spn - 5.14 - my bloody valentine

[retro_eidas]

Since they didn't use any songs in this ep thus no lyrics for me to quote in the cut and I'm not going to quote from Jensen's shitty movie, I'll quote Dante at random!

• My bloody valentine? Try whole bloody season. Lovers literally devouring each other ...in the kitchen against a fridge, no less. Ha ha. Averting my eyes now, Mr. Edlund!! *cringes* This probably wasn't on purpose, but that reminded me a hell of a lot of the last scene you see Clarice and Hannibal Lecter together at the end of the "Hannibal" movie. Him looking like he's about to bite her face off with her trapped against a fridge (for squick, they actually ended up together in the book).
  
  
• Famine reminded me of creeptastic Reverend Kane from the "Poltergeist" sequels. Those sequels were pretty crap, but that old dude was stuff of nightmares.
  
  
• When's Dean going to learn to stop punching angels? But wow, Sammy doesn't look like the only one with anger issues. Sammy's more the overt raging at anything and everything but Mr. Push-It-All-Down-And-Move-On Dean seems more like a powder keg waiting to blow. Push him hard enough, he will try to lay you out, even if it may break his hand and he knows it.
  
  
• Cas really does like materializing this || close to Dean, doesn't he?
  
  
• Apparently it's business as usual for third class cherubs. "Cupid" seemed utterly undeterred about the whole Apocalypse business his (higher ranked?) emo brothers have all been going nutso over. I take it a low-ranked angel like him either doesn't care or somehow doesn't know what his brothers are doing to Earth? He didn't seem without compassion, he started sobbing when he thought he was responsible for the deaths of two of his marks. Which makes me lean towards him - and his fellow heavenly peons - just not knowing. Zachariah bragged they'd been keeping the ground troops ignorant of their greater plan. I'd take it that's true for all the lower ranked angels as well (though how could they not know what's going on?) I'd wonder what these lower ranked angels would think if they learned the extent of their brothers' shenanigans? I can't imagine they'd be too happy about it.
  
  
• Not that it's particularly surprising from all the determinism Michael was jawing about last week, but Heaven played matchmaker for John/Mary? They'd have not gotten together if not for, literal, divine intervention? All apparently to cook up some vessels? That's disturbing. I've still got this fear Heaven compelled Dean and Sam to knock up some chicks as back-up or they might. They just keep going on and on about bloodlines and family this season.
  
  
• Jimmy is still in there then? Though after Cas leaves him, too bad he'll be dead from high cholesterol in 10 years. Dude, Jimmy, salads can be awesome too. I feel sorry for Misha having to stuff his face for so many takes, I'm sure Jensen could sympathize (or it was his idea).
  
  
• Interesting (or unnerving) Jimmy's being affected by Famine - that human susceptibility to hunger - was more powerful than Castiel could fight.
  
  
• But WTF writers? Jimmy is still alive in there, so wtf was up with letting Cas nearly bang a hooker? And after all the pains they took to make sure GC!Ruby's vessel was vacated / prevent Sam from raping some possessed chick. I doubt straight arrow, family man Jimmy was up to having an affair unless it's God/angels calling
  
  
• Dean's so broken he doesn't "hunger" for anything? Though that whole "hole inside of [Dean]" line - apart from the mantears at the end of H&H - reminds me of what Dean said to Tessa the Reaper back in DTAH. Dean going to wax poetic at Death (again)?
  
  
• I'd speculate if Dean's being unaffected by Famine c/o 40 years of Hell a possible reason why the "righteous man" was allowed to stew down there so long. A failsafe so the Horsemen wouldn't affect him? However, wasn't he affected by War? IIRC, he was seeing the demon eyes just like the rest of them in 5.02. Then again, I suppose not being affected by Famine doesn't necessarily translate to the rest of the Horsemen, though that would be an interesting (and depressing) trait of Dean's. His time in Hell was to break him, but so he could be immune to Horsemen?
  
  
• How long did Dean wait before he stormed into the diner (possibly infested with demons and a Horseman of the Apocalypse) to save Cas? Less than a minute? Heh.
  
  
• Too bad all the eps couldn't have been as easily dispersed amongst Team Free Will as this one was. This is probably one of the few eps this season Show has really utilized the fact it has *three* leads, all of whom have chemistry with each other.
  
  
• It looks as though they might be trying to salvage Sam's powers off the evil heap. Though he's still got to drain the possessed. It's probably an understandable fear, but is Lucifer going to be dangling vials of his/Nick's blood in front of Sam to tempt him?
  
  
• Dean still needs a hug (though preferably not from naked fat angels, they just creep him out). Cas looked like he was ready to follow Dean out and I really wish he did. He was looking concerned and looking right at Dean chugging on that booze, you could also tell he was trying to make the effort to comfort Dean about Sam's condition. It's a shame he didn't/couldn't answer Dean's prayer this time too like he'd done in MATEOTB.
  
  
• My guess is Dean's going to have to choose to live or something, but possibly also be given a very real motivation and probably (or it may have to be) something outside of Sam.

Comments

[eido.livejournal.com]

I'm rather looking forward to what they do with Castiel for the rest of the season. Especially if they actually push forward on his plot line.

I'm just hoping - simply for not being Dean or Sam - he doesn't end up some martyr for the cause.

And there was a little look [Sam] shared with Cas after Dean punched the Cupid. It seems to suggest that they're both aware of the issues, but don't quite know what to do with them.

But hopefully retain some solidarity and partnership in trying to help and reach Dean. It probably will take both of them cooperating to have a chance in helping him.

They're going to have to, but right now Dean is approaching the point where he thinks that oblivion is better then living. Which is where he's probably going to say yes. If Sam and Castiel aren't on top of it then he could very easily just give in.

There are 8 eps to go yet, so there is a little time. However, a lot of bad things could happen yet too. I still think Bobby is a goner and if Dean loses Bobby...?

I think it'll be interesting to see how Sam reacts because it'll probably be one of his big moments for growth. He spent most of S4 wanting to 'take care of Dean' the way Dean has always taken care of him and now he actually has a chance to.

Though I'm very apprehensive on whether he should be put in this situation again and again. Though I didn't agree with Sam's nastier epithets at Dean in S4, Dean really was also not in top form last season either. So, in a way, Sam did have a point about Dean not being ready, at least last season, for what is apparently in Dean's path.... but it's still Dean's path. Sam getting in that path last season, basically trying to usurp it from Dean, ultimately led to disaster. The problem is, Sam's powers did save them more than once and apparently they're just always there under the surface, just one demon blood pick-me-up and he can use them again.

I'm just worried, the fact that Sam's powers - and probably symbolically Lucifer's (and Michael's, Sam is in that bloodline) power too - can be useful sometimes, just makes them that much more tempting. For Sam to stop feeling he has to step up to the plate (or being tempted to), Dean's got to step up into that path himself... and he's still reluctant. Though in fairness, he doesn't know what to do either. How is he supposed to even begin to stop the devil and Armageddon?

It really does seem like he's just following Dean's orders a lot of the time and if Dean does fall off the deep end it'll force Cas to stand up and make his own decisions....

Dean can't continue as he is, but it's going to take something big for him to change. Maybe something as big as saying yes to Michael or finding god. I think by the end of the season though he's going to be a vastly different person.

Either that, or he'll just go off the Future!Castiel deep end and resort to substance abuse when he feels he's lost Dean or can't follow him anymore. It's melodramatic, but I do think Dean is pretty much Castiel's raison d'etre post-4x22. Which is kind of something I hope Dean sees and brings him back from whatever kind of despair or self-inflicted exile (that's if he hasn't said yes to Michael yet). Between that and the possibility of Sam using his powers again (a very fresh fear as of 5x14), maybe these will be the motivations that will finally have Dean embracing whatever strength he needs to complete his Hero's Journey? Even at the potential loss of self (destruction of the ego)?