S12.E11: Regarding Dean

[catrox14]

Quote

“Regarding Dean” — (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET) (TV-14, DLV) (HDTV)

DEAN LOSES HIS MEMORY – Sam (Jared Padalecki) enlists Rowena’s (guest star Ruth Connell) help to track down an old world, powerful family of witches after Dean (Jensen Ackles) gets hit by a spell that is rapidly erasing his memory. John Badham directed the episode written by Meredith Glynn (#1211). Original airdate 2/9/2017.

[Mick Lady]

And what are they on Thursdays?

[catrox14]

[Mick Lady]

I swear that makes me want to get a Teddy Bear and hope it gets sick!

I'm shameless...

[catrox14]

I'm fine....

[Jediknight]

Okay, that was amazing.

Rowena got to help the boys, she got Dean complementing her hair, and she came up with the plan to stop the witches, she needs to join them on a road trip.  Dean completely remembers what she said, so he knows that she's actually on their side.  And we found out that the British Men of Letters ran her out.  Please don't kill off Rowena.

There was so much to love about this episode, there was the ending montage, Rowena helping, a "light stick", the post its, and Dean's enthusiasm about their roles as hunters.

One last thing since Dean had amnesia this episode, I'd like to remind everybody that Dean killed Hitler.

[Bessie]

My favorite Dean moment, hands down, was after he killed the witch instead of Sam and he gave that little grin with a thumbs up.  I can't believe they didn't include that one in the montage. It was adorable!

[7kstar]

I really enjoyed this one for the most part.  A few too big silly moments but I liked that it got real.  Will have to watch again to see how I feel about it but I thought some parts were really moving and presented a different view point. 

Interesting that Rowena needed help and couldn't do it on her own.  :)

[MysteryGuest]

I'm also going to need to watch this again to really form an opinion.  Jensen was great, but the switching from almost tragedy to comedy seemed a bit jarring in some scenes.  It might improve on a 2nd watch, so we'll see.  I thought Jared also did a great job in conveying his concern for Dean, and how difficult it was to watch him "disappear".  

I have to say that I love Rowena being on their side.  And it appears she also has an axe to grind with the BMOL, so I'm assuming that will come into play later on.  

[Mick Lady]

I loved it! I'll rewatch, but I know I'll still feel that way!

Mick and I said to each other half-way through, "catrox is gonna love this one!"

Question, why did Rowena give the book to Sam in the end? She just handed it over, why?!

[ahrtee]

3 minutes ago, Mick Lady said:

Question, why did Rowena give the book to Sam in the end? She just handed it over, why?!

No one but Rowena actually saw the book.  And if it's written in an obscure Celtic dialect, how will Sam know if she gave him the right book?

[Mick Lady]

1 minute ago, ahrtee said:

No one but Rowena actually saw the book.  And if it's written in an obscure Celtic dialect, how will Sam know if she gave him the right book?

Oh my God ahrtee, you're as devious as Rowena!

That's a complement by the way, I love her!

[ahrtee]

Actually, I was channeling Sam, who threw a fake Book of the Damned into the fire...

[catrox14]

So no one called Cas? That's stupid

I loved the ending and Dean's meltdown in the bathroom. But I have some issues with the episode , which may play better upon rewatch.

The lyrics to Broomstick Cowboy, by Bobby Goldsboro, the song playing in the closing montage are heartbreaking.

Quote

"Dream on, little Broomstick Cowboy,
Of rocket ships and Mars;
Of sunny days,
And Willie Mays,
And chocolate candy bars.
Dream on, little Broomstick Cowboy,
Dream while you can;
Of big green frogs,
And puppy dogs,
And castles in the sand.
For, all too soon you'll awaken;
Your toys will all be gone.
Your broomstick horse will ride away,
To find another home.
And you'll have grown into a man,
With cowboys of your own.
And then you'll have to go to war,
To try and save your home.
And then you'll have to learn to hate;
You'll have to learn to kill.
It's always been that way, my son;
I guess it always will.
No broomstick gun they'll hand you;
No longer you'll pretend.
You'll call some man your enemy;
You used to call him 'friend. '
And when the rockets thunder,
You'll hear your brothers cry.
And through it all you'll wonder
Just why they had to die.
So dream on, little Broomstick Cowboy,
Dream while you can;
For soon, you'll be a dreadful thing:
My son, you'll be a man.

For now, I'll just leave this here.

Edited February 10, 2017 by catrox14

[Goldmoon]

I thought it was odd that Rowena just handed the book to Sam.  Though he would open it to find that she cut out the pages, but you're right, they don't know what book they have.  And why did they even let her leave the house with "the book" if they weren't planning to let her keep it?

I will have to think about other parts of the episode, which I did not hate, however that montage with the song at the end was too weird.  What was that supposed to be about?  Seemed like a time-filler because we had already seen the scenes, except for him riding the bull.  I did really enjoy the bull-riding but felt it would work better as an outtake, or the boys could have run across the ride while scanning the security cameras.  The montage was just a world of no, for me.

One other thing that stood out was Dean's easy dismissal of being seduced while roofied.  Had he been a woman saying to someone (a man) who had unintentionally took advantage, I would feel squicked about a woman saying, "Oh, no big deal."  We know Dean is a horndog, and it was supposed to be taken in that context, but still.

Would you all hate me if I said I was expecting Dean to flirt with Rowena, and maybe more?

[ZennyKenny]

I think Rowena so easily gave up the book because she knows the value of being in the Winchesters' good graces.

I know that they have a tainted history together, but I always find myself saying "stop being so mean Sam!" when he's so cold towards Rowena. She didn't have to put so much effort into helping them. Plus, Sam has this way of putting distance between him and those that he doesn't respect with a sense of self-righteousness. For example, he's very adamant that he doesn't trust Rowena at all. But... he trusts her enough to leave her alone with a Dean who is losing his memory and is obviously very vulnerable?

[MysteryGuest]

 I'm hoping that Rowena just gave the book up with no ulterior motives.  I want her on their side.  And Goldmoon, you're not alone...I was expecting Dean to come on to Rowena a bit, too.  Or her to him.  Not in a creepy way, but in a flirty way.

I think I would have preferred that they not play so much of the episode for laughs.  And the montage at the end was a bit strange, I agree.  If they wanted to show the bull riding, they could have handled it like the Eye of the Tiger bit.  I'd have enjoyed that more, I think.

I feel like all I do is criticize the show every week, and that's disappointing to me.  There's just something that doesn't feel quite right to me this season, and I keep chalking it up to the writing, but maybe that's not it.  I just don't know what it is.  I've enjoyed bits and pieces of episodes, but I can't say there's been even one that I just loved.  I'm not happy to be feeling this way.

[catrox14]

3 minutes ago, ZennyKenny said:

I think Rowena so easily gave up the book because she knows the value of being in the Winchesters' good graces.

I know that they have a tainted history together, but I always find myself saying "stop being so mean Sam!" when he's so cold towards Rowena. She didn't have to put so much effort into helping them. Plus, Sam has this way of putting distance between him and those that he doesn't respect with a sense of self-righteousness. For example, he's very adamant that he doesn't trust Rowena at all. But... he trusts her enough to leave her alone with a Dean who is losing his memory and is obviously very vulnerable?

I've always had a little notion that Sam has a wee thing for Rowena so he overcompensates by being doubly harsh.

[SueB]

2 minutes ago, MysteryGuest said:

I feel like all I do is criticize the show every week, and that's disappointing to me.  There's just something that doesn't feel quite right to me this season, and I keep chalking it up to the writing, but maybe that's not it.  I just don't know what it is.  I've enjoyed bits and pieces of episodes, but I can't say there's been even one that I just loved.  I'm not happy to be feeling this way.

Well, disappointment usually comes from misaligned expectations.  That doesn't mean your expectations are wrong, but whatever you are expecting is not the same as what the show thinks it should be doing.  Again, doesn't make you wrong.  Just disappointed.  If you can figure out what you expected the show to do and it didn't (or conversely, what you didn't expect it to do and it went ahead and did) ... I suspect you'll find your answer. JMO.

[Goldmoon]

Spoiler

 

I hope Sam's thing isn't "wee."  He has big feet, after all.  :-)

[catrox14]

1 minute ago, MysteryGuest said:

I think I would have preferred that they not play so much of the episode for laughs.  And the montage at the end was a bit strange, I agree.  If they wanted to show the bull riding, they could have handled it like the Eye of the Tiger bit.  I'd have enjoyed that more, I think.

My take on the closing montage is that Dean's life is gonna get a lot more difficult going forward anf this may be the last time Dean has a bit of peace and freedom. And to highlight his lost childhood.

[Ninamags]

I liked this. 

The montage was sweet and sappy. Loved that he was getting a kick out of Scooby Doo! 

I also loved that he wrote the post-it's for himself. He totally saved the day. 

Sam was getting seriously freaked out about the situation and didn't want to lose his brother. 

[MysteryGuest]

1 minute ago, SueB said:

Well, disappointment usually comes from misaligned expectations.  That doesn't mean your expectations are wrong, but whatever you are expecting is not the same as what the show thinks it should be doing.  Again, doesn't make you wrong.  Just disappointed.  If you can figure out what you expected the show to do and it didn't (or conversely, what you didn't expect it to do and it went ahead and did) ... I suspect you'll find your answer. JMO.

I think I just expected it to be better.  I don't remember having all of these plot holes in prior seasons.  Sure they've always stretched credulity to keep the plot moving, but it seems like that's a regular occurrence this season.  I'm sure it's probably just a matter of my expectations being too high, but how low do they have to go for me to really think these episodes are great?  I'm not sure I can get there.  I wanted them to really do better than this, and it's looking more and more like that's not going to happen.  I really hate lost potential.

[Goldmoon]

Quote

Well, disappointment usually comes from misaligned expectations.  That doesn't mean your expectations are wrong, but whatever you are expecting is not the same as what the show thinks it should be doing.  Again, doesn't make you wrong.  Just disappointed.  If you can figure out what you expected the show to do and it didn't (or conversely, what you didn't expect it to do and it went ahead and did) ... I suspect you'll find your answer. JMO.

I like this, SueB.  I really hated the show last year and this year hasn't improved in any significant way.  I think my expectation is outdated.  That is, I enjoyed the MoTW format in the first three seasons.  I was good with the angel assist and everything to Swan Song.  Everything after that has felt off in one way or another.  I think the showrunners lost my trust when they initially killed Cas in Season seven, then went on to kill so many of my favorites: Bobby, Kevin, and Benny, in particular.  I enjoyed that angel played by Sebastian Roche (Balthezar) and really regretted seeing Cas kill him.  My misaligned expectations include seeing death as having some meaning, not just included for shock value.  I have news for the powers that be: The shock has worn off.  The death of favorite characters is merely annoying. I wonder if they showrunners are planning to end the show ala Blake's 7, that is, killing everyone off.  I will cross that bridge when it comes, if I stay with Show that long.

[Myrelle]

I loved it. By far, my favorite episode of the season-of the last three seasons, tbh. Mr. Ackles delivers again. He was adorable, heartbreaking, and badass. And that ending was one for the ages. I cannot wait to re-watch it.

[Mick Lady]

17 minutes ago, SueB said:

Well, disappointment usually comes from misaligned expectations.  That doesn't mean your expectations are wrong, but whatever you are expecting is not the same as what the show thinks it should be doing.  Again, doesn't make you wrong.  Just disappointed.  If you can figure out what you expected the show to do and it didn't (or conversely, what you didn't expect it to do and it went ahead and did) ... I suspect you'll find your answer. JMO.

I still love this show, and will never stop watching! 12 seasons, and it still can find a way to delight me. Few shows can match that!

Sam and Dean's relationship is one of the most complicated ever shown IMO, and provides us with endless debate. That in itself is worth the price of admission. If you've watched from the beginning, it's endlessly fascinating.

[ZennyKenny]

As much as they are running with the joke, Dean had BETTER get to use the grenade launcher on the big bad in this season's finale!

[AwesomO4000]

26 minutes ago, Goldmoon said:

I really hated the show last year and this year hasn't improved in any significant way.

I feel for you, Goldmoon. I really enjoyed last season. I hadn't liked one that much since season 7* and I if I hadn't I would've had a hard time continuing on with the show... seasons 8 and 9 almost made me quit, but season 11 made me glad I'd kept with it.

*Yes, I love season 7. I'm weird.

I really enjoyed this episode. The only thing that would've made it better for me is if Sam hadn't been quite a bit on the incompetent side - he needed Rowena and Dean to save him - but other than that, it was a good episode for me. I guess I can chalk it up to Sam being frantic to save Dean and not thinking clearly if I need to.

Edited to add:

Quote

As much as they are running with the joke, Dean had BETTER get to use the grenade launcher on the big bad in this season's finale!

I don't know, @ZennyKenny, maybe this will become Dean's new "pie," in that Dean won't ever get to use it - or if Sam does suggest to let Dean use it, it'll clue him that either something is wrong with Sam or that it's not really Sam. Since Sam did bring Dean pie, maybe now he'll keep saying no to the rocket launcher instead. ; ) And it was amusing that Dean knew that his regressing/forgetting self would be tempted by the rocket launcher, and so put a big "No" on it. Hee.

Edited February 10, 2017 by AwesomO4000

[Goldmoon]

Do we know that Dean put the sticky notes on everything?  I thought Sam had done it.

[Diane]

I loved it. I also thought Sam did all the post-it's. Going to rewatch.

[bethy]

I really enjoyed this one. I loved that we got so much of the boys working/being together. I really liked Rowena's interaction with both boys, which kind of surprised me because I haven't been a huge fan of hers. I thought Dean was by turns hilarious and heart-breaking. I loved Sam's progress through exasperation and concern and fear for his brother. Mostly I just felt like we had an episode of two brothers saving people and hunting things, even if the person being saved was Dean. And I feel like it's been a while since we've seen that show. 

[Myrelle]

I think Rowena did the ones in the passenger area of the car while either she or Sam could have done the ones in the trunk. I had to LOL at the one that said Stay. As if-even with the memory loss. ;-)

Edited February 10, 2017 by Myrelle

[SueB]

53 minutes ago, Myrelle said:

I think Rowena did the ones in the passenger area of the car while either she or Sam could have done the ones in the trunk. I had to LOL at the one that said STAY. As if-even with the memory loss. ;-)

The Post-It notes were a highlight!  "Stay".  When I read it on the screen, I read it with Rowena's Scottish accent. Not sure about Sam writing ALL the Post-It notes because I'm not sure he'd lead Dean to weaponry.  OTOH, "No." on the grenade launcher was IMO CLEARLY Sam.  So... jury is out for me.  I can see them both labeling while he still had some memory. 

1 hour ago, Mick Lady said:

I still love this show, and will never stop watching! 12 seasons, and it still can find a way to delight me. Few shows can match that!

Sam and Dean's relationship is one of the most complicated ever shown IMO, and provides us with endless debate. That in itself is worth the price of admission. If you've watched from the beginning, it's endlessly fascinating.

Oh, I LOVE the show all the time.  I think my initial binge-watch introduction allowed me to get comfortable with little flaws and not lose enjoyment because of them.  I've had other shows that I've loved but when I started to get bummed about story direction, every little thing was GLARING.  Not so with Supernatural.  Not for me.  I feel somewhat "safe" with this show because it's committed to the brother's relationship -- and that's probably the only thing that is a "MUST" for me.  I don't like it when they fight but I always have faith it'll eventually work out.  Because these guys have 100% completely sold me on the relationship.

As for tonight's episode, I'm left coasting this week and just finished.  My initial thoughts:

- Dean seemed lighter even before he really started to lose all his memories.  In general, I think there is something more content about him this year -- despite GITMO West, EvilBabyDaddy, and cosmic consequences looming.  
- I LOVED Rowena in this episode.  I completely bought her re-thinking her existence. Amara scared the poop out of her last year and her realizing that absolute power doesn't really make you happy makes sense.  I loved her delight in Dean, her COMPETENCY, the way she dealt with the insults (I think previously she might have lost her head a bit at that moment) and the sense that she may not seek redemption but her helping the boys was a positive experience for her.  I hope she stays on this trajectory.  She's always been delightfully snarky but to remain bitter and scheming would get old IMO.  Rowena going in a new direction makes sense and keeps her character interesting.
- Sam really got to me this episode. He was literally devastated seeing Dean lose his mind.  I believed him when he said watching Dean slip away was worse.  I also thought it was a wee bit of "shoe is on the other foot" for him.  How many years did Dean literally have to mind Sam when he was a child?  And Sam ran off as well.  I know the situation had more immediacy for Sam tonight, but I like seeing him show his caretaker side from time to time.
- Talk about a gut shot.  Dean so carefree versus Dean terrified.  Jensen has a great deal of range in this episode.  And I'm having a fangirl sigh over him being sweet to the bunny (thanks preview for reminding us that Dean feels bad for the bunny the witch killed in S3).  And yes, the lyrics to Broomstick Cowboy were intense.
- EXCELLENT script by Meredith Glynn.  I liked seeing Dean's reaction to things. Hunter being "awesome", stone-cold killer being disturbing, serious squick over random body fluids, and ultimately happier to have memories (good and bad) rather than carefree.  This was a tight little script from my perspective.
- Those witches were also good villains.  Not run of the mill.  I must admit, seeing Dean chase after a human to kill him felt a little ... disturbing.  Clearly Dean thought he was a murderer and had already been attacked.  But he was shooting to kill all the way.  I'm not saying witches deserve a pass because they're human but his evidence against this guy was a bit thin to be lethal right from the jump.  Not a big deal but something I noticed.
 

And yes, that last bit of "Broomstick Cowboy" reminded me of the 'Last Supper' vibe Robbie Thompson talked about for "Book of the Damned".  Now I feel like the Sword of Damocles is hanging over Dean's head.  He had a scary but ultimately life affirming experience.  This means he's due for something horrid.  Because. 

Edited February 10, 2017 by SueB

[Ninamags]

I kinda figured Sam did all the post-it's in the hotel room.  Jared said as much in a tweet. ?

I just figured Dean did the ones in the trunk. 

I did like Rowena in this as well, but then, I've always liked her. 

She's tiny! Standing next to Jensen? Yikes. ?

[Myrelle]

Dean was a dead shot even with the memory loss. Loved this and all the little innate hunter instincts that he exhibited in this episode. Sam's "No, no, no! Brother! Witch!" and then BOOM! the witch was dead was an awesome thing. And then yes the shrug and the little grin and the thumbs up...all Gold.

[Mick Lady]

"No!" on the grenade launcher had to be Sam!

[AwesomO4000]

50 minutes ago, Mick Lady said:

"No!" on the grenade launcher had to be Sam!

That would make it even funnier then... continuing the running joke of Sam continually saying "no" to Dean's wanting to use the grenade launcher.

I'll have to rewatch tomorrow to see if I can recognize the handwriting.

[Mick Lady]

At one point, Dean better be able to use the damn thing!

Maybe to kill Hitler...oh, wait!

[Geordiegirl1967]

3 hours ago, Goldmoon said:

Do we know that Dean put the sticky notes on everything?  I thought Sam had done it.

I'm sure Sam did the sticky notes apart from the 2 inside the car that Rowena did. We saw Sam start the labelling with the lamp. And Dean couldn't have done it because the whole point was that he couldn't remember. 

It is very 'Sam-like' to put a big 'NO' on the grenade launcher. He knows his brother. 

[Casseiopeia]

I liked this episode.  I didn't love it.  I would give Jensen a 10 and the rest about a 7.  The editing has been off for me the entire season.  The scenes just don't seem to flow very well.  How did Sam find the house?  There was entirely too much time spent on Rowena's back story and the coctail waitress.  I would have rather spent that time on Dean regressing and how that impacted Sam.  

I think the montage at the end was supposed to show that Dean did remember everything.  Again while it was a sweet moment it would have been better as an outtake or and Eye of the Tiger add on.  It didn't add anything to the episode.

This was an improvement over Meredith Glynn's last episode and really a solid effort.  I just feel that the editing could have been better.

[Boopsahoy]

8 hours ago, Goldmoon said:

The montage was just a world of no, for me.

I thought it was just me! It was like a memorial. I would have liked it better if it just ended with Dean on Larry.

[Boopsahoy]

7 hours ago, Ninamags said:

I also loved that he wrote the post-it's for himself. He totally saved the day

I thought Sam wrote the post its? I loved the episode except for the montage. My favorite line was Dean after hearing about his life saying "it sounds like we're heroes."

[Myrelle]

It was a memorial. To his lost childhood. The whole episode was, IMO. With a sprinkling of Rowena's backstory in there, too.

ETA: And to let the viewers know that he remembered everything that happened in this episode, even the stuff that happened while he was hexed-like Rowena's confession. And he knows that she reversed the spell. I loved their shared moment of laughter right afterward(sorry it had to be at Sam's expense, but the joy was so real. It almost looked like Jensen and Ruth instead of Dean and Rowena to me).

Edited February 10, 2017 by Myrelle

[bethy]

I like the idea that Rowena did the post-its in the car and Sam the ones in the trunk because of course Sam would know Dean wouldn't "stay" and that the "no" on the grenade launcher would be necessary. 

ETA: Add me to the group that was befuddled by the montage at the end. Strange directing(?) choice in an otherwise good episode for me.

Edited February 10, 2017 by bethy

[auntvi]

3 hours ago, Boopsahoy said:

It was like a memorial. I would have liked it better if it just ended with Dean on Larry.

Yes. I obviously knew they weren't killing Dean off, but the montage with music is the kind of thing shows do for the guy who just died. I doubt it, but it's like they had a minute left to fill so threw the montage together.

[Aeryn13]

So this was a good surprise, much better than expected and so much better than Yellow Fever. While I vastly prefer the dramatic bits to humorous ones in general on this show - if you can`t do humor, don`t do humor - here they weren`t mean-spirited and/or humiliation porn so it worked much better for me. It arose more from the situation and on top of it Dean even got moments of competence and saving the day. Hell yes. *fistpump* 

Thank you Meredith Glynn for acknowledging Dean is hot and has no trouble attracting women. Thank you in gneral for this ep. I have now marked her down as the Dean-friendliest writer on the show. Not that there is much competition but I shudder to think what the concept would have been like in the hands of Dabb or Perez. 

I can take Rowena in small doses usually but she worked for me here. Her moment of honesty was nicely done. And I think she truly enjoyed unburdened!Dean.

Also loved that it wasn`t any kind of stupid lesson ep. Just an acknowledgment that even all the baggage is still worth it to Dean and he prefers it over artificial spell-induced happiness. Of course that moment in the bathroom wasn`t very happy, it was heartbreaking. My only quibble was: why not play Dean`s theme? I thought it would be starting up but then not so much. Awww, I love that piece of music and it would have fitted in here in ways it wouldn`t have for many years.

The witch antagonists were pretty bland but they just played a small side role.

The ending montage was a bit odd but I think they just wanted to show that Dean remembered everything.

So, after last week, that is the second episode this Season I actually enjoyed, this one much better but still.

If now they could give the character another good dramatic ep or action ep, written by Glynn, I would highly appreciate it.    

[DittyDotDot]

I liked it, but also didn't love it. I felt like it was too rushed at times and too slow at other times. I think they tried too hard to hit the emotional notes, but didn't develop the build up enough for them to pay off for me. And, I loved Rowena--as is my general want--but I felt like it could've, and maybe should've, been an episode of it's own. I won't say it felt over-packed, but it didn't seem to fully manifest either...if that makes any sense at all.

However, there was no Lair of Letters to be seen in the entire episode, and for that alone, I think I might be compelled to re-watch it. Nice job changing up the episode format, show!!

I did get a hearty chuckle that Dean forgot how to drive, but didn't ever forget how to read or shoot, though.  ;)

11 hours ago, Mick Lady said:

Question, why did Rowena give the book to Sam in the end? She just handed it over, why?!

Heh, I was sure she didn't. I totally expected Sam to open it and find Rowena had switched the covers and the book inside would be something like The Kitchen Witches. However, even if Rowena gave the correct book to Sam, what's to stop her from taking pictures of all the pages of it with her phone earlier? ;)

11 hours ago, Goldmoon said:

I will have to think about other parts of the episode, which I did not hate, however that montage with the song at the end was too weird.  What was that supposed to be about? 

The song is about how growing up is a loss of innocence, so relish it while you can. I didn't really care for the montage, myself. I felt like it was just tacked on to get the clips of Jensen ridding the electric bull in when I would've preferred they use that time to develop Dean's memory loss more instead, but I do think the song fits the episode quite nicely.

10 hours ago, MysteryGuest said:

I feel like all I do is criticize the show every week, and that's disappointing to me.  There's just something that doesn't feel quite right to me this season, and I keep chalking it up to the writing, but maybe that's not it.  I just don't know what it is.  I've enjoyed bits and pieces of episodes, but I can't say there's been even one that I just loved.  I'm not happy to be feeling this way.

It's hard to feel this way, believe me, I know! I went through it a while back--S9 was especially painful--but I'm okay with it now. I know it's not perfect and there's sometimes some very big fails, but every now and again, it really does hit the right notes. I've just made my peace those moments are probably going to be very far and few between. But, when the show does get it right, it's better than almost any show out there, IMO. So, I think it's worth it in the end. 

10 hours ago, SueB said:

Well, disappointment usually comes from misaligned expectations.  That doesn't mean your expectations are wrong, but whatever you are expecting is not the same as what the show thinks it should be doing.  Again, doesn't make you wrong.  Just disappointed.  If you can figure out what you expected the show to do and it didn't (or conversely, what you didn't expect it to do and it went ahead and did) ... I suspect you'll find your answer. JMO.

I don't know that it's really that simple. Sometimes things just don't connect; Maybe your having a bad day or just not in the right head space, or maybe it's just not your thing. I have the same theory about books, sometimes the right book finds you at the right time and sometimes not. But years later, I can pick up the same book and it will have the exact opposite effect on me than what I'm expecting just because I'm in a totally different head space than I was when I first read it. That's why I'm so fond of rereading book and re-watching shows; it's almost like viewing it from a completely different point of view at times.

8 hours ago, Mick Lady said:

"No!" on the grenade launcher had to be Sam!

Yeah, I think Rowena only wrote the notes in the car. Sam probably wrote the ones in the trunk for safe measure knowing Dean's desire to use the grenade launcher and knowing he'd need to label the one weapon Dean would actually need to save his ass if everything went sideways...which, it always goes sideways, right? 

5 hours ago, Casseiopeia said:

The editing has been off for me the entire season.  The scenes just don't seem to flow very well.  How did Sam find the house?  There was entirely too much time spent on Rowena's back story and the coctail waitress.  I would have rather spent that time on Dean regressing and how that impacted Sam.  

That's interesting because I was thinking I really liked the editing of this episode more than I have lately. Actually, I liked the overall look of this episode more than I have for a while too. I wish they'd tone down the lighting, but I liked the way the scenes were staged and framed, it was almost reminiscent of Kim Manners at times. No typical boring sit 'n chats that I recall either. 

[Bessie]

3 hours ago, Myrelle said:

And he knows that she reversed the spell. I loved their shared moment of laughter right afterward(sorry it had to be at Sam's expense, but the joy was so real.

I liked that moment too, particularly the reaction shot of Sam where he looks like he wants to haul off and punch Dean for that joke, while at the same time he's just so damn relieved that Dean is okay. 

But, that was a moment where characterization was sacrificed for the joke. There is no way that Sam would allow Rowena to reverse the spell without him being present. The writer wants me to believe that he doesn't trust her with the book, but he trusts her with his brother?  Sorry, no can do. 

[bearcatfan]

3 hours ago, Myrelle said:

I loved their shared moment of laughter right afterward(sorry it had to be at Sam's expense, but the joy was so real. It almost looked like Jensen and Ruth instead of Dean and Rowena to me).

Joking at Sam's expense is such a brother thing to do. I have 2 boys and the brother moments of teasing each other feel very real based on my observations of them.

I wonder how many of the little jibes are scripted and how many are ad libbed. Jensen stated once that the one about the clippers was ad libbed. Both of them are brothers so they have plenty of real life experience to draw from.

[Demented Daisy]

Well, that was meh-worthy.

I'm tired of the show trying to pretend like Sam, Dean, or Cas will be in some life (or worse)-threatening situation.  We all know that, by the end of the episode, everything will be back to the status quo.  After 12 seasons, everyone -- everyone! -- involved has got to start pushing themselves.  They're in a rut.  A stale, boring rut.

Make me care again!  Because right now, I feel no investment.  Not good.