#12x09 rewatch

[monstermoviedean]

what if they had repeated "you made a stupid deal and i broke it" but with dean saving cas from the empty

[spn-rewatch-ventzone]

I’m sorry but the shot of Cas alone in the bunker. It’s been weeks since he’s seen the boys. He failed his attempt at being a hunter. He just wants his friends back :(

[horseimmorality]

Thirteenth Doctor Rewatch

12x09 - Ascension of the Cybermen "I've been so reckless with you."

[puutsi]

i was watching 12x09 with my friend after a 2yr gap between rewatches and we both gasped dramatically when sam hugged cas before dean when the gang reunited

[stanfordapartment]

mol plot was stupid, but i do remember enjoying s12 more than s8 - s11 and s14 - 15. so maybe i should rewatch. it has some standout memorable episodes (12x04, 12x06, 12x09, and 12x11). and btw i didn't mention s13 because it exists in a gray void where jack, scoobynatural, samwena, and the wayward sisters float around existing as concepts.

[ssaalexblake]

I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on the Ghost Monument. I know some people feel the stakes aren’t high enough, and that maybe if the racers were pitted against each other more it could be a more ‘interesting’ episode I guess, but I find the dynamics of the 2 guest cast to be interesting because they aren’t enemies, they’re not friends either but there’s not a desire to kill each other, because they are their out of necessity and to me that’s more then just being there out of ego or a prize. That surrounded by the history of the Stenza on the planet, it’s fascinating and one where I don’t think I’m fully across yet, so would be interested in hearing your thoughts.

Honestly, I was mostly just shocked that people thought this episode was bad? It wouldn't make my favourites list but there's literally nothing wrong with it either in plot or the execution of it imo. I enjoy it in a rewatch! It builds important dynamics and sets up important arcs. The foundation for the main characters are more firmly set.

Also, like, whatever peoples feelings on the stakes in this episode, it should be noted that The Ghost Monument as an episode has a dark twin. Its name is Ascension of the Cybermen. Narratively they function as a pair and the second one is supposed to be a lot darker with more stakes that shows the development of the characters, so you can't really do that if the first one is absolutely Go Go Go GO high stakes all the whole way through? The tonal difference belays the seriousness of the second episode. The contrast shows to demonstrate both how far the fam have come in AotC and how far 13 has fallen from TGM.

Not to say the sitch they're in in TGM isn't serious, it is, but this is not super stressful to the doctor, she's not, till the very end, scared she can't return them home or that they'll die (well. anymore than the doctor apparently normally is. The monologue in Once, Upon Time was fabulous but very sad). The fam are mostly just following 13's lead to get through this all figuring it's their best chance. In the second episode, they show their own initiative. In effect TGM is their training wheel episode that allows them to survive when the stakes get high.

The links between 11x01 & 2 and 12x09 & 10 give me Life. Such brilliant arching plot threads. Great bookends to Ryan and Graham's time on the show.

And really? This is a personal opinion, but disaster apocalyptic scenarios (which this is applicable to even if our group aren't natives of the place) where everybody lives in hell but just fight and try and kill each other as well as the environment trying to off them are just Bad. And belays an absolutely twisted view of us as a species. I feel like them all banding together when it gets tough and forming a community, if a very terse one where not everybody gets along, is actually an accurate portrayal of people in general. Even whatshisface Enzo or whatever joined the group he hated for safety because he was a lousy person, yeah, but he was Not stupid. I cannot stand grimdark crap like those zombie shows where people just kill each other en masse in their warring factions or whatever like the whole of human history isn't us forming societies and working together.

But speaking of whatever his name is, I feel like his contributions to the dialogue of the episode played an important part in delivering the themes they were going for, so making them fight instead would just have damaged the episode's core aims.

Mr 'I love my mum she taught me people are awful and selfish and horrible by breaking my trust and allowing me to get badly injured' is, congrats, the first person in this era to talk about his terrible mother whom 13 Immediately says sucks (gee i wonder why they did that. he even got hurt because he fell and his mum didn't save him). This is also the first time the cycle of abuse is mentioned because uh, the loser in the mother of the year competition did it specifically so it'd perpetuate itself in her son. This is the episode the timeless child is first mentioned. Considering the cornerstone of the arc is that this child in the end Broke that chain of abuse I do not consider this a coincidence. I'd bet him and his mother would think that Tecteun made that child Strong by what they did to them. 13 did Not like this man and she wouldn't, he's a dark mirror but also the victim of a really shitty mother.

There are other things i take note of in this episode. It's the first time out of post regeneration weirdness we see 13 really hit her stride. It's the first time we see her eschew pacifism as Her Thing despite the fact that she's already demonstrated her willingness to use violence with a few bombs the ep previous. Contextual morality. Reoccurring theme. It Wasn't a good idea to use violence in the situation she was in in TGM. Still doesn't make her a pacifist though bc lol, the bomb thing. So it's Kind of the first blatant portrayal of 13's private actions contrasting ones witnessed by the fam which are used to make her look better in their eyes. This will continue all season.

The stenza are now explicitly portrayed as violent colonizers as opposed to weird guys with the universe's most messed up election system. The lady is going through a race from hell is here to buy her loved ones out of the hell of their society. It's the first time the theme Properly pops up in the era. The first of many times. 13 continues to be a support to Ryan here, deepening their relationship. She's dad-ing him. She's not mad, she's disappointed! (she's also mad). She's also supportive of him.

I also think that 13 totally running out of ideas and thinking they're all gonna die at the end when the others disappear and the tardis does Not appear sets up something interesting. The fam, the ones who have been sceptical about her ability to save them this ep but still figure her as their best chance Immediately bolster her confidence and try and prop her up. They continue with the 'you've got this doc, we have faith in you!!' for a while after that, i assume they think she needs the morale boost? But I think it just leaves her with this terrifying pressure in the end?

She tries to let them know later on that this travelling is Dangerous and that they could get hurt but i think they have kind of started to buy into their own hype about her by then and aren't as worried as they should be. They think tim shaw is the worst of the worst the whole of s11 and 13 doesn't barely deign to acknowledge him bc he's so beneath her. So by the time the real bad guys pop out of the woodwork that Actually scare her the fam are overconfident in her ability to save them, which in turn eventually leaves them in the AOTC situation where they have to save themselves because she Cannot save them herself. She gave them an out before then and they didn't take it because they were not worried. I think the journey to that overconfidence starts right here.

I guess if i had to gripe it'd be that the scene where the two racers decide to take the prize together was Way too easy and more of a footnote in the story? There wasn't really another way this was going to end, but still. That seemed a little weakly done to me. I'd like a little bit more time devoted to it because it's not like i can't think of a few different scenarios to get here, it's just they'd have taken more screen time. In the end, I think that the episode had more important plot threads to go into so they just rushed it a bit. Maybe that's where people wanted more conflict? I don't want more conflict as much as a deeper discussion. They Didn't have a gripe with each other beyond that they were competing against each other and wanted to win and it didn't seem to occur to them that they could just share. But also, i've not watched this for a while. Maybe i'm misremembering, but i remember it feeling short to me.

idk, in the end it reminds me, weirdly, of Jurassic park where they're working their way across the park to the guest centre when all the dinos are escaped. Yes they're in danger and at times it's severe, but they have time to talk and bond and work together using their own skills as a group. The stakes Are high, there be monsters out to kill them and they want to go home, but it's also not 100% dire at all times. It hits the same mood for me.

This episode wasn't grim but it wasn't trying to be either so i guess if you Like grim it'd be a disappointment, but it did what it wanted to pretty well with setting stuff up and having a reasonable compelling episode plot.

Also... It's Super pretty. The bright sun. Glorious.

[self-loathing-angel-of-thursday2]

Beautiful Spouse’s Rewatch Thoughts SPN 12x09 First Blood

“Mary looks like she could use that coffee. It must be morning.” laughter

“Oh my god what a question” “huh we got a funny man” “can’t Crowley just beam them out of there?” “I don’t know that song I guess. The subtitles, I mean” “These British people are so goddamn weird. Why not use a laptop?” “What is that bologna? That’s a fresh looking apple. They get better food in prison than I did in high school” “Not sure who Mr. T is” “They all need photocopiers and computers and shit. They have all this shit you can’t back up very easily” “She’s just going to help strangers while the boys are out? She’s always fkn off” “Those beards grow super slowly. Holy shit. Oh they gave them a shaver. That seems irresponsible” “YOu’d be a lot greasier than that without a shower” “make new ones. Stop being so depressed. Fuck” “Is Cas telling her to go away or to go hunt that shit?” “What’d they fkn feed them?” “So she ran off? Or did Cas tell her to go? I’m still confused about that” “what was it?” “Why would he have his name on his white coat if the place doesn’t exist? They wouldn’t want you to know” “Make your voice a mail” “hello. Oh these are the vampires she’s out fkn up” “no blood on her hands or face? That clean of a job? Shit. She’s a professional” “Wouldn’t he be dead by now? Isn’t that a fridge or a freezer? I guess I don’t know that much about it” “not much of a running outfit. To be fair, the cops are more dressed for running than they are” “Maybe don’t scare the lady when playing with her gun” “it’s a trap” “at least tie the arms around your waist so it looks like work clothes or something” “I feel like the Winchesters aren’t going to be very happy to see them” “How do you know that’s their boot print? Are you sure they’re the only ones in the woods?” “When’s the old man going to fuck off?” “You let them catch up? You had a 45 min head start” “Hey it’s a <insert name idk how to spell> radio” “well I mean Dean’s not wrong I guess” “why would you go to a structure? That’s where they’re going to go looking. None of this is smart. I don’t understand” “It must take so much work to make the walls look like that shitty. Flaking off paint and debris everywhere” “you found dry matches in a place inundated with moss.Something is off” “couple of bandaids I guess” “highly trained soldiers, eh?” “do they not have peripheral vision at all? Jesus” “that’s kind badass I guess.” “Oh hi buddy. Just in time” “Except you called in the cavalry and you didn’t need it and they’re going to hunt you down” “so what’s going to happen? They clean up, and the US govt blames the Winchesters?” “well fuck” “This is why you have carbureted vehicle” “oh you’re on a bridge” “so Mary’s going to sacrifice herself of course” “not with a screw. That’s kinda fucked up man” “oh hey bitch” “Does that make Cas the new Death?” “So does that mean nobody gets dead anymore?” “They’re pretty good at sacrificing themselves. You’ve got your work cut out for you” “They’re like lemmings” “huh” “I wonder how long the narrator hangs around” “well shit”

“Gonna drive a wedge in the family. Just saying”

[ejzah]

Things that this episode reminded about:

1. Deeks deserves to have his graduation.

2. He and Kensi are due their road trip (and a more immediate celebration).

3. Deeks should get all the hugs.

[bedlund]

like mother like son

[deanwasalwaysbi]

yall, it was 2017. What are the chances there was no GPS on this phone?

whoops.

I'm still stuck on the devastating plot hole fixing headcanon, Dean had to call Cas rather than pray to him because he only had 12 hours to live and needed to know Cas was on his way. Dean needed to know that he would see him again before he died.

[jjongleurs]

I hate that they wrote Cas as a bad hunter. Like, in 12x09 he talks about not being able to find a vampire nest and leaving town after three more people died. Yeah, no. Cas would never. He was a statistician in heaven. He's a damn angel. He's been alive for millennia. I'm pretty sure he can find and decimate a measly vampire nest. I know this was part of them softening Cas, making him look second to the Winchesters in terms of power (especially by juxtaposing him sitting in the bunker alone while Mary went back to find and kill the nest as well as Sam and Dean escaping the government facility). I know they did this because they had issue with how overpowered Cas was originally and how that made Dean look, which is bullshit, btw. I just let wish they had let Cas be the badass he is without worrying about making Dean look like a damsel or a bad hero. Let the man swoon over the hot powerful angel, damn it.

[monstermoviedean]

i understand they need to have sam and dean locked up for a while for Plot Reasons but i think it's insulting that they made this happen by pretending cas and mary are useless

[spn-rewatch-ventzone]

Fuuuuuck Cas killing Billie for the Winchesters

Saying, “I won’t let you sacrifice yourselves. You mean too much to me, to everything.”

He loves that family so fucking much.

[destieldisaster]

12x09 - First Blood

MotW: the us government

Any Cas? Yesssss

Not great phone etiquette, Cas, but understandable under the circumstances

Yeah, they're certainly in a lot of trouble now..

The hunters not being impressed by the BMoL is pretty great. Dumb, because they could've really helped them, but so very American :')

Mary, what the fuck. Don't yell at Cas. I get that you're worried but trust me, that man is blaming himself plenty already

Oh damn, they're there a lot longer than I thought

"They're like herpes" what a way to say you're not worried about them, Crowley

Cas know exactly how long they've been gone because of course that's seared into his brain 🥺

Cas tried to work a case but he couldn't without Sam and Dean and he ran away 🥺

Cas, you wouldn't get in her way, you're an ANGEL. God, what did they do to him that he thinks he can't be useful against vampires? 🥺

Okay, but they're kinda known for coming back from the dead, even just going by the things the fbi knows about. At the very least don't leave them alone?

CAS SITTING IN THE BUNKER IN THE DARK BY HIMSELF 😭

"Make your voice a mail" 😊

HELL YEAH, THEY TOOK ON LUCI. NOT BAD, HUH, BRITS?

They can control satalites. Nice.

DAMN RIGHT

"We're the guys that save the world"

Hugs! God, Cas is so relieved

Cas and Dean in the backseat. Honestly the only reason I can think of that Dean would sit in the back is so he can sit next to Cas 🥺

Dean CLEARLY just took his hand 🥺

Oh shit, Billie.

That was quite the fucked up deal. How were they planning to decide?

CAS YOU GLORIOUS BADASS

"This sad, doomed, little world, it needs you." 😭

Jesus, Misha really put everything into this scene, the desperation!!! He loves them so much and he won't let them die 😭😭😭

Yeah, yeah, Mary getting in with the BMoL..

[just-sort-of-happened]

Holy shit The Specials! I forget sometimes the music on spn is actually lit!

Like when they play Heroin by the Velvet Underground when they do Crowlys human blood addition montage! Now that’s a moment!

[one-girly-geek]

The one upside to this episode is that I did actually like Cas and even Mary in the end.

(They were the only people actually making sense)