"It's a little spooky, isn't it?"

[llywela]

I desperately needed distraction from Real Life this weekend, so buried myself in the recap for the latest Supernatural. Which I loved, as I have every episode so far this season.

I would have polished it up a little more and edited in a bunch of pretty pictures, but I don't have time this week because life sucks and I have to devote too much time to keeping my chin above water (or not as the case may be).

So, without any further ado, here is this week's recap:

"I'll man the flashlight."

Screencaps found at Screencap Paradise, marishna and oxoniensis

Comments

[bowtrunckle.livejournal.com]

I thought you were on LJ hiatus?

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.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Sam did have his brotherly moments
He did, it is true. But they were pretty intermittent compared to his frustrated huffs and puffs. I couldn't help comparing his behaviour here to the previous occasions where Dean's life has been on the line...and it is completely different. There's just no urgency about him at all - he's worried and resolute, but there's none of the frantic care and concern of the previous occasions. I was pulling together the early stages of a List of Love for Faith last week (won't be posted for ages as I don't have time to finish it right now) and the contrast is staggering.

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.
You know, I haven't liked to say anything like that, but...

Context is everything. I can think of all kinds of reasons why Sam is behaving the way he is, so emotionally withdrawn, after everything he's been through. But it would be nice to know. I'm still expecting mid-season revelations and turning points, which should hopefully clear up a lot of confusion - Show does so love its retroactive storytelling, wherein all becomes clear by means of hindsight.

It didn't bother me that nothing new was revealed, because Dean's hallucinations did draw together a lot of underlying fears and concerns, some of which we already knew and some we'd only predicted, and it confirmed just how many issues are worrying away at him right now. I really liked the episode, overall, in spite of its flaws. I'd like it more without all the holes, but it is both funny and touching...with a dark, disturbing core. A placeholder episode, more or less.