S12.E01: Keep Calm and Carry On

[Aeryn13]

So-so. Of course the Brit MOL are uber-Sues who never had a supernatural death ever in decades. Yeah, sure. 

An in a super-lame attempt at gurl-power super Brit!chick easily bests both Dean and Cas like absolute noobs while someone aptly named Mary (does her middle name start with an S possibly?) saves them. Urgh.

Sam at least got to be super-ultra-badass even while being tortured.   

Could you have thrown maybe Dean a bone there, Dabb? No? No badassery whatsoever. Just fucking words not backed up by anything. Thanks for nothing. The one thing that I still want and nothing of it in the episode. 

I did like the dynamic with Dean and Mary on the other hand.  

[goldy]

I loved it. It was everything I hoped for and more!

The scene with Dean and Mary at the beginning was really sweet, the moment Mary remembers she died was really well acted, it gave me chills. I also really loved that scene when Dean realizes what was Mary thinking when she was looking the back seat of the car lol. Mary looking at baby like that also clue me in on how much Dean took after her.

Dean and Cas reuniting was really cute. I loved that hug!! I also really missed "badass Cas" glad to have him back!  

Sam and Lady T.  scenes were probably my favorite in this episode.. I loved how determined and mentally strong he was enduring the physical torture and not telling her what she wanted him to tell, but at the same time he felt so weak and helpless blaming himself for his brother's death. I can't wait for him to be reunited with Dean and to find out about his mom being back.

As for Lady T. I know I suppose to hate her and all, but I can't help but feel there's more to her character than we get to see (for now at least). It was the way she talked to her son, and the way she got scared when she thought Sam cut himself and also the way that she talked about "that psycho" that she didn't want around her. Time will tell, but I kinda feel like she'll end up being one of the good guys.

I call BS on Lady T's claim that there hasn't been a monster related death in britain since 1965.  Remember Bella? She sold her soul to a demon and he killed her abusive parents for her...

Crowley was just boring to me. But he always is so I had no expectation.

[Miles]

A human being able to physically beat up an angel? What is that bullshit? Even if she had 20 sigils on there that seems far fetched. But whatever I guess, this is supernatural where they writers make up bullshit as they please.

Also didn't Crowley teleport into Scotland once to get his bones? I doubt the men of letters do anything effective gainst demons.

The retcon that Lucifer is still alive is annoying. Also how can he go through so many vessels? Humans have to consent to let an angel in. How does he get it?

If we could keep Sam in that basement for the rest of the season I would be sooo happy.

 

6 hours ago, SueB said:

- Dean breaking that phone.  It wasn't the speech that did it for me.  It's the way he just crushed a phone in half, letting his anger out.  

That probably should have exploded in his hands, since it looked like he broke the battery, but oh well...

Edited October 14, 2016 by Miles

[Demented Daisy]

6 hours ago, ahrtee said:

Honestly, with all their toys and sophistication, don't the BMOL have a truth serum that will get the information easily without intentional damage

Veritaserum is tightly controlled by the Ministry of Magic.  ;-)  Sorry, I will try to keep my Harry Potter jokes to a minimum this season, but with the BMOL, it will be a struggle.

Speaking of the British Men of Letters, that's the first time I've ever heard someone being corrected for using "English" instead of "British".  It's usually the other way around.

So, why didn't the BMOL apprehend Sam and Dean when they dug up Crowley's bones?  I guess they had only broken the world once at that point.  ;-)

And, finally, US hunters would not be able to use the same methods the BMOL do.  Why?  Because the UK is an island.  Unless they can create a magical forcefield around the entirety of the US that alerts whenever a monster crosses the border (as if the US doesn't have its own, indigenous monsters), the killings will never stop.  But that's the natural order, amirite, Death?  ;-)

Long story short (too late), I liked it.  It wasn't perfect, but I'm cool with that these days.  I can't get worked up over screwed up canon or plot holes.  Thanks, Carver.  (We need a sarcasm font....)

[mertensia]

I thought this was very good. 

I don't have a problem with Dean being beaten up by deadBrit because there are people in this world who are deadlier fighters than he is. She was one (as an aside I'd hate to see him fighting Elliot from Leverage), plus she had the enchanted brass knuckles.

The torture was a bit much though.

Dean's look of horror when he realized why Mary was smiling while looking at Baby made me laugh. He really did handle Mary just right. 

The way the Brits run the UK (or is it just England, and not the other areas?)  looks really really...Big Brother.

Edited October 14, 2016 by mertensia

[Aeryn13]

Quote

A human being able to physically beat up an angel? What is that bullshit? Even if she had 20 sigils on there that seems far fetched. But whatever I guess, this is supernatural where they writers make up bullshit as they please.

Over on the Flash show something happened that affected all the DC shows on the network, I just tell myself it went further and screwed up something in every CW show, period. Hence, we now have annoying, overwritten BritMOLs and no badass-Dean. Thanks, Barry.  

[sigmaforce86]

10 hours ago, Boopsahoy said:

Didn't you see those "special" brass knuckles she had? They even showed Dean had them after the fight with something wrapped around them and then they showed them again at the beginning of the coming attractions. :-)

Thanks for pointing that out - missed it completely while watching live.

Not buying the BMOL claims.  First the "we eradicated all the bad things" - forget the stray vampire, demon etc sneaking in; even if they could track and immediately take out those what about home grown things; vengeful ghosts and the like.  They can't possibly try to claim that things like that don't get at least one victim before they go hunting them.                                                                                                                                                            Then there's the info they wanted from Sammy - they already know about the Winchesters, know they hunt alone and Lady MOL teased him about how he and Dean just randomly find things to hunt with no organization about it.  But then she starts interrogating him and demanding info on the hunter network, contacts and even "dead drops".  What in the world would make her think that Sam and Dean have a sophisticated hunters network that is organized and includes special secret communication drops - everything she said to Sam before that makes it clear she doesn't think much of their disorganized methods.  

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be though - I prefer the saving people/hunting things part that's been sorely missing especially at the end of last year (metatron, crowly, rowena talk, talk, talk) but even without a monster of the week it moved fast and they didn't drag anything out.  Even if they didn't rescue Sam by the end it looks like they're not going to be separated for long so we're not stuck with weeks and weeks of the search for Sam.

Edited October 14, 2016 by sigmaforce86

[sigmaforce86]

1 hour ago, mertensia said:

I don't have a problem with Dean being beaten up by deadBrit because there are people in this world who are deadlier fighters than he is. She was one (as an aside I'd hate to see him fighting Elliot from Leverage), plus she had the enchanted brass knuckles.

Is it wrong that I'd LOVE to see Dean fight Elliot?  Pretty sure Dean would lose so maybe we could switch that to Jake from the Librarians.  Actually I'll take any character he wants to play if it gets Christian, Jensen and Jared on the screen together.   Annnddd........stepping out of the shallow end now

[mertensia]

Oh I forgot Sam's wonderfully pointed "so why the hell didn't you help us if you knew?" 

I would not want to see the fight because it would be brutal.

[Miles]

9 minutes ago, mertensia said:

Oh I forgot Sam's wonderfully pointed "so why the hell didn't you help us if you knew?"

And her reason was very flimsy. I really don't buy that they would just sit idly by when the world was ending... multiple times.

[Primetimer]

The Winchesters are back and we have so many questions.

View the full article

[bearcatfan]

2 hours ago, Demented Daisy said:

And, finally, US hunters would not be able to use the same methods the BMOL do.  Why?  Because the UK is an island.  Unless they can create a magical forcefield around the entirety of the US that alerts whenever a monster crosses the border (as if the US doesn't have its own, indigenous monsters), the killings will never stop.

That, plus the fact that the UK is a third of the size of Texas, which isn't even the largest state. What about Alaska and Hawaii? I'm sure they have issues as well but they are not physically connected to the majority of the US. Plus, as someone else mentioned, the vast deserts and farmlands would effect the warding as well. The population in the UK is much more concentrated than that in the US. People in the UK often underestimate the size of the US in my experience. I have a friend who married a Brit (they live in Ohio), and his UK friends were always wondering why they couldn't go to LA for the day when they visit. 

[catrox14]

1 hour ago, Aeryn13 said:

Over on the Flash show something happened that affected all the DC shows on the network, I just tell myself it went further and screwed up something in every CW show, period. Hence, we now have annoying, overwritten BritMOLs and no badass-Dean. Thanks, Barry.  

LOOL . This has literally been my thought. I can further support it because J2 were on the Flash set to shoot CW promos. Barry ruins everything.

[patty1h]

I forget exactly how Lucifer was removed from Cas at the end of S11.  Did he leave on his own or did Chuck blast him out?  Was a spell cast to draw him out?  I'm drawing a complete blank.

To get an idea what to expect this season - what was Lucifer's next play for the Winchesters and/or the universe last season - did he have an endgame or was it left vague?  Thanks for the info.

[Aeryn13]

Quote

I forget exactly how Lucifer was removed from Cas at the end of S11.  Did he leave on his own or did Chuck blast him out?  Was a spell cast to draw him out?  I'm drawing a complete blank.

Amara yanked him out, no luck on that killing him apparently. Lucifer didn`t seem to have any play last year beyond his Daddy issues. Once he realized he was no match for Amara in any way, shape or form, he just moped to Daddy. 

Edited October 14, 2016 by Aeryn13

[Morrigan2575]

Back with full thoughts. I really enjoyed this episode. Every scene with Dean/Mary was perfection.  I also loved the Dean/Cas/Mary scenes in the Bunker.  

Hell, i thought the Cas/Mary teaming up to threaten the Vet while Dean was forced to be the voice of reason was great.

I was very naive during the Impala scene. I've always had it in my head that Dean was like Mary while Sama was like John. So my first thought in that scene was Dean realizing how much Mary loved "Baby" and fighting an internal battle of how not to let his mom drive his car. 

It took until Dean popped his head up and looked really uncomfortable that i realized what was going on. Man did i have a good laugh over that. 

Now onto Sam. I normally think JP is a vwry weak actor. He was good in S1/2 but starting with S3 he became almost robotic. The only time i thought he worked well was during comedy/meta episodes or when he got his impressive bitch face on.

However, i thought JP did a great job last night (for the most part).  He was fantastic during the questioning and torture scenes, not so much during the mind trip stuff but I'll chalk that up to not having anyone to work against. 

Edited October 14, 2016 by Morrigan2575

[DittyDotDot]

I'm so disappointing in myself that I crashed last night--it's been a very, very long week--and didn't get around to watching until this morning. I freakin' loved it. All my optimism actually paid off! 

That's not to say it was perfect, but it felt like Supernatural and it's been very rare for me to feel this way over the last few years. Kudos to both Dabb and Scriggia for bringing this one in. It had a great quietness to it; they let the actors act instead of filling every space with pointless dialogue. I thought is was beautiful, sad and funny all at the same time. It really struck a chord with me this morning.

...and now I need to go do a few tests on myself and find out if I'm still me. ;)

Oh, but, Cass is back, baby! Cass. Is. Back! Love that. 

13 hours ago, Jediknight said:

That one guy's rant about possessing a 14 year old girl, was hilarious.

It's been so long since I've out-and-out had a full-on belly laugh while watching this show. Man did that feel good!

12 hours ago, Boopsahoy said:

Didn't you see those "special" brass knuckles she had? They even showed Dean had them after the fight with something wrapped around them and then they showed them again at the beginning of the coming attractions. :-)

I did see the brass knuckles and, I too, thought is was a clever way to depower Cass for this fight. As to Dean, I think the difference is that Dean wasn't prepared and the "lady" was. She'd done her research and new what Dean Winchester was all about. The only reason Mary got the drop on her was because she didn't know about Mary.  I didn't see Dean as incompetent, at all.

12 hours ago, ZennyKenny said:

Oh no no no apple pie and moose tracks ice cream do NOT go together. Repeat: DO NOT try the apple pie and moose tracks ice cream! It tastes like season 8 Winchester angst!

Oh, I'm so sorry I didn't see this til this morning, I could've warned you. Those peanut butter cups just don't work with apples. I'm so sad for you right now...apple pie should never be a bad experience! ;)

Now I really want an apple pie, or an apple-pear pie...or a pear pie... . 

12 hours ago, Wynne88 said:

I think I missed something - how did they know that veterinarian had anything to do with anything?

They found the guy who drove Lady Toni to the veterinarian--that's the guy Cass grabbed and head-butted while Mary commented, "That's an angel"--we didn't see him spill his guts (figuratively or literally), but I'm guessing he did.

12 hours ago, rue721 said:

I think that the point of contrast was between:

Dean telling Mary that "saving people, hunting things" was his and Sam's life, and he sincerely thought they were making the world a better place

VS. The BMOL saying that nobody has died by monster attack in Britain since the 1960s, along with the visual aid of the BMOL hunting and killing monsters with chilling efficiency (and I did think their efficiency was chilling. I mean, I think it was supposed to be kind of scary)

VS. Mary's out and out refusal to hunt (which was sort of out of selfishness, but a very sympathetic kind of selfishness imo).

Exactly. Everyone is trying to do the same thing--make the world a better place--just going about it differently. Some people just think their way is the only way and that's never a good thing, IMO.

12 hours ago, rue721 said:

Torn about the Lucifer storyline, in that I liked Crowley and I even liked those demons that he was following...but I DGAF about Lucifer. Just forget about him, show! There are so many characters who've been killed off too early and relegated to the dustbin needlessly, and yet LUCIFER IS STILL KICKING?! WTF guys. WTF. Everytime Lucifer gets mentioned, I feel like I should raise a glass to the Harvell family, in silent protest that he lives and they died. ;)

I can't believe I'm saying this, but, I might be on-board with the Devil's storyline. If you'd asked me last year, I'd have said--no, I'd have yelled, and I did--leave that shit alone, show! But, since they already opened that can of worms, at least they're doing something with it that makes sense to me. No other show could I say the Devil escaping a cage in Hell, only to run around topside, jumping bodies would make any kind of sense. ;)

11 hours ago, rue721 said:

It also kind of reminded me of Gattaca? Even the lighting of that flashback reminded me of Minority Report or Gattaca (all cold and blue and clammy-looking). I think that was the point. Britain looked like some kind of ultra-policed dystopia.

I really liked the whole look of the episode. It's wasn't totally desurated and dark like the early seasons, but they pulled down the bright yellows, reds and the contrast. It gave it a more grounded look to go with the more grounded story. It felt more natural and real than the last few years where it's almost looked and felt more like a dream. 

11 hours ago, ZennyKenny said:

Ugh, I forgot how underwhelming season premieres always are. I really should just wait until I can watch the first 3 episodes all at once. It's not that it's terrible; ti's the it's like watching the first 35 minutes of a movie and then having to walk out of the theater.

I know what you mean, at least this time it felt like a movie I wanted to go back and finish. 

11 hours ago, Ninamags said:

Probably not a popular theory but I thought that woman kicking Deans butt was kinda bad-ass.

[...]

Poor, Sammy. He looked so dejected and alone. He still thinks Dean is dead so he probably doesn't care about anything anymore. 

I too thought that fight was totally kick-ass! As to Sam, I knew he didn't slit his throat, but I also felt like he wanted too. Poor guy!

10 hours ago, ahrtee said:

My main issue:  I'm not a big fan of gratuitous torture, especially when it's illogical.  Honestly, with all their toys and sophistication, don't the BMOL have a truth serum that will get the information easily without intentional damage (seriously?  cold water?  Foot porn?  Hallucinations? ... But then we'd miss wet, shivering, tortured Sam.)  

I'm not a fan of anything gratuitous, and I've given the show hell for the way they've depicted torture in the past, but I didn't actually feel it was entirely gratuitous this time. They actually took a different tact with the torture here and I appreciated it on that level. They did try to break Sam down mentally instead of just make him bleed at least. 

6 hours ago, goldy said:

I call BS on Lady T's claim that there hasn't been a monster related death in britain since 1965.  Remember Bella? She sold her soul to a demon and he killed her abusive parents for her...

I call bullshit on that too. There's gotta be a lot more going on in Britain than the uppity stuffed shirts realize. I'm guessing--or maybe just hoping--they're going to be brought low and shown just how wrong they are by the Winchesters by the end of the season.

3 hours ago, Demented Daisy said:

Veritaserum is tightly controlled by the Ministry of Magic.  ;-)  Sorry, I will try to keep my Harry Potter jokes to a minimum this season, but with the BMOL, it will be a struggle.

Hee! Even though I don't understand those references, I love them, so don't stop on my account! ;)

1 hour ago, bearcatfan said:

That, plus the fact that the UK is a third of the size of Texas, which isn't even the largest state. What about Alaska and Hawaii? I'm sure they have issues as well but they are not physically connected to the majority of the US. Plus, as someone else mentioned, the vast deserts and farmlands would effect the warding as well. The population in the UK is much more concentrated than that in the US. People in the UK often underestimate the size of the US in my experience. I have a friend who married a Brit (they live in Ohio), and his UK friends were always wondering why they couldn't go to LA for the day when they visit. 

Probably the reason the British MoL didn't try to reclaim the bunker after the US chapter got themselves killed off...knew they didn't have the resources to control the whole US.

Edited October 14, 2016 by DittyDotDot

[Demented Daisy]

12 minutes ago, DittyDotDot said:

 

5 hours ago, goldy said:

I call BS on Lady T's claim that there hasn't been a monster related death in britain since 1965.  Remember Bella? She sold her soul to a demon and he killed her abusive parents for her...

I call bullshit on that too. There's gotta be a lot more going on in Britain than the uppity stuffed shirts realize. I'm guessing--or maybe just hoping--they're going to be brought low and shown just how wrong they are by the Winchesters by the end of the season.

3 hours ago, Demented Daisy said:

Veritaserum is tightly controlled by the Ministry of Magic.  ;-)  Sorry, I will try to keep my Harry Potter jokes to a minimum this season, but with the BMOL, it will be a struggle.

Hee! Even though I don't understand those references, I love them, so don't stop on my account! ;)

 

Oh, you asked for it.  ;-)

The BMoL actually reminds remind me of the Ministry of Magic in that "stuffed shirt" kind of way.  It makes me wonder if the BMoL isn't tooting their own horn a bit, exaggerating the "no kills".  The Ministry of Magic tries to keep unauthorized magic under wraps, but they're not always successful.  So they cover it up by performing Memory Charms on anyone (Muggles, mostly, "non-magic folk" as Hagrid called them) who witnessed the unauthorized magic.  

Which makes me wonder if Sam and Dean will uncover some of the deep, dark secrets of the BMoL -- evidence that they're not all they claim to be....

Which might be how they get Lady What'sHerName on their side.  They'll pull back the curtain on the organization she has worked for and had faith in....

[Diane]

4 minutes ago, Demented Daisy said:

Oh, you asked for it.  ;-)

The BMoL actually reminds remind me of the Ministry of Magic in that "stuffed shirt" kind of way.  It makes me wonder if the BMoL isn't tooting their own horn a bit, exaggerating the "no kills".  The Ministry of Magic tries to keep unauthorized magic under wraps, but they're not always successful.  So they cover it up by performing Memory Charms on anyone (Muggles, mostly, "non-magic folk" as Hagrid called them) who witnessed the unauthorized magic.  

Which makes me wonder if Sam and Dean will uncover some of the deep, dark secrets of the BMoL -- evidence that they're not all they claim to be....

Which might be how they get Lady What'sHerName on their side.  They'll pull back the curtain on the organization she has worked for and had faith in....

Please keep up the references, I do get it and love it!

[DittyDotDot]

15 minutes ago, Demented Daisy said:

Oh, you asked for it.  ;-)

The BMoL actually reminds remind me of the Ministry of Magic in that "stuffed shirt" kind of way.  It makes me wonder if the BMoL isn't tooting their own horn a bit, exaggerating the "no kills".  The Ministry of Magic tries to keep unauthorized magic under wraps, but they're not always successful.  So they cover it up by performing Memory Charms on anyone (Muggles, mostly, "non-magic folk" as Hagrid called them) who witnessed the unauthorized magic.  

Which makes me wonder if Sam and Dean will uncover some of the deep, dark secrets of the BMoL -- evidence that they're not all they claim to be....

So, even though I didn't get the reference, I seem to still get it? ;)

[Demented Daisy]

Yeah, pretty much.  :-)

(BTW, you get full credit.  It was your desire to see them brought down, coupled with your "stuffed shirts" label, that made me think of the Ministry of Magic, which made me think of how they could be brought down, which made me think of what LWHF would think of them, and so on and so forth.  So, yeah, not exactly an original thought on my part.  ;-) )

[Triskan]

Quite loved the introduction of the British hunting way, adds to the world and I'd love the show to go more international than just US based. It would bring in something fresh, in my opinion. Not that the show is in dire need of it, though, the show is in amazing shape as it is ! 

And the stuff with Mary coming back was handled pretty well. They did something quite tragic and poetic with coming back to life 30 years later, it wasnt too much handled, just enough to make it work with few words and some really nice musical cues. 

Really looking forward to what will happen this season ! It starts on a very solid pilot ! 

[bearcatfan]

52 minutes ago, DittyDotDot said:

I'm so disappointing in myself that I crashed last night--it's been a very, very long week--and didn't get around to watching until this morning. I freakin' loved it. All my optimism actually paid off! 

That's not to say it was perfect, but it felt like Supernatural and it's been very rare for me to feel this way over the last few years. Kudos to both Dabb and Scriggia for bringing this one in. It had a great quietness to it; they let the actors act instead of filling every space with pointless dialogue. I thought is was beautiful, sad and funny all at the same time. It really struck a chord with me this morning.

...and now I need to go do a few tests on myself and find out if I'm still me. ;)

Oh, but, Cass is back, baby! Cass. Is. Back! Love that. 

It's been so long since I've out-and-out had a full-on belly laugh while watching this show. Man did that feel good!

I did see the brass knuckles and, I too, thought is was a clever way to depower Cass for this fight. As to Dean, I think the difference is that Dean wasn't prepared and the "lady" was. She'd done her research and new what Dean Winchester was all about. The only reason Mary got the drop on her was because she didn't know about Mary.  I didn't see Dean as incompetent, at all.

Oh, I'm so sorry I didn't see this til this morning, I could've warned you. Those peanut butter cups just don't work with apples. I'm so sad for you right now...apple pie should never be a bad experience! ;)

Now I really want an apple pie, or an apple-pear pie...or a pear pie... . 

They found the guy who drove Lady Toni to the veterinarian--that's the guy Cass grabbed and head-butted while Mary commented, "That's an angel"--we didn't see him spill his guts (figuratively or literally), but I'm guessing he did.

Exactly. Everyone is trying to do the same thing--make the world a better place--just going about it differently. Some people just think their way is the only way and that's never a good thing, IMO.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but, I might be on-board with the Devil's storyline. If you'd asked me last year, I'd have said--no, I'd have yelled, and I did--leave that shit alone, show! But, since they already opened that can of worms, at least they're doing something with it that makes sense to me. No other show could I say the Devil escaping a cage in Hell, only to run around topside, jumping bodies would make any kind of sense. ;)

I really liked the whole look of the episode. It's wasn't totally desurated and dark like the early seasons, but they pulled down the bright yellows, reds and the contrast. It gave it a more grounded look to go with the more grounded story. It felt more natural and real than the last few years where it's almost looked and felt more like a dream. 

I know what you mean, at least this time it felt like a movie I wanted to go back and finish. 

I too thought that fight was totally kick-ass! As to Sam, I knew he didn't slit his throat, but I also felt like he wanted too. Poor guy!

I'm not a fan of anything gratuitous, and I've given the show hell for the way they've depicted torture in the past, but I didn't actually feel it was entirely gratuitous this time. They actually took a different tact with the torture here and I appreciated it on that level. They did try to break Sam down mentally instead of just make him bleed at least. 

I call bullshit on that too. There's gotta be a lot more going on in Britain than the uppity stuffed shirts realize. I'm guessing--or maybe just hoping--they're going to be brought low and shown just how wrong they are by the Winchesters by the end of the season.

Hee! Even though I don't understand those references, I love them, so don't stop on my account! ;)

Probably the reason the British MoL didn't try to reclaim the bunker after the US chapter got themselves killed off...knew they didn't have the resources to control the whole US.

I quoted your whole post because you said most of what I feel better than I could.

When the episode was over, I felt like next Thursday couldn't get here soon enough.

[DittyDotDot]

5 minutes ago, bearcatfan said:

When the episode was over, I felt like next Thursday couldn't get here soon enough.

Yeah, I'm actually still smiling right now. Crazy?!! ...but then again, crazy is what we do, right?

[Tarasme]

57 minutes ago, DittyDotDot said:

I really liked the whole look of the episode. It's wasn't totally desurated and dark like the early seasons, but they pulled down the bright yellows, reds and the contrast. It gave it a more grounded look to go with the more grounded story. It felt more natural and real than the last few years where it's almost looked and felt more like a dream. 

Yep- it was nice to see a bright Supernatural. Though, otherwise, this ep's details were a return to origins. From Mary's resurrection to Sam's hallucinations of Jessica and early years of angst.

I'm excited to see where this season goes. The humans are always scarier than the monsters. I am "H" hoping that Mary is a fixture for the whole run- I don't want to see her killed off in 3.

Has Sam ever met Mary- at all? Dean's always been the time traveler... other than the S1 Kansas episode with her ghost, has Sam ever interacted with her?

[Myrelle]

9 hours ago, SueB said:

- Dean and Mary.  Dean had ALL THE FACTS of Mary's life.  How many times did he hear those stories?  And he just rattled them off with such reverence.  *sigh* I am SUCH a sucker for Dean/Mary feels.  And his whole body language around her is gentle.  He's treating her like he's never treated anyone else.  I don't know how to explain it.  But Jensen just knocked it out of the park. Squatting down to talk to her.  The way he looked back to check on her as they drove (during that montage).  If you rewatch, just see the way he moves around her.  It's so very well done. And yes, that LOOK when he hugged her. And of course I loved his traumatized realization that his mother was recalling sexy times in the back of that car.  Dean needs a good therapist. I volunteer as tribute. 

I just watched it because everyone, everywhere is raving about the Dean/Mary stuff and I have to admit that I have always loved their dynamic-what little we've gotten of it, that is. I only wish that they would have given us more and cut down on the British LOL stuff. Those parts were bad. I tried to watch, but wound up skipping over them after I found out what she wanted from him/them. Lame, but not unexpected.

The Mary Sue stuff was also expected, so I skipped over the LOL beatdown of Dean and Cas just so Mary could get the kill. Man, I hope this doesn't happen too often this season. And it doesn't matter to me if they attempted to give it some semblance of credence because she was using magical brass knuckles. Stifling BadAssDean is stifling BadAssDean any way you look at it from the writing standpoint, IMO, and I had enough of that last season. Hopefully, the next episode won't be as bad in that dept., but again going by the promos and spoilers that we've been given, I'm not counting on it. I don't expect the season to really pick up for BadAssDean fans until after these first two, and that's only a maybe or a possibility.

Still my favorite scenes were the opening sequences(see Sue B's description above) and the scene when Dean told her how he felt about hunting and the life. That was Heaven-to see Dean again believe that what they do makes the world a better place-and not just think it, but know it, was Glorious. God's words to the effect that Dean is the firewall between the darkness and the light came immediately to mind when he said that he knew it. That. Was SO! nice to hear. And yes,  Mr. Ackles literally radiated care, concern, and gentleness in his every interaction with Mary. Amazing Ackting. And she was great, too. She pulled off being Dean-like very well to me-and not just through her dress(loved that choice)-her "Hurt him." comment concerning the vet was so like Dean in every way, too. Terse and right to the point.

The Crowley stuff wasn't bad in this one, but I'm not looking forward to their finding Lucifer. All that over-played storyline does now is make me feel bitter over what they didn't do with Michael. Blech.

I'll have to agree with the so-so description for this premiere, but I would classify it as one of the weaker premiere episodes of this show, mainly because of the Brit MOL garbage(and that terrible actress who plays the blonde. I'd forgotten how bad she was. Yikes.) and for the never ending Lucifer storyline. The only way they will ever make that one work for me is if they bring Michael back to defeat him and if they allow JA to play him in that role. That's it. There's no other way that this old and moldy storyline and character will ever appeal to me. They could bring anyone in to play him and I'd still feel like it was just a waste of my time. 

As for the Cas stuff. I liked his reaction to seeing Dean again the best. The wings and harp line was classic Dean and Cas stuff and I love it when they interact in that way. I'd wish for so much more of this, too, if I thought it would make any difference, but sadly, I don't think it will.

[Binns]

10 hours ago, catrox14 said:

If these EVMOL really know about Sam they know he's Lucifer's vessel and if he survived that, why would they think they could get him to break? When I think about it for 5 freaking minutes it's a pretty stupid plan

Seriously. He was in the cage for like 100 earth years or something, wasn't he? Being tortured in every way by Lucifer and likely Michael. Plus Sam is STUBBORN. is he a Taurus? 

[DittyDotDot]

15 minutes ago, Tarasme said:

Has Sam ever met Mary- at all? Dean's always been the time traveler... other than the S1 Kansas episode with her ghost, has Sam ever interacted with her?

Sam went back with Dean when Anna decided to go back and kill both Mary and John in The Song Remains The Same. He was strucken speechless in her presence at first, but got control of himself by the end of it.

Edited October 14, 2016 by DittyDotDot

[Binns]

18 minutes ago, Tarasme said:

Yep- it was nice to see a bright Supernatural. Though, otherwise, this ep's details were a return to origins. From Mary's resurrection to Sam's hallucinations of Jessica and early years of angst.

I'm excited to see where this season goes. The humans are always scarier than the monsters. I am "H" hoping that Mary is a fixture for the whole run- I don't want to see her killed off in 3.

Has Sam ever met Mary- at all? Dean's always been the time traveler... other than the S1 Kansas episode with her ghost, has Sam ever interacted with her?

Yeah, Sam met her in the episode where he, Dean, and Cas went back to deal with that angel...can't remember her name...the one Dean slept with. She was going back to try to kill John and Mary. 

 

ETA or what @DittyDotDot said. 

Edited October 14, 2016 by Binns

[Commando Cody]

I wanted that British lady dead at the end of last season. This story should not have happened. The "We've been watching you for years" is an old bit. Now that they put it out there, it's too late. That was something they used in the Highlander TV series. It needs to crawl back into the woodwork. Dean, Castiel and Sam kill monsters all the time, but they can't take out two humans? At least the writers did us a favor and killed one of them off. Also, it comes off as kind of a rehash with Bella besting them all the time. I didn't like that character or story angle either. 

This episode would have been fine with just the Dean and Mary story and Lucifer burning through people. That demon going on about the teenage girl was great. 

[catrox14]

Why would brass knuckles with angel sigils affect a human? Dean has no supernatural powers AFAIK. Unless somehow he's still got some demon or MoC! juice left in him.  If those were enchanted with a spell to make a human weaker then they needed to make that abundantly clear which IMO they did not.

Rant Warning:

Upon rewatch, I'm even more annoyed with the defanging of both Cas and Dean but especially Dean all for the sake of Mary getting the kill. 

Of course, Dean might be bested by someone who got the drop on him.  Like with Jacob Styne in the Gas N Sip.  Even here, I would have accepted that Dean was woozy from the intentional t-boning of Baby  which knocked Mary unconscious.  Maybe he was for a hot minute, but IMO that was not clear.  I can accept that  the Asshat of Letters knocked Dean down with the brass knuckles for a hot minute.  But the problem is that Dabb made Dean fucking downright stupid to set it up.

Dean draws his gun at the first tingle of danger. It's his go-to move.  He drew it the moment they saw blood when they got back to the bunker, (which BTW that implies that Dean took his gun with him to meet Amara even though he thought he was going off to die.  MMKAY.  He would have left that behind for Sam.  Whatever, show).

But annnnnyhoo,  I can buy that Dean is a bit shaken when he gets out of the car so he doesn't think about his gun for a hot second, but the moment he realizes that the woman in the black coat was the enemy, and she was at a distance, he would have whipped out his gun at light speed.  And when he didn't, I thought, oh crap, he must have left it in the car,  but then Ms Asshat of Letters takes it OFF HIM.  WTF?

Are they really trying to tell me that Dean "I -Will-Draw-My-Colt-If-You-Look-At-Me-Sideways" Fucking Winchester is going eschew his go-to move for the sake of getting up in someone's face?  Am I too believe that Dean was just underestimating a female enemy when Dean learned to not do that a long fucking time ago....especially when this particular said female enemy has just self-identified as the Asshat of Letter who kidnapped Dean's brother?  That Dean is more interested in posturing and threatening her literally face to face?  Fuck that. Dean is not a fucking idiot when it comes to fighting. 

And of course, it's juxtapositioned with Sam was shot in the leg, tied up, has withstood the worst physical torture since he was in the Cage, which of course they reminded us that Sam did withstand, and who manages to overcome some drug that makes him remember all the bad things in his life (which BTW did not escape me that 3 times they had him remembering Dean saying he was a monster and that everything was his fault) but he overcomes all that to choke out Lady Asshat of Letters. Yes she got the final drop on him but he still overcame all that whilst Dean was a dumbass just so he could be saved by his Mom.

Idiotic character regression for the sake of plot.  I'm so tired of this.

/rant over

[Aeryn13]

Well, that is Dabb. He goes for the "hero and zero" pretty hard, and in one direction. That`s why I shuddered at him becoming showunner. 

[DittyDotDot]

27 minutes ago, catrox14 said:

Why would brass knuckles with angel sigils affect a human? Dean has no supernatural powers AFAIK. Unless somehow he's still got some demon or MoC! juice left in him.  If those were enchanted with a spell to make a human weaker then they needed to make that abundantly clear which IMO they did not.

I don't think the brass knuckles do anything to a humans--other than hurt when being punched with them like any other set of brass knuckles. 

I think the the important point of British MoL, and why they staged the fight the way they did is, they think they'll ace the test because they believe they already know what's on it and memorized the answers. So, they can answer the questions they knew were there, but, what happens when there's a couple questions they didn't anticipate? That's what happened in that fight IMO.

The woman had been watching Dean, knows how he fights and walked in there ready to fight him on his terms. Same with Cass. Dean and Cass, on the other hand, weren't expecting a fight and knew nothing about this woman so was taken by surprise. Mary was only able to kill her because the woman didn't know about Mary. She was the question they they weren't prepared to answer, so they have no answer for her...yet.

BTW, I keep saying "the woman" because I can't remember her name, but was her name even mentioned?

Edited October 14, 2016 by DittyDotDot

[Aeryn13]

Quote

The woman had been watching Dean, knows how he fights and walked in there ready to fight him on his terms. Same with Cass. Dean and Cass, on the other hand, wasn't expecting a fight and knew nothing about this woman so was taken by surprise.

Why would Dean and Cas not expect a fight? They would have been terribly stupid in that situation not to. Being T-boned was already an attack move. And sure, maybe the MOL studied up on the Winchesters but it`s not like there is some fancy secret fighting technique involved. They pretty much just brawl. The show never really had the kung-fu fighting style or something.

So, both Dean and Cas just got really easily beaten down like they were pretty incompetent at fighting. That fight was ridiculously one-sided. And having your own gun lifted from you and almost being shot with it is the ultimate loser humiliation. I think the staging and direction of that fight could have been a LOT better so that it didn`t look so much like a great hunter and an angel can`t handle themselves worth shit in a fight. 

[Myrelle]

But Catrox is right about Dean not pulling his gun out right away. He would have if he'd been written IC. That scene was just bad writing and a bad set up, IMO, with little thought given to it other than how it would allow Mary to get the kill and appear to be a competent hunter. They even had the henchbitch take Dean's gun AWAY from him so he wouldn't appear as competent as he is when written IC. It was as Aeryn called it-Hero and Zero(can I re-use this?), and a Dabb specialty now, and after last season, most especially.

[catrox14]

10 minutes ago, Aeryn13 said:

Well, that is Dabb. He goes for the "hero and zero" pretty hard, and in one direction. That`s why I shuddered at him becoming showunner. 

Yup. That was my concern too.  I'm all for badass Dean but badass =/= dumbass.  And it's especially ridiculous when I was so happy that Dean said he hacked the security cameras. I was like YAY SMART!DEAN. 

I was really happy that Dean acknowledged that he once more believes they do help the world.

Just now, DittyDotDot said:

think the the important point of British MoL, and why they staged the fight the way they did is, they think they'll ace the test because they believe they already know what's on it and memorized the answers. So, they can answer the questions they knew were there, but, what happens when there's a couple questions they didn't anticipate? That's what happened in that fight IMO.

The woman had been watching Dean, knows how he fights and walked in there ready to fight him on his terms. Same with Cass. Dean and Cass, on the other hand, wasn't expecting a fight and knew nothing about this woman so was taken by surprise. Mary was only able to kill her because the woman didn't know about Mary. She was the question they they weren't prepared to answer, so they have no answer for her...yet.

That would be a reasonable plot device for Dabb  if Dean had a fighting style but he doesn't.  He's not trained in karate, or kung fu or any of that. Dean is a dirty and innovative street fighter.  He fights with what he has in the moment. He changes his  tactics on the fly with whatever fight he is in. That has been shown time and time again from the pilot to the demon fight in First Born to the  fight in the back seat of the Impala in Baby. 

It's a bullshit plot contrivance that makes no sense for Dean's character.  And it conveniently leaves out Dean drawing his weapon which is what he does when he is on high alert and it's triply thus for a Save Sammy mission. 

[PepperMonkey]

Unpopular opinion time: I thought they used the wrong version of Mary. This woman would be much younger than pictured here because she was, what, 30? when she died. This actress' version of Mary is late 40s to mid 50s, which would be much closer to her real life age HAD SHE LIVED. Unless you keep aging after you die, so if so, then I guess, okay.

Didn't see the sigils on the brass knuckles, either, so I was thoroughly pissed when British chick beat down Dean and Cas so hard. Still don't think she would have beaten Dean. I figured that's where they were headed so Mary could kill her. I'm actually thinking Mary is going to decide she doesn't want to stay or she definitely is going to die by season's end. Honestly, I'd rather lose her again than Cas.

Sam was awesome in those torture scenes, which, btw, I always have such a hard time watching. I know they're not actually torturing him, but I just cannot watch torture on any show, even when bad guys, demons or even Lucifer are the onest being tortured.

British Men of Letters are full of shit. They cannot get off my screen soon enough.

[DittyDotDot]

26 minutes ago, Myrelle said:

But Catrox is right about Dean not pulling his gun out right away. He would have if he'd been written IC. That scene was just bad writing and a bad set up, IMO, with little thought given to it other than how it would allow Mary to get the kill and appear to be a competent hunter. They even had the henchbitch take Dean's gun AWAY from him so he wouldn't appear as competent as he is when written IC. It was as Aeryn called it-Hero and Zero(can I re-use this?), and a Dabb specialty now, and after last season, most especially.

I believe Dean was totally in-character. We'll just have to agree to disagree. 

23 minutes ago, catrox14 said:

That would be a reasonable plot device for Dabb  if Dean had a fighting style but he doesn't.  He's not trained in karate, or kung fu or any of that. Dean is a dirty and innovative street fighter.  He fights with what he has in the moment. He changes his  tactics on the fly with whatever fight he is in. That has been shown time and time again from the pilot to the demon fight in First Born to the  fight in the back seat of the Impala in Baby. 

Street fighting is a fighting style. There are techniques and counter moves to street fighting, just like any other type of fighting. It may appear to be random brawling, but the person in the fight is making conscious moves and such. My point, however, was that the woman knew Dean thinks on his feet and instead of going in there with guns and weapons, she thought and acted more like Dean would in that situation as a way to counter act Dean's unpredictable behavior--even pulled his gun just like Dean would do--she basically tried to out-Dean Dean. 

If Dean had walked in with any knowledge of that woman, I believe the story would've been different, but he didn't, so the tide went the other way. I think it was perfectly reasonable the way it was written. Sure, it's a contrivance of sorts, but I actually appreciate it more than the constant pinning the boys up against walls routine. Dean can't, and shouldn't, win every fight just because he's Dean freakin' Winchester. That would be--and kinda has been--a boring show to watch, IMO. 

29 minutes ago, Aeryn13 said:

Why would Dean and Cas not expect a fight? They would have been terribly stupid in that situation not to. Being T-boned was already an attack move. And sure, maybe the MOL studied up on the Winchesters but it`s not like there is some fancy secret fighting technique involved. They pretty much just brawl. The show never really had the kung-fu fighting style or something.

Why would they assume the T-boning was an attack move instead of a random accident? Plus, it was one person, not a whole attack squad. I'm sure Dean thought they had the upper hand because he had an angel on his side, which turned out he didn't. To me, he was just unprepared for the fight, but that's not incompetence, in my book.

Edited October 14, 2016 by DittyDotDot

[catrox14]

5 minutes ago, Myrelle said:

But Catrox is right about Dean not pulling his gun out right away. He would have if he'd been written IC. That scene was just bad writing and a bad set up, IMO, with little thought given to it other than how it would allow Mary to get the kill and appear to be a competent hunter. They even had the henchbitch take Dean's gun AWAY from him so he wouldn't appear as competent as he is when written IC. It was as Aeryn called it-Hero and Zero(can I re-use this?), and a Dabb specialty now, and after last season, most especially.

Exactly.

You know what they could have done?  If they absolutely had to have Ms Asshat of Letters take his gun away  and for Mary to get the kill it could have gone this way. 

Mary is knocked out.  Dean asks Cas to make sure she's okay but instead of Cas going on Mary's side because they would know they are at risk already after what Doctor Vet told them, Cas gets in the drivers seat, ready to speed away with Mary to safety.  This makes it so Cas is not between Dean and Mary.

Dean gets out, sees Ms AoL, realizes who she is and draws down on her.  They posture at each other from a distance but Ms Asshat starts to get closer to Dean. He warns her back.  

But then Mary starts to stir, she calls Dean's name which of course, causes Dean to turn to her because it's Mom. Ms AoL jumps him, clocks him the face with the brass knuckles.  He drops the gun and somehow it lands on the trunk or whatever or gets kicked away in the tussle. Cas gets out of the car to help Dean because it's Dean, hello! and then the rest of the fight happens. 

Mary regains consciousness, sees the gun and shoots Ms Asshat of Letters. 

See, Dean is in character. He's doing what he would normally do but because Mary is this new piece of the puzzle, it throws him off his game long enough for Ms Asshat of Letters to clock him.  Cas in is character because he wants to help Dean and gets taken out by the sigil brass knuckles...Mary gets the kill with Dean's gun. 

They really need to hire me.

[companionenvy]

I agree that the fight scene was annoying, even if we assume the sigiled brass knuckles were preventing Cas from using his powers. 

The problem I have with the BMOL more generally, so far, is that it seems like the show is juxtaposing these uber-competent but sketchy Brits against the country bumpkin Americans who will have to prove their mettle and regroup to overcome an apparently more powerful enemy. That's a tried and true narrative device, one I often enjoy, and which I could even buy to a certain extent, if the show was framing the BMOL's advantage primarily in terms of organizational resources. But when you have main characters who have previously defeated Satan, a slew of angels, and some of the most powerful demons out there -- and who were, like, five minutes ago integrally involved in a family quarrel between God and his sister -- it just isn't convincing that they'd be at such a loss against individual humans. Sure, even someone who could go toe-to-toe with an archangel can be taken by surprise, but the show seems to be playing it as a more pervasive "OMG! These women are better than Sam and Dean! How will they ever cope?" And that I just don't buy. 

[Aeryn13]

Quote

Dean can't, and shouldn't, win every fight just because he's Dean freakin' Winchester. That would be a boring show to watch, IMO. 

It`s equally boring if it is the other way around and I feel after last Season we`re more in that territory than him being super-fighter.

Quote

To me, he was just unprepared for the fight, but that's not incompetence, in my book.

For me, if someone hits you with a car, then gets out and identifies as the enemy you`ve been looking for, then you mouth off to them and then proceed to get beaten down like a little noob, that is painful incompetence. 

[ZennyKenny]

You guys are all bringing up a ton of valid questions and inconsistencies. I hate to say it, but I really think that in order to get the most out of this show, you need to turn off your brains. I know it's what I have to do. Otherwise the retconning, contradictions and just plain lazy writing drives me mad.

[SueB]

On that fight:  

First, I agree with you.  I don't WANT to have to make excuses and this morning I am. Having said that:  

1) I think Dean just wanted to rip her apart with his hand.  He's smarter than that.

2) I think Dean might have underestimated her.  But he should have gone for the gun straight away.  Probably why she took it off straight away.

3) He DID just get hit by a car.  She was braced and probably had her seatbelt on.  I give him a partial thinking impairment.  Everything about him first walking out of the car and inspecting damage was that he was thinking "accident", not attack.  But you're right, he SHOULD have whipped out his gun as soon as she said his name.  Note: He also hasn't slept as far as I can tell he hasn't slept since before being a soul bomb.

BUT, like I said... they should have made it clearer.  The Evol British Henchwoman was smug and taunting.  Those brass knuckles needed to look more like Kryptonite for Cas (ONE 's"!!!!) and Dean should have had a better go at her.

[catrox14]

4 minutes ago, DittyDotDot said:

Street fighting is a fighting style. There are techniques and counter moves to street fighting, just like any other type of fighting. It may appear to be random brawling, but the person in the fight is making conscious moves and such. My point, however, was that the woman knew Dean thinks on his feet and instead of going in there with guns and weapons, she thought and acted more like Dean would in that situation as a way to counter act Dean's unpredictable behavior--even pulled his gun just like Dean would do--she basically tried to out-Dean Dean. 

edan would not have gotten in her face to begin with. He would have pulled his gun right away. He would have threatened to shoot her in the head.  Dean needed some information to find Sam but he would have used his gun to get the advantage. There is literally no reason why Dean would have engaged her in hand to hand combat in that situation. He would not have been baited into getting that close to her.

Even in the Styne confrontation, Dean was ready to use his knife or his gun but he got jumped from behind.  So he postured to lure Jacob into getting close enough for him to head butt him.  

The entire premise of the fight was built off the absurd plot contrivance of taking away Dean's go-to move by not even having him use it. It's ridiculous.

[DittyDotDot]

16 minutes ago, companionenvy said:

The problem I have with the BMOL more generally, so far, is that it seems like the show is juxtaposing these uber-competent but sketchy Brits against the country bumpkin Americans who will have to prove their mettle and regroup to overcome an apparently more powerful enemy.

I'm not sure it's that they are country bumpkins having to show their metal, but more like the the sketchy Brits aren't half as competent as they think they are and don't really know as much as they think they do about Sam and Dean. I've been pondering that the current British MoL weren't the same folks who put in place the system that kept Britain oh-so-safe all these years. My guess is they're really just children who are in way over their heads and don't know it yet. Something like Rome, just before the fall.

14 minutes ago, SueB said:

BUT, like I said... they should have made it clearer. 

I, for one, am glad they did not. One thing I appreciated about the episode is, they didn't fall into their usual habit of over-explaining every little bit of minutiae to tedium. They simply put it out there for us to make of it what they will. I really didn't need to see Dean win the fight anymore than I needed them to explain to me why he didn't win the fight afterward. It seemed pretty clear to me that Dean was unprepared and underestimated her while she wasn't and didn't. I'm okay with that, myself.

Edited October 14, 2016 by DittyDotDot

[catrox14]

14 minutes ago, DittyDotDot said:

Why would they assume the T-boning was an attack move instead of a random accident? Plus, it was one person, not a whole attack squad. I'm sure Dean thought they had the upper hand because he had an angel on his side, which turned out he didn't. To me, he was just unprepared for the fight, but that's not incompetence, in my book.

There is no reason for them to have been unprepared for a fight when he just saw blood in the bunker; was on the phone with the people that kidnapped Sam, and was on high alert.  It's nonsensical writing to me.  Even if he thought the t-bone was an accident, he learned right away who she was. He would have gone into fight mode immediately barring a head injury but that didn't play it that way as far as I could tell.

Even if Dean thought Cas had his power back, Dean wouldn't let his guard down because of it. It would be an extra soldier.

[Aeryn13]

Quote

The entire premise of the fight was built off the absurd plot contrivance of taking away Dean's go-to move by not even having him use it. It's ridiculous.

And they brought Cas down right with him. I mean, it was kind of a big deal when MOC!powered-up Dean could beat down a super-powered angel. Now, any random bitch can do it really. Because I bet you to most people it just looked like she put on normal brass knuckles. That whole thing was painful to watch. Just to get to the convoluted "saved by mommy" outcome.  

[Commando Cody]

I just remembered the scene with castiel pushing the van in background. The way they directed it was hilarious. 

[Myrelle]

2 minutes ago, DittyDotDot said:

It seemed pretty clear to me that Dean was unprepared and underestimated her while she wasn't and didn't

But this isn't classified as incompetence in a hunter to you? I'm sorry, but the only way I can get by that scene is to chalk it up to poor writing that included a ton of Mary Sue writing along with Dean being written OOC as a hunter-so yes, agree to disagree on that one.  I guess for those who want to give the writers a break you could go with Sue B's No. 3 but I also agree that Dean would most definitely have whipped out his gun upon hearing his name and especially if he was sleep deprived, if he'd been written IC as a hunter.

I'm used to the writing, but can never overlook something that they do that so completely adds to the ruination of what could have been a decent episode for me. That scene was garbage derived from garbage writing and nothing more, IMO. Hopefully Dean will fare better in the next episode, but again, I'm not confident of that at all, given the spoilers that we've gotten for these first two.

[DittyDotDot]

Just now, Myrelle said:

But this isn't classified as incompetence in a hunter to you? 

Nope. Dean wasn't unprepared because he had the chance to be prepared and went out to the movies instead of doing his homework. Things were happening quickly and Dean had no way to be prepared for this...yet. Dean was thinking and working it out, he just hadn't had time to put it all together yet and make a full plan, so he was making it up as he went along. Sometimes that's the way the job is and sometimes you come up short. That's not incompetence, IMO. Incompetence would be getting stabbed because you went in over-prepared and over-confident and failed to see the blonde woman in the car with an angel blade.

Personally, I don't think the scene highlighted how incompetent Dean was, but, as Sam said to Lady Toni, maybe the woman wasn't as as good at her job as she first appeared to be.