Episode reaction - Season 15 Last Call

[amberdreams]

I just watched Last Call and I'm all discombobulated.

Eileen is living in the Bunker now? So she's no longer a fierce independent hunter, she's some sort of "romantic interest" for Sam who doesn't even seem attracted to her at all. That holding hands moment Castiel interrupted? If that was supposed to have made us think it was leading to a kiss or moment of passion, I'm sorry but no. Sam looked uncomfortable and like he was about to let her down gently.  For me, there's just no heat between them, even onesided, to be honest. If Eileen is drawn to him, then to me it feels like it's her gratitude on top their undeniable friendship that's influencing her now, rather than a real spark of love or lust. But this season, who the hell knows. The writing has taken people farther out of character than ever before, and there's so much deliberate and messy subversion of the canon established over the previous 14 sesaons it's like Dabb has thrown everything up in the air and doesn't care where it falls.

Sam in this episode felt like an extra in his own story - hesitant, faded, uncertain about everything. Which was reinforced by knocking him out - again! - and having him unconscious half the time. Dean with Leo was totally Jensen with Christian Kane for most of their scenes together and having Dean suddenly able to sing like Jensen was annoying - just one more thing to throw me out of the story. I get that they are fulfilling the actors' fantasies, and having fun, and in some ways that makes me smile, but I'm here for the story not for Jensen getting to sing with his mate. He can do that at a convention, or at the Brewery - i.e. in real life - and that would be awesome, and I'd pay to see it. But Dean shouldn't be able to sing suddenly, out of the blue, unless he's an AU version of Dean. Plus they'd already used Kane's House Rules, and had him on stage in his bar, surely that was enough indulgence for one episode. So when they finally twisted the tale and Leo finally became Leo and not Christian, it was jarring to make that switch. Which was a shame because that was a moving part of the story.

Ugh.

This season, chaps. It's all over the place and making me feel things I don't want to feel about Supernatural. I am more and more worried about how they are going to end the show. I really think it's going to be disappointing and unsatisfying. I think Dabb (and Singer) lacks imagination. I think they are heading towards something utterly bland that will negate the whole direction of Supernatural simply because they are unable to see an ending that would be open for a movie deal sometime in the future that doesn't leave the boys in some anodyne anti-SPN situation. I.e. at the moment I think they are heading towards Sam settling down with Eileen and Dean, I don't know, maybe hunting with Cas? I'm sure they think that will satisfy the vocal Destiel factions but they aren't taking into account that 99% of their viewers are the general audience who just want to see some fun mild horror and hot brothers driving their muscle car, and don't expect 'romance'.

I'm taking hope from Sam's expressions when talking to Eileen - because to me he didn't look the slightest bit interested in her as anything other than a friend he cares about, and maybe he was on the cusp of letting her down gently when Cas interrupted. Apart from not wanting that kind of boring 'happy' ending for the show, I don't want Eileen - a strong, cool, independent character - to be relegated to love interest.

And no, not wanting a happy domesticated ending after fifteen years of loving these characters does not make me a mean nasty person - this is fucking fiction and a supernatural show. If I wanted to watch a soap I'd watch Eastenders, or a romance I'd watch the Hallmark channel. Or you know, read Mills and Boon since I don't know what the UK equivalent of Hallmark is.

Heh. All this after an episode that was actually quite good and mostly enjoyable. SHOW! What are you doing to me!

Comments

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

Take a deep breath...there is no point in tying yourself up in knots, by this point what is going to happen is going to happen and fretting about it won't do anything.

Personally I expect Eileen to meet a tragic end just to make Sam feel bad (again.) But don't begrudge the boy a little (temporary) happiness...

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Ha ha you're probably right and that will make me mad on her behalf all over again. I don't know what happened to my SPN-positivity lately!

[nong-pradu.livejournal.com]

There’ll be peace when you are done.

They’ve been promising us this since season 1, episode 21.

Either they die and stay dead, or they get to hang up their guns and live a little in the world they sacrificed everything to save time and again.

An ending where one or both brothers is hunting and fighting the good fight into the sunset leaves me stone cold.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Yeah - whatever the ending, I want them together. Team Free Will if that works, but as a minimum, the Winchester brothers need to be shoulder to shoulder at the end.

[mangacat201.livejournal.com]

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this episode - apart from the fact that both Jensen and Jared where exceptionally well lit and bearded and damn fucking attractive, but then that's not quite enough to really cut it, isn't it?
I'm quite flabbergasted by the fact that I really really liked Cas in this new assertive, witty, intelligent 'Russian' (hahaha) variety for the first time in AGES. And he had something useful to do, even if that meant Sam had to be sidelined. And I concur wholly in your feelings about him feeling like an extra to his own story and him having been about to tell Eileen that their friends with benefits relationship (that they clearly had before she died and that I liked a lot, because it was two grown people taking what they needed from each other without having expectations for it to go beyond that, considering the lives they lead. I sure hope that's what they were going for, because establishing her as a love interest either to fridge her (again) or fascilitate that picket fence life for Sam, just won't fly.
About Kane... ah, I really don't know how I feel about that. I didn't mind the singing because I literally forgot that Dean is not supposed to be able to hold a tune (though maybe the practice he got in Deamon times helped fix that? Idek) but I see what you see in places, though it wasn't as jarring as all that to me, maybe because I've been looking at the whole show with a more meta eye since this season started. I'm still not sure they'll figure it out, since we seem to get one step forward two steps back every other week and there's not that many episodes left. I'm still holding out hope that the boys will put their foot down on an ending they can subscribe to and since they know their characters best. But if I'm quite honest, the reason I'm looking very serenely down the line is the fact that I don't even know WHICH ending I'd prefer... the Thelma&Louise moment, the settling down curtainfic moment or something wholly unexpected and surprising. Idk. Thing is, the show has been bigger than the sum of its parts for more than a decade now, and whatever they do, fandom will come out with a better, worse, different, all corners of fandom and shipdom kinda version, so I'm actually not really worried. The show isn't everything we get to see on screen, it's us, and if they really truly fuck up, we'll just fix it, literally. I don't know if that's satisfying for the people who're not in the community and will just have to take canon as it stands, but hey, if the ending really gets screwed up, at least fandom will be alive to bitch about it for another fifteen years *g*.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Ha ha so true and I like the way you think.

And I am happy Cas seems to be getting proper writing again at last, I just wish these writers were more able to juggle a Dean, a Sam AND a Cas storyline without relegating one or more to a backseat. I'm rewatching Season 4 at the moment and they certainly managed it there - and some.

I'm usually more chill, I'm not sure why this week riled me up so much. LOL

[mangacat201.livejournal.com]

I think the problem with Castiel - as much as I understand the corner of fandom that is very invested in him - is that he was supposed to be a character for a five episode arc that... spiralled out of contol. And nobody not even kripke had an actual conclusion for his story in mind, and they missed the turn, well a couple of them where it would have made sense which has led to a lot of... meandering. But thats a deliberation you gotta make with such an active and vocal fandom on your asses. We are a blessing and a curse.

As for the fucking up strategy, ive become very zen about that, it is what it is. Its my operating headcanon for game of thrones for example that they deliberately screwed the finale because they knew everyone and their grandma was going to watch regardless and that way, people have an actual incentive to want to read the books (that are never going to come out) in search for a better ending. But hee, what do I know.
It's not quite the same for supernatural of course, but well... the only thing that makes me really sad is how clearly jensen is telegraphing that he'll vanish behind the screen or into civilian life entirely. Not that I begrudge him the break, but still its gonna be weird not to see him regularly anymore.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Re: Jensen - I admit that wasn't the impression I got from him. He's said Danneel's told him he needs to get another job asap and he's said he definitely wants to be working. I'm thinking he has something in the pipeline that he can't announce yet, or maybe he's thinking about touring with Steve Carlson to promote the album? Apparently there's a second one being written/recorded.

Though of course, none of that is going to be like having him on tap in a 20+ episode show every year!