#i watched the tail of the ep live- and when sam started choking up i lost it

[appetite-pen]

Because they made me alive 💛

[ain-t-bovvered]

15X12 Commentary

Bunch of tired and caffeinated Europeans ( plus a sleepy American) scream together, and then die and try to get on with their day ( lol AS IF)

@smol-and-grumpy​​​​ (Nat)

@dean-winchesters-bacon​​​​  (Kat)  

@waywardbaby​​  (Zee)

@ain-t-bovvered  (Giulia)

Nat: welp i guess we'll start?

Giulia: Ye

Zee: I know we’re not ready but yes

Nat: count as usual?

Giulia: U r the only one ready snort

Zee: Shush I’m faking it

Nat: 3

Nat: 2

Nat: 1

Nat: go

Zee: The recap

Giulia: Already hate it

Giulia: ...kaia

Giulia: Ok but i loved dean shout there

Giulia: But i also don t give a fuck about kaia

Nat: i could make a list of people i don't give a fuck about

Giulia: Why the empty has a dick

Nat: earth 2

Giulia: Look how much-waisted air time

Nat: this better go somewhere

Zee: What is he on?

Giulia: Oh look das me every time a clerk looks too clingy

Zee: President Hillary Clinton

Giulia: Nice

Giulia: Radio shed ads look like mediaworld *winks in italian*

Zee: Can he shut up?

Giulia: Nerd

Giulia: Oh and another nerd

Nat: weird that on every earth people are still dumb as fuck

Giulia: The World

Zee: Oh no

Giulia: Yeah that looks my kinda world

Giulia: Aaah beard dean

Zee: Other toys

Nat: He can't even make a world that's gonna function

Giulia: I can get what I want from a hundred worlds

Giulia: What she said

God/ ME A DESTIEL SHIPPER ABOUT DESTIEL ENDGAME: Dean says I'm not gonna get the ending I want. And I don't know. Maybe... I...I mean, that shouldn't matter, right?  I've gotten what I want from hundred of Sams and Deans. I could get what I want from a hundred more. And I don't care.

Nat: you can see the green screen. I mean him standing before one

Giulia: Amazing

Zee: Clear the board

Giulia: Can he clean this one too. I think he’s already doing it

Nat: our world

Nat: how do you know. still, he doesn't take out the dumb

Zee: Vegan

Giulia: ...vegan lasagna *cringes in Italian*

Giulia: Because he feels for them. Between similars u no

Giulia: Aah veins

Zee: I still don’t like it

Giulia: Ah so we are actually where we left off. I can tell u where my head is

Zee: I can tell you where I want his head to be

Giulia: Ooooh nice

Giulia: Look at Jack hair tho

Giulia: BABE

Nat: "I HAVE SPEND TIME WITH HER" *wink wink nudge nudge*

Giulia: 50k

Giulia: Scythe kink

Nat: ouch

Zee: FOCUS

Giulia: Bottom Dean

Nat: on what? dildo scythe?

Giulia: Please comment and reblog

Giulia: Hey

Giulia: No OnE

Zee: Is jack chubbier?

Giulia: Don t talk to my son like this

Zee: Sam should stop doing that thing with his face

Nat: He's just older

Giulia: I can count his gray hair

Giulia: ...

Giulia: AAAAAAAAH beautiful

Zee: How domestic

Giulia: Babe

Zee: Look at that little smile

Giulia: SO CUTE

Giulia: thank you for a small bubble of happiness. That shook my soul a bit

Zee: They seem a little happy. I’m scared. Oh there it is

Giulia: That’s a fancy-ass whiskey bottle. I want it

Zee: Kaia came looking for the spear

Giulia: Cute where is cas

Zee: Babysitting

Giulia: Of course she kicks their asses

Giulia: I wanna choke him too

Nat: they can't even fight one small girl. they're getting old

Zee: Can he get any deeper?

Giulia: What she said

Zee: THE VOIVE I MEAN

Giulia: Oh come on HOW CONVENIENT

Giulia: they pulled a Mary Winchester

Zee: Snort

Nat: i don't know what to think about all this

Giulia: Oh looks it’s us after the coronavirus. Eating lizards

Nat: I mean

Giulia: I just watch

Nat: I would eat it 🤷🏻‍♀

Zee: Dean said not tasted kinda decent

Nat: do I have to

Zee: YES

Giulia: SNORT

Zee: SEE? Babysitting

Giulia: ...listen….How in the hell...War Strategist angel of the lord cas loses at force 4. Fuck off

Giulia: Always makeup on point

Giulia: Not Kaia not helping

Nat: oh I see jody had time for lash extensions

Giulia: She must not be in quarantine

Giulia: ...La piegatrice mondiale. What a horrible translation

Giulia: Oh dean has nice hair. I wanna pull it

Zee: This is going so well

Giulia: Look at cas hair

Nat: He always goes like "Cas-tee-el"

Giulia: Tee-el

Zee: Are you only looking at hair?

Giulia: Cas sounds so done

Zee: But so good

Giulia: WHAT A SOFT LOOK I HATE IT DON T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT

Giulia: A bit of a smokey eye on Kaia, What she used? Burned sticks? charcoal? Burned lizard’s tails?

Zee: Is it me or Jody looks older and Cas looks younger?

Nat: sorry but not Kaia can go fuck herself

Giulia: WHATEVER

Nat: so much airtime

Giulia: WASTED

Giulia: ...Shouldn’t he be strong af

Nat: I hate that the female's make up is always on point.

Zee: He’s gonna do something stupid

Giulia: Definition of a Winchester

Giulia: What a dad tone

Nat: I like Merl. Merl is me

Giulia: HEEEEY

Giulia: AHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Giulia: AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Nat: Winchester dumb

Zee: Winchester dumb

Giulia: what a mood

Nat: she's my fave character

Giulia: I love her

Nat: i want her in all the ep

Giulia: I stan her

Nat: give her more air time

Giulia: She’s the smartest in the room

Giulia: What a sassy reaper. Like my fav sassy demon

Giulia: I love how the Winchesters are there watching, being all: yup, that’s our dumb kid

Nat: Winchester stupid

Zee: They know she’s right

Giulia: DONT BORROW MY ANGEL LIKE A BATTERY

Zee: Dead angel walking

Nat: I seriously thought Cas holds out the cup he ejaculated in like in a sperm bank

Giulia: Can I unread this

Nat: No u can't, that's what happens when I’m in lockdown

Giulia: Look at that cutie with his cute backpack

Nat: boy scout dean

Zee: Sam’s smirk

Giulia: Babysitting again

Giulia: BS angel chivalry

Giulia: SHE’S SO DONE

Giulia: love it

Nat: she should have said "in your own time"

Giulia: Me and you have all eternity, they don’t

Giulia: ...wasting seconds of intense glares

Giulia: Oh look the gremlins again

Giulia: The last healthy Italians vs the infected ones

Giulia: Last Toilet paper’s rolls and dumb scared people

Nat: snorts

Zee: You’re on a roll

Giulia: Dean eyelashes are fluttering in the wind. Sam needs a hair elastic

Nat: I wish something else would flutter in the wind

Giulia: my fucks

Zee: Hey kid

Giulia: WHY ARE THEY HUGGING

Zee: It’s before corona

Nat: I thought they didn't like each other that much

Giulia: Exactly. They have like 0 relationship, I don’t understand

Nat: It's weird.

Nat: if she should hug someone it should be sam. but what do I know

Zee: Have y’all understood the point of all this? Cause I haven’t

Giulia: Literally none

Nat: I’m bothered by all the other things

Giulia: She had time to do her eyelashes

Nat: so we did literally waste an ep with getting Kaia back, like for real? I watched this?

Giulia: ...AH

Nat: you know the last season could have been so fucking good

Zee: Wtf?

Giulia: K

Nat: ah

Zee: She found out

Giulia: What a meme

Giulia: Billy: last season

The reaper: my joy

Giulia: Death is angry

Zee: I was busy In Italy

Giulia: Oh wow

Nat: Merl had one job

Giulia: The writers had one job

Nat: Billy is us because she has no patience in them wasting an ep freeing Kaia

Giulia: Then u killed me

Giulia: Smoulder time

Giulia: Aaaah a baby

Zee: What?

Nat: Meh

Giulia: Why

Nat: God's destruction is Jack

Giulia: Another meme

Giulia: Writers

Giulia: Us asking if season15 will be amazing

Nat: right

Giulia: Go watch the promo

Nat: is that a fiat

Giulia: That’s a 500, my old car snort

Nat: Are they gay antiques, dealers

Zee: Apart from the reaper everything else was pretty lame. We waited almost two months for that?

Giulia: We went through corona for that

Nat: they look like gay antique dealers. especially being outraged when Sam has to lose the man bun

Giulia: With their cardigans and shit

Giulia: We should all live together. Yikes. They gonna die

Nat: they would scream

Giulia: High pitched

Zee: Tf did I just watch ? Loved deans bracelets tho

Giulia: They’re Jensen’s . Probably

Giulia: Oh maybe they are sam and dean that grew up as men of letters

Zee: Gay men of letters

Giulia: Can they get hot and bothered by Castiel?

Zee: Maybe not both of them

Giulia: Nah Nah both

Zee: Will the angel be gay too?

Giulia: There will be no angel probably. Also, Angels are probably sexless so who cares.

Kat: Y’all finished?

Giulia: Yup

Zee: Yes

Kat: And?

Giulia: WHERE IS THE FLAVOUR

Zee: LLLAAAAMMMEEE

Nat: I wasted my time

Kat: Yeah. Who gives a flying fuck about Kaia. Literally no one

Giulia: guess they are tying the loose ends

Kat: No one has thought about her in 2 years, she was a dead end

Giulia: Idk what the point was

Kat: Idk to have Jack use his powers for some reason? Surely they could have found something better

Giulia: Idk man. Between this fucking virus and jib and life and this writing, I’m very much blegh. I mean I love my boys. But

Zee: Let’s just hope they give them a decent ending and not something so lame that it will ruin everything

Nat: You love them and you want the best for them. not half-assed writing

Giulia: Yeah

Nat: lol what show have you been watching the last season

Kat: Yeah. It’ll be ruined. I have no hope of anything else

Nat: I don't have much hope but also that will maybe make me feel better when it's not as bad as I think it will be

Zee: I know but I can’t let it drag me down

Giulia: Yup

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[cupidsbower]

You're living in the past, it's a new generation

Supernatural 12x16, “Ladies Drink Free.”

So you might have noticed I haven’t been around much lately, or posted any reviews. That’s because I’ve been too busy to watch any TV for about a month. I’m just starting to catch up on Supernatural again now.

This was an interesting episode because it had two narratives in conflict, one of which ended up working much more strongly than the other. The title pretty much encapsulates the problem here -- the reason “ladies drink free” is to attract male patrons by implying they’ll get access to the (potentially drunk) ladies. Everything about the notion is sexist and gross. Here’s a blackly humorous breakdown of the implied economic transaction taking place.

Anyway, the first narrative in the ep is Claire’s, which the writer, Meredith Glynn, seems to have done their very best to infuse with a feminist theme. The other narrative, however, is Mick’s teachable moment, which is at the expense of one dead young woman and one tortured young woman -- the “ladies” of the title who drank “for free,” so men would have access to them. Manpain, in other words; the second plot is all about the manpain. There’s really no successful way to merge these two different narratives, I think, but Glynn does give it their best shot.

Let’s start with the attempt at a feminist narrative, as that’s the bit that’s least successful.

The plot of this episode is very much by-the-numbers. We have two  potential male predators offered up to us, two  young, pretty female victims, and several male protectors. Glynn even points out how typical this is very early on, with the “Haven’t you ever seen a horror movie?” line. Yes, we all have, and so this plot unfolds exactly as expected when women are sacrificed so men can learn a lesson.

Glynn attempts to subvert this sexist old-school narrative by trying to make the episode a coming-of-age moment for Claire as well as the manpain-teachable-moment for Mick. The arc ends with Claire alive, and affirming her place as Jodie’s daughter and as a woman with her own needs as she goes off to be a hunter. These are good things. And there are some genuinely nice touches in this part of the ep too, like this:

(from @itsokaysammy)

You go Claire!

But these moments sit uneasily inside the frame of the typical women-as-sexualised-victims storyline, and there isn’t really a true climax for Claire’s arc in the ep, where she gets to kick-ass and take names, or even engineer her own moment of freedom.

We can see this thematically in the two musical tracks that top and tail Claire’s journey, without a proper bridge in between (the other obvious track in the ep is for Dean and Mick and it’s Save Me Tonight -- ugh). The first of Claire’s tracks is Make Me Wanna Die, as she’s walking into the teeth of the werewolf...

Make Me Wanna Die, by The Pretty Reckless

Take me I'm alive Never was a girl with a wicked mind But everything looks better when the sun goes down

I had everything Opportunities for eternity And I could belong to the night

Then your eyes Your eyes I can see in your eyes Your eyes

You make me wanna die I'll never be good enough You make me wanna die And everything you love will burn up in the light And every time I look inside your eyes You make me wanna die

Taste me drink my soul Show me all the things that I shouldn't know When there's a blue moon on the rise

I had everything Opportunities for eternity And I could belong to the night

Then your eyes Your eyes I can see in your eyes Your eyes Everything in your eyes Your eyes

You make me wanna die I'll never be good enough You make me wanna die And everything…

A very listenable song, but also one that’s very much about female victimhood. There’s something so icky about this being associated with Claire and Hayden, just because they’re young women who want to be able to spread their wings a little and are punished for it (by men). But I think this dissonance is made worse by being contrasted with the song Claire gets as she drives away at the end.

Real Wild Child, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts 

Joan Jett is the real deal, you know; she’s who Dean Winchester wants to be. Look at that car, and her hair, and her everything. She gave us a glimpse of what female rock really looked like: kindness, feminism, no-apologies rock, and all-around awesomeness -- just look at this interview with Roseanne Barr. Tell me you don’t have a crush now!?!

Don’t get me wrong, This could have been such a great journey for Claire, if she’d had a proper moment of agency near the end. It’s just she doesn’t really get to legitimately have this journey into becoming the Wild Child -- this is no Lily Sunder story arc. Glynn tries to give it to her, but the real teachable moment is all for Mick, and Claire’s is a tack-on to try and reduce the otherwise choking amounts of sexism that would be in this episode.

I have really mixed feelings about this, because some of the stuff related to Mick’s lesson is interesting myth-arc development, but this treatment of Claire is so superficial, and I want more from the show when it comes to the way they use female characters.

And has Mick even really learned his lesson, or was it another fake-out? I think maybe he did, because it’s implied this was his first hands-on murder, and it shocked him, but the whole MoL is so slimy I won’t be surprised if he backslides or just lied. So Claire and Hayden may have gone through all that for nothing.

UGH.

Okay, moving on to the good.  There’s three main things I want to talk about.

First, Dean pretty much explicitly confirms my reading of the Winchester style of hunting, as they’ve come to perform it, is supernatural police work. I’m pleased by this, as it indicates we really are heading into an exploration of what it means to be hunters, and what hunters are not. I’ve wanted this narrative for a long, long time. And the reason I want is so much is...

Second, back when I was a fan of Teen Wolf, one of the things that had me excited to find out what happened was the back story which showed that the genocide being carried out by hunters was actually the main cause of the very werewolf violence they purported to want to stop. Every werewolf we saw attack someone had a traumatic history with at least one hunter in their past, and no stable pack.

I adored this implication that the hunters were mired in hypocrisy, and I desperately wanted to see this arc unfold and resolve. Unfortunately, whatever it was that happened behind the scenes in season 3 that ruined so much of Teen Wolf’s potential, also seemed to destroy any chance of this arc paying off. *still bitter*

But now, here is is again! Our typical selfish white boy, Justin, it turns out, would probably only ever have been an everyday sort of prick if the Men of Letters’ genocide hadn’t wiped out his pack and launched him into his serial murderer and biter-without-consent spree.

In other words, the MoL’s actions are the first link in a causal chain that’s leading to the kinds of deaths and suffering they claim to want to stop. This is not to say Justin has no agency -- he’s still responsible for his own actions and the effects they cause. But the trigger that set him on the path he otherwise probably wouldn’t have chosen was the MoL’s attack on his pack.

I’m super keen that we’re treading this ground, and cannot wait to see where Dabb takes it. SUPER EXCITED. (But it better not be taking us to Mary’s refridging, is the proviso.)

Third, I am beginning to think we are seriously going to get Three Men-Shaped-Beings and a Little Nephilim as the plot for season 13 (how apropos), because this episode was aaallllllllllll about Sam and Dean as dads. Like, Sam is officially a skeevy old dude, and Dean is one breath away from grounding everyone, and they both have explicitly dad-coded moments. Dean with the shotgun speech (which just plays into the sexism of the Claire plot, so I’m not a fan, but it’s still definitely dad-coded), and Sam with his conversation with Claire that helps her decide to own her choices and talk to Jodie about them.

I’m actually pretty keen about this development too. With a kid in the mix, there is so much ground that could be explored in terms of the legacy of John and how Sam and Dean (and Mary) are recovering from that and learning healthier ways to be family, especially with a supernatural kid in the mix. It opens up an interesting role for Castiel as well, given he’s likely to be the kid’s uncle.

So, as I said, a very mixed episode. The sexism means I won’t be rushing to re-watch, but the good things do have me looking forward to the next ep.

Previously:

The Ministry of Information vs Wayward Sons Carrying On (12x01)

My, my, how can I resist you? (12x02) and follow-up about Bohemian Raphsody

So what am I so afraid of? (I think I love you) (12x03)

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy Down in my heart (Where?) (12x04) and a follow-up about the codependency and about Dean’s self-flagellation and issues with space

There can be only one! (12x05), and a follow-up conversation with elizabethrobertajones on Freud vs Schwartz.

They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes (12x06)  

Presenting the Immaculate Heart Reunion Tour (12x07)    

I’m still living the life where you get home and open the fridge and there’s half a pot of yogurt and a half a can of flat Coca-Cola. ~Alan Rickman (12x08, 12x09)

When the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men (12x10)    

in re (12x11)

Making the most of teachable moments (12x12) and an added thought, In-and-out-laws

Don’t fuck with the branches on my family tree (12x13)

To Protect and to Serve (12x14) and some more thoughts

Hiding in the shadow of love (12x15) and some further thoughts in response to @elizabethrobertajones‘ meta.