SPN - 8.19

[feliciakw]

This one made my heart hurt. And made me queasy from the hurty-heart.

I figured long ago that Benny would want to go back to Purgatory, and that Dean would be the one to kill him, so that Benny could go back. I didn't figure on the context, but this is the end I figured for Benny. It made me queasy-hurty. It almost brought tears to my eyes, which is something this show hasn't done in quite a while. They left the door open, and I'd be glad if they brought him back, but ow.

(This must have been the scene Jensen was talking about at the meet-and-greet, where both he and Ty went to a place emotionally that they didn't expect, and were playing off each other, and when they got done, one of them asked, basically, did you go there on purpose, and the other was like, no, dude, did you? And he was like, no, wt??? that was awesome. So they apparently were really jazzed about the way that scene ended up going.

Huh. I was going to post the part of the M&G where Jensen talks about this, but apparently Creation Entertainment has asked the folks at Fangasm to take down their detailed reports and not post M&G reports in the future. That's very distressing.)

Also? Sam finally catches a clue about Benny, and Bobby scolds Sam about leaving Dean. Yay.

Now, about Bobby. Interesting to see him back. Would have liked it better if I hadn't been spoiled for it. And glad it was just a guest appearance and not a permanent thing. Nice ending that he got (even if it was a 3rd ending and not quite as moving as the first one).

Also, I figure the coyote-reaper was not Bobby's original reaper. That guy was by the book, had a schedule to keep. This guy was a renegade and free-lancer, and, oddly enough, on the corporeal plane.

Naomi is certainly a piece of work.

I'm a little queasy about Kevin's fate, too.

I rather hope Sam now has a better understanding of what Dean went through for that year. Even though we'll never hear Sam confessing to Dean anything about it. I also noticed that things were strangely quiet enough that he and Bobby can stop for a chat. I am glad that Sam at least gets it about Benny, though. (But I said that already, didn't I.)

Interesting the holding cells in Hell, I guess. Hell is more horrific than anyone can imagine, and in a way, they tried to show it, but not really. (It reminded me of a chamber of horrors in a wax museum.)

The girl who had "prayed forever" to be rescued looks so freakin' familiar to both Geo and me, but we can't place her. Help?

All in all, a fairly tense ep. Wish they wouldn't break their momentum with another hiatus and what looks to be another LARPing ep. Because really?

And as an aside, have we ever seen Dean actually get to enjoy his pie? He's asked for pie. Pie has been forgotten. Pie has been served. He almost got to eat a whole pie all by himself once. Almost. Be have we ever actually seen Dean able to enjoy his pie? I don't think so. :-O

Comments

[gluisa88.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I really don't know what my opinion of this episode was. I'll have to watch it again.

I loved the Dean/Benny hug and the Dean/Sam hug. Those were awesome.

I was disappointed by Sam's trip to hell. I thought Jared totally underplayed that scene.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

I re-watched the Dean/Benny stuff and the Dean/Sam stuff this morning. Honestly, when Sam was explaining about Benny staying behind in Purgatory, my eyes started pricking with tears.

I've seen a lot of complaints about continuity issues with this ep, and in a way I agree, but they didn't really phase me, because I could come up with plausible (to me) reasoning. And guess what. You get to read my outlines.

"Since when are reapers corporal?" Reaper is also renegade and free-lance.

"Death would never allow it." Death is only concerned with the natural order, people dying when they're supposed to. Even reapers don't know where a soul is going when they die. They just escort them there.

"It took Cas and Crowley a whole season and a special ritual to open Purgatory." That was before it was opened for Eve. And before an entire legion of leviathans escaped. It makes sense to me that the seal would be weakened from repetitive use.

"Crowley didn't know that coyotes could get through? C'mon." Well, circumstances have changed since he tried to get into Purgatory. As mentioned, the seals aren't as tight as before. Have coyotes been taking to Purgatory a long time? Or is this a new area of service?

"So Dean got the rack, but Hell is a series of cells?" Holding cells. I didn't take it as that was the Hell torture. The torture chamber is elsewhere.

"So Dean is totally okay with Sam leaving Benny behind? Suuuure he is." Of course he's not. But he was well aware of Benny's state of mind, and how Benny was feeling about being topside. And he knew Benny's personality when it came to protecting those to whom he's I don't think Dean was surprised at all with the outcome. But he's obviously hopeful that there will be a chance to get him out again.

And honestly, of everything we know about Benny, he actually is the one person who has never abandoned Dean. Mary left Dean, not by her own choice, but for a child that young, motive isn't always a comfort, I wouldn't think. Sam left Dean, without a word when he went to Flagstaff, and then to go to Stanford, and then multiple times over the course of the series. (We won't even mention the Ruby debacle.) As soon as John got wind of YED, he took off, is where we begin the series. To go after the demon by himself, without putting Dean--and Sam--in danger, sure, but still. Taking off with no forwarding address. Then we have Cassie, who dumped him when he let himself be vulnerable with her. And Castiel, who chose to team up with Crowley rather than seek Dean's wisdom and advice. Even Lisa, who took him in and loved him, came to a point where she had to protect herself and her son from Dean's unexplained behavior. So really, Benny actually is the only one who never turned on him. So, yeah.

Was it a stellar episode to rival the classic eps of old? No, not really. And I can see how a viewer might see it as diminishing everything Dean went through at the beginning. (I kind of agree.) But the ep entertained me, and right now, that's what I need.

I might write a navel-gazing, introspective post about my current relationship with "fandom," but I think after SPN, that's it for me. I love Jensen, and I think I'll always love Jensen. But I've gone full-time at my job, I should have transferred out of my current position, they should have hired my replacement by now, and the stuff I need to get done for the opening of the theater is not getting done, and I want to weep. I just don't have the patience for fandom's circular drama and complaints. I get what they're saying, and I agree to an extent, but I'm just not in a place to want to engage the negativity. You know?

Okay, I'll stop unloading on you. I've got to get back to work anyway.

But what the frell is with having to wait until April 24 for the next ep?!?

[gluisa88.livejournal.com]

I absolutely agree. I often feel people nitpick. Especially when it comes to matters of continuity. Personally, unless it's a glaring mistake or it contradicts an aspect of the show I really liked, I don't care.

My biggest problems are usually with characterizations or dialogue.

Last night's episode wasn't terrible in those regards but I thought it had too much Crowley and too much Kevin. Both of those characters bore me :P

"So Dean is totally okay with Sam leaving Benny behind? Suuuure he is." Of course he's not. But he was well aware of Benny's state of mind, and how Benny was feeling about being topside. And he knew Benny's personality when it came to protecting those to whom he's I don't think Dean was surprised at all with the outcome. But he's obviously hopeful that there will be a chance to get him out again.

Again, I agree. I was a little worried about Dean's reaction- I didn't want him to think that Sam was making it up. But really, he'd had that conversation with Benny before he chopped off Benny's head so like you said, Dean knew Benny didn't really want to make it back.

I'll have to watch it again, I didn't see Benny die like Sam said he did. A lot of fans are upset about the writers killing Benny off but I didn't see it happen. I just saw him getting jumped.

Don't worry about unloading on me- I adore reading your thoughts! You're so good at putting into words my own thoughts that I haven't been able to formulate!

Ugh. So long until the next episode! (And it's my sister's birthday so I probably won't be able to watch. Hopefully she and her boyfriend will choose to spend it on a date or something rather than with the family :P)

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

"And he knew Benny's personality when it came to protecting those to whom he's I don't think Dean was surprised "

Loyal. The missing word between those two sentences is "loyal."

Sam didn't say Benny died. He said that Benny used himself as bait. There's a difference. We (or at least I) couldn't see Benny under the pile-on of vamps as Sam looked back from the portal, but I don't think Sam said definitively that Benny was dead. He just knows that "Benny didn't make it," in much the same way that "Cas didn't make it" at the beginning of the season. All in all, I thought it was a very sad, very fitting ending for Benny, but even Sam said he was okay with Dean leaving that door open. (And heck, now they know a way in and a way out. So . . . )

My biggest gripe, I think, about the show now is that it's not as tightly written, overall and on an ep-by-ep basis, as it was in its early years. For all my suspicions of Kripke (and I was never one to fawn over him the way some of the fandom did), I will say that his early years (particularly those where Kim Manners was part of the equation) were really good.

Okay, back to work.

[just-ruth.livejournal.com]

I have, I fear inadvertently caused drama because I keep saying "What about Adam?"

Sorry, I believe if you want an innocent soul in Hell, he's it.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

Oh, your "where is Adam" is the least of the drama I've seen.

I still like to believe that Adam actually is in Heaven, because he was willing to play ball, and if nothing else, angels do (at least up until Naomi. I still haven't sussed her out yet) keep their word. Michael said, "Adam's not in right now" or whatever, I choose to believe that means Adam actually wasn't there.

How does this play into Death giving Dean a choice? It could have been a test. A pointless test, because Dean would of course choose Sam.

Though it would be nice if we got confirmation that score.

I'm still puzzled as to why the girl who'd been "praying forever," whom Sam told, "I'm not him" was. She looked so familiar.

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

I was displeased with the plotting in this episode (really, Sam, it's that easy to get a soul out of hell? No), but I ADORED all of the emotional stuff. Sam seeing Purgatory and getting a sense of what it was like for Dean; one more rescue for Bobby (I was not spoiled for that!); and Benny, Dean and Benny (*wibbles*), Benny and Sam... and Sam telling just the plain truth to Dean about that encounter. <3

So plot full of holes, but emotionally bang on target. I was really impressed that they allowed Benny to so obviously mean so much to Dean. My heart was breaking during that discussion between them.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

Yes.

I have nothing more to elaborate, other than yes. :-)