#1x10 Flesh and Blood

[bronx-bomber87]

We are ten Eps in! Thank you all for your continued interest. Still surprises me so thank you all :)

1x10 Flesh and blood

Not really an ep with Chenford. BUT it’s a very good Lucy episode. Adore any Lucy driven episode she’s a BAMF as we all know. Love my girl. Fantastic look into her development as character. Also the intro of Angela/Wes. So let’s dig in.

I LOVE that the Captain decides to ride with Lucy. She seems so shocked she has been chosen. While Tim is so good for her, she also needs strong female presence in her training as well. Harper says it best in s2 about her needing that. But we will get there haha With this ep we see no one is more of a BAMF example for Lucy than Captain Anderson. Naturally Tim gives Lucy a hard time for riding with the Capt. making her even more nervous than she already is. Telling her what a weight that'll carry for her all day.

Poor Lucy doing what both Talia and Tim say. Who is she to say no? Both of them are T.O.’s and authority figures to her. Lucy is all jitters for riding with Anderson, so naturally she doesn't stand up for herself but the Capt does.

Capt. Coming in making them get their own gear is hilarious. She puts them both in their place for using her. I love that she does all of this in front of Lucy. Showing her that strength and leadership by calling them out and having them relieve her.

Lucy isn’t mad about it at all. The look on her face is priceless for couple reasons. One She is impressed watching Anderson do her thing by telling them what to do. Second you know she’s enjoying seeing Tim be ordered around like that haha. Especially since it’s for her benefit. Good day to be Lucy Chen haha

Lucy and the Capt get their first call. It’s where we learn she knows how to speak Farsi. What a BAMF. She attempts to talk down a bickering married couple in Farsi. The background behind her as a character is so rich. Truly think she was such an amazing Capt and character. Bummer we don’t get to keep her long. We learn she escaped a bad marriage as well from the call they take. Love what she tells the wife. ‘We can’t control how others are going to react.’ If that ain't the damn truth.

Lucy hears cop cars outside and goes to check it out. Jackson decided to bring in the cavalry, even though Lucy gave the all clear over the radio. Her chewing Jackson out is amazing. The way she legit destroys him for coming is epic. Whew don’t mess with that woman. She’s spicy haha Jackson leaves with his tail between his legs and goes back out on patrol.

After he's left Lucy blames herself for letting the husband upstairs. Where he killed himself. She won’t let Lucy carry that burden though. Her reply to Lucy when she says she let him get away is perfect. ‘Yes you did. But he’s not dead because of that.’

So begins Wopez, they’re so fiery right away. It’s amazing haha this dude has it right. Digging on each other yelling so close. Got that chemistry and fire right off the bat haha

Poor Lucy is having a rough day. First she lets the husband go on their first call. Now she’s let her captain get hit in the face cause she ducks. All her fears she had from this morning coming to life. Tim’s words coming to haunt her.

Minute they get back to station Lucy apologies for ducking. Anderson isn’t even a little mad. Lets her know she should’ve ducked. That she’s a little rusty it seems. Zoe goes on to tell Lucy she was an MP for the marines. Thats how we find out she learned Farsi from that. Lucy is so very impressed. It’s written all over her face.

So nice for her to have such a bad ass role model. Lucy says she should tell everyone her history. If they knew she wouldn’t have cops flying in to save her. We get the best line of the scene. ‘You don’t tell people you’re a bad ass Officer Chen. You just gotta show em.’

She continues her bad ass streak with an unhinged and recently released criminal. He is asking her what he would have to do in order to go back inside. She doesn't reply how he likes so he takes a hostage. Says he's going to kill her so he can go back in for life. Capt tries to talk him down best she can. He doesn’t listen to her at all. She distracts him by asking why he has his safety on if he's so hardened. It takes him by surprise enough that she takes his ass down all by her onesies. We find out after there was no safety and she charged a live weapon. Hence the bad ass continuation.

The scene is lightened up by Tim’s skunked ass walking into the lobby LOL They’re all so disgusted by the smell. His face is priceless as he walks away. He too is having quite the day without Lucy LMFAO.

Lucy comes to see Capt Zoe at the end of shift. Telling her how grateful she was for today, that she learned so much but she’s sorry if she let her down at all. i.e. the husband, getting hit etc.

She really needs to hear this and from her amazing captain no less. Tim is so good for her but she also needs that affirmation as well. The thing Lucy lacks the most in the beginning is confidence. That she’s good at this job, has amazing potential and is impressive. So impressive her captain decided to go on patrol with her over all the other rookies. Over the legacy and over the Rookie she hand picked for her station.

She has a long road ahead of her no doubt. Her arc into the character she is now is incredible. To watch her go from a doubtful non confident person into who she is now is a delight. Anderson sees the same things Tim does in her. The relief on her face is so evident. Especially when she says she’d ride with her any day. ❤️

Twas such a good ep for Lucy. No Chenford to be seen sadly but a really good ep none the less. Definitely not lacking in entertainment value. I do love the show as a whole for a reason. Well that’s all she wrote for 1x10 feel free to comment/like/reblog. So appreciate those of you who do. Make my whole day.

Also I Couldn't find some gifs in the Library no matter the combinations I tried to save my life LOL even 'The Rookie 1x10' came up with Nothing it was insane. So here is the link to the sets I took it from. The ones without credit below the gifs in my review all belong to the link below :) It has both sets I used. Thank you for your amazing sets hopeful this never happens again for future reviews, love crediting via the library. Also thank you to for the still I used as well :)

Per usual please feel free to comment/like/reblog should you chose to do that. Appreciate everyone thats been on this ride with me, I shall see you all in 1x11

[chenfordsbby]

"Flesh & Blood"

Season 1, Episode 10: “Flesh & Blood”

“Officer Nolan and Sergeant Grey are paired up for the day on patrol; Officer Chen is paired up with Captain Anderson, and Bradford tells Chen to protect her at all costs”.

Original Air Date: January 15, 2019

Written By: Inda Craig-Galvan

Directed By: Jessica Yu

Happy Sunday! Another week, another episode!!

I think we are in for a doozy of a hiatus now that the actors are on strike as well.  I don’t think we’re going to get any new episodes until well into 2024, but ya know what, the writers and actors deserve to get everything they are asking for, especially our writers. Yet again, I don’t know what these studio execs are thinking….without the writers, they would have nothing!  I pray they get everything soon! #WGAStrong

Shall we Get in the Shop…?!

A silly quick, fun cold open, with John going to pick up his son, Henry, at the airport, but it wouldn’t be classic Rookie style without some cheesy laughs as we watch John getting put in handcuffs by an airport cop for “breaking into” his own car!!! Classic!

Jackson and Lucy meet John and Henry in the station lobby and as John goes to introduce them to Henry, he’s surprised to find out that they all know each other already, at least they do through social media, as they all follow each other and John is clueless to it, and clearly showing his age, and the significant difference between him and Jackson and Lucy.  The John and Lucy relationship has finally come to a complete close it looks like as well. There are no more longing stares and sad faces, as we saw in the previous episodes after the break-up.  Truly happy that chapter is closed.

Captain Anderson is present in the roll call room and has decided that her and Sargent Grey are going to ride along with the rookies.  Captain Anderson chooses to ride with Lucy, and by no surprise Grey chooses to ride with John which also means that Tim and Talia will be riding together for the day.

Tim places the fear into Lucy before she starts her day with Captain Anderson forewarning her that the Captain better not even come back with a scratch on her.  Considering Tim warned Lucy of what would happen to her, if anything happened to Captain Anderson (which it did),  I wonder why we don’t see Tim scold Lucy at the end of the shift regarding what happened.  This is pretty much the only Tim and Lucy interaction we have in this entire episode.  We are still only getting itty, bitty crumbs of them.

You can start seeing the friendship really form this episode between Jackson and Angela.  It’s slowly becoming more than just a rookie/T.O relationship and into one of true friendship.  Angelas phone won’t stop buzzing with notifications from her mom; is Angela going to bring a date o her brothers wedding… this is the first mention of a personal relationship for Angela, so that only means that we are going to see some momentum happening in her personal life?  

Angela and Jackson are grabbing some coffee and they see a man running for a briefcase, Angela stops him and sparks are flying between Angela and this man.  We have no idea who he is except for the fact that he’s a lawyer.  Who is this man?  The lawyer has a tracking app in his briefcase- once they find the thief and the briefcase, Angela and the lawyer, who is still nameless 26 minutes into the episode, start arguing with each other: police vs lawyer, and their chemistry is undeniable.  They don’t even know each other, but it’s fire.  At the end of the day, as Angela is leaving, the lawyer is still at the station, as he was waiting to apologize to her.  Immediately after he asks her out on a date and Angela invites him as her date to her brothers wedding.  Even at the end of the episode, we still don’t get Mr. Lawyers name.  I’m excited to see the potential between them!  (We know what it is, but again, I am watching/writing these as if I’ve never seen an episode and this is all brand new to me!)

We are also introduced to Dominque, who is Grey’s daughter.  I think this is the first time we see Sergeant Grey be less than domineering in the precinct and it has everything to do with his daughter, he is showing a different side to himself, a much more lighter, less intimidating side.  Its smart storytelling watching Grey with Dom vs John and Henry.  Two older police officers with their kids.  Henry is voicing his concerns over John being a cop and those same concerns came tru with Grey and Dom.  Henry is scared every day of getting that phone call that John gets shot while on the job.  Dom received that phone call once, and she doesn’t want to get it again.  We see some bonding between John and Grey, and it’s because it’s over there kids.   

Tim and Talia are at a standoff- who is getting the shop gear bags? The stubbornness is coming through and we know for a fact that Tim will not budge, not even the slightest hence why immediately after we see Lucy carrying an overload of bags and guns.  There was no reason why Lucy needed to get Tim’s shop ready, considering he was more than capable of doing it himself, but because she’s his boot, she thought she had no choice but to listen to him.  Captain Anderson doesn’t like that and makes Tim and Talia get their own gear, as they just should’ve done in the first place.

There is head butting between Tim and Talia, two veteran patrol officers having to ride together, and neither wanting to take a step back as lead.  Tim was Talia’s T.O for two weeks until she got a new one.  I don’t know if we got the reason why she switched T.O’s, but there is evident tension between them.  Lucy is still too scared to give Tim a run for his money, but Talia has zero problem in doing it.  She is giving back to him just as much of what he is dishing out to her.  Tim is assertive in taking point in the apartment call, so when they go in the basement to find the big bad intruder, he gets a surprise as he gets sprayed by a skunk.  At the end of the day, Tim apologizes to Talia for his actions and the way he treated Talia.  I think this is the first time we are seeing Tim apologizing to anyone really.  Its just another layer of Tim Bradford that we are seeing get pulled back (but not exactly with the person we want to see him opening up to…ahem Lucy Chen ahem)!

John is nervous., it’s quite obvious. What should he say, or do? He already knows that Grey dislikes him and now he’s going to be on a 12 hour shift with him, so he wants to make sure he does everything right and by the book, but also to impress Grey, or at least try too.  He is not off to a great start with the pulled over grandma, who ends up kicking him right where it hurts.  They next respond to a call in an apartment complex- a woman claims her neighbors won’t stop fighting and screaming.  The awkwardness between John and Grey is still in the air.  John still just wanted to impress him and Grey still isn’t budging either.  They get into the apartment and start getting attacked by the neighbors.  Strike 2?  The last call they respond to isn’t even a call- they witness a gas break right by a house- and they respond in getting everyone out of the house.  John wants Grey to stay outside because of the gas leak but they both put on make shift masks and rescue all of the remaining people inside of the house.  I think this is where John impresses Grey.  No matter what the call is or what it entails, John will put his life on the line every time, for anything and anyone.  I think baby steps have been made between them.

Lucy and Captain Anderson respond to a domestic dispute, when they enter the house, the couple are fighting in Farsi, and as Lucy is calling in for an interpreter, Captain Anderson starts talking to them in Farsi.  Come to find out that Zoe was in the Marines, where she learned to speak Farsi. Its super impressive and intriguing.  Why haven’t we seen much of Captain Anderson and he past background in the force.  I want to know about her.  As she is trying to de-escalate the situation, the ex-husband is asked to leave the house and as Lucy is escorting him out of the house, he makes a quick run for the upstairs bedroom where he locks himself inside…we hear a gunshot and the husband has shot himself. Captain Anderson comforts the wife as Lucy watches from afar.  There was nothing that could’ve been done.  

Zoe and Lucy respond to the next call, of two neighbors arguing and as Lucy goes to arrest one of the neighbors she ducks, and the other neighbor swings and lands a push right in the captains face.  Lucy knows that she’s in trouble.  Lucy can’t express her apologies enough to Zoe, but she wipes it off her shoulder, its just another day on the job.  Lucy’s eyes light up while talking to Captain Anderson.  This is a person who Lucy hopes and strives to be one day.  She made a name for herself in a male dominated career and its something Lucy wants to accomplish as well.  This episode is the most we have seen of Captain Anderson and she’s been nothing but a positive influence on everyone but especially Lucy.  

Back in the precinct lobby, a freshly released prisoner starts to ask Captain Anderson questions about re-sentencing, which starts to sound fishy and she is quick to pick up on it.  He grabs a helpless woman as his victim and aims his gun on her.  Captain Anderson talks try to talk him out of it.  Like Lucy, she expresses great empathy.  I don’t want to say its a female cop characteristic, because I don’t think Angela has the same type of empathy that Lucy and Captain Anderson show. She figures out that talking him out of this won’t work, so she’s thinks quick on her feet and tricks him, knocking him to the ground and arresting him.

All jokes are on Tim as he finally gets himself back into the station and gets laughed at, as Lucy points out, “Oh my god, did you get skunked”.  As serious as this show can be, it can also switch into its comedic side at the drop of a ball and it is done very well.

At the end of the episode, Lucy goes to talk to Zoe.  You can see that the events of the day are weighing on Lucy’s mind.  She feels guilty of what happened to Zoe but Captain Anderson puts her at ease when she praises Lucy and her policing.  Lucy is on her way of becoming a very impressive cop.  Captain Anderson sees it and so do we. 

____________________________________________________

Honorable Mention:  Introduction of Wesley Evers aka Mr. Lawyer

Episode Peak: Captain Anderson

Episode Pit: Guilt Ridden Lucy, we love a happy Lucy!

Quote of the Episode: “You don’t tell people that you’re a badass, Officer Chen.  Just got to show ‘em” ~ Captain Anderson to Lucy Chen

Episode Rating: I give this episode a solid 7/10.  It had a little bit of everything in it.  Not terrible but also not the greatest.  It did give us a hell of a lot more of Captain Anderson, which is much appreciated and it pushed the Nolan/Grey storyline a bit forward; and we also start to see little inklings of the cop that we all know that Lucy can and will become, there was just a certain someone that she had to get rid of first that was holding her back… lets hope for some more Tim and Lucy content in the next upcoming few episodes!!!

Until next time in, “Get in the Shop”…

[stellaseveride]

THE ROOKIE FIRST-TIME WATCH

↳ 1x10 “Flesh and Blood”

[supernovagifs]

NCIS Season Masterlists

Below are/will be masterlists for each episode.

Season 1

1x1 - Yankee White

1x2 - Hung Out to Dry

1x3 - Sea Dog

1x4 - The Immortals

1x5 - The Curse

1x6 - High Seas

1x7 - Sub Rosa

1x8 - Minimum Security

1x9 - Marine Down

1x10 - Left For Dead

1x11 - Eye Spy

1x12 - My Other Left Foot

1x13 - One Shot, One Kill

1x14 - The Good Samaritan

1x15 - Enigma

1x16 - Bete Noire

1x17 - The Truth Is Out There

1x18 - UnSEALeD

1x19 - Dead Man Talking

1x20 - Missing

1x21 - Split Decision

1x22 - A Weak Link

1x23 - Reveille

Season 2

2x1 - See No Evil

2x2 - The Good Wives Club

2x3 - Vanished

2x4 - Lt. Jane Doe

2x5 - The Bone Yard

2x6 - Terminal Leave

2x7 - Call of Silence

2x8 - Heart Break

2x9 - Forced Entry

2x10 - Chained

2x11 - Black Water

2x12 - Doppelganger

2x13 - The Meat Puzzle

2x14 - Witness

2x15 - Caught On Tape

2x16 - Pop Life

2x17 - An Eye for an Eye

2x18 - Bikini Wax

2x19 - Conspiracy Theory

2x20 - Red Cell

2x21 - Hometown Hero

2x22 - SWAK

2x23 - Twilight

Season 3

3x1 - Kill Ari (Part 1)

3x2 - Kill Ari (Part 2)

3x3 - Mind Games

3x4 - Silver War

3x5 - Switch

3x6 - The Voyeur's Web

3x7 - Honor Code

3x8 - Under Covers

3x9 - Frame Up

3x10 - Probie

3x11 - Model Behavior

3x12 - Boxed In

3x13 - Deception

3x14 - Light Sleeper

3x15 - Head Case

3x16 - Family Secret

3x17 - Ravenous

3x18 - Bait

3x19 - Iced

3x20 - Untouchable

3x21 - Bloodbath

3x22 - Jeopardy

3x23 - Hiatus (Part 1)

3x24 - Hiatus (Part 2)

Season 4

4x1 - Shalom

4x2 - Escaped

4x3 - Singled Out

4x4 - Faking It

4x5 - Dead and Unburied

4x6 - Witch Hunt

4x7 - Sandblast

4x8 - Once a Hero

4x9 - Twisted Sister

4x10 - Smoked

4x11 - Driven

4x12 - Suspicion

4x13 - Sharif Returns

4x14 - Blowback

4x15 - Friends & Lovers

4x16 - Dead Man Walking

4x17 - Skeletons

4x18 - Iceman

4x19 - Grace Period

4x20 - Cover Story

4x21 - Brothers In Arms

4x22 - In the Dark

4x23 - Trojan Horse

5x24 - Angel of Death

Season 5

5x1 - Bury Your Dead

5x2 - Family

5x3 - Ex-File

5x4 - Identity Crisis

5x5 - Leap of Faith

5x6 - Chimera

5x7 - Requiem

5x8 - Designated Target

5x9 - Lost & Found

5x10 - Corporal Punishment

5x11 - Tribes

5x12 - Stakeout

5x13 - Dog Tags

5x14 - Internal Affairs

5x15 - In the Zone

5x16 - Recoil

5x17 - About Face

5x18 - Judgement Day (Part 1)

5x19 - Judgement Day (Part 2)

Season 6

6x1 - Last Man Standing

6x2 - Agent Afloat

6x3 - Capitol Offense

6x4 - Heartland

6x5 - Nine Lives

6x6 - Murder 2.0

6x7 - Collateral Damage

6x8 - Cloak

6x9 - Dagger

6x10 - Road Kill

6x11 - Silent Night

6x12 - Caged

6x13 - Broken Bird

6x14 - Love & War

6x15 - Deliverance

6x16 - Bounce

6x17 - South by Southwest

6x18 - Knockout

6x19 - Hide & Seek

6x20 - Dead Reckoning

6x21 - Toxic

6x22 - Legend (Part 1)

6x23 - Legend (Part 2)

6x24 - Semper Fidelis

6x25 - Aliyah

Season 7

7x1 - Truth or Consequences

7x2 - Reunion

7x3 - The Inside Man

7x4 - Good Cop, Bad Cop

7x5 - Code of Conduct

7x6 - Outlaws and In-Laws

7x7 - Endgame

7x8 - Power Down

7x9 - Child's Play

7x10 - Faith

7x11 - Ignition

7x12 - Flesh and Blood

7x13 - Jet Lag

7x14 - Masquerade

7x15 - Jack-Knife

7x16 - Mother's Day

7x17 - Double Identity

7x18 - Jurisdiction

7x19 - Guilty Pleasure

7x20 - Moonlighting

7x21 - Obsession

7x22 - Borderland

7x23 - Patriot Down

7x24 - Rule Fifty-One

Season 8

8x1 - Spider and the Fly

8x2 - Worst Nightmare

8x3 - Short Fuse

8x4 - Royals and Loyals

8x5 - Dead Air

8x6 - Cracked

8x7 - Broken Arrow

8x8 - Enemies Foreign

8x9 - Enemies Domestic

8x10 - False Witness

8x11 - Ships in the Night

8x12 - Recruited

8x13 - Freedom

8x14 - A Man Walks Into a Bar...

8x15 - Defiance

8x16 - Kill Screen

8x17 - One Last Score

8x18 - Out of the Frying Pan

8x19 - Tell-All

8x20 - Two-Faced

8x21 - Dead Reflection

8x22 - Baltimore

8x23 - Swan Song

8x24 - Pyramid

Season 9

9x1 - Nature of the Beast

9x2 - Restless

9x3 - The Penelope Papers

9x4 - Enemy on the Hill

9x5 - Safe Harbor

9x6 - Thirst

9x7 - Devil's Triangle

9x8 - Engaged (Part 1)

9x9 - Engaged (Part 2)

9x10 - Sins of the Father

9x11 - Newborn King

9x12 - Housekeeping

9x13 - A Desperate Man

9x14 - Life Before His Eyes

9x15 - Secrets

9x16 - Psych Out

9x17 - Need to Know

9x18 - The Tell

9x19 - The Good Son

9x20 - The Missionary Position

9x21 - Rekindled

9x22 - Playing With Fire

9x23 - Up in Smoke

9x24 - Till Death Do Us Part

Season 10

10x1 - Extreme Prejudice

10x2 - Recovery

10x3 - Phoenix

10x4 - Lost at Sea

10x5 - The Namesake

10x6 - Shell Shock (Part 1)

10x7 - Shell Shock (Part 2)

10x8 - Gone

10x9 - Devil's Trifecta

10x10 - You Better Watch Out

10x11 - Shabbat Shalom

10x12 - Shiva

10x13 - Hit and Run

10x14 - Canary

10x15 - Hereafter

10x16 - Detour

10x17 - Prime Suspect

10x18 - Seek

10x19 - Squall

10x20 - Chasing Ghosts

10x21 - Berlin

10x22 - Revenged

10x23 - Double Blind

10x24 - Damned If You Do

Season 11

11x1 - Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

11x2 - Past, Present and Future

11x3 - Under the Radar

11x4 - Anonymous Was a Woman

11x5 - Once a Crook

11x6 - Oil & Water

11x7 - Better Angels

11x8 - Alibi

11x9 - Gut Check

11x10 - Devil's Triad

11x11 - Homesick

11x12 - Kill Chain

11x13 - Double Back

11x14 - Monsters and Men

11x15 - Bulletproof

11x16 - Dressed to Kill

11x17 - Rock and a Hard Place

11x18 - Crescent City (Part 1)

11x19 - Crescent City (Part 2)

11x20 - Page Not Found

11x21 - Alleged

11x22 - Shooter

11x23 - The Admiral's Daughter

11x24 - Honor Thy Father

Season 12

12x1 - Twenty Klicks

12x2 - Kill the Messenger

12x3 - So It Goes

12x4 - Choke Hold

12x5 - The San Dominick

12x6 - Parental Guidance Suggested

12x7 - The Searchers

12x8 - Semper Fortis

12x9 - Grounded

12x10 - House Rules

12x11 - Check

12x12 - The Enemy Within

12x13 - We Build, We Fight

12x14 - Cadence

12x15 - Cabin Fever

12x16 - Blast from the Past

12x17 - The Artful Dodger

12x18 - Status Update

12x19 - Patience

12x20 - No Good Deed

12x21 - Lost in Translation

12x22 - Troll

12x23 - The Lost Boys

12x24 - Neverland

Season 13

13x1 - Stop the Bleeding

13x2 - Personal Day

13x3 - Incognito

13x4 - Double Trouble

13x5 - Lockdown

13x6 - Viral

13x7 - 16 Years

13x8 - Saviors

13x9 - Day in Court

13x10 - Blood Brothers

13x11 - Spinning Wheel

13x12 - Sister City (Part 1)

13x13 - Deja Vu

13x14 - Decompressed

13x15 - React

13x16 - Loose Cannons

13x17 - After Hours

13x18 - Scope

13x19 - Reasonable Doubts

13x20 - Charade

13x21 - Return to Sender

13x22 - Homefront

13x23 - Dead Letter

13x24 - Family First

Season 14

14x1 - Rogue

14x2 - Being Bad

14x3 - Privileged Information

14x4 - Love Boat

14x5 - Philly

14x6 - Shell Game

14x7 - Home of the Brave

14x8 - Enemy Combatant

14x9 - Pay to Play

14x10 - The Tie That Binds

14x11 - Willoughby

14x12 - Off the Grid

14x13 - Keep Going

14x14 - Nonstop

14x15 - Pandora's Box (Part I)

14x16 - A Many Splendored Thing

14x17 - What Lies Above

14x18 - M.I.A

14x19 - The Wall

14x20 - A Bowl of Cherries

14x21 - One Book, Two Covers

14x22 - Beastmaster

14x23 - Something Blue

14x24 - Rendezvous

Season 15

15x1 - House Divided

15x2 - Twofer

15x3 - Exit Strategy

15x4 - Skeleton Crew

15x5 - Fake It 'Til You Make It

15x6 - Trapped

15x7 - Burden of Proof

15x8 - Voices

15x9 - Ready or Not

15x10 - Double Down

15x11 - High Tide

15x12 - Dark Secrets

15x13 - Family Ties

15x14 - Keep Your Friends Close

15x15 - Keep Your Enemies Closer

15x16 - Handle with Care

15x17 - One Man's Trash

15x18 - Death from Above

15x19 - The Numerical Limit

15x20 - Sight Unseen

15x21 - One Step Forward

15x22 - Two Steps Back

15x23 - Fallout

15x24 - Date with Destiny

Season 16

16x1 - Destiny's Child

16x2 - Love Thy Neighbor

16x3 - Boom

16x4 - Third Wheel

16x5 - Fragments

16x6 - Beneath the Surface

16x7 - A Thousand Words

16x8 - Friendly Fire

16x9 - Tailing Angie

16x10 - What Child Is This?

16x11 - Toil and Trouble

16x12 - The Last Link

16x13 - She

16x14 - Once Upon a Tim

16x15 - Crossing the Line

16x16 - Bears and Cubs

16x17 - Silent Service

16x18 - Mona Lisa

16x19 - Perennial

16x20 - Hail & Farewell

16x21 - Judge, Jury...

16x22 - ...and Executioner

16x23 - Lost Time

16x24 - Daughters

Season 17

17x1 - Out of the Darkness

17x2 - Into the Light

17x3 - Going Mobile

17x4 - Someone Else's Shoes

17x5 - Wide Awake

17x6 - Institutionalized

17x7 - No Vacancy

17x8 - Musical Chairs

17x9 - IRL

17x10 - The North Pole

17x11 - In the Wind

17x12 - Flight Plan

17x13 - Sound Off

17x14 - On Fire

17x15 - Lonely Hearts

17x16 - Ephemera

17x17 - In a Nutshell

17x18 - Schooled

17x19 - Blarney

17x20 - The Arizona

[theburialofstrawberries]

Thinking about when Dave K said that he has “come to love the characters who aren’t victorious, that don’t necessarily rise to the challenge — the Hodgsons and the Littles — and I just find them really interesting and moving to kind of watch them as they sort of fail”, and The Hodgson Failson Problem.

Hodgson’s speech to Goodsir in 1x09 confirms to me that he has almost returned to a second childhood. I think of all the characters that episode he is most shown as being stuck in the past, a past order, a past life. Eating apart from Hickey’s mutineers on his fancy china with fork and knife like he’s still a Lieutenant, recalling the Virginian ham, recalling that childhood summer with his Catholic aunts. When he’s telling Goodsir about the wafer and wine and he says, “I felt forgiven of every poor, weak, or selfish thing within my soul” (Christos Lawton hits the tear drop at exactly this note; handshake with Tobias Menzies for great timing) – he’s talking about how he knows himself to be now, his conduct through this entire crisis; poor, weak, and selfish. He wants to go back to childhood. To feel faultless again. It’s this very Hodgson characteristic you see in 1x08 as well, when he’s whining at Little, wanting reassurance that he did the right thing by ordering the slaughter of a Netsilik group based on Hickey’s flimsy say-so. Little does not offer him absolution – he tells Hodgson, “If [your instinct and your training] told you to proceed with what you ordered...then be easy with yourself.��� Hodgson can’t have that, and has to follow up with the hysterical story about Native Americans. Come on, I told you about the scary Native Americans, won’t you reassure me now?

(My hunch is that even if he got the absolution he so wanted, he’d cringe away from it, he wouldn’t believe it – the giveaway is in the story [he never went back to Mass]. Just enough self-delusion to spin justifications around his missteps, just enough self-awareness that they don’t do the trick.)

I couldn’t tell if Goodsir was moved by “I’m hungry, and I want to live.” (I always am.) The problem with that line, which on first viewing made me ask myself, “Did Hodgson just make cannibalism … ennobling?”, is how hollow it is. Gibson’s flesh and blood, ill-gotten through murder, does not compare to the strange and illicit but ultimately beautiful Catholic communion that Hodgson so badly wants it to be. (That would be Fitzjames’s flesh and blood; he calls himself Christ on his deathbed, and offers his body to his men freely, even if they don't take him up on it.) The way those men try to survive is not ennobling. Hickey was right. It is a nasty piece of business. I’m thinking of the other small and big cruelties that go on in Hickey’s camp (the way Des Voeux shot Hartnell though Hartnell was lowering his gun, the way at the start of 1x10 Crozier is bleeding from his forehead and nose without explanation). I wouldn’t be surprised if Goodsir was moved by that telling. But I also wouldn’t be surprised if he was bored out of his mind.

[biles-bilinski1]

Day 4 Favorite Season 1 Episode: I don’t really remember season 1 that well for like big moments but I guess I would have to go with 1x10 “Flesh and Blood”. Nolan and Grey are paired up that day. I love when those two are partners honestly.

[theawkwardanglophile]

1x10 Flesh and Blood:

Wopez begins! Angela and Wesley are SO CUTE from the very beginning. 🥰🥰

Captain Andersen was such a fantastic character. It's really a shame she left the show.

So interesting that Tim trained Talia only for a couple of months but still sees her as that rookie he trained, even though they are friends and hang out. Since Lucy finished her training, we really haven't seen yet if Tim sees her differently. I mean, there's plenty there to suggest he does (helloooo, S3 finale), but there should hopefully be much more in S4 to give us a clearer picture. 😁

[youngdraculasource]

Watch Young Dracula: The Complete Series

SERIES ONE: 1x01 - When You’re A Stranger 1x02 - Dead-Ucation 1x03 - Mummy Returns 1x04 - Slaytime TV 1x05 - Like Father, Like Son 1x06 - Toothache 1x07 - A Matter of Life and Chess 1x08 - Blood Relations 1x09 - The Sleepover 1x10 - Blood Sport 1x11 - Father’s Day 1x12 - Halloscream 1x13 - The Blood Test 1x14 - Countdown 

SERIES TWO: 2x01 - Kidnipped 2x02 - The Yanks are Coming 2x03 - Mirror Mirror 2x04 - Bad Reflection 2x05 - Dad’s Back 2x06 - Baby Dracula 2x07 - Insomnia 2x08 - Love Bites 2x09 - Body Swap 2x10 - Sweet Sixteen 2x11 - Eclipse 2x12 - When Vampires Go Bad 2x13 - The Chosen One

SERIES THREE: 3x01 - Hide and Seek 3x02 - The Enemy Within 3x03 - Faustian Slip 3x04 - Fangs For The Memories 3x05 - Carpathian Feast 3x06 - Blood Thief 3x07 - Bad To The Bone 3x08 - Bad Vlad 3x09 - Therapy 3x10 - The Return 3x11 - Hit Chicks 3x12 - Blood Loyalties 3x13 - All For One

SERIES FOUR: 4x01 - The Good, The Bad and The Undead 4x02 - Revamped 4x03 - Storm in a Blood Cup 4x04 - The Crown of Ludlaw Erant 4x05 - Murderer in the Midst 4x06 - Bloodbound 4x07 - Do The Bite Thing 4x08 - Loyalty’s for Breathers 4x09 - Sun and Heir 4x10 - Whatever It Takes 4x11 - Bootiful Breathers 4x12 - Cuckoo in the Nest 4x13 - Kiss of Death

SERIES FIVE: 5x01 - Fight or Flight 5x02 - Who’s the Daddy? 5x03 - Flesh and Blood 5x04 - One Bitten, Twice Shy 5x05 - Warning Shadows 5x06 - The Enemy Within 5x07 - Nemesis Rising 5x08 - Open House 5x09 - The Bodyguard 5x10 - Blood Match 5x11 - Bite Me 5x12 - The Darkest Hour Part 1 5x13 - The Darkest Hour Part 2

[bronx-bomber87]

The Rookie Reviews Season's 1-6 Master List. Will be Pinned To Blog for Easy Access. S6 in a seperate link at bottom of list. S7 coming Summer of 25’

Top Eps Listed Season's-1-4 Made a ranking list my fave eps for an ask. Wanted to include in this list.

Started: 5/13/23

Last Updated : 10/05/24

Works: 108

Season 1

1x01-Pilot

1x02-Crash Course

1x03-The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

1x04-The Switch

1x05-The Roundup

1x06-The Hawke

1x07-The Ride Along

1x08-Time Of Death

1x09-Standoff

1x10-Flesh and Blood

1x11-Redwood

1x12-Heartbreak

1x13-Caught Stealing

1x14-Plain Clothes Day

1x15-Manhunt

1x16-Greenlight

1x17-The Shakeup

1x18-Homefront

1x19-Checklist

1x20-Freefall

Season 2

2x01-Impact

2x02-The Night General

2x03-The Bet

2x04-Warriors and Guardians

2x05-Tough Love

2x06-Fallout

2x07-Safety

2x08-Clean Cut

2x09-Breaking Point

2x10-The Dark Side

2x11-Day Of Death

2x12 Now and Then

2x13-Follow Up Day

2x14-Casualties

2x15-Hand Off

2x16-The Overnight

2x17-Control

2x18-Under The Gun

2x19-The Q Word

2x20-The Hunt

Season 3

3x01-Consequences

3x02-In-Justice

3x03-La-Fiera

3x04-Sabotage

3x05-Lockdown

3x06-Revelations

3x07-True Crime

3x08-Bad Blood

3x09-Amber

3x10-Man Of Honor

3x11-New Blood

3x12-Brave Heart

3x13-Triple Duty

3x14-Threshold

Season 4

4x01-Life and Death

4x02-Five Minutes

4x03-In the Line Of Fire

4x04-Red Hot

4x05-A.C.H

4x06-Poetic Justice

4x07-Fire Fight

4x08-Hit and Run

4x09-Breakdown

4x10-Heart Beat

4x11-End Game

4x12-The Knock

4x13-Fight or Flight

4x14-Long Shot

4x15-Hit List

4x16-Real Crime

4x17-Coding

4x18-Backstabbers

4x19/4x20-Simone/Envervo

4x21-Mother's Day

4x22-Day In The Hole

Season 5

5x01-Double Down

5x02-Labor Day

5x03-Dye Hard

5x04-The Choice

5x05-The Fugitive

5x06-The Reckoning

5x07-Crossfire

5x08-The Collar

5x09-Take Back

5x10-The List

5x11-The Naked and The Dead

5x12-Death Notice

5x13-Daddy Cop

5x14-Death Sentence

5x15-The Con

5x16-Exposure

5x17-The Enemy Within

5x18-Double Trouble

5x19-A Hole in the World

5x20-S.T.R

5x21-Going Under

5x22-Under Siege

Season 6 Separate Post

[drsilverfish]

Dean’s Jungian Shadow Arc in S14 - Confronting the Internal Father (2x22 to 14x20)

“This meeting with oneself is, at first, the meeting with one’s own shadow. The shadow is a tight passage, a narrow door, whose painful constriction no one is spared who goes down to the deep well. But one must learn to know oneself in order to know who one is” 

(Jung, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious 1991: p21) 

Jung believed that the psyche was composed, in part, of a relation to “archetypes” (shared human psychic formations). One of these is the archetype of the father.

He distinguishes between the actual father (i.e. your Dad) and the “imago” of the father (a term he borrowed from Freud). That means, the psychological internalised construct of the father, which partly resides in the unconscious, and which is not identical to your real Dad, because it’s about your childish and foundational perception of them, but, also, for Jung (not Freud) it is linked to the archetypal (or mythic) father. The father archetype (for Jung, who has a gendered perception of the world rooted in his time-period) is about power and control. And when someone subconsciously over-identifies with the father-archetype, this results in out-of-control power fantasies:

"The danger is just this unconscious identity with the archetype, the more a father identifies with the archetype, the more unconscious and irresponsible, indeed psychotic ... he ... will be"

 (Jung, 1906-1916 writings collected as Freud and Psychoanalysis: 1961:p316).

So, subconsciously over-identifying with the father-imago has negative consequences for a person, and those around them. 

Let’s talk Dean, The Shadow and Dean’s Daddy Issues.

Remember this? (Gods but the colour palette was gorgeous back then).

This is Dean shooting Azazel, the yellow-eyed demon who killed his mother, Mary Winchester, with the Colt in 2x22 All Hell Breaks Loose Part II.

He does it with his father, John Winchester’s spirit’s help (released from Hell):

But, when I say help, remember that, symbolically, John has also been mirrored to Azazel, by means of Azazel’s possession of John (1x22 Devil’s Trap):

Hooboy -  Daddy issues right out of the gate. That’s not news to any of us. The whole show is about “wayward sons”, after all.  

Fast foward twelve years, and this is Dean (in the role of The FatherTM) almost shooting Jack, his own adopted Nephilim son (who also represents his child-self) with the Hammurabi, the mystical gun Mark II, which Chuck forged and named after an ancient Babylonian law which codifies “an eye for an eye” (i.e. a “Revenge Gun”TM):

Jack the Nephilim, whose eyes glow yellow when he is in his power, and who has (apparently) killed Mary Winchester (again):

(Jack in 13x14 Good Intentions)

Notice that both scenarios - Dean, mystical gun, yellow-eyed supernatural being who killed his mother - take place in a graveyard. 

Mary is dead twice (at least as far as Dean is concerned) and her death haunts the scenes.

Chuck has deliberately set up the second scenario to mirror the first (he is, in my view, testing Dean, the way he tested Abraham).

At this moment, in Moriah, we could say Dean is possessed by his Shadow, in the form of the father archetype, the Ghost of John Winchester, in his subconsious. He is ready to act out John Winchester’s revenge quest redux, and in doing so, to do violence all over again to his child-self, in the form of Jack, who symbolises child-Dean in this moment. 

A repetition of the damage done to Dean himself as a child; who was forced, by the tragedy of Mary’s death, and his own father’s traumatic revenge-quest, to grow up too fast, is playing out before our eyes.

Jack-the-mirror, who lost his own mother at birth, and looks twenty-something but is only two, kneels, a willing sacrifice, in the role of child-Dean, before his father, adult-Dean, who is shadow-possessed by John’s Ghost, ready to be murdered, just as John “murdered” Dean’s childhood. 

“The psychological rule says that when an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside as fate. That is to say, when the individual remains undivided and does not become conscious of his inner opposite, the world must perforce act out the conflict and be torn into opposing halves.” 

(Carl Jung, Collected Works “Christ: A Symbol of the Self”).

Jung suggests we are subject to “fate” (i.e. our own unconscious forces taking control of our actions) when we do not confront our Shadow. 

Ties in beautifully to Supernatural’s larger theme of fate vs free will, right?

Now, back then, when Dean shot yellow-eyed demon No 1, Azazel, Dean was (as his subconscious taunted him at the time) “Daddy’s blunt little instrument” (3x10 Dream a Little Dream of Me)....

Back then, Dean obeyed his father and called him “Sir”,  “...following Dad’s orders like a good little soldier” (Sam in 1x10 Asylum). Sammy was the rebellious one.

When Dean stood up to his Dad, it wasn’t for himself, it was to protect Sam:

(1x20 Dead Man’s Blood). 

Dean’s obedience was linked to his angel-engineered role as the Michael vessel (God’s obedient son) whilst Sam’s rebelliousness was linked to his equally engineered role as the Lucifer vessel (God’s rebellious son).

They ripped up that script and wrote their own ending in 5x22 Swan Song, but, while Sam said “Yes” to Lucifer (his Shadow-self) and beat the Devil, Dean said “No” to Michael.

S14 is the season in which Dean, having said “Yes” to AU!Michael in order to beat Lucfier (again) in 13x23 Let the Good Times Roll, undertakes his own Shadow-work. 

Dabb’s Ouroboros narrative is in full swing.  

Back then, John’s revenge quest, to get the yellow-eyed demon who killed Mary Winchester, became Dean’s mission too. He internalised it (even before he knew about Azazel). Sam wanted to get out of hunting, Dean was driven to follow in his father’s footsteps (whatever his real feelings and desires were, he buried them to follow the “family business”). 

Here is Young!Dean in Bad Boys (9x07) looking out of the window at Young!Sam in the Impala, about to give up his happiness at Sonny’s and his young love with Robin in order to put his Dad’s way of life (hunting/ revenge), and his brother (who needs him) first:

One way a child deals with a parent who is hurting them is to want to become them, to idolise them and to believe that they’re right (Dad’s car, Dad’s music, Dad’s machismo, Dad’s heterosexuality, Dad’s way of drinking and squashing down emotion). 

DEAN: “We have the coolest Dad in the world.  He’s a superhero.” (3x08 A Very Supernatural Christmas). 

Jung would say Dean internalised a strong identification (partly conscious, partly unconscious) with the father imago. 

Dean’s been on a long, long journey to get out from under his father’s shadow. We’ve seen that struggle over many seasons.

AU!Michael in Dean’s head in S14 represented the repressive ghost of John Winchester embodied as a destructive archangel in Dean’s mind, i.e. serious crunch time for Dean’s psyche - things coming to a real crisis point for him, psychologically. 

Dark!Kaia makes the parallel in 14x03 The Scar (just hear “John Winchester” for “him”):

KAIA: “You’re no different from him. Threats, violence anything to get what you want.” DEAN: “I am nothing like him.” KAIA: “Yeah you are: you always have been!”

You can read some of my previous meta on Dean’s struggle with AU!Michael as his repression/ the Ghost of John Winchester here (which also emphasises that one aspect of John’s repression of Dean is, in subtext, the repression of Dean’s queerness):

Queer Gods and Monsters (14x02)

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/179226151009/queer-gods-and-monsters-14x02

14x03 The Scar - Dean Confronts Dark!Kaia (Dopplegangers, Mirrors and John Winchester’s Ghost)

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/179463975289/shirtlesssammy-14x03the-scar-meta-writers

AU!Michael and the Closet (14x10 Nihilism)

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/182120562849/aumichael-and-the-closet

Jung and Dean’s Journey Towards Self-Integration in 14x11 Damaged Goods

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/182299438269/jung-and-deans-journey-towards-self-integration

In 14x02 we get this shot of Dean facing his mirror-self, AU!Michael, and Michael tells him, “I own you!”

In 14x10, Dean, desperate to contain AU!Michael, manages (with Sam and Cas’ help) to lock him in a fridge-locker in his own mind:

 And he says, “I am the cage!”

Dean then builds a Ma’lak box and intends to lock himself in it and throw himself (and AU!Michael with him) to the bottom of the ocean. Yikes. At the start of 14x12 Prophet and Loss, he dreams that he is alone, and terrified, in that very box:

Sam says to him about this plan (14x12 Prophet and Loss):  “But what you’re talking about is far worse than death. Michael’s an archangel. He could literally keep you buried in a coffin, alive, forever.”

Remember Dean also described his possession by AU!Michael as like “drowning” over and over (14x03 The Scar): 

DEAN: “I don’t remember most of what Michael did with me because I was under water. Drowning. And that I remember. I felt every second of it - clawing, fighting for air. I thought I could make it out but I couldn’t: I wasn’t strong enough.”

Now hear what is happening, psychologically... 

Dean’s subconscious, his Shadow-self (aka AU!Michael representing the Ghost of John Winchester) i.e. Dean’s own self-repression and over-control, both inherited from John’s impact on him, is saying to Dean “I own you” and “I am the cage”, you will be buried in a coffin, alive, with me forever. You are under water and you can’t make it out.    

That’s pretty scary right? Dean is trapped by himself (by the traumatic internalised impact of his past and his consequent over-identification with his father).

If this were IRL, we’d have given Dean the name of a good therapist, a long time ago. But it’s Supernatural, so instead Dean gets to confront the ghost of his father, John Winchester, in the flesh, in 14x13 Lebanon. He wishes on the magic pearl to get “Michael out of my friggin’ head” and lo and behold John Winchester magically appears before him (cemeting the symbolism of AU!Michael in Dean’s head representing/ mirroring John Winchester). 

Dean gets to hear his Dad say, “You are a grown man and I am incredibly proud of you.” Dean gets to say to Sam, that he wouldn’t change anything: “I’m good with who I am. I’m good with who you are. ‘Cause our lives – they’re ours.”

He gets to tell his father he “has a family”, not a conventional one - “an angel and Lucifer’s kid”, but it’s good: 

 An Angel, and Lucifer’s Kid? Queer-Coding and Dean’s “Found Family” in 14x13 Lebanon

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/182794294534/an-angel-and-lucifers-kid-queer-coding-and

And he gets to choose to let his Dad go, with love. What beautiful psychological progress, huh? AU!Michael is out of his head and so is the controlling Ghost of his Father, replaced by a loving one!

But, it’s not that simple. When the pearl is destroyed, time is reset and AU!Michael is still installed in Dean’s noggin. It’s only when Dean and Cas have been whammied by the Queer Gorgon, that AU!Michael (Dean’s repression, remember) finally gets out of his mind (14x14 Ouroboros): 

The Kiss of the Queer Gorgon in 14x14 Ouroboros

http://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/183323000224/the-kiss-of-the-queer-gorgon-in-14x14-ouroboros

Jack (Dean’s child-self mirror) kills AU!Michael (John’s repressive ghost mirror) but, the burden is great and the cost is (at least part of) his soul. 

Moreover, when Mary is subsequently “killed” by Jack (you all know by now I have a theory she’s been fake re-fridged, and she’s actually been blasted into an AU, and we’ll see her again), Dean regresses. He goes back into uber-controlling mode, over-responsible mode, as a way of dealing with the fact his world has fallen apart again. Psychically (as many of you clever people have already pointed out) he’s been taken back to the trauma his 4 year old self experienced when Mary died the first time. 

So, Dean puts on his control-mask, the one he learned from his Dad, and (just like John did) he focusses on dealing with the yellow-eyed “monster” who killed Mary, to contain the pain. He refuses to listen to Sam or Cas. He tells them to get on board with his (suicidal again) plan or get lost. HE is the one who instigates locking Jack (remember, also a representation of his child-self) in the Ma’lak box:

And he is the one who won’t listen to his loved ones,  but jumps all over and obeys without question, the Word of God (the Law of the Father) that the only way is to shoot Jack with the new mystical gun (Colt Mark II) when Chuck shows up with it. 

 Displaced-in-time John said, in 14x13 Lebanon (having been filled in by his sons):

JOHN: “I-I went out takin’ out Yellow Eyes. I mean, that was the point, right? I mean, get the thing that killed mom.”      

Chuck offers Dean the same choice (and, again, I think it’s a test).

Remember, as well as being the Revenge GunTM, the Hammurabi is also know as “The Equaliser”, so whatever happens to the person who is shot, also happens to the shooter. A perfect, perfect metaphor for the way in which John’s revenge quest rebounded on his sons (compounding the emotional trauma of losing their Mom). 

If Dean’ follows in his father’s footsteps and shoots the yellow-eyed “demon” who killed Mary, his own adopted son Jack (who, did I mention, represents his child-self) he will die - literally, according to the “law” of Chuck’s mystical gun, but also symbolically.

Because symbolically, that choice represents the fact that Dean has been crushing the life out of himself, for a long time, thanks to the internalised Ghost of John Winchester in his head (demanding that he be a substitute-parent to Sammy, that he stay “on mission”, that he perform a certain kind of masculinity, that he is responsible for everything and everyone, that he constantly fails [because he is trying to live up to an impossible standard]).

And at the last, Dean passes the test. He says, “No,” to the ultimate Father FigureTM (God) who is shouting at him to pick up the gun and pull the trigger.

He says “No” even when Chuck promises to bring Mary back from the “dead”. 

He does not repeat the cycle of his father’s revenge quest. He lowers the weapon of RevengeTM and of Re-bounding Suffering/ DeathTM.

He (finally) has compassion for Jack and thus (hopefully, hopefully) for his own child-self mirror. 

On symbolic Mount Moriah, Dean confronts his Shadow-self, the part of him that is “just like” his father, the part that keeps controlling or pushing away his key relationships (with Sam and Cas and now Jack) the part that finds safety in orders, and in a black-and-white view of the world where monsters are monsters, and in which revenge is the answer.

Confronting the Shadow, as I wrote before 14x20 aired, can release us from “scapegoating”:

The Scapegoat: Speculative Musings on S14′s End (Moriah) (Linked to the Season’s Jungian Themes - Scapegoating and the Unacknowledged Shadow)  

https://drsilverfish.tumblr.com/post/184068368304/the-scapegoat-speculative-musings-on-s14s-end

So, Dean says, “No” to God, the ultimate father-figure, and in doing so he is released from his Shadow-possession by the father-imago in his unconscious

DEAN: “No, my Mom was my hero, and I miss her, and I will miss her every second of my life, but she would not want this.” 

As a counter-point, he embraces the feminine (his internal anima, according to Jung). He evolves.

And so, the mirror is broken through between the self and the Shadow-self, the ego and the id. AU!Michael/  the Ghost of John Winchester/ the Voice of God are out of Dean Winchester’s head. They can no longer control him: he has faced them all. 

Now,  Dean has to learn to be himself, a whole new final chapter in the journey.

“The shadow, when it is realized, is the source of renewal ...  no progress or growth is possible until the shadow is adequately confronted and confronting means more than merely knowing about it. It is not until we have truly been shocked into seeing ourselves as we really are, instead of as we wish or hopefully assume we are, that we can take the first step toward individual reality” (Connie Zweig, Meeting the Shadow, 1990).

And, if you’ve been following the thread in the links to my other meta on Dean’s Shadow here, on how John’s repression in Dean’s mind was depicted (in subtext in S14) as, in part, Dean’s repression of his queerness (the Ma’lak box and the fridge-locker in Rocky’s mind-bar being symbols of the closet) then this culminating confrontation with the repressive image of The FatherTM in the form of God himself, as symbolic of Dean’s own controlling, self-repressing, self-closeting, Shadow-self, does seem to clear the way for... interesting developments (dramatic irony claxon - Dean still doesn’t know God is, in fact, himself bisexual). 

However, as always, I caution that the overtly homoerotic denoument is more than likely to remain closeted at the last, in favour of the “familial”. 

[stellaseveride]

THE ROOKIE FIRST-TIME WATCH

↳ 1x10 “Flesh and Blood”

[televisionpromos]

The Rookie 1x10 "Flesh and Blood" Promo - On Captain Andersen’s orders, Officer Nolan and Sergeant Grey are paired up for the day on patrol. Additionally, Nolan’s son and Grey’s daughter visit their dads on the job and see them in action. Meanwhile, Officer Chen is paired up with Captain Andersen, and Officer Bradford tells Chen to protect her at all costs, on “The Rookie,” airing Tuesday, January 15th on ABC, streaming and on demand.

[qqueenofhades]

ACK. Hilary I need your thoughts on all this "Lucy is the Heir of Rittenhouse" reveal. Why did they cut it? Do you think it will come up again? How would Flynn react? Etc.

Welp.

I’ve only had a brief skim over reactions, etc, so if I say anything that anyone else already has, well, that’s just how that goes. But also I’m shook because… that is a fairly major info tidbit to drop as a deleted scene, and because it didn’t actually appear in an aired episode, it has a negotiable status as canon. Either we can take it as something Lucy knows and has (for obvious reasons) decided not to talk about, or something that has not yet happened. I’ll personally take it as the former, and that we’ll have it dealt with when she tells someone about it in season 3. Carol is dead, so there’s not really any way for her to learn it again or in another context. Supposedly they cut it for time, which is a little iffy to me, because it’s not a long scene, it’s a major reveal, and it would have added a whole new complexity to Lucy’s actions throughout the season and what she’s keeping back from the rest of the team. So yes.

I wrote several metas early in the year and then after 2x10 about how Lucy was leaning into her Rittenhouse heritage/being willing to use some of their same tactics, but in the exact opposite purpose. This, as we’ve pointed out, adds a whole new context to 1x10, 2x01, and 2x10 at least, as well as arguably 2x02 and 2x04 and other moments where we see Lucy really dead set on “we need to do this and I don’t necessarily have time to play nice and I’m entirely cool with possibly dying if so.” Especially in the jail scene with Flynn in 2x02 and then the jail scene with Carol (where Lucy is imprisoned in Salem) in 2x04 and so on. This also answers the fairly major plot hole of why future!lLucy wouldn’t just tell Flynn that David Rittenhouse was one man in the 18th century and have it end right there. (It doesn’t answer why our Lucy doesn’t know about David Rittenhouse anyway, since he was a fairly well-known intellectual figure and she would definitely have heard of him, since she knows even obscure people/events, but anyway.) She can’t tell Flynn that, because her entire existence depends on it, and they need to find a way to beat Rittenhouse without erasing her – which is hella difficult since she’s descended directly from the dude. After all, if you kill David and John, maybe Rittenhouse doesn’t exist, but neither does Lucy, as well as God knows what else. That also doesn’t stop David’s followers, and anyway, yes. So that is a clever way to answer the obvious question of why they couldn’t just go there and kill David right away.

Also, I’d just like to point out that in terms of Lucy’s relationship(s) with Flynn and Wyatt, this is a revelation that is directly important for… well, only one of them. It doesn’t really make a difference for Lucy’s relationship with Wyatt if this is the case or not. Indeed, we have seen Wyatt explicitly know that Jessica was Rittenhouse, and still choose her/beg her to come back with him. Stopping Rittenhouse is not personal to Wyatt. It is the job he’s been recruited to do and has maybe become a little more personal after what happened with Jess, but that still didn’t stop him from wanting Jessica as long as she was an option, Rittenhouse ties or otherwise. He only attempted to go back to Lucy with the ill-advised ILY after that had been ruled out, and after making further efforts (telling Flynn not to shoot Jessica) to preserve the possibility of a reconciliation. So honestly, as it stands in canon text, if presented with Rittenhouse or Lucy, Wyatt chooses Rittenhouse. It’s even the case with him not shooting Emma or Carol when he had the chance – yes, it had to do with his feelings for Lucy, but both times, it’s clear that Lucy’s opinion was that she wanted him to go for it (she wanted him to shoot Emma in 2x05, she tries to do it in 2x10, she’s clearly dismayed when Wyatt tells her that her mother got away in 2x06 – she doesn’t want Carol dead, but she wants her stopped). Wyatt and Lucy care for each other, but they have a fundamental disconnect on what they are willing to do to stop RH, and Wyatt has explictly or implicitly chosen Rittenhouse over Lucy at repeated moments. (Oh hello, Shawn Ryan mentioning that Flynn understands Lucy on a deeper level than Wyatt does.)

In contrast, Flynn knows that Lucy is Rittenhouse on both sides of the family, but he doesn’t know that she’s descended from THE Rittenhouses. Stopping Rittenhouse has always been intensely personal for Flynn and at the core of his character motivation; indeed, in season 1, he went for the “stop Rittenhouse” option at the expense of repeatedly messing it up with trying to get Lucy to join him. That is what makes it more narratively significant that he has increasingly moved to choosing Lucy over that vengeance quest, and when given the explicit opportunity to do in 2x10 what he failed to do in 1x10 (and seriously, this makes the parallel between these episodes EVEN MORE than it was), he doesn’t. There is no question or ambiguity in the narrative: when presented with the chance to kill Emma or comfort Lucy, Flynn doesn’t hesitate an instant in choosing the latter. I mentioned in one of my earlier metas that Flynn and Wyatt physically and emotionally switch places in Lucy’s life in 2x03, when Flynn struts into the bunker and Wyatt runs out to Jess. This is also the case here. In season 1, Wyatt chooses Lucy over Rittenhouse, mostly implicitly because he doesn’t know what the major picture is until near the end of the season. In season 2, Wyatt chooses Rittenhouse over Lucy. In season 1, Flynn chooses stopping Rittenhouse over Lucy as a person; in season 2, he EXPLICITLY chooses Lucy as a person over stopping Rittenhouse. He doesn’t kill Emma in 2x07 and 2x10 directly because of Lucy. Lucy is never a second choice or a lesser focus for Flynn in s2 (as she is for Wyatt all-post 2x03).

Once again: in season 2, Wyatt chooses Jessica (who is/represents Rittenhouse) and honestly, has no real major character reason to do otherwise.  Flynn chooses Lucy, who is also Rittenhouse genetically, but represents a complete repudiation of them, and does so despite having a major character reason (the death of his wife and daughter; his entire vengeance quest) to do otherwise. Furthermore, Wyatt and Lucy don’t agree on what kind of danger Rittenhouse is and what they’re willing to do to end it/the personal price they’re willing to pay. Wyatt isn’t willing to really sacrifice anything at this point whatsoever, whereas Lucy was prepared to wipe her entire family and identity (and life!) from existence by blowing up the Mothership in 2x01. Flynn has known from the start the danger that Rittenhouse is, Lucy has come more and more around to his view, and they agree on the sacrifice that will be necessary. 

In short, textually, Lucy is moving closer and closer to alignment with one of these men, and away from the other (not hate, but just a simple reflection of how both dynamics developed in season 2). Wyatt has (mostly indirectly) refused to NOT choose Rittenhouse over Lucy, and has done so to support his interests. Flynn has directly refused to NOT choose Lucy over Rittenhouse, and at cost to his interests. That is a more important/weighty decision, character-wise. So as noted, this is a major piece of character/plot information (that Lucy is the Heir of Slytherin) and it deepens and twists and fleshes out her connection with Flynn, and the importance of him choosing her, despite her heritage and the pain that Rittenhouse has personally caused him. It doesn’t really do anything of comparable importance to her connection with Wyatt, and if anything, weakens it. This is Lucy’s entire family and existence at stake, but she’s still willing to give it all up, whereas Wyatt is not willing to give up anything, even this alt-version of his wife after he explicitly learns she’s Rittenhouse and always has been. (And again – this isn’t hate and I don’t think he should have just dropped his fight for Jessica, since that’s been his character motivation since the pilot, but it’s… right there in the text.) 

Now that Carol is dead, Lucy is in fact (as far as we know) the only living heir of the original Rittenhouse bloodline. That’s… a lot to deal with. She is in fact the princess, as Emma keeps calling her. At some point in season 3 (WHEN NBC? WHEN?) that will need to be dealt with. It doesn’t really change or develop her connection with Wyatt (as I said, if anything, it puts them on even more unequal footing in what they’re willing to do/commit) but with Flynn? …. Yeah. He loves her, but he’s gonna be startled by it, and it adds a whole new dimension to all their past interactions (especially 1x10 and 2x10) and their development and their partnership to take down Rittenhouse (the literal princess/last blood heir and their greatest nemesis), the symbolism of that, the decisions that they have made in that interest, and for their characters both together and apart, and honestly. That is the kind of romantic conflict/angst spanner I’d expect/that makes more sense for the couple that’s going forward, not back.

[darkstorm1720]

I'm watching The Rookie 1x10 "Flesh and Blood" @NathanFillion @MissAlyssaDiaz @richjonesactor @ntitussleo @Mel13Oneil @EricWinter1 @therealaftonw @mercedesmason@ShawnRAshmore

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"The Rookie" zapowiedź odcinka S01E10: Flesh and Blood

“The Rookie” zapowiedź odcinka S01E10: Flesh and Blood

W następnym odcinku “The Rookie”…

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