Wednesday, October 30, 2013

'Slumber Party' -- SPN 9x04


Warning: Spoiler Alert

I wasn't overly thrilled with this episode, cuz it felt very much like the writers went off the rails to the point that they are no longer giving a shit about what they're putting into canon. I have come across people who liked this episode, but the fact that they were using a land that came out of a series of books, it felt a little too much like they were tapping into that show "Once Upon a Time" ... which I have issues with as well. In theory, the idea that you would be able to unlock alternate dimensions (and ones that are from fairy tales) is something that you would think would normally attract me to a book or show, but it doesn't in this case (and when it comes to "Once Upon a Time," it's more a case of sloppy writing that I have an issue with). If the show had been set up to where this sort of thing was possible, I don't think that I'd have an issue with Oz being a real place, or Charlie going there. But the way that Show has been set up, it's based in our world, and even if they are able to mess about with time a bit, there is only going back or forward (without going sideways). But to add in the idea that Oz is a real place within this universe, and that there is a possible way for people to go there (and to come back from there), it opens up the possibility that they would be able to put in whatever alternate dimensions that they want where the lands are based on children's books or fairy tales. And really, it strikes me as being kind of a knock off of "Once Upon a Time" that they went this way (and if they're going to do a knock off of another show, wouldn't it make more sense to do it of a show that at least has something in common with Show? Like "Grimm" or "Sleepy Hollow").

What also may make me slightly upset with the whole thing of using the Oz books as a backdrop for this episode is the fact that they didn't get their details straight. Sure, there's going to be a bit of interpretation, but the premise was that Baum used the books as a way to give clues to Dorothy, and one of them was the shoes ... except that in the book, the shoes weren't red (let alone stilettos, since Dorothy was all of like eight in the book). In the book, the shoes were silver, and if Charlie had really read the books (and was as much of a nerd about them as she claimed), she would have known that. And I might have been ok with the writers changing a bit about Baum's life (like that he even had a daughter and the Oz stories were a guide for her), but what is it with show and turning all of the dads into shitty and/or absentee fathers? The heavy handed daddy issues that Show has been running with since day one is something that I could really do without (and would be more than happy to see go).

I have the feeling that everything's going to explode in Dean's face pretty soon. It's not just that Sam heard him call for Zeke when he came into the room, it's also the fact that Sam has started questioning Dean about Cas leaving (which I still think was stupid and makes Zeke look even more shifty, since the bunker is protected against every fucking thing, so they all should have been safe in there even with Cas there and all of the angels in Creation looking for him). Dean's going to have to either think a little more quickly on his feet (since he isn't lying very well when it comes to this), and hope to Hell that no one spills the beans about what is actually going on with certain aspects of the things that he's lying to Sam about (like Sam coming into contact with Cas, and Cas telling him why he actually left).

Also with the keeping people inside the safe zone: if Dean's going to tell Kevin that being in the bunker is the safest place for him to be, maybe getting him outside of the bunker (even if it's to let him clear his head) might not be the wisest plan (since up to now, the bunker is the only place that we have seen that no one has been able to break into, and anyone that's there had to be either brought there, or given "permission" to be there (which is how I see the boys being able to get in, since they were given the key by one of the last Men of Letters)). Knowing that Crowley is so close probably isn't the best thing for Kevin, but with all of the angels running around and wanting mess some shit up, and a Knight of Hell running around wanting to fuck some stuff up ... the bunker is the safest place for the Prophet to be. I did see somewhere where someone suggested that Zeke might have put the idea into Dean's head to "give Kevin a break" somewhere far away from them, which would make Zeke even more shifty (since it would mean that he's slowly trying to isolate the boys from everyone else, but especially from their family and friends (and anyone else who would be able to help them get rid of him, or stop him from whatever shifty plan he has in mind)).

So, Dean's going to have to think of a lie that is a bit more convincing than anything that he's been saying now to explain why Cas and Kevin aren't in the safest place that they could be. And he's going to have to think of some better lies as to why there's an angel in the bunker (when there shouldn't be, to Sam's knowledge), once Sam figures out how to get the angel locater working ... and we all should know by now that he's going to be able to get that fixed in the relatively near future. But, really, I don't see why he isn't already asking about Cas and Kevin, and isn't already suspicious about what's going on there.

Did anyone else think that scene where Sam, Dean, and Charlie finished watching season one of "Game of Thrones" was a bit awkward? Jared's delivery seemed a bit ... off when he was saying that he reads books without pictures. Maybe it was intentional? Maybe we're supposed to be thinking tat Sam isn't as good as we think that he should be with an angel inside of him helping him get on the mend (they've already had Dean give Sam the stink eye when Sam said that he'd never felt better).

Also, speaking of Zeke feeling Sam from the inside ... have I brainfarted when it comes to Angel's taking over human bodies? Cuz I can't remember anyone else having the glowie blue eyes the way that he does, which is making me think that there might be something significant about him. But there also might not be, since they still haven't explained why Crowley has red smoke, when all the other demons have black.

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