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

[lostandalone22.livejournal.com]

I agree with you on the Liza and Ben storyline.

[tahirire.livejournal.com]

Overall I liked them both.

As for Misha not being a regular next year - Jim has never been a regular, and Cas only appears occasionally NOW. It's more of a contract change than any kind of lineup change. Right now, they are paying Misha for every episode even if he isn't in it; so this will save them more money for things like rock music. :D

[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.

[birggitt.livejournal.com]

To me, both were.. meeh... But then, I feel like this almost the whole season.
I hate the wiped minds, because, as you say, it's not something that will protect them. More, it will endanger them, as now they are unaware of the risks. To me it was a way for the writers get rid of that storyline. Completely. Reset button and let's forget that it happen.
And I love Castiel as character, but he was badly abused this season. I can see how he could have get a great storyline with exactly the one he was gave. Except, it was more like an hiccup, jumping here and there, but with no real consistency.
*sigh*
As a matter of fact, none of them had great stories to tell this year. So... no, I didn't hate it. But I didn't like it, either.

[violetlemon47.livejournal.com]

I'm really excited about the possibilities of where they may take Castiel, and because of that, I'm disappointed that he isn't going to be a season regular.

The Lisa/Ben wipe is really problematic. I get suspension of disbelief, but it leaves so many things open. What about when they get out of the hospital and go home (and to which home, since Dean made them move) and find all of this weird crap in their house. Poor Dean. :(

I really didn't care for season 4, and season 5 was an improvement, but it's season 6 that got me excited again.