...?

Do you think Kripke will go there? I think he’ll go there!
*imagines it*

*pictures Kripke giggling like a schoolgirl at the thought*

And none again for Dean? Insult to injury!
ROFLMAO

In Sam's defence, however, Dean was asleep when he made the coffee - maybe he thought his brother would prefer a lie in!

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

Yay, recap! Well done, as always, hon! ♥

Blowing it away with a quick blast of rock salt – however did hunters manage before the Winchesters came up with that innovation?Well, since John was a loner and the boys were never introduced to the hunters network it’s entirely possible that rocksalt shells were a common practice and that the Winchesters never heard of it because of their isolation, but got onto it nonetheless, all by themselves. *g*

But in a sense, that just makes it all worse, and he is so very pissed off about it all, so puzzled and confused. It must hurt Dean immensely since he admitted that his loss of faith mainly goes back to the day where Mary was killed. Mary who believed that angels were watching over them and still was hit by something so horribly evil. Castiel’s existence is like a personal affront to Dean.

Having had a couple of ghostly encounters already today, Dean knows what to expect and instantly launches a pre-emptive strike. "I know," he sympathises by way of distraction. I love Jensen’s subtle acting in this scene because it is the biggest clue that Dean is in fact not trapped in guilt by Victor’s appearance here but just trying to distract the ghost: His voice (dripping with sorry), expression and gestures (hand to the heart) are exaggerated, especially if you compare it to his genuine regret towards Meg. That’s really well done! Only after Henriksen expands on Nancy’s death, Jensen’s acting turns genuine. I just love that man.

Sam is asleep on Bobby's sofa. (…) Dean is asleep on the floor. Which is especially funny since Sam is a giant and Dean is not, so Sam surely is less comfortable on the couch than his brother. *g*

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

ince John was a loner and the boys were never introduced to the hunters network it’s entirely possible that rocksalt shells were a common practice and that the Winchesters never heard of it because of their isolation, but got onto it nonetheless, all by themselves
Hee. Yeah, I know. It just amuses me. *G*

It must hurt Dean immensely since he admitted that his loss of faith mainly goes back to the day where Mary was killed. Mary who believed that angels were watching over them and still was hit by something so horribly evil. Castiel’s existence is like a personal affront to Dean.
Exactly. All through this episode you can see clearly how offended he is by the notion that angels and God exist, just choose not to intervene.

I love Jensen’s subtle acting in this scene
♥

[percysowner.livejournal.com]

"Six of my brothers died in the field this week," Castiel continues. How? Last week's episode established Castiel himself as pretty much indestructible. I have no problem with the notion of angels being killable, but I would like to know how. I mean, it is implied that these angels fell in battle against Lilith's demonic forces, as they work to break the Seals. But it has already been established that demon-kind in general is terrified of angels, and surely if they were able to take them out in such numbers in just one battle, there would be no reason for that fear?

Well, my theory is that an angel can kill another angel. After all, according to Biblical canon, Lucifer's fall happened because he revolted against God and lost the war. Maybe there is another civil war going on between the angels? Lilith seems to be otherwise engaged in opening seals, and Castiel doesn't mention her or any other demons being in the battle. There may be more forces at work her than just Heaven and Hell.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

It is almost certainly safe to say there is more going on than meets the eye!