Supernatural through 2x01

[rachelmanija]

I can't much type now, but that was AWESOME. I mean, really good, not just guilty pleasure + Dean Winchester good.

But perhaps you all will comment in comments if you ahve watched that far about that last set of episodes?



I knew what happened, but not how; thought Dean was dying from possessed-John-inflicted injuries, so was not expecteing MONSTER TRUCK!

Array on ceiling to catch meg remind anyone else of FMA? Ditto brotherly relationship, dead mother, and (quite different) absent father? (Put "SPOILERS for Fullmetal Alchemist" in header if there are any.)

I will never recover from Dean pleading with John-within-possessed body not to kill him. And the look in his eyes when Sam holds the Colt on possessed-John.

Nor from the hands on the Ouija board, so thats where the icon is from. also reminds me of FMA-- the feeling more than the particular image, though there are some literal visual paralells.

What does everyone think John told Dean? We still don't know, right?

Good on John for finally telling Dean he appreciated (and knew) what Dean had done for the family. Despite giving Dean a complex the size of that semi, still, I assume he thought Dean was better scarred than dead-- and telling him or Sam after would just make it harder on them, and before would make it much worse.

Comments

[cofax7]

STill don't know, right. It's pretty clear, I think, that it relates to what the demon wants, and why Sam is so special (as are the other children whose mothers died on their 6-month birthdays), but we don't know what it is.

John's so damned hard on his sons.

If you are in the mood for fic, the story tripoli8 posted today has no spoilers beyond 201. And both killabeez and destina have posted stories that take "Devil's Trap" and go to really AU places with them. Des' is very dark, though.

[veejane.livejournal.com]

I was thinking about that, what John said in Dean's ear, and I've got to wonder if it's direct prose/advice/explanation at all. It was so brief, probably no more than 15 words, I have to wonder if it was a koan or a bit of rhyme, a clue rather than a finished puzzle.

Dean seemed completely WTF about it at the time, but it seems as if it has changed his aspect since then; that leads me to believe it was something he's got to figure out or research. Also, that way I won't have to pretend that John recited Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire into his son's ear, because, it's pretty hard to do that in 4 seconds.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

There's no incest, is there?

[cofax7]

Des has written Wincest, but the one I'm thinking of is... errm. Not precisely. Well, it's not that. Damn. If I tell you what it is, I spoil the story. Her stories are well-warned, but. Hmm. It's a very good story, very powerful, but not for everyone--very very dark.

Well, in any event, barkley has a lot of good SPN gen recs. You could start there?

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, I see what you mean. Well, that didn't squick me except in the way I was supposed to be squicked. I was thinking more about those other sorts of stories. Anyway, that was very good and plausible. Thanks for the rec!

[cofax7]

No problem. Oh, and I just found killabeez's SPN Recs page, nicely coded for gen/slash, etc.

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

Now you can watch vids!

killabeez has an awesome 2x01 John vid as well as the one I rec'd to you last time.

Also: I know! If you check my posts you will see I was also blown away by MONSTER TRUCK!

I didn't even notice the FMA parallels until oracne mentioned I sure did like shows about brothers.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Ah yes!

Sam's freak-out in "Simon Said" seems even more just about Sam freaking out after seeing these eps-- Sam's already seen Dean kill an innocent living human out of necessity, and (from Sam's POV) he's done so himself. Though really, Sam and helper-guy were being a little nuts over Meg. She was already dying and exorcising her was just putting her out of her misery, no different from any other dead thing they lay to rest.

[veejane.livejournal.com]

Just by being talked-about unseen for so much of the first season, John's thematic power is multiplied by a gajillion the instant he interacts with the boys. I hadn't even seen most of the season and I saw the altar episode with Meg and knew that his character was a massive development in the series -- giving it more depth, more breadth, and the heft to hurt. I wasn't wrong.

I think that the fandom in general had a very low opinion of John, because they took Sam's word for it (and his side); I have seen a number of tail-end conversations about how John was "abusive" and mean and all that. But the instant everyone got to see John, see him interact with his children, it seemed to all turn around. He still gets some chiding (notably from me) for his high-handedness, but being able to empathize in the flesh (so to speak, considering it's television) changed how a lot of people felt, I think.

I do enjoy this family, watching it work. They've got crappy interior boundaries, and are always stepping on each other's feet, but they'll fight over who gets to die to protect the other two. (Hey, no wonder John is high-handed!)

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Indeed.

I had a lot more sympathy for John than I expected. I do wonder why he never even showed up in "Faith," given his actions here, but maybe he thought that wasn't really as bad as Sam was making it out to be, and was going to check in later if no one pulled off a miracle cure-- which they did. And the situation here was much more directly John's fault/responsibility, rather than the natural vagaries of hunting. (Plus he probably still felt guilty over "Faith," though I don't remember him mentioning it directly.)