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.spn 5.03; or OMG
I DID OH MY GOD IN HEAVEN I DID.
I don't... where do I even begin?
Okay, I will take it point-by-point, namely, the fact that WE CALLED THIS EPISODE TOTALLY. O MY FANGIRLS, WE DID. ALL OF IT.
PERSONAL SPACE INVASION IN THE BATHROOM.
COLLAR STRAIGHTENING.
DRINKING.
CAS BEING TOTALLY AWKWARD AND THE EVENING GOING SIDEWAYS.
LAUGHING TOGETHER OUTSIDE.
CAS BEING A TOTAL MOTHERFUCKING BADASS AND DEAN BACKING HIM UP.
ALSO, ALSO, CAS AND ANCIENT LANGUAGES. IS IT CHRISTMAS?
Jesus, this episode... I don't even know y'all. I need a moment. It's just... Thelma and Louise, collar-straightening, and personal space invasion all in the first twenty minutes was a lot for me to take. I mean, seriously, it was like fanfic on my screen.
I gathered in my wandering of various comms that there was some anxiety about this episode, for a variety of reasons. It seemed like a lot of the emphasis in the promos and interviews about it was the trip to the brothel, and I am really, sincerely happy that was, plotwise, secondary to the hunt for Raphael, Teenage Mutant Ninja Angel, and that it ended up not being about Cas (beyond him being totally awkward and out of his element) as it was about Dean having a good time and laughing. That was actually a beautiful moment at the end, when Dean admits he hasn't laughed like that in years.
All in all, it was actually... underneath the hilarity, and Dean confessing he's had the best time of his life this past day (even though Cas isn't much fun, omg CAS), sad and frightening. We know more about the vessels, how the vessels of powerful angels like Raphael, Lucifer, and Michael are pretty much toast. And just... the look on Dean's face when he realizes that could be him, if he ever said yes, being confronted with the fact of it... Um, yeah, I wouldn't be in a hurry to say yes any time soon. So it was kind of crushing, knowing that, and having Raphael announce that the angels want it all over with (I actually felt a twinge of sympathy for them, when Raphael said they were tired) and that God is probably dead. And oh, the look on Cas's face--grief, anger... Hold me.
The one hole in Raphael's theory--the one hole that I really really wish had been addressed (or will be) is that, if Lucifer was the one responsible for Cas's resurrection... then who was responsible for clearing Dean and Sam out of that convent? It had to have been someone with a lot more power than Lucifer, because Sam was supposed to be there. So either it was Michael--in which case, why dump Dean on the plane at all?--or someone else. Yeah, it's thin, but it's a sliver of hope for Cas, and it's a sliver of hope he really needs. And I wish he hadn't vanished at the end, because despite Dean saying he's okay, he still needs someone (*cough* like Cas) there with him.
And as for Sam... oh god, Sam :( I think everyone called Sam-as-vessel, at least, everyone that I've seen. Being in bed with Lucifer aside... It makes me sad that, even as Dean seems to be shaking free of his ties to his family--the thing he's given all of himself to, and which has repaid him with grief and pain--Sam needs him more than ever. I can't quite figure out if Dean's still speaking out of anger and betrayal, or if he really has come to a part of his life where he doesn't need Sam with him anymore. It actually reminds me of the Djinn's reality, when Dean and Sam aren't close at all, and seem to be doing okay not living in each other's pocket. But I still... I hope that, in this reality, they do need that closeness, and get that back.
Annoyances: (edited)
Not all prostitutes have missing daddy issues, Dean. (Although I have to admit, the sexual politics were not quite as skeezy as I was fearing.) Speaking of missing daddy issues... would that make Dean and Cas hookers?
Racial coding hovering around the not-cool end of the spectrum with Raphael.
Miscellany:
Oh god, Cas being totally upfront and honest about angels and demons and Just Not Getting It when the sherrif looks at him like he's nuts. Cas, learn some subtlety, man.
More personal space issues. THEY'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS.
The oil. Sorry. The oil will never be old to me.
SNEAKY BADASS BASTARD CAS, YOU SNEAKY BASTARD, summoning Raphael in the hospital and trapping him in the abandoned house. And wanting that moment of vengeance, having Raphael under his control... That was pretty human. Dean was totally right to read that just as much as Cas wanting payback as wanting information.
And I loved, loved Dean explaining to Cas how he knew John was alive, just that knowledge he was still in the world. I hope Cas takes some solace from it.
In conclusion: FANFIC. FANFIC ON MY SCREEEEEN. I will maybe have more to say, or fic to write, on my rewatch later.
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