alwaysenduphere | hello darkness, my old friend.

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hello darkness, my old friend.

First off. Hee. I changed the language settings on my Facebook account to Pirate speak. It's oh so highly amusing. There's also Leet speak for the more geek-inclined.

Supernatural. Gah. How could I have ever doubted that this show would remain amazing to me? I mean, I wasn't, really, but I will admit, I've been overall disappointed with most of the episodes since 4.10. And this one? I have very little to complain about.

We've been reading Doctor Faustus in my lit class this week, and I'm constantly comparing Dean with Faustus, as well as Sam at times.

For those who don't know, Faustus sells his soul to Lucifer in order to get the power to do almost anything, and ends up squandering his potential away, performing rather simple parlour tricks, all the while torn between repenting his sins and saving himself from eternal damnation. The play ends with him being pulled into hell. It's the play where the quote about Helen of Troy, "the face that launched a thousand ships," comes from. It's also the first piece of literature we've read in class that I've pretty much LOVED. Anyway. On point. This post is about Supernatural, not the supressed lit geek in me.

To me, the most important lines in Faustus pertaining to SPN are these:

Why this is hell, nor am I out of it.
Think'st thou that I, who saw the face of God,
And tasted the eternal joys of heaven,
Am not tormented with ten thousand hells
In being deprived of everlasting bliss? (3.76–80)

The demon Mephastophilis insists that he and his fellow demons are always in hell, even when they are on earth, because being deprived of the presence of God, which they once enjoyed, is hell enough.

I'm not the type of person to expand and expand into some cool meta about all this, I could try, if anyone really wants me to, but oh my gosh thoughts like that hurt my brain. But basically, I think this quote pertains:
To Dean: come back from hell but left part of his soul there.
To Ruby: She wants to help Sam, that much is obvious, she wants to get back at Lilith, but after seeing that smug smile on her face this evening, there's still more agenda there, still that lure of demonhood that her remaining humanity isn't keeping in check.
To Sam: Walking the line with the demon blood, he's really becoming the Faustus in this story, too, making deals and messing around with things much bigger than him, only thinking briefly of the consequences occasionally.
To Castiel: simply the line "being deprived of the presence of God" explains him away. Same with Anna and Uriel and all the angels plotting to revive Lucifer.

There was another passage, too, but I don't feel like looking for it. But yeah. Go read Doctor Faustus. It's pretty awesome.

Anyway, review! This truly is the first episode I've been SURPRISED in since Dean's revelation of his 10 years of torture. I did not see Uriel coming. Most everything else I'd been mildly spoiled about, although I do find it interesting that John Winchester never broke for a century. Unlike Alastair, I've always found Dean to be stronger than his father, so that simple fact blew my mind.

I'm waiting for the dl to finish. I have the ep recorded on VHS tape (side note: they don't even make VCR's anymore. Chagrin.), but I don't think I'm ready to watch it again yet, so this is all from memory.

Kinda wish we would've seen a bit of Pamela's funeral. Granted, I didn't much care for her, but Dean's well-placed righteousness would've rung truer if we could've seen it. Also, Sam is driving...strange. :/ And Dean's just tired. God, so tired, and I don't blame him.

Sam and Ruby. Saammm....and Ruby. Until this episode, I thought Ruby stayed with Sam for vengeance, duty, and maybe just the slightest bit of love or lust. And I still do, but now I think there's also a hidden agenda in there somewhere, after that smirk. She called him "Sammy" and he didn't even flinch. WTF. I want more of them, more of what their fucked-up 'ship has turned into. And the demon blood thing, sure, gross, waaay too vampiric to be kosher, but I completely understand the path. His powers come from demon blood; he wants to be stronger, he needs more. BAMF Sam is both amazing and scary at the same time.

Also, Jared looks mighty terrifying when he's pinning creeptastic demons to the wall. And Castiel's face as he's doing it, the disbelief. Hell, ALL the emotions on Cass's face in this episode. I've been feeling kind of blah about Cass mostly since he hasn't DONE anything amazing other than be the "ooh, shiny character", but this episode made me once again appreciate him and be a fan.

I love Anna, I loved her from before, and I hope more people will start loving her now. While I'm a little confused how she's running around a wanted angel like she is, I think they've kept her in the show for a decent reason. She will make a good catalyst for Castiel's fall, in theory. I'm a little sad that it looks as though that's what will happen, but I'm hopeful that it's not. Cass is a more interesting character as a conflicted angel. Also, I want Cass/Anna fic like WOAH now. GIVE ME PRON!! ...but only the kind with some angst. Something about fluff/humor where Cass is involved just squicks me.

Dean. Deaaan. Where to start with Dean? So many pretty shots of Jensen's emotional acting through that torture scene. I thought "I WANT THAT SCREENCAP" probably 10 times or more watching it. I wanted to see more reaction from Sam about Dean's torturing ways. I wanted to see more Dean torture. Damn you, SPN, for being on a broadcast network! The bit about Alastair torturing John didn't surprise me, and not just 'cuz I'd seen the promo clip; they set him up as "The grand inquisitor of hell," after all. Only logical. Dean as the first seal IS surprising, but at the same time, not completely unexpected. He had to fit into the mytharc somewhere, and I like that while it does single HIM out as something more important than just bein' a hunter, which I'm kind of meh about, it's not like it was his Shanshu prophecy or anything; it could've been ANY righteous man, just so happened his number was up. And after Alastair tells him he's the catalyst, the way we see him break; the way Jensen appears to break, I think is my new favorite scene. The way he just accepts it says so much about how much Dean has changed, how right Sam actually was in Sex and Violence about how weak he's become.

And what Cass says in the final scene and Dean's response only solidifies that. He's officially hit rock bottom, he doesn't care, he has no confidence, it's all back to disappointing Daddy, everything we've learned and seen about Dean in 4 seasons boils down to this one scene, where it all essentially falls apart on him. And his voice, Jensen's deep gravelly angry/rightous/insert adjective here Batman voice, so broken like it was...*takes a moment to pretty much be in love with Jensen* *ahem.* It's also both interesting and a little sad to me that he confesses these things to Castiel, not Sam. I'm a little miffed Sam isn't anywhere in sight after disposing of Alastair.

Also, next week's episode?! I HATE it when they do the big "reveal shit, angels vs demons, tortured dean" episode and then the next one is some throwaway that probably DOES have some meaning to it, but really...throwaway. UGH.

Whew. Yeah. My hands are tired of typing. In conclusion: I need screencaps and Castiel/Anna of any type NOW. And it needs to be Thursday again.

My dl just finished, so I think I'm off to watch again. I wouldn't be surprised if this post got repeatedly edited throughout the evening. :P

-why is Alastair on a Star of David?
-I love Dean's quip about a mess on his shoes.
-Alastair's "grasshopper" and then the next line, when Dean says he's dreamt of torturing him, Al actually looks a little fearful.
-Anna: "before you ruin the one weapon you have." Which is exactly where the episode ends.
-Alastair: "Something caught in my throat...i think its my throat." LMAO.
-Can angels BE friends? Doesn't that imply emotion?

I'm so hopelessly in love with this episode.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

you can change FB settings to pirate speak? *goes immediately to do that*

GAH! Can't read your review yet as the eppie isn't for another ten minutes.

Yulp. It's under the language settings.

OH, SUCK. :P Come back when you have seen it, it'll still be here. Hell, it might be longer if I keep adding to it, lol.

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crimsonkitty88.livejournal.com - 2009-03-20 05:07 (UTC) - Expand

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alwaysenduphere.livejournal.com - 2009-03-20 05:16 (UTC) - Expand

We missed it. :( We completely forgot. Is there a place we can watch the episode?

*smacks you* YOU CANT FORGET?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!
Uhm...it should be up on the CW website tomorrow. http://cwtv.com/cw-video
Or it might already be up over at surfthechannel, but the quality isn't always amazing. I'd pick the megavideo ones. http://www.surfthechannel.com/show/343.html
And if that doesn't work, I can give you download links.

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j-boo-bubbles.livejournal.com - 2009-03-20 15:41 (UTC) - Expand

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alwaysenduphere.livejournal.com - 2009-03-20 17:00 (UTC) - Expand

I need screencaps and Castiel/Anna of any type NOW.

I know. I totally wanna icon their scenes now. I really hope we get to see more of those two together. They so totally have romantic history together. No one can convince me otherwise.

I know! We could totally get a Anna/Castiel spin off show or something. That'd be awesome. 'specially since SPN's become more of the angels + the winchesters stories now. I feel a prequel spinoff in the works. :D

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americangrl69.livejournal.com - 2009-03-20 04:42 (UTC) - Expand

She called him "Sammy" and he didn't even flinch. WTF.

That really struck me, even more than the pseudo-vampirism.

I agree completely about Castiel showing emotion. Up to now he's just wandered around being righteous and mysterious, but this episode really broke him open into something real.

I hadn't called the Dean-as-Seal thing, but it does make so much sense. I'm kind of eh about the Dean-as-a-woobie thing, though. Hell did break some integral part of him, but I expected a lot more anger and a lot less helplessness. (I don't like emotional scenes as a whole, though; I squee during arguments and fast-forward through crying jags.)

Something real. Exactly. Castiel has dimensions now.

Oh, I TOTALLY think Dean should gtf over it already. I agree with Sam, he needs to GET ANGRY already, angry at Lilith, angry at Alastair for breaking him, something other than all this self-pity. But I do understand him.

side note: Aw, Casey in your icon. She could've been so much more interesting had Sam not killed her. :/

I had my FB set to pirate speak for awhile, but now that they've changed the layout yet again I changed it back, Cause now I don't understand a thing and pirate speak would kinda only make it worse XD

This episode left me speechless. I have no words. None. At. All.

Well, there is that. But I barely use facebook anymore for more than really updating my status and stalking people, so it's just an added amusement to me to spice things up.

I have too many and yet still feel inarticulate!

Also, next week's episode?! I HATE it when they do the big "reveal shit, angels vs demons, tortured dean" episode and then the next one is some throwaway that probably DOES have some meaning to it, but really...throwaway. UGH.
This made me think of that BTVS episode Tabula Rasa (I'm assuming familiarity based on your Dawn emotion picture). Like, everything will be all fine and happy and brothery and then when reality hits they'll remember all of their problems and it will all seem even worse.

He had to fit into the mytharc somewhere, and I like that while it does single HIM out as something more important than just bein' a hunter, which I'm kind of meh about, it's not like it was his Shanshu prophecy or anything; it could've been ANY righteous man, just so happened his number was up.
I hadn't thought about this, but you're right, it's much better than Dean being destined from birth or something, it works really well--even if it did give more Dean even more to feel horrible about.

I'm a little miffed Sam isn't anywhere in sight after disposing of Alastair.
He's almost like a man of mystery now, swooping in to save the day. I'm guessing it's building to a reveal regarding that Ruby/Sam relationship that you want to know more about. And it helps us wonder about him, not knowing where he's going, what he's doing.

Oh, I'm a Buffy nerd from way back. And that's exactly what that episode looks like. "Let's erase all their problems for an episode, leave people hanging for a bit, and then smack the characters in the face all over again by the end." SO CRUEL. God, Dean is becoming exactly Buffy more and more anymore. s4Dean=s6Buffy.

Yeah, I wasn't a fan when we learned that Dean was part of the arc. One brother being less than normal I could deal with, but when a show about two hunters and the family business becomes something other than its tagline, I'm hesitant. But this way, I accept the explanation.

I hope it's building to more with them. I'm tired of all these little surprising tidbits, interesting as they are, I'm ready for the dance to be up.

LOL.. well, don't disregard next weeks ep yet. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised and happy. I know some bits about what's going to happen. Just enough to say that it's no thow-away and don't just let the dvr tape and watch American Idol or Office or whatever. Stay tuned!!!

And ditto on what you said.. loved this episode completely. But ... THEY BROKE MY DEAN!!!!!

Oh, I loathe those shows anymore. And I'm so not the type of person that just doesn't watch an episode because I may not like the content. I don't get that. Also, I'm way too poor for a dvr. lol. I actually think it'll be a nice change to see Dean not be so broken and Sam not heading down this path for a moment, I just don't agree with the timing placement of the ep.

Dean's been broken for a good portion of the season, I think. But the cracked facade he's been holding onto for most of it was broken with Alastair's fist, for sure. Only way to go is up, ya think?

What got to me more than Ruby calling him Sammy or even Sam pulling a Dracula is that his pupils totally staged a hostile takeover while he was driving the car on teh way to save Dean and TURNED HIS IRISES BLACK!!!

Hmm, I thought maybe I imagined that, but I explained it away as a trick of the light, like in the Halloween ep when he was whammying Samhain, they looked black then too. I don't know, maybe we're not seeing things. I'd just expect his eyes to turn yellow if they turn any color. After all, his powers don't come from just any demon; far as we know, there's only one yellow eyes. Then again, seems most of his strength these days is supplemented by black-eyed Ruby, so who knows? I am waiting for his eyes to turn yellow, though. Screamed at the TV at one point today, lol.

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stangerine88.livejournal.com - 2009-03-20 05:32 (UTC) - Expand

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alwaysenduphere.livejournal.com - 2009-03-20 05:42 (UTC) - Expand

Also, Sam is driving...strange.
Even my mom, a really casual viewer noticed and said, "Sam driving? Must be serious."

I liked Anna in I Know What You Did Last Summer, not so much in Heaven and Hell, but tonight I think she really served a good purpose in the story and I was glad they brought her back for this. And yes, Castiel/Anna fic nao plz.

OMG, I thought I was going to be sick watching Alastair spit up all that blood and salt and ewwwgross. Seeing people spit really gives me problems.

Where WAS Sam in that final scene? It was shot completely in close-up so I kind of assumed that he was asleep in a chair on the other side of Dean's bed and we just didn't see him for whatever reason, but his absence was still really noticeable and weird.

Oh, I know, it was so gross. I couldn't help but think it takes some serious acting balls to do stuff like that, AND, in Jensen's case, not break character doing it. ICK.

I definitely agree with most of this. This is the first episode that's truly surprised me in any huge way (and I was pretty spoiled too) in quite a while. I also find myself more excited about the show and where it's going than I've been in months, maybe even since Lazarus Rising. Man it was amazing; why isn't it Thursday yet??

Also, I have to second EVERYTHING you said about Dean. My word, Jensen was incredible this episode...

Yeah, definitely. I feel like we're back to invoking the awesomeness Lazurus Rising started with, and everything in between has just brought us here without being quite so amazing. And you know what's funny? I didn't even realize today WAS Thursday until halfway through my first class today, lol. Now I'm counting the SECONDS till the next one.

Does the fact that I'm a Jensen/Dean girl first and foremost shine through in this, haha? *blush* That boy can break hearts with just one look, he's so good at what he does.

You are awesome for not just blabing on about Dean and throwing Sammy to the curb.
So.. yay for that. XP
I've read enough of 'Ugh, Sam. Ew.' and then 800 paragraphs of woe is Dean.

I love Dean. I love Sam. I love the boys. So. That is that, lol.

I don't understand those people. Yes, Sam is doing a probably bad thing and yes, emo Dean can be a little...annoying, but they're still the same characters we love, essentially. Everyone changes, but they're still SamnDean, only with less cohesion at the moment.

So yeah. Ditto. :)

I think Alastair was lying about John not breaking. He was building up to the revelation that Dean was the first seal, how much better to frame it than the fact that he broke while his father did not, because Dean would naturally assume his father was a righteous man?

In Season 2, the demons were perfectly willing to trade John's soul for Dean's. If they were trying to break John and had already invested a couple decades in him(by that point) why would they do that? That happened in Crossroad Blues when the CRD offered John's soul and return to life for Dean's.

If John didn't break, then how was he free to walk out the Devil's trap? He'd have been on a rack someplace in Hell being worked over.

So I think either John broke and they realized he was not the righteous man OR the demons really didn't particularly care about breaking him because they knew he wasn't the righteous man and so they did not work him over like they worked over Dean. Dean clearly I think got special treatment.

It didn't occur to me that John wasn't righteous. Hmmm. He wouldn't have just had the free will to walk out like that if he was still on a rack, for sure. Although hell could've been chaos and no one paid attention to him. That or the writers weren't thinking this far into the story when they were dealing with him. :P I think Dean got the special treatment, too, though, regardless. It's obvious Alastair favors him, and not just because he is the first seal, but because of how its broke him, and Alastair revels in the fact that he's the one who did it. I don't think it was ever just about breaking the seal for him, but simply about breaking DEAN, seal or not.

I was nodding through a whole lot of this.

I was surprised by Uriel, but then again not. Surprised, in the sense that he has always seemed so righteous and so staunchly on the path of God, everything to the letter, and yet not surprised due to his blatant disregard, his jealousy and seeming hatred for human. Its two sides of a coin, and while one side seems to say that its almost out of character, the other just seems to support it.

Yeah, I was surprised by the whole John lasting longer than Dean too. There seems to be a lot of truly harsh realities in this episode, and they really weren't pulling any punches. That seals bombshell, that was huge. I'm in shock. Dean.

Sam scared me this episode. Not so much the badass powers, but the whole blood thing, and the look on Ruby's face. He's just so far from Sammy, its unbelievable. Last episode definitely made that clear with that whole blatant lies to that little boy ghost, but this - he's really stepping off the reservation. How can Sam possibly see anything good coming from this? How did Ruby even get him to consider the whole blood thing? And the way he was so harshly blunt about what he thought about Dean? That hurt.

The man's got some serious balls though, I tell you. Doing that to Alastair, right in front of Castiel after he's been blatantly warned about using those powers, serious balls. Cass' face, too, it was really a reflection. I can't believe how far Sammy's gone, lately. I love tortured!angel Castiel. Well, I think its pretty clear I just love Castiel, but it was fantastic to really see him in such a big part this episode. Also? I loved the wings again this episode. I think they do that really well.

I'm with you on the funeral, too. I actually really liked Pamela; she was fun. It was sad to see her go. That scene was kind of abrupt though, them coming back from it. And did anyone think 'Lost Highway' when the camera panned the road?

Jensen did an amazing job this episode. They really put Dean through the wringer, that bloody well broke him. I was horrified right from the start when the angels asked him to torture Alastair. Dean just seemed to be struggling to hold it all together through it, he's so bitter these days and completely disillusioned from everything - he doesn't even seem to have the innate goodness of Sammy to believe in and protect anymore, and he's really just adrift with no rhyme or reason, and they've broken him down to his lowest point. That last scene with him and Castiel was just heartbreaking. He's just lost, and bewildered, and alone most of all right now, because the rift between the brothers has just gotten larger and larger, and Dean just doesn't seem to have anyone to believe in anymore; everyone's just constantly letting him down. It also just hurt to see Dean laid up like that in a hospital, and without hope. Jensen.

Oi, but Sam was there with Dean briefly at the hospital after getting rid of Alastair. What you talkin' 'bout girl? He had the rather short conversation with Castiel about how he didn't think Alastair was lying, remember? But I'd rather like to know where he disappeared to after that, too.

I'm not looking at the promos. I haven't been for a while, and its been nice going into episodes, not knowing what to expect. And I agree with you that the episodes since 4.10 have seemed a little lackluster, but this definitely brought the game back.

Can angels BE friends? Doesn't that imply emotion?
I think the angels are all emotional. I think that they believe themselves to not feel anything on a human level, but they're far from emotionless. They're clearly not automatons, with angels rebelling left, right and centre, the hate and disgust they seem to harbour for the demons. Castiel alone displays curiousity and fascination right from the start. Uriel seems to display envy, jealousy and arrogance. Anna was obviously discontent, disillusioned and hurt, inciting her to take the extraordinary measure of falling to escape this so-called emotionless state. They obviously feel a sense of comraderie and respect for each other. I think they just don't think of it on human terms, but its clearly there. That, or we can only understand them on human terms ourselves. Humankind does have a fascination with labelling things in order to 'understand' them, after all.

Aha, well I told you I'd come by after I watched the episode. It looks like I've hijacked your post and set up camp, after that lot! <3

Re: Part Deux - yes, it is that long!

alwaysenduphere.livejournal.com - 2009-03-20 17:11 (UTC) - Expand

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alwaysenduphere.livejournal.com - 2009-03-20 17:08 (UTC) - Expand

I just went YESS, when I read the first part of your entry on the connections between SPN and Faust, because ever since watching "Magnificent Seven" I've been making those connections too! It just kind of went click in my mind, when I watched the deadly sin Pride talking to Sam: Sam is Faust! Beware of all the hubris, Sam (thinking you are smarter, stronger and better)! I don't know, if you'd agree, but when reading Sam as Faust, I've always seen Ruby as his Mephistopheles.
I can see the connections between Dean and Faust too - I mean, when Mephistopheles makes the bet with God in the beginning he does say that he can deflect Faustus away from 'righteous' pursuits (bell ringing - rightous man - breaking of the first seal).
My inferences come from Goethe's Faust, btw; it's been a long time since I read Marlowe's version, but I do remember one significant difference between the two versions - the ending. In Goethe's Faust, Faust ends up in heaven in the end - the end line being: 'He who strives on and lives to strive/Can earn redemption still'
So, I guess, there is still hope left for both of them ;)

Oh, yeah, Ruby is Mephistopheles to him, I agree.

Hmm. I don't know which ending I like better for Faust, but I will agree, I hope there's still hope left for them both. :)

HOMG....that eppie killed me!!! And Jensen has set a whole new level of the acting bar! great review.....and I have to squee over the shanshu ref....cause Angel is my 1st love~ :DD

Haha, I love Angel, too. I see lots of similarities between he and Dean. Even more between Dean and Buffy. It's like...s4Dean=s6Buffy, s4Sam=s6Willow. It's creeping my shit out as to how similar my favorite shows have become.

And yeah, just when I thought I couldn't be more impressed with Jensen's acting...whew.

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angelwatcher17.livejournal.com - 2009-03-20 17:12 (UTC) - Expand

Yay, I'm glad that I'm not the only one who is a fan of Anna! The reviews I've read so far had me worried I was the only one.
I agree, Castiel is finally becoming a really interesting character. And I wonder where he'll end up.
It's funny that you should bring up the Faustus thing, because I've been making that connection myself over the past few days. My Script Writing teacher brought up the story of Faustus in class. And that made me think of Dean and S3 immediately. Even more so when I thought of that beginning scene with Sam reading in the book in the beginning of ep3.1. I think he was reading about Faustus then. However, what I hadn't thought about was how Sam also now is paralleling with that story.

Anna fans are few and far between. There's a Dean_Anna comm, but not just an Anna one, that I've found. I thought about starting one, but there's so much negative.

I swear, all I ever do in lit class is think of SPN. Beowulf did it first, and then Faustus. I actually participated in class discussion that day, and while I was talking about Faustus, pretty much everything I said about him pertained to Sam in my way of thinking. And wow, I think it was Faustus Sam was reading in the ep. Good eye!

"why is Alastair on a Star of David?"

'Cus us Jews are all powerful over everything, yo! ;-)

LOL. :D

So....Adam and I are having a hard time watching that episode. :( One of the sites didnt properly put the code in...and the other one just freezes after Cas sees the lady angel dead on the ground.
I AM DYING!!!

*pouts*

Oh, toots. I was going to give you a dowload link, but I don't think it'll work on your computer because you don't have all the right program add-ons for it to work. Unless you happen to have a codec pack/know what that is.

Huh. Dunno why that website won't work. It was fine yesterday.

Hmm. Try HERE (http://0123456789xyz0123456789.blogspot.com/2009/03/supernatural-season-4-episode-16-on.html)