S09.E16: Blade Runners

[Lisin]

Crowley promises to find the first blade, but ends up falling off the wagon and asks Sam and Dean for help; Abaddon learns that the brothers are looking for the blade.

[DittyDotDot]

Lordy, lordy, lord...sigh. Horrible Duo strikes again. I just don't get this writing team...like at all.

 

Okay, I will give the Horrible Duo credit for some interesting ideas in their episodes (I have no idea if they are actually their ideas or not, though), but why do they always over pack their episodes so that in the end their ideas never get fully serviced? They could've easily split this episode in two.  And the  gigantic levels of stupid that occur in their episodes, too. What's funny is, generally their episodes start off okay--in fact, sometimes really strong, like here and I'm No Angel--but then quickly devolves into utter nonsense. It makes me wonder if they don't write together, but each writes their own parts and then they put them together and don't bother to try and smooth it out. I used to feel that way when Lofflin and Dabb wrote together, but somehow their episodes were never quite as frustrating as the Horrible Duo's. 

 

Anyhoo, I like the start of this episode and Mark Sheppard really sells me on Crowley and his addiction. I don't know why they suddenly drop that to have Crowley act like the biggest idiot on the planet trying to steel candy out of a candy machine--he's the King Of Hell and could just Jedi the candy out of the machine if he wanted to. Oh right, then Dean wouldn't have gotten his funny quota with his line about Crowley being the king of rotten...whatever. I get they were trying to show Crowley is off his game, but that was just plain nonsense, IMO. Don't even get me started to how he seemed just fine once they had him in the bunker--so much so, I wondered if Crowley wasn't even ever addicted to human blood but had been putting up a good show of it so Abaddon and everyone else would underestimate him.

 

I also like the idea of Magnus and his collection, but am so utterly underwhelmed by it all in the end. And, Dean just out-and-out tells Magnus he has the Mark. This guy was kicked out of the Men of Letters for a reason. Granted the Men of Letters were snobby asshats, but they weren't complete idiots either. More of Dean having no instincts anymore, sigh. Don't get me started on Baby getting mugged and keyed and Sam talking about killing Crowley within ear-shot of Crowley--dude can hear you Sam! Kudos to Jensen for making the most of the little tiny morsel he was given to work with, but the power of the blade boils down to that? I don't know, I just didn't feel shocked or worried or actually much of anything--I was rolling my eyes at quite a bit of it, though.

 

I think it's such a shame they didn't split it up into two episodes. One episode where Crowley is falling deeper into his addiction while Abaddon is enabling in her own devious ways coupled with Sam and Dean hunting for Crowley and ending with Crowley being locked back in the dungeon to dry out. Then a second episode that should've started with Dean being magically abducted by Magnus and Sam needing to go on the hunt for Dean and using Crowley to do it while Magnus tries to corrupt Dean. That way we could've seen more of Magnus's collection and seen more of how the Blade was effecting Dean overtime and we could've seen how Sam's statements in The Purge aren't as easy to live by when faced with the situation in real life. As it was presented, it feels all surface to me.

 

Good to end on: Mark Sheppard at the top of the episode is awesome. He really did the messy addict part well.

[Demented Daisy]

Heh.  I forgot that Magnus tried to Imperius Dean.  (Yes, that's another Harry Potter reference.)

 

I'm sure other stuff happened in the episode, but it's the only moment I enjoyed, so I'm just going to ignore everything else.

Edited February 3, 2015 by Demented Daisy

[Goldmoon]

Crowley snapped out of his funk so quickly when he stabbed his "girlfriend" I wondered if he were faking.  That said, Mark Sheppard makes everything better.  I enjoyed this ep until the end when Sam was stupid enough to talk about killing Crowley with Crowley standing right there.  Crowley is the only one who did anything smart actually.  He smoked out of Fergus and into the minion for the info, and I have to think he was in possession of all his faculties. I really love the three of them together though and thought Kavan Smith was miscast as the MOL guy.  How did the three guys get OUT of the secret fortress after they killed the MOL?  Did the spells hiding the doors and windows go poof?

[RulerofallIsurvey]

After watching three in a row over the weekend, I was a little...er..burned out? overwhelmed? something anyway, to comment on this one at the time.  I guess I had to process.  And now I still haven't processed, but the only way forward is through, so...

• Crowley on a binge is not a pretty picture.  But then, what junkie on a binge ever is?
• I never watched Jersey Shore.  I think I tried once and nearly threw up on my tv...but I love that Snooki was a demon.
• Personally, I don't know why the boys wanted to detox Crowley.  Yes, they needed him to focus.  But also seems to me that keeping him addicted could have been more useful.
• I'm confused about the whole cloaking spell thing.  A little too Harry Potter for me - even for a Supernatural show with Demons and Angels.  (The Griffin feathers call out was another eye roll inducing ingredient.  Why didn't they make it bat wings or dragon's scales or something?)  But if Sinclair's bunker was right where they were standing, and not underground, how did they avoid bumping into it?  Even in HP, invisible, didn't mean non-existent.
• That being said, Cuthbert had a nice cozy lair.  By comparison the MoL bunker is downright sterile.  
• Also, can't believe they just left it there when they were done.  What about the "zoo"?  All of Sinclair's accumulated knowledge (which would/should complement the MoL library nicely)?
• Cuthbert himself was pretty interesting.  They should have kept him in the MoL dungeon and started their own zoo.  Crowley and him side by side would have/could have been fun.
• Is it just me or is Sam kind of off this episode?  I get he's not a Crowley fan - and he shouldn't be - but Sam was even more antagonistic than usual.  I think maybe it's just Sam is mad at himself for not completing the trials and he's taking it out on everyone else (like Dean also.)

[pixelcat]

4 hours ago, RulerofallIsurvey said:

 But if Sinclair's bunker was right where they were standing, and not underground, how did they avoid bumping into it?  Even in HP, invisible, didn't mean non-existent.

I thought that the door itself was invisible, and just a portal to his underground bunker.  I assumed it was underground since there were no windows.  I always wondered how they got back out.

[RulerofallIsurvey]

1 hour ago, pixelcat said:

I thought that the door itself was invisible, and just a portal to his underground bunker.  I assumed it was underground since there were no windows.  I always wondered how they got back out.

I thought Sam (or maybe it was Dean?) asked if they were underground when they first got in, before Magnus turned on them.  And he said no, it was right where they'd been looking, only 'invisible' - or cloaked with a spell/spells.

[pixelcat]

1 hour ago, RulerofallIsurvey said:

I thought Sam (or maybe it was Dean?) asked if they were underground when they first got in, before Magnus turned on them.  And he said no, it was right where they'd been looking, only 'invisible' - or cloaked with a spell/spells.

Invisibly underground then?  Levitating in mid-air?  In an alternate plane of existence?

I got nothing.

[RulerofallIsurvey]

3 hours ago, pixelcat said:

Invisibly underground then?  Levitating in mid-air?  In an alternate plane of existence?

I got nothing.

Dang!  You got me!  I was going to go with alternate plane of existence, as it's the only thing that made sense.  But curiosity made me look up the transcript:

DEAN: So, what, are we underground?

MAGNUS: No. No, my fortress is right where you were standing. But it's invisible.

I guess that could still include 'alternate plane of existence' even though they didn't come out and specify that.  Like I said above, 'right where you were standing, but invisible' makes me wonder why they didn't bump into some walls while they were wandering around.  

Which would have been really funny.  :)

[DittyDotDot]

22 hours ago, RulerofallIsurvey said:

Dang!  You got me!  I was going to go with alternate plane of existence, as it's the only thing that made sense.  But curiosity made me look up the transcript:

DEAN: So, what, are we underground?

MAGNUS: No. No, my fortress is right where you were standing. But it's invisible.

I guess that could still include 'alternate plane of existence' even though they didn't come out and specify that.  Like I said above, 'right where you were standing, but invisible' makes me wonder why they didn't bump into some walls while they were wandering around.  

Which would have been really funny.  :)

Perhaps it's not so much invisible--as in physically there to bump into, but not seen--but just "out of phase"? 

[RulerofallIsurvey]

3 hours ago, DittyDotDot said:

Perhaps it's not so much invisible--as in physically there to bump into, but not seen--but just "out of phase"? 

Ooh now, THAT'S an interesting concept.  Kind of like "The Fly" was it?  (I can't remember if it was The Fly or another book) Resonating at a different frequency.  That would be more complex than just a cloaking spell, I think.  I could buy that...

(If I thought the writers put that much thought into it.  Which, I don't think they did.  ;) )

[Dobian]

So do the boys have another new hideout?  Cuthbert must have had the key to the place so you don't have to cast an elaborate spell all the time to get in.  The problem is, Crowley also knows the location to this place so he can get in too.

Never was a Jersey Shores fan, but they did an alright job of sticking Snooki into the episode.  This show isn't known for doing very much stunt casting.

[DittyDotDot]

48 minutes ago, Dobian said:

So do the boys have another new hideout?  Cuthbert must have had the key to the place so you don't have to cast an elaborate spell all the time to get in.  The problem is, Crowley also knows the location to this place so he can get in too.

Crowley knows where and how to get into the bunker too. No matter where they go, Crowley follows, it seems. ;)

Do you really want to know if they have a new hideout?

Spoiler

They don't. They should, but they don't even mention what they did with that zoo or the artifacts or the other knowledge contained in it. Too bad, I bet it was more homey than the MoL lair?

[catrox14]

2 hours ago, DittyDotDot said:

Crowley knows where and how to get into the bunker too. No matter where they go, Crowley follows, it seems. ;)

Do you really want to know if they have a new hideout?

  Hide contents

They don't. They should, but they don't even mention what they did with that zoo or the artifacts or the other knowledge contained in it. Too bad, I bet it was more homey than the MoL lair?

 

s11&s12 spoilers

Spoiler

My head canon is that one of Magnus' minions locked the place out with another spell, in essence  changed the password on the lock so they couldn't get into it if they wanted.  But I also wonder if this comes into play in s12 with the EVMoL

[DittyDotDot]

::snort:: I guess Sam figured out what a Snooki is, even if I haven't. I'm okay with that, by the way. ;)

Holy buckets of plot Batman! It felt like this episode went on forever.  I still kinda feel cheated they didn't drag the search for the First Blade out over a couple more episodes and really sink their teeth into the meat of this story. Little more world-building would've been useful here, I think.

Anyhoo, it's so stupid, Crowley stealing candy from a candy machine, but Sam's exasperation at it all did crack me up. And, still think it was monumentally stupid for Dean to show off the Mark to Magnus like that, but this line cracked me the hell up too, "When you were saying any of that, did it feel at all creepy?"

BTW, I listened to the commentary on this episode, Mark Sheppard is a completely charming, smart and a delightful commentator. Can't say the same for the his fellow commentatees. I just don't get this writing duo, I guess?

On 8/10/2016 at 8:08 AM, RulerofallIsurvey said:

Is it just me or is Sam kind of off this episode?  I get he's not a Crowley fan - and he shouldn't be - but Sam was even more antagonistic than usual.  I think maybe it's just Sam is mad at himself for not completing the trials and he's taking it out on everyone else (like Dean also.)

Yeah, Sam was especially bitchy to Crowley here--and has been annoyingly so to Dean for a while--but I'm not sure it's actually out of character. I mean, Crowley did go around killing people they saved last season and then he got free from them because of a deal Dean made to save Sam from Gadreel. Pus, and he's never been a particular fan of the guy, even back in S5. But, more to it, I think Sam just doesn't want to ever get drawn into working with a demon again. So, he knows Crowley is a salesman and, I think, he doesn't want to allow himself to be sold again. Plus, whatever Crowley's up to with Dean, I think Sam knows it can't be good. Those are my theories anyway.

But, dude was standing right there; he can hear you Sam! Seriously, it has to be brain damage. ;)

[bettername2come]

Can we just take a moment to appreciate Sam in that nice v-neck sweater? I love when they wear single layers.

"Can I call you Snooki?" "No, it's Nicole now." I want the scene afterward where they have to take a confused Snooki home. 

"You don't know what it's like to be human!"

"You're the king of rotten! Act like it!"

"Were you two dropped on your heads a great deal?" Don't act like you don't know how many times they've been thrown into walls and/or deprived of oxygen, Crowley.

Wait, is invisible bunker "Jared Padalecki's" house? It looks familiar. *checks Supernaturalwiki* Yes! I love being right. "Welcome to the collection, Dean." All right, Magnus is super-creepy. Then again, so is Dean under the control of the First Blade. 

Demons keying Baby is just wrong. "You're right, Moose, you can't trust me. But sadly, I can't trust you either." Lots of good lines in this one. 

[Hanahope]

Lol at Crowley being addicted to human blood like Sam was to demon blood. 

Seemed like there could have been a lot more to the story about Cuthbert, his death seemed too quick and easy.  

And seriously, Cuthbert didn't have his place warded against demons?  

So Crowley is going to know immediately when they find Abaddon so he can get the bone to Dean in time?

[Katy M]

1 hour ago, Hanahope said:

And seriously, Cuthbert didn't have his place warded against demons?  

Why ward it when it's invisible?  We know Crowley had been looking. He only found it because Cuthbert revealed it. 

1 hour ago, Hanahope said:

So Crowley is going to know immediately when they find Abaddon so he can get the bone to Dean in time?

Sure, they call him and he teleports. In theory that would take 30 seconds.

[Hanahope]

Well if they have time to call before being captured like they have several times this season.

[Iju]

they figured out a way to make crowley being addicted to human blood to add even more grossness that a demon already is. bravo.

lol! i saw a post on tumblr of dean not caring the knife being in his face but lost it when sam got hurt. that was a few months ago, i didn't know it was this episode!

crowley needs to get his crap together so he can hunt that annoying abadon and kill her already! this is getting dragged out to long, imo. there's not a lot of interest in her either.

[The Companion]

This felt like a late season episode to me with the 4 hours of plot in a 1 hour show. I have just accepted that sometimes Supernatural fastforwards its own plots. I agree that some of the above tweaks would have helped a lot, but I really did enjoy the concept of a new player and wish he hadn't been outright killed here (then again, maybe there is a spell for re-heading). I really liked Bela and the concept of someone who was totally in on the Supernatural but didn't become a hunter. Magnus/Cuthbert was an interesting variation on that concept. I wanted a lot more exploration of his zoo and bunker and I am hopeful we will get it some day but don't want the spoilers so I guess it will be a wait and see for me. 

I know people love Crowley, but I tend to find him tedious, despite really liking Mark Sheppard. I found him more tolerable in this episode. Perhaps because he was doing more than monologues about how smart he is. I think the idea that he was getting high on emotions was an interesting concept. I would have liked it if he was playing Abbadon, though, as mentioned above. 

There was definitely a lot of go from a to b because plot stuff going on here, and there were too many ideas crammed into one episode, but I found the episode itself servicable and I appreciate that it moved the ball downfield, even if I would have liked a bit more. 

[gonzosgirrl]

I always felt that

Spoiler

Dean wouldn't have killed Abaddon so very, very, extra dead

if she hadn't fucked with Baby like that. Heh.

#justifiablerage

[Myrelle]

1 hour ago, gonzosgirrl said:

I always felt that

  Hide contents

Dean wouldn't have killed Abaddon so very, very, extra dead

if she hadn't fucked with Baby like that. Heh.

#justifiablerage

👍

[The Companion]

4 hours ago, gonzosgirrl said:

I always felt that

  Reveal spoiler

Dean wouldn't have killed Abaddon so very, very, extra dead

if she hadn't fucked with Baby like that. Heh.

#justifiablerage

I even read  the spoiler to ensure Baby would be avenged. Lol.