Dean: "Truth is, I'm tired, Sam. And, I don't know, it's like there's a light at the end of the tunnel."Sam: "It's hellfire, Dean."
Terrific episode, with a capital T. Way to start the third season, guys.
I certainly didn't expect Dean to mope around or go on a pilgrimage to Lourdes, but promiscuous sex and bacon cheeseburgers for breakfast? Come to think of it, that's Dean all over. If this plot line continues for the entire season, I bet Dean will go through some interesting changes as the end approaches. And somehow, I doubt Sam will give up trying to find a way out, too.
Demons, demons, everywhere. The bar being full of demons actually shocked me. And the three of them driving Bobby's car directly into the demon bar and attacking with holy water may have been the coolest action sequence they've ever done. From that point, the episode just rocketed all the way to the end. If it had moved any faster, it would have been on the space shuttle.
With demons converging on seventeen cities, demon hunters will have to start working together, much like they did here. And I liked that. They really need something of a supporting cast, or our two lead actors are going to burn out in a big way. And I selfishly don't want that to happen. I'm glad they brought back Bobby, and I hope they keep bringing him back. I liked Isaac and Tamara, too. The way Isaac died was also shocking, as well as sad.
No opinion yet on new blonde huntress with the magical knife version of the Colt. She didn't say a whole lot. In fact, with the long blonde locks and pinched face, she reminded me of the new character Kara on Smallville. I noticed that she was mostly interested in Sam; she stalked him and saved his life. One of the seven sin demons knew who she was, too.
The other hunters kept blaming Dean and Sam for releasing all the demons from the Devil's Gate. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it Jake and the Yellow-Eyed Demon?
Bits and pieces:
— There was a new credit title card, with clouds and silver letters. No more fire and pentagram. Appropriate, since the YED plot is over. And we have a new cast member: Katie Cassidy, our blonde huntress.
— The "Previously on" was more like a greatest hits than a recap, pretty much all sex and violence, Dean's deal, and Sam's resurrection.
— Seventeen cities. Why seventeen? Maybe because that shoehorns nicely into a season of twenty-two episodes. Another interesting change is that the demons will be hunting them, instead of vice versa.
— Dean's encounter with the Lust demon involved some serious kissing. Wasn't he afraid she would jump down his throat? Or did she make him do it? Just an observation: that black cloud of demon going down someone's throat always looks obscene to me.
— Probably elementary, but what about holy water pistols? Maybe the director thought it would look silly.
— I liked how Bobby acted scared of the demon until he had it trapped, and then he just smiled at it. We also saw Bobby in a suit for the first time, pretending to be an assistant D.A. I'll say it again: I like Bobby. Jim Beaver played one of my favorite characters on Deadwood.
— As usual, lots of movie references. Bobby quoted Animal House: "Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son." The Pride demon did "Here's Johnny!" from The Shining. And of course, The Magnificent Seven (our hunters) and Seven (the sin demons).
— This week: Oak Park, Illinois, and just outside Lincoln, Nebraska.
Quotes:
Sam: "Let me see your knife."
Dean: "What for?"
Sam: "So I can gouge my eyes out."
Dean: "It's a beautiful, natural act, Sam."
Sam: "It's a part of you I never wanted to see, Dean."
Bobby: "So we're eating bacon cheeseburgers for breakfast, are we?"
Dean: "Well, sold my soul. Got a year to live. I ain't sweating the cholesterol."
Dean: (knocks on the door) "Candygram!"
Tamara: "Like you've never made a mistake."
Isaac: "Yeah, yeah. Locked my keys in the car. Turned my laundry pink. Never brought on the end of the world, though."
Bobby: "The seven deadly sins. Live and in the flesh."
Dean: "'What's in the box?' (blank looks) Brad Pitt, Seven? No?"
Dean: "Who was that masked chick? Actually, the more troubling question would be how come a girl can fight better than you?"
Absolutely loved it. Four out of four stars,
Billie
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Billie Doux adores Supernatural which is a good thing since apparently, it's eternal.
Very good opener. Dean is surely handling things his way and he is really ready to die.
ReplyDeleteMore Bobby, yes!
I loved the idea of 17 cities fitting nicely into a series of 22 shows. Unfortunately, I know that this season was the one affected by the writers' strike, so will interested to see how they deal with that challenge.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the final showdown between the brothers was really interesting. Dean seems resigned, even excited about the prospect of it all being over. Poor Sam seems to be swimming in anger, saddness, fear and frustration that he just can't seem to convey to his brother.
I read somewhere once that as soon as we are born, we begin to die. But, we live as though we are immortal because we don't know when the end will be. I kind of understand where Dean is. If I only had a year, what would I do with the time? But, my heart bleeds for Sam. It must be gut wrenching to know what the time table is and what the dire consequences are if he tries to fix it. One of the huge ironies of this episode is that it was directed by Kim Manners who, at that time, only had about another year.
Fantastic start to the season.
Loved this season start! The new huntress really looked familiar to me and I finally realized it's Laurel from Arrow which then took me over to imdb for some light stalking - she is David Cassidy's daughter (of Partridge Family fame - just in case). How cool is that?
ReplyDeleteThis really was a good opener, not that S2's wasn't, but now we know the boys a bit better and, yay, Bobby! I liked the slow-mo introduction of Katie Cassidy and, no spoilers, will come to enjoy her character a lot later on.
ReplyDeleteFun fact: while shooting the scene where Sam has to jump into the back of Bobby's car at the bar, Jared was too tall and kept bumping his head on each take and wasn't fast enough, according to the director. After several takes, the hair stylist came over to, once more, fix Jared's hair and had a not-so-pleasant look on her face.
When Jared asked what was wrong she showed him a length of his hair that had fallen out...attached to some scalp. Why he didn't feel it, I'll never know.
Drinking disinfectant. Rather relevant these days.
ReplyDeleteOh, god. It just gets harder to watch with each rewatch lol. What a sorry way to go.
DeleteBillie: "Just an observation: that black cloud of demon going down someone's throat always looks obscene to me."
While I agree completely (not obscene-sexual, it just looks like something vomiting backwards), it's funny to point this out in an episode where it's completely dwarfed as far as oral horrors go. lol