ILoveReading

The Sammy and Dean-O thing never bothered me too much because the nickname Sammy lost any and all significance when Sam allowed Ruby to call him that. I thought the character was bland, and mostly forgettable, except for the scene @Aeryn13 mentioned. I loved the way Demon Dean toyed with Cole. It was a like a cat playing with his food. What took me out of the scene was Cole's was the actor being older than Jensen. I had a hard time suspending disbelief that he was only supposed to be 24. He just didn't look it. If he was supposed be following Dean so closely shouldn't he have known Dean was legally dead? I think when they cast the actor they should have modified the back story a bit. I'm hoping the family therapy thing will just be them interviewing someone for a case. Although, I suspect we'll get some "insights" from the doctor about the dynamic between the Jack, Sam, and Dean. I just hope they avoid the Dean is jealous trope.

Sam also seems to be in what i call his lecture stance. I think its Glynn writing this ep. It looks like they switched order, from Perez, Glynn, Yockey to Glynn, Yockey, Perez.

There is always a line in 4.01 that always stuck out to me, it was after Sam tried to exorcise the demon from the waitress and she ended up dead. From the sounds of it, Sam's powers weren't something he could always control and that he was practicing on possessed humans. I know that there is very slim odds of surviving a demon possession but it sounds like some might have died because Sam didn't have full control rather then just from the demon possession that might have been saved by exorcism. Yes, Sam's powers might have saved them, where as the demon knife was certain death, but how many did Sam kill by accident? I don't think its out of the realm of possibility that it could have happened. I always thought what really bothered Dean about Sam's powers wasn't so much that he was using them for exorcism, just that he was using them period. He felt it was a slippery slope. That eventually it was going to grow beyond Sam's control. That in why I feel its a strawman's argument. Even more than just leaving out exorcism, why wasn't Dean allowed up to bring up other concerns?

I agree with what your saying, and Cas taking Jack under his wing makes the most sense, but I think the writers are more focused on Lucifer (bad) half vs Kelly (good) half. Then trying to have him bond with Sam because of the whole. I was born to be bad stuff. There are things complicating this parallel. First, is that the show told us Lucifer wasn't born evil. He was corrupted by the Mark of Cain. It seems the show has already demonstrated that it leans more toward no one is really born evil stance. We've seen time and time again that monsters are able to rise above their monster like natures and be good, or at least not mindless killers. It just feels like there is nothing there to explore anymore. Also I don't know enough, or care enough about Kelly to have her really represent the "Human side." I don't think she's evil or an assistant by day serial killer by night type, but there was nothing that special about her. She didn't strike me as the sharpest knife in the drawer either. One minute she wants to kill herself because she's sure her baby will be evil, and the then its "no, my baby must have his powers." Why not at least try to extract the grace? The show already established you can put it back later. Give it to him after he demonstrates he's going to use it for good, rather than take a chance he wants to destroy the world. I feel like there is a lot more unexplored territory with your scenario because it would show Jack not just struggling with nature/nurture side but with is angel human one. It just seems like there is more unexplored territory. My apologies, I dont' know if he said you hate jack you hate me. I was thinking of the interview where Jared said that if Dean wanting Jack dead, he must want Sam dead too because of the demon blood. I tend to view any variation you dislike/dont' trust/hate/want Jack dead equals you must dislike/don't trust/hate/want me dead as pretty much the same thing. The verb doesn't really matter so much as the sentiment behind the same it. For me its forced parallel and Dean has demonstrated time and time again he likes, trust, loves, doesnt' want Sam dead. What more can he do to prove himself? If they don't give Dean a counter argument that it really isn't the same thing, then it's not only a straw man's argument but its going to come across as Sam using a guilt trip on Dean to get his own way.

Season, 10. I always compared it to Lord Farquaad. I think the writers are approaching Jack more from a nature/nurture POV rather than Angel/human, which is why they are focuing more on Sam being a parent to Jack than Cas. My biggest concern with this storyline is that its giving me Ruby flashbacks. The way that clip is staged it very much looks like Sam/Jack vs Dean. Raising Lucifer's son there has to be some legitimate concerns that things could go spectacularly sideways. So I hope that the show isn't going to downplay Dean's legitimate concerns by trying to force a "Dean is jealous" type storyline. (I don't mean that in a bitch/jerk kind of way, but more as speculation based on Jared's comments on comic con about going down the whole "you hate Jack, you hate me" comments."

They're probably just interviewing the cops.

I wish I could read lips so I can make out what Jensen is saying.

I'd like a scene similar to to the one in Asa Fox, where Jody just offers to talk and leaves Dean alone, and then Dean opens up to her of his own free will, or even better, Jody telling Missouri to back off and leave Dean alone and her apologize to him. I know, odds are slim to none that will happen. Dean's confrontation with Mary was so disappointing, and unfortunately, Berens is writing this ep. Deans' instincts are better than Missouri's so-called psychic abilities.

I think that is Jared, not Sam. They said at the con that Jared didn't work until Wednesday.

Missouri should not be reading Dean's mind if he doesn't give her permission. If we get insight into Dean's emotional state I'd rather it come from Dean.

It's a little disappointing to see the Impala in such pristine condition. Since it's a metaphor for Dean and he's supposed to be so overcome with grief that he doesn't want to look for Mary a good way to show that is with neglect towards the car. Although if they do have Sam stay behind, to look after Jack, I want a scene where Dean tells Sam, you want him, you babysit him.

Next up. Discuss Dean in Episode 4. Season 1- Phantom Traveler Season 2- Children Shouldn't play with Dead Things Season 3- Sin City Season 4- Metamorphosis Season 5- The End Season 6- Weekend at Bobby's Season 7- Defending your Life Season 8- Bitten Season 9- Slumber Party Season 10- Paper Moon Season 11- Baby Season 12- American Nightmare Highlights and Low lights. Phantom Traveler- I really liked this one. I really liked getting a glimpse behind Dean's armour. I liked that we got to see Dean's smarts. Building an EMF meter would require some knowledge of math and physics. It's also one of those little moments that I think shows Dean's strength that the show overlooks. Despite Dean's fear of flying and knowing the plane was going to crash, he still faced it and went anyway. Jensen played Dean's fear when the plane was crashing a little over the top, but since Id be the same way if a plane was crashing it didn't bother me too much. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things- This was also a good one. Jensen's confession at the end of the episode broke me. Also Dean not being able to go near his mom's grave. It told me that he still hadn't really processed his grief for his mom. I liked that we see even though Dean's pretending to be fine, cracks are showing. He looks like he's a tightly coiled spring that is going to explode. Jensen is just so good at layering his performance, even back in the early days. He's only gotten better since then. Also- "We're grief counselors we've come to hug." And on a shallow note that slide into the grave was all kinds of HAWT!! Sin City- Another good episode. Jensen and the actress who played Casey had some really good chemistry. I liked that it also showed that hunting was still dangerous and not anyone with an app could do it. (one of my biggest pet peeves in the later eps, but off topic here). Some great non-verbal acting from Jensen when Casey asks if he's scared about going to hell. Dean denies it, of course but the brief pause and the facial expression and the way his body tenses up you can tell he's terrified. Kudos Mr. Ackles. Metamorphosis- Don't remember much about it. One of those 'meh type episode that is just kind of there. One thing I disliked is when they give Dean straw mans arguments. When Dean was telling Sam not to use his powers, they only had Dean mention the knife, so Sam could justify his actions by saying he's saving lives and easily dismiss Dean's concerns. Exorcism? Why wasn't he allowed to mention that? The End- What can I say about this ep? It was like a mini movie and should have at least had Jensen nominated for an emmy. I read that some drama teachers actually use this ep as a teaching tool. Jensen was just phenomenal in this. It had a strong script too, which helped. (I miss Edlund). My only criticism was the scene where Dean asks Dean to tell him something only he would know. I wish they had told us something deep (like what those dreams of his own Dean had were) instead of going for the sex joke. But it didn't take away from the ep. But this was the perfect Dean episode. Loved it. Weekend At Bobby's- This was okay. It was an interesting look at Bobby's life. Jensen did a terrific job with the directing, especially since it was his first time behind the camera. I remember him talking about the wood chipper scene. The only thing I didn't like was the scene where Bobby berated Dean. Bobby lied to Dean for a year. How was Dean supposed to know his soul was still an issue or he was working on trying to get it back right at that moment. The writing needed to be tighter since it looked like Dean was supposed to be a mind reader. Since when does Dean ask for help? This is another example of why I think Dean shouldn't open himself up. Defending Your Life- The biggest thing to describe this ep is wasted potential. Instead of a real exploration of Dean's guilt it seemed more like a chance for Sam to play layer. But I did like Dean's interactions with Jo. Oh, Dean you are not 90% crap. Bitten- I couldn't really watch it because shaky cam movies make me dizzy. Slumber Party- One of my least favorites. Paper Moon- really disappointing follow up to the disappointing early exit of Demon Dean. Im drawing a blank on most of it. Baby- Another great ep. One of those things that I didn't think sounded great on paper. Not perfect but much better than i was expecting. Great camera work, smart, capable bad ass Dean. Loved the fight scene in the car. You can tell just how much Jensen loves this episode. He still talks about it so frequently. I also love Dean's creature names. Poor Dean. Cas finally says the name and Dean's not there to hear it. American Nightmare- The less said about this ep the better. It seems like since Weekend at Bobby's episode 4 has go increasingly down hill for me in terms how Dean is portrayed.

I also saw a tweet from her panel. She invited some hair and make up people on stage, and they said something about pleating Jared's hair tomorrow.

I think we are seeing the real Jensen. I tend to think he loves music as much as he loves acting. One thing I noticed when Jensen first started was how tenative he was at the beginning of the song. With Sister Christian he started mostly by standing in one spot but then as he got into the song he seemed to relax and put himself out there a bit more. Same with the Impromptu songs at TorCon. The first one was very hesitant , but he was belting out Wild Mountain Thyme at the end. I think the music and the emotion of the song just overtakes him and it comes out,. Whether its a slower ballad like Brother, or more of a show like Whipping Post. I think it's Jensen's personality either way.

It looks like Jensen is making a cameo in a movie. He said he shot yesterday.

I think its even less then that. If what I read was correct Jared and Jensen are contracted for 97 days which is about half of the shooting schedule. The general rule of thumb is one day of shooting equals 5 minutes of screen time. So if JA and JP are shooting apprx 4 days per episode, that makes for about 20ish minutes of Sam and Dean. I think the only way to compensate for that would be to have more episodes where Sam and Dean are split up. It doesn't have to be every episode, but I would help for some having Sam or Dean in most scenes or having Sam and Dean for just half the episode. There are other ways to show case the brothers without them being in each others pockets. I loved Free to Be, You and Me and wouldn't mind seeing Dean hunt with Cas again. Or have Sam go on a hunt with Jack. My favorite TV show these days is Lucifer (the show on Fox). That's an ensemble show. The main pairing is Chloe and Lucifer but the show doesn't shy away from having them work with other people. Lucifer had done episodes with Chloe's ex, a lab tech, other Angels, and my personal favorite episode where he spent the majority of the episode with a priest. It doesn't take away from Chloe/Lucifer. I think it enhances the show. The only writer who seems capable of introducing new and interesting characters (all my opinion of course) is Yockey. I really liked Lily, The Witch Twins and thought Bucky was a really interesting character. He wasn't evil. Just a coward. Were all his hunts like that? I know I mentioned it before but I thought a really interesting ep would have been Sam or Dean going missing and needing help, and the only hunter available was Bucky and Sam and Dean were forced to rely on him. I though he did a really good job of getting me to want to see more. It's part of the reason why a part of me wonders how accurate those ep titles are, because Yockey's eps are Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox, Lily Sunders has some Regrets, and Twigs, Twine and Tasha Banes. None of the ep titles have a character name in them.. Expect ep 3, which is a Berens up.

Also "Who would you bring back." Jared is always going to say Ruby.

Jensen singing Whipping Post. He just gets better and better.

My issue with Amara is that later it seemed like she forgot Dean existed. If there was follow up to what she said, how did Dean get as far as he did in 11.17? Then the next ep she was tracking Rowena and barely glanced in Dean's direction and he called Cas's name. Then we got a brief look that seemed like, "oops I forgot we're supposed to be connected." The other time I can think of was Cain. He deemed Dean worthy of the mark, until again they made that into no big deal. Because to be worthy, apparently you just never had to have the mark before. Except the writers admitted when they planned the storyline, Dean's name didn't even come up. It was all Sam. They clearly had no idea what to with Dean during that whole storyline. As for supporting Sam, they wrote Sam as clearly not wanting Dean support. We had Sam declaring he had to do the trials solo, and then proceeding to willingly accept help from every character not named Dean. They had that god-awful, cringeworthy embarrassing line where Dean actually had to beg Sam to take care of him. This clearly shows Sam didn't want Dean's support. Why not have Sam be more appreciative? And they also wrote Sam as being a super hunter, despite being too weak to stand. If the writers saw this as important why was it framed in such a negative? The more Dean tried to look after and support Sam, the more Sam saw it as babying, and thinking Dean didn't trust him. So it seemed that whole guilty cheerleader (thank you Jensen) was not only a lowly grunt role, Dean was also portrayed as babying Sam and making Sam have to prove himself to Dean. Then Dean was made to look clingy when he decided to stop the trials. He couldn't see Sam was dying before than? Once again Dean had to pledge to put Sam before everything. Even though he's been doing that his whole life, it still wasn't good enough for Sam. It seemed to me the whole thing was once again a set up for Dean to learn another lesson in respecting Sam. Then even after stopping Sam, Sam was ended up dying anyway, except he was going to die for nothing now. Then they made Dean the bad guy by tricking him into the possession I see no positives from Dean's so-called support role in that story line.

Amara was basically born a blank slate and was given a rotten start because of being trapped for all those years and being raised by Crowley. But she was described as being able to save the world or destroy it. Literally the same description they used for Jack.

For me it's repetitive because Jack still sounds like a female Amara. Plus, as @catrox14 said its territory we've covered so many times. Can you over come your nature? This question has been asked and answered so many times. We know the answer is Yes. What more they can explore with this concept? Because what are they going to do with Jack? He might go on a hunt and mess up, but then like last year Sam and Dean both look dumb because they're missing obvious things? Do we (general we) really need to go down this road with Sam again? I thought he made his peace with it years ago. That' whole "if you want to kill/hate Jack, you want to kill/hate me," irked me more than any other spoiler because really Sam? How do you avoid this looking manipulative on Sam's part, because what more does Dean have to prove he he doesn't hate Sam or think he's evil?

No, she couldn't make him go with her, but she made it clear he wasn't getting back in his body. Dean's choice was to either go or become a ghost, not to live or die. It came across that Death was telling Sam that life or death was his choice. Not heaven/hell or ghost status.

I could agree with this, except When Dean tells Sam its not his time, Death tells Sam its up to him. No way Death gives Sam that option.

My other thought was that maybe there is too much going on around this time. There was a filming, a con, comic con, and that golf event. That meant neither Jensen nor Jared could get home for 3 weeks. They had last weekend off, but then there is Van Con this weekend. That means they only had the opportunity to get home once in five weeks. Maybe they want to spread it out more.