'Girls, Girls, Girls' -- SPN 10x07

Warning: Spoiler Alert

Well, that was over pretty quickly with dude who was after Dean. I was expecting for it to last a little bit longer than that ... but then, I was expecting that Dean being a demon was going to last longer than it did as well ... or that they would have bothered to try and get rid of the Mark of Cain, if it's really all that dangerous for him to keep it. But it seems like the writers keep coming up with an idea, getting bored by it, and then, going on to something else. It's almost like they couldn't really decide on a story arch for the season, so they decided on a bunch of them, and are going to do all of them over the course of the season. Maybe that should be the signal that this is going to be the last season of SPN, and it would make me kind of happy if it was (since it's being going on for around five seasons too long).

The addition of Crowley's mom to the show ... this had the feeling of being less about exploring the history of Crowley (like when they brought in the ghost of his son), and more like they were trying to do some fanservice. And IMO, doing something just for fanservice makes sure that what you're going to do isn't going to be nearly as thought out as it might have otherwise been, and that it won't be nearly as awesome as it could have been if it was something that happened naturally. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, but that's how it seems like things go to me. And that's another thing that makes me think that we just might be in the final season ... giving us possible in-depth coverage of the tortured past of the King of Hell (and the fact that his mum seem to have found out that he was now the King of Hell and came looking for him). Maybe it's just that it might have taken her a while to find out that he was a demon (which I have a feeling she may have already known before), that he was the King of Hell, and to cook up a plan to get in the same room with him ... which had the slight feel of, but it felt like she should have been able to get in the same room with him before this. It might have been that I was reading the situation wrong, but it almost seemed like she wanted to be there with him, cuz she hated demons so much (perhaps cuz she knew that he was one), and she wanted to get his attention long enough so that she could do something to kill him.

I did appreciate the reoccurrence of the use of the term "monster" when referring to a hunter in this episode, even if the use of it when it comes to hunters was kind of lampshaded. Just cuz they protect the innocent and unknowing from the things that go bump in the night (and which, in many instances, would do them harm), that doesn't mean that they aren't monsters. The fact that they shoot first, and ask questions later is something that I still have a problem with (since there are creatures out there which aren't entirely (or even at all) human, and who wouldn't do anyone any harm, and those creatures would still be hunted and killed by hunters without bothering to find out if they were actually a threat to others). In the first couple of seasons, I wouldn't have had this problem, but with the addition of shades of grey, that's when things start to get tricksy.

I am kind of annoyed with the writers for the addition of Hannah to Show. It wasn't the fact of bringing another angel around so that s/he could learn something more than just being a soldier (and become somewhat human); it was getting Cas on mission to bring other angels back to Heaven that he didn't want or need to be on, and more than that, the completely unnecessary sexual tension between the two of them. I'm sure that some people would be able to handwave the sexual tension as something that would have lead us to think that Hannah returning to Heaven, and her vessel returning home was a bit more believable, but to me, it seemed a bit more like the writers going "Oh, you want subtext? Here's some subtext, and it's the prober kind, cuz it's hetero." If the writers haven't had issues in the past with sexism, racism, and homophobia, I don't think that my brain probably would have gone there.

'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.

'Cry Luison' -- Grimm 4x05

Warning: Spoiler Alert

I suppose that the way to get Nick's Grimm back (as Monroe put it) makes some sort of sense ... to take away what Adalind did, do everything she did backwards. Still, that doesn't mean that I'm not slightly creeped out by the idea of it, but at least it makes some sort of sense.

I am also very happy with the fact that Juliette I now on board with him becoming a Grimm again. It was almost a forgone conclusion that it was going to happen at some point, but I would rather have her on board with the whole thing, than not. It would make the whole thing feel kind of icky, and would create more unnecessary drama than was needed. Besides the fact that I want Juliette to be all up in the Grimm life, cuz I think that she would be awesome at it. Even if she can't see Wesen woge (unless they make sure that she sees them), that doesn't mean that she wouldn't (or couldn't) be an integral part of the team (especially where Nick was concerned).

It would have been nice to see a little bit more fall out of Bud letting it slip that Nick had lost his Grimm, but I suppose that there might be more in coming episodes. I would imagine that there would be others who would come looking for him if/when they hear that he is no longer a threat, and they want to try to kill him cuz of it (thinking that they could get some kind of revenge for all of the Wesen that have been killed by Grimms in the past, and thinking that if they killed him, they might be able to stop other Grimms from being born ... since he still has the DNA of a Grimm, it is likely that he would still pass on the Grimmy powers to is kids, even if he was having some trouble).

Speaking of passing stuff on ... dude whose dad was a Grimm, but who wasn't himself (and whose name I'm completely blanking on right now) ... I wonder if someone found out that his dad had a key. It would seem a little too convenient that they found out that he had one, and then, go looking for it after he's already been cremated. He was old, and his son would have been no help to him against a couple of fully woged Wesen; if they knew that he had it, why not go for it sooner? But maybe there is something else that was going on with that ... something that we don't have the details about just yet (right now, that just seems like the most likely solution).

And now we also have another contender for who Diana's father is. It almost feels like the writers are just throwing in every royal and hoping that one of them sticks (regardless of who would be logical or not). I still feel like Renard's brother is the actual father, and that the reason why we never saw a body from when he supposedly died (and his character got swept under the carpet in a way) was cuz the actor got a gig on another show (perhaps they weren't using him enough, and he needed to get himself some steady work).

It also looks like we're going to be getting a bit more undercurrents of Wesen culture this season. It may not be a whole lot, but maybe a little bit more with people being upset over the fact that Monroe and Rosalee got married. I suppose that it was bound to happen, since there does seem to be a "nice" stroke of racism within Wesen culture when it comes to other kind of Wesen.

'Ask Jeeves' -- SPN 10x06

Warning: Spoiler Alert

I'm rather disappointed that I saw it coming that the "maid" was going to be the shifter. I was hoping that it would be something a little less obvious than that, but then, I'm not really all that surprised that it was kind of obvious.

The fact that they brought Bobby back into the show (in a way) was kind of bittersweet, since I still think it was bullshit that he was killed, and wish that there had been some way that he could have come back for real (since the boys do it all the time). I was happy to see that he agreed to not kill the baby, even if the decision came back to bite Sam and Dean in the ass later on; it showed that even though he was a hunter (and shifters are considered "monsters" by most hunters), he had a heart when it came to the things that he would normally hunt. I would have liked it much more if the one that Bobby had let live hadn't turned out to be the killer in this episode ... that she had turned out to be just another person trying to live her life (it would probably be too much to ask that the killer be a normal person, and that she would turn around and help the boys try to figure out who the killer was. It would have made such a nice turnaround on the trope that the writers have been grounding into the ground since the show's beginning).

And if homegirl had been locked in the attic for most of her life, wouldn't there have been some sort of sign that she had actually lived there at some point (instead of it looking like an attic that they kept junk, and which had been that way for long enough that dust would have started covering things)? Sure, it would have made people suspicious while they were watching the episode, but it would have at least made some sort of sense when you found out that she had supposedly been living in there for so long.

But hey, this is our first legit female shifter (at least as far as we know). I had written a fanfic after "Monster Movie" (one of the only handful that I've done ... not just for this fandom, but for all of the ones that I've been at least somewhat involved in) about a female shifter, cuz it had bothered me that there hadn't seemed to be any that identified as female (and I theorized that the shifting gene must be double recessive (like being a red-head) and attached to the X chromosome (so the Y doesn't have anything to combat it, like with colorblindness), which could be why we had only met those who had identified as male. I was probably overthinking it, but it helped me handwave why there hadn't been any female shifters in the show.

The whole "Clue" vibe of the episode wore really thin after only a little bit, and I was rather glad when it was over. It felt a little bit too much like the writers were trying a little too hard to be funny in this episode (which seems to be a thing that happens quite a bit in Show), and it seems like when the writer tries too hard at it, the jokes end up falling a bit too flat. Like the whole "I hunt quail!!!" thing. I think that we (as the audience) were supposed to fin it funny that this douche thought that he knew what he was doing with a gun, cuz he had hunted quail before (when we understood that he didn't know what the hell that he was talking about), but the joke fell on it's face so hard (as far as I'm concerned) that I kind of wanted to smack someone upside the head for even thinking that it would have gone over well.

'Mama' -- SH 2x09

Warning: Spoiler Alert

I'm not going to lie, with the name of this episode, my first thought was of that horror movie by Del Toro. That's probably not what the writers of this show were going for, but it colored the entire viewing of the episode for me. I kept expecting for the mom to kill Abbie and Jenny. But then again, with the flashback that Jenny had (where their mom tried to kill her by running the car in the garage), maybe that movie was in the back of the writers' minds (seeing as how that film ended with the ghost "mama" killing the younger of the two sisters).

I suppose, in a way, it was good to get a bit of backstory when it came to the early lives of Abbie and Jenny (and being able to see how Moloch was already messing about with their lives at that time ... perhaps he already understood that Abbie was going to be one of the Witnesses, and he figured that Jenny was going to be a pain in his ass, even if she wasn't the one in the family who was the Witness). But even getting to see how things were for them with their relationship with their mom, I can't say that I was really all that interested in what was going on with the episode. The only thing that I found relatively interesting was the fact that the writers seem to be going ahead with the "let's turn Abbie (or possibly Jenny) into a witch" thing that they started in the last episode. If their mom hadn't been so very tormented when she was still alive, I have the feeling that the Book of Shadows witchy book that she had inherited would have been pasted down to the two of them, and the two of them would have learned how to tap into their family power and kick all kinds of ass by using that power. Perhaps the writers think that this may be a way of writing off Katrina (who had so much promise when the show started, but who has fallen completely flat, since she hasn't lived up to any of the hype that has been lain at her door, she is in constant need of rescue, and she has turned into a bitchy teenage girl), or perhaps it may be a way of giving Jenny a more active role with the Witnesses that has less to do with her proficiency with a weapon, or her sometimes knowledge of secret stuffs (since we now have Han Solo Hawley to serve that function when Captain Skinnyjeans doesn't know what's going on).

I think that the writers may also be trying to insert a bit of humanity into Henry's character. First, they had Ichabod get a flash of memory from when he was a frightened child, and now, they have given us a flash of emotion when Katrina picked up baby!Moloch. Perhaps we are supposed to be feeling sympathy for him and the rough life that he's had ... the lack of choices that were given to him, and how he did the best that he could under the circumstances ... but I kind of still want to keep poking him in the eye. Hard. I'm more interested in how being a sin eater ties with him being a Horseman, or if it does at all. Either it is an ability he naturally has from being the son of a powerful witch (sense my roll of the eyes right here, since Katrina hasn't proven herself in my eyes), and it is something that is being twisted to serve a purpose by Moloch; or it is something that Moloch gave to him to help turn him, or make him more powerful as a Horseman. I'd be interested to get an answer on what may be going on there, rather than this theme of "let's forgive and feel sorry for the poor Horseman of War" that has been going on this season.

I don't trust Irving to be with the gang. He doesn't want to betray them, but I have a feeling that at a certain point, he won't be able to control himself ... that he'll be to warped by the evil that Henry has been working on him, he won't be able to stop himself from doing something harmful to one or more of them. This doesn't mean that I don't like Irving, cuz I really dig him, but the fact that Henry has possession of his soul is going to prove problematic when it comes to him being with those who are trying to stop the people who are ultimately in control of him. I do hope that now that the sisters have their family's Book of Shadows witchy book in their possession, they will be able to find something in there that will counteract the contract that Irving signed, and which will give him back control of his soul ... but I don't see that happening for a while yet, if it happens at all.

'Dyin' on a Prayer' -- Grimm 4x04

Warning: Spoiler Alert

I forgot to mention with my review of last week's episode that I really dig the addition of the idea that the reason why Grimms can see Wesen is cuz they have an extra cone in their visual cortex. It at least gives us some kind of explanation as to why they can see Wesen and most other people can't. Still, I would love it if there was some more history of the Grimm's beginnings that was fleshed out in Show, cuz I still love the idea that they're a Wesen mutation, but that's my own personal fanon.

But this week's episode ...

I rather liked this interpretation of the golem, and I certainly liked it much better than the use of the lore that SPN used a couple of season ago. With that golem, it was far too human in appearance, and not enough like the creature of clay that I always imagined when I pictured one in my head; so, the fact that the writers made this one a soupy clay monster was pretty awesome.

I am curious as to why the step-dad's brother kept going after the step-son in this episode and threatening him; it didn't make all that much sense to me. Maybe it was nothing more than a way to make sure that the golem came back later in the episode, and Nick and Hank were able to make sure that the Rabi was telling the truth, but I kept getting the feeling that there was something more there that wasn't being said. I will admit that it's entirely possible that I am overthinking the whole thing, and there as nothing there, but ... I feel like the kid might be a Grimm. I'm not sure that it was from his mom. She did say that sometimes she thought that she saw things, but I got the feeling from her that she was only seeing the husband and brother when they wanted her to see them Woged. The son, on the other hand, I got the impression from him that he saw it all the time when the two of them Woged (which would have made more sense when the step-dad's brother started threatening him. Who threatens a little boy after the death of their brother, saying that they're going to rip the kid apart? Someone who maybe thought that the kid was the cause of the person's death?). Then, you have the fact that the boy feels such a kinship with the kid (who I still refuse to call "Trouble"), who is still learning about her own Grimmy powers, the fact that he seems so preoccupied with monsters, and the kid asking Nick just how many Grimms there are in the world. Like I said, I may be overthinking it, but I felt like we were getting subtle clues that the kid was a Grimm, too.

I feel really bad for Wu. He knows that there's something going on there (stuff that Nick and Hank aren't telling him), and he keeps getting the shaft from the two of them when it comes to actually getting the truth. And to top it off, he's not going to get the help that he thinks he's going to get from Renard (since it's in the captain's interest, just as much as it's in Nick's and Hank's to not tell him what's going on). He's so very close to all of the answers (not just with the kid, but also with his crazy time from last season), and I wish that he would be jumped into the gang. It's not even just that it would be good for his peace of mind, or that he would be a valuable member of the gang; it's also the fact that you have some FBI agents around, and he might go to them and say the wrong thing if he thinks that he's not getting the help he thinks that he should be getting from the other guys in the police department.

Speaking of the FBI, I'm really glad that the kid decided to tell Nick about what happened when she was taken by that agent. I didn't think that she would come clean quite so quickly (seeing as how she's probably used to doing things on her own), but I was glad to be proven wrong. Perhaps she's starting to get some family feelings toward Nick after all (cuz they could potentially have a really awesome brother/sister thing going on).

'Fan Fiction' -- SPN 10x05

Warning: Spoiler Alert

I'm not usually very keen on meta episodes (there tends to be a few too many winks to the audience in them that takes me out of the story), but this one I was kind of amused by ... amused more than I suspected that I would be. I figured that I would be doing a lot of heavy sighing at the screen and demanding that they "come. on." But there was none of that. I won't say that I wasn't kind of disappointed by the "monster," but other than that, I was fairly entertained throughout.

I was glad that there was an acknowledgement (which is now canon) of the fact that Adam was left in the Pit with Lucifer, since it was something that hadn't been dealt with in Show before that point. It still makes me feel all icky on the inside that they just left him there, and then, pretended like he never existed. I know that the boys have stuff going on that is all kinds of crazy, but they just left their brother in there, and they reportedly are all about family. How many times has something happened to one of them, and the other sold themselves to the devil just to get the other one out? A ton. But Adam doesn't get that. Bunk. Yes, Dean may have left Sam in the Pit, but that was a special case scenario.

And I will admit to having a bit of a squee moment when we got surprise!Chuck at the end of the episode. I was trying to figure out who it might have been, and kind of hoping that it would have been him (even though I also have been rather annoyed by the idea of Kripke putting himself into the show, using Chuck as his avatar, and turning that avatar into God). At least now we know that Chuck is still around, still kind of keeping an eye on the boys ... even if there was some stuff that they (and Kevin) could have used his help on, and it would have been nice to have him lend a hand ... not out and out saving their asses, but a little bit of something that would have maybe made some things a little bit easier. But if that had happened, I'm sure that I'd probably be here bitching about how whatever happened had been far too easy on them with the deus ex machine (yeah, I'm completely aware that the writers just can't win. They are completely in a lose/lose situation as far as I'm concerned).

But seeing him come in at the end like that, after everything had happened, and the boys had already driven off makes me kind of sure that they won't be seeing him again ... that he's taken himself out of the story (so to speak), even if he's just on the outside of their vision. That doesn't stop me from kind of wanting Chuck to tell them something so that they know that he's alright (even if it's only to Cas), but then, he'd probably have to explain what happened to him (since there could only be on prophet at a time, and they already had Kevin hanging around after Chuck bailed).

Also, I will give them kudos for having the girl that was playing Mary in the play being the one who started singing "Carry on Wayward Son." It made the song a bit more poignant that way.