This episode touched on themes they've explored in the entire series about the negative nature of the supernatural. Ghosts go crazy and hurt people. It's inevitable. Bobby really should be drinking beer at the Roadhouse with Ellen, Jo, Ash, Pamela, Rufus and especially his wife, Karen. (Wow. A lot of people have died in this series, haven't they?)
Bobby is literally a shadow of his former self, and the sorrow I felt at his passing has not been assuaged. It's not like Bobby is back from the dead and hanging out with the boys again. He's trapped in a lesser level of existence. Pale, quiet and unnoticed riding in the back seat of the car, eavesdropping on Dean and Sam talking about him and at the mercy of whatever they decide to do with that flask. The boys weren't happy to see Bobby. They know how this story ends.
Does a Reaper have to take you to Heaven or Hell? Was Annie right that when a ghost's remains are burned, the person doesn't exist any more? Did Bobby give up his chance at an afterlife in order to stay behind with the Winchesters? I thought about it and you know, that's either incredibly sad, if Bobby was destined to go to Heaven, or fortunate, if that patricide technicality means he's slated for Hell. Hanging around the boys and eventual nonexistence would be better than Hell, wouldn't it?
I thought for awhile that Whitman Van Ness would be "unkillable." But no. Annie didn't get a Reaper. Was he powerful enough to keep Reapers out of the house? Whitman was sucking power from destroying the ghosts, and that power looked like a white light. When Whitman's bones were burned, he was doing it to Bobby and Whitman's white light went into Bobby. That's probably why the boys could finally see him. Does that mean Bobby has some serious ghost mojo now?
Once a hunter, always a hunter. The fact that dead Bobby and dead Annie were still working as hunters made me think of the employees of Wolfram & Hart. Death wasn't the end of their jobs, either. I gotta say, though, Annie was a lucky woman. (At least until her premature and unfortunate end.) She got to hit the sheets with all three of them. I can't help but envy her, just a little. Is that twisted?
Bits and pieces:
— Loved the callback to Ghost, with Bobby trying to move the coin with his finger. Was there a scene in Ghost where he wrote on the mirror, too? It's been a loooong time since I saw that movie.
— Also loved Victoria, the fancy lady, who looked completely put out at being called a hooker. And the misdirection with the scary Dexter, who was trying to save people.
— And hey, while I'm at it, I liked that ghost power can be accessed by either extreme calm or extreme rage. Nice detail.
— The hidey-hole behind the bookcase was accessed by a candle holder. That reminded me of my favorite gag in Young Frankenstein. Put. The candle. Beck.
— Dean kept saying what Bobby was saying. Was it just because Dean was always carrying the flask, or is Dean closer emotionally to Bobby? Probably both.
— Taco Macho. :)
— That haunted house was amazing. It was also the same house they used in season two's "Playthings," the one with the kids and the dollhouse.
— This week: Bodega Bay, Crow's Nest Inn. The motel had those float thingies you see in water. (What are they called?) There was snail wallpaper, too. Wallpaper. With snails. Where do the set designers find this stuff? Do they make it themselves?
Quotes:
Sam: "Kind of a foxhole thing. Very Hemingway."
Dean: "Huh. She and I kind of went Hemingway this one time, too."
Sam: "All right, well. That happens." (makes a face)
Dean: "You, too?"
Sam: "It was awhile back. We ended up on the same case. She was stressed... I... I didn't have a soul..."
Dean: "That's a lot of foxholes."
Bobby: "Hi. I'm Bobby. I'm a ghost. Looking for a little ghost orientation here?"
Annie: "Dead. Ghost. Me. Three words you never want to use in a sentence."
Bobby: "Ghost Alzheimer's."
Annie: "I'm liking this less."
Bobby: "I can kill werewolves, fix a Pinto and bake cornbread. I will be damned if I can't get Zen."
Dean: "Annie? (more quietly) Slimer?"
Bobby: "Suck on that, Swayze."
Bobby: "Life wasn't comfy. Why should death be?"
Loved this one. Three and a half out of four foxholes,
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
They have to find a way to bring Bobby back, killing him off was a mistake.
ReplyDeleteThis episode was fittingly dark and moody. I love the photography of the ghost world.
ReplyDeleteI think bringing Bobby back is a mistake, not only because his farewell was nearly perfect, but also because I thought the show was going in a different direction, stipping the Winchesters of anything familiar (Cass, Impala, Bobby, rocker aliases, etc), so that they'd see no way to save the world but to sacrifice themselves. That would lead to the bittersweet but perfect ending to the series, when they get to heaven and meet their loved ones again (even the Impala, who knows/). I believe they were thinking of doing this, thinking it was the last season.
But the show was apparently renewed. And since the show will change showrunners by season's end, I expect Bobby and Cass to come back, as a sort of clean slate for the next helmer. That's cheap. I really hope the next one surprises me and manages to bring the show to new heights, but how can they top the Devil if they closed the door to other mythologies too? There's only one way up: God Him/Herself, not a token one like Cas at he beginning of the season. Would they dare? Would they kill/imprison/incapacitate God?
I give this episode 10 out of 10 on my rating scale, Billie. Like you, I envy Annie getting to bed both Winchesters and Bobby. Lucky gal! I enjoyed learning more about complex ghost lore and felt badly for Bobby, who chose to stick around to help and now feels rejected by the brothers. Sure, Bobby would rather be drinking in Harvelle's in heaven, but who's to say that's where he would have ended up? He wants to stick around and protect "his" boys, and that's the choice he made, even if Sam and Dean aren't happy about his decision. Dean fears for the outcome, and history backs his concerns. Me? I'm hoping for the miracle that ends with Bobby being brought back to life. Love, Robin, columns on www.moogi.com and Winchester Family Business
ReplyDeleteTNT ran the pilot episode on Friday morning which really highlighted how SPN has changed over the years. I'm one who's grateful for the constant reinventing they do. I haven't loved everything they'd tried but I love them for not stagnating.
ReplyDeleteI say that to say I am really digging season 7 and I DON'T want the show to go back to the way it was. Last night's ep was very suspenseful and entertaining. I'm looking forward to how Ghost Bobby's character will change and I'm glad the boys reacted like hunters, not "civilians". They know it's not really their Bobby right now. They are too professional to ignore how bad things might go (but I hope the show can find an acceptable resolution that doesn't break my heart.}
One thing that won't please me would be if they wrap up the Leviathan arc this season. If they do it will be another lame "nevermind" reset like the Roadhouse or the Campbell family. I hate when they do that.
Rating for this episode - meeting the show where it is and not pining for the old days - it gets a 9.
RoseCompose
It's no secret I'm unhappy the writers chose this ghostly direction, but I am glad that they chose to have Sam and Dean react to Bobby's decision to stay in much the same way I did. And JA and JP played that moment when they realized why he was still around perfectly. The boys are, of course, deeply conflicted. Happy to have their father figure there, but also scared of what's likely in store for him. They've spent their entire lives vanquishing angry, twisted spirits, and now it seems that even the ones that start out non-malevolent, eventually break down into shrieking madness before disappearing all together. There just seems to be little chance that this ends well.
ReplyDeleteAnd if Annie and Bobby are right that ghosts that get "ganked" are spirits that simply cease to exist, that means Bobby didn't just postpone eternal rest. He gave it up altogether. It's tragic and heartbreaking. I'm often all for that kind of story-telling, but like the boys, I wanted better for Bobby. So, despite being somewhat glad that the boys are having the same reaction I am, this episode just left me feeling angry and sad.
Finally, a return to form.
ReplyDeleteYep, it's sad that Bobby chose to stay back, and I really hope he and Annie are wrong. But I can't really comment any more over what Billie and previous commenters said already.
I'm just glad that we finally got a decent (very good even) episode. Let's hope it sticks.
Wow. This was just a strong episode, wasn't it? Supernatural made me all weepy and sad, gosh darnit.
ReplyDeleteAnd no, not at all twisted, since I nay have been yelling, "You go girl!" at the screen when it was revealed that Annie was a big one for foxholes. It makes me a little sad that the Supernatural writers don't do more in the way of long running female characters, because I've never had a complaint about how they write women, just that their women... uhm. Tend to end up in refrigerators. So to speak. Annie was lovely. I wish we had seen more of her, although I really liked her insistence on having a proper hunter's funeral, even knowing what that might mean.
Bobby? Breaks my heart. It's probably a statement about the kind of TV I watch that I'm not even raising a brow over him breaking my heart after he's dead.
Awesome review, as always (I love this site so much) and I have no idea whether this is kosher, especially given that I'm sure I just typoed all over you comments, but I noticed a tiny one in the third paragraph after the quote - "either incredibly said" where I think you meant "either incredibly sad." I basically never notice copy errors in these here parts, so I thought I would mention it, but please tell me if such nitpicking isn't cool. :)
Rachel, I enjoyed your comment. And please feel free always to let us know about boo boos. It's definitely kosher and I just fixed my typo.
ReplyDeleteI liked the episode a lot and I especially love the lighting and photography for this episode. But I´m still not glad Bobby is back, I think he would be better off really gone.
ReplyDeleteAlso, big fan of Victoria being upset by people calling her a hooker.
Buoys?
ReplyDeleteGreat comments, everyone. I'm glad most of you guys felt the way I did. I know Bobby had an outstanding farewell, but supernatural states of existence are big on this show. I was expecting to see Bobby again as something.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Josie. I always think of buoys as those huge floating thingies that drowning people stand on and clutch, but you're probably right that the little floating ones are called buoys, too.
Loved it. I think Annie was wrong though. I'm confident all the hunters are up with Ash in the Roadhouse in heaven, and that's where Bobby will eventually end up too (and poor Bobby, when will everyone on this show stop rejecting each other?!). I hope Dean and Sam told her about that before burning her body.
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