"Thanks for the thumbnail, real vivid."

[llywela]

Wow, it's been a long time between recaps. I'm sure there used to be more hours in the day than this!

This one has been almost but not quite done for ages now, and I've been feeling guilty about not finishing it. Life has been so hectic lately, and I was kinda disgruntled about 4.10, so decided to give myself a bit of a break and then return to it with hopefully a fresh perspective.

I have no idea if that worked or not, but nevertheless here it is: lots of pages in which I ramble on at length about the joys of pool hustling and brotherly first aid, the status of the angel-demon war, Ruby's masterful manipulations and why I really want her to be evil, Sam's inner conflict and compromise, the insight finally afforded by this episode's flashbacks, Sam's utter despair in the wake of Dean's death and Ruby's strategy for making the most of it, why Dean now feels that he owes Ruby some kind of debt of gratitude, and much more besides.

To read the recap, click the link below:


"Is it because you're really scared to go there with a demon? Because it's wrong and bad and we shouldn't?"

Screencaps found at Screencap Paradise, marishna and oxoniensis and then messed about with (for better or worse) by me.

Comments

[karenmiller.livejournal.com]

See, I'm in the minority. *g* I don't think the lion's share is John's. I think they probably both said some truly horrendous things. I'd pretty much call it even crapola. I think, with that hell crack from Sam, we got just a teeny glimpse of what he's capable of when he's in the mood. Not pretty. But more and more, as we've been saying, I think Sam's being revealed as the biggest badass of all the Winchesters. I think, with Sam, we've been lulled into a false sense of security. And now the gloves are coming off. Yay! *g*

Lord, I do feel so sorry for Dean. And really, when you look at the series as a whole to date, it's not surprising that he's in the space he's in right now. This hollowing out has been a long time coming. Everybody has their breaking point, and he's hit a very big wall.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't get me wrong: I absolutely think that they were as bad as each other and that it must have been an absolutely horrendous fight. I think it is clear that John was also very capable of fighting dirty when riled, and I think that Sam at 18 wouldn't have had any qualms or concerns to hold him back at all - it was clear from season 1 that even several years later he had no real understanding or insight into how his brother and father think or why they act and react the way they do. He just hated the situation he was in, couldn't understand it, and would have just let rip, both barrels.

However, I do believe that as the parent it was John's job to be the one to swallow his pride and try to heal the rift, rather than leaving his son out in the cold for four years.

Mind, I also think that John was damaged enough to be absolutely incapable of backing down. That's part of his tragedy. Damn, but now I really want to do some more work on my Epic John Thesis that I started writing back in the summer! Why aren't there more hours in the day or cells in my brain?