Episode 11.11 reaction

[amypond45]

LOVED so much about this episode:


* MOTW is a banshee! Wanted them to do one of those since way back in Season 2 when Dean mentions Sam and John "wrapping up that banshee thing" while Dean was with Lisa;
* Sam tossing & turning in bed, shadows that look like "the cage" all over him;
* Dean worried about Sam, asking him if he's okay, finding an "easy" hunt for them close to home to distract his brother as only Dean knows how to do;
* Dean's now told Lucifer all about trying and failing to kill Amara, and presumably about his bond with her, which he hasn't even told Sam, that we know of...NOT GOOD. But scary cool, too.
* awesome hearing-impaired hunter - LOVE THIS! More, please;
* awesome Dee Wallace character - smart, attractive, funny, former-entertainer who totally holds her own with Dean in the charm department and Go Girl! with the "hand-on-the-knee" comeback line!;
* Mildred recognizes that Dean is "pining" for someone -- (okay, I know it's not Sam, but...) Dean/Amara is getting more and more traction...not sure how to feel about this, but I'm pretty sure it's NOT GOOD. But maybe scary cool, so...
* Sam apologizing to Dean for the not-looking-for-him thing. This still rankles, and it'll probably take me a while to adjust to the fact that the show made it canon once and for all that Sam didn't even try to find out what had happened to Dean (and that he shirked his responsibility to Kevin, which doesn't make any sense AT ALL!) OH DAMN I HAVE WAY TOO MANY FEELINGS -- MOSTLY ANGRY ONES -- ABOUT THIS! But I can appreciate Dean's forgiveness (AGAIN, WHAT?! And this was FOUR YEARS AGO! and yet we get no on-screen apology from Dean about stuffing an angel down Sam's gullet....!!! but I digress...);
* Sam putting the Retirement Home brochure in their box of treasures...yes, of course it's a treasured dream that someday they'll grow old and retire together!
* the final scene where they're getting into bed (bare feet!) and now it's Dean who can't sleep, Dean with the guilty conscience, presumably "pining" for Amara (but can't I pretend it's Sam? ;-)

So overall pretty good, barring that frustrating purgatory thing.

Comments

[smalltrolven.livejournal.com]

I agree with so much of this. But gosh that Purgatory conversation though, I guess I saw it so differently, Sam didn't say that he didn't try to find out what happened to Dean. He said that he shouldn't have stopped looking. Which to me, means that he did look. Just like we fans always thought he did, because Of Course he would have. He just never was clear about it to Dean because Dean was so grumpy in the first half of season 8. So I'm super happy about them being honest about Purgatory freaking finally. The way Dean actually listened, actually made sure Sam knew he heard him made me so happy. Because that's where the true grace of forgiveness is between two people like this who love each other beyond reason.

[amypond45.livejournal.com]

I went back and rewatched the Purgatory conversation again (such a chore ;-) but it still sounds to me like Sam's confessing how sorry he is that he didn't do more to find Dean. I hear him say "but I stopped" as giving up way too soon, and this is certainly true when compared to the way he tried to get Dean back in Mystery Spot or after Season 4, so I tend to believe him. I think that was the source of his guilt and suffering at the beginning of the episode, or at least that's what Show wants us to think. It's hard for me to swallow the idea that Sam's still agonizing over something that happened four years ago this way, but it happens in real life, so I'll buy it. Not happy about it, but it feels like Show really really needed to put that point to rest, and now they have, so time to move on. Plot-wise, I understand it; they needed something big for Sam to feel guilty about and then confess to Dean so Dean could provide that much-needed absolution (which he did beautifully, thank you, Dean!) but it's really all about showcasing Dean's lack of confession, to emphasize the BIG secret he's still keeping from Sam, and his own discomfort about that. I get it, but I don't particularly like it. I'll get used to it, I guess!