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This was going to be a short comment, but I got carried away. Which is only fitting because it was supposed to be a light episode and it got carried away, too!
I love that the boys don't go after Patrick once they won their years back. Dean has slowly been backing off of his "anything supernatural is automatically evil and needs to be killed" attitude and the fact that he's willing to let Patrick walk away is significant. After all they have the ability to kill him, even if it would be hard to get the DNA, Dean could have insisted that they go after him. And he would have in the past.
I loved both of the witches. Patrick being honest was one of the nicest surprises from the show... as was the fact that he really did love the girl (Lia?) and she loved him. There were some really interesting undercurrents to their relationship -- like why her first choice was to go to Dean and give him the ability to kill Patrick. In the end, I felt that it showed more courage and strength for her to choose death it then is given to most of the characters on the show. Death is rarely portrayed as an honorable choice unless it's in the service of saving someone else.
The fact that they managed to have a scene promoting the honor of death immediately proceed a scene where Dean fights to convince Bobby in the honor of living... well, that's why this show owns me. Rather than the scenes negating each other, they added power to the themes of necessity and love and free will.
I loved Sam in the poker game. He was smart and caring and calculating and gave himself completely to the moment -- everything that I adore about the character. I'm going to have to go back and watch the game again but Sam's true strength was in being able to adapt to the game. Sam held the winning hand the moment the flop was revealed and he knew it. Yet, even though he held the winning hand for most of the game, he still managed to keep Patrick in the game, betting high -- something Patrick told him he was unable to do earlier in the game. It was very nicely played.
I still think that Dean firmly believes that his is the most expendable member of his little family. In the season one finale, Azazel told Dean "You know you fight, and you fight for this family, but the truth is, they don't need you, not like you need them." I think Dean believes that. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's Dean's entire philosophy of life when it comes to his family. He doesn't see it as unfair or wrong, but rather as part of the undeniable truth of life. It's why he so quickly gave 25 years of his life to Bobby and why he refused to let Sam do the same for him. I'm holding out hope that Dean may actually come to realize how important he is to Sam and Bobby, but I'm not sure that he will ever manage to do it.
I'm torn when it comes to Bobby. I love the man, so I really want him to walk again. I especially want this since it that SOB Zachariah is the reason he can't walk. But, then again, I adore the path they are taking Bobby down. I would love to see Bobby find a purpose beyond pure physical ability (a damn hard thing to do for a man like Bobby). This show defines most of its characters with physical action, it would be nice for Bobby to be able to be strong and vital even if he does so from a wheelchair.
One of the things I really love about Dean is his ability to completely emotionally connect to the people he cares about. He is so obviously ruled by his emotions and that is why he fights to hard to keep them in check. It’s not what you would expect when the characters were introduced in the pilot -- it was obvious that Sam was going to be the open, caring one and Dean the ruthless SOB. And while those two things are still true, both characters a much more complex than that. Sam can be incredibly ruthless and Dean expectedly open. I find it interesting that Dean can wield his emotions as skillfully as any other weapon when it comes down to it; whether he’s trying to convince Castiel to help him at the end of last season or convincing Bobby to keep fighting at the end of the last episode. He isn’t quite as skillful when dealing with Sam, but I think that’s because he cares so much more about Sam that he doesn’t have enough control over his emotions to do so.
And have I mentioned how much I loved Sam in this episode? The fact that he did the smart thing all the time, that he didn’t fall for the knee jerk “I’m going to go behind your backs and save you both” instinct that he usually has. I love the rebellious, independent streak in Sam, but it will kill him if he doesn’t get it under control. And he had it under control in this episode. I also love that Sam is learning to deal with the overwhelming need that Dean has to keep him safe. That he’s learning when he can tell Dean to back off and when he knows that there’s no way to make Dean stand down.
Oh. All that off one viewing amid many distractions. I so need to watch the ep again!
I love that the boys don't go after Patrick once they won their years back. Dean has slowly been backing off of his "anything supernatural is automatically evil and needs to be killed" attitude and the fact that he's willing to let Patrick walk away is significant. After all they have the ability to kill him, even if it would be hard to get the DNA, Dean could have insisted that they go after him. And he would have in the past.
I loved both of the witches. Patrick being honest was one of the nicest surprises from the show... as was the fact that he really did love the girl (Lia?) and she loved him. There were some really interesting undercurrents to their relationship -- like why her first choice was to go to Dean and give him the ability to kill Patrick. In the end, I felt that it showed more courage and strength for her to choose death it then is given to most of the characters on the show. Death is rarely portrayed as an honorable choice unless it's in the service of saving someone else.
The fact that they managed to have a scene promoting the honor of death immediately proceed a scene where Dean fights to convince Bobby in the honor of living... well, that's why this show owns me. Rather than the scenes negating each other, they added power to the themes of necessity and love and free will.
I loved Sam in the poker game. He was smart and caring and calculating and gave himself completely to the moment -- everything that I adore about the character. I'm going to have to go back and watch the game again but Sam's true strength was in being able to adapt to the game. Sam held the winning hand the moment the flop was revealed and he knew it. Yet, even though he held the winning hand for most of the game, he still managed to keep Patrick in the game, betting high -- something Patrick told him he was unable to do earlier in the game. It was very nicely played.
I still think that Dean firmly believes that his is the most expendable member of his little family. In the season one finale, Azazel told Dean "You know you fight, and you fight for this family, but the truth is, they don't need you, not like you need them." I think Dean believes that. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's Dean's entire philosophy of life when it comes to his family. He doesn't see it as unfair or wrong, but rather as part of the undeniable truth of life. It's why he so quickly gave 25 years of his life to Bobby and why he refused to let Sam do the same for him. I'm holding out hope that Dean may actually come to realize how important he is to Sam and Bobby, but I'm not sure that he will ever manage to do it.
I'm torn when it comes to Bobby. I love the man, so I really want him to walk again. I especially want this since it that SOB Zachariah is the reason he can't walk. But, then again, I adore the path they are taking Bobby down. I would love to see Bobby find a purpose beyond pure physical ability (a damn hard thing to do for a man like Bobby). This show defines most of its characters with physical action, it would be nice for Bobby to be able to be strong and vital even if he does so from a wheelchair.
One of the things I really love about Dean is his ability to completely emotionally connect to the people he cares about. He is so obviously ruled by his emotions and that is why he fights to hard to keep them in check. It’s not what you would expect when the characters were introduced in the pilot -- it was obvious that Sam was going to be the open, caring one and Dean the ruthless SOB. And while those two things are still true, both characters a much more complex than that. Sam can be incredibly ruthless and Dean expectedly open. I find it interesting that Dean can wield his emotions as skillfully as any other weapon when it comes down to it; whether he’s trying to convince Castiel to help him at the end of last season or convincing Bobby to keep fighting at the end of the last episode. He isn’t quite as skillful when dealing with Sam, but I think that’s because he cares so much more about Sam that he doesn’t have enough control over his emotions to do so.
And have I mentioned how much I loved Sam in this episode? The fact that he did the smart thing all the time, that he didn’t fall for the knee jerk “I’m going to go behind your backs and save you both” instinct that he usually has. I love the rebellious, independent streak in Sam, but it will kill him if he doesn’t get it under control. And he had it under control in this episode. I also love that Sam is learning to deal with the overwhelming need that Dean has to keep him safe. That he’s learning when he can tell Dean to back off and when he knows that there’s no way to make Dean stand down.
Oh. All that off one viewing amid many distractions. I so need to watch the ep again!
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Date: 2009-10-31 10:53 pm (UTC)From:I'm hoping Dean has grown enough that he doesn't still think of himself as the expendable one but I'm afraid part of him does think that.