'Magnum Opus' -- SH 2x10

Warning: Spoiler Alert

The use of a Gorgon as what protects the sword ... ok, so they were using a supernatural creature to protect it. A few things about the use of a Gorgon for this:

1) This may be just me, but it felt a little too much like cross-contamination or the mixing of genres that don't belong together to have a Gorgon be what was used to stop people from getting the sword. The Gorgons were from Classical Mythology (specifically Greek, as apposed to Roman), but the rest of what is used in the show relies heavily on American folklore, fairytales, American Literature, and Christian lore (with some Wiccan and Hoodoo thrown in). Sure, it could be said that folklore, mythology, and religious lore are kissing cousins, but it just felt a bit jarring to have the feel of the lore used be (in so many cases) kind of American (or at least, have some kind of roots here in some way), and then, suddenly have something from ancient Greek mythology shoot up. Maybe it shouldn't, with the use of the Templars (since they aren't exactly as current a legend as most of the things that are used in the show), but it still does (I've kind of handwaved the used of the Templars as an extension of the use of the Christian lore and the Freemason lore, since they can be tied to both of those).

2) I did also have a slight problem with the look of the Gorogn, since they are supposed to look human (but with snakes for hair) and not like giant snakes themselves. They are also all female, but this one looked male to me. Maybe I missed something about it that would have triggered "female," and I am kind of hoping that it was me and not something to do with the effects.

3) At this point, the addition of a Gorgon doesn't really make sense for what would be used to protect the sword ... unless they were going for something that they didn't explain well enough for me to understand. From where I was sitting, it seemed a bit too much like they were reaching for something that might be snake related so that they could use Franklin's "Join or Die" cartoon. Unless they were going for something with the origins of the Freemasons, which (if they were), they should have made that a little more clear than they did ... but then, if I remember what little I know about their origins, they are associated with Egypt and not Greece.

Part of my problem, I know, is the fact that I have a tendency to overthink what's going on, and as Andreth used to have to remind me all the time, it's only genre television (and I shouldn't try to overthink it or bring logic to such things).

I was kind of hoping to find that there wasn't really a sword for Abbie and Captain Skinnyjeans to find. My thought kept going back to season five of SPN, and finding out that Dean was supposed to be the Michael Sword (in that he was Michael's perfect vessel). I was kind of hoping that they would do something akin to that. I didn't want them to have to need some sort of super magical weapon to be able to do things that they needed to do, and kind of wanted them to be able to find out that they could do the stuff themselves. I think part of my desire have them not find a super weapon may go back to SPN and the fact that they find a new one every other season (when, at first, the weapons were mythically huge when it came to the things that they could do, and now the super weapons seem like they're kind of run of the mill ... which takes away the super from the weapon and makes them just another weapon to find and use).

At least now we have an acknowledgement by Abbie (at least) that Katrina is a prisoner of the Horsemen, and not the super spy and super witch that the writers have been trying to force down our throats. Maybe this means that we're just a little bit closer to getting rid of what has essentially become a pointless character, and perhaps turning Abbie and/or Jenny into the resident badass witch.

I have a feeling that Irving should have gone to Canada with Jenny. I think that his natural inclination to have to do something to help is going to turn out to be his downfall ... and I think that Henry may be using that to his own advantage when it comes to making the vision of Irving in the middle of a war come true.

Was I completely missing something at the end of the episode? Cuz it looked to me like there were only three Horsemen there. I saw Henry (War) in the middle, Abraham (Death) on the right, and (I think) Pestilence on the left. So, where was Famine? Since the writers can't be bothered to get the order of the appearance of the Horsemen correctly, or the color of their horses, or the weapons that they are supposed to be using (Pestilence/Conquest is supposed to be first, and he is supposed to be the one on the white horse and the one using the bow, not Death), I wouldn't be at all surprised if they didn't use Famine at all. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't use the correct Horsemen ... like if they used Conquest instead of Famine and turned Irving into Conquest (somehow using him as an extension of War). I have a feeling that I would be greatly annoyed by that, and so I'm sure that it'll happen.