Current mood:	pensive
Entry tags:	meta, supernatural

Dear Supernatural, W. T. F?!?
You see that face Castiel is making in my icon? I've been making that face since about 8:30 tonight (which is when we sat down to watch).



Yes, I said fisting. We'll get to that.

First thing: the teaser comes on, we get the Trickster, and I think, "Uh oh, Sam is going to hate this." (Later, check email: 8:02pm: email from Sam whining about Trickster episode.) And, as I said to Mel, why the hell does he ruin the WHOLE DAMN EPISODE with the teaser? I mean, especially if it's about the Trickster, where the whole point of the episode is the reveal! Think Mystery Spot--if you didn't know that was about the Trickster, it was a whole lot more creepifying and horrible.

Then, of course, because he's an asshole, kripke has to prove me wrong by making it NOT about the Trickster. Which then turns out to be about the Trickster, because the Trickster has... never been... the Trickster... you know what, just smile and nod. OOOH CLEVER HE'S AN ANGEL.

Let me break down for you how much Gabriel is the Lost Winchester Boy: he killed Dean every day for four months because he blamed Dean for his family fighting. Which, according to him, they have done since the dawn of time. But, being as they're angels and all, they've known since the dawn of time that Dean & Sam would be born and do all the stuff they've done. Would've been handy to turn their gifts for prescience inward a bit and have a peek at Lucifer but I guess that would've been cheating? ANYHOODLE: bitter archangel is bitter and has issues.

There's some kind of... I don't know. There's something in this I need to keep picking at ("MULL IT!") but all the stupid shit Gabriel is ranting at Dean about, about the family fighting, and the betrayal of his brothers, and the blah blah blah I can't decide which Winchester brother I'm meant to represent... the thing is, Sam and Dean survived that. Gabe keeps saying that there's no way out, that it's unavoidable that Michael & Lucifer must betray & kill each other, and that's why Sam & Dean have to, but... Sam and Dean have found their way back from that three times so far. First, after Sam ran away, again after John came back and fucked them all up, and then most recently after Ruby. So I guess I'm supposed to think, "OH NO WILL DEAN HAVE TO KILL SAM AFTER ALL" but mostly I'm thinking, "You were right, Dean, when Zachariah told you to kill Sam and when Azazel told you and when Castiel told you and when John told you, you have always been right before and you're right now," and I'm thinking that Dean is strong enough (and stubborn enough) to hold onto Sam, especially with history on his side.

I think he's showed us multiple times that nothing else matters to him as much as Sam, and he's willing to do whatever he has to in order to save their relationship. I don't see him giving that up now that the stakes are even higher. I guess that what Gabriel says/believes only makes sense if he hasn't been watching for the past four years.

Moving on to the "oh god kripke why do you do this to me you shithead" parts.

Japanese game show: so much racefail it cannot be expressed in human language. I actually, as soon as I realised what set they were being transferred to, said, "Oh god no," but it was, sadly, oh god yes.

What made this even more frustrating was that, true to form, all of the "I can't believe I'm watching this shit" was in the same episode as the "this is why I watch this show" stuff. Like, the herpes commercial, which was a thing of beauty, and the procedural cop drama, which was note-perfect, and then when Dean couldn't find Sam? I turned to Mel and said, "Oh god, please, PLEASE let Sam be in the car." And he was. And it was awesome, and then there was FISTING, which was very lightly coded and referenced not once but TWICE, because if you're going to Go There and have Dean fisting Sam on your show, WITH THE HOLY OIL OF CASTIEL'S FIRST SEXUAL EXPERIENCE, you want to be damn sure the audience notices? I guess?

Also of note in this episode: I have never in my life been less convinced of Dean's supposed heterosexuality. "Oh, there's some chick doctor, some chick doctor, AND THERE'S DOCTOR SEXY OMG OMG PONIES CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR OH GOD HE KNOWS MY NAME." He could not make eye contact because he was so overwhelmed with fanglee. I seriously expected him to break out at any moment with, "That'll give you bees!"

Plus, and I recognize that this is a side effect of the ridiculous gender roles on this show, BUT: now that Dean is all protective and possessive of his "buddy" Castiel, constantly seeking to make sure Castiel is okay and getting Cas used as a bargaining chip to ensure Dean's cooperation... well, kripke, here's where your misogyny/homophobia duo comes back to bite you in the ass, because congratulations, you have now cast Castiel in the role of Dean's girlfriend. Nicely done.

I kind of want to go back and see when Dean started taking responsibility for Castiel's welfare. Was it after Lucifer Rising, when Castiel sacrificed himself for Dean? Or was it after The End, where Dean saw what future!he did to Castiel? I think it started after Lucifer Rising but got much more evident after The End. Which is sort of intriguing, but also sort of... SO Dean, you know?

Once again, kripke manages to almost sidestep his usual misogyny by not having any women in the episode... but once again at the last minute he can't resist, so he throws in the random sex toy in her underwear and the pathetic hysterical crazy woman who appears to be one of Sam's sexual cast-offs? I don't know, we never really find anything out about her. Better than last week's twin Asian hookers, a saucy Latina maid, and the witch's disposable girlfriend. I guess?

LAST POINT: OMG the longing, weary, full-of-sadness-and-despair look between Gabriel and Castiel, WHO IS WRITING THIS BACKSTORY FOR ME, I need it YESTERDAY.


Re: next week: Listen, kripke, I was first in line to defend your use of fangirls in The Monster At The End Of This Book, but you are getting carried away, I think. You're on notice. First, it is unseemly to mock the people you make your living off of (gently, and with love, I will accept, but be careful, I fear you go too far). Secondly, don't be Stephen King. Don't get all carried away with how meta and brilliant and OMG FOURTH WALLBUSTIN' you are and ruin your reasonably compelling story.