Supernatural!

[twasadark]

Well, I sort of liked 6.21 and 6.22, but not enough to get real worked up about either episode.

What I Liked:

• Cas looking all tormented and pondering
• Crowley immediately running to Raphael for a deal like the one he had with Cas
• Dean and Bobby bumbling their way into the final confrontation between Cas, Raphael and Crowley
• Sam stating that he wasn't going to let his brother stop Cas alone
• Cas turning all ethereal and godlike

What I Didn't Like:

• The Lisa/Ben memory wipe - it just felt too ham-handed, like the writers were trying to torture Dean unnecessarily. Normally I'm ALL about the angst, but I guess Dean's just had too much of it, and this particular brand of torment didn't feel genuinely necessary. Plus, it didn't really end up protecting Lisa and Ben from anything, right? Dean still cares about them, so they can still be used as leverage against him. Now, if DEAN had somehow been made to forget his one shot at domestic bliss with them, then that would have been more tragic. I don't know. I guess it just felt slapped together and unearned and that's why it didn't work for me.
• The lack of Sam. Yeah, I know that he had a significant part in 6.22, but it sort of felt tacked on, as well. Sort of disjointed and inauthentic. For much of this season he's felt like window dressing and not a real, conflicted character.
• Dean's unwillingness to trust Cas despite the fact that Cas was right - he HAD earned Dean's trust after all he had given and sacrificed.

What I'm Unsure About:

• Double spoiler warning here!! - It looks like Misha Collins isn't going to be a regular next year, according to casting spoilers for next year. I love the idea of CAS being the big bad for next season, but the fact that he's not a regular means that he'll probably appear occasionally at most. I get that his character has had an extraordinary run and that he's transformed now, but dammit I LIKE Misha Collins and I enjoy seeing him on screen. I will follow his career with interest now, but I genuinely enjoyed the dynamics between him and Dean and it looks like those may be shelved. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

So, flist - what are your thoughts on the finale? Are you excited for next year? I'll definitely be watching, but I find that I'm just not as emotionally invested as I once was. I guess that's inevitable, but I rather miss that all-consuming obsession.

Comments

[we-are-parallel.livejournal.com]

I liked and respected Ben and Lisa's characters, but it annoyed me how sloppily the writers kept dragging them back into the picture just to ratchet up Dean's angst factor. Fandom's come up with a number of better ways to go about writing them out of the story without having to maim/nearly kill them (not to mention obliterate an entire year's worth of memories), and it irks me that show went with that route. I CANNOT agree with you more that mind wiping them won't necessarily save them from Dean's fucked up world. He cares for them deeply, anyone with half a brain and especially those who know just how much he cares *ahemCastiel* would logically use them as their trump card to twist Dean's arm into doing what they want or just to hurt him. Plus, if Ben really is Dean's kid then he's screwed no matter whether he remembers Pops or not. No doubt, those Winchester/Campbell genes will find a way to fuck up his life.

I'm really going to miss curious, man-child Castiel (seriously, even the way he sits reminds me of a little kid sometimes), but I AM looking forward to how they work with this new, power crazy Cas. I'm really, really hoping that use him as an effective villain who keeps the plot rolling and is really freaking creepy (here's to looking at you, YED) instead of making him a so-so bad guy like Eve. Azazel wasn't in very many episodes but still managed to grab us all by the balls, figuratively, so here's to hoping that Misha will be able to bring that level of scariness with less episodes.

For the last two seasons, I've been saying "That's it, after this seasons I'm DONE." ....but I know I'll still watch it next season too, though not so much as out an intense obsession for the show, but out of a lingering sense of obligation to it.

[we-are-parallel.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, sorry for writing you a freaking novel's length reply :P

[twasadark.livejournal.com]

LOL - no worries! I love it when people comment thoughtfully. You're totally right about the writers bringing Lisa and Ben in to ratchet up the angst factor at every available opportunity. And yes, EXCELLENT point about Ben being cursed if he really is a Winchester.

Yeah, a lingering sense of obligation to the show - that's an excellent way to put it. I'm still hoping for excellent episodes, but I'm not expecting them any more.