the long bony arm of making kids sick [i'm a pixel here, myself]

Supernatural 1.18

I watched this with E (not FRE) who I'm staying with for this trip, and I didn't do the liveblog thing becuase it's kind of a faux pas to chat with online people while there's a friend sitting right next to you watching the same thing.

Overall thoughts: I thought this was by far the weakest episode I've seen. Even worse than "Route 666". The anvils are back in play on *multiple* points and the family drama and flashbacks read like they were scripted by a middle-schooler.

Edit: okay, I want to clarify so I don't get turned into Mean Mr. Drew, Eater Of Puppies. I know this show drops anvils. That's part of its charm. But most of, if not all of, the anvils we've seen to this point have been kind of moralizing -- making points that have are usually unrelated to the Winchesters and the plot (the child-abuse anvils in "Nightmare" are a different story, because of how the two families link up). When the anvils become about the Winchesters? That's just sloppy writing. And I'm not letting the boys (or JDM) off the hook here -- there's more than a little overacting going on -- but the main culprit is the writing. The moments in this show that were not all "DEAN HAS AN EMO PAST" were actually quite nice -- the banter was wonderful, as usual, especially Dean's bit about being older so always being right. I've been in that situation and occasionally won with that argument! /Edit

That said, Jared can wear that tight black t-shirt anytime he wants. HOT DAMN, ARMS. Also, I don't think I quite noticed how *broad* Jared is (he's built in proportion, so you don't notice things like that unless you have something to compare him to) until I saw him and Jensen in suits in the hospital. In his normal Sam-wear he just looks rumpled, but in his suit he looked about six feet wide and *dwarfing* everyone around him.

Edit OH! And I just remembered. The kid? Looked like Sandra Bernhardt (or however you spell that). A LOT. It freaked me out. /Edit

Dean had some line that I heard and said "that's the most Dean thing I've ever heard", but since it's been two and a half hours, I can't remember what it was. Drat. Maybe someone else will remember it?

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CUT TAG MISTER

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I know! I know! I'm sorry! I double-checked the HTML and EVERYTHING. Fucking LJ tags.

Fixed.

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well, having read the actual entry, i believe you are crazypants. BUT I LOVE YOU. <333

mind you, the anvils were like RAIN. it was a torrent of ANVILS. but the acting omg they SOLD IT.

well, having read the actual entry, i believe you are crazypants.

Hee! Word! Anvils? What anvils? Preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetty! *dreamy sigh*

Preeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetty indeed. But some of us watch for the plot!

...I think.

Well, okay. I figured this would be a huge squee ep for most people. I guess I think they were selling it too hard -- I could see the salesman, you know?

God, the anvils. I swear I'm going to need to build an anvil-proof shelter somewhere for the finale.

Cheesiness aside, THE LAST LINE OF THE EPISODE, DREW. The last liiiiine. oh DEAN. He loves Sam so much. Given the script he had to work with, Jensen was just... *draws hearts around him*

Well, see my edit re: overacting as well, but. That line? I turned to E (to whom I was introducing the show) and said, "oh, look, the writers gave us Dean in a nutshell."

Main culprit definitely the writing though, like you pointed out. :D

Oh, and the Michael kid? Looked like the little girl from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants to me.

I have not seen the Travelling Pants movie, so I don't know the kid, but I SERIOUSLY think Sandra Bernhard.

This is the girl (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0101799/).

Huh.

Now that I didn't expect. I loved it, and so did everyone else in the chat I was in... so much heartmeltygoodnessomg. I agree there were points were I was like.... well, THAT was lame. But not many, and I was just so drowning in how much these boys love each other to absolute bits and pieces that I didn't really care about much else.

I'm sad that you didn't like it :( See, Dean is crying for you.

I feel like I'm going to be the rain on everybody's parade today. Sigh. Maybe I should just delete this? I don't want to be the downer. But everything felt so *forced* and overacted. And the writing -- oh, the writing was CRAP. The whole ANVIL ANVIL ANVIL FAMILY THING ANVIL was just... it was too much, I think. They tried to encapsulate in one episode what they've been so carefully building all season, this notion of Dean protecting Sam, etc. Giving us the flashback was like writing artfully around something, then describing it in a blunt sentence. It didn't feel like it *fit*. I don't know. The heartmelty didn't work on me, I guess. ::checks self for pulse::

Well, you *do* have a Y chromosome, unlike everyone else on my flist, so could that have something to do with it? It WAS sappy, it was over-something, but us girlyfolks? We like that. It gets us where we live. I donno, just tossing a theory out there ^_^

HEE. It would be convenient if that were the explanation, definitely. I have a feeling that's not it, because I do occasionally like sappy things -- they just have to be done in a way that's not "oh, here's every piece of fanfiction EVER, ANVIL ANVIL ANVIL" and then I'll be able to watch.

Still, it's the only theory I've got right now. ::clings to it::

I think a lot of people like that the show is playing out like Kripke is reading fanfiction left and right. Because it totally is. It's like, oh, those are the baby!Winchesters I've read about 20 times! And that's how much Dean LOVES Sammy, like, so much it hurts. Augh.

Sorry, I'm getting really sdlfkjadfkjhs again, just like all the other girls on my flist. Seriously, all the squee posts are the same, hee. Most of them start with DEAN!!!! Because, wow. Oh Dean. (I really like how the spotlight shifts back and forth, each gets their moment to shine for one reason or another)

Sometimes anvils are my friends, sometimes they aren't. When they are Ron and Hermione shaped anvils? I get a really sturdy umbrella because OW. But when I am so fully invested in the subject of those anvils? It makes me happy :)

Know what else makes me happy? Your icon. Yup.

I guess I can see that, but it seems like they're turning the show into "telling, not showing" or "showing in the most obvious way possible" rather than trying to make it even somewhat of a challenge to dig through these characters. It's like standing up and going "Dean has layers, goddammit!" -- it's true, but you don't SAY it, you write him complexly and make the readers work for that.

Do I agree with everything they showed in this ep? Yes. Do I disagree heartily with their presentation? Yep.

I'm a big fan of that icon, too. I heart me some boys.

Erm, stop killing me with your icons, kthx. O.O

And, ahhhhh. I seeeee. I understand what you mean now. And yeah, that is kind of sad. Though, the fact that it resembles the fanfiction after the fanfiction exists kind of says that we HAVE done the work, we've dug out Dean in all his complexity, and this is the payoff for our hard work. It's just so gratifying to see how damn right the fandom is about so many things. But for more casual viewers, I agree, it was too much pandering.

Blah, I'm gonna have to get all this out of my head when I watch again, *lol*

I aim to please! Er, in the icon department. Not in the episode-reactions-that-make-people-sad department. Sigh.

But, yeah. I guess I wanted the show to have enough room to grow that it wouldn't follow the direct path of the fanon -- but it looks like Kripke's mind is easy to read.

Hmmm.. when you put it that way... *gets all sad and stuff* You mean this show isn't miles deep and complex and layered and on some network other than the WB?? Damn.

Being on LJ is like being in a bubble. When I see *normal* peoples' reactions to this show, it makes me feel really silly. But hey, silly is fun, and my other OTF (One True Fandom, yes I just made that up) is all critically acclaimed and stuffs so I'm justified! *nod nod* :D

Mmmmm.. what a tease that icon is!

Ahahaha, you're right -- I should be saving my expectations of depth and complexity for non-WB shows :D

I'm throwing my hat in with you. I was severely underwhelmed, even to the point that I kind of turned off my brain and started admiring Jensen's eyelashes. but the thing that totally killed it was the, "NO, SAM, IT WAS ALL MY FAULT," complete with the camera angle--the blurry!Sam behind Dean--that made me giggle uncontrollably and say to my sister, "Well, it's a good thing Jensen has experience in soap operas."

"Well, it's a good thing Jensen has experience in soap operas."

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. You win! It... yeah.

Oops... should have probably written my comments on the ep here... XD The anvils were abundant to almost the point of Dean abuse, as fiercely as I love the love the guys have for each other. To balance it they should show Sam's side at times, because I'm certain that Sam would turn out as protective as Dean. Of course, there's been the beginning of Faith and then the whole telepathy in Nightmare, but I'm anxious to see more. It's probably a kink of mine. ;)

Yeah, it does seem that they're playing up the older brother overprotectiveness at the expense of deep characterization -- we know Sam would do stuff for Dean, but there's always this one-upmanship: Sam would move dressers with his brain, but Dean would do ANYTHING, OMG, isn't he just the BEST brother? ::eyeroll::

i'm a pixel here, myself

the long bony arm of making kids sick

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April