Top 5: (Current) Character Deaths I Would Like to Facilitate

And to conclude, for now, my rather morbid fascination this week: characters I would kill.

This is off course purely in the realm of speculation, I have no control over any of this, but as a discerning (or overly opinionated, however you choose to see that) TV viewer, I have felt from time to time that certain shows could do without some characters and their ensuing storylines.  Even on the best of shows, there can be a lemon: a character who detracts to an extreme degree from the general awesomeness, or a character that just happens to annoy the ever living crap out of me.

Castiel, Supernatural
Sorry fangirls, this isn't personal, but if there is any hope for Supernatural to recapture it's glory, Castiel needs to die, and quick.  Remember when Sam and Dean were remotely competent at their job?  When they would find a mystery, investigate, and try try again until they found a solution?  Now they are sent on a job, call Bobby first thing, and then ask Castiel to fix it.  The former was engaging TV, the later is dull and baffling (if I were evil I wouldn't be afraid of these two either).  As much as I find Castiel amusing (and he really is), he's hobbled both the familial relationship between, and the professional capabilities of, Sam and Dean.  Goodbye Castiel, hello better show.

Becky, Friday Night Lights

(Alright, so this is cheating, since this show is technically finished, but I haven't watched all of it yet, so...)  I unapologetically morally disagree with Becky's choice to abort her child; I'm pro-life and always will be.  And yes, I know that sounds ridiculous within a post about how there are characters I would like to see no more of, and no more possibility of, on my nightly TV line-up.  But, that isn't why I'm putting her on this list.  Becky commits the fundamental sin in my book: she is dumb as shit.  She's not just not very bright, there are plenty of TV characters that are kind of dim (but their usually funny, making them sometimes/somewhat redeemable/useful), Becky is unrepentantly stupid.  She actively pursues, and insists that she is in love with, a guy that had sex with her mother!  Really?  Really?  It's like she saw The Graduate and thought it had a happy ending.  

Ezra, Pretty Little Liars
It isn't just the fact that Ezra is the (legal) adult in the most annoying relationship on any show I watch at the moment, but honestly that would be enough.  They are a blight on an otherwise entertaining show.  Every time Ezra and Aria interact I want to turn off PLL and never watch again.  Their insipid and repetitive conversations, mostly revolving around their inability to face the icky reality of their situation, eat up time that could be used so well with other characters.  Add on to this that Ezra has apparently never heard the term "statutory rape," and his hipster vests, and I just get beyond livid that on a show with such violent tendencies Ezra hasn't yet met with an "unfortunate accident."  Make this happen A.

Britta, Community
Boring.  So boring.  I think of Britta much like Mark on Parks and Recreation: a supposed love-interest that didn't pan out and then no one knew what to do with him.  And no one can argue that P and R has benefited immensely for swapping the sad-sack Mark for the amazing Ben (played by the oh so adorable Adam Scott) and the male-Leslie-Knope, aka Chris.  I'm not actually proposing to swap Britta for anyone, just kill her off and let the rest of the funny, messed-up, way-too-meta, darling characters get up to their high-jinks. And what couldn't Abed do with a major character death?  Meta-tastic!

Ser Alliser Thorne, Game of Thrones
This is purely, spitefully, because he is mean to Jon.  Which is evidence that he is bad at his job, and were this Soviet Russia, maybe that would be all the justification I would need.  There is being tough on your pupils in order to prepare them for difficult or unpleasant tasks, and then there is torturing young people because you are bitter about the way your life turned out.  Ser Alliser falls into camp B.  Bad enough, but, singling out Jon as his favorite punching bag is unforgivable in my eyes.  Jon doesn't need another person telling him that he is worthless, predisposed towards malevolence because his daddy wasn't married to his mommy, and that he was undeserving of the company of his siblings and attention of his father; he had enough of that growing up.  (Catelyn, I hate!)  There's nothing instructive or corrective about Ser Alliser's taunts and accusations; it is the jealous lashing out of a wretched man.  I'd welcome a bad end for him.

The TV Girl

Top 5: Character Deaths I Rejoiced Over

I guess I've got death on the brain right now.  Oh well.  On we roll!

Not every character that bites the dust is a cause for tears and consternation.  Sometimes human beings, me specifically, are just vindictive bitches and we like to see a shit character get what he/she deserves.  And other times a character is so insufferable that being spared their presence makes for a much better, or at least less annoying, show.  Fictional worlds are better off without some people, that's just the way of it.

Coover, Justified
I'm sorry his mother smashed his hand with a hammer, that was sad, but Coover was frakking awful and I clapped in triumph when Raylan shot him and he fell into the mine shaft.  Coover wasn't just loud, vicious, useless, and a potential serial killer.  He was, jointly with his brother, responsible for Loretta being kidnapped by a pedophile, which caused her father to call the cops, an act of betrayal that Mags killed him for.  And then he tried to kill Loretta.  Done.  Coover had to go.  More than a necessary act of self-defense and defense of others, Coover's end was all the justice a little girl was going to get.

Ruby, Supernatural
Back in S4, when SPN wasn't a shameful disaster, there was a demon, a seal, and Sam.  But the real demon was Ruby, the seal was Lilith, and Sam was a pawn used to release Lucifer from his prison.  So even though it wouldn't change the outcome of events, Dean stabbed the crap out of Ruby, for the pure fact that she was an evil bitch, and it was perfect.  There was much shouting in my kitchen as the lights (literally) went out in Ruby's eyes.  It was nice to see Dean vindicated in his 2-season-long campaign espousing Ruby's evilness, it was canonical within the show (because a) if you have sex with Sam you're either going to die or you're evil and b) if you're an actress on the show who happens to be dating Jared Padalecki in real life your character will be killed), and honestly, another season of the rather grating Genevieve Padalecki (I believe it was Cortez at the time) wasn't what anyone needed.   Those were the days.

Trinity, Dexter
Since Dex is a vigilante, tracking down and methodically killing the vile people who escape the law, almost every episode of Dexter has a little thrill of seeing a bad person punished.  But, Dexter dispatching the Trinity killer was especially gratifying.  A season-long game of cat-and-mouse between Dexter and Trinity, perpetuated in equal parts by Trinity's "ordinary" facade and Dexter's reactionary existential crisis, culminated in both Trinity's release from his torment and Dexter's reclamation of his life's purpose.  It really was the world set to right, and who could help but be overjoyed by that?  Everything was glorious!  (Expect for that pesky fact that, unbeknownst to Dex, Trinity had brutally murdered Rita.  Depending on your perspective, this was a double win for Dexter.  I don't see it that way, but some people do.  Poor Rita.)

Marissa, The O.C.
Marissa dying in a car crash when her crazy-pants ex-boyfriend drove her car off the road was sad.  She was a whinny dumb-ass with very little personality and even less dignity, but Ryan loved her and you just wanted the kid to be happy, so as an audience we paused respectfully for Marissa's untimely demise.  Until S4, and it became clear just what a drain on the show she was and how fun things could be without her.  Freed from Marissa's endless self-pity and univocally bad life choices, the way was clear for the hilarious scheming of her younger sister Caitlin, the surprising heartwarming pairing of Ryan and Taylor, and Summer's transformation from vapid party girl to ideological crusader.  I wonder if the show runners had known just what an improvement Marissa's exit would be whether they would have killed her off sooner?

Jimmy, Sons of Anarchy
So many happy deaths to choose from I'm almost overwhelmed.  But for me, seeing Jimmy get got was magical.  Jimmy was a double-crossing little toad, without loyalty to either cause or kin, and everyone from the muckity-mucks of the true IRA to the Russian gun dealers wanted, and in some cases needed, him dead.  What made Jimmy's termination so fulfilling was that Chibs got to do the deed.  For Chibs it was a personal act of retribution against the man who stole his wife and a preemptive strike to prevent his daughter being raped.  No way around it, Jimmy had to die, but because Chibs hastened him to the afterlife there was a sense of cosmic balance to it that left this viewer in awe.

The TV Girl

My Internal Debates: When Do You Give Up?

Why am I still watching Supernatural?

Two weeks ago Jennie, Emily and me gathered to do some catching up on the episodes we'd missed.  The move to Friday nights this season hasn't worked out so well for our watching as a group.  We soldiered through "Like a Virgin" and "Unforgiven" before packing it in and saving "Mannequin 3: The Reckoning" for another night.  Somewhere in the midst of dragons, Purgatorial mommy issues, spider-people and slutty-Sam, I began to wonder (and tweet) if enough was enough?  As much as I enjoyed 'The French Mistake" neither it nor "And Then There Were None" has made me think I'm being totally insane.

When do you stop watching a show that you once loved?

I give up on shows all the time.  I give a show a couple episodes and if it doesn't hold my interest I move on without a second thought (Sons of Tucson).  I watch a whole season, take a step back, realize I don't think it's very good, sometimes advise people against it (Californication), and then find a better show.  Scheduling conflicts cause me to push a show off until it comes out on DVD and sometimes by that time I don't bother (The Office S6).   But in the majority of these types of cases, though not all, I'm not attached to the show.  It wasn't something that I loved, that I've invested YEARS of my life in.

Supernatural is a show that I loved, a show that friends and I watched, debated, and bonded over.  I want so badly to have again the amazing show that I had a few years ago, and in light of the weekly disappointment of either a really terrible episode or a somewhat descent episode that doesn't seem to matter all that much, I wonder if I am so attached to the routine of watching Supernatural that even though I know the quality has declined, I can't imagine not watching.  There is a routine established that now has in some way little to do with the particulars of the episode.

The worst part is that the show doesn't have to be so bad; there are elements that could be put together in a humorous and meaningful way, but for some reason just aren't.  So Gramps Campbell is a total bastard who was willing to sell-out his grandsons in exchange for his daughter being brought back to life, therefore he should be set up as the antagonist for the season and Eve (the Mother of All) should be a backdrop against which the familial conflict plays out.  Instead we meet Grandpa Ass-Hat, he betrays Dean and Sam, we don't see him for a while, then he's dead.  Waste of storyline potential.  On an episode-level even more waste.  Bile rises in my throat as I write this, but "Mannequin 3: The Reckoning" could have been less terrible if a) instead of talking about themselves the entire episode Sam and Dean has actually discussed if people have a right to be saved or if there is some justice in the act of a vengeful spirit (like they would have seasons ago) and b) there had been even a pause between "the sister has a kidney from the murdering spirit" and "so now the sister is dead too."  Maybe knowing that improvement is possible (if not probably) is kindling false hope in me, preventing me from severing my ties.

There are only six episodes left this season, so having come this far it's a fair bet that I'll finish it out.  I don't often hope for shows to get canceled (okay, that's not true, but I never thought I would hope for this show to get canceled) but that would absolve me of the responsibility of making this decision.

I stopped watching Bones when the self-righteousness and the complete awfulness of Dr. Brennen's personality pissed me off so much that I was in danger of forgetting that I ever liked the show in the first place, and I think that is when I'll know it's time to walk away from Supernatural: when I cease to be disappointed, it will mean I've forgotten that the show was once excellent, and then it will be time.

Supernatural: One Step Forward, A Step and Half Back

(6.06 "You Can't Handle the Truth" and 6.07 "Family Matters")

The last two episodes of Supernatural have had some good moments, some not so good moments, some pluses, some minuses.  First, the pluses.

I'll admit it, I kinda dig Robo-Sam.  As we now know (though we may have guessed) Sam's body and mind may be here on earth, but his soul is still trapped in a cage in hell with Lucifer and Michael.  And if Sam and Dean work with Gramps Campbell to round up creatures for Crowley, then the new king of hell will make Sam all whole again.  Not only is Soul-less-Sam a little bit awesome, with the willingness to kill with only minor hesitation and all, this is a chance for the show to do something really interesting.  No-Soul-Sam is a separate being from dearly departed Sam Winchester, and that opens a new field of possibility for the show, and I for one hope the writers take advantage.

While I understand and agree that is was necessary for Dean to take his father down off the pedestal, I sort of got choked up when he finally said something good about John after so many seasons.  We've all read the Aeneid, we know heroes cannot carry their fathers on their backs forever, but his desire for his father's respect and affection was his defining motivation for so many years, it seems that without finding some empathetic understanding of his father's strengths and weaknesses, that Dean will always be adrift.  (And doesn't that seem to be the big problem, that while other people have been trying to force him into a role, Dean has been purposeless.)

And I though I have SERIOUS problems with the little old overarching storyline for this season (which I'll get to in a sec) I will not argue with more Mark Sheppard.  I get a little giddy every time he shows up on screen, so fine, let the boys be Crowley's bitches for now.

But make no mistake, I think that Purgatory-is-where-supernatural-creatures-go-when-they-die-and-Crowley-wants-to-find-it is hands down, without a doubt, barring none, THE STUPIDEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED ON THIS SHOW.  Not every episode is the best ("Bugs"), some plot  developments have crossed the campy-line into the shamefully preposterous (Anna's grace is in a tree), but I actually got up and left the room (to get another beer) when Alpha Vamp dropped his knowledge on wee little Sam and Dean.  Not only is it the lamest idea ever (days later I'm still dumbfounded by this choice of storyline), but they made it so frakking obvious how weak it is.  I say the following as a decently intelligent person, a scholar, a TV junkie, and a truly disappointed viewer:
DO NOT ASK SOMEONE IF THEY HAVE READ ONE OF THE GREATEST WORKS OF ART EVER PRODUCED IN HUMAN HISTORY AND THEN "RE-IMAGINE" IT AS ASININE DRIVEL!!!
  Some of us didn't go to cut-rate state schools, we actually read "Purgatorio" and if the show wants to make up it's own definition of Purgatory they are free to do so (as much of a mistake as it is) but leave Dante out of it.

I'm so angry I could spit, and I don't think I realized it until I wrote this.

Yet Little Women taught me that I should not let the sun go down on my anger, so, I will end on a positive note.  How cool was it when that dentist murdered his pervy patient with the drill?

The TV Girl

Supernatural: Season 6, You Need a Little Help from Your Friends.

And as anyone who reads this blog with any regularity knows, I consider myself a dear and loving friend to Supernatural.

I fully support Sera Gamble taking over as show-runner.  I will forever love Eric Kripke for the 5 glorious seasons he gave me, but I think that we can all tell from the end of S5 that he was done, ready to say goodbye and move on.  (Despite it's over-the-top sappy-ness, I really liked "Swan Song" and I accept that Chuck is God, even if I wouldn't have done that.)  But the truth right now is that the show is trying to find a new rhythm, and for those of us attached to the old rhythm, this is distressing.  Okay, I'll tone down the drama-queen.  Not "distressing," but rather, vexing.

We are 5 episodes in S6 and so far things have been incredibly uneven.  The plausibility to Sam returning from Hell got stretched a bit too far by the sheer randomness of Samuel Campbell (ya know, their grandfather) being "pulled down" from Heaven.  (WTF?)  The opening sequence in "Exile on Main Street" highlighting Dean's average (and as far as I'm concerned soul-crushing) life with Lisa was well done, but that indicated that they were developing a semi-functional life together, so how on earth are we supposed to remotely believe that Lisa would be cool with him hunting and just showing up when he can.  I mean, seriously?  (And we all saw how well that worked out last episode.)  The opening of "Live Free or Twihard" was probably the best Twilight parody ever, and if they had gone for the funny with the rest of the episode it wouldn't have been so terrible, but they didn't and we were subjected to one of the worst episodes of this show.  (The list now stands: 1)Racist killer truck, 2) Ghost ship, 3) Vampire Dean.)

The best episode so far has been "Weekend at Bobby's" and since Jensen directed it (good job btw dude) we basically got an entire episode devoted to an awesome, but secondary, character.  I'm not complaining, I adore Bobby.  I think it was great to get a picture of his life as every hunter's bitch, and I wanted to high-five him when he chewed out Sam and Dean for being all complain-y about each other, it was a good release of frustration for character, crew, and audience alike.  That episode is the kind of episode that made Supernatural a can't-miss show for me. Both funny and frightening, the emotional focus of the episode fit into the flow of the show, but the story focus was a specific problem that could be finished up by the end of the episode.  It didn't have anything to do with "Alpha" demons, Sam and Dean came through and saved the damsel in distress (aka Bobby), and we were invested in what happened.

Obviously I'm holding onto my hope that Supernatural can work out the kinks and make it through this transition.  Fingers crossed for tonight.

The TV Girl

Supernatural: THERE WAS MUSIC!

“Good God, Y’all”

My Mom: “Demons…”
Me: “I don’t want to hear it. Leave me alone with my theologically questionable but amazingly wonderful show.”
My Mom: “I just think you should watch something more cheerful.”

Now, someone tell me, what wasn’t cheerful about Thursday’s episode? Oh, yeah, everything. But I did do some cheering, cheering about how kick-ass that episode was.

Jennie and I had an over-the-phone happy-dance that our show is awesome again.

First of all, I could not be happier that instead of dragging it out forever that the logical conclusion of God is not only being spoken out loud but also actually being pursued. Not that I am a huge fan of ridiculously obvious metaphor, but lets trace this one out. Castiel took Dean’s necklace (is there another word dudes use, I wouldn’t know) because it will “burn hot in the presence of God” therefore forcing Dean to give up the physical symbol of the I-understand-that-you-will-always-take-care-of-me relationship between him and his brother. (Of course this prepared us for the end of the episode and Sam going off on his own.) If this is so, doesn’t that mean that there is redemption out there for Sam, since he is the one who gave Dean the necklace. Isn’t it really that Sam is leading all of them to God?

A God who better fix Bobby!

Say what you will about it, but I think Castiel had every right to yell at Dean. End of the world and all, everyone is loosing something and being ripped a new one by a (sort of) angel might be just the thing to keep Dean from going back to all sorry for himself. And yay for Ellen for forcing him to rely on his instincts and his knowledge to figure out what was going on in the town manipulated by The Horseman War, but not actually possessed by any demons. Not that I am anything but distraught that Bobby is broken, but Dean and Sam went for two seasons without having to call Bobby every single episode, so you cannot be upset with me for being really excited that Dean and Sam have stopped being LAZY hunters, aka dumbasses.

And how cool was the answer? War speaking for itself? No one actually possessed? Social commentary on the Irish? BADASS!

Sorry, I will stop being excited. We all knew this was coming, we knew that there would be a moment when Sam and Dean would part ways, but did Dean have to make it so easy? No fight at all, to just let Sam go. I feel like I need to touch the Impala like Sam did before he got into someone’s car; say goodbye to what was. Don’t misunderstand, I know that this season is about bringing them back together, but they will never be the same.

I would add another cliché here and say “you cannot go backwards, only forwards” but that looked a whole lot like Jessica in the preview for the next episode.

The TV Girl

Supernatural: It Will Be Ok Sam, I Promise.

“Sympathy With the Devil”

One of the best things about a new season of Supernatural: new title design. The blood= very very creepy and totally awesome.

But on the not awesome side of things, I put up with a lot from this show; the occasional truly terrible episode, close-ups of people eating (which as my younger brother can tell you bothers me almost more than anything on this earth), gory scenes of dismemberment, the odd acting anomaly that Emily refers to as “the Bateman voice.” But I do not feel that I have to put up with any more Dean and Sam having sex references, innuendos, jokes or otherwise. I get that it is supposed to be a gentle tribute/slight rebuke of those fans of the show who have taken things WAY too far, but the point is made. Show, please drop it. Fans, please stop. All of you are grossing me out.

Can I ask the nagging question? How did Bobby get possessed? Isn’t he the one who taught Sam and Dean how to protect themselves? Was he asleep or something? And how could they not tell that it wasn’t Bobby? As he said in the hospital, he would never ever say something like that to Sam. Obviously Dean accepted Bobby yelling at Sam because it is how he feels, but from all that Bobby said while they were trying to stop Sam from opening the last seal, Dean should have known something was up.

Even so, Dean is back! Real Dean who tells assholes where to stick it and refuses to be some pawn. And as much as it breaks my heart that Dean told Sam he couldn’t trust him anymore, that kind of honesty is the way he should be, neither secretive nor self-pitying. And giving hope to Bobby, as a gesture of appreciation for Bobby paralyzing himself to save him, is just the kind of foolish determination that makes Dean amazing. And who knew he had a GED?

The scenes involving Lucifer and his vessel were brilliantly done. The process of tragedy being turned into horror though mental manipulation was perfectly paced and incredibly sad. Lucifer has his vessel and Michael doesn’t, proving once again that rhetorical approach is everything.

In the spirit of honesty, I am just going to say it so that it is out there: who saved Dean and Sam from the convent, who cleared up Sam’s nasty blood addiction, who put Castiel all back together again? God. I will try to act surprised as this (painfully) slowly comes out this season.

Even though everything is as more frakked up and depressing than ever, I haven’t laughed so much during an episode of Supernatural as I did in the first half of this one in a long time. I shouldn’t have laughed so much when Chuck picked the tooth out of his hair, but come on, it was priceless.

The TV Girl

Supernatural: (Since I Have Only Said One Thing About) The Road So Far…

It is a perplexing situation to be in when you do not understand the thing you love. And I have been in that situation for months. I haven’t missed an episode of this season, but I have just been so confused that I haven’t known what to say. But since I moved away from the lovely viewing party that I partook of every week (it will never be the same without you Jennie and Emily), I guess I am on my own again to figure it out week to week.

So, the big problem everyone seems to be having this season is: angels. Okay, even if it does happen to be a logical progression, the addition of Castiel and Co. has thrown a wrench into things for loyal viewers. Since we all approach things from more or less our own perspective, I will say upfront that I am Catholic, and believe in the existence of angels, and I have some problems with the way the show is addressing them, but not as many as other people. This whole idea that they’re “dicks” is what the show is going for, but it is hard for me to see it that way. Since angels are higher beings, which are neither bodied nor gendered, who have experience of Heaven, obviously their priorities would be a little bit bigger than mortal conception, and their interpersonal communication skills would be lacking. I have always found the whole cubby-babies-on-white-clouds thing a crock, and if you watch “Houses of the Holy” the show describes angels in a very biblically accurate way, so really I am not bothered by portraying the angels as remote, mysterious, and with serious superiority complexes. (I would appreciate if they would invest in some chap stick, but of course that is part of what is going on.)

I do have a serious problem with this whole Anna thing. And not just because Dean did her in the car that should never have been soiled in such a way, and that still makes me angry on behalf of the Impala. Her whole storyline is ludicrous. Beyond the fact that I have no desire to watch Nicholas Cage movies in the first place, I have absolutely no desire to see knock-off plots on a show that is so much better than that. Furthermore, it indicates that while the writers were willing to do a bit of research into angels, they are unwilling to pick a tradition and stick with it. Consistency is key, and when you are just picking and choosing bits and pieces from the Cliff Notes version of tradition and theory without any perceivable rhyme or reason the viewer ends up frustrated and confused.

Oh, and why on earth does everyone keep Castiel “Caz?” It sucks.

Despite these disagreements on my part, I feel better and better about this season. Yes, Dean is lost and uncommitted, too mess up with personal guilt and existential confusion to be the funny little badass that he is deep in his heart, but I love watching characters grow and develop, and it would be utterly ridiculous if Dean came back from hell the same person as when he died. While I keep yelling at the TV for Dean to make a wisecrack and then kill the shite out of everything, I am intrigued to watch someone so resistant to believing in good being faced with evidence of their place in a larger cosmos.

The bigger problem is Sam and his little demon blood addiction. I haven’t been able to see him without yelling at him for being all in cahoots with Ruby and acting like he is so much better than his brother. It took me until about today to figure out why Sam is being such an ass-hat this season. Of course, it is simple in the end. If you lost someone you loved more than anyone else, but then you got to have him or her back, what wouldn’t you do to keep them? Would you bother to worry about the bounds of nature or morality if it meant that you could protect them (and yourself) from having to be taken again, and as a bonus got to punish the thing that took them in the first place? While it breaks my heart to see Sam turning into John, focused so much on what he perceives as his mission that all the compassion inside of him dies, I don’t know that I can really blame him, considering that he was never taught any other outlet for grief. Dean is alive, but Sam is still grieving his death. And that would leave anyone a little, shall we say, confused about proper behavior.

It has been hard for me to remember when all turned around that this is one of the best put-together shows on the air. The stark lighting, the bleached, dry color palate, and the noticeable lack of music (which I dearly miss) all work to compliment the bleak and scoured lives Sam and Dean are living right now.

I guess bleak really is the word for this season so far, and I don’t hold out much hope that it is going to get any less so as we come to the season finale.

The TV Girl

Supernatural (7.5/8): Criss Angel is a Douche Bag…Didn’t Everyone Already Know That?

SAM WINCHESTER WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?

The saddest thing is to see someone do the wrong thing for what he or she think is the right reason. We have been through this before: deals with demons to bring people back from the dead; using Reapers to smite the “wicked;” bumbling into witchcraft to get a lower mortgage rate. But I cannot help but think that Sam giving into Ruby and using his “powers” to go after Lilith because he doesn’t want to be hunter when he’s old is possibly THE STUPIDEST THING HE HAS EVER DONE.

Sorry for being so strident, but I didn’t really realize when the episode was happening just how strongly I oppose his decision. Part of the not realizing was that, obviously, the episode had so little to do with Sam and Dean. And I am okay with that. As my indignation at Sam has grown over the last few days so has my appreciation of Thursday’s episode.

Those of us in fairly mainstream society easily derided both magic and magicians: I wouldn’t break for Criss Angel, I will be upfront about that. And that is what makes it such a wonderful trope to contemplate the difficulties of old age. It would be easy to say that Jay has sold his soul and murdered others for nothing: why would it matter if a bunch of dudes doing parlor tricks get back their youthful form? This is what you do with immortality? But of course, we are supposed to wonder if the difficulties of aging, the loss of what you once had, is only as meaningful as that which you did with your youth? As cheesy as “magic” may or may not be, it was what Charlie loved, what united him with his dearest friends, and his despair is not any more or less important than Sam’s, even though objectively Sam’s life has been more stressful and necessary than Charlie’s.

And yes, I am saying that following the plan of demon is despair. Especially considering Dean’s incredibly valid point that people in their profession do not have a terribly long life expectancy. I hope we all realize that the moment Sam got in that car with Ruby is most likely the moment that will divide Sam and Dean, possibly irrevocably.

Not to be a downer or anything.

The TV Girl

Supernatural (6): I Am Going To Have Nightmares

When Dexter is not the creepiest thing you watch in a day, you know you have problems.
I know that certain outlets are upset that the first new episode we have had in almost two months does not directly relate to the season’s story-arch, but such is the way every season. I have no problem with the tradition, it is a nice way to ease the lovely viewing populace back into the grizzly and emotional tortured world of Sam and Dean.

That said, there was nothing nice about tonight’s episode. I do not deal well when the “thing” that they need to fight is actually human, and luckily up until this point I only had to face such a situation one other time. (For the record I have never ever rewatched the Texas Chainsaw-esque episode from S1.) I know that I should be appreciative that as a show they recognize the strictly human, but as evidenced tonight, it ends up being just amazingly disturbing.

Come on, secret incest twins locked in the basement escaping and going on a killing rampage! Could they have thought of something more icky? (I shouldn’t tempt fate.)

As a way of exploring Dean’s guilt, I found it somewhat ineffectual. I am always willing to pour my little heart out to Dean, to all that he has experienced, but there is no real way to connect with what he is going through. The more he talks to Sam about it, the more we can understand his current situation, but what he did in Hell is just a bit too out-of-body to allow for empathy.

I suppose that “a bit too out-of-body” could stand as a general comment on this season so far. I actually love the basic principles: I applaud them for trying to examine good, I think Biblical-type angels are awesome (and it doesn’t hurt that Castiel is way hot), and the underlying Cain-and-Able scenario developing is an organic possibility. (Please don’t misinterpret that. Sam and Dean’s devotion to each other is of course the core of the show, and it is incredible to watch, but there has always been a division between them. It is only now that Sam’s curse is being contrasted with Dean’s blessing.) Unfortunately for all of us, there is no continuity to the source material for the episodes. In “Houses of the Holy” Sam claims that there is 10x more lore on angels than on demons, but as far as I can tell, none of the writers are reading any of that at this point. City of Angels and Stardust are not appropriate sources to draw plots from! I am not asking anyone to espouse my particular religion, I just want them to pick something and stick with it.

I am not even trying to imply that I am giving up on Supernatural. I know that this can get straightened out. I have seen shows come back from a lot worse than a lack of foresight.

P.S. Kudos to the makeup department: those sibs looked beyond torn up and scared the living daylights out me.

The TV Girl

Supernatural (5): I Feel Cheated.

I need to say something right off the bat, because I can feel rant-mode welling up inside of me: except for the first minute and the last minute, I thought last night’s season finale was a good episode.

“The Road So Far” segment was disjointed and uninformative, almost as if they felt they needed to have it because both previous season finales did. It struck me as half-hearted and without a cohesive purpose.

The real problem was the ending. I am so disappointed and angry about the last minute that I am having trouble expressing myself. This was not a case of simply a generally weak episode; this was a good episode that they ruined! When I said yesterday “I would rather see Dean go to hell” I didn’t actually mean that I wanted to see it, as in experience a visual representation of it. But, okay, maybe this is just my personal preference: I think what we do not see is sometimes as frightening/important as what we do see, and that is a principle this show has previously employed to amazing affect. Be that as it may, can someone please explain to me why of all the possible interpretations of Hell (biblical, literary, cinematic, or newly imagined) this one looked like the opening credits of Spiderman? I am not going to say that anything would have been better than what they did, but I really really want to. There is just a point when concept and production value/capability are irreconcilable, and when that happens people should move on and come up with another idea. Otherwise you end up with what we got last night. The final image we have of Season Three, the one that will stick with us all summer until Season Four starts, was just silly looking.

This bugs me even more because it didn’t have to be this way; there are two obvious ways in which we know that the writers/producers/whomever responsible for this catastrophe know better.

The first is that this show knows so well how to kill off its principle/important characters. John’s death at the beginning of Season Two is rendered so perfectly not by witnessing his eternal torment, but by a coffee cup hitting the ground and seeing the shocked faces of his devastated children. Sam’s death in Part One of the Season Two finale is outstanding, with his brother holding him, his murderer running into the dark, and Bobby standing still not knowing if he should follow Jake or comfort Dean. Dean’s death has been the focal event of this season, and as such needed to be handled properly. There is no excuse for choosing to show (presumably) his soul chained up, floating in green, lightning-filled ether, screaming for Sam. Stupid, stupid decision.

The second way that we know they know better is the rest of the episode. Approaching his death Dean is able to see what the demons really look like behind the humans they possess (which is ridiculously cool, and I hope when he comes back from Hell he can still do this). Did they show us what he could see? NO! And that is the way it should be done. His reactions are more telling than CGI can be. Why recognize and respect the boundaries of what you should and should not show and them completely ignore those at the very last moment? Why?

If you are interested in an example of the way things like this (death and the afterlife) should be done, I suggest you watch the end of Season Two and the beginning of Season Three of Buffy. We never saw Angel in Hell, but the ramifications of his trip there were clear as crystal. Also see the end of Season Five and the beginning of Season Six, in which we did not see where Buffy went. Her friends presumed Hell, turned out she really went to Heaven, and we saw neither. Amazing.

Now I am just sad. Sad that a single minute has so overshadowed some really neat things. Like how funny Bobby is, and what a wonderful surrogate father he is to Sam and Dean. Like how Dean actually came to some self-awareness while facing the end. Like how Lilith doesn’t just possess children, she is actually child-like.

Like how Lilith has no power over Sam!

The TV Girl

Supernatural (7.5): You Can Make A Hell On Earth.

Tonight is the season finale of Supernatural. I am doing a few things to prepare. First, I am a posting some quick thoughts on the two previous episodes, which I apologize for not getting to sooner. Second, I am writing a note to myself reminding 7:30pm-me to wash off my make-up before tonight’s episode starts so that when I ball my eyes out I will not have mascara running down my face. Obviously, I do not think Dean is going to live.

I would rather see him go Hell than hear for one more second Sam advocating using science to gain immortality, which requires replacing worn body parts with new ones. These two recent episodes “Long Distance Call” and “Time Is On My Side” both addressed the issue of desperation: encountering the mystery of death and the prospect of eternal judgment our good sense disappears, and we behave against our best interest and our better nature. Dean almost killed an innocent man (and that innocent man almost killed Dean) because given a chance to speak to someone we have lost our grief will overcome our sense of right and wrong, or of even basic logic. After the silence of death we will listen to anything, even if it is encouragement to harm others or ourselves, or won’t be helpful to our current situation. Good thing Dean realized what he was doing, and Sam killed the evil thing, before Dean ventured too far into Hamlet-country. Sam’s quiet decent into at-any-cost mode might be even more frightening. How many lives would be exchanged to “give Dean more time” if Sam had gotten his way? Could Sam really have lived with himself if he had bargained with a butcher and asked Dean to be one as well? Sam’s reckless disregard for the implications of his proposal points out just how sad Dean’s prospects are.

But, bye bye Bella! Can’t say I am sorry to see you go, though I am thankful the scene cut to black and I didn’t have to see you getting torn apart by Hell Hounds. (My friend Calah thinks she may not be dead, but I respectfully disagree. If the producers are keeping her around, they better come up with something good to do with her, and not just doing Dean.) I am also thankful that the producers decided not to belabor the fact that Bella was sexually abused. Letting us know that tempers our response to her passing; reminding us both that evil actions rarely emerge from nothing, but also there should be some element of human empathy for others, no matter how repugnant we find them. But murder-as-consequence-of-molestation/rape is a worn out trope on TV (CSI anyone?), so I am glad that since it was employed it was done so quickly. Also, Bella not telling Sam and Dean why she made her deal evidenced the smallest amount of dignity on her part: she was willing to kill them to get out of her deal, but she did not make excuses for herself. Well done.

The little girl in black and white with the red eyes is officially the most disturbing thing ever to appear on this show. Oh yeah, and the ice cream scoop.

And finally, I just have to point out that I love being right: I mentioned the “Lilith has Dean’s contract” thing weeks ago. Maybe I am petty for taking pride in seeing something anyone could, but so be it.

The TV Girl

Supernatural (7): Even Not At Their Best, These Boys Are Good.

“You managed to pay tribute to him while completely exploiting the manner in which he died.”

Is there any better commentary on the nature of reality programming? (You can suck it 30 Rock.) Can you tell me this is not genius? Or, if you saw it can you tell me that?

This episode was one of those independent, comic relief episodes, which means that there is less for me to say about it. I am usually annoyed by this type of episode so late in a season; as time runs out I need forward momentum on overarching plots. This TV season has been so frakked up that I kind of don’t have the energy to get all that upset. Plus, it has been such a long time since there was a new episode it kind of worked well to ease viewers back into the show.

Plus, it was really funny! The return of Ed and Harry, the “ghost hunters” from Season One made my day. So I didn’t really wonder what happened to them after Sam and Dean sent them off on a wild goose chase to California with a car full of fish, but I cannot help but be impressed that no amount of incompetence can keep these kids down. The camera guy asking Dean if he had cancer was so inappropriately hilarious. And I kind of loved that they got a chance to point out that there are only certain words you can say on network television, but that such limited vocabulary is not what the situations call for. (Juvenile of me to enjoy that so much, but what are you going do?)

All this said, I am fully prepared to say that this is not one of the best episodes of Supernatural, and this could most likely be the weakest episode of the season. It is not often that my friend Jennie and I have opposite reactions to a show we both deem worthy of viewership, but she was immensely put out by this episode. For her, the episode was not funny enough to justify using the limited time there is left (3 episodes more I think). Issues of taste be what they may, but what makes our disagreement interesting is that when the boys arrive at the Morton House and find the amatures with the cameras, Sam says that they are wasting time (apparently Dean has only 2 more months to live). It looks like Dean and Sam find themselves out of options and therefore their usual activities take on a coloring of the ridiculous. From the perspective of impending death is not everything a waste of time?

According to the preview next week’s episode looks to be the opposite of funny.

The TV Girl

Fictional Throwdown: And The Winner Is…

The undisputed champion is Sam Winchester. Anyone see that one coming? Okay, maybe everyone saw that coming, and “undisputed” is not the word others would use. My imagination, my words, so get over it.

I don’t want to repeat what I have said before; I think that my presentation of Sam and Peter’s respective strengths and weaknesses testifies to the validity of my claim. Even so, I will give you two reasons why if Sam and Peter were locked in a death match, Sam would arrive alive.

The first reason: Peter is stationary, and therefore uninventive. I can hear the objections already: “why does he need to move?” Well, um, do I have to explain this? If you don’t move, then you don’t get a sense of the space you’re in. If you don’t get a sense of the space you’re in, then you don’t know how to use that space to your best advantage. If you aren’t using the space to your best advantage, then you are (most likely) repeating the same actions. If you’re repetitive, then you’re the looser. If you watch Peter fight on Heroes he tends to stand in one spot and hurl whichever power he is using at his opponent. When he moves, he either walks, or he stops time and relocates, and even though this might be a momentary distraction, it is still a distraction. A moment is all Sam needs. For all of Peter’s powers, he doesn’t have any that Sam has not confronted in some form or another, therefore Sam knows how to withstand and eventually counteract anything Peter would use against him. Sam would quickly notice Peter’s leaden-foot style, and he would know he has an edge over Peter. (Peter can both fly and turn himself invisible, but he doesn’t draw upon these powers often in tough situations (except as modes of escape, and escaping is a disqualification), which seems odd to me, but this sentence is a tangent.) Sam will move as much as he is able (Sam and Dean often end up pinned to walls), and will always utilize what is around him. Because he is moving he will find resources available for his disposal that Peter would miss. I think there are plenty of examples in history to prove that quickness and creativity trump brute force.

The second reason Sam would reign victorious is experience. Now I am repeating myself, but when it comes down to it, Sam has been fighting longer and harder, and against (quite frankly) scarier things. What I have said above about style is just one example of where Peter’s inexperience hinders him; in a sense Peter just doesn’t know any better. G.I. Joe taught us all that knowing is half the battle. Considering the ratio of what Sam knows to what Peter knows, in this case knowing is about 95% of the battle.

I doubt that I have convinced even one person to see my point of view on this issue (at least anyone who didn’t agree with me at the outset). One may then consider my endeavor a failure, but I disagree. I satisfied my intellectual curiosity through an (prolonged) examination of the question. I got to take a look at two shows I love side-by-side. I had something to write about when there is nothing by reruns airing. What I discovered writing the Fictional Throwdown is that Peter and Sam are similar people. When I started I thought they were fairly different, but as I have analyzed them both I began to see that not only do they have similar powers, they have a similar outlook, they are a similar character type. What initially looked so weighted in Peter’s favor turned out to be fairly balanced. Honestly, I am unconcerned who agrees with me and who does not. All I hope is that I have convinced someone to give one, or both, of these shows a chance. Fewer people watch Supernatural than Heroes, but maybe there is something in all that I have said over the last couple weeks that sparks the interest of a potential new viewer.

The TV Girl

Supernatural (8.5): The Blood, The Demons, and The Inappropriate Humor.

It is rare that I am lost for words. I get shocked or stunned, but I recover quickly and return to hyperbolic rhapsodizing, verbose mockery and rhetorical questioning. As Supernatural went to credits last night I had only one thought. And this morning I still have only one thought: I DO NOT LIKE EVIL CHILDREN.

Some of you may be thinking right now that I am making a fairly obvious statement, but I am not kidding. I have never seen The Exorcist series, The Omen (either version), The Children of the Corn series, and I was not sad when Spike fried the Annoying (Anointed) One early on in Season Two of Buffy, because I couldn’t deal with him anymore. One reason I like Supernatural is that it generally stays away from children as monsters; in 57 episodes there have been 3 killer ghost children, one set of changelings, and one murderous projected soul of a coma patient that was figured as a child. Call me naïve, but I believe in the innocence of childhood, and that without will and free, informed consent there can be no (mortal) sin. I tend to stay away from CBS and NBC procedural shows because without fail there is a physically/sexually abused child that is either the murder victim or the murder witness. I do not live in some kind of Disney-inspired delusion, but it hurts my soul to be constantly (and sentimentally) berated with one of the horrifying perversions of humanity. That was a digression, but children being or causing hurt upsets me quite a bit (naturally). Aside from the exceptions mentioned above, Supernatural maintains that children are innocent and require the utmost protection. This not only makes our heroes all the more heroic, it makes the show much easier for me to watch.

But then came Lilith. Now, my friends Calah and Christopher came over to my apartment last night to watch, and she and I had quite a hoot when the new demon-leader’s name was revealed; as you all should know Lilith is the mythic first wife of Adam whom is replaced by Eve, and in C.S. Lewis’ conception of the universe she goes to Narnia and founds the race that the White Witch comes from. This name could not have been chosen randomly, and it just makes me smile when show creators ask viewers to draw upon a wider range of connotation than what is explicitly stated in the show. I sure as shit stopped smiling when that little girl walked onto the screen. Her eyes turned white, so this demon is something different than what we have encountered before, and when we see her again it may be in a different body/form and all of my horror might be extinguished, but as you can tell, right now I am overwhelmed and overwrought.

The white-eyes are defiantly a wonderful twist. Calah suggests that a kind of demon hierarchy is being suggested; the black eyes for demons that are the souls of deceased humans (like Ruby), the yellow for demons that are the traditional fallen angels, and the white for something other than these options (and again, the name indicates she is a new element in the mythos of the show). I am inclined to agree with her hypothesis. I am continually impressed that this show refuses to rest on its laurels, that they take the chances of expanding and developing.

Change is not always a positive step. Sam, darling, this is not ancient Greece. We no longer sacrifice virgins. (Tangent: anyone else notice that her name was Nancy, and that was what she was called until it came out that she was a virgin and then that became her name?) Granted, we are not supposed to be sacrificing (in the literal bodily sense) anyone nowadays, but unless Agamemnon made a comeback and no one informed me, then the time for virgin sacrifice has passed and we all need to move on to better scenarios. I am so proud that Dean called Sam out for agreeing with Ruby’s plan. Nancy may have been willing, but it would not have been right. And by thinking outside the box, Dean may have established that the war can be won. At the very least he reminded everyone why the war is worth fighting in the first place. Dean also gets a gold star for ‘but you did not shoot the deputy.” No situation is so dire that it is above mockery.

Regarding Ruby, people keep asking me if I “like” Bela and Ruby, and I am not sure how to respond. I can say I was not a big fan of Ruby last night. She acted as if her annihilation would have been more important than Nancy’s death. True, you don’t end up in hell by living as a selfless person, so I shouldn’t be surprised she was concerned with number one. It just makes me question if she is truly trying to prepare Sam for his life after Dean, or is she attempting to manipulate Sam into joining her in the afterlife. I am trying my best to hold off judgment of Bela until her back-story is revealed, but my patience is running thin. (Plus I like jumping to conclusions; I find it a relaxing pastime.) I will be slightly disappointed if this plays out that she is not the hardcore bitch she seems to be at the moment. I kind of want her to be evil, not only because then I could justify my current exasperation, but also it would provide an interesting contrast to Ruby: a human who chooses to do wrong against a demon who chooses to do (limited) good. The best I can say for these girls right now is that neither of them pisses me off as much as Jo managed to in her few scenes.

There is something that I find less irksome than Jo but irksome nonetheless. Why do Sam and Dean never wear gloves? Sometimes we see them wipe down what they touch, and it should be safe to assume that they always clean their prints from a room when they leave it. I should be thankful that this show is good enough that such a minor issue is my only major (continual) complaint, but the no gloves thing just drives me around the bend. They have been given a clean slate; legally they are dead. There will be no more law enforcement types trying to catch them, so I would much prefer that they did not give anyone a reason to come looking for them by (apparently) leaving fingerprints everywhere.

I hate myself for being so pedestrian and so easily manipulated, but the tattoos are hot. Since they serve a practical purpose I will forgive my weakness.

Final Note: Christopher commented last night that it was a shame Henricksen got all blown up, because he would have made a good hunter. I agree intellectually, but not emotionally. Though I completely understand that in the beginning of the episode he was possessed, therefore it was a demon speaking and not he, I was not sorry to see him go because out of his mouth came an accusation that John had sexually abused Dean. Again, yes it was a demon speaking, but it was Henricksen’s face, so I am fine saying sayonara to the Fed, simply for the fact that I don’t have to think about that moment ever again.

The TV Girl

Fictional Throwdown: Back-Up

There are people in your life that support you through anything: family and friends mostly. They are there to help you tackle your demons, and once that is done, they annoy the living daylights out of you to the point where your demons look like the better option. No man is an island, so though Sam and Peter are the two competitors, (and this is not really a team situation) each has a network of people watching out for them. When playing the what-if game, one should take advantage of all the possibilities; therefore what kind of aid is available to our two boys if the need arose?

The First Competitor: Sam Winchester

Maybe I am being unfair by sending Sam into a fight by himself, because in the end Sam is part of a team. Sam and Dean’s respective strengths and weaknesses compliment each other. Dean would actually be more adept at handling things on his own; he hunted by himself for a time while Sam was in college. But in comparison to Sam, Dean is an ordinary person. He has all of the same physical skills but he does not have any of the meta-natural powers that Sam has. What Dean does have, that has helped Sam out of many a tight spot, is resilience. No matter how bad a situation looks, no matter how beaten they seem, Dean keeps fighting. And more than anything, what he fights for is Sam; the quickest way to die on Supernatural is the threaten Sam. Furthermore, Dean is a more instinctual person. He is willing to suspend questions of right and wrong until the job is done. He would not worry that Peter, or anyone aiding Peter, is human (not an evil creature to be hunted) if Sam were in danger. Dean’s, shall we say, ardor makes for a slightly off-kilter psyche but I would defiantly want him as an ally rather than an adversary. Bobby and Ellen would do some damage as well.

The Second Competitor: Peter Petrelli

Given Peter’s power of absorption, I have to ask whether Peter would need help were it available? Anyone who would help Peter would not have an ability Peter does not already possess. But as I mentioned in “Personal Attributes” Peter cannot always remain in control of his various powers simultaneously, therefore he might need some back-up. The constantly shifting alliances on Heroes make it difficult for me to say who would fight for Peter. Nathan is a given, he proved at the end of Season One he will do what is right out of love for Peter, but all that Nathan could do would be to fly Peter out of the situation, but that would be grounds for disqualification. If Hiro fights for Peter then he could stop time, and reconfigure the situation. Claire would be most useful as a living shield, but I would hope Peter would be better than to use her as such. Nikki/Jessica/Whomever is way too unpredictable for anyone to want her anywhere near this event. Quite frankly, the same goes for Elle. Adam would probably be perfectly happy to see Peter bite it. Matt would be an incredibly useful ally, but he is not firmly established as a man of action, there is still a tendency in him to hesitate. I think that ultimately, any aid Peter receives would be more to neutralize any aid Sam receives.

Up Next: And the Winner Is?

The TV Girl

Supernatural (8.5): I'm Quite Satisfied, Want All the Details?

I’ll stop, I’ll stop, I promise. I don’t think I can maintain my tongue-in cheek sexual innuendo/double-entendre/whatever when I spent an hour laughing hysterically and then sobbing uncontrollably. My reaction might have been extreme; I spent nine hours at work and then five hours with a toddler. That could not have been the best frame of mind to watch Dean die over, and over, and over, and over again.

Before I get down into the nitty-gritty of last night’s episode, I want to say something about a conversation I had last week with my friend Jennie. The best way I can describe my relationship with Jennie is that when it comes to TV we are kind of like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (or maybe Butch Cassidy and Mozart): we travel the TV-land together out for all we can get and jumping off cliffs. Since we live in separate states now, we have to discuss shows over the phone after we have viewed them in our respective time zones. Discussing last week’s episode she passed on a phrase to me that she received from her friend Emily: “anvilicious” which functions roughly as an antonym to “subtle.” I grant that Dean’s confrontation with himself wasn’t subtle, but subtle wasn’t working. Hell, direct wasn’t working. The kid needed to be hit by an anvil. I understand Jennie’s point, even if I disagree. Similarly, last night’s episode struck me as slightly un-even. I can’t quite put my finger on it, other than the fact that the second half of the episode needed more time, but it wouldn’t have work to make it two separate but continuous episodes, because the first half would have become frustrating if drawn out too long. I think this episode was wonderful, but there has been something just vaguely off about the last couple episodes. I read an interview with the show’s creator on "Watch With Kristin" in which he said that the final four episodes (of which last night’s was the third) that they completed before the (now resolved) Writer’s Strike had to be adjusted from his original plan for the season so it could have some sort of resolution. The preview for this resolution of sorts (because I’m fairly sure there will be more new episodes in April) almost made me wet my pants.

All of this feels like snobbery in light of just how fantastic this show is, and the huge question we all need to ask ourselves after last night’s episode: who really is the more fraked-up brother; Sam or Dean? They both qualify for a whole new sliding scale of damaged, but it’s kind of hilarious that all of the demons, evil gods, creatures, and so on have an opinion on this issue. Dean sold his soul to bring Sam back to life, which is not the most mentally balanced thing to do. On the other hand, we now know what Sam is without Dean, a glimpse of the life he will lead after his brother’s death. Post-Dean Sam makes their father look like a slack-jawed yokel. Apparently, Ruby has nothing to worry about when it comes to “preparing” Sam for his solo-fight. Speaking of Ruby, I am asking as politely as I can; will all the evil things please stop trying to teach Sam lessons? While overall I love the way that Sam and Dean learn from their interactions with that which they hunt, and the show is spot on that the way evil works is by bending and truncating the truth, but little Sam is getting hammered. Now, the Trickster (and I am so happy they brought this character back, one because he’s awesome, and two because my friend Calah and I were talking about that episode from Season Two just the other day) is not wrong that Sam and Dean have a mutually unhealthy pattern of sacrificing for each other, but when he told Sam that no good comes from any of it, he lied. The good is just for neither of them; the good is for those they save. The ancient Greek culture understood that he who protects the city cannot be an integrated part of it until he lays down his arms, and the same is true for Sam and Dean. Luckily, they never listen to the evil; Sam asks for Dean back knowing he will loose him again and knowing what is future will be like. Time and again this show reiterates that love is a vulnerability, but never a weakness.

As serious as all these concerns are, I have not laughed so hard in a while as I did for the first thirty minutes. Is there a more hysterical torture than to wake up to Asia’s “Heat of the Moment” over a hundred times? I would have just killed myself. Sam displacing all his anger onto the bottle of hot sauce he had to keep catching could not have been more priceless. Bugs Bunny would be so proud that Dean was crushed by a falling piano. Dean attempting to calm down the bound and gagged mystery-spot owner while Sam tore apart his place of business with an ax is something we have never seen before and will most likely never see again on Supernatural. The random, but carefully calculated, hilarity reached almost to Arrested Development level. I would give anything to see the outtakes from filming this episode.

The big bad showdown is in store for us next week. Not since Buffy fought the Mayor have I been so excited about confronting evil.

Final Thought: Does it make me a sick person that I think the trunk of their car is really sexy? I am not in any way shape or form some kind of gun aficionado and I have trouble with my own kitchen knives, but I can’t help myself, I start to drool every time they open the back of that car. Maybe this is something I should talk about with a therapist.

The TV Girl

Fictional Throwdown: Character/Moral Understanding

Now everyone has had a little more than a week to contemplate the abilities of the two competitors, and I hope you have all been taking a great deal of time to seriously consider what I have so far presented. I even gave you an opportunity to declare your opinion with only limited input from myself. Not surprisingly, of the 10 votes cast 7 went to Peter, meaning he has 40% more support from my readers than Sam. Well, power isn’t everything. Environment and perspective can be the deciding factor in a fight. So, what kind of world do these two boys live in, and how do they understand that world?

The First Competitor: Sam Winchester

The cosmos Supernatural posits that there is evil outside of the human. The show does not deny the existence of God, Sam believes, Dean doesn’t (but he wants to), but over all the show operates on the premise that evil is readily evident, whereas good is mysterious. The treatment of demonic possession is interesting. I was taught that invitation on the part of the possessed is necessary for demonic possession. In the show, they bypass this, addressing it more as the necessity of “openness.” It seems like anyone can be possessed (Sam is during one episode) which indicates an argument that we are all fallen creatures, no one is purely innocent. Therefore the various planes of existence interact with each other. Sam works to save the lives of those who are in danger from that which is outside themselves, but is particularly attached to them. His goal is always twofold: save the life by eradicating the evil. To do so requires Sam to find out two things: what is the nature of the evil and why is it attached to the person. For Sam, planning is key. I said before that Sam and Dean were raised to be warriors, and they always do what has to be done to finish the job. When action is required Sam delivers (he beheaded a guy by wrapping barbed wire around his neck and pulling it with his bare hands). Sam know that what is right, or necessary, is rarely pleasant. But they, especially Sam, don’t fall back on a Nuremberg-Defense type of life. Sam questions his own choices, and what type of person he is based on those choices. Sam’s willingness to examine himself indicates that reflection is part of his nature, and a requirement of retaining ones humanity. For avid viewers the question of whether Sam is evil is a deeply troubling one. I am taking the January 31st episode for my answer. Sam is changing of his own volition; he is not minus one soul. Sam’s potential for evil is actually only slightly greater than any other person’s (you, me, dude down the street). His choices make him who he is, and he makes those choices informed by his understanding of a universal context.


The Second Competitor: Peter Petrelli

Heroes is kind of a different story. Within the parameters of the show there is no order other than the human. The powers the characters have result from spontaneous evolution. I personally don’t believe in spontaneous evolution, but I do believe in divinely guided evolution. I mention this because there is a very fine line between interpreting a work (in this case a TV show) and imposing ones own belief system upon it. As much as I would say that the Heroes’ powers should come from God, there is no indication within the show that such an argument is being prosecuted. Furthermore, there is no account of evil other than spontaneous evolution. All of the major villains so far encountered on Heroes have abilities. While much of the show focuses on the choices either for good or evil that each character must make in response to their gifts (the show doesn’t deny free will), this situation means that Peter has only encountered enemies that exist on the same plane as himself. His fights have been a matter of power versus power. Within this more circumscribed universe Peter is a deeply loving person, and arguably the most loving person on the show. Peter has a general view: his attention is always on humanity at large, and when it has been particularized there was a specter of insincerity to it. I apologize for my digression, back to serious business. He wants what is best for the largest amount of people, and as noble as his intentions are, Peter’s broad perspective means that his objectives are often indistinct. He understands the final outcome he desires, but is often surprised by the intermediate actions necessary to achieve that goal. Being guided by an ultimate result helps Peter to be concentrated and fixed, but he has trouble properly evaluating people and situations as they arise, because he can’t see the trees for the forest.

The TV Girl

Supernatural (8): Dean Spoke Against His Father, I Don’t Know What to Do.

I frighten extremely easily (a guy I know used to love jumping out at me from around corners because I would scream every time), but this episode freaked me the hell out. I have had trouble sleeping lately, and the idea that some dude with an otherworldly drug habit could get into my dreams does not increase my prospects of getting some decent shut-eye. Well, maybe I could curl up with Dean instead. Sorry, got distracted for a moment.

I couldn’t be happier that they filled in Bobby’s back-story. It makes sense that he would have a strong attachment to John, since they share loosing wives to evil. Bobby’s calm acceptance that all hunters get into the business for a reason demonstrates that there is hope for Sam and Dean to be somewhat emotionally well adjusted. They can take Booby as a model and not become megalomaniacs like daddy. (Not implying that anyone can replace their father.)

Or they might just be freaks. What was with Sam’s sex dream about Bella? I am in no, mark me no, mood to deal with some kind of brother battle over Bella. I find Bella a less annoying character than most of the women who pop in on this show; I don’t want her storyline to be botched. (This statement should in no way be construed as a complaint that Supernatural is sexist. I did not wake up as Katherine Heigl.) The way things are playing currently Dean’s anger at her doesn’t appear to be anger masking sexual tension, rather a genuine dislike of her opportunism and solipsism. So, unless something changes, I have not great fear of any fratricide due to Bella. But where did Sam’s dream come from? It just feels out of place. Not to mention that she is a harlot and Sam deserves better.

But do we ever get what we deserve? Isn’t that the question underlying Dean’s horrifying self-revelation? Often on TV when a character has their moment of self-consciousness (either forced upon them by another, or through confrontation with the self) that moment doesn’t provide anything new to the audience. The moment of self-consciousness is different from the moment of revelation. But as Dean battled with himself we learned about Dean. In two and a half seasons Dean has never said a word against his father, but now we know that there is a part of him that is hurt and angry about the way his father treated him. To believe yourself to be nothing but a blunt instrument has to be the epitome of despair. He did deserve better from his father, and I don’t know why no one seems to comprehend that. How a parent could foster such feelings of worthlessness in a child is unfathomable to me. Dean is presented as a (somewhat) limited character: loves Sam, kills evil, drinks, has sex. Sam is presented as the complicated character, and the contrast does a great deal for the show. But in accord with the way the show treats the creatures and demons the boys encounter, we are getting more glimpses about the subtleties and difficulties of these two characters.

I want Dean to live, so as traumatizing as it is experiencing his discovery of that desire in himself, I know that if Dean wants it he will achieve it. If nothing else, the Winchesters are determined.

The TV Girl

Supernatural (8.5): “You’re the Short Bus…”

While the rest of you were wondering why Matthew Fox didn’t think again when acting struck him as a career option, I was actually enjoying my viewing evening (and what an enjoyable view). Okay, maybe enjoy is a stretch, allot of upsetting things were packed into that hour.

I have two things that I have to get off my chest first. One: “Every Rose Has Its Thorne?” Brett Michaels is haunting me. I was stunned, but I did eventually laugh. I love the music they use in this show! Two: I know that I shouldn’t, but I really want Sam and Ruby (Katie Cassidy) to hook-up. Yes, she’s a demon possessing some girl’s body, and Sam will eventually have to kill her, or exorcise her. But Sam and Ruby have something, and lets face it, Sam needs a little lovin.

And if Sam does start acting more like Dean (Jensen Ackles) he would get a lot more. It just broke my heart to find out that what Dean thought was Sam not being Sam was really a choice on Sam’s part. I have been so frightened, along with Dean, that Sam really did come back different, that his hardness, and lack of questioning his choices, means that Sam isn’t Sam. Sam is consciously changing; he has recognized that to win the war he has to be more like Dean. It is interesting that Sam may have been picked to lead the demon army, but Dean is the one who can defeat them, that Sam on his own won’t win. It makes me rethink the end of Season Two. The crossroads-demon made it seem like Dean wasn’t worth all that much, and the yellow-eyed-demon always put the importance on Sam, but Ruby knows that Dean is the one who could win, making me think everyone else did too. He got a year to live, because knowing that without him his side would eventually loose, they could accept the damage he would do to their side in that year. As necessary as Sam’s change might be, it is difficult to watch. There is a continual process of sacrifice on this show; there is never a point where either of them gets to say that they have done enough. For all Sam’s introspection, he understands the nature of his life (and all of our lives) and accepts his responsibility. The possibility that Sam would ever be able to have a “normal” life is decreasing rapidly.

Especially because there is still no way of getting Dean out of his deal. I didn’t actually believe that Ruby had a way (the show needs to fix this in a way that doesn’t involve any more deals with demons). The crossroads-demon told Sam that she didn’t hold Dean’s contract. The witch-demon last night told Sam that a new demon leader is rising to organize the war. I’m thinking the new leader is the one who holds Dean’s contact. Kill the next big bad, no dead Dean, everybody wins!

Neither of the boys has such a positive outlook as I do, and Dean is preparing himself for his next fight. According to Ruby Hell is forgetting you were ever human. This is what impresses me so much about this show. Without pontificating, without proselytizing, and pretty much without moralizing, they bust out traditional, grounded, and universally understandable conceptions of good/evil, right/wrong and hell/heaven. The boys struggle, especially Sam, and there are subtleties to what they discover, but in the end this show doesn’t mess around; doesn’t exist in a moral grey area.

Shout Outs:
Little Things to Know that Make Watching Better

If you have been following the Fictional Throwdown, you know that Jared Padalecki is Dean from Gilmore Girls.

Jeffery Dean Morgan, who played their dad John, is best known as Denny from Grey’s Anatomy, and can we all just take a moment to recognize how sad our culture is that Denny’s death was actually a feature on the evening news. I can boycott terrible TV, but I can’t escape it. I like to remember that dear Jeffery also played Judah Botwin on Weeds, Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker)’s husband whose death is the premise of the show. If you look up interviews of his he jokes about being the most often deceased man on TV. Big points for having a sense of humor. According to IMDb he was also on an episode of The O.C. and Monk.

I remember Jensen Ackles on Days of Our Lives. This is back in the day, because I haven’t followed Days since I was in high school, and he played Eric, Sammi’s twin brother who was involved with Nicole before she was married to Victor and had the affair with Brady. Long time ago. (Is there a point when long-term crush turns into unhealthy fascination? Oh well.) I immensely enjoyed him on the second season of Dark Angel; Alec was kind of a proto-Dean. Not to be outdone in the who-was-on-the-worse-show competition by daddy, he was also on Smallville. Good to know there is redemption in the world.