we are so totally trucked...

[xparrot]

It must be said: Eric Kripke, I want to bear your smarm-filled babies. Holy moly. How is it even possible to write fic for this show? Every missing scene of dramatic conversation is already done in the episode! Dean worrying about killing people, about how far his protective streak really goes - check. Raising the whole issue of John's seeming favoritism for his youngest - check. Sam willing to give up what he wants most in the world, even against his father's direct order, for his brother's sake - oh lordy, check.

All that, and one hell of a cliffhanger. So. Much. Love. For that cliffhanger. Talk about out of the blue. And we have a whole summer to wait?? gnine and I have invented a new word for it - trucked. Referring not to the chars but to the experience of we faithful viewers. As in, OMG, we were just trucked up the--

You get the picture. Bonus points for musical choice, perfect as always. Man, I want to make love to the soundtrack of this show. I bet they've been saving that song for the whole season. What could be better than going out to CCR?

Though really the Cliffhanger Truck From Hell (CTFH, (c) gnine) wouldn't be nearly as bad if what came before hadn't been so damn good. I doubt that anyone was killed in the accident (seriously, who dies in the last 1 minute of a season finale? Ever, in the history of TV?) and there's a million ways to get out of it, anything from standard Hollywood 'oh it wasn't as bad as it seemed, really they're just a little banged up' to the demon catching them & bringing them to hell, to it all having been one of Sam's visions. But going a whole summer without any new Supernatural? Without anymore brotherly love and family loyalty and Dean's mouthing off?

...naye and I do have some hope that Jared Padalecki will use the time to invest in acting lessons. And a haircut. Especially the haircut. His acting is improving, and our standards aren't too high anyway (...we're too distracted by the shiny light bouncing off Jensen Ackles' luminous orbs.) But that hair...go back to the pilot floppy-cut? Please? (And wear fewer shirts? Please?)

And ninjatrauma, in regards to our concerns that Dean might get the short end of the dramatic stick - for me at least, this assuaged any doubts. The ep might as well have been called "Dean's Angst & Co." Don't know if the shift of focus from Sam's tragedy to Dean's was intended all along, or whether it came up as the season progressed, but they're obviously not glossing over it. Really want to see how it's dealt with, now that they've raised all those issues. John, you need to survive just so you can give your eldest the hug he so badly needs. And a few kind words. If you watch his expressions, Dean starts questioning whether it's really his father the moment John starts to praise him. "Wait, what, my dad's telling me I did good? That can't be Dad!" That? That is so incredibly sad, especially considering how unreservedly and absolutely Dean loves his father anyway.

I still believe that John doesn't actually love Dean any less than Sam; it's just that Sam, being more difficult, requires more affirmation of it. Possibly, too, John made such an effort not to blame Sam for Mary's death that he overcompensates in his affection. But it was seeing Dean go out that gave John the strength to resist the demon for that crucial moment, after all. Even if Dean wasn't in any condition to realize it then. Dying to see how that's going to play out later...

In conclusion: any smarm fen not yet watching this show, you are doing yourself a disservice. Get thee to bittorrent and share our pain. Four months? (Or forever, if it doesn't get picked up for a 2nd season. But I am flatly refusing to consider that possibility. So. Four months, give or take.) Nooooo~~!!!

Comments

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was wondering myself if JA's superior acting abilities were one of the reasons for the focus-shift to Dean. Whatever the reasons - oh man. Talk about your emotional pay-offs. They were building the whole season to that confrontation with the demon, and it's done so beautifully - it's so focused, just the Winchesters and their mortal foe, no one else. Nothing at stake except their lives and hearts and yes, that John could get strength enough to resist the demon for Dean's sake...it really was what was needed. Except that Dean is the one who needed it more than anything, and whether Dean really realized it...he's too far gone by that point to really know what's going on.

Also loved how Sam had to chose sides - when he finds Dean holding the gun on their father, and Dean can't say anything because whatever he says the demon could twist around to turn against him, that's what demons do - but Dean doesn't have to say anything, because Sam trusts his brother, ultimately. (and then after he shoots John, he literally jumps over him to get to Dean - and all Dean can think about is whether their father is okay - and it just kills you, how much they all love one another, how clearly that shines through when everything comes down to the wire like this...)

I think Sam is starting to realize what you said, that Dean is the one who holds them together, more important than he knows. Sam's also finally noticing how John treats Dean - I don't think he ever realized it before, too caught up in his own confrontations with his father, the way John does take Dean's loyalty for granted. I get the feeling that John might overestimate Dean's strength (as he has all along, leaving him to protect Sam at only 9!), might not reach out to Dean as he does to Sam partly because it's so hard for him to make that effort, and he doesn't think it's necessary for Dean. Now I'm dying to see Sam to chew out John for that, for Sam to tell John what Dean needs to hear. I think John is proud of Dean, it's just never occurred to him that Dean needs to hear it...

...my problem with fic, reading and writing, is that the show is already giving me practically everything I really want to see! (except the hugs. WTF, c'mon, get with the hugging! Dean needs it! Badly! The only thing that played wrong for me in the whole episode was when Sam goes rushing to Dean's side, he doesn't touch him - yeah, he's covered in blood and all, but he could at least brush his cheek or something, make sure he's still breathing...) I'm not that inspired to go seeking more...
...though if you find any good h/c, oh yeah, I am there. I look forward to the summer's rec lists! ^^

[beckerbell.livejournal.com]

It surprised me because it was the finale, it seemed like the perfect time to focus on Sam, given that the whole season was spent focusing on him and his Special-ness. Not that I'm complaining, because Dean (and John!) just knocked this episode out of the park, it was really everything I could have hoped for. It was certainly a hell of a lot more than I was expecting/preparing myself for.

I don't think there's anything I would change (maybe a detail or two here like you mentioned), not the use of Meg (whom I really liked in this episode, she can be hit or miss for me, but the exorcism and her "thank you" and her dying words of how it'd been a year she was trapped in there--and, hell, even the way it foreshadowed John's posession--was all beautifully done), certainly not the way it came down to these three people and that demon in the end. That's the way it had to be.

I do find it interesting that Sam's powers didn't manifest even when Dean was in danger, that something else must be the trigger. As someone somewhere so astutely pointed out, that's just a recipe for deux ex machina next season--Oh, Dean's in trouble, let's have Sam whip out his powers again! Maybe they'll do something more interesting with them. Certainly, if Max could learn to control his abilities, Sam should be able to learn about them, too. I'm surprised this hasn't cropped up more often, though. If the demon is killing all these people... though, I'm confused about whether or not it's trying to kill the babies or the mothers...?

With Sam, I don't want to get my hopes up that he's realizing just how much Dean holds their family together (or how much Dean gives up of himself or what he might have had if he weren't protecting them), but I did get the same impression from the episode. I was so, so glad when he just absolutely trusted Dean, far more than their father, even after all the repairing they'd been doing on their relationship. I love that it's not just a one-sided relationship, it's not just Dean trying to keep everyone together, Sam's in this, too. And, man, do I want Sam to chew John out for it--maybe when John finally gets around to yelling at Dean for wasting the bullets, Sam'll step up and say how much Dean needs to hear the words.

I'm not going to hold my breath, the resurfacing of John when the demon was killing Dean was far more than I expected and something very, very tangible to hold onto, but... maybe. I didn't think they would address even half of the issues they did with the episode (especially Dean needing them more than they need him).

I think I've always been more fannishly inclined than you are (in the sense of wanting more, more, more fic that is XD), so I crave fic that deals with the father/son issues on a deeper level... but that's always been my kryptonite. If a series has father/son angst wrapped up with the whole needing approval, having the approval but not realizing it because the father is an emotional retard? I'm so there. I'm always there. I'm actually sort of looking forward to the fix-it fic that authors will be churning out, to the point I'm kind of actually glad there was a cliffhanger. Eheh. ^_^;; (If you haven't read them already, I'd suggest anything janissa11 writes. Her "Brothers & Strangers" is a masterful delving into the Winchester family dynamics and her "Haystack" fic is some really beautiful h/c fic. */pimping*)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, good point about Sam's powers, it is interesting that they didn't materialize even with Dean in danger...maybe because he was trying too hard? Or it has to do with the visions, maybe; after all, the only time Sam's done any TK was immediately after his vision of Dean's death. I am curious what the demon's "plans" are. He definitely doesn't want to kill the babies; he could have managed that easily enough with Sam, it took John long enough to get up there after Mary screamed, after all, and that John had no idea what he was dealing with. The demon doesn't even want to kidnap them, because again, he could have, if he wanted to...he wants them to grow up with the pain of losing their mothers. Not sure why, but...

And I was thrilled by Sam taking Dean's side, all the way through. He even thanked him for saving his life with the gun, even though it used a bullet...and the "not just everything," we have been waiting a season for Sam to reach that understanding, and now he has, and oh, oh...I just hope he does get the chance to chew their father out over it. Eee, I am looking forward to the next ep something fierce.

While the brother dynamic is my personal all-time fave, I have a strong love of the dysfunctional father/sons, too (Adama & Lee, anyone?) so, yeah. Much love all around!
Fanfic is a weird thing for me, sometimes I am dying to read it, sometimes I'm aching to write it (I've written in a few fandoms I don't even read in, I just felt like writing for whatever reasons), and sometimes I'm not interested at all. Supernatural is a little odd for me because it's a solid Type B fandom in most respects (Type A tend to be the ones I only love the canon and don't need extra, Type B are the ones I fan on in the interactive/fic direction) but the show's being so good about giving me what I want...but there are some mighty fine writers (gen writers, no less!) and there are such delectable opportunities for h/c being realized - yeah, I'm having fu! Just read "Haystack" today, enjoyed it immensely, and was intrigued by your rec of "Brothers & Strangers" but am a little nervous about it - my problem always has been, for all my love of angst, I am addicted to (eventual) happy endings, so...!