In the Beginning
Oct. 16th, 2008 02:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lunabee34I had intended to write another essay about "In the Beginning" and then lost the impetus while grading one hundred million midterms. So here's the less coherent episode review:
Less meaty:
1. music! I love the Allman Brothers.
2. U.S.S. Enterprise. John is a Trekkie. Be still my heart. Dalorians. Yay!
3. Dean van Halen. *snort*
4. "Mom is a babe. I'm going to hell. Again."
5. Deanna and Samuel
6. web of information LOL
7. "To do the job, Dad."
8. That scene with Mary and Dean where he begs her not to get out bed--that slayed me y'all. Slayed me. Dead. JA continues to hit those scenes out of the park.
9. "Son of a bitch." All three generations now. :)
10. So straight from the horse's mouth; the YED is not Sam's father.
11. Endgame? Can't wait.
12. That scene with Mary kissing the YED in her dad's body is all kinds of awesome creepy and disturbing.
And the more meaty:
1. John is clearly concerned about class issues. He's firmly blue collar--a mechanic from a family of mechanics and although we know otherwise, he believes that Mary's family doesn't approve of him because of his social standing. I wonder how keenly John feels the loss of social status when he becomes a Hunter; I wonder how much bitterness he feels (for himself and for his sons).
2. I was wondering if perhaps the ease with which country bumpkin promised his offspring to Azael wil prompt Dean to revisit his assessment of Bella. Clearly, that guy wanted his father dead but was completely unaware that his desire was being taken seriously or that he'd even communicated it to someone else. If he can take out a demonic hit ACCIDENTALLY *sheesh*, then surely Bella's story deserves some more Winchester attention.
3. How does Mary explain her dead father and mother? How do they handle that with the authorities? Does John believe that he is responsible for killing Samuel in Mary's defense? Is the official story that Samuel killed Deanna and then went psycho on Mary, forcing John to kill him?
4. Castiel says that destiny can't be changed. And we have a Sam who through four seasons of SPN has been trying to uncover his destiny and to change it. I like that we're having a fate vs free will discussion. Just how much is Sam able to control? How much is beyond his power to change?
5. I pretty much figured that Castiel would pit Sam against Dean. I think that ultimately he's going to be rather displeased with the results, but *shrug*
6. Why does Mary in the pilot suddenly forget her life as a hunter? We've seen canonical evidence from Sam that even though you leave the game, you never stop protecting yourself. Sam wakes up in the middle of the night, ready to kick some ass even after 4 (or two) years away at college. Even if Mary is not actively seeking out supernatural danger, I find it very difficult to believe that she would not be doing what she could to protect her home. Especially after she had children. I suppose you could argue that she wasn't really sure what the YED wanted to take and that she was afraid that if she refused him entry with a salt line, etc., that John would immediately fall down dead or something of that sort. But if I had been her, I would've reached out to my old hunter network and I would have barricaded myself and my family in the house and I would have been practicing my ninja moves on the off chance that I could stop whatever the YED wanted. Surely Mary is aware of the anniversary of her parents' death; I don't buy at all that she wasn't aware of the date and that ten years had passed. If you read my previous essay about Castiel then you know why I believe she didn't heed Dean's warning; I don't think he was ever actually there.
7. Finally, I am so pleased to see that hunting is of matrilineal descent in the Winchester family. John may have taught them everything they know, but Sam and Dean are Mary's boys. She begins the cycle of sacrifice in their family. Their legacy is from her.
Expect more episode reviews today.
Less meaty:
1. music! I love the Allman Brothers.
2. U.S.S. Enterprise. John is a Trekkie. Be still my heart. Dalorians. Yay!
3. Dean van Halen. *snort*
4. "Mom is a babe. I'm going to hell. Again."
5. Deanna and Samuel
6. web of information LOL
7. "To do the job, Dad."
8. That scene with Mary and Dean where he begs her not to get out bed--that slayed me y'all. Slayed me. Dead. JA continues to hit those scenes out of the park.
9. "Son of a bitch." All three generations now. :)
10. So straight from the horse's mouth; the YED is not Sam's father.
11. Endgame? Can't wait.
12. That scene with Mary kissing the YED in her dad's body is all kinds of awesome creepy and disturbing.
And the more meaty:
1. John is clearly concerned about class issues. He's firmly blue collar--a mechanic from a family of mechanics and although we know otherwise, he believes that Mary's family doesn't approve of him because of his social standing. I wonder how keenly John feels the loss of social status when he becomes a Hunter; I wonder how much bitterness he feels (for himself and for his sons).
2. I was wondering if perhaps the ease with which country bumpkin promised his offspring to Azael wil prompt Dean to revisit his assessment of Bella. Clearly, that guy wanted his father dead but was completely unaware that his desire was being taken seriously or that he'd even communicated it to someone else. If he can take out a demonic hit ACCIDENTALLY *sheesh*, then surely Bella's story deserves some more Winchester attention.
3. How does Mary explain her dead father and mother? How do they handle that with the authorities? Does John believe that he is responsible for killing Samuel in Mary's defense? Is the official story that Samuel killed Deanna and then went psycho on Mary, forcing John to kill him?
4. Castiel says that destiny can't be changed. And we have a Sam who through four seasons of SPN has been trying to uncover his destiny and to change it. I like that we're having a fate vs free will discussion. Just how much is Sam able to control? How much is beyond his power to change?
5. I pretty much figured that Castiel would pit Sam against Dean. I think that ultimately he's going to be rather displeased with the results, but *shrug*
6. Why does Mary in the pilot suddenly forget her life as a hunter? We've seen canonical evidence from Sam that even though you leave the game, you never stop protecting yourself. Sam wakes up in the middle of the night, ready to kick some ass even after 4 (or two) years away at college. Even if Mary is not actively seeking out supernatural danger, I find it very difficult to believe that she would not be doing what she could to protect her home. Especially after she had children. I suppose you could argue that she wasn't really sure what the YED wanted to take and that she was afraid that if she refused him entry with a salt line, etc., that John would immediately fall down dead or something of that sort. But if I had been her, I would've reached out to my old hunter network and I would have barricaded myself and my family in the house and I would have been practicing my ninja moves on the off chance that I could stop whatever the YED wanted. Surely Mary is aware of the anniversary of her parents' death; I don't buy at all that she wasn't aware of the date and that ten years had passed. If you read my previous essay about Castiel then you know why I believe she didn't heed Dean's warning; I don't think he was ever actually there.
7. Finally, I am so pleased to see that hunting is of matrilineal descent in the Winchester family. John may have taught them everything they know, but Sam and Dean are Mary's boys. She begins the cycle of sacrifice in their family. Their legacy is from her.
Expect more episode reviews today.
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I love it when you blather! Yay!
Date: 2008-10-17 04:05 pm (UTC)That's really interesting. I also see a lot of myself in Willow's character. The mousy nerdy know it all; the addiction issues; the way I was treated in high school. I don't have the strong visceral reaction to our similarities that you do, though, and I wonder if that's because I really see more of myself in high school Willow than older Willow and I made peace with high school and the shit storm that was years ago? If I was still having issues with being bullied or what have you, it might make me much more uncomfortable on that level. I like Willow's character the least of all the Scoobies, but that's mostly because I think her magical addiction arc was written very inconsistently and poorly and was over all el stupido. LOL (This is not to say that I think *you* have Willow issues because you are still hung up on high school but rather that I think I don't have Willow issues because I feel so different from my high school self now that I am not bothered that high school Willow and high school Lorraine are very alike.)
I also have more phsyical issues with Jared's overwhelming size -- that's an instant turn-off to me, on an instinctive level. Can't control it, unfortunately.
Does Ronon ping you the same way?
Until he loses that, I'm always going to see that layer of scum and it drives me mad, because I don't know how others don't see it.
I don't really see it. :) But I think you've got a very sound argument for why you feel that way.
Re: I love it when you blather! Yay!
Date: 2008-10-17 04:23 pm (UTC)I think that might be it. I do see more of myself in older, less-reliable Willow, compared to the high school version. I mean, there are similiarities there too -- and I liked high school! I know I'm insane -- but it's when she starts getting confident, and self-confident that things really start pinging.
Also: *hugs you a lot*
Does Ronon ping you the same way?
Yeah. All big, imposing guys do, including Ronon, Angel, Riley, etc. It's irrelevant to their personalities or actions, too, a very instinctive thing where I'm hardwired to take big guys = bad. Hi, my issues. I can deal with them, to degree. I mean, I really like Ronon a lot. But if you stuck me next to Jason Momoa, I would be doing a shrinking mouse act that had nothing to do with his actual threat-level.
Honestly, if Jared wasn't so damned tall, I'd probalby react to Jensen as well. But since compared to him, Dean looks normal-sized, it doesn't hit me as hard.
I don't really see it. :)
Yeah, but you aren't calling me a Sam-basher, either, and you're listening to why, which is honestly all I want. Also, to not be called a Sam-basher. I don't hate him, and I don't want to bash him. There reasons for his characterization are sound, and make the show interesting. It's just not something I like very much, unfortunately.
Re: I love it when you blather! Yay!
Date: 2008-10-17 08:50 pm (UTC)*nods*
That makes sense. And thanks for understanding what I was trying to say. :)
All big, imposing guys do
I've had some friends who felt the same way about men in RL. I wasn't fannish then so I didn't ask them if that feeling also applied to television characters or characters in books, but now I wonder.
you aren't calling me a Sam-basher
Oh, hell no. If Show and its characters weren't complex enough to allow for a variety of interpretations then I would be FUCKING BORED WITH IT. LOL