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Entry tags:
12x02
I'm gonna be a little snarky. Here we go.
All last season (after Charlie's death, tbh) I had a resolution to either skip or turn my emotions and my brain off for all episodes written by Bucklemming. I did not manage to skip any but resolving to have the lowest possible expectations at all times was immensely helpful and I highly recommend it. (I did not entirely succeed at not getting pissed off at all, but it was a very manageable level mostly confined to the midseason finale and the half-dozen fix-its required for 11x21.)
On a related note, they said on an episode commentary once that they each write half of each episode, and guys, I have started reliably picking up on the two distinct voices. One of these is actually a reasonably competent writer. The other is not. I will leave it for the reader to speculate which is which, since I don't know for sure.
But the first half of this ep was clearly badly written. I will admit it caught me a little off-gaurd, since they customarily do the third episode of each season. So without further ado: things which I would have been upset about had I chosen to bother to be upset about anything after seeing the "Written by…" credit, A Non-Exhaustive List:
Why are Mary and Dean back in the bunker letting Cas do the legwork to find Sam?
Why is there gratuitous heterosexuality? Why is gratuitous heterosexuality a thing that constantly occurs in Bucklemming episodes, despite clear and consistent "no, thank yous!" from the fandom?
Why is Dean suddenly trying to keep Mary from pulling her weight as a fully grown hunter? (I am conflicted about whether I want to be not-upset about this or not. I could read it as support of my ficlet last episode at about how Mary was metaphorically trigger-happy with the killing of a human right out of the gate, but I doubt that that was the intended reading for Dean's sudden shift in attitude from last episode to this. Nevertheless I may go with it anyway.)
Why is Cas supporting Dean's sudden "chauvinism?" (See above.)
Why is sexually assaulting Sam such a recurring motif in this show? All the way back to Bad Day at Black Rock, with creepy old rich champagne woman.
WHY IS EVERYTHING THEY SAY THE MOST OBVIOUS, INANE STATEMENT THAT CAN BE MADE IN THE GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES? This is what bad writing looks like, period.
Rowena: liked her Royal Ballet story. Other than that, she and Crowley were there to be filler. Bucklemming consistently like writing Crowley, and while this has done his character no favors, at least it's time that they're not actively damaging Sam and Dean and Cas's characterization. Mark Sheppard, thank you for taking one for the team.
Ok, moving on to things I liked:
Rick!Lucifer: so far looks well done! We shall see.
I did love seeing Dean pull off the line, "just dropped by for tea and a beating!" I love his sass.
I don't think having both Sam and Dean tied to chairs has really happened before … can it be my new asthetic? Sorry, back to business! Mary fighting Tori was really well done! I was worried New Guy might have been the aforementioned 'psychopath' for a bit, because I couldn't remember the name, but he actually seems to be fairly reasonable…? We shall see! I don't hate Tori, so I'm curious to see where she goes from here.
Sam and Dean telling Mary that 'calling the internet' was 'really close' to saying it right was kinda adorable, and made me smile.
And saving the best for last: I ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Mary and Sam's conversation so, so much! Sam is so awkward and uncertain after he spent so long just fighting and being strong, and Mary is clearly trying to grasp their history and her place in it, and, Sam gets it, and then he says the perfect thing, that her just being there fills in the biggest blank! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
So based on that alone, I cannot hate this ep. Nevertheless I will file it under 'picks up as it goes along.'
All last season (after Charlie's death, tbh) I had a resolution to either skip or turn my emotions and my brain off for all episodes written by Bucklemming. I did not manage to skip any but resolving to have the lowest possible expectations at all times was immensely helpful and I highly recommend it. (I did not entirely succeed at not getting pissed off at all, but it was a very manageable level mostly confined to the midseason finale and the half-dozen fix-its required for 11x21.)
On a related note, they said on an episode commentary once that they each write half of each episode, and guys, I have started reliably picking up on the two distinct voices. One of these is actually a reasonably competent writer. The other is not. I will leave it for the reader to speculate which is which, since I don't know for sure.
But the first half of this ep was clearly badly written. I will admit it caught me a little off-gaurd, since they customarily do the third episode of each season. So without further ado: things which I would have been upset about had I chosen to bother to be upset about anything after seeing the "Written by…" credit, A Non-Exhaustive List:
Why are Mary and Dean back in the bunker letting Cas do the legwork to find Sam?
Why is there gratuitous heterosexuality? Why is gratuitous heterosexuality a thing that constantly occurs in Bucklemming episodes, despite clear and consistent "no, thank yous!" from the fandom?
Why is Dean suddenly trying to keep Mary from pulling her weight as a fully grown hunter? (I am conflicted about whether I want to be not-upset about this or not. I could read it as support of my ficlet last episode at about how Mary was metaphorically trigger-happy with the killing of a human right out of the gate, but I doubt that that was the intended reading for Dean's sudden shift in attitude from last episode to this. Nevertheless I may go with it anyway.)
Why is Cas supporting Dean's sudden "chauvinism?" (See above.)
Why is sexually assaulting Sam such a recurring motif in this show? All the way back to Bad Day at Black Rock, with creepy old rich champagne woman.
WHY IS EVERYTHING THEY SAY THE MOST OBVIOUS, INANE STATEMENT THAT CAN BE MADE IN THE GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES? This is what bad writing looks like, period.
Rowena: liked her Royal Ballet story. Other than that, she and Crowley were there to be filler. Bucklemming consistently like writing Crowley, and while this has done his character no favors, at least it's time that they're not actively damaging Sam and Dean and Cas's characterization. Mark Sheppard, thank you for taking one for the team.
Ok, moving on to things I liked:
Rick!Lucifer: so far looks well done! We shall see.
I did love seeing Dean pull off the line, "just dropped by for tea and a beating!" I love his sass.
I don't think having both Sam and Dean tied to chairs has really happened before … can it be my new asthetic? Sorry, back to business! Mary fighting Tori was really well done! I was worried New Guy might have been the aforementioned 'psychopath' for a bit, because I couldn't remember the name, but he actually seems to be fairly reasonable…? We shall see! I don't hate Tori, so I'm curious to see where she goes from here.
Sam and Dean telling Mary that 'calling the internet' was 'really close' to saying it right was kinda adorable, and made me smile.
And saving the best for last: I ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Mary and Sam's conversation so, so much! Sam is so awkward and uncertain after he spent so long just fighting and being strong, and Mary is clearly trying to grasp their history and her place in it, and, Sam gets it, and then he says the perfect thing, that her just being there fills in the biggest blank! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
So based on that alone, I cannot hate this ep. Nevertheless I will file it under 'picks up as it goes along.'
no subject
As for not wanting her to come along - to be fair to him, she's been dead 30-odd years, he's been wishing for her to come back, and it's a fucking dangerous job. Maybe he just doesn't want her to die after her being around for only a couple of days.
All that said, I feel there's a conflict between Dean's love for Sam and his love for Mary. It's making me start to worry about how that's going to play out. Because the crux of the show has always been the brothers. Dean's devotion to Mary is going to be above and beyond anything he felt for John.
no subject
But I do get that Dean would worry about taking her into dangerous situations, even if I don't agree that that's his decision to make (either with Sam or Mary)! Haha, I love what you said about how he mothers people, up to and including his own mother.
I think part of my frustration was very much 'why are they even back at the bunker in the first place? Did Dean decide to drive back there specifically to try to dump Mary instead of following leads to where Sam is being held prisoner? WTF?' But that's, I'm sure, giving the writing more credit than it deserves. I just have to keep reminding myself not to overthink bucklemming episodes, because it is like trying to run through a dark narrow tunnel with a ceiling you keep bumping your head on. :/