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Supernatural: The Werther Project

"What's in the basement, Suzie?"

What's in the box? Yes, it's another really creepy book. Lots of quests for books lately, sort of like the tablets.

Leaving aside the fact that she is so incredibly untrustworthy and certain to betray him, I have to say Rowena is more fun sparring with Sam than trying to wheedle things out of Crowley. Is she digging Sam? Who wouldn't dig Sam? No, seriously. She was calling him pet names (cowboy, and giant, and a bampot. What's a bampot?) and I think his bleeding into the Werther box was turning her on. No, wait. Was that actually Rowena or the yellow suicide smoke talking? (Did anyone else immediately think of old Yellow Eyes?)

And now Rowena is chained to a workstation. Man, I know how that feels. Would Sam really kill Crowley? I believe Sam would do anything for Dean, but Crowley isn't exactly easy to kill.

Rowena praised Magnus's style, and I have to say that a curse that talks people into killing themselves was another interesting way to explore what is happening to the Winchesters and their relationship. The ghost of Suzie a.k.a. Sam's subconscious ranted about Sam clinging to his doomed brother and said, "What's another human life to you? Anything's worth it as long as you two make it out alive." Sam is no fool. He is clearly aware that what he's doing with Rowena is a huge, stupid risk and that he's going way too far to rescue Dean. But you know, that's what the Winchesters do.

While tied to a chair in the dining room, Dean got the more exotic version of the suicide curse: a trip back to Purgatory. I always liked how they do Purgatory in the Supernaturalverse, and apparently, so did Dean. I can see where he would. Hanging out with his old buddy Benny and killing a lot of irredeemable monsters makes existence simple. Benny was, of course, Dean's subconscious, telling Dean that if he continues on to the point of becoming evil and demonic and makes Sam and Castiel take him out, it would be too much for Sam and Castiel, and that's true.


Interestingly, although Dean has always had a death wish and suffers from unbelievably low self-esteem, he seemed to bounce back more strongly from the suicide curse than Sam did. (Or maybe that was the Mark of Cain continuing to protect its host.) Dean realized that Benny wasn't real, and that he and Sam were stronger together than apart. Does this mean the Winchesters will stop freaking lying to each other?

I'm usually on board for anything having to do with the Men of Letters, and I loved the bunker flashback to 1956. Plus I like it when the Continuity Fairy zaps us too, this time with a return to Kavan Smith from Stargate and Eureka as Magnus/Cuthbert Sinclair, the no good very bad Man of Letters. Are we going to be seeing more of him? He's headless right now, though, isn't he?

The 1973 flashback was creepy fun, too. Pink bellbottoms are super creepy. Is it me, or did the Werther box look like a cross between a slot machine and a urinal?

Bits and pieces:

— "The Werther Project." Yes, the first thing I thought of was, this is Supernatural, so I bet they're not doing an episode about caramel.

— Magnus/Cuthbert insulted the Men of Letters by calling them librarians. As a librarian myself, I am offended. Hey, two words: Rupert Giles.

— This week: St. Louis, Missouri, both in the present day and 1973, and the MoL bunker today and on May 16, 1956. Dean hit a vamp nest in Tulsa all by himself.

— Dean was Dwight Twilley from the neighborhood watch.

Quotes:

Sam: "Looking at you like what?"
Dean: "Like that. Like I'm some sort of a… a… a diseased killer puppy. You know what, man? I'm sweaty, I'm covered with vamp juice, could we just talk about this later? I'd like to go back to the bunker and get my buzz on, and you know, pass out watching Speed 2: Cruise Control."

Rowena: "I'm over three hundred years old. Beauty sleep isn't optional."
I loved the way she was just draped wildly all over the bed.

Sam: "What are you doing here?"
Dean: "Looks like I'm here to save your sac."
And arriving out of the blue like that was definitely creepy, too.

Suzie: (re: Sam) "Tall white fella. Pretty hair."

Rowena: "I know what I've said about your kind, but the man who came up with this? The craftsmanship of the box, the sadism of the spellwork – it's all so deliciously baroque."

Benny: "No one needs to know, Dean. What happens in Purgatory stays in Purgatory."

Dean: "The universe is trying to tell us something we both should already know. We're stronger together than apart."
You think?

I enjoyed this one. Three out of four guns named Gus,

Billie
---
Billie Doux has been reviewing Supernatural for so long that Dean and Sam Winchester feel like old friends. Courageous, adventurous, gorgeous old friends.

8 comments:

  1. 'Bampot" means "idiot" according to Superwiki. So not much of a compliment, but still Rowena seemed to trust Sam too much for her own good.
    Rowena wants Crowley dead, really? Then she's sillier than I thought. If I were Sam I'd say, You are a bampot, witch. But this is what Dean would have done, short bus that he is.
    Hope they won't need a book to decipher the book from Magnus' magic safe in order to crack the Book of the Damned.
    And I really worry what they're going to do with Crowley. Please tell me they won't kill him (feelings...)

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  2. Actually it was Same unconscious mind who admired the sadistic spells of magnus...

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    1. ... Or maybe it was Magnus little easter egg spell

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  3. I was so relieved Sam was fine with killing Crowley. Dean may have got attached but I'm not sure Sam has!

    I liked this one a lot, too. I even managed to put up with Rowena without being so annoy this time! And I was so happy to see Benny, vision or not.

    Dean's hair this season keeps reminding me of Elvis.

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  4. "Does this mean the Winchesters will stop freaking lying to each other?"

    But then what would the show be about??

    I knew you'd have something to say about the librarian line. :)

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  5. Besides the finale, this is my favorite episode of this season. So jealous of Rowena getting to rub Sam's arm, lucky girl. I always wonder how long it takes Sam to recover every time he gets his blood drained. Does he need a transfusion or just lots of fluids?? This ep has a great plot and action. I wish more of this season did.

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  6. The title is an innuendo to the book "The Sorrows of Young Werther" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The protagonist, a man named Werther, commits suicide because he falls in love with a woman who is already married.

    It's quite a classic and a book the Men of Letters probably read. Although it's without anything supernatural.

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  7. It was a great episode and I was fooled into believing that it was Rowena until the final moment when it dawned on me that it was Sam's mind all along I do believe.

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