Girls Girls Girls was a surprising episode – by which I mean, it managed to surprise me! Not once but several times. Which makes me a very happy fangirl indeed. Here’s my quick thoughts before we hit the road for the holiday…
One of the most surprising things? I liked both the story lines in tonight’s episode.
I haven’t been a fan of jumping back and forth between the Winchesters’ story line and the angels, but this time both worked. The pacing was right and the actors all outdid themselves. Let’s start with the angel story line, which I really liked in this episode. Erica Carroll did a fabulous job portraying Hannah’s growing confusion and discomfort with her possession of Caroline. She has the ability to show a dozen subtle emotions flashing across Hannah’s face, and every one of them twists your gut. You can see her turmoil, and I felt for her. That’s unusual for me and angels who aren’t Castiel.
Surprise No. 2? We didn’t go down the Cas/Hannah romance route; instead, the tension between them was the catalyst for Hannah thinking independently, perhaps for the first time. Her struggle to figure out why she felt so wrong was something I think most of us can relate to – that feeling in your gut that something’s just not right. The way she kept clutching her stomach perfectly evoked that feeling. And I actually gasped when she decided to give Caroline back to herself, to let her go back to her life and her family. I didn’t see that coming, but once it happened, it suddenly seemed long overdue. Finally, an angelic decision I can get behind and empathize with.
And oh, that scene with Cas in the car after he’s dropped Caroline off and watched her go home. Misha looks so torn there, and so determined, as Cas picks up the threads of Jimmy Novak’s life. I love Castiel best when he’s trying to do the right thing, even if he doesn’t always manage it. I’m looking forward to seeing where his search takes him.
And then there’s the Winchesters. Sam and Dean on the road enjoying some good food. Sam busting his brother’s chops for being on a dating site and reading suggestive texts to him while being half outraged and half protective. (But why did they cut Sam’s adorable throw-his-head-back full on laugh that we were treated to in the previews??)
(Also, how typically wonderfully Supernatural is it that Robert Berens put Jensen Ackles’ actual quote from Comic Con about Dean’s dating tagline in the episode?)
Then we get a Dean make-out scene in single layers AGAIN which just makes me want to take all the writers out for drinks to say thank you. THANK YOU! With extra added bonus of Dean being slammed into a wall, which hey, that never gets old. Mmm.
From there, we went down the whole demon prostitution ring road, and Rowena? Ruth Connell was absolutely delicious in the role – I was fascinated just listening to her and trying to figure her out. Eventually the Winchesters get her where they want her, and then boom! Dean’s right, Cole has awful timing.
And then comes the scene that I already know I’ll watch about thirty times over — the confrontation between Dean and Cole. The holy water in the face, and Ackles’ long-suffering expression. The fight scene, choreographed flawlessly. And then Dean handing over his gun, not even flinching as Cole aims it at him. Nerves of steel, or is it something else?
My uneasy thoughts are cut off when Sam suddenly appears, gun raised, ready to save his brother.
Dean’s order gave me goosebumps.
“Put it down, Sam. Put it down!”
And Sam does. And in my living room, it’s me who’s suddenly sobbing. The trust between the brothers, it’s back. It’s BACK.
Dean: The people who loved me pulled me back from the edge.
Oh, Dean. Break my heart, why don’t you? He’s talking to Cole, but we all know that he’s talking to Sam.
Sam’s face, did you see it? It’s Dean’s way of thanking his brother, and for once, Sam hears it. There’s so much passing between the brothers in those brief looks, so much said and understood. Thank you thank you thank you for letting a Winchester actually say the word ‘love’ when another Winchester is listening!
Travis Aaron Wade did an amazing job portraying Cole’s struggle to listen to what Dean is saying – imagine questioning what you’ve believed 200% your entire life. What has gotten you up in the morning and colored your dreams at night. Cole managed to do what most people in Supernatural (and okay, most of us in general) can’t – he listened, he questioned, and he changed his mind. You can see what it’s costing him, but he does it anyway. Hannah, earlier in this episode, does the same thing. I’m not sure there’s many things more courageous than that, and humanity would probably be a helluva lot better off if more of us could manage to be that kind of open minded.
But Dean (and Berens) aren’t done destroying what’s left of my emotional composure.
Dean: Once you touch that darkness, it never goes away. The truth is, I’m past saving. I know how my story ends. It’s at the edge of a blade or the barrel of a gun.
Sam’s face, OMG! He so doesn’t want that to be true for his brother, so doesn’t want to believe it. Me neither, Sammy! For all the times Dean swore he’d save Sam, now it’s Sam’s turn. And I wouldn’t bet against him – the determination to do so is written all over his face. Nicely done, Jared.
And Jensen, stop breaking my heart. Dean’s self loathing, his guilt and his shame and his conviction that he’s a flawed, terrible person. Ouch. It hurts. But it hurts good. Supernatural excels at that, after all.
The last scene with the brothers was both beautiful and haunting. Sam actually questioning Dean for once, instead of sweeping it under the rug, and damn, how I love that Sam is doing that this season! Dean’s insistence that he was just saying whatever would work, and Sam’s look of total skepticism as Dean walks away. Beautiful shot of the brothers in the dark alley, Dean striking out ahead, Sam following behind.
Maybe it’s what Jensen and Jared have said about this season, about Sam and Dean being in this fight together, about Sam having Dean’s back, trying to keep an eye on him – but that last scene looked like that to me. Dean isn’t alone in this. Sam’s right behind him.
And that makes me a happy fangirl.
Btw, if that alley looks familiar, it might be because the meme-generating “Lonely Jensen” tweet took place there. At least that’s what Tumblr tells me.
But wait, Berens isn’t done surprising us yet! After some delicious scenes of our new character Rowena (Ruth Connell, whose accent I could listen to like forever), we finally get to find out who she really is. I was unspoiled, but at the last few seconds I started to think wait, she’s a witch, and didn’t Crowley say his mother…. YES! Oh lovely lovely plot twist, Show. I’m positively giddy to see what Mark Sheppard does with this new turn of events. Ruth Connell can definitely go toe to toe, if her (apparently unscripted) ‘meowwww’ is any indication.
So much to look forward to.
P.S. Have just been informed by Superwiki, who knows all, that Girls Girls Girls passes the Bechdel test! And I’m going out on a limb and guessing next week’s will as well. You go, Show!
I don’t want to wait a week to see what happens next! And isn’t that a ridiculous (and wonderful) thing to say about a Show in its tenth season.
The West Coast live tweets always add to my enjoyment of the episode. Erica Carroll added some behind the scenes humor to her scenes with Misha.
We had a chance to chat with this episode’s guest star Travis Aaron Wade recently, and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know him. Look for that interview in the coming week, with some insights into Cole and how Travis is able to bring the character to life so vividly.
Travis and Ruth Connell watched the episode with some friends, tweeting out their enjoyment. I love how this Show brings people together, fans and cast alike.
If you’re celebrating holidays soon, don’t forget the Supernatural fans on your list – our books Fangasm Supernatural Fangirls and Fan Phenomena Supernatural are both on sale at amazon! You can check them out at the links at the top of this page.
–Lynn
What an amazing episode indeed! The surprises and the feels were all great. Thanks for your insights and thoughts as always. I can’t wait to watch it again tonight to catch even more of the wonderful moments that swept past too fast last night. Loving our Show more all the time, which I didn’t think was possible!!! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours and wishes for extra servings of Supernatural!! 🙂
I really enjoyed this episode. Although I can’t really explain why. I was completely absorbed in the story and the hour went by in a flash. Everything just…. worked.
Great episode! I agree the hour flew by! I figured out the Rowena twist pretty quick though, her Scottish accent gave it away. But the Hannah twist I did not see coming at all. It was nice to see an Angel make an unselfish decision, it was pretty “Human” of her. The last scenes were very powerful. The SPN writers really know how to wrench your heart sometimes. I am a pretty tough gal but I’ll admit when Dean said he was past saving, it stopped me in my tracks. It is still haunting me. Excellent review again Lynn, thanks!
I hope everybody in the Supernatural family has a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!!
Oh, that moment when Dean handed Cole his pistol…I just sighed and said, “He’s just perfect.” The perfect hero, for all his flaws. Never backing down, not hesitating…sigh. And then Sam, protective and ready to save Dean, but letting his brother do this right thing, and understanding, and being surprised and…
Tissues! Get me tissues! Oh my gosh.
I have to be honest–I wasn’t sure if Rowena’s accent was Irish or Scot at first, but as the episode went on, I heard the Scots more and more. And when Crowley opened the door of the cell (I loved that he was muttering about how everyone who works for him is useless–boy, he misses Dean), I, too, had that light bulb moment just before our dear King of Hell did. But then again, I had more warning. I knew Rowena was Scottish, and a witch just like his Mum, and she did say she’d been around a long time, so I had more time to put the clues together than he did. But wasn’t it delicious, all the same? Definitely a helluva hook/last line; did you jump around the room squealing, “Yes! Oh, yes!” too?
So now I’m wondering if he’s going to want to get rid of her (eventually) or if she’s going to hijack his phone and call Moose (or Not Moose, depending on her tastes) and make Crowley jealous? (“Hey, Dean’s MINE. I had him first. Well, sort of…Mum. Mum!”) Will she want to run Hell with him? Or will she make his life, hell? Yay! I love this twist and can’t wait to see how it plays out in the future. So much potential for conflict, chaos and Supernatural’s own version of family togetherness. (Hopefully, we won’t have one of those awkward in-your-face parallels, like an archangel burning Crowley’s mum on the ceiling, or Rowena getting possessed by an angel…)
Speaking of angels, I liked the Hannah and Cas storyline, too, though I wished there had been a little bit more time spent on Hannah’s journey into understanding humanity. She went from one brief “gee, Cas seeing my vessel naked makes him act…strangely” to “showers are nice” to almost full blown empathy for Carolyn. A little more human “stuff” would have been better; the ability to relish a cheeseburger or get drunk (and hung over) or some interaction with a small child…anything besides the seconds-long appearance of her vessel’s husband to help her grow. (Having her discover chocolate, for example) I suppose this wasn’t possible within the confines of the show’s time restrictions, so I’m willing to forgive this rushed angel to human transition. (I’m always willing to forgive SPN.)
In fact, the only thing I’m really having trouble forgiving is Cas’ ability to easily and quickly get wifi access, no matter where he is. Must be an angel thing. (Wi-fli?) So not fair. But yes, I agree that watching his conflicted struggle with Jimmy Novak’s fate and his responsibility for it was amazing. Yay, Misha! We’ve missed you.
Thank you, Lynn, for another thoughtful review of our show in what has been (for me–and you, too, I think) a really enjoyable season so far. Can’t wait to see what comes next. 🙂
Um…I thought Bob Singer was sitting in a stool or something in that pic. He’s not, is he? Just saying. Our boys really are tall, aren’t they? 🙂
sigh. I was totally in love with this episode and going wtf wtf at least five times. its like, is this really happening? what’s happening? 0-100 real quick. jfhoehfhfcvfhll. well, its only my first time, I’m sure I’ll have something more coherent to say after I’ve seen it about five times.
Well, as Calliope would put it, this episode had everything! Angels story, demons going off the rails on Crowley’s Hell policies… again 😀 witches (and SOME witch), Sam and Dean being brothers, Sam teasing Dean on sexting…! And heart-wrenching moments… what else can I ask for? Just wondering how they manage to top themselves over and over again. Although I liked Hannah’s human evolution and her decision to let her vessel go, I find it kind of odd, it’s unusual for an angel to worry about the vessel and even more unusual to decide to let her go. I hope Cas won’t be going down that same road. Crowley’s surprise… awesome! Rowena is great! Can’t wait to see what this encounter brings along. And can’t get enough of Sam and Dean being close again. That scene where Dean tells Sam to put the gun down and Sam just does… says it all. And Dean acknowledging that someone (Sam) loves him… sorry, I can’t keep typing. I just became a small pond of happy-jello.
That was a wonderful review of this episode. Hopefully Dean will see the hope that Sam always seems to see no matter how bad everything seems to get. This season is rocking on all cylinders. We even got the “L” word (almost better than a hug).
Your reaction pretty well mirrored mine, apart from the reaction to Ruth’s accent (I assume that she had to ‘tone it down’ for the US audiences which always has the result of making it sound like an American actor trying to sound Scottish instead of a real Scottish accent). But I called her being Crowley’s mum the moment she opened her mouth! Yay, go me! 😀
I finally got to watch this episode tonight after heading out of town for Thanksgiving (happy belated Thanksgiving everyone!) The best thing about not getting to watch Girls Girls Girls until tonight? Only two days between episodes. 🙂
I thought it was a little busy but I liked it. I probably would’ve saved Cas and Hannah for another week and beefed up Rowena’s story a bit, but this worked beautifully in a lot of ways.
I’m hoping that Rowena inspires her son to more evil. Hell just doesn’t seem to have the same level of terror it did in previous seasons. Of course that could be because we aren’t seeing the condemned tortured, we keep seeing demon middle management.
Dean’s “I’m beyond saving” speech was heartbreaking as was Sam’s reaction. However I can’t help but notice that in the past two seasons both brothers have given a version of that speech. (Sam had his in Bloodlines. Weird that I know that, since I thought that we all agreed that Bloodlines never happened.) The beauty of having a show with a ten year run is that you can have characters realistically go from gung-ho hunters to realizing this is it – I’m never getting out: I’m going to die doing this. Compare those speeches to Dean talking to Gordon in the bar. Sam had to give up a dream he was close to achieving – normal life with Jessica. His disillusionment makes perfect sense even without his extreme level of hell-angst. Dean was always an enthusiastic hunter. He might have had issues with the characterization of “Daddy’s blunt little instrument” and his obvious self-worth issues, but he was proud of being a hunter and a damn good one at that. Now, it’s a different story. There are doubts. He’s faltering, and… well the last time he handed over his gun to someone like that he took the clip out. This time…
I was also surprised by Hannah setting Caroline free. I was happy to see that they were consistent in how the vessels remember aspects of the experience. (Sam’s comments of sensing Gadreel, Jimmy’s partial memories of Cas, etc). I’m actually hoping that Cas DOES follow Hannah’s lead and frees Jimmy. He’s too powerful a character (not figuratively – his actual level of power makes him difficult to work into a storyline). But if Jimmy is released then Misha can stay. And since Jimmy’s life was pretty much destroyed and Cas is going to lose his angel life because of his grace issue, having Jimmy join the Winchesters makes sense.
Also, Misha might have a chance to speak on a tone of voice that won’t result on some sort of throat surgery.
Just YES. On everything you said! It’s like I don’t need to write a review because you reached into my brain & said everything I didn’t know I wanted to say only better!.
Only thing I’d add is I had foreshadowing of Rowena’s family ties. The accent you can listen to all day& night. & Ruth was so sweet! I saw her tweeting for East coast&; i asked/begged her to tweet for West coast too& she said she would& she favorited a bunvh of my tweets! Night made! The snark. The not caring over lackeys lives. Old World obviously.
& then THAT fact turns Cole’s timing from bad timing into unknowingly the most fortuitous timing ever.
& the scene that followed was Emmy Worthy writing by Robert Berens & performing by all 3 Jensen’s Dean, so lost &; giving up & if Sam hadn’t shown up he would’ve said what he said to save Cole& get him back to his family but he would’ve let Cole take that shot if Sam hadn’t been there to stop it. & that breaks my heart. & Travis Aaron Wade (cannot WAIT for your interview!) Amazing as ALWAYS at making someone who hurts Sammy& wants to kill Dean Should be a character fans hate-but I don’t know any fan who does!& that’s on the man himself. The nuances in his performance. Where Sammy says “you have a family” & that changes EVERYTHING! Bc in SPN Family is what you live&die for! & once Dean explained& Cole processed Oh god these’s supernatural beings, my dad was one or replaced by one, Dean Saved my live &moms-major world shift & considering he’s a Marine& trained for this his whole life to do a 180 & let Dean go& go back & hopefully find that the monster wasn’t genetic or skipped a generation. *shudder* we may or may not see him again.
He could be a good ally. & I WANT him to have peace of mind. But this is SPN.&I love Travis as Cole so much. I can’t help but hope we see him again. ASAP. He deserves this.
The man’s a RL hero& personally supportive of me in hard times so I may be biased.
My tweet “my screen feels complete now”
when Cole appeared with Js got 29 faves&7RTs in an hour!
& Jared, oh goodness Jared, so heartbreaking, saving his brother from himself, STILL! Like back in Croatoan, & post Dad’s death, frankly post Faith, Dean has had No sense of self worth or that his life matters& he’s just counting down time til a violent end for penance& I think he believes more punishment for sins he couldn’t prevent.
Thank goodness Sammy insisted to Cole (&Dean!) That no killing Dean would happen today. & he Heard Dean’s word’s & they included ‘love’ & he got it! & I cried for all 3 characters in this scene every time I’ve re-watched. (No don’t ask ; D)
Can’t wait to see what Rowena. Has in store. & loved the Hannah& Cas storyline (desperately wanted to apologize to Robert Berens& network on behalf of stupid vocal fans for wank&hate for that kiss out of context that was so sweet& so appropriate! it was perfect& lovely&means nothing for “shippers. Erica Carroll& Misha Collins handled that story brilliantly.
I do hope Cas now intersects story with the boys! & Thank you again for letting me hijack your post! Lol.