Tuesday 29 November 2016

Review - Supernatural 12x06 Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox




Hello…. is anyone still with me?

Sorry about how late I am with this review. Some of you know that my day job is a creative one, I’m a promo producer/creative manager in network TV, and sometimes (a lot of the time), that role is very full on and exhausting, and sometimes (rarely thankfully), it burns me out to the point that I can’t gather the brain matter to do anything outside of work. That’s basically where I’ve been lately, ridiculously tired - but with a new episode this week, I’m putting on my big girl pants and remembering that I love writing these reviews, and I shouldn’t let other stuffs stop me, so here I am!



Celebrating The Life of Asa Fox was another fab episode by another new writer, with spot on boys, a dollop of history, characters we love, new characters we’d love to see again and lots of lovely feels! Good work Steve Yockey!

We discovered, through the introduction of the Asa character, that Mary Winchester never really gave up hunting. The beginning of this episode was set in 1980, a year after Dean was born, and Mary was out on a hunt…. in Canada! She said she was tying up loose ends, but I got the distinct feeling - as Sam says later - hunting is in her blood and giving up the job, is not an easy thing - it looks like she never really did.

She rescued Asa from a werewolf, which drew back the curtain for him, leading him to a life of hunting things that go bump in the night (and Mary adulation), which eventually led to his death - but on the plus side, allowed us to attend his wake and to visit the hunter community, which we’ve not done very often, and which I always love! I love it when we meet new hunters and see how they manage their lives.


I could have watched an entire episode of the boys hanging out with Jody. For a start, I just love that after a hunt, all stinky, they decided to swing by Jody’s to check in and say hi. I love that Jody, in her pjs, day drinking, about to plonk down to watch Netflix, welcomed them in (told them they were stinky), and straight away offered to feed them. I love that Jody is comfortable enough with the boys and herself, that she stays in her pjs, and stays with her chick flick! I love that the boys are so comfortable with Jody, that Sam is practically horizontal on the couch - seriously, I’ve never seen Sam so relaxed, pizza plate on his tummy, teasing his big brother with a huge amount of little brother glee, about Dean’s animated Japanese erotica hobby “be proud of your hobbies, it’s what makes you you” (fandom anyone?)! Sam is snickering into his pizza the whole time and I love it. I LOVE IT!

The fact that the boys have a place like this that they can go to and completely shake off the hunt, with someone who cares about them, understands them, knows their history and doesn’t judge them, is just amazing. I adore it, and I adore they have this relationship with Jody.

And it plays both ways, because they know Jody and they know Jody’s history, and when Jody finds out about Asa dying, the boys make it seem like she’d be doing them a favour if she let them tag along with her, when all of them really know, that they are going with Jody to support her and so she doesn’t have to drive herself TO CANADA when upset. All three of them read the situation perfectly, and even though you know Jody knows exactly what they’re doing, she’s thankful for their support.

I love Jody, Sam and Dean’s friendship. The boys don’t have a lot of friends, and Jody is one hell of a good one, and it warms my heart that they all have each other.


Getting to see the hunter community gathering to remember one of their own was such a treat. We know other hunters are out there, we know they sometimes team up and work together, Sam and Dean sometimes meet them along the way, but we also know it’s a pretty solitary existence - so to see them all together with their Wendigo drinking game was a blast. The idea that there are all these hunters out there doing the work, busily saving humanity is such an awesome concept. And I sooooo dug that Sam and Dean are hunter famous! You could tell Dean took a little bit of pleasure in the Winchesters being legendary! I mean, oh course they would be - at least now it’s not for starting the apocalypse or anything like that though! Dean’s famous for being dead over and over - it didn’t take - and Sam, for being possessed by Lucifer! Sam’s fanboy needs to learn some boundaries….not that it mattered, because later he was a goner.

That’s another thing I loved about this ep - the demon was an evil son of a bitch. I mean, I think we’ve got quite complacent about demons, what with Crowley and some of the other less than scary ones, but this demon, a crossroads demon called Jael, was a bastard! The neck snap for one was particularly nasty, but who didn’t shit themselves when Mary and Sam were in paying respects to Asa when blood dripped on him from the ceiling! I literally inhaled a huge gasp at the familiar horror of that scene. So perfectly awful. This was good demon - meaning that he was bad - jumping from meatsuit to meatsuit, trying to play the hunters off each other. When it was obvious Jody was possessed, man….I was screaming at my TV not to kill her. I was freaking out. If they ever kill Jody…I’m not sure how I would cope with that!


I felt the same about Billie showing up when we knew Mary was there. I thought - surely not, not yet anyway. There has to be more point to Mary’s inclusion in this season than for her just to die a few eps in, so I was glad to see she told Billie that the reaper would have to wait, regardless of how Mary is feeling, of how she feels like she doesn’t fit in this new world. I think that was a whacking great bit of foreshadowing though…pretty sure at some point later this season, Billie will reap Mary.

The way Billie said “Winchesters.” Haha! The thing is, in some ways she’s ended up having an odd relationship with the boys, just like her boss Death did. She may say there are no second chances - and probably means it - but she’s not adverse to helping them, whether it’s organising the souls for the Amara bomb, or in this episode, helping Dean get back inside the house when he was supernaturally locked out and separated from Sam (yelling for Sam and throwing things at the door like it would help!). She says Dean owes her…it’ll be interesting to see if she collects. Her relationship with Sam and Dean has become quite complicated - maybe she’d like some pickle chips!

Of course Dean was outside because he’d stepped out to think (and drink), after the surprise appearance of Mary. Through these scenes it was lovely to see how well Dean is understood by those who know and love him. Sam stopping Mary from following her elder son, because he knew that Dean just needed a moment to collect himself and be alone. Jody saying exactly the right thing when confronting Dean. She calls him out, but then says how she would feel if in the same situation, knowing that it was exactly what Dean was feeling - what he is afraid of - and saying it in words and in a way which allows Dean to hear it and to tentatively own it, without having to admit to it….“Yeah?” I love how Jody offers an ear and a heart to Dean, she did it when he came back from being a demon, and she does it again here.


Sam when speaking to Mary, also knows exactly what Dean is feeling - that he is scared, scared of being rejected, scared of losing Mary again, scared that maybe he’s not the son she thought he’d be, that she would want, scared that maybe she’s not the mum he thought she’d be, what he wants. I love that Sam knows Dean so well. It’s interesting too, that Sam is almost the peacemaker role between Mary and Dean, where as Dean was the peacemaker between Sam and John.

Sam also reads Mary well enough to know that no matter what, she can’t give up hunting, she couldn’t in 1980 and she can’t now, like her sons, it’s in her blood. I truly love the place Sam has come to with hunting, there’s a peace in Sam this season - I think that’s why he could blob out on the couch so well! He even thinks about a future after hunting - not running away from hunting, but possibly surviving it. Dean being in a bad place emotionally right now, has fallen back on the die bloody feels - even though we know both boys have thought about the possibility of surviving this whole thing….and possibly retiring to a nice retirement home!

And then everyone went for bacon - except Jody, even though Sam and Dean were her ride! I loved to see Mary snuggled into Sam as they walked to the car. His face all lit up when she said she was coming home, then dropped when she said, but not yet. This time it was Dean who offered the olive branch in the shape of “all the bacon”. There was some peace in how they all came together - baby steps in what is a new and weird relationship, no matter how they are related. It felt good, and I think Dean’s going to be cool with eating pie now, next time Sam offers it!


I really loved this episode. I loved all the characters, from Asa and his backstory, to Asa’s mum, to the massively hot witch twins - please let's see them again because they were awesome - to Bucky, who turned out to be the real murderer - another human monster. It’s always been a theme in Supernatural, the grey lines between the monsters and the human monsters, but this season it’s seriously pronounced! Between the British Men of Letters, the nasty religious zealots family, Mr Ketch and now Bucky, human monsters are definitely the thing du jour of season 12! This was also another mother heavy episode, with Mary, who is not at all happy that her boys were raised hunters, and Mrs Fox, who was also very unhappy about Asa following Mary’s footsteps into the job. Mrs Fox did come to a better place with it all at the end of the episode though, so maybe Mary can too. The other recurring theme of this season which kept coming up, was Lucifer. It was mentioned more than once that Sam was Lucifer’s vessel - another bit of foreshadowing maybe? Human monsters, mothers, Billie, and Lucifer - I feel like all these things need to be written down, because there will be a pop quiz later!


All in all - it was kind of an optimistic episode with kind of an optimistic ending - pretty much a happy ending in Supernatural terms (well, not for Asa or the hunters that copped it!) Happy Winchesters and bacon! The boy’s lives are far less chaotic this season….so far….I’m sure that will change….I mean, there are only 2 eps until the midseason break! I figure chaos is on the way! But it’s nice to see Sam and Dean in a place of peace with each other - that seems to rub off on all aspects of their lives, and everything feels just a little less dark. Gosh I love that they’re getting along and all that. I love it.

Okie dokie…only a couple more days until the new ep - a bit of Lucifer and boys in leather jackets!

See you back here then! I promise!

-sweetondean


Thursday 24 November 2016

Leylin Vixen's Quick Draw Recap - Supernatural Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox




Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox







There have been a lot of things happening in the real world, some good and some bad. I don't know about you but watching Supernatural makes me feel better. I would not call it escaping, even though I know many people would want to do it, even me. But the thing is. Hunters do not hide. They do not escape. They fight. They fight against monsters and those that are bad and do people harm. I am sure they are afraid too because that is healthy. That makes hunters survive and live to see another day. In this episode they were prisoners and they fought together and won. They would have lost otherwise. All in all the entire episode felt also like a trip back home and to old memories.


















Details

Title               Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox
Episode           Season 12, Episode 6
First aired       November 17, 2016
Directed by     John Badham
Written by       Steve Yockey
Monster           Jael, werewolf
Location(s)      Emerson, Manitoba, Canada
                        Sioux Falls, South Dakota


















Story

This week the story starts from Mary's old case where she saves a boy from a werewolf. Mary is driving a sweet Camaro! Then we get a montage about Asa Fox's life with a pretty cool tune. The montage was impressive and it made me fall in love with Asa. Of course my happiness was short lived as he was killed. I think I sighed deeply when I said "seriously". From that the story moves to present day to Sam and Dean dropping into Jody's place. I truly adore Jody Mills. They enjoy some together time until Jody gets a call that her friend Asa is dead. The boys offer to go as support with her and also so they could finally attend a hunter's wake. It is a great opportunity for them; maybe once in a lifetime opportunity.




Another great song follows when they head out and believe it or not. This time they really visit Canada. The front yard is full of cars and two motorcycles. Asa's house is full of hunters and it seems the boys are sort of legendary among them! They are playing an awesome "Wendigo" drinking game while meeting Elvis, not that Elvis, Bucky and hunter twins. Jody had a "thing" with Asa and a murder occurs after Mary enters the scene. We also hear a motorcycle leave when the hunters vacate the building.

Dean and Sam introduce Mary to Jody, and Jody's reaction was so awesome. The family time doesn't end that well when Dean heads out to get some fresh air and Sam tries to mend fences between him and Mary. Jody offers her help to listen if Dean needs it.

Asa's mom is not happy her son was a hunter and she blames Mary for Asa going down the hunter road. Sam and Mary go check Asa's body and find a body on the ceiling very reminiscent to the pilot. This was creepy, very CREEPY. They head to warn the others but they get locked in the house by magic. The water has been shut off. It seems the crossroad demon that killed Asa is inside with them. Dean is confronted with Billie the Reaper when he tries to get in the house. The demon was inside Alicia but it bailed and Dean made a deal with Billie to get inside and back to Sam.



The demon is now inside Elvis and Dean fights with him while frantic about his brother's whereabouts. Elvis gets his neck snapped and Jael, the crossroads demon, escapes. The rest of the gather together when the lights go off, and they all pull out flashlights and lighters to light up the room. This made me chuckle so much, hunters! They prepare a demon trap from ash and Mary fetches the angel blade. The hunter twins are awesome by the way. Jody sees Mary acting suspiciously and she claims Mary is Jael and tries to get Sam and Dean to kill her. That is suspicious so they guess Jody is actually possessed. This made me panic. Do not kill her, Show! Mary tries to attack her but Sam saves Jody. A fight ensues and Jael pins everyone on the floor. 

Jael tells everyone's secrets, Asa was the twin's father, the mother tried to keep Asa from hunting, and Jody wanted a life with Asa. Bucky reveals that he killed Asa by accident while all the hunters exorcise Jael. They finally make the funeral pyre and Jody has the final conversation with Mary. Mary is struggling, and Billie offers to deliver Mary back to heaven. Mary says she needs to wait and Billie exits stage right, as the cool lass as she is. The Winchester trio head out to breakfast. 



















Characters

The chatter out there about the characters in this episode has been very positive and I agree. Every character was spot on. Bucky was great so it is a shame he was the human monster in this hour. The one I liked the most was Asa Fox. It is a shame he died because I would have loved to see more of him on Supernatural. A hunter that chose hunting without any dramatic boost to it was refreshing. This leads us to his children the twins. They were great too and I hope we see them again. It was interesting to see good witches and I hope they don’t get on the BMoL’s radar. Asa’s mother was grief stricken and harsh but her attitude changed in the long run. It is always a joy to see Jody and her interactions with Mary and the boys was priceless.... and helpful. 




















Set design

We got to see Jody’s living room again and also we got an intimate glance into her bedroom. Claire and Alex were not home this time around. Her house is cozy and warm and it really felt like Sam and Dean were visiting their “other mother”. Sam and Dean feel at home in her house, as they slouch on her couch. 

The main attraction though is Asa’s house. We saw the front yard a few times during the episode. The house from outside is pretty sweet looking old house. We also get a grand tour inside the house covering a lot of rooms as scenes take place in them. A few scenes happen at the entrance but we also have a look at a corridor, study, living room, pool room and kitchen. We even have a look at Asa's room. 



I can’t remember an episode where we had so many rooms in a house covered. Not this thoroughly anyway. One episode I can remember that comes close to that is 1.09 Home. In old times they did use a lot the rooms of houses. Another example of this is 1.03 Dead in the Water.




















Props

We had some cool and meaningful props in this episode. Was anyone surprised like I was that Asa actually had an angel blade? There was also all those postcards to Mary. The thing is that I felt that Asa’s hunts, the angel blade and the clips on the wall have something to do with the unfinished business Mary was doing. Are we going to have a secret on the way? When I saw that angel blade I actually thought if it was the one she used in the garage when Anna attacked and Asa hunted it down? And Mary came to find it to well, maybe ultimately to hunt Lucifer and kill him because of what he did to her family? 

Other much bigger props were the sweet cars and motorcycles in this episode. Mary had that sweet Camaro and Asa had his Jeep. If I would win the lottery I would buy. 1. 1967 Chevrolet Impala and 2. A Jeep like that. But there were others on the yard too. There were seven cars in total. The interesting part was the motorcycles. Behind the jeep was one and that was driven by a woman. The one in front of the impala had a male driver and also you can hear a motorcycle sound later when the hunters leave. You can’t really make it out who the driver is or the details on the bike but I wonder if Mr. Ketch joined the wake in disguise.  How creepy would it be if he had been there among them and they didn't know? Then he would also know about the twins.





















Music

Roll on Down the Highway by Bachman-Turner Overdrive plays under the montage of Asa in the beginning and I loved it! When the Winchesters and Jody roll on to the yard Man in the Box by Alice in Chains plays inside the house. Both songs are my favourites and very fitting to a hunter full episode.

This part especially of the lyrics of Roll on Down the Highway fits hunter life pretty well don’t you think?

"We rented a truck and a semi to go
Travel down the long and the winding road
Look on the map, I think we've been there before
Close up the doors, let's roll once more"

Here is the short +/- rundown for Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox

+ Music
+ Billie
+ Jody
+ Alicia Banes and Max Banes
+ Hunters
+ Sam and Dean are legends among hunters
+ Wendigo drinking game
+ Scary Jael

- Asa Fox killed (This was a real bummer)
- Bucky being a bad guy
- Few canon hiccups or conveniences, nothing big

-/+ The story hints






Asa Fox







See you all after the small hiatus!






Saturday 19 November 2016

Supernatural Think Tank - Anna's Thinky Thoughts on 12x06




I love my show. 😘

This was such a great episode, I totally loved it. I can't believe that it took this long to do an episode like this.  We get a group of hunters on lockdown, getting killed off one by one by a demon, what an awesome storyline this is.  What a great twist that the demon never actually got the chance to kill Asa in the first place, turns out, once again that it's a human who is portrayed as the monster.  Kudos to this new writer for not only coming up with a terrific story, but doing their homework and sticking with canon, while introducing new canon as well. I want to thank Mr. Yockey for giving me one of my all time precious Sam moments too.  I love how the boys were written and I love how the boys interacted with both Jody and their mom.  It was just such an emotionally satisfying hour and it left me with a grin from ear to ear.  I am so loving this season so far, especially the personal direction it's taking.  We've seen the boys talk before, but I can't remember them being so openly honest and willing to share more than I've been seeing this year.  I also love that show is dark and scary again.  Andrew Dabb has kept his promise about bringing our show back to its roots and I'm basking in the glory of it each and every week.

I am enamoured with the fact that we are seeing the more personal lives of our boys.  We have been getting such special moments, the stuff we rarely got to see in the past and it tickles me to no end.  It's not a big thing, but the most precious moment for me in this episode was Sam sitting on Jody's couch.  I know it might seem silly, we have seen the boys sit on couches before, but all the times the boys have sat on a couch it was while they were interrogating someone. Even in Death's Door when Sam and Dean were on Bobby's couch arguing about licorice tasting like dirt, they were sitting erect. This is the first time in 12 years, that I can recall, Sam sitting comfortably on a couch. I swear it was more like Jared on that couch than it was Sam. I totally loved the comfort level he had being in Jody's home.  I've never even seen Sam that comfortable in the bunker. The sharing that the boys did with Jody, to confide such personal information.  I laughed so hard that I nearly fell off the couch when Sam outed Dean's love of anime. Even more special was Sam telling Dean to be proud of his hobbies, it makes him who he is. Such a display of love, I squeed all over. 😍😆  The very fact that Sam and Dean stopped by Jody's uninvited, simply because they were in the neighbourhood was so damn sweet. Jody really is family to them and vice versa.

Speaking of Jody, I just have to declare my love for that woman, she is so awesome and I love that she is in the boys' lives. I thought it was really cool that she had a thing with Asa Fox, especially given that he was a hunter.  Jody kind of had a thing for Bobby too.  It's good to know that she has a life outside of Claire and Alex. I genuinely adore the relationship she shares with the boys, especially Sam. Sam and Jody have a long history together. It was Sam after all that saved her life back in Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. Jody helped Sam when Dean went back to the 1940's. Though we didn't get to see it onscreen, Sam did contact Jody when Dean was a demon and went missing. I loved that it took Sam all of 30 seconds to realise Jody wasn't being herself.  It just illustrates how close the boys are to her. Dean is close to Jody too. Jody has always offered Dean an ear when she felt he needed to talk. She did it when he got cured from being a demon and she did it again in this episode. She knew he was having a hard time, she could sense it and she was ready and willing to be the ear he needed if he wanted it. I loved how she intervened on their behalf with Mary, letting her know that she was supportive and understood she was going through something, but also making sure Mary understood what good men her sons are.   I even enjoyed Jody getting to be a bit of a badass, when she was possessed by the demon. I find it sweet that both she and Sam are optimists by nature. Sam still has hopes that the boys might survive hunting and die another way and Jody envisioned a life with Asa. I hope neither one ever loses that optimism. Now I'm going to go all fan fic for a second...Does anyone else secretly want Jody and Sam to just spend one night together? It's not that I have to see it, but I would love for Sam to confess one day that while Dean was a demon, Sam had gone to Jody and then 🎉❤😁. Dare to fantasise.😱

Now to the speculating. I think I'd like to start with Billie. I like Billie. I'm also absolutely confused by her as well. I'm never quite sure what she's up to but I often feel like she's always there to help. First off she allowed Dean to see her. She also warned him that she was there because she reaped a fresh soul, knowing full well that this information would send Dean on full alert. She also knew that the house was on supernatural lockdown and he couldn't get in.  She knew Dean would need her to get back into the house and with that she would want a favour. It turns out that what Billie wants is Mary. It seems that Billie can sense how unhappy Mary is, how she doesn't fit in, she doesn't feel as though she belongs. She can sense her sadness and her desire for Heaven. Billie referred to taking Mary as a show of mercy. Mary very much considered the offer and didn't actually turn Billie down as much as she kind of rain checked her. I have a feeling somewhere down the line Mary will want to return to Heaven. The question that is tugging at my shoelace is, why didn't Mary go off then and there? 

I totally understand and sympathise with Mary's plight. I do get that she needs some time to try to adjust to ...well just about everything. She came back from the dead, taken from her Heaven where she had a husband and a baby and a little boy, to a place where she's a widow. She missed an entire lifetime with her children who are now grown men and are living the life she never wanted for them. I really do understand that in order to be able to fit in with her children, she's got to find a way to fit in with herself. I also imagine the tremendous weight of guilt she must be feeling given that she's the one who cursed her children. Their lives as hunters was never a life she had wanted for her sons. Their journey into hunting began because of a deal she had made to YED.  Sam has been nothing but loving and supportive of his mom. He's been understanding and comforting. I can only imagine that it makes it even harder for her. Dean is angry and shows it. It's totally understandable and probably on some level a comfort for Mary. Sam has shown no signs of anger towards his mom whatsoever which probably makes it that much harder to face him, knowing what she did to him as a child and holding on to all that guilt. But here's the thing, is there more to what's going on with Mary than her feelings of guilt and not belonging?

Mary Winchester met Asa and saved his life in 1980, as Sam pointed out that was two years after Dean was born. Sam had tried to explain to Mary that hunting was in their blood just as it was in Asa's. Mary had noted to Asa that she was still hunting due to unfinished business. The werewolf that had gone after Asa, she had history with. Was it more than just a werewolf that had Mary hunting when Dean was only a year old?  What was the unfinished business she was referring to?  Mary told the boys that she had remembered Asa was young when she met him and that he might still be alive. She then told them she came across an article where she learnt he had been killed.  Why did she specifically pick Asa?  Would there have been no one else who would still be alive that she recalled from her past? I just find it odd that Mary remembered someone who happened to have an angel blade in their possession. Not many humans have access to an angel blade. I don't recall Mary wandering the house, so how did she know about the blade and where to find it when the demon was possessing people? Does Mary still have that angel blade? Can an angel blade kill Lucifer? Mary took John's journal claiming that she's trying to catch up, but is that all she's doing? Is Mary needing time by herself only about her trying to acclimate or is she on some kind of a mission of her own? Does it have anything to do with the unfinished business she spoke of to Asa? Are the writers setting up for Mary to sacrifice herself for one of her children? Maybe Sam?  They keep bringing up the point that Sam was a vessel for Lucifer, as a matter of fact Mary pretty much found out about that from Demon Possessed Jody. Will Mary seek out Lucifer and try to kill him? I have a feeling that Mary was just postponing her date with Billie and Billie might very well have sensed that.

I have to go on record saying that everyone did an amazing job on this episode. Jared and Jensen killed it. Kim Rhodes did her best work to date. Samantha Smith and Lisa Berry were terrific. The guest crew were great as well. The whole episode felt like a movie. I love the slow boil to the season. I find it very interesting that in almost every episode we've seen it turns out that the monster isn't supernatural at all, but in fact a human one. Looks as though perhaps the big bad this season may not be Lucifer at all, though he's a problem that must be dealt with. I'm thinking the real monster the boys will have to deal with will be all too human. I think the real bad guys will be the BMOL.  It will be so interesting to see how the boys handle the human monster. 🤔

That's it for this week. I just want to wish everyone a safe, healthy, happy Turkey Day🦃.  Will see you all when show comes back in two weeks.

Til then...

-Anna

Thursday 17 November 2016

The Light on Spoilers, Heavy on Squee Preview of Supernatural 12x06 "Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox"

- by sweetondean


It's preview time! 
Which means it's nearly supernatural time!




THEN

DEAN KILLED HITLER!





NOW

Mummy's back...and Jody............and...Billie!



Yes, Mary is back...hopefully WITH THE DAMN JOURNAL! Sorry...but seriously...I need the boys to get back dad's journal! And maybe some cookies or something... Idk. Anyhooo... I can't wait to see the brothers reunited with mum and how that plays out. Of course it'll probably play out while they're all fighting for their lives and WE WILL BE DENIED FEELS!

It's super awesome to not only have Mary back, but also Jody! Yay! And even Billie, because she's cool...though you know...deadly!





I feel like these two ladies will really get on...



Let's check out the synopsis!

Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox

THREE WINCHESTERS ARE BETTER THAN ONE – When hunters gather together to celebrate the life and tragic death of one of their own, Sam (Jared Padalecki) Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Mary (guest star Samantha Smith) must take action when a demon starts picking off hunters one by one. John Badham directed the episode written by Steven Yockey (#1206). 

Yep - this is another ep by another of the team's new writers! Steve Yockey has written for MTV's Scream and Awkward. He is also an award winning playwright, having had his plays produced all over the world. He was one of two writers selected for the first US/Australia playwright exchange in February 2013, taking his play to NIDA in Sydney, NSW and the National Australian Play Festival in Perth, Western Australia. He is also the recipient of the inaugural LA Weekly Playwriting Award in 2013 for his ghost story Very Still & Hard to See.

John Badham has directed 6 episodes of Supernatural and a bunch of blockbuster movies!





So yeah...awesome! We're going to meet some more hunters! I wonder who this Asa Fox hunter is? Did Mary know him? Or did the boys know him - or do they just go to assist the other hunters when the demon goes all demony on their hunter asses? And how about Jody, how do they meet? 
And Billie, well I guess if there's dying, there's... reaping!







Here is the promo!

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So....I totally love the episodes that are in an enclosed space, like Nightshifter, Croatoan, Jus in Bello, And Then There Were None, even Ghostfacers. Those episodes have a level of intensity due to the sense of confinement, of being trapped and the boys having to work their wits to get out. They're some of my favourite eps. Trapped and being hunted - like the shoe is on the other foot!



I love the boys with Jody, so I'm super looking forward to that, and I'm not sure their mum has seen them at their best yet, and they really are freakin' amazing, so I hope she gets the chance to see them in full flight! And yeah...more hunters - which I love the idea of! It's going to be cool to see a bunch of hunters together. And it looks creepy! In fact it all sounds really cool....the more I think about it the more excited I feel!



And.....of course....no sneak peek yet....so please enjoy this week's waiting meme. Hum Girl from Ipanema while looking at it if you like...



Sneak peek sneak peek sneak peek!



Okay! Answers! Asa is a dude. Mary knew him back in the day. Boys didn't know him, Jody-o did. Apparently they randomly run into Mary! THEY ARE IN CANADA? Dean is pissed off - not so much okay with her decision. Sam apart from one "Dean, come on" is not so much defending Mary - I think he probably feels the same way - just not as outwardly (or as angrily) as Dean

I get Dean being hurt and mad, I really do, and it's totally him. Honestly though, if this was something Mary needs to do alone - damn well articulate that to the boys. Tell them, by text if you must, "I love you, but this is something I need to do alone, please try to understand, see you soon - mum." I mean, really. I know I'm probably going to come across hard and unsympathetic - but that made me twitch and hurt like crazy for the brothers! Don't get me wrong, I get why she needs to do this, I understand...but if she was my mum, I'd be hurt and mad too.

Bet Jody does some talking to one or both of the brothers- she's great at that.

What the hell is going to happen with Mary - I figure there will be a level of emotional making up/peace, probably in this ep - but then does she ride off into the sunset again WITH JOHN'S JOURNAL???? (Go freakin' photocopy it AND GIVE IT BACK TO THE BOYS! I'm sorry, but it belongs to them). Are the boys destined to know mum is out there but not see her?  Lord, if the show kills her again I might have to punch it in the face....for reasons of, I really don't want that pain for Sam and Dean! Unless it's by Mary's choice - as in she choices to go back to Heaven. Then still painful, but I'd get that, so not as bad. I can't see her moving into the bunker permanently....so what the hell happens next with Mary and her boys (the grownup versions standing in front of her). I am intrigued!


Maybe some of my burning questions will be answered tonight! I do hope Mary and Dean - and Sam - can come to some kind of acceptance of each other and a mutual okayness. But I feel horrible for those boys - their mum's out there but she wants to be alone and not with them, that must stab them in the heart so bad.


Anyhoo! It's only 5am here....so I'm going back to sleep!

I can't wait for this ep! Enjoy!

-sweetondean



Tuesday 15 November 2016

Leylin Vixen's Quick Draw Recap - Supernatural "The One You've Been Waiting For"

"The One You've Been Waiting For"





There's no doubt that this week has been turmoil to loads of people so I will not dance around the elephant in the room. After the episode last week and then this, you can’t help think that this was a bad timing for this episode because of its story, but on the other hand some saw it as very fitting. I guess you can toss it to having been bad luck with everything that has happened. I had mixed feelings too, but soon I caught on as to how I needed to watch the episode. and after that it was entertaining.


















Details

Title                 The One You’ve Been Waiting For
Episode            12.05
First aired         November 10, 2016
Directed by       Nina Lopez-Corrado
Written by         Meredith Glynn
Monster            Thule Society
Location(s)        Columbus, Ohio
                        Lebanon, Kansas
                        Berlin, Germany





Story

The episode begun in an antique shop where the shop keeper tried to sell an old Nazi pocket watch to a wealthy woman. The deal went bust when both of them caught on fire. A dark figure was watching them from sbove. Meanwhile Dean was not hungry and even didn't want pie! Sam tried to get him to talk but you know. Chick flick moments are not Dean's thing. He found a case where two people seemingly combusted so they head to investigate.

The Winchesters went to investigate in the shop and Dean was like a kid in a candy store/bull in a china shop! It helped him find a secret room and both of them at the same time figured out that they are up against Nazis and inparticular, the Thule. 

Next we saw the end of an awkward date night that would end even worse! The Thule hunt the girl and combust her date. She barely escaped, but left a bit of her blood for them to follow. 

Sam and Dean found out there had been a new incident and they head to her apartment.


Sam and Dean contact Aaron who had a small cameo in the episode. Meanwhile the Thule snatched Ellie from outside and the boys followed them. They caught Christoph and he revealed that Ellie was a descendant to Hitler - and the Thule need her blood to ressurect Hitler. A fight broke out and Ellie ran to only get caught again. Christoph was seen as a traitor by the Thule so his father tried to kill him. He ran to Sam and Dean and told them where the Thule were keeping Ellie. Sam and Dean arrive to find Hitler is resurrected but the tables get turned when Ellie makes a good distraction which helped them to kill all of them.

Hitler was totally bonkers. Ellie lived and Christoph too even though I waited the BMoL to come and kill either one. Dean got to kill Hitler and Sam will never stop hearing about that. In the end Dean finally wanted some pie.



















Characters

I need to give credit to Jared and Jensen. They made this story work for me. Also it is a matter of taste but bat shit crazy Adolf Hitler worked for me. How he was acting was for me even more scary because think what he could do out there? Whatever the hell he wants. Ellie Grant on the other hand was off putting for me until the very end. I'm not kidding. I almost tossed a pillow against my TV. But that is alright because I can't like every character on the show! Commandant Nauhaus was a normally arrogant Thule, But Christoph Nauhaus I liked a little bit. Maybe because I think he was forced to the life. Same can't be said about the other Thule. 





Set design

There were few interesting sets in this episode. One had even an opener that was a blast from the past. The episode started in an antique shop that was totally amazing. I mean I would spend a whole day in there or should I say I would be lost for the whole day in there. Same would happen in a historical library. Of course I was not fond of the secret Nazi memorabilia room. Some sets are so good that I always think: "Did they make this or is it a real place." 

We also got a look at cafeteria where the Winchesters stopped by twice. It reminded me a lot of old times when they tended to stop by in similar places all the time. That is why because they did! You can see it from these two gifs that a fan found. Episode 1x20 Dead Man’s Blood (at 4:44) had an identical scene as TOYBWF (at 26:27). Source is http://stele3.tumblr.com/ 






Have I mentioned how great SPN fans are? Now last but not least we had the airplane hangar. When was the last time they had that kind of set? It was a long LONG time ago. There were great airplanes as a finishing touch. If you think of it, all these sets for this episode were pretty unique. 




Costume design and props

The Nazi costumes, the new and the old from 1945, are the main difference in costume design on this episode. If the Thule has a trademark for clothing line then they are very recognisable with the gear they have. Their clothes are very similar to the bureaucratic angels and demons, but still have their own flare about it. The secret Nazi trophy room adds the props to the costumes. I don’t know about you but between Indiana Jones movies, and feeling uncomfortable made me have mixed feelings about the room. The Nazi pocket watch was the key to get me curious, and the idea of it to being a similar to a Horcrux - that is an object in which a Dark wizard or witch has hidden a fragment of his or her soul for the purpose of attaining immortality. And the clock even worked like a machine and buried itself inside the person complete with the soul by cutting in to the vessel, that it made a cut like swastika when doing this, creeped me out. 


The props also were remarkable like the antique shop. I would be like Dean and I would want to touch everything and examine everything in there, of course without breaking anything. For bigger props they had a limousine and the seaplane. It is a shame they didn’t fly in it in the episode or the other plane. We also got teased with the grenade launcher. One day Dean, one day you will use it!    




Music

For this episode we had three songs; Symphony No. 7 in E Major, WAB 107: IV. Finale: Bewegt, doch nicht schnell by Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra & Hartmut Haenchen, Thousand Watt Work-Out by John Moran (KPM) and Das Rheingold: Prelude by Stuttgart State Opera Orchestra. I was very surprised but I actually didn't find lyrics for John Moran's song and the parts I listened to I could not make out what the lyrics were. So this time I decided to do something else. Here is a little information about Das Rheingold from wikipedia.

"Although Das Rheingold comes first in the sequence of Ring operas, it was the last to be conceived. Wagner's plans for the cycle grew backwards from the tale of the death of the hero Siegfried, to include his youth and then the story of the events around his conception and of how the Valkyrie Brünnhilde was punished for trying to save his parents against Wotan's instructions. So in August 1851, Wagner wrote in "Eine Mittheilung an meine Freunde" ("A Communication to My Friends"), "I propose to produce my myth in three complete dramas...". However, by October, he had decided that this trilogy required a prelude and the text of "Eine Mittheilung" was duly altered to reflect the change. To the sentence quoted above he added the words, "which will be preceded by a great prelude"."

Here is the short +/- rundown for The One You've Been Waiting For

+ Great start
+ Aaron Bass
+ Great sets
+ Cool props
+ The antique watch
+ Dean killed Hitler
+ Bad-ass Sam
+ VFX
+ Domestic boys
+ Bat shit crazy Hitler 

- Bad luck with the timing 
- The pacing was weird at times
- Ellie Grant (Matter of taste)
- Aaron was wasted
- No Golem

-/+ Thule






Dean Winchester








See you next time on episode six with many familiar faces! Stay tuned.

- Leylin