Episode reaction: SPN 11x21

[vyperdd]

Oh wow, that was a ripper of an ep.

The best opening teaser I've seen in a very long time, love how it picked up exactly where we left off last week.

And KEVIN FRIGGIN' SOLO!!!!!! I screamed out loud when he came on screen. Had no idea Osric was in the ep (that's why I really really love watching unspoiled, for wonderful reveals like that!!!!)

And he finally gets to heaven where he belongs!!! And, wow the expressions on the boys faces as they watched his soul rise, just beautiful!!! I think seeing that really convinced them that Chuck is God!!!

Loved Sam just babbling on and on to Chuck, so adorable, reminds me of when he first met Cas and how excited he was to meet an angel.

Oh, man, Dean's whole speech had me in tears too. What a stunning performance by Jensen!! J2 say they don't like to be scripted to cry, it either happens naturally during filming or it doesn't and this was a perfect example of that. Jensen said at a con that he was so affected when doing that scene that he asked to do his coverage first as he didn't think he could do it too many times. Wow, just wow!!

And I still like (kinda) Metatron. Being human has really had an affect on him and it's all positive. His sacrifice at the end was a fitting end for him. It doesn't make up for the crap he's done (killing Dean and closing heaven for example) but at least he can't do any more damage.

And, man, I continue to love Chuck/God and how Rob Benedict is playing him, so layered and imperfect. Willing to give up his creation because it all seems too hard and yet still willing to answer prayers and help those who still believe in him.

Am really glad Dean is being open and honest with Sam about what Amara wants. Am worried though, that Dean has already decided to "adios" if it saves Sam and the rest of the planet and going by Sam's last expression I think Sam has the same idea.

One thing really pissed me off and that was God blaming Sam for letting Lucifer out again!!! He didn't!! Cas did!!! But no, who gets blamed??? Again??? Sam. And the look on his face and him starting to try to explain just broke my heart. Real dick move there, Chuck. :-/

Even as much as I did love the ep, I still wish Sam had more of an involved role in it, esp in the scenes with Dean and Chuck. It seemed to me they were just dominated by 2 instead of being a fairly even 3-way!! Sam has so many questions he's been wanting to ask God for decades but he just wasn't given the chance as they seemed to focus on the Dean/God dead-beat Dad comparison.

And I'm really annoyed that we didn't get any conversation between the brothers about Sam having the amulet all this time. With it now hidden in Dean's pocket (because Jensen doesn't want to wear it again) I doubt we'll see it much if at all.


Have no idea what's going to happen in the last 2 eps but am so friggin' impatient to see them.

Comments

[jessm78.livejournal.com]

I had the same reaction as you when I saw Kevin!! I was totally not expecting that - had no idea he'd been filming or anything. Was great to see him, even just as a little cameo :)

Sam was such a cute Chuck fanboy, I loved it :D

I remember Jensen talking about that at a con, how he'd started crying when the coverage was on him and it wasn't in the script (I believe?). He did a great job with that scene.

I had the same thoughts about Metatron. After all the crap he'd done I think he redeemed himself just a bit here... and that was a very fitting end for him.

Some of my friends have been speculating that Dean may actually take Amara up on her offer & go away with her... either that or sacrifice himself (especially after hearing what Chuck was saying about doing it himself). It certain does seem that way from what he told Sam in the end. :/ I don't want to think about it. The thought of either boy sacrificing themselves and ending the season apart never sits well with me. But I guess we'll see what happens.

I feel dumb as I completely missed that the first time around (don't ask me how...) but when I rewatched it I had the same reaction. I can't believe Chuck was blaming Sam for letting out Lucifer!! One of my friends said maybe he meant the first time at the end of season 4 but I don't know. Wouldn't he have added "in the beginning" or "the first time" if that were the case? Cas did, and lest we forget that Cas was the one who let Sam out of the panic room in season 4 which led to Sam killing Lilith and Lucifer being set free. I don't think these writers are aware of their own canon. *shakes head* And Sam's face there broke my heart too. :(

Yeah, I'm very disappointed that Sam didn't have a bigger role in this. He was the one who had to rescue Lucifer (despite their history and the fact that he was torturing Sam in 11.14) while Dean got to chat with Chuck. I would love it if we could see Sam actually having more scenes with Chuck (maybe in the next episode?) but I'm not optimistic. I'm also not optimistic that they'll address the amulet either.

[gateslacker.livejournal.com]

I liked the continuation here and glad to have some resolution for Kevin, even if it was brief. I didn't see it as blaming Sam per se. Cas said Yes but Sam wasn't completely blameless since he worked with Rowena and Crowley on the spell that pulled Lucifer out of the cage. (I'm one who didn't think the Cage in that episode was thecage so maybe that's why.)

I was more irritated by Sam's lack of meaningful involvement as the episode wore on. It is my biggest beef with this show since forever that all the other relationships are only important in how they relate to Dean. Sure, there are the occasional exceptions but it's mostly how Dean feels or relates to the supporting character or feels about something that happened to that supporting character. How does Dean feel about Kevin, Cas, and, now, God.  Poor Dean. How is he dealing with John's/Bobby's/insert other character here's death? It started way back when with John and I can remember how that annoyedme so much. I remember thinking, they act like Dean was an only child!  Often I find myself thinking, in episodes such as these "Dean, Dean, Dean" (to the tune of Marsha, Marsha, Marsha).

That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy Dean's conversation with God. I just wish that the emotional beats were weighted more evenly. But, I suspect the Sam POV thing is always going to grate on me till the end. Sam being relegated to the role of supporting character is always going to bother me. Sam's lack of meaningful emotional followup to (killing Kevin, rescuing Lucifer FCOL)  is always going to bother me. It's not like I expect it to always be about Sam either but some of these missed opportunities are glaringly obvious!

I didn't want a whole episode related to the amulet or anything but I did expect a little more than Dean just putting the thing in his pocket never to be seen and heard from again. This is why I wish episodes that are obvious continuations were written by the same writer cause sometimes things mesh, like the characterization of Chuck as God which was spot on. Other times, not so much.

[madebyme-x.livejournal.com]

Even though this did feel like an in between episode to me, building us up to the finale and getting all the chess pieces in place, I adored the opening section with Chuck, star struck Sam, and Dean's wonderful heartbreaking speech. I also loved the mood change we saw in Lucifer, he seemed much darker and serious that we've seen him before - I loved that.

I'm not sure if Chuck was intentionally blaming Sam for Lucifer's release, his whole mood changed in that scene, he seemed snappish and irritable, so clearly there's a lot of complicated father son issues there, which could be very interesting to see played out on screen. So hopefully we see some of that.

Thanks for sharing your reaction :)

[reggie11.livejournal.com]

I don't think Chuck was blaming Sam for letting Lucifer out this time. I think it was a dig about letting him out in season 5. It did piss me off though because it wasn't Sam OR Dean's fault, it was all a manipulation by Heaven to allow Michael and Lucifer to have their final showdown. It's why Zachariah changed the voicemail on Sam's phone, to ensure he would kill Lilith. I thought it was another example of poor writing by writers who have never bothered to watch the show from the beginning so don't actually know what is canon. It's been obvious since Sera left that the team of writers and producers that are left don't see Sam as an important character in his own right; to them he is a device to tell Dean's story. Even though the show has always been about the brothers, it has always been Dean's story, that's why we see things from Dean's POV, but only in the respect of the story being told - it's easier to follow a story if it's from a single POV. After Kripke and Sera left, many of the writers that came on board had never, and still haven't, watched the first five seasons. To them Dean is the hero, and Sam is just a tool to tell Dean's (the hero of the show according to them) story. This season they brought back Sam as a focal character until the latter part, and now they've dropped the ball with him...again. As much as Jensen's performance with him questioning Chuck about "why" was fabulous, it would have made more sense to me if that speech would have come from Sam, the person who did have faith and belief, who would be more likely to be shattered by finding out God just let everything happen for no reason at all.

I've totally given up on this team ever giving Sam equal importance to Dean. There was never more proof than when talking to Dean, Chuck told him that he is the firewall between light and darkness, and that was why he saved him from hell. Never mind that the whole world was saved by Sam sacrificing himself to cage Lucifer. It's like that never even happened.

But...I did like, when they were talking about the darkness, when Chuck said "I've always had faith in you" while looking at Sam, and then saying, "even if you didn't return the favour" while looking at Dean. I think that was an acknowledgment of Sam's faith because we all know Dean has never had faith in God, so that was at least something.

I have the sinking feeling that it will end up being Castiel that saves the day in the finale, and that's going to piss me off. All season it has looked like Sam was going to save Dean because Dean can't fight Amara, and get his moment in the sun, but it's taken a severe left turn from that in the last few eps, and now I think Dean and Cas will be the heroes and Sam will only play a minor role in whatever happens. I've kind of made my peace with it. I've been mostly enjoying this season and not allowing myself to be too disappointed by the erasure of Sam's history. I still like the show, but I haven't loved it for a number of years. I still love seasons 1-7, but now it doesn't bother me if I don't see it for weeks on end and end up playing catch up. I love the fanfic side of things, and I still enjoy the show, but I certainly wouldn't have been crushed if this would have been the final season. I think they should have ended the show on a high a few years ago. Now it will end up ending because it will fizzle out.