Houses of the Holy

[feliciakw]

Apparently, there was a string of S2 eps that I had stuff to say about last year, 'cause lookee, here's my entry on "Houses" from last year. This year . . .


I'm struck most by how Kripke and Co. completely lost their focus in S5. Rather than the Padre's exposition of Michael reading as enlightening or encouraging or comforting in retrospect, it now comes off as . . . almost a parody, if you think forward to S5. My thought was, "Wow, Kripke. You really dropped the ball on that one, didn't you. You turned Michael from an awesome warrior for God and force for Good into a whiny brat. Way to go."

Sam recognizes the picture of Michael immediately. (Sam, keep that in mind. Dean's gonna be really important to him later.)

As the padre describes Michael, the Archangel Michael, with a flaming sword (you taking notes, Dean? You're gonna hear that whole sword thing again). Fighter of demons (well, that description certainly fits Dean), holy force against evil. See, that Michael (and Dean-as-Michael) I can get behind. What we ended up with? Not so much.

Then when the padre administers the Last Rites to the ghost of Father Gregory, he calls upon the Archangel Raphael to open the way. Now, since I'm not Catholic, I don't know if this is an accurate rendition of the Last Rites or not, but within the context of the show, the rites did set the spirit to rest. The Raphael we get in S5? The one who killed his brother Castiel? The one who left his vessel a drooling invalid? The one who wanted the Apocalypse that would destroy a good portion of mankind? I can't see him taking the trouble to open the way for anyone.

An early example of Sera setting it up, and Kripke failing the execution.

Ret. Con. Fail.

But this episode? I like. It made me nervous at first, but I ended up really pleased with the way it went.

Comments

[girlyghoul70.livejournal.com]

I LOVE this episode! And you know, yesterday when I said "Nightshifter" should be a fav but isn't and I don't know why. NOW! I think I do. It's on the same disk as this one and BUABS and Tall Tales and my eye tends to fall to one of these episodes instead. So Nightshifter really just has the misfortune of being the least fav on a disc full of TOTAL favs (Had it magically been on a Disc with Red Sky at Night or Swap Meat guess how much I'd be watching and loving Nightshifter! :-)!!)

But back on topic, I adore this episode! Magic Fingers! Sam as orderly (YUM!) and SpongeBob placemat used in occult ritual! Oh Show! Plus, emotional insight into bothh guys. Dean's reason for not believing in angels (HUGS!) And Sam's desperation to maintain his faith, only to have it shaken.

But it has what I consider such a lovely twist. All along the big question is "Is this an angel or a vengeful spirit?" and the answer- A vengeful spirit who THINKS he's an angel! I love it, because it explains so well how the clues were leading in both directions.

And even though it's sad, at the end, Sam so reluctantly admitting he was wrong when he so wanted and NEEDED to be right. But Dean, not doing the "Told You so Dance" but rather trying to give his brother some hope and admitting that even though Sam was wrong about Father Gregory being an angel, maybe, just maybe there WAS some higher power at work here.

On reflection though, yeah, the bit about Michael really doesn't mesh well with what the show churned out. This is Michael, the Righteous Warrior of God, he'll need a Righteous Warrior as a vessel... but if push comes to shove, he'll settle for Baby Ghoul Chow.
*sigh*

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

All the reasons you list for loving the ep? *thumbs up*

I adore Dean and the Magic Fingers. I adore Dean, period, but his relationship to the little pleasures in life highlight how much I adore Dean.

Plus the emotional insight, and the role reversal at the end (Dean wants to believe, so badly, we find out later).

There's just a lot to love about this ep.

[leelust.livejournal.com]

I really liked this ep and now i can't even rewatch it because of S5 parody of that theme :( I can't believe how thoughtful they were before and how lame they became now :(

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

Oh, I can still watch and enjoy the ep, and appreciate how well they handled everything. S5 hasn't ruined this ep for me. More like this ep highlights how out of focus and off-kilter and cumbersome things became in S5.

Like I said, Sera sets it up; Kripke fumbles the follow-through. That's why I'm kind of looking forward to seeing how Sera handles the show. A lot of my favorite eps-or eps that I can recognize as good, even if they're not my favorites--are often Sera's. Whereas with Kripke, I really like his early seasons stuff, but his later stuff just really doesn't work.

[leelust.livejournal.com]

Ah, you know my problems ;)

The thing is that all sera's good eps were in the past and i don't remember (but i didn't check it out though) any good ep in the end of S5 from her. The last one i remenber was 502. So i'm not that excited about her taking the wheel. But maybe this feeling is here for me because there still wasn't any good spoilers. I mean real spoilers not some general words. I can't feel the next season so i'm dreading it, you know.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

Sera's still writing stuff I like, so I'm not too apprehensive. She wrote "Two Minutes to Midnight," which I enjoyed. (Which Kripke then dropped the ball on in a number of aspects in the season finale.)

We'll just have to wait and see for S6. Still, I'm looking forward to it, though I expect it to feel like a new show.

[leelust.livejournal.com]

2 minutes to Midnight was about what? I didn't rewatch anything from S5 (except The End) and i don't remember titles, sorry.

though I expect it to feel like a new show.
Really? It would be nice. But why do you think that? I remember at first they announced S6 as fresh new start but now with some general spoilers ( if you even can call them that) i don't see how it's new? It looks like continue of S5. So maybe i'm missing something?

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

"Two Minutes to Midnight" was the ep with Death. The only thing that twitched me about that was when Death said he would reap God. Um, no. But other than that, I liked the ep. It had a lot of good stuff in it, I thought.

[leelust.livejournal.com]

Aha, i know why i didn't remember the title. I didn't like the ep at all that's why. The only scene i liked was Dean-Death scene but it was played very well but written badly, imo. Death mentioning God bothered me too.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's going to be a continuation of S5 so much as dealing with the aftermath of S5 (according to the vague stuff that's been released).

And as far as it feeling like a different show, I really don't see how they can realistically "go back" to what they had in S1. It would negate, in a way, everything they've gone through. As Jensen said, they can't go back; too much has happened.

S5 itself felt like a different show, so I don't expect S6 to feel like either S5 or anything that came before it. I expect it will feel like a different show.

I could be completely wrong, but that's just the sense I get.

I know I'm in the minority on a lot of the stuff I want to see in S6. After spending time with Lisa and Ben, I'd prefer he not go back to his womanizing one-night-stand ways. Dean's a flirt, and he loves women, but I wouldn't mind if he'd grow out of the endless one-night-stand pattern he has.

I wouldn't mind if Lisa and Ben remained in the background, unseen, for a good portion of the season, as something other than Sam that Dean can commit to and give his life purpose.

I don't know exactly what I want them to do with Sam, but I do know I don't want him to have come back evil, and I do want him to have a better understanding of his brother and to have learned from the past seasons. (I actually would like that for both characters.)

I'm very willing to wait and see and to give them the benefit of the doubt. The Michael-v.-Lucifer thing is over now, and they say they're going to draw in back in and return to the more intimate feel. I'm willing to wait and see with an open mind.

Or perhaps I just live in hope.

[leelust.livejournal.com]

Heh, i'm in the same minority right there with you then. I want the same things for Dean considering Lisa and Ben. I want him to have someone to have his back.
I think you're right S5 felt like a different show so i'd like for S6 to be back to what i liked - S1-4. Not story-wise maybe but to feel the same (if it has a sense).
I'm trying to get what you're saying about S6 as not continuation but dealing with aftermath of S5 but i have a problem because i thought they closed everything in the finale (very badly, imo) so what was left unclosed there? The only thing i see is Dean out of hunting but i think they'll deal with it in the first ep so what else?
I also have a problem believing in stuff about *intimate season* considering all spoilers (i'm not sure if you read that vague stuff so i won't list it here). I think i need more spoilers to get at least the general idea of what S6 will be *sigh*