S11E09 insta-reaction post

[amberdreams]

Spoilers, obviously.

O Brother Where Art Thou?  Where indeed...

I was sitting there watching with my customary interested neutrality (customary since Season 7) when I was hit with a tingle of Feels during the Amara Dean scene by the lake. When she moved closer to him and opened her mouth, as if she was about to suction his soul, then kissed him instead - I don't now, something about that moment (putting aside the obvious desire of all of us to lip-lock Dean) really got to me.

Plus it has me wondering even more whether Amara didn't take Dean's soul in that moment because she already has it (or their souls - if God and his sister have one? - are somehow merged). Hence he can sense when she is near.

And then I got even more Feels when Sam faced Lucifer and finally found out that his visions were not from God but Hell-sent by the Devil. And that, my dears, broke me alongside Sam.  I've been saying all along that it made no sense for God to be talking to anyone, let alone Sam, and that we were never given enough information about what Sam had seen in order to make our own theories - so this denouement made perfect sense to me, knowing it was Lucifer all along, influencing Sam from inside his cracked cage. And it did make sense for the return of the Darkness to have caused some upset in Hell, and the Cage to be weakened to some extent.

There are still lots of questions, for instance -

• Where's Michael in all this? (And Adam)

• Where exactly are Sam and Lucifer right now? Because they don't appear to be in the actual Cage - which makes sense if the Cage can only be opened by someone possessing all the Horsemen's rings. (Though of course, the current writers may well have forgotten that, or be planning to subvert it).

• Or I suppose, more to the point, where is Sam's body? Is Sam physically inside this pseudo cage with a physical/non physical manifestation of Lucifer? I'm guessing Lucifer isn't actually there, and he does indicate that his form isn't real (would go up in a puff of smoke topside, which is partly why he needs Sam). So maybe neither Sam nor Lucifer are physically there. Damn, this is starting to sound a bit like Schrödinger's cat!

• Surely Lucifer won't torture Sam's body, because Lucifer wants/needs a strong, vital vessel. Unless Lucifer believes he can heal any physical harm he does to Sam, when and if he gains possession of said vessel.

• How much has the Cage been weakened? Will the cracks get bigger?

• And of course, how are they going to get Sam out? And what state is he going to be in when they do?

Both Jared and Jensen were excellent in this episode. Amara is intriguing – her sincerity, her terrifying power and the depth of her desire to find God, combined with that particular actress’ sculptural look is a great combination. I really like the way they are writing this so that Amara’s seeking is shown alongside humanity’s seeking for God, letting us draw whatever parallels we chose. Both Crowley and Rowena had a real purpose in moving the story along. Similarly, the disposable angels were there for a reason, so it worked. Having Castiel absent also worked, because he had no role to play and therefore would have been a distraction.

I don’t think the episode was necessarily one of the best ever, but it was gripping, and worth watching just for the Dean and Amara scenes, and the Sam and Lucifer ones.

I’m really excited for all the possibilities for the rest of this season.

Comments

[madebyme-x.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed the heck out of this episode, there were a few nitpicks, but I was gripped too!

For me the episode flew by, and on the whole the balance of the story lines worked, and they held my full attention and everyone had a purpose for being there under one story line. I really enjoyed the Dean and Amara scenes, I thought Jensen did a great job of showing how conflicted Dean is; there's an obvious bond and attraction to her that he seems powerless to resist ("I can't be resisted"), but at the same time he clearly knows he shouldn't be feeling it and he's wary and unsure of her motivations, as we all are. Loved it.

I was so grossed out by how perfectly revolting and manipulative Lucifer was - I love to hate him! Mark P was perfect and I was delighted to see him again, because this whole story line would have sucked without him (and didn't he say something about needing a meatsuit because topside he'd be smoke, so I guess he's some kind of hell embodiment of Lucifer's last meatsuit or something, which I'll take because I want Mark P and not some other meatsuit or possessed demon etc.)

Sam's single man tear broke me, and while Lucifer being behind the visions wasn't a total surprise, the emotional turmoil and trauma of Sam was enough to keep me riveted and horrified. SAM!!!

Have Rowena and Crowley set Sam up? Or do the three of them have a back up plan? (Rowena did seem calm and collected when those wards failed) Will Cas save the day? I can't wait to find out. Bring on January!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

"didn't he say something about needing a meatsuit because topside he'd be smoke" - yes he did, and I was like you - I took it to mean he isn't currently in a meatsuit, just projecting the appearance of one (for TV and for Sam LOL). I'm all over the place in what I'd like to see because I'd love more of Mark's Lucifer, but obviously we won't get that if Sam says yes...and part of me also wants Sam to say yes because that could be a great story line (with the potential of leading us towards the End Verse) and I did love Jared's Samifer BUT then we'd lose out Broments because it would pit Dean and Amara against (possibly) Lucifer and God.

But then again - whoa! How awesome would THAT be?