retro_eidas: (Default)
retro_eidas ([personal profile] retro_eidas) wrote2009-11-13 08:12 am
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spn - 509 - the real ghostbusters

  • Though I thought there was some moments of funny and awesome (almost entirely all Chuck's and fake!Dean/Sam), this ep didn't come together quite as well to me as last week's (which I ended up talking about so much with folks outside of my own LJ I couldn't muster to write a proper reaction to it, suffice to say there was MUCH LOVE for it). Nor was it as good as their last big meta ep MATEOTB. I enjoyed it, but probably will be rewatching "Changing Channels" tonight instead.

  • I didn't so much want to agree with pedantic German fan in the groaning about more Creepy Kids, but found myself groaning anyway. Also seems we see just what Kripke would like to do to some of those groaning pedantic fans. Oh my. lol *goes to look for a steel-plated helmet*

  • "My mommy loves me [creepy child proceeds to reveal ghastly head wound] she did this to me!" Except, erm, she didn't? Those Creepy Lord of the Flies Ghost Kids did it. Unless poor lost ghost kid meant Mommy Gore's inability to protect him? I guess I could buy that.

  • Since I tend to look for morsels of mytharc in anything and everything in the filler eps, I sort of want to interpret Creepy Evil Lord of the Flies Ghost Kids as the unhinged, apocalypse-starting angels with their Guardian "left the building". Though I'm hoping that doesn't mean Castiel represents the poor little lost ghost kid with the ghastly head wound, forever aimlessly looking for his "Mommy".

  • Demian/Barnes - These two should be counting their blessings they got the heroes' glory without ending up martyrs (for the sake of some dbags who didn't deserve the sacrifice, then exploited their deaths). In this show? They were damn lucky!

  • You knew this was fiction though looking out at that crowd and it's largely full of men.

  • Glad to know Chuck isn't only fierce with a toilet plunger, he's also fierce with a mic stand. heeee As long as toilet plungers were around, we now understand how Chuck survived in "The End". However, whatever happened to "If anything threatens a prophet, anything at all, an archangel will appear to destroy that threat"? Either Chuck acted before Raphael could show up, Raphael didn't see Creepy Scalping Ghost Kid as a threat (?) or, my favorite, he's still brooding away in that ring of fire that Dean and Cas left him in.

  • With all Chuck's fierceness, I can forgive him bagging himself a groupie. Chuck/Becky were even sort of sweet. She also doesn't make him look pocket-sized.

  • However, the rest of Chuck's books aren't going to be published? Does this mean a few thousand years from now someone is going to find Chuck's hard drive in an urn in a cave in Nag Hammadi? The future full of debates on the levels of heretical in this controversial Winchester Gospel apocrypha? Heh.


Next week: "Abandon All Hope", apropos since I've been hoping this ep is the gateway to them ceasing to dick around about this Armageddon business. Mark Sheppard!! ELLEN please don't be inevitably dead!! YES!! And Dean/Jo blahcakes that are blah. I have distinct doubts my perception of her as the annoying kid sister/The Schofield Kid are going to disappear over the course of one ep. Characterization in itself I didn't have a problem with necessarily, my problem came when they tried to - and rather belabored about it - pair her, OTP-style, with the Bill Munny equivalent in Dean. It just didn't work for me. Eh, we'll see, but I'm not hopeful. I just wish they could have forgone the "last night on earth" romp that seems inevitable. Then again, this could just be because of last season's meh midseason arc (and cheesy "last night on earth" romp thereof), my fear it will have REO Speedwagon blasting in the background with all the gravitas of an 80s junior high homecoming dance. Can we hope they at least avoid the "Titanic" shout-outs?

[identity profile] ibroketuesday.livejournal.com 2009-11-13 07:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Though I'm hoping that doesn't mean Castiel represents the poor little lost ghost kid with the ghastly head wound, forever aimlessly looking for his "Mommy".

D:

Hahhaha, I love the idea of Raphael STILL being trapped in the ring of fire. But really, Chuck wasn't in enough immediate danger (he was safe inside the salt line for most of the time, and when the ghost appeared it was threatening someone else, and then he sort of came at it all ninja-like) to summon the archangel.

[identity profile] eido.livejournal.com 2009-11-13 10:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Dude, I hope I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong A LOT about that. Because there's going to have to be some kind of support group started or something if I'm right. Ugh.

Yeah, I know you're right and even with the Lilith situation there was a bit of a delay from the moment Chuck charged in to when Lilith started approaching him. Ninja!Chuck just didn't give Raph a chance to act. ;)
amaresu: Sapphire and Steel from the opening (supernatural-ellengun)

[personal profile] amaresu 2009-11-13 08:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Or possibly Chuck no longer has an arch angel hanging around at all? Is he still getting visions? I mean everybody's kinda gone off book at this point. the angels don't know where the Winchesters are to give Chuck visions about them. Maybe they've decided that what's been written so far is good enough and they'll figure the rest out once the apocalypse is over?


I'm so not a Dean/Jo fan. Why can't it be a Sam/Jo sex scene to REO Speedwagon? I could get behind that. Or Dean/Ellen. I just really don't like Dean/Jo. Mainly because I ship Dean/Ellen I think and so Dean/Jo just seems like a daytime talk show in the making.

I enjoyed this episode, but it's gonna take a lot to top Changing Channels as my favorite comedy episode of the series. I think it manages to top Bad Day at Black Rock and I never thought that'd happen.

[identity profile] eido.livejournal.com 2009-11-13 11:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Or possibly Chuck no longer has an arch angel hanging around at all? Is he still getting visions?

I'm leaning towards yes, he's still getting them. Or at least the channel or whatnot is still open. That's how he got that "on a hill surrounded by 42 dogs" tip on the location of the "Michael Sword" in 5.01. Even though that turned out to be planted. I've been wondering if only the angels send him visions, but if God might be sending a few as well?

I just really don't like Dean/Jo. Mainly because I ship Dean/Ellen I think

I was feeling the Dean/Ellen chem after 5.02. They were an awesome team and played off each other really well and I wasn't getting so much a mom/son vibe either. Ellen wasn't going to sit there and let him whine Sam wasn't around, but wasn't harsh about it either. Earnest, but not pushy. Which does sort of baffle me why they've gone back to Dean/Jo (bringing it back all the way from "No Exit") that didn't really pan out so well. Which kind of makes me suspect that OTP vibe I felt they kept pushing on them wasn't an idea they ever let go of, just decided to delay on awhile and... eh.

What also sticks in my craw about this is, knowing they were going to revisit Dean/Jo (seriously or not) in 5.10, why didn't they give them any interaction at all in 5.02 apart from that cutesy little "Hi" at the very end? Lay some kind of foundation there for this possible New Improved Jo & Dean/Jo? Because right now - despite the past history - I can't help but shake it's just going to be another Dean/Anna Connection/Love That Was All Of A Sudden thing (OMG I have daddy angst too!! We were like MADE for each other! HOLD ME!) And that just isn't a comforting thought at all.

However, another part of me wonders if this may just be two friends seeking some comfort in an ugly situation. Then Jo goes her way and Dean goes his. It doesn't have to be some Huge Angsty Thing, but again, last time they attempted Dean/Jo I did get an impression of OTP-ness being pushed. I'd just wished they really wouldn't.

[identity profile] love-jackianto.livejournal.com 2009-11-13 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
'These two should be counting their blessings they got the heroes' glory without ending up martyrs (for the sake of some dbags who didn't deserve the sacrifice, then exploited their deaths). In this show? They were damn lucky '
I'll say. I loved that they used the names Demian and Barnes; those are two posters on TWOP. The Kripke wrote RPS about his own fandom.

'my problem came when they tried to - and rather belabored about it - pair her, OTP-style, with the Bill Munny equivalent in Dean.'
Same here.

'It just didn't work for me. Eh, we'll see, but I'm not hopeful.'
Me neither. I haven't read any spoilers, but I'm guessing that after Dean has sex with her she ends up dead (I hope I'm wrong). Now if she was kissing Sam, I'd agree she be dead. Women can be more that love interest cannon fodder.

'Then again, this could just be because of last season's meh midseason arc (and cheesy last night on earth romp thereof), my fear it will have REO Speedwagon blasting in the background with all the gravitas of an 80s junior high homecoming dance. Can we hope they at least avoid the 'Titanic' shout-outs?'
Oh yes, no more hand prints on the window, please.

[identity profile] eido.livejournal.com 2009-11-13 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll say. I loved that they used the names Demian and Barnes; those are two posters on TWOP. The Kripke wrote RPS about his own fandom.

Yeah, I think Demian does the recaps and Barnes is one of the SPN forum mods. And Kripke apparently ships them. LOL

I haven't read any spoilers, but I'm guessing that after Dean has sex with her she ends up dead (I hope I'm wrong). Now if she was kissing Sam, I'd agree she be dead. Women can be more that love interest cannon fodder.

I don't know, I'm still not convinced the writers have it in them to kill the totty. I'll believe it when I see it. Ellen though? I'm sort of afraid she's a goner.

Oh yes, no more hand prints on the window, please.

*gags* That scene just came barreling back into my mind.

It's sort of why I have such a problem with how they seem to do Dean & romance in this show. I mean, "Titanic"? Really? I can understand trying to give a character like Dean some levity, but there's levity and then almost jarringly breaking the flow of his arc. Dean is such a dark, damaged character, not to say his romances would have to coincide with that, but maybe complement it a little? Can't they aim for some other template a little loftier or less corny than Jack/Rose in "Titanic" (but minus the 3+ hours Cameron had to churn out that story and usually minus actresses that can hold their own against Jensen/have chem with him, unfortunately a very superficial sort of "Titanic" at that)? How does that at all fit with Dean, even briefly? Jesus, writers, go watch some Wim Wenders, Wong Kar Wai or something.

ETA. But the tweeny girl demographic doesn't watch Wong Kar Wai movies, do they? They watch "Titanic". They read Nicholas Sparks books and Twilight. I have a suspicion that when SPN does romance specifically, this is the demo they aim towards in some attempt to appease the network / try to bolster that demo. It's the only one Dawn O really cares about.
Edited 2009-11-14 00:01 (UTC)

[identity profile] love-jackianto.livejournal.com 2009-11-14 05:14 pm (UTC)(link)
'Ellen though? I'm sort of afraid she's a goner. '
I just thought of something. Maybe Dean kissing Jo isn't because they're going to have sex, but because Ellen died and Jo has now lost both parents and Dean is comforting her.

'Can't they aim for some other template a little loftier or less corny than Jack/Rose in 'Titanic' (but minus the 3+ hours Cameron had to churn out that story and usually minus actresses that can hold their own against Jensen/have chem with him, unfortunately a very superficial sort of 'Titanic' at that)?'
Superficial is right. The Grace Tree didn't help. *groan*

I have a suspicion that when SPN does romance specifically, this is the demo they aim towards in some attempt to appease the network / try to bolster that demo. It's the only one Dawn O really cares about.
Good point. Sometimes I forget that the CW really goes after that tween girl demo; that's probably why I can't stand any of their other shows. I didn't even like tween girl stuff when I was a tween girl; while my friends were obsessing over the original 90210, I was reading Lord of the Rings.

[identity profile] eido.livejournal.com 2009-11-15 04:35 am (UTC)(link)
I just thought of something. Maybe Dean kissing Jo isn't because they're going to have sex, but because Ellen died and Jo has now lost both parents and Dean is comforting her.

It's certainly possible. Jo looks sort of bedraggled and upset in that scene, Dean doesn't look particularly enthusiastic either.

However, I'm sort of in love with [livejournal.com profile] sailorhathor's theory that that might not be Dean at all, but Lucifer borrowing Dean's form and Jo knows it. It probably won't go that direction (too interesting!), but oh what a mindfuck if it were true.

Good point. Sometimes I forget that the CW really goes after that tween girl demo; that's probably why I can't stand any of their other shows. I didn't even like tween girl stuff when I was a tween girl; while my friends were obsessing over the original 90210, I was reading Lord of the Rings.

In the very least, in most of CW's other shows, the whole tweeny shmoopy romance fits. When SPN attempts it (or ends up there unintentionally either due to acting or writing deficits), it breaks the flow of the storyline.

[identity profile] love-jackianto.livejournal.com 2009-11-15 05:08 pm (UTC)(link)
'It probably won't go that direction (too interesting!), but oh what a mindfuck if it were true.'
I would love if they did that.

'In the very least, in most of CW's other shows, the whole tweeny shmoopy romance fits. When SPN attempts it (or ends up there unintentionally either due to acting or writing deficits), it breaks the flow of the storyline.'
Oh yes. Fluffy, shmoop just doesn't fit with SPN.

[identity profile] sailorhathor.livejournal.com 2009-11-14 05:09 am (UTC)(link)
>> You knew this was fiction though looking out at that crowd and it's largely full of men.

And there were only 20-30 of them. :D

I have a theory on my journal about 5.10 that may bring you hope, especially if it happens. I've got my fingers crossed.

[identity profile] eido.livejournal.com 2009-11-14 02:41 pm (UTC)(link)
I just read the theory... and you? Are AWESOME. That would be fucking brilliant. I would feel bad for Jo, but she should know better than that if it does go down that way. Her mom wouldn't have wanted her to do that. At all. Especially with the world hanging in the balance. However, we know from the Winchesters that sometimes the bigger picture just isn't so clear when your own world has come crashing down around you.

[identity profile] sailorhathor.livejournal.com 2009-11-15 12:27 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you. :D I think the muses threw it to me because they knew I wasn't happy with the implications of what that kiss could mean otherwise.

It certainly would give Jo some depth, for her to do something just for her family that has nothing to do with her infatuation with Dean. Obviously, she still has SOME feelings for him, but I'd think she's grown largely beyond him after living her own life and seeing more of America. Growing up a bit.

[identity profile] eido.livejournal.com 2009-11-15 04:02 am (UTC)(link)
It certainly would give Jo some depth, for her to do something just for her family that has nothing to do with her infatuation with Dean.

Which would remind me a whole lot of Sam. Sam says that - though he made a huge mistake in S4 and acknowledges it - part of the reason he went off with Ruby was because he was trying to seek out independence. Break away from Dean's shadow. Though with extremely negative consequences for him, due to his incapacity to see the forest for the trees. Basically, it would be the same situation with Jo if she did make a deal. Though also extremely negative, it's something that - like with Sam - occurs for the sake of her own character arc. The last few eps Jo had been around, she'd almost entirely been strangled by the red string (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StrangledByTheRedString) with Dean, so when the writers had to face the music that wasn't working, Jo was dropped as she had little character to go on when all was said and done (or the writers had little interest in branching her character arc out from the failed ship, eh).
Edited 2009-11-15 04:19 (UTC)

[identity profile] sailorhathor.livejournal.com 2009-11-15 08:27 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, what the writers didn't seem to understand is that if Dean is going to have a relationship with someone, we want a well-developed woman with her own personality and life (I'm saying "woman" to fit within the confines of the show; I know that many, many fans would rather see him with a man/Sam). That's also speaking from my own perspective - there are SOME fans who ship Dean/Jo, but not many.