I was already in an amped up Supernatural state thanks to the San Francisco convention last weekend, so to say I was excited about the mid season premiere was an understatement. We had a big family pizza party with lots of cousins and aunts and uncles joining us, which was awesome until about 8:49 pm, when I started to hyperventilate a little. Luckily everyone cleared out shortly thereafter, possibly because someone asked “wait, is there a new Supernatural on tonight?” and I answered much too loudly, “YES!!!”
I watched the episode with my daughter, and once again, we both enjoyed the episode despite a few minor quibbles. Yay! So here are Ten Things I Liked About Episode 10.10.
As mid season finales go, last night’s episode wouldn’t be at the top of my list, but I did enjoy it. And once again, the moon was blue, because my daughter did too. I really hope all these blue moons aren’t a portent of some terrible evil. Oh wait, that’s a good description of mid season hellatus, isn’t it?
Fandom is split on its thumbs up or thumbs down of “The Things We Left Behind”. Some fans were ecstatic to have a Cas-centric episode and others were disappointed that there weren’t enough Winchesters in the mid season finale. I was happy with much of what we got when it comes to Sam and Dean, but there probably will never be an episode where I think it’s “enough.” I have a feeling I could have Sam and Dean on my tv screen 24/7 and still be wanting more of them, so I’m really not a very reliable barometer. The first segment (pre commercial no. 1) was noticeably Winchester-light, which didn’t make me a happy fangirl. On the other hand, the few minutes we got were, in true Supernatural style, first horrifying, then heartwarming and ominous. Simultaneously.
I feel like my episode reviews are getting redundant, but it’s in the best possible way. Another S10 episode that I absolutely loved! Usually when an episode is SamnDean lite I’m grumbling, but a) what we got of the brothers, I liked, and b) this episode was all about the ladies, and that was awesome! In fact, it was so awesome that my daughter and I (who watched the episode together) actually AGREED on just about everything! Is the moon blue??
I’ve loved the character of Jody Mills since her introduction, and over the course of multiple seasons and many conventions, have come to love and respect the woman who plays her so perfectly, Kim Rhodes, even more. I love Jody with Sam, and Jody with Dean, and Jody with adopted daughter Alex – but you know what? I really REALLY love Jody with Sheriff Donna. These two were meant to share screen time – thank you, Jenny Klein and Phil Sgriccia, for making that happen!
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.
It was inevitably going to be a challenge to follow up the 200th episode, so I’m thinking that a standalone episode that was quirky and funny wasn’t a bad idea. I thoroughly enjoyed most of Ask Jeeves, written by Nicole Snyder and Eric Charmelo and directed by John McCarthy, aka Johnny Mac. Here’s what I liked about it:
One of the best parts about the episode was Jay Gruska’s old style score, which was a playful accompaniment to some of the more humorous scenes and fit the “old school” vibe of the episode. I laughed out loud as Dean encountered one weapon after another from the game Clue; Ackles’ WTF expression as he picks up the third one was priceless. And the outline of the murdered guest, with the head a few feet from the body? I laughed so hard I had to put down my pie for a few minutes. Kudos, Show.
And apparently I can’t see Sam hold up a key without flashing back to my favorite scene in The French Mistake, which I cannot watch without falling over laughing.
I fell in love with Supernatural almost nine years ago, and discovered the incredible world of Supernatural fandom shortly thereafter. It was, if you’ll forgive the obviously intentional use of the word, a transformative experience. We started writing books about the Show and the fandom because we encountered so much shame surrounding what we knew was a wonderful and positive place – a place that, when discovered for the first time, felt like coming home. A place of understanding and acceptance and validation, where we could let our creativity flow unfettered, expressing what we really thought and felt. What we feared and fantasized about. Why, we wondered, was there then so much shame about being a fan – especially being a fangirl? Why was there so much wank, in the midst of so much acceptance and support?
That’s why we wrote Fangasm: Supernatural Fangirls, and its academic book cousin Fandom at the Crossroads. To peel back that layer of shaming-from-the-outside as well as internalized shame coming from the inside. To tell the “real” story of being a fan – a Supernatural fan. To challenge all that shame (and the wank that happened as a result of it), we sought validation, even if we didn’t at first realize that’s what we were doing. We spoke to all kinds of fans about why they loved the Show and how they expressed their passion. Fanfiction writers and readers, fan artists, fan vidders, bloggers, enthusiastic readers and fans who just loved to watch the show. Then we spoke to the ‘other side’ – the people who made the Show we’d fallen for. Eric Kripe. Sera Gamble. Serge Ladouceur. Jensen, Jared, Misha, and every other actor willing to sit down with us and talk about how they felt about the Show and the fans and their place in this crazy wonderful little ‘family’.
As this week’s Supernatural episode ended, I found myself very emotional. Not just from the episode, though the last line hit me hard, but from the realization that I had just watched the 199th episode of the show that changed my life. In two weeks, we’ll all celebrate the amazing milestone of the 200th, hopefully with cast and crew joining in the online celebration. When we fell in love with Supernatural and decided this would be the show we’d research and write books about, we thought we’d be lucky if it stayed on the air another year. That was 2007. Here we are, with 2014 almost done, and the Little Show That Could is still going strong. Forgive me if I needed a few extra tissues.
I really enjoyed this episode. The story line played out in a linear fashion instead of jumping around, and the pace was even throughout. And oh how I loved the interaction between the brothers. I’ll wax poetic over that in a minute. Most amazing thing about this episode? My daughter and I agreed. On everything. Is the moon blue instead of paper??
There was a lot riding on episode 3 of Season 10, Soul Survivor. Jensen Ackles was directing, so everyone’s anticipation was high. On the other hand, some of the episodes by these writers are not my favorites, so I was wary. And, woman of little willpower that I am when it comes to this Show, I was once again a little bit spoiled – particularly for the scene where a tied down Dean tries every trick in the book to hurt his brother. Ouch. Maybe it was merciful that I was prepared, since it still hit me hard enough to make me nauseous hearing Dean say those hurtful things to Sam.
I’m not sure I’ve ever loved Sam more than when he refused to fall for it. When he plunged that needle into his brother and countered “This is me yanking your lame ass out of the fire,” I shivered. When he looked back over his shoulder and said, “You’re welcome,” I think I gasped. And then tweeted in capslock THAT’S RIGHT SAMMY!!!
At first I was tempted to just make this review a capslocked EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! That’s exactly how I felt after watching ‘Reichenbach’, not exactly coherent but filled with an intense desire to scream from the rooftops that our Show is the BEST Show and always will be. I’m sure my neighbors would have loved that. It’s Friday now and I’ve calmed down enough to be slightly more articulate and to think a little more coherently, though all of that inarticulate squee is still very much there.
By the way, what’s your guess on this episode’s title? I’d like to think it was for the philosopher Hans Reichenbach, who apparently was one of the first professors to encourage open discussion and debate (the way most of us who teach do now). Is the title an invitation to fandom to engage in some free-spirited discussion and debate about what’s really going on in Supernatural this season? I like to think so. Of course it apparently could also just be evidence that Andrew Dabb is a Sherlock (or possibly a SuperWhoLock) fan.
There was so much anticipation leading up to the start of Season 10 (10!), that it’s almost hard to believe I didn’t feel let down by the premiere this week. The night before, the CW did something it’s never done for SPN – ran an hour long special ‘retrospective’, looking back over the past nine years of Supernatural. The special was an emotional and heartfelt tribute, not just to the Show, but to the fans who have kept the Show on the air for ten seasons. Seeing Eric Kripke back in the SPN Family was enough to make me reach for the tissues – add to that Rob Benedict’s narration, the voice of Chuck himself, and I needed multiple boxes. Before the airing, fandom made sure that writer and S6 and 7 showrunner Sera Gamble wasn’t left out, tweeting about favorite Sera-penned episodes and her lasting contribution to the Show with the hashtag #thankyousera. (We may have let her know that was happening after the fact, and she may have said thank you.) Throughout the special, the cast talked about what they owe to the fandom, with clear appreciation and respect. Mark Sheppard commented that he wasn’t so sure about people who aren’t passionate about something (which is pretty much the plot of Fangasm: Supernatural Fangirls) and fanworks even appeared in the special itself. So we went into Tuesday night already at a fever pitch of excitement and full of love for Show.
