I am. My breaks are mostly me not posting to my own journal, which I do now and again for various reasons. I've only started announcing it because I want people to know all is well and I'm just taking a break. However, I still scan my flist and I couldn't help responding to your entry. :)
I chose to be tolerant of new writers finding their feet
It's good to be encouraging. Drawing together a complete story is hard work, esp. with such a picky fandom. It's a wonder the Show gets the thumbs up as much as it does considering it's under the collective fannish microscope.
the initial reaction of my flist seemed to be glee at Sam's patience and forebearance, which puzzled me because I mostly saw irritation and dissociation!
Sam did have his brotherly moments (trying to move to a ground floor room, calling Dean from the pulp mill to tell him to hang in there and he and Bobby have a plan). But I would've liked to see more of his reaction to the prospect of losing Dean again. Like you, I thought even a repressing Sam would've had brief panic-ridden flashbacks of losing Dean, being without Dean, burying Dean. What I would've liked to have seen was a tiny solo Sam moment of grief/desperation/determination even if it be a five second shot of him gripping Dean's gun or getting angry at the poor fearful spirit for infecting Dean. Anything. Just because it's a Dean-centric episode doesn't mean that there can't be ANY Sam insight.
I'm still patiently waiting to get into Sam's head this season, our flaming anvil episode helped but it didn't elucidate much regarding those missing 4 months. And I'm finding that without those gaping blanks filled in I'm having trouble understanding what Sam is doing/thinking this season. And without the context he's coming off as a block of ice or a robot or a zombie.
I also liked your point about this episode not revealing anything NEW about Dean's psyche. I hope Show doesn't repeat the same mistake with Dean that it did last season with Sam's "I'm gonna save you, Dean" (i.e. "I'm afraid my baby brother is evil."). My fingers are crossed for a better episode this week.
no subject
I am. My breaks are mostly me not posting to my own journal, which I do now and again for various reasons. I've only started announcing it because I want people to know all is well and I'm just taking a break. However, I still scan my flist and I couldn't help responding to your entry. :)
I chose to be tolerant of new writers finding their feet
It's good to be encouraging. Drawing together a complete story is hard work, esp. with such a picky fandom. It's a wonder the Show gets the thumbs up as much as it does considering it's under the collective fannish microscope.
the initial reaction of my flist seemed to be glee at Sam's patience and forebearance, which puzzled me because I mostly saw irritation and dissociation!
Sam did have his brotherly moments (trying to move to a ground floor room, calling Dean from the pulp mill to tell him to hang in there and he and Bobby have a plan). But I would've liked to see more of his reaction to the prospect of losing Dean again. Like you, I thought even a repressing Sam would've had brief panic-ridden flashbacks of losing Dean, being without Dean, burying Dean. What I would've liked to have seen was a tiny solo Sam moment of grief/desperation/determination even if it be a five second shot of him gripping Dean's gun or getting angry at the poor fearful spirit for infecting Dean. Anything. Just because it's a Dean-centric episode doesn't mean that there can't be ANY Sam insight.
I'm still patiently waiting to get into Sam's head this season, our flaming anvil episode helped but it didn't elucidate much regarding those missing 4 months. And I'm finding that without those gaping blanks filled in I'm having trouble understanding what Sam is doing/thinking this season. And without the context he's coming off as a block of ice or a robot or a zombie.
I also liked your point about this episode not revealing anything NEW about Dean's psyche. I hope Show doesn't repeat the same mistake with Dean that it did last season with Sam's "I'm gonna save you, Dean" (i.e. "I'm afraid my baby brother is evil."). My fingers are crossed for a better episode this week.