Saturday, October 26, 2013

Review of "Supernatural" 9.03 - "I'm No Angel"


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Let me start off by saying..... I am so thankful that the makeup this season is not all golden and overdone – or as a friend said to me – all Malibu Ken tan! It’s so lovely to see Dean’s freckles. Another friend of mine once called them “school girl freckles”. The way they speckle over the bridge of his nose – like tiny dots of perfection. It’s really kind of adorable. This big, gruff guy with the cutest darn freckles! I’m also thankful for the amount of puppy dog eyes going around this season. Cass was practically one of those pound puppies in this ep, with big, sad, blue eyes the colour of – I don’t even know….BLUE in uppercase. And Sam seems to puppy-dog-eye-it every time Zeke bugs out. He looks all… “What happened?” Mostly because he’s usually on the ground having been knocked about. Sam could break the hearts of an entire nation with one puppy dog glance. Also, his hair was awesomely apooft with angel awesome… 

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Yes, I’m leading with this…freckles, puppy dog eyes and awesome hair. These things are important.

I was worried about this episode, because I’ve been enjoying/fretting over/enjoying/fretting over the Zeke/Sam/Dean triangle and I didn’t want to get drawn out of that story (no offence Cass.) But I was happy to discover that I wasn’t, because I got that particular spectacular trinity, but I also got a story about Castiel that made me want to run and hug him within an inch of his life! Even when he was all wet and drippy. Actually, especially when he was all wet and drippy…

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Naw Cass. This was a Castiel that I could get on board with. I’ve had issues with Cass in the past in relation to the writing of his character. He started off as this epic and powerful being and somewhere down the line, he became comic relief. There’s fish out of water funny and then, well, there isn’t.

I get it. They wrote themselves into a corner. What on earth do you do with an angel? How do you have him around without having him fix everything? So they made him fall – exploded him - resurrected him – made him duplicitous – stuffed him full of Leviathan – exploded him – resurrected him – married him off briefly – made him crazy – sent him to Purgatory – brought him back as a pawn in an angel war – had him break Heaven and  all the angels and then stripped him of his Grace…which is where I thought they were going to go all along. Because really, it’s the only way they can continue to have the character in the story and continue to put the Winchesters in real peril without having an angel at their beck and call.

Where they go with Cass next is yet to be seen, um, obviously. I was chatting with a friend at work today about what his journey might be. We decided (and we were kind of happy with ourselves) that he should be faced with a choice… Remain human – which we think he’ll end up digging – and remain with the Winchesters, or sacrifice his newfound humanity and happiness, along with his friendship with Dean and Sam, to regain his Grace and rebuild Heaven, as he was partly responsible for destroying it. Of course, Cass would choose the later. He is an angel after all and a good intentioned one, regardless of his missteps. He also learnt about sacrifice from the masters of sacrifice. The sacrificial Winchesters! If this is where the story went, I wonder what that would mean for the character’s future. Would his return to Heaven be the end? Would ET finally go home? But of course, this was just us writing the show for the writers! Which I never condone. But we did feel rather clever!

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Human Cass is funny, but in the most endearing way. You can’t help but giggle at his discomfort around urinating, around his confusion over how difficult it is to sleep, around his sudden realisation that there are boobs passing him by on the street, or that all of a sudden he’s awash with hormones that make him put out for the first chick that comes along! It was all smile inducing, but at the same time deeply touching as he struggled with all of these things that he has seen, but never been thrown into quite so completely. What was beautiful was that though he was very much alone, he was never really alone because so many human hands reached out to help him and offer him advice, food or a place to rest – even if it was in an old bus under a bridge. He may know the truth about what’s really going on upstairs, but he also saw how great humanity can be, how powerful faith can be and how pretty gosh darn awesome being a human can be. I mean the sex alone…he finally got to put his Pizzaman learning’s into play. I hope he didn’t spank the Reaper (sounds like a euphemism) though I guess she did deserve it.

Cass was also kick-ass, which he should be! I liked that he got to kebob the pharmacist vessel. He’s always been a warrior, so I was happy to see he wasn’t shown as inept, now that he’s no angel. I like this Cass a lot and though I hunger for the Zeke/Sam/Dean dynamic, I was happy to spend some time getting to see the setup of what Castiel’s journey will be this season. I probably would have taken him home too…in fact no probably about it…

I have to say I tittered with glee when Cass spilled the beans to his Winchester buddies, about having the sex with the Reaper. Sam and Dean’s reactions were priceless. Did he have protection? Yes, he had an angel blade! Ha! Sam: “errm ah.” Stop it, Show! That’s damn hilarious! Also the brother’s faces when he told them they would be good teachers. I so enjoyed that scene it was so fun...and then it wasn’t. 

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GAH! Dean got manipulated into sending Cass away. I wasn’t surprised, because push/shove Dean will always choose Sam. Remember nothing past or present has ever been put in front of him. Dean thought Sam might be in danger of dying or something equally not good, if Zeke split. For Dean in that moment, he could see no other choice but to protect his little bro. He’s being driven by fear of pretty much everything right now. It's all over his lovely face. I do hope that we get to see what he says to Cass, I’d like to see how he explains that one. Sam’s also going to be asking tricky questions and Dean’s going to have to spin another story. Hell, Cass may even ask questions. Let's pack for another guilt trip for Dean. 

Poor Cass. His face. One of the saddest faces ever. Misha Collins imbues Cass with such depth…he did a lovely job. They all did a lovely job, Jared zipping back and forth between Zeke and Sam and Jensen conveying every single emotion, ever known to man or woman, on his face. His subtle and nuanced performance is a thing of true beauty...just like him.
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Which of course brings us to the trinity of hotness!

I don’t like the feeling of Zeke popping in unannounced, (though I did like Dean saying, yeah well my brother is helpful too, so bugger off and check your emails and let my brother back in control of his body) and I really did not like Dean calling on Zeke. That's a slippery path my lovely…a very slippery path. This kind of thing is something that I think Sam will have great difficulty forgiving, he's going to be horrified when he finds out. I optimistically hope he understands the rest and that this was his brother’s reaction out of fear and love and that he momentarily considered Sam’s feelings, even if in the long run, he went with something he knew Sam wouldn’t like! I hope Sam understands all of this because he understands Dean and he's happy to still be beside his brother, but I think this calling on Zeke and shoving Sam to the back of his own brain is…well, it’s icky and not good and…ooooooo my aching tummy. I know Dean was desperate and of course I understand his motivation, but he needs to not be doing that…’kay? ‘Kay Dean? Don't do that.
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What got really interesting was the lies being heaped upon lies. It’s obvious Dean can no longer keep track of it all and it hasn’t even been that long! He’s forgetting who said what to him and responding to Sam about things Zeke and him discussed! Oh boy! It would be so damn confusing, talking to his brother, who is his brother, then not his brother, then is his brother… I was sweating with him every step of the way. Not only that, he’s got Sam and Cass looking at him as he tries to cover up a whacking great big lie with humour. Damn. Nice tap dancing there Dean! You may have fooled the two people who know you best, but you won’t fool them for long. I said last week that I figure Sam will sooner rather than later, see that something is amiss with Dean and start to get suspicious. Well now it’s becoming obvious that it’s probably not just going to be Dean’s emotional changes that flag that something fishy is going on, it’s probably going to be that Dean’s simply not making sense sometimes, because all these plates are hard to keep spinning. Oh what a tangled web we weave yada yada yada.

Dean breaks my heart. I can’t help it. He's got himself into such a bother. He did this for (what I think anyway) was the best of reasons. I totally understand why. For Sam to die after the trials, having been stopped from dying to complete them would have been pointless. Not that Dean could tolerate Sam dying in any way, but dying then would have seemed even worse. Now the whole thing is snowballing and he’s got no one to turn to. I don’t blame him for not sharing the Zeke/Sam information with Cass, regardless of whether Cass vouched for Ezekiel or not. I’m pretty sure Cass would tell Sam. I’m pretty sure Dean would think Cass would tell Sam. So Dean’s alone. Dancing as fast as he can and he’s already starting to lose his footing.

Meep!

And what about this Zeke character? What the hell with the ultimatum, dude? Why are the other angels after him? Yeah…that whole scene made me squirm something shocking. Here Dean was having a fun moment with brother and his buddy and then he turns to his brother to share a laugh and BOOM, Ezekiel. It made me so sad for them both and so worried and so squicked out. I went from hoping that Zeke may be an okay guy to instantly not trusting or believing in him. Ultimatums never come from a good place. Plus when Dean asked why the angels would be after him, Zeke evaded like a son of a bitch. You know that Dean would have gone to his room, dropped on to his mattress that remembers him and let that whole thing gnaw at his bones. Because, what can he do? He doesn’t know how Sam is doing on the inside. He and his brother are essentially being held for ransom by a freakin' angel. How is that going to turn out anything but bad? Dean said way back at the end of season 3 that the brothers are each other’s weak spot and the evil sons of bitches know it...well add to that the angels. Sam is Dean’s weak spot and he will do anything to save him – for good or bad – and Zeke now knows it and he’s got Dean over a barrel. FRACK.
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When Sam was Sam, it was so wonderful to see him looking well; smiling and laughing, being all Sam-like, getting his brother a greasy breakfast and worrying over his brother’s consumption of Leviathan food. That was probably my favourite scene…

Sam: Look at these chemicals! Do you even read the label?
Dean: No, I read pie, the rest is just blah blah blah.

Did Dean actually get some pie? Sweet lord of the rings! Sam and Dean’s interactions were lovely in this episode. This is how I like to see them, working well as a team, being smart, teasing each other, laughing together, being brothers. It would be all so adorable and wibbly if it wasn't for that hitchhiker listening in on everything they say and popping up at any inopportune moment. That, nup, I do not like that…but I kind of love it…but I don’t…but I do… Ack! This show toys with my emotions!
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Oh and Dean baby? Don’t feel bad you didn’t know who Clarence was…I had to Google him when Meg first said the name. I’ve never seen that movie either! I still didn’t realise he was an angel until Sam told Dean (and me)! So obviously Dean and I watch something different to everyone else at Christmastime!

As much as this whole storyline around Ezekiel is giving me heartburn, I’m really loving it. It’s going to explode in an epic fireworks display of feels. I can see it coming. It gives me a lump in my throat and my stomach and a knot in my delts...

I don’t want either brother to suffer. I don’t want their brotherness to suffer. I want them to stay on the same page. I don’t want them going down the angry paths of the past. I’m loving the unity that we get when Sam is Sam. (Admittedly, I also like it when Sam is Zeke…he looks even taller somehow, which seems ridiculous in its impossibility!) I don’t want Dean to live to regret a decision born of love. I really don’t. But I bet he does.

The road to Hell is paved with yada yada yada.
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I honestly do love this god damn show. It hurts so good. The brothers – the car – the pop culture - the angels and demons and all the creatures in between – the random people exploding – or dancing their feet off – or getting caught in a photocopier – or getting chopped by a garage door – basically, the blood and gore – the morally grey areas and the places they take us as we all discuss their ins and outs - and of course, the pretty pretty. It’s fun. It really is a fun hour of TV. And did I mention the pretty? *whispers* freckles.

Next week looks awesome. Like okay, awesome. AWESOME. Eeeee! It’s Robbie Thompson and Charlie and more bunker and seriously, if I don’t hear “I’ll get you my pretties…” Right? Right!?
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Thanks for reading!

-sweetondean