Arrow & Supernatural in 3 Words

Well.  That sucked.

Sad Oliver

Worried Dean and Sam

The Many Plots of “There’s No Place Like Home”

But first, an open letter to Superantural‘s executive producers.

Dear Robert Singer and Jeremy Carver,

Can Felicia Day please become a Supernatural regular, ala Misha Collins and Mark (A.) Sheppard?  Pretty please?  And then, can she and Sam find romantic happiness together?  With perhaps an adventure in Tuscany searching for The Book of the Damned (by Charles Fort)? Not that I’m telling you how to do your jobs.

Love, Me

P.S. Dean can continue his love triangle with Castiel and Crowley.

Now, about all those plot lines.

1.  How (and why) did Charlie become evil?  And why is she torturing people?
Resolved at the 15 minute mark (with commercials).

2.  Why does Evil Charlie call Sam and Dean “Rocket and Groot”?
Ok, this isn’t really a plot point, but still…  Hmm, a quick Google search informs me that I should have watched Guardians of the Galaxy like I’d planned to last weekend.

3.  Who killed Charlie’s parents?
Solved within 19 minutes.

4.  How can our heroes deal with Evil Charlie without being able to go to Oz?
Resolved at 40 minutes.

Bad, Dean! Bad!

5.  How long will Dean last before the Mark of Cain takes over?
Since threatening the Defense Attorney doesn’t count (because Normal Dean would have done that), Dark Dean didn’t appear until 45 minutes into the show.

6.  Why is Dark Charlie’s wardrobe so much cooler than Good Charlie’s?
Unknown.

7.  How the hell did Jared Padalecki fit in Good Charlie’s teeny-weenie car?   He has a hard enough time riding in the Impala!
That mystery continues.

 

Superantural Redux

TNT is hosting a Supernatural marathon tomorrow (Wed, Jan 28).  I’m not sure what the special occasion is, but since they’re currently on the back side of the Great Season 8, I’m there!  Sure, I could just pull out the season 8 DVD set, but this way is lazier, even if it means fast-forwarding through the commercials.

The Winchesters show off their dimples.

As it is, I watched “Trial and Error” again today.  I loved it when it first aired (it’s possibly my second favorite episode of season 8, after “Sacrifice”), and I think I love it even more now.  As if seeing the guys in geeky glasses and getting a look at a hell hound for the first time (just as creepy as one would imagine) wasn’t enough, we got a couple scenes of the brotherly love which makes this show so special.

Dean’s determined to keep Sam safe, believing his own life isn’t worth much, and he’s willing to die.  Sam says Dean’s life does matter.  Because Sam can see a future at the end of the trials, he should be the one to complete them so that they both can survive.  It’s a little heartbreaking since we know what’s coming.

Recently, I’ve been thinking about my favorite Supernatural episodes through the years and doing a(nother) retrospective.  Hmm… Should I do another Supernatural March Madness this year?  Nah, it’s too time-consuming, especially since March is not a rerun month.  Perhaps a June/July Jubilee would be a better alternative?  Or just a “Favorite Five” for each season?  So many options, so little discipline.

Tonight the awesome Charlie Bradbury returns, but seems she may not be so awesome.  Man, I hope they didn’t make Charlie a bad soul just because Felicia Day cut her hair.

Supernatural: Slumber Party (904)

We shall start the discussion with this Public Service Announcement:  The old speech pathology student in me wants to let you know you can still speak when your tongue is cut out.  You still have your larynx/vocal folds/voice box to give voice, and individual words (actually “phonemes”) are formed by the shape of the entire mouth.  Without the tongue, you can still be reasonably well-understood, with practice.  Then again, they probably don’t have speech therapists or pathologists in Oz.

Wall, cocoon, arm? Um, That’s not good.

It’s interesting how expectations can sometimes affect one’s appreciation of an episode.  If I haven’t watched, but have read unfavorable comments, I tend to be pleasantly surprised.  But, in the case of “Slumber Party,” when my expectation are high, I’m sometimes let down.

“Slumber Party” had all the makings of a great episode.  Felicia Day returned as loveable hacker extraordinaire Charlie Bradbury.  It was written by Robbie Thompson, one my favorite writers, and directed by Robert Singer.  Add to that the significance of the Men of Letters bunker as “home,” and a newly introduced heroine who’s wily, competent, feisty, and smart—oh, and from 1935—and you should have yourself a winner.

Supernatural: 2 Fevers & a Special

Yellow Fever (406)

Dean contracts “ghost sickness” and has only 48 hours before he’ll die of fear.   As he grows more and more paranoid, he and Sam have to figure out what they’re dealing with.

Therein lies this episode’s first controversy. Although both brothers come into contact with the corpse of another “ghost sickness” victim, only Dean is affected.  The reason given why Sam appears to be immune is that the disease only affects “bullies.”  So the show is saying “Dean is a dick, but Sam is not.”

Geez, I wouldn’t need ghost sickness to be frightened here.

Except that’s not what the show is saying.  At this point in the story arc, Dean has spent time in hell, and although he says he doesn’t remember anything of his time there, it’s been hinted otherwise.   “Yellow Fever” confirms that Dean remembers.  Although we don’t yet know what happened, it’s obvious Dean is shaken and feels extremely guilty.

The other outcry came when Bobby and Sam road-hauled a ghost.  Fans said it was much too violent, and wasn’t in the  Winchesters’ nature.  Yet Bobby and Sam were desperate to save Dean, and there was no other option for them.  Bobby said, “This is a terrible plan.”  Plus, the victim was a ghost.  The real violence occurred when the flesh and blood Luther was road-hauled to death.  The way I see it, if the ghost is dead, the spirit is now at rest.

Supernatural: Pac-Man Fever (820)

I laughed, I cried, I “awwwed.”

I’ll give the Supernatural powers that be this:  they sure know how to mess with our minds.  The previews for “Pac-Man Fever” were all silly and lighthearted, indicating this was to be a throw-away episode.  Instead, we got a nod to several old episodes, a glimpse of the toll the trials are having on Sam, and some genuine heart.

Look who’s back, bitches! It’s Charlie—with bangs.

After an alternate-reality teaser where Dean awakens in a Truman-era Army hospital, we turn the clock 24 hours.  In the Men of Letters abode, a groggy Sam has a serious case of bed head.  It seems the second trial took more out of him than the first; and the makeup department does an excellent job of making Jared Padalecki look worn out.  Sam’s so out of it, he doesn’t even attempt to catch a beer Dean throws at him.