The French Mistake
Our boys have come a long way from being victims of fate and destiny. Yes, they always made their own choices and fought for free will, but this episode showed that the fight was something that gives their lives true meaning and that it was something they can now embrace without hesitating. And I LOVE it!! I will not be brought down from the high of this one by any negative vibes because this was wonderful in so many ways – and the funny, oh gawd, the funny!!!
And this was interesting because they were taking the mickey out of so many different things at once - stardom and celebrity, the show and its low ratings but highly dedicated fanbase, themselves across the board - set designers, make-up extras, directors, Sera(!!). I bet there were hundreds on in-jokes I am never going to notice because I don't work in the industry (or on SPN, sadly…), but there were plenty of jokes I did get and had me roaring with laughter.
Like - at the start, the exchange between the director and the blonde guy about cutting out the heart to heart scene and taking the backlash of hate mail from the fans; Dean's reaction to Jensen's pretty boy make-up "I'm a painted whore!"; the big screen in Jensen's trailer playing big close up shots of Jensen implying a massive ego; Jensen being portrayed as a possible spendthrift (the maxed out credit card); Gen having to stand on her tippy tippy toes to reach Jared and the way they filmed that bit so she looked extra tiny next to both of them; Jared’s reactions in the scenes with Gen; the excruciating acting scene (OMG I actually found myself covering my eyes at its sheer delightful awfulness!!)
And Misha - my god he was brilliant. That first scene with the boys was incredible - you could see instantly that this was Misha playing Cas, not Cas himself, and how on earth did he do that??? The tweeting was hilarious! Then - it was so cleverly shot and written and acted to move us from laughing at Misha being comically OTT terrified, to his horribly brutal murder (they killed Misha!! WTH??).
The last scenes packed in a lot of drama – if I was to nit pick, I’d say it was a bit rushed at the end, and have to admit that the wing scene with Cas was not as stunning an effect as the first time we saw those wings, but that would be churlish of me, given that I really, really enjoyed this episode so much.
I might even watch it again right now….