More random thoughts (S4)

[feliciakw]

Yellow Fever . . . Dean starts in heavy on the liquid courage, and once he remembers Hell, he doesn't let up.

Also, when this ep first aired, I almost flailed off the couch at the yellow eye flash at the end.

Who knew hellhounds were actually Yorkshire terriers?

I've had a nebulous little scene in my head for this ep for a long time. Alas, nothing is on paper.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester . . . Love Dean's comment regarding leprechauns. Here's hoping they follow up on that this season. :-) And I've kind of grown to like Uriel. Sort of. At least in comparison to Zach. I don't like Uriel's attitude ("You're close to blasphemy" indeed), but his job? I at least understand it.

But mostly? Castiel is so freakin' awesome in this ep. I really, really hope they bring him back to this level of awesomeness. I also kind of wish they'd followed up a little more on this being a test for Dean. I mean, I know it kind of plays into Dean being Michael's vessel, but why would they need to test Dean if Dean is just a vessel and has no control over what he does once Michael inhabits him? Fantastic little thread there that doesn't really get played with.

Wishful Thinking . . . Ben Edlund is just. not. right. Still love Audrey to pieces. And Dean continues with the drinking, and now he's not even trying very hard to hide it. Oh, Dean. Also, the Pacific NW mountains actually made sense in this ep. *bg*

And of course at the end, we get the reveal that Dean does now remember Hell, and that in much the same way Sam can't get rid of his demon blood and has to live with that curse and says that Dean can't help him, so Dean now has the memories of Hell screaming in his brain, and he can't get rid of them, and Sam can't help him. Oh, boys.

Also, I'm kinda proud of Dean learning and making the effort to be honest with Sam. Both boys have long been in the practice of keeping secrets (Sam more so than Dean, going clear back to S1), but Dean always comes around and tells Sam. (I also get the feeling that Dean is much less willing to keep secrets; he'd rather be upfront with Sam. Unless it's the whole game face "I'm not scared" for Sam's sake.) Sam takes (much) longer to come around and it comes back to bite him, with Dean finding out about Sam's secrets in the worst ways possible.

Oh, boys.

Comments

[girlyghoul70.livejournal.com]

The Teddy Bear in Wishful Thinking makes me very very sad... But this bit of dialogue
TEDDY: Why am I here?!?!?
Audrey: For Tea Parties!
Makes it all worthwhile. Hee

Great Pumpkin? I LOVE Halloween and wish they'd do more Halloween stuff... or is the whole show really just one big homage to the season? Hmm.... Razor blade? Ermmm, hope they returned the nasty Innards Cam of TMI to CSI when they were done with that scene. Ickers.

And I was going to bring this up earlier when Cas was introduced, but then decided to wait until Uriel came about. Ok, I wrote a Cas- Centric Fic a couple months ago and I had an on going theme of Uriel chasing him around and demanding answers as his superior. Two separate reviewers told me that that was wrong, that Castiel was Uriel's superior. But I never got that impression. Castiel telling Uriel he was close to blasphemy.... well he was, so why not say so. But I never got the impression that Cas was the boss of anybody. I always got that he was following orders from higher-ups. Maybe it was because the actor playing Uriel in those episodes was older that made me think he'd be Cas's superior. But in looking back, they seem to at least be equals and then Anna comes along and says she was the boss of both of them.

But did I miss something- where were these two reviewers getting the idea that Cas was Uriel's boss?

I never warmed up to Uriel on the Show, but he was a lot of fun to write and I managed to make him half-way lovable at one point in the fic. But then I had to bring him back to his senses so he could be as honery and smitey as he was on the show.

Yellow Fever? Poor Dean. It was funny in parts but turned out to be more upsetting. Lilith going Ba BOOM! does crack me up though.

What ever this scene you've got in mind, get it down on paper, woman! (Or at least up on the computer screen) :-)!

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

If you like, I can link you to my initial visceral reactions from these eps, as I was doing full-blown commentaries on the eps as they aired when these were airing.

Yes, Castiel was originally Uriel's superior, as stated (or implied) in "On the Head of a Pin." When Uriel and Castiel show up, it's obvious that the dynamic has changed. "Since when does Uriel keep a leash on you?" Dean asks. Castiel says that their superiors were starting to question his (Castiel's) loyalties, and so changes were made.

But if you go back to Great Pumpkin, Uriel is trying to talk Castiel into taking Dean out of town and smiting the place. If he were Cas's superior and in a position to give orders, he could have ordered Cas to do so. He didn't. He expressed a desire to do so, but Castiel vetoed that course of action, holding to their original orders. Yes, they do seem equal, but Castiel is clearly in charge of the mission. Even prior to that, when Uriel is ready to land into the boys on their first meeting, Castiel calls him off, keeps him in check. Castiel "kept a leash on Uriel," thus implying that Castiel was Uriel's superior. Think of it as a military specialist being assigned to a specific unit. The ranks might be the same, but the specialist is to take orders from the person in charge of the mission.

Make sense?

Audrey. Oh, how I love Audrey. She's adorable, and well spoken, and honest, and I love the dynamic she has with Sam and Dean. Especially with Dean.

[girlyghoul70.livejournal.com]

Ahh, I see. That's what I get for paying more attention to the pretty than the dialogue. But hmmm.... think I can work Cas & Uriel's ever-shifting positions into the new fic I'm currently writing.... (Uhh... their "ever-shifting positions" just made it sound like it's a naughty fic, but it is not ;-)

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

Oh! I just saw the first confirmation. In "Heaven and Hell" when Dean and Uriel have their little chat, Dean says, "I don't usually see you off leash. Where's your boss?" To which Uriel replies, "Castiel? He's not here." Etc., etc.

So, yeah. There ya go. :-)

[fufaraw]

Also, the Pacific NW mountains actually made sense in this ep. *bg*

I actually drove to Concrete, WA. Gorgeous landscape, but SO not where this ep was filmed. I have an expedition planned to Squamish, BC, which stood in for Concrete in the ep. It's a seven-plus hour trip there and back, so it takes some planning. But I can't wait to see it for myself. I'll keep an eye out for teddy bears.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

No mountain views in Concrete?

Still, it makes more sense to have a mountain view in Concrete, WA, than for Dean Smith to have a gorgeous mountain vista out his apartment window--in Ohio. Bwah! (It makes me snerk every time I think of it.)

Or for there to be red dirt in Cicero, Indiana (reference: The Kids Are Alright).

I've wanted to visit the Pacific NW for a long time. It just seems so lush and beautiful. Vancouver could be an adventure.

And it's kind of on my bucket list to see the Aurora Borealis, but we might have to go to Alaska for that.

Honestly, there's so much of the country that I want to see. I'm thinking about Texas for our anniversary this year. I've heard really good things about San Antonio from a lot of people. Sadly, travel funds are limited.

[fufaraw]

Oh, there are wonderful mountain views around Concrete--gorgeous. Just, that pretty little town--isn't there. Concrete looks painfully depressed, almost a ghost town, and there wasn't much of it at the best of times.

I got to watch AHBL1 & 2 with minim_calibre, and at the point Lily was walking into the woods surrounding the town, Min said, "This is the ferny part of South Dakota."

We moved from NC to PNW last year, and we love it, ferns and all.