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Supernatural: Soul Survivor

"That line that we thought was so clear between us and the things that we hunted ain't so clear, is it?"

And it's a big old game of bunker Hide 'n Seek.

As good as this episode was, and I think it was very good, is anyone else wildly disappointed that Dean was cured so quickly? Sam was soulless for a lot longer and the two of them had to learn to coexist in a completely different way, and I was expecting something along the same lines. Although maybe it's better that they don't give us what we're expecting.

I thought Jensen Ackles gave one hell of a performance, though. He kept projecting this underlying ambiguity, and the hurtful things he said to Sam sounded a lot like truth. Like, which of us is really the monster. And, my mother would still be alive if it weren't for you. Was Dean actually hiding those photos in his room from Sam? After Dean busted himself out of the electrical room in a very Shining sort of way, he ran his hand through his hair like he was exhausted and upset.

Do you think the writers didn't think out exactly what they were doing with demon Dean? He never felt totally evil, and I was never sure what he wanted, or even what sort of being he was – half demon? Somewhere on the demon scale? Still alive or a reanimated dead body? Yes, he was having fun playing with Crowley, but he was also drinking like he was anesthetizing himself, and he killed Lester instead of Mindy. If Dean had truly wanted to kill Sam during that chase in the bunker, I bet he would have done it. There's still the Mark of Cain, too. If Dean can't kill, if Crowley did manage to hide the Blade on the dark side of the moon or whatever, Dean's demonic problems are far from over.

Because ambiguity was our theme, we learned that Sam was the one who talked Lester into that crossroads deal. I found that upsetting. Yes, Sam did it to get his hands on a demon and didn't intend to let Lester go through with it, but it cost Lester his life. Did it cost Lester his soul, too? I thought the deal was broken because Lester didn't get what he asked for. Isn't that a refund situation?

Meanwhile down in Hell, Crowley may have a snazzy throne and a devil-may-care attitude, but his heart isn't in it any more. His demons are so unhappy with him that they're immolating themselves in protest. (I thought that was funny; the demon looked like he was having serious second thoughts while he was going up in flames.)

Why did Crowley decide to force feed Castiel Adina's grace in order to save Dean? Is Crowley in love with Dean? Seriously? Maybe Crowley realized that a demonic Dean isn't the Dean he wants. Interesting.

Hannah has it bad for Castiel, too. Was she getting lost on purpose because she doesn't approve of Castiel's relationship with the Winchesters? Of course she was. Maybe she'll change her mind about the Winchesters if she spends some time with them. Which she may be able to do now, since it's vacation time for the Winchesters.

Except for that redhead in Tulsa who had bodies on the ceiling held up with great big thorns. I wouldn't pack for Hawaii just yet.

Bits and pieces:

— Terrific visual with Castiel and his gleaming blue-white eyes restraining Dean with his dense black demonic eyes.

— Those photos of Dean's gave me a twinge. Especially the one of Dean and Sam from season one. So long ago.

— Crowley's "throne room" was tackier and uglier than I would have expected if I'd ever thought about what sort of throne room Crowley would have. Maybe that's just the décor they're stuck with in Hell. Maybe that's why Crowley wanted Dean to help make Hell over.

— I liked the idea that Dean was able to get out of the cuffs and devil's trap because he had become more human. That made sense.

— This episode was directed by Jensen Ackles. He's a terrific director and impossibly beautiful.

— I have a request. If they have to do the blood cure thing again on anyone, could they set up an IV line?

Quotes:

Dean: "Sammy, you know I hate shots."
Sam: "I hate demons."

Castiel: "It's what the humans do. They say they're fine."

White Beard Guy: "Majesty, supplicants await without."
Crowley: "Without what?"

White Beard Guy: "They've waited a long time."
Crowley: "It's Hell. You wait. It's what you do."

Crowley: "Why can't you people just sit on clouds and play harps like you're supposed to?"

Sam: "One battle at a time, you know? So I'm just gonna go grab my brother some cholesterol. And then I'm gonna get drunk."

Dean: "What does Sam say? Does he want a divorce?"

Anticlimactic, although it was quite good. Three out of four supplicants awaiting without,

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

13 comments:

  1. I'm not particularly upset about Lester. Sam told him about an option he didn't know about, he took it. I don't think Lester lost his soul. In season three we were told that killing the demon that had the contract on a soul would free the soul, that was why they were looking for Lilith. Even if we think the soul reverted to Crowley immediately, the didn't fulfill the deal before Lester died, so his soul should be safe. I'm assuming Crowley wanted the deal because Lester wasn't 100% going to Hell.

    Basically, they have done worse over the seasons so it didn't bother me at all.

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  2. I'm relieved to have Dean back, and that Castiel finally got to the bunker! I know America was big but he'd been driving for ever it felt like.

    I find Supernatural works best if I assume everyone is in love with Dean except Sam (because ew) but it did seem unusually like the subtext was becoming the text these last couple of episodes.

    (waiting a week between Supernatural episodes is hard. I don't like it! ;) )

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  3. I forgot to say how much I actually liked this episode - for me, the best one since The Born Again Identity wy back in season 7 (I wasn't wild about a lot of seasons 8 and 9!).

    And did anyone else find Dean being burned by holy water weirdly creepy? Bizarrely I found that more unsettling than all the black eyes and murder.

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  5. I think Lester's going to Hell anyway. Putting a hit out on your wife for doing what you do?...eh, yeah, I think hypocrisy plus attempted murder would probably send you downstairs.

    I personally can't wait to see what they do with Crowley. It will be nice to see him have a storyline that doesn't involve JUST being the villain. Seeing things from his point of view would be interesting.

    Though I did feel kind of cheated with how fast they cured Dean, I got over it. I really liked the episode overall. So far, S10 is just getting better and better.

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  6. There;s nothing scarier than being trapped and hunted in a bunker by a demonic Winchester...lol.

    My heart was pounding whenever Sam was sneaking through the house trying to avoid Dean. When Dean was breaking down the door, I half expected him to shout, "Here's Dean!!" or something to that effect.

    I'm on the fence on the whole demon arc being over. I'm glad it's over because we can have Dean back and fight side by side with Sam again but I was hoping that Demon Dean would stick around for a little bit. Try to fight with Sam as a demon and not do things the orthodox Winchester way but Dean's demonic way and frustrate Sam and maybe Crowley at the same time.

    I kinda have a feeling that Dean is not fully back. Like Castiel said, as long as he has the mark of Cain, he's gonna be in danger of reverting back to Demon Dean. Maybe because he doesn't have the first blade, it might not kick in because I remember Cain saying that the mark and the blade works hand in hand so we'll see.

    I am wondering about how Dean is gonna handle the whole Lester situation now that he is "human" again. He gave Lester ammunition to fight him with demon knowledge and now that he's human, maybe we will see if Dean remembers him or why he killed Lester's father.

    I loved the scene where Sam was looking through the pics in Dean's room. I don't know about you guys but everytime they play that score with the family/brother loving scenes, it just makes me wanna shed some tears.

    I don't know what Crowley has up his sleeve but I certainly don't trust it. What does he stand to gain from turning in Dean to Sam and helping Cas get "borrowed" grace again? I don't know. Maybe he's trying to go "light side" and trying to become good because he misses Dean? I dont know but I want to see how that's gonna work out. I kinda knew the whole purpose of the other female angel(whose name escapes me for some reason) was to have someone take her grace and give it to Castiel so I'm not surprised that Crowley took it from her.

    And to answer your question Billie, Cas' grace was used by Metatron to cast a spell to expel all the angels from Heaven so I dont know if he still has it or the grace is still in tact.

    Can't wait till next week to see what the Winchesters have in store for us.

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  7. I meant to write Cole instead of Lester. Cole....I wish I could edit my rant but I meant Cole...lol

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  8. Jensen Ackles got TVLine's performer of the week for this episode.

    http://tvline.com/2014/10/25/jensen-ackles-supernatural-performance-season-10-soul-survivor/

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  9. While I would not have been disappointed to have Demon Dean running around a bit more, I am glad to have our Dean back.

    This was an incredibly tense episode and Jensen did a brilliant job directing it. The whole cat-and-mouse thing must have been extremely difficult and time consuming both to shoot and to edit. Kudos.

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  10. I found myself not that interested in the show the last few episodes, but I got increasingly interested as this episode progressed. I think it's because the show feels wrong when Sam and Dean aren't working together so I'm actually really glad Dean is cured now.

    I agree with A Parker that Lester is probably going to hell anyway for being an all-around bad person.

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  11. I really enjoyed this episode and I think Jensen was having a great time as demon dean. I am glad we have Dean back. I noticed though that when dean was cured his black eyes retraced so I think maybe demon dean may come back as he no longer as the blade but has the mark. does he still have to satiate the mark with killing to avoid turning back to a demon ? I hope we get abit more about how much guilt dean has as regards to how is was as a demon.

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  12. It was an excellent episode but having dying Castial being dragged all over the US really was annoying. Yes, we don't want Cas to swope in and save the day right off the bat but my goodness, a better story line would have fit the situation better.
    Jensen did a fantastic job as a murderous killer and his horrible taunting of poor Sam, made Souless Sam look like a church preacher! Cold,cold and colder..brrr...I also noticed that as Demon Dean, that Jensen voice mellowed out in like slight texas twang tone, like hi, Im a good old boy, that would never be considered dangerous unless your like douche bag Lester, he was clearly clueless to the dangerous undertone of a killer, who could/did murder him because he was a snotty little prick.
    One more side note when Cas and Hannah stopped at that last gas station before being attacked I thought for a moment it was another gas and sip, I thought how many of these places are there?!?? 😉

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  13. "He kept projecting this underlying ambiguity, and the hurtful things he said to Sam sounded a lot like truth. Like, which of us is really the monster."
    No!!!!!! That was so stupid! I felt my arousal of Demondean evaporate just like that when they made him spout that trite WE'RE NOT SO DIFFERENT, YOU AND I crap. But it was hot while it lasted, and it still lasted way longer than I thought it would... 3 solid episodes of it, that's not bad at all for an arc. But I'll deeply miss Crowley struggling to keep him in line. As funny as him daydreaming on his throne about Dean is, it also kind of moved me. Now they can't be murder husbands anymore :( Alas, poor Crowley... or so I'd say if he didn't kill off that awesome vengeful angel and then made this shitty quip about how they never stay in their heaven. Back on my shit list again, Crowley... and now he's a regular so ugh.
    Props to the self-immolating demon... and RIP to both the dead runaway angels who deserved better. But I don't like that as a result I'm kind of hating Cas's passively going along with that love interest of his who wants everyone back up there.
    But they're trying new things, and I've said before I'll take interesting failures over off-screen angel faction action. It's not coming across in my comment but I even like some of the "boring" stuff, like Cas's love interest fawning over him. I still feel kind of bad for him being used as a babysitter (and that was really weird too, since it's such a lovely proof of trust that that woman let him babysit for her) and he deserved more attention like that than just Metatron grousing about how popular Asstiel is, lol. Attention that we can actually witness.
    Having said, I liked Sam shutting down Cas's reminder of what lies ahead. That's a really nice moment for him... one problem at a time

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