The Companion

Glad I am not alone. Less glad that I don't have much to look forward to in the remainder of the season. 😂

Plus the teenage girl making out in thr woods was immediately killed. 🙄 During the intro scene, I thought we might get a fakeout. She survives and finds the two guys killed by a MOtW. But nope. Hey, at least the lesbians survived. It was such a fail from a blocking and direct standpoint. Who would run towards the knife? Could he bury the writers at sea instead? Can't they? I know they can serve alcohol here but require a special license. I was definitely selling wine when I was a cashier at a grocery store at 19/20. Something was wrong with Netflix on this episode. The episode of Supernatural I was trying to watch kept being interrupted by a terrible pilot for a show about teenagers being obnoxious. Really, the switch to the other story was so jarring. You would be settling into the creep factor of the dark woods and the monster and all of the sudden, you were watching kids study. It didn't work. The woods plot was solid. Not fantastic, but it was nice to see the flashlights in the dark again. I thought the monster itself was a rare fail from the effects and costume departments. From the weird shirt thing it was wearing to the fact that it was so bulky. It looked like a tree rather than a constantly starving dessicated creature. I would have pictured something entirely different from the backstory. Nevertheless, I love a good creepy jaunt through the woods. The acid effect was pretty good and the concept was sufficiently creepy that that half could have been a decent episode. The Jack stuff was horrible. Awkward abd poorly written and directed. "I can't help it if you are cute when you are angry" the girl says to her girlfriend who in no way resembles anger, for example. Or the kids hanging out at the abandoned house to study because reasons? At least give em a beer or something. The story ground to a stop every time we switched to them. Plus the forced lie conversation that made 0 sense in the context of this show. What the hell was the point of any of that?

An excellent point. I will never question them again. Not much from this season is worth revisiting

I noticed the glaring anachronisms and they signaled to me that someone was cultivating this town. I really enjoyed the town and the mystery. I definitely blamed the milkshakes. 😆 I expected someone was behind it in some mind control way when people knew about them impossibly quickly, but I was actually surprised by the bad guy which is rare. I have to say, I rarely find myself on the total opposite side of a reaction from the rest of the forum, but I really really enjoyed this one. On the town side of the story, I liked the mystery and the Stepford creepiness. I thought it was a great MOTW story. I loved the resolution being somewhat humane and the fact that they left a benevolent monster alone. I enjoyed Cas and Sam together. We don't get that often. I didn't even mind the running away stuff because I think it was fairly relatable, not fully in Sam's control and ultimately counteracted by Sam's desire to return to his life. On a shallow note, I am definitely more of a cardigan and glasses girl, and Pleasantville Sam was fairly enjoyable for me, three olive martinis and all. 😆 Now for the more controversial Dean stuff. I am honestly floored because I thought he was acting lighter and sort of silly because he wasn't fighting Michael in his own head. I was sitting there thinking how fun it was to see him enjoy a sandwich. I mean, yeah, he has also been through a lot but his headspace has to be so much better. Michael isn't beating down the door and he isn't facing an box for all of eternity. I didn't feel like he was dumbed down as much as the times that have really stuck out to me (the college campus being the one off the top of my head where he acted like he had never seen women or food before). I actually enjoyed that he brought Jack to Donatello. It made a lot of sense. I liked the discussion, coffee close-up notwithstanding. I think most of all I don't feel cheated out of the emotional fallout because I hate the main storyline and would be happy to just see them "he's in the wind" the entire fucking thing. They would just fuck up the complex emotional stuff anyway. So maybe that is part of it too. To that end, I don't disagree that dropping the Jack/soul issue would have made me even happier, but I enjoyed this one which is more than I can say for most of the season

I mean, what vet leaves a dog all alone unsecured? An apparently ill dog on a big table. Also, the medications were hard to get because they were controlled substances, so they are of course in an unlocked glass cabinet. What? ALSO, I thought we all agreed that the writers weren't allowed near dogs anymore. 😂 I don't ride many ships. I am just not a huge shipper. However, it has come to my attention that this ship is known as Samwitch and that nearly melts my cold dead heart enough to root for them. When she became Michael I thought: "shit. There it is. Sam is going to kill her trying to get to Michael. Dammit, I love her." 10 second later: "oh, nevermind. Well, that's anticlimactic." That's the theme of the season, yes? Ugh. Someone please spoil me and promise me Lucifer gets killed and MP finally goes away. Please? Guys? Anyone? I loved that line. Well, I hated this episode so much. Opinions clearly vary on this but I thought the gorgon actor was terrible. He was so over the top. It just didn't interest me (though, as always, kudos to the props team for some great grossout effects). Then, what, head injuries are suddenly a problem for these guys (I kid). But, seriously, they throw away the storyline (which I didn't even like, but stiiiill) with the world's most anticlimactic fight of all time. I mean, the gorgon and Michael lasted about the same amount of time. Look, the writers wanted to zig instead of zag. Pull a big fakeout. The problem is that they don't understand how to.do that. You should be saying: "woah, all those pieces fit in a new way." Not: "wait, what the hell? That's it?" I don't mind Jack as much as most people do. I actually kind of like them adding a less cynical character. But I agree with others that they forgot to give him a personality. They also forgot to build the foundation for the Winchester line. Or do pretty much anything to make us care. Whoops. I can't say I am surprised they wasted the Michael storyline for a third time. I believe I even called that. Still, to just have Jack suck him up like cosmic soup? What a waste. Speaking of a waste, they really couldn't think of on interesting way to use the AU characters? There was so much they could have explored.

Sad but true from what I have seen of them so far. Agreed that there was a lot of foolishness to get to the sweet parts. I won't rehash it all, but agreed there were some glaring issues. It probably helped that my expectations have been set by those of y'all who tried to warn me (and because I had no previews or expectations). Also, it came in a season that I am struggling to enjoy, so I will take anything. 😆😭

I read the end of this too fast and thought you said you hoped her pearl got smashed. I was like: "huh, that's a new euphemism for me." 😆 Negan has seriously ruined my enjoyment of anything with JDM. Yeah. It was cheesy and it ignored a lot to get where it was going, but it still gave me the feels, in part because they sold the hell out of it. I think that was where I landed. It was sweet. There were some good moments. Were they all earned? No. I mean, it sorta felt like fan fiction with a note at the beginning that says: I discarded some of the canon to get to the fluff. I don't really see myself going back to this one, but i enjoyed it despite its very clear flaws.

Yes please. 😆😆😆😆😆 I hate basically typing up a bunch of complaints about this season. I hate Nick and I hate Michael and this entire storyline is hard to get into. I don't believe for a second that the show is going to have Dean end up in a box for any real amount of time. This all feels like the same plot that has been done 100 times (brother prepares to sacrifice himself for the world). The actors clearly poured a lot into the BM scenes, but I still didn't find the episode compelling.

I liked this one. I liked the bar scenes and the inclusion of the reapers and Pamela (!). That being said, I just cannot get into the Michael storyline. The angel with daddy issues feels done to freaking death. "I am mad at my father and want to break his toys" doesn't interest me. As a result, it is hard for me to get into this season. That being said, JA was definitely a little scary when he was throwing himself up against the door. I appreciated the references back to canon and liked the episode over all.

This. I just can't get excited about revisiting a storyline that has already been fucked up twice. My problem with this is that you shouldn't have to come up with an explanation. If they are going to go against canon, they need to explain it. This bugged the hell out of me. Why the hell wouldn't they ask her to join in the fight against the person who has been sending monsters against her? It was so obviously to have Dean holding the spear. Sorry to everyone excited enough about the end to think this episode was watchable. To me, it was like someone turned an outline of the storyline into a script. It was so much talking about off screen action. Oh, we need the egg? Instead of showing its acquisition, we will have a skype call about mailing it. What? Ok, we have to break in somewhere and go after some monsters, finally something is . . . Oh, guess the break in is done and the monsters are gone. Coool, let's all talk instead. Not even some menacing video of the monster army lurking. Just talk talk talk. Even worse, I got super excited about Die Hard and instead it turns out we were in an office building for no real reason. We got a few minor references and the rest was just zzzzzzzzzz.

Maybe not, but I think everyone we have seen has had or gained some level of awareness (except maybe Mary as she described her experience).

Yep. It's pretty hard to get excited about reliving the same thing over and over again. The first few times? Sure. Maybe. But eventually it would be absolute torture. I did like the heaven hack by Ash. Allowing people to visit their versions of heaven is a lot more palatable. And I have to assume he was reading something he had already read, right? It's so depressing.

It was hard to drum up any dramatic tension for this reason. There was no question it was going to work. I have been blaming it on the repeated head trauma. They probably have more days with a concussion than without. 🤕 I mean it's best case scenario, but the concept of heaven in this show is so depressing and they drove that home with Jack, who lasted half a memory before going to find his mom. Even more horrifyingly, she seemed to have some concept of Earth time. So enjoy reliving the same memories of your kid over and over, Lily. This made me laugh way too hard It almost feels intentional at this point. This I very much agree with. They pushed through the storyline and I think the failure to develop the underlying relationship is what made the mourning ring false for so many. I mean, so much of the stuff they pump out is not great and could use another three edits, so maybe we should just have dialogue free drinking. 😆 In seriousness, I agree that the scene didn't work, especially when contrasted with Lily. Hee. I honestly can't understand why they wrote the Mary scene that way. It was so weird to have him leave the info by voicemail and to have her not pick up. Plus to not have her call him back. I just . . . why? That was awful. I understand that a lot of people didn't see the parent relationship. I think they did try to establish it with the heart to hearts and the fishing, etc. But the show once again gave us the bare outline of a story rather than the actual story. They shorthanded it and robbed the storyline of its emotional impact.

Heh. I could not care less about Nick/Lucifer. It took me like 4 days to get through the episode because I was so disengaged. She is fantastic, even if they didn't give her much to work with here. Yes to both of there things. I would rather have Metatron back, and that is saying a lot. And the entire Jack storyline is ao overwrought and soap opera-y. I sorta like Jack too, but this storyline is so terrible. The deathbed illness that comes and goes? He is coughing up blood and then he is working a case and running around and then he is in organ failure and then he is out fishing. What? Honestly? This episode was fairly unwatchable. I hate Nick/Lucifer and I hate the overwroght ridiculous drama. There were moments where Sam, Dean and Cas really sold the hell out of it and it was still awful to watch. I also want to point out the ridiculous hypocrisy of killing an innocent man because he has blood on his hands but being A-OK with the blood on your own. And yes, I realize it was more about him enjoying killing but stiiiill. I really need the season to get back to the non-storyline episodes before I do permanent damage to my eyes from rolling them.

I really liked this one. Admittedly, i love old school special effects and the fly people and goo were fantastic. I also love Charlie. The dramatic coughing from someone who was running around the entire episode was ridiculous (and sadly also stressful for entirely unrelated reasons), but I really liked the meat of the episode and I was able to ignore the stuff I didn't like. I know it's an unpopular opinion, but Iike the beefed up cast. I have always liked it better when the guys had a network.

That was my interpretation of the scene. She is Clara. Clara is Lee. Somewhat similar to Janice and Young Janice. I find their story so sweet. I liked that we saw both of their perspective. I liked that both of them worked on themselves. I really liked that ultimately it wasn't one sided. They were not only blue, they were Team Blue blue. Heh. I actually keep doing that. Cringing when people are in crowds on tv. Forgetting how recent this all is. Well, it depends on your personal buying history. Some people got M&Ms. It has been personally tailored to you. Just click on the accompanying app to purchase with one click I admit small possibly-Peter clown mime was not where I thought this was going. It was all I could do to not watch the last episode tonight. 😆

Same. This one was heartwrenching. I mean, really good. Just also really sad I loved the waitress. Lol. Cake vs pie is a garbage debate. First of all, what kind. And is there a scoop of ice cream? Second of all, what kind of world would it be if we had to choose? They are both delicious. I suppose Dean Winchester would have thoughts on this matter, though. I think it's both and I think they are both right and wrong all at once. Peter is probably being way too optimistic, but Simone is also definitely protecting herself by running away. I found both of them very relatable (and I was sort of proud of Peter for fighting for what he wanted). I still find them so good together, especially when they aren't trying to be something else. Janice destroyed my heart. And I loved how she was decisive and strong when it came down to it. The scene with her younger self was so powerful. I also loved that we saw how close our group got to the truth. The confirmation that this wasn't some alternative path. And the explanation for some of the things we saw.

The entire scene has me crying and trying to muffle my giggles so I didn't wake the baby. From the moment he looked at that stage and you just knew. His injured leg. His falsetto. The entire thing was so amazing. I feel bad that it sat on my DVR so long (life got in the way), but I have been watching it every night. It is fantastic. Funny and poignant and absolutely absurd. I haven't posted yet, but this show so far is fantastic. This episode in particular though . . . . I loved everyone's different reactions to the crime scene. Jason Segal was hilarious (I was mistaken. I wasn't being attacked and I never want to talk about it again. 😆😆😮😮). I admit that I have found Peter and Simone to be just incredibly shippable. I loved that they finally did something about it with the help of an elegan squatch. There were so many great details. The talking dolphin and the cheesy dropping of Clara singing Don't Stop Believing almost killed me. On my Own might have finished me off if it wasn't simultaneously so adorable.

Same. I expected it to be another "John Winchester Sucked" special or maybe an "It's Your Fault, Dean" story. I was happy it was just an embarrassing story. I still feel an inordinate amount of shame for throwing up in 5th grade during class. Like, I want to crawl into a hole thinking about it. I loved this one. I love campy horror flicks and I was excited to see an old school ghost story. I enjoyed watching the guys just be for a minute.

I have nobody to blame but myself. I have been warned that this season is not going to be my favorite. 😬 I am sort of giggling to myself now imagining dropping by a co worker's parents place and having them pull out baby pictures and talk about how much I look like him. That is so deeply weird. They really should have had the parents believe she was dead. It would have made somewhat more sense. Not total sense, but maybe some sense.

I did love this part. Actually, I liked a lot of the brother interaction here. I am not loving this storyline, but I did like the ribbing and the emotional beats. I do always love Jody. I hate how their competence is plot-based. Kaia wasn't selling badass for me. It was just so over the top. Yes to all of this. The plot felt cobbled together and the goodishwill I had towards WS was destroyed when they couldn't adapt to not having the show picked up. I am so ready for Michael to be "in the wind" so we can get to some standalones and away from this tortured plot. It was a great moment. And agreed that they didn't lay nearly enough groundwork for the romance they are trying to sell. I did love that callback.

Yes! The scene made no sense from their perspective. I rolled my eyes when they said he looked like her. What? Who would say that? The entire scene was written for the benefit of Jack with no thought as to how her parents would act. It might have made slightly more sense if they thought she was dead. Agreed. Cas wandered around listening sympathetically, Nick was boring, and apparently the Michael possession is just . . . Over. What?

I think Maeve's devotion to her daughter is an interesting point. Is it because those restored memories are so present for her? Is it some residual coding? Is it a sense that her sole experience of a normal life was that prairie? Or does she actually love her?

I don't know that she even thought about them being a target. They were entirely an afterthought. I don't know that I buy that she had this obligation to stop Serac from getting murdery. Where do you draw the line there? She didn't target them. She didn't put them out as targets. Honestly, I don't even know that they would have gotten blown up if they hadn't been in the car with Charlotte. She was the target and, as you said, she didn't expect her to get out of Delos. I would also point out that I think it is interesting that she treated even herself as expendable. Given what she hid in her code and where the key actually was, she didn't expect any Dolores to survive. And the other Delori(?) agreed at the beginning of the mission. It was their experiences that changed them. She gets accused of treating them as expendable, but she was actually planning to sacrifice herself and all of her iterations that died. That seems different to me. Oh, my mind was blown for sure. I was even more shaken to discover I married one of these people with no inner monologue/narrator! It got big on social media for awhile and it was fascinating to me. I hope so too. I respect the points and, TBH, I miss the complexity but figured it would go given how many complaints there were last year that it was too confusing. I can understand your criticisms and get the disappointment. Perhaps I have a higher tolerance for idiot plotting now that I have reached S14 of Supernatural after binging over the last few months(😂😂😭) but I don't see the idiot plotting in this season. I sorta assumed Dolores was a good shot because, you know, she is a computer (same with Maeve) and that Maeve and Bernard were both a step behind because they were working with incorrect assumptions of Dolores' motives.

I think free will requires a non binary system. There cannot be a right choice and a wrong choice only. I do think there must be a possibility of failure even with the good/compliant choice. That was the problem with the existing system. Even failure was planned. I think free will requires the ability to step off the path. It goes hand in hand with consciousness to me. You have to be able to have a sense of self and to imagine an entirely different solution. I do think it is interesting to think about how the inherent structure of their minds would lead to a completely different perspective. I think it would be interesting to see that explored in an area other than memory. I do think the Bernard scene actually gives us some of that. He talks about hearing his son, etc. With all memories present and perfect at all times, he is both experiencing a common human issue and experiencing something very different. But the solution may be the same. The assumption point is interesting because I actually think we already do that with each other. I think the internal narrator discussion (some people hear a voice inside their heads and some don't) and the picture a banana in your head discussion (do you see an image and is it realistic?) demonstrates that we all have very different experiences even among humans. It never occurred to me that others didn't have an internal narrator. Ever. It was an assumption so far off my radar that I never would have identified it on my own. I think one of my favorite points made by Bernard that may match up with your point was when he said Dolores was taking them out of their loops. I don't know that he saw that as a metaphor. I think it is an apt one, though. And I love that the show addressed external factors that kept humans compliant (hiring, lack of knowledge, etc.) as well as internal ones (complacency, comfort, etc.) I think both were programming (Dolores programmed to see the beauty and serve as this paragon of virtue and light, Wyatt programmed to be someone violent who sees the worst, and final Dolores who finally gets past all of that to find something more genuine. All of that to say, I agree. It was a choice and it made for a powerful scene to me. I hear the complaint that more discussion of how she got there would have been interesting. I wonder if we could have gotten more slow burn on that with a longer season. Not sure how she let Charlores' family die. Did I miss something there?