Supernatural

[annundriel]

There is probably a certain lack of organization and articulation behind the cut.

Supernatural - "Two Minutes to Midnight"

One thing I really liked about this episode was how it had things that were Monster of the Week-like (Sam and Dean in the hospital with the demons, or Sam and Bobby in the warehouse) and it still moved the overall season forward (Pestilence, Death). It's a good balance.

- Ah, Supernatural. Joining a long line of stories trying to cheat actual Death, capital D.

I LOVED Death. He was fantastic, and the whole thing with him and his feelings was perfect.

(Plus, I am amused that Death played a mortician on Slings & Arrows. HA.)

- Someone explain to me how theology makes sense on this show. I mean, nothing is older than Death, yes? You create life, you automatically create it's opposite. And Death is as old as God, according to him. Possibly older. But in "Hammer of the Gods," didn't those gods (little g) say they were older than God (big g). Sooooooo...what?

Oh, although...I'm not really up on apocalypse-related mythology in other religions. How Christianity-based are the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse? Because, as much sense as it does not make, there seems to be a difference between how Judeo-Christian figures and other religious figures.

I'm not articulating that very well.

(Tangent: That chicken or the egg thing? Egg. Totally egg first. I have an argument and everything.)

- CASTIEL. OMG. I always think that there is no way I can love him more, and then I'm always proved wrong. (Kind of like I always think, damn, there is no way Misha can be more attractive than in this or that, and then the dailymisha occurs and I go, oh, well. ::dead:: )

AND HE IS HUMAN NOW.

And he kicked ass anyway, no need of angel powers. I loved his arrival ("I took a bus.") and the fact that he's the one that got Pestilence's ring. Then taking out the truck driver and figuring out shotguns are useful.

- I think it was...probably a good thing it was Bobby Castiel tried to complain to. He needed the unsentimental kick in the ass. (And then, y'know, someone ::coughdeancough:: to kiss it and make it better by showing him the perks of humanity.)

On the other hand, c'mon, Bobby. You haven't exactly been a barrel of sunshine since you were paralyzed. You wouldn't talk to anybody in the hospital right after. Castiel just lost the last shreds of his connection to Heaven. On top of losing a lot before that. Give him a break.

- I was impressed with Castiel's line about his batteries being drained. "Wow, Cas, you know about batteries! And how they work. You've clearly been spending lots of time with Dean."

- Speaking of, there could have been more of that. Maybe my one complaint here. Though I do appreciate that we got an apology. And an acceptance of that apology. I even liked that it wasn't face to face. Castiel's the type to blurt stuff like that out when it comes to him, I think. And face to face? Come on. We all would have died, am I right? That would have been a seriously intimate moment were they in the same room together. (Bless their awkward little socks.)

And, okay, that would've been nice. I'll admit that. But I'm so happy that it happened that I don't mind how it happened. And my mind is happily supplying post-Pestilence reunion happiness/relief.

(Matt Frewer! ILU.

Also, hey, the nurse was on Caprica. I thought she looked familiar.)

- Okay, so Pestilence. The summary for the episode said something about Pestilence infecting Sam and Dean. That was, like, half of the summary. Now, they probably just mean what we saw at the hospital. OR they mean whatever Pestilence was referring to when he said it was too late.

Which may have just been the whole vaccine being shipped out.

What I am afraid of, though, is him "planting a bomb" with Sam or Dean. Or especially Castiel.

IF CASTIEL SURVIVES ALL OF THE OTHER SHIT TO BE OFFED BY GODDAMN INFLUENZA BECAUSE HE IS HUMAN NOW I WILL PITCH A FIT OF SOME KIND.

- And then there was Crowley! And Bobby! And their deal and Crowley sweetening it without anyone knowing.

- Castiel looked a little sheepish by the van. D'aww. Or maybe cold. Also, was it just me or did Sam say...wendiegos and not wendigos? WTH?

- The Plan. It might be a horrible plan, but what else have they got?

Considering the shit Sam's gone through, he's still a remarkably decent human being (when he's not full of OMGHULKSMASHRAGE that is). Can he beat Lucifer? I don't know. Am I willing to let him try? Yes.

But then I'm just watching this on TV.

Meanwhile, Bobby's question to Dean? I think Dean's afraid of losing Sam. Let the world go down in flames, as long as they have each other.

It comes back to that scene in "Salvation", the one where Sam wants to go after their dad and the Yellow-Eyed Demon and Dean stops him, and they almost come to blows. "The three of us," Dean says, "that’s all we have. And that’s all I have. Sometimes I feel like I’m barely holding it together, man. Without you and Dad....."

I mean, that is just...it. That is them in a nutshell. That is Dean in a nutshell. He's lost his dad, and then lost his faith in his dad. If he loses Sam, what's he got left?

I do feel that this season has at least in part been about Dean and Sam learning what they can do together and for each other, and what they can't. And how to tell the difference between the two and step back when the situation calls for it.

ETA: Also. I will pretend that last week no one mentioned Cas (after barely being mentioned the week before that) because they all thought he was dead. And you don't talk about your fallen comrades because then you will fall apart. You have to focus on what you can do now, not what you could've done then.

Maybe that was also why Dean was kind of slow on the uptake last week.


I'm sure I've forgotten something in all of that rambling.

Holy crap. One more episode.

My poor mom. (WHO FELL ASLEEP AT ONE POINT. In her defense, it was prom last weekend and Mother's Day this weekend and there was a funeral today and she is a florist so, y'know, CRAZY BUSY. At least no one wanted to get married.) The preview for next week came on and she's like, "Wait, only one more?"

"I told you earlier there were only two left."

Frown. "I thought you meant after tonight."

Sadly, no.

Although, it might be a nice change of pace (for a week or two) to be like "What do I do? It is Thursday and there is nothing on!" instead of spending the whole day going "WHY ISN'T IT 9 O'CLOCK DAMN IT."

Actually, that only really gets bad at 8. The book I'm currently reading totally helped keep me sane and not overly antsy otherwise.

Comments

[olivelavonne.livejournal.com]

I loved that after they find out about the deal Bobby made, Sam immediately focuses on the kiss. And Bobby denies and then Crowley provides evidence! I was cracking up.

I know that it's all serious and what not, but I also think that they do serious all the time and it's nice when in the middle of OMG-what-the-hell-are-we-going-to-do-freaking-out that they add some fun bits in there. Some snark and whatnot.

Honestly, I'm pretty sure that the big thing Pestilence had planned was just the Croatoan epidemic. This show may throw things out there and whatnot, but for the most part, it's all pretty straight forward, no real huge twists. I'm more worried about Bobby dying or Cas. Which would make me very sad.

The thing with the gods vs God and who's older in Supernatural, I think all the gods say that they're the oldest and the true religion. They all want followers. They're all going to have they're own story of creation and how certain things come into existence. And each one is going to say that they are the true religion. Because the more people that believe in them, the more power they have, the more people will revere and sacrifice for them. The more the world will be in the palm of their hands. It seems like right now the predominant religion is Judeo-Christian. God has the power. Maybe he's always had more power than the rest of them. My big question, where did God come from? Did he spontaneously create himself? If so, couldn't these other gods have done the same thing?

It's interesting because Death can't remember who came first, God or himself. God could have come first. And the first thing he created was his opponent, Death.

Anyway, I loved the episode.

[shetiger.livejournal.com]

I have been up most of the night (struck with weird-ass anxiety dreams, yay), so I don't have enough brain to brain right now. But-- "I took the bus." "Maybe a smidge." "this is useful after all" or whatever it was. How is he so awesome? Just...*flail*

Also, I love Death. Death was fan-freaking-tastic. Also, Dean looks incredibly pretty when he's scared shitless. (Remember how pretty he was when Cas threatened to throw him back into the pit?) There's probably something wrong with me that I like that so much, but I don't really care.

And now I'm thinking about deep-dish pizza. *tummy growls*

[marynyu.livejournal.com]

Someone explain to me how theology makes sense on this show. I mean, nothing is older than Death, yes? You create life, you automatically create it's opposite. And Death is as old as God, according to him. Possibly older. But in "Hammer of the Gods," didn't those gods (little g) say they were older than God (big g). Sooooooo...what?

I'm thinking..... God is the actual ancient creator God, and he's as old as Death himself, and of course Death thinks he'll win in the end but he may not. And all the other gods, they were also created by this primal God, were given some of his spark, and sent to earth to give humans something to believe in before he decided he'd send himself downhere instead. And all this other gods are probably older that humans and earth, just like angels are, and they like to think they are actually Gods and eternal and shit. But they're not, because, I can't believe a simple, single Archangel would be enough to kill a God, even if it was Lucifer.

Yes, I've thought a lot about this.

Aaaanyway, I LOVED DEATH!!!!! He's SO much the coolest of the Horseman. And Sam.... Yes, Dean is mostly scared of losing HIM, but what else have we got?? And.... he is cheating Death here, but what could Death do to Dean that's worse than, you know, dieing?

Caaaas!!!! I just wanna huggle him and take him clothe shopping XD. His lines in here were awesome.

[lattimore.livejournal.com]

Someone explain to me how theology makes sense on this show. I mean, nothing is older than Death, yes?

My theory: God (the Judeo-Christian god) is the most dominant of all forces on the show, but not necessarily the creator of all existence as in The Bible. So Death's dominion ranges over all worlds, but he's still subject to beings stronger than himself - such as the spell Lucifer used to keep him in check. So God is unimaginably powerful, but according to this mythology, He's not invulnerable, either.

IF CASTIEL SURVIVES ALL OF THE OTHER SHIT TO BE OFFED BY GODDAMN INFLUENZA BECAUSE HE IS HUMAN NOW I WILL PITCH A FIT OF SOME KIND.

JESUS CHRIST YES. When he spit blood upon confronting Pestilence, my first thought was "WAIT OMG CAS HASN'T HAD HIS SHOTS!!!"

And human!Cas was a freaking BAMF in this episode. Boy has an amazing learning curve.

[annundriel.livejournal.com]

I loved that after they find out about the deal Bobby made, Sam immediately focuses on the kiss. And Bobby denies and then Crowley provides evidence! I was cracking up.

Heeee! Yeah, I saw that clip a couple of days before the episode (shame on me), and it had me giggling forever. Oh, everybody-in-that-scene.

One of the things I like about SPN is that, like SG-1/SGA, it does it's big gloom 'n doom thing but infuses that with comedy. Dark comedy, sure. Silly stuff, definitely. They let themselves have a little fun with it. (I don't know if you remember that I was wary of watching BSG because, omg, so serious all the time.)

If it comes down to Bobby or Castiel...I hate to say it, because I love Bobby, but I want Cas to stick around. Though if he doesn't, I don't think I'll stop watching. (I keep comparing it to what's happened with Torchwood for me. If there's a fourth season of that, I don't have much - if any - interest. Whereas here, I love whatever characters do stick around.)

My big question, where did God come from? Did he spontaneously create himself? If so, couldn't these other gods have done the same thing?

Hmmm. I'm not sure I'm ever going to be happy with any answers to how the theology/religion works on the show, but isn't that just the way of the subject anyway?

I think if we ask where God came from and whether or not He and the other gods created themselves, running on the idea that they all have their own creation stories - and that these all may be legitimate - then can we ask if maybe there is, say, an uber-God? A being behind the being behind the curtain. (Like the Titans in Greek mythology being the parents of the gods.) Making God and the other gods into sort of a larger version of the archangels bickering and fighting and wanting attention.

Or perhaps these beings came into existence, found the earth already created, and staked a claim.

I really have no idea. It's kind of fun to think about, though.

[annundriel.livejournal.com]

Oh, god. Your icon is ridiculously distracting....

Um.

Right.

Every episode Castiel is in I think, no, surely he cannot top that thing he did last time with the whatever. AND THEN HE DOES. He's like...I don't even know. He is just awesome, period. End of story.

Also, Dean looks incredibly pretty when he's scared shitless.

Oh, he is. He so is. And I found him particularly pretty last night. Maybe it was all of the super-still, oh-god-if-I-don't-move-they-can't-see-me fear.

[annundriel.livejournal.com]

Ooh, your idea about God is very interesting. (And would also explain that arrogant "I'm a god named God" thing.)

But they're not, because, I can't believe a simple, single Archangel would be enough to kill a God, even if it was Lucifer.

I could totally get behind that. Because, seriously, Lucifer being able to kill beings who are supposed to be on par with his own creator? Crazy.

And.... he is cheating Death here, but what could Death do to Dean that's worse than, you know, dieing?

And Dean's already been to Hell, so....I'm thinking Dean's probably not seeing a problem with whatever Death could do to him since he feels it's probably already been done.

DEATH WAS THE BEST EVER.

omg, Cas clothes shopping. For some reason now I really want to see Dean making him buy new shoes. Oh, and Cas being totally useless and Dean making him sit down and kneeling to help him try them on and...yeah. Oh, Cas. I love him so much.

[annundriel.livejournal.com]

Everybody has such great things to say re:theology. I love it! And I think your theory is great. My brain isn't working enough to actually add anything intelligent at this point.

"WAIT OMG CAS HASN'T HAD HIS SHOTS!!!"

If he survives, they better take care of that. Or else, knowing their luck, the first hunt he goes on, he's going to step on a rusty nail.

And human!Cas was a freaking BAMF in this episode. Boy has an amazing learning curve.

OMG. Now I want a scene with Castiel coming down off the whole thing. Where Dean goes in from talking to Bobby and Cas is slumped on the couch looking miserable.

"Hey, you okay?"

Cas groans and sinks deeper into the cushions. "I hurt all over."

"That's not surprising. You're barely recovered from...you know."

Shifting, Cas makes a pained noise. "I'm not used these limitations."

Dean sits on the couch, careful not to jar him. "You'll get used to it."

"What if I don't want to get used to it."

Dean frowns at him. "You'll learn."

He expects Cas to hit him with some snappy come-back, but Cas' face freezes, slips into something sad. Dean can't bear it, and says the first thing that pops into his head.

"I could kiss it and make it better."

Cas stares at him with dark eyes, and Dean feels his cheeks heat up. "I do not think that...actually works, Dean."

"I--"

"I hurt everywhere."

And that's when Dean notices that Cas' eyes aren't just pain-filled. He swallows. "Well," Dean says, licking his lips. "Guess we'd better get started."


Umm...hi, I have no idea where that came from.

[lattimore.livejournal.com]

Everybody has such great things to say re:theology. I love it!

I read over some of the replies here and each theory is fascinating! So yeah, it doesn't seem there's a Creator who brought God, or Death, or the gods seen in 5.19, into existence. They simply ARE.

And that ficlet, with grumpy healing Cas and Dean trying (and failing) to hide that he wants to make a fuss over him? Oh these boys, they make me all ♥_♥

[annundriel.livejournal.com]

...with grumpy healing Cas and Dean trying (and failing) to hide that he wants to make a fuss over him?

I want to write more of it so much. Or expand this. (Yea, details!) Or something. I don't know. But I love them so much.

[marynyu.livejournal.com]

AND I WANT TO READ MORE OF THIS!!!! *does puppy eyes like Sammy*

[annundriel.livejournal.com]

I AM WORKING ON IT!

:D