SueB

Well AwesomeO ... looks like Dean makes a decision for he and Sam. Seems like the setup for Sam to be the one to make a mistake was a feint. Presuming, of course, that it's a bad decision. But since it's a season cliff-hanger... "good" seems off the table. On Cas, I'll put $10 that we are somehow reminded that Cas owes Crowley for saving him back in Soul Survivor. As for Crowley... matricide...that's dark.

Honestly, I think Curtis Armstrong is making a real meal out of this character. He was just FUNNY WRONG in his last Not!Buddy comedy episode. I suspect he and the demon tablet to resurrect in S11. In fact I think they deferred much of Cas' character story to S11 when they found out they were renewed.

-- Gabriel -- Rufus ++ Benny 27 - Death 23 - Castiel 21 - Jody 21 - Ellen 21 - Bobby 21 - Kevin 19 - Rufus 19 - Henriksen 15 - Gabriel 17 - Cain 11 - Benny Cruelly Taken Too Early from the Show Tessa Gadreel Azazel Meg Masters

Note: you may not have actually WANTED answers to your questions. In which case...move along, move along, these are not the droids you are looking for. In case you wanted answers, I've taken a stab from my perspective: The Beer: well legal drinking age is 21 so I'm pretty sure it's HIS beer. Kinda rude of her to just walk over and take one. Plus she had a concussion and Cas is protective of her. Her potentially getting intoxicated (if she's not used to drinking, for example) on his watch -- that would be bad. Mini-Golf vs Gun: The mini-golf was to relieve HIS tedium. The gun came AFTER. While at mini-golf he realized something about the case. Did the research. Decided to go to the farm and THEN armed Claire. So there was no option here, just a sequence of events. Crime scene but no beer: I think with Cas there, he deferred to Cas not objecting to her coming to the crime scene. No beer was his call alone (again, HIS beer). Ludicrous independence vs Cas' concern: Her money situation WAS ludicrous. But she also got knocked out in a sketchy part of town. She was lucky Ronnie called 911. And Sam pointed out, she's not using an alias. She was making some obvious (to them) rookie mistakes for living on the road (without a job) if that was her life choice. I think Cas gets to be concerned because although she's 18 and thus independent, his actions messed her up. And she ended up in the hospital. I think he choose WISELY to try and set her up at Jodi's while she sorted out some things and then LET HER CHOOSE. Finding her mother had clearly been driving her. Now that this is resolved, what does she want to do. She needs some time to grieve and look at what she wants to do in life. So they offered Jodi and she apparently accepted. She could take that credit card Sam gave her and just take off. I don't think she's going to though. She'll follow their recommendation at this point because she sees they are experienced in what they are doing and sincerely want to help. And Jodi knows trauma recover (which Claire is clearly suffering from). This was an excellent recommendation by TFW and I think they sold her on it. Cas debate scenes: IMO those scenes weren't about Claire. They were about Sam and Dean projecting their current shit ONTO Claire's situation. Dean is starting to think he needs to run off like a wounded animal and figure out a better Plan B than Sam & Cas taking him out. Sam is all about family.

I think the answer is "yes" to all these things. BOTH Sam and Dean are making me uncomfortable at times during these episodes. In this episode, IA that Dean smashing the dude's face was "par" (sorry, couldn't resist) for the hunting course. OTOH, I think Jensen did a good job of showing that Dean is definitely working with an edge. As he described it last year it was 'low dosage steroids'. This year the dosage seems up. Not just the "want to smash something" sentiment. It's his body language. While he's always first in when they going into a room, he was ahead by a few steps in the hospital when they went back to see Claire. He was pushing Cas into the room at the motel. The way he data dumped about what they found....he was on the edge of bouncy. And then he's off to "suit up" to check out the body. Just..constant motion. Later he's unable to sit still in the motel room. And yes, IMO, he enjoyed smashing Ronnie's face into the table. So, it's not the specific "act" that I'm twigging on, it's the general edge I feel with Dean. And I think Dean and Cas feel it too. Perhaps Cas overreacted (cause he did) because Sam has become accustomed to this edgier Dean and Cas has not. So Dean seemed more "off". IDK. But I think they erred on the side of caution. I also think it's possible that they are like this because they feel like they MISSED the signs last time. Both were used to deferring to Dean, even if he seemed a little off. Then he went feral and slashed Gadreel. This year he massacred 6 assholes on their watch. They were ultimately scumbags so it's not like they took Dean to the police or anything. But the speed with which he went from 'okay to melee' was pretty quick. I think they are on hyper-alert. What surprised me is that Dean acquiesced to being benched. Like AwesomeO is fearing, his willingness to follow Sam's lead like this will make it a bigger deal when he finds out what Sam is doing. Consistent with what the WoL podcast said last week, I think one of Dean's coping mechanisms is to follow Sam's lead even if he disagrees with it. It's kinda helping him to feel like he's got boundaries. Sam's coldness with Rowena, while a joy to watch, is also a little scary. Although this week I thought he was pretty level headed and didn't do anything untoward. His hyper vigilance is a reminder of where his head is at. I thought his offering to show Claire how to run a credit card scam, while kinda gross**, was also practical. I think both he AND Dean were projecting all over Claire this week. When Claire asked if Dean had had a drink before he was 21, I was thinking ...duh. I bet Dean had been shit-faced on occasion at 18. I'm glad he didn't give her the beer (because Cas WOULD object) and was kinda surprised he took her along and gave her a GUN. OTOH, I think that's the empathy working. If he was in Claire's position, he knows what he would want and he respected that. I liked that part. ** Maybe my age is showing, but I think we are all more aware of the damage identity theft causes than we were back in S1/S2.

Wings are busted.

I'm also pissed a bit because Robbie Thompson pulled a BL-level LOL!Canon moment. Death told us specifically that souls could not be divided or shaved off. But the episode sure seemed to imply that the dude was siphoning off the soul. Maybe it was only the soul's power... yeah, I'll fanwank that. He siphoned off power. But Cas should have been able to heal that.

Seems to me she's trying to run a decryption algorithm in parallel with Rowena. Maybe as a backup or to put pressure on the witch.

++ Benny ++ Castiel -- Gabriel 23 - Jody 23 - Castiel 21 - Ellen 21 - Death 21 - Rufus 21 - Bobby 21 - Kevin 19 - Gabriel 17 - Cain 17 - Henriksen 13 - Benny Cruelly Taken Too Early from the Show Tessa Gadreel Azazel Meg Masters

That was my spec when the description came out. I'm just hoping she's seriously injured, not dead.

Really liked: - FINALLY a mention that they still get their money from credit card schemes - Watchers (Gregori) NOT being rock transformers (gratuitous Noah movie reference) - Sam's talk about his Mom. - The way that BOTH Sam and Dean individually give Claire baby-hunter tips (credit cards, do your homework, letting her use a gun with pointers). Claire is 18 and she's not going down a normal path. They didn't treat her like a baby (because they weren't at that age and neither is she) but they also weren't reckless IMO. - Sending her off to Jodi's for a bit. Maybe she'll take up hunting or maybe she'll let it go. I just know the BEST DAMN ADVICE comes from Jodi Mills. So... good call TFW. You are in over your head with Claire. Smart call sending her to the wisest person you know. - Claire slipping out a 'Mommy' when she first grasped Amelia? Claire giving Cas' shoulder a kiss? Well done Ms Newton. Well done. You made me feel for Claire. - Cas' "Somebody tell me she's going to be okay." Yep, I cried. Shut up. I'm easily brought to tears and Misha sold it well. - The meta joke of Dean and Claire playing mini-golf when Jensen and Kathryn (Claire) apparently are both superior golfers. I wonder if those were really their shots or they "fixed it" with SFx. Enquiring minds need to know. I really enjoyed that scene in general. I was surprised Dean behaved at first by going to mini-golf and only got involved when he had new information to bring (dude was a Gregori). Not so much - The Gregori. 2-D villain. I felt nothing for him except "die already". - Recasting of Amelia. Actress was serviceable and I didn't really care all that much for the first one, but she just seemed too young. - Sam getting a concussion. Again. At least he got himself free. - Dean being unable to take out the Gregori. Come on. He took out Cain for pity's sake. He should have pwn'd the Watcher. I think that was character servicing for Claire. I'm generally opposed to that. Finally, I've been okay-ish with Sam's hair but tonight? Tonight when his head was leaning forward in the chair? I seriously wanted to stage a hair-tervention. He needs to grow it longer. Like NOW. Cas said he couldn't heal Amelia's wounds -- possibly because it was soul damage. But they really needed to say he couldn't heal ANY damage from the Watcher blade to make it clear. My headcanon on the Amelia/Jimmy heaven: Hannah (who is apparently running things) cut Jimmy and Amelia some slack because of her past with Cas AND the sacrifices Jimmy made.

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/04/29/supernatural-jensen-ackles-deans-fear-coming-true Jensen speaks! And yes, Dean is covering up his inner sliding backwards with a 'mask' of happy. Love his subtle performance.

I don't know! That's fascinating. They look like they were going out for a run. So I'm thinking a 5K for charity or something?

My vote is DD decides. *runs outs quickly in a fit of indecision*

Mystery Spot Tall Tales Changing Channels Frontierland The Monster At The End of This Book Weekend at Bobby's Clap Your Hands if You Believe Fan Fiction That's from memory but I think it hits the ones that lift me up with a smile.

I'm okay with just moving on. She's near the top so she hasn't been damaged. I say her character gets a little leg-up (i.e. not damaged) because she was missing. JMO Okay with other approaches.

Picking over the bones again after reading several reviews. I'll try to credit the reviews as I go but if I miss something, my apologies. What does Dean suspect? Listening to the Women of Letter's Podcast (@Superwiki and @SweetOnDean) really made me rethink what was going on. I really was creeped out by the way Dean looked in the car. So I presumed he was toying with Sam. But the WoL made a good case that Dean's pretty desperate to keep Sam around (sorry Aeryn!) and so he's presuming that that Sam went off to "teach him a lesson". Dean's apology, request to participate, and UBER-honest Dean really fit the idea that Dean is not connecting the dots yet. He SEES the codex (ancient handwritten tome on parchment) but he doesn't know it's a codec (decryptor for the Book of the Damned). But that's two ancient books in two weeks. And his hallucination clues us in that Dean knows Sam is not going to be "okay" if he has to kill Dean. So, if Dean was not playing Sam in that scene, then he was just sincerely showing up to get in on the action and to make sure Sam knew that he understood running off was not reasonable. So...why did he look creepy? Cause he looked creepy to me. I'm going to go with Dean is just kinda off right now and he was trying to keep things light but the veneer is wearing off. And Sam's guilty reaction doubled the effect. In short, I'm thinking the WoL were right and Dean is too busy trying to keep his shit together that he's not picking up on the Sam clues. The point of the hallucinations. Although Dean gave the "we're better together than apart" Afterschool Special moral to the story, I really like @farawayeyes review on Winchester Family Business regarding what the hallucinations accomplished. More than reminding them that they are better together, the hallucinations did a good job of making the brothers face the problems with the rationalizations they are using to justify how they are making it thru the day. Dean had to own up to the fact that his backup plan (Cas and Sam taking him out) really sucks. He also knows taking himself out isn't an option. So NOW what is he going to do? Is he going to take a new tack on 'taking off the edge'? Is he going to run away to raise bees? He may not know WHAT to do but I think the hallucination did a good job telling him his plan doesn't really work. Sam was forced to deal with the moral consequences of his 'save Dean no matter what the consequences' plan. That Suzie died was not really a surprise, I think, for Sam. At least he's not so far gone that he didn't at least experience the hallucination in the first place. But I'd say the ease with with THAT hallucination was dispatched may show that this is not that huge of a speed bump for him. @farawayeyes also pointed out that he almost died because he had zero problem bleeding out for Dean. But of course that's stupid because being dead will not fix Dean. So perhaps it'll cause him to draw some boundaries in his "consequences later" approach. For example, he may rule out options that result in his own death before Dean is unambiguously cured. I agree with these thoughts but it also caused me to think about each of the hallucinations a bit more: - Dean's hallucination of Purgatory as the perfect place may result in him trying to get there again. Sucky solution but better than Demon!Dean. He'd need to organize that -- I'm not sure he'll go there. - Sam's hallucination of Rowena coming in and making the hallucination go "poof" makes me think he's really attracted to the magic and ignoring the downside. And he didn't learn anything to make him leary of the downside if you know what you're doing. And that's Sam's weakness. He IS smarter than most. Like most people with intellectual pride, he may not see how someone else would outwit him with evil consequences. It's an illusion IMO because it presumes smarties like Magnus are his opponents. But whack jobs get a hold of magic too. And these people don't think in a way Sam would think. I think he's vulnerable to attack by the non-logical thinker and he's blind to this threat. So if the Book of the Dead was written by a whack job (hello, pages of SKIN), the consequences may not be logical. Other bits: - I forgot to mention how great I thought Jared was doing in terms of showing Sam in "compartmentalizing" mode. He has zero f*cks to give about killing Crowley. I loved how Jared played that. And he trapped Rowena without hesitation. But...how's that going to work out for him? When you let a caged dangerous creature off the leash... they bite. If Rowena believes he'll kill her and never let her go... well, what motivates her to cooperate or be remotely honest. So trapping Rowena is smart but it lacks an end game. - I'm totally loving "honest Dean". I think the WoL nailed it -- this is Dean's only play. He learned last year that being honest with Sammy is essential to keeping Sam in his court. If Dean ends up keeping that up, not as a survival mechanism but as a better way of just operating -- that would be kinda awesome. - I think the MoL history and mission has the potential for the best spin-off idea yet. - I LOVED that a Leviathan greeted Dean in Purgatory. They are a difficult monster to keep in the Supernatural world but perfect for a reminder of their existence in Purgatory.

I'm putting my money on Dark Dynasty for the final BIG SHIT HITS THE FAN buildup.

++ Benny -- Rufus -- Gabriel 23 - Death 23 - Castiel 21 - Bobby 21 - Jody 19 - Gabriel 19 - Rufus 17 - Kevin 09 - Henriksen 09 - Benny 07 - Cain Cruelly Taken Too Early from the Show Tessa Gadreel Azazel Meg Masters

You mean the USA network?

-- Benny -- Cain ++ Jody 23 - Death 21- Castiel 21 - Bobby 21 - Gabriel 21 - Jody 19 - Rufus 19 - Kevin 11 - Cain 09 - Henriksen 05 - Benny Cruelly Taken Too Early from the Show Tessa Gadreel Azazel Meg Masters

Well I'm just hoping for injured but alive. The Stynes chased her for weeks. I'm not happy they let her just run off on her own in the first place.

I accept your headcanon GirlyGeek!

Yep. Officially having kittens over this dark thought. My mind keeps arguing that they are not THAT stupid. But it's just the kind of parallel they love. Charlie getting killed because Sam is saving Dean is a parallel for Kevin being killed because Dean saved Sam. I won't be resting until after Charlie is safe. I think there would be a ton of rage-quit and deservedly so. So... I'm banking on *sigh* Carver not being that stupid.

Oh Meg! You thorny beauty you! I did NOT like you in S1, even when you were groping the boys. But Megstiel? Be still my heart. I love that she found her unicorn. And it was all manner of hot. I liked how "simple" you loyalties were and that you were the one to say "Crowley is ALWAYS the problem." You will be missed by me. Sadly I was no more effective than the boys in saving you from your fate. -- Gabriel -- Henricksen ++ Castiel 23 - Death 23- Castiel 21 - Rufus 21 - Bobby 21 - Jody 19 - Gabriel 19 - Cain 19 - Kevin 13 - Henriksen 07 - Benny Cruelly Taken Too Early from the Show Tessa Gadreel Azazel Meg Masters