feliciakw | SPN - 8.21 - The Great Escapist

I don't have a whole lot to say about this one right now. It seemed disjointed or uneven or something.

Plus their angel lore and storyline annoys me mightily.

While Sam's recollection of the Grand Canyon was funny, I'm perturbed that they made it the Grand Canyon. As those of us who've been with the show from the beginning know, one of Dean's most heartfelt speeches involves his declaration of a desire to go to the Grand Canyon because they've never been there before (specifically, so they could lay low while Dean figured out a way to save Sam, but still).

However, I was amused at the sameness of Biggerson's across the country. Apparently, Biggerson's it the IHOP of the SPN universe. (Reference one of Geo's favorite lines from Honky Tonk Freeway.)

Sam being "cleansed" is a interesting idea. Of course this makes me wonder if next year's arc is going to be Dean going dark side. That idea doesn't sit well with me.

But curing a demon? How do you restore humanity to a spirit that's had the humanity burned out of it?

Did anyone else recognize Metatron from Moonlighting? He played Herbert Viola back in the day.

Yay that Kevin is still alive! And very good that Metatron stepped up to the plate and saved him.

Other than that, I don't think I really have an opinion on this ep. I just really don't like the characterization of angels they've got going.

Bleh.

ETA: Ben Edlund wrote this one? I'm surprised and disappointed that I didn't like this one better than I did. (And since Edlund was around for the aforementioned Grand Canyon speech, it sounds like I'm going to have to figure out some way to handwave the incongruity.)

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For me, I felt that there were so many stories going on that there was no one cohesive, main story. Like, there was what was going on with Kevin, then there was Crowley doing his thing, then Naomi doing her thing and then Cas doing his thing and really, all I care about is what Sam and Dean are doing, you know?

The whole Metatron story was basically sidelined.

So yeah, I was just a little bored. There were parts that I really loved.

I too was annoyed about the Grand Canyon thing. Ugh. like, really Edlund??

I actually read a theory that since people have been mucking about with everyone's memories this season, the Grand Canyon thing really /didn't/ happen; Sam just thought it did. Which...is slightly more scary than the writers just forgetting.

I've also seen a theory that it's a matter of age. Sam didn't remember the trip at all (until now), and Dean only remembered it when Sam mentioned it. So in practicality, Dean "hadn't" been to the Grand Canyon before. I'm not sure I'm going with that explanation, but it's an explanation.

It does seem to have more plot potential, though, than, say, Dean's sudden allergy to cats, which he's apparently always had, except he's never had it before. Bzuh?

The multiple stories might have something to do with it. I thought the Kevin thing was kind of interesting, since I knew up front that that Sam and Dean were not the real Sam and Dean. It's kind of amazing that they guys can deliver a line slightly differently or walk with a slightly different gait, and I know that they're playing a different character.

(Sam's "Special K" line was a give-away, too. Just in case we missed it.)

And finding out that Kevin was playing Crowley was pretty cool.

I hope we get something interesting from the angel tablet storyline, though, because right now, Naomi does nothing but twirl her metaphorical mustache, make threats, and show her disdain for humanity. I have no use for her right now.

I've not yet seen the ep, but I'm getting ready to watch it online. I get extremely annoyed when the continuity contradicts itself. My late sister and I always said that they should hire a couple of fans for continuity because we flippin' know EVERYTHING about the mythology of the show. Another bit of continuity-fail is the Ghostfacers ep. Sam says "remember west Texas, the tulpa?" Uh, yeah, NO! Richardson is NOT west Texas. It's more east-central. Jensen and Jared know that, too. I was very surprised that survived shoot to final edit. Sometimes I just SMH over that kind of thing. Only thing I can do....

I feel you, hon. I have felt disjointed about at least half of this season, and usually over core mythology against "new direction" eps. I don't know if they're trying to crash-course new episode fans or what, but this season is just sucky all around. I find myself fearing we have a ninth season. I remember hoping against dis-jointed hope that after the 9th season of the XFiles that the tenth season would actually advance somewhere instead of the whole craptastic direction they actually ended with. God knows that they should have ended it sooner than they did. I won't even watch seasons and 9 and 10 now. I really don't want to see Supernatural end that crappy. I would rather it stop right the eff now than go off on some tangent like the XFiles did.

Generally speaking, I've enjoyed this season. However, I've had to look at the first half of the season and the second half of the season as two different seasons, because they were doing all this interpersonal conflict stuff the first half, then suddenly everything is fine the second half? I was hoping that the guys would have to work and grow a little for their reconciliation, rather than simply go a'LARPing.

I wasn't an XF viewer when it was in first run, though I have seen the whole thing on DVD. I think for me the comparison would be Stargate SG-1. It ran for five years on Showtime (I think), then got picked up by Sci-Fi Channel (the year Daniel was dead). Richard Dean Anderson left after S8 (iirc), and they could have ended it there. They ran for an additional 2 years (10 season in all), and while the new characters were fine, the new villain was . . . bothersome. I didn't find the last two seasons as engaging as the previous (especially early) seasons. And I don't find the follow-up movies at all memorable.

I'll stick with Show to the end, but they seem to be running out of fresh ideas, or perhaps it's that the execution isn't what it once was. There are certainly new elements I've enjoyed (the Men of Letters lair, for example), but these Trials Three just isn't as engaging and mysterious as, say, the psy-kids of seasons past. You know?

Oh, no doubt I'll watch every single episode. I didn't even consider the the Men of Letters mythology (which I love), but it seems to me that the mythos involving the Men of Letters will add so much more to the mythology of the show that it might be confusing. We don't NEED confusing. The Men of Letters was a great direction, but I feel that the writers might use the new ideas to advance issues that Sam and Dean have already faced..

The thing with heavy mytharc shows that I've discovered, is that they are often crushed under the weight of their own mytharc.

And that fear kicked in strongly with me with SPN back in S2 with YED and the Cold Oak thing. Then we came to S4 and S5 (particularly the second half of S4), and it started distancing me from the mytharc. I still found (and find) the characters engaging, but I haven't been truly engaged in the shows mytharc for a long time. I think there are a lot of elements that go into this feeling (disgruntlement with the depiction of angels, disappointment that Dean often seems to serve no real pro-active central purpose anymore, etc.).

I'd like a way for the writers to keep it fresh and interesting without ignoring/changing or conversely leaning to heavily on what has come before.

It's a balancing act, to be sure.

Naomi makes my eye twitch worse than any other angel thus far. I can't wait until Castiel (you KNOW it will be him) blinks an eye will splat her ass all over the place.

SPN - 8.21 - The Great Escapist

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