#5x01 did deliver i will give them that

[izloveshorses]

BLONDIE WHY WAS THAT PAUSE SO LONG 💀

[botanicallyinclinednerd]

Moments that highlight the brotherly dynamic between Mordred and Arthur:

1x08: Arthur breaks Mordred out of his cell, telling him not to be scared, he was there to rescue him and return him to his people. He offers his hand and Mordred takes it. They flee through the tunnels.

1x08: Arthur reassures Mordred that Merlin will be there to help them. When it looks like they will soon be found, Arthur draws his sword to defend Mordred if it comes down to it

1x08: Arthur delivers Mordred to the druids. Arthur asks for his name. Mordred tells him his name and Arthur wishes him luck (with dread inducing suspenseful music in the background, gotta love that) Mordred gives Arthur a little smile.

5x01: Mordred keeps Radnor from killing Arthur and Merlin. Mordred helps Arthur to his feet and figures out that he didn't recognize him. He tells him that he saved his life many years ago and Merlin names him. Arthur looks shocked/ confused. Mordred smiles and says "Hello Arthur" the smile drops.

5x02: Mordred brings food over for Merlin and Arthur and Mordred tells Merlin that Arthur saved his life and he owed him a debt

5x02: Arthur does not kill Mordred because "he could not follow us" and "he showed us kindness"

5x02: Mordred stabs Morgana to save Arthur and he carries an unconscious Arthur out of the cave until he finds the knights and passes him over to Percival

5x02: Arthur knights Mordred. They smile at each other

5x05: Arthur and Mordred train. Arthur bests Mordred and helps him to his feet while praising his progress. He gives Mordred advice and seems very impressed and proud of him

5x05: Arthur includes Mordred on the patrol to search for Osgar. Mordred is very enthusiastic and eager. Arthur tells him he earned it and gives him a little slap on the shoulder. Mordred tells Arthur "You won't regret this. I promise." After he leaves, Gwen observes that Arthur has grown fond of him and Arthur confirms this.

5x05: Once Arthur is clued in to the prank the knights are pulling on Mordred, Arthur joins in and poor Mordred is so confused and has no idea he's being messed with.

5x05: Mordred laughs at Arthur’s jokes. Arthur toasts to Mordred and his first successful mission

5x05: Mordred requests that Arthur allows him to go with them to the white mountains. Arthur initially says no, for he has little experience, but Mordred convinces him.

5x05: Mordred jumps in front of the Disir's spear to save Arthur. Arthur is very upset and concerned for Mordred. He holds Mordred's head while Merlin examines the wound. Arthur removes a glove to check Mordred's pulse.

5x05: Arthur sits at Mordreds bed side and is upset when Gaius can't guarantee he will survive.

5x05: Arthur and Merlin return to Camelot and Mordred, alive and fully healed, walks down the steps to greet Arthur with a smile on his face. Arthur is very happy and relieved, grasping Mordred's arm and pulling him into a hug.

5x05: Arthur and Mordred train and Mordred finally bests Arthur in a fight. Arthur picks him up in celebration and Mordred grins

5x09: Mordred was one of two people (the other being Leon) that Arthur trusted with the new levy route. Arthur doesnt tell him why and just asks that he trusts him, which he nods at.

5x09: Mordred finds Arthur brooding and asks if there is any way he can help. Arthur is distracted and when Mordred reminds him that he is always at Arthur's service, he tells him "I never doubted it, Mordred."

5x09: Mordred appears at the top of the cliff with rope and calls down to Arthur. Mordred is smiling and Arthur laughs in relief.

5x09: Arthur fills Mordred in around the camp fire and he apologizes for not confiding in Mordred. Mordred brushes it off saying it was a good thing he hadn't or he won't have followed. Arthur says its good to have Mordred with them.

5x09: Arthur goes to get Mordred saying "I won't leave a knight behind" and Merlin convinces him not to go back because of Morgana.

5x09: Arthur is pleased to see Mordred and clasps his arm in greeting. He says he thought they lost him and Mordred agrees that he thought the same. Arthur questions how he escaped Morgana and he asks him to be serious after he gives a jokey answer.

5x09: Arthur asks Mordred if the Dolma looked familiar and Mordred agrees

5x10: Arthur puts around Mordred's shoulders and leads him away to give him the task of apprehending the sorcerer Gaius tipped him off about

5x10: Arthur isn't happy about the sorcerer getting away but he continues to direct his questions to Mordred, who headed the mission, instead of Leon, the experienced head knight. (Just something I found interesting and I think it points to Arthur still having faith in Mordred despite not catching the sorcerer.)

5x11: Mordred confesses to Arthur that he was the one that helped Kara. He begs that Arthur reconsiders her sentence. Arthur becons for Mordred to get off his knees and puts a hand on his shoulder after Mordred confesses to loving Kara. Arthur looks troubled and regretful as he tells him "you know there's nothing i wouldn't do for you. You're a knight of Camelot. Its a bond we share. But what you ask... this girl, she is a danger..." Mordred vehemently denies this and insists he can change this. Arthur says he can't risk the lives of his citizens regardless of who asks him. Mordred is crying and again begs Arthur to reconsider. Arthur’s voice is quiet and regretful as he tells Mordred that she admitted her guilt and it left him with no option. He apologizes. Mordred leaves, crying and looking numb

5x11: Mordred goes to Arthur's chambers saying he wanted to apologize. Arthur assures him there's no need. Mordred says he hopes Arthur would forgive him. Arthur tells him "I'd never let something like this ruin our friendship." Mordred smiles slightly at that and tells Arthur he will always remember that Arthur took him in and all he had done for him. Arthur says that Mordred has become Arthur’s most loyal of knights. Mordred thanks him, gives him a nod, and leaves. Arthur did not recognize it for what it was: a good bye.

5x11: Mordred begs Arthur to let them go, that he had Mordred's word they would leave Camelot and never return. Arthur remains silent and resilient as he stares back at Mordred.

5x11: Mordred is thrown in a cell and he asks Arthur what hes going to do with him. Arthur doesn't know. He turns and leaves

5x12 deleted scene: Mordred is not entirely comfortable at the prospect of killing Arthur and he says that he believes Arthur to still be a good man and there is still hope for him.

5x13: Arthur is poised to strike a killing blow but he falters when he recognizes his opponent is Mordred. Mordred takes advantage of this hesitation and stabs Arthur. Arthur falls to his knees and Mordred says "You gave me no choice" Arthur surges to his feet and runs Mordred through with his sword. Mordred gives Arthur a deranged smile and collapses to the ground, dead. Arthur looks upset.

Much of Arthur’s dynamic with Mordred through season 5 is very much big brother little brother which makes the fall out in 5x11 that leads to them killing each other in 5x13 so tragic.

[whump-town]

Halloween

Right after 5x01 with Reid and Hotch both pulling away, Morgan and Emily take matters into their own hands. 

“I don’t want to.”

Morgan, who up until that point, had really, truly believed that the worst of his year was behind him closes his eyes with a tired sigh. As if the pig farm hadn’t felt suffocating on its own, now it’s tangled in his mind with Foyet. The pigs, Mason, that poor girl, and Hotch. Because that terrible night hadn’t ended for Hotch as it had for the rest of them. They slept while Hotch lay on his apartment floor, his own blood soaking into his clothes. The hospital hadn’t even washed the dried blood from his hair by the time the team arrived.

Emily had the next day. It had taken Derek and Emily both to do the seemingly mindless task. Hotch had been uncomfortable, dirty and the nurses had given them the leeway to tackle the task together. And they were both very aware of how annoyed he was to have to succumb to their help. Hotch can hardly raise his arms to his waist, he wasn’t going to be washing his one hair. And as the oldest of his own siblings and still leaning heavily into that protective mindset, Morgan would heavily prefer it to be him there. So, bracing Hotch’s side with his own body, Derek had held Hotch upright while Emily gently scrubbed his hair clean of his blood.

The scent thick and acidic but slowly replaced with a smell distinctly hospital-like. The water had browned, the suds too dirty to even help only about halfway through. Standing there, Hotch’s body growing heavier and shaking gently against Morgan’s ribs he could see every bone in his boss’s back. And, too soon, they had to call it quiets. The monitors were picking up, distraught with the pain Hotch had hidden so well. His heart missing beats as Morgan had eased his head back into the pillows.

Emily standing there, white as a ghost, with that bucket of water. Hotch was only half-aware of them and their intentions by then. Watching Morgan behind half-lidded eyes and lips pale and parted as he took a dry rag through his hair. Morgan’s mother had always told him that going out in the cold with wet hair would give you pneumonia and while he had never known anyone to get pneumonia like that he wasn’t going to take any chances. Even if they were in a temperature-controlled hospital room.

And through all of that, Hotch had made it. Slowly, through shrieking monitors and more than one scare, alive. A fucking miracle.

“What do you mean you don’t want to go?” It’s Halloween. For as long as Morgan has known Reid, it’s been his favorite holiday. Hell, everyone knows it’s his favorite holiday. Even Hotch gets a little festive in the name of bringing even the faintest smile to Reid’s face. The idea for today, a party to celebrate Halloween, had been done with Reid specifically in mind. Being cooped up in this apartment isn’t good for him.

Reid who hasn’t actually looked at Morgan since he came in, twirls the frayed ends of his blanket around his finger. “I don’t want to,” he repeats. It’s one thing to mop about in this apartment. Here, no one watches him struggle to move. No one looks too hard, too long at his ill-practiced steps. At the crutches tucked under his scrawny arms. Worse is that if he goes, he can’t take his crutches. He’ll have to the stupid wheelchair in his room. Whos open seat is a crookedly carved leather smile, taunting him.

Morgan shakes his head and keeps at his current project. For the past week (has it been a week? He isn’t certain) he’s done nothing but tidies up every space around him. Having attacked Hotch’s apartment-- tearing up that blood-stained carpet, patching the hole in the wall, fixing a leaky faucet in the guest room, and cleaning out his worryingly empty fridge-- he’s come to Reid’s. The thing is Reid is going to make this process a little harder. There are bits and pieces of Reid in every corner of his apartment. Not self-deprecatingly bare like Hotch’s. Here, he can’t disrupt the way books lie because they all have been sectioned and left where they are with purpose. There is a purpose to his chaos more meaningful than Hotch’s out of sight out of mind.

“Well, you have to go.”

Reid frowns, biting his lip to refrain from whining. Despite having done more by his current twenty-four-years of age than any of them, they still treat him like a child. And while any of them might be forgiven for a bit of childish refusal he won’t be. Well, in all fairness, he is prone to a bit more childish things than they are. Reid had to be forced to go to the doctor’s for a check-up after getting anthrax and all because he had thought they might ask to do blood tests. What had made him go, in the end? Morgan taking Reid himself. It was humiliating but when they draw blood Morgan had offered his hand and Reid had taken it.

Now, Morgan’s just asking for a favor. For Reid to suck it up, just this once. To have fun and be easy. “Hotch is only coming because he’s under the impression this is all for you.” And it is, all for Reid. None of them care about Halloween. Hotch least of all. But the two of them are going to go crazy cooped up on their own.

Of course, that’s only mostly true.

It’s entirely Morgan and Emily’s idea.

“Okay,” Reid sighs, scratching self-conscious at his scalp. “I just…” he shoves the blankets off his legs. “Just need a few minutes.” A shower. He needs a shower and, if he’s granted the time for it, a pity nap.

Morgan hums, head bent to his current task of cleaning Reid’s strangely large collection of mugs lining his counter. “As long as you need,” he mumbles.

Two years ago, if someone sat David Rossi down and told him that on a Saturday in October he’d be celebrating Halloween as a fully grown man... he wouldn’t believe them. Add in the fact that he would be doing this because it’s a twenty-something-year-old genius’s favorite holiday and he’s doing it to lighten the mood of his old prodigy… well, he’d consider himself senile.

He should have stayed retired.

As of the last month, he’s been thinking that a lot. Don’t get him wrong, he loves the little ragtag team Aaron’s created in his absence but they're a little crazy and trouble magnets-- Emily and Reid attempt at a second Waco with Benjamin Cyrus, the bombing in New York, and George Foyet. All within the span of a year. He’s only heard about some of the other things they did before he came back.

These freaking kids are crazy.

“Will you just listen to me,” Dave is multi-tasking. Aside from picking out comfortable clothes for the evening he also has got to swindle Hotch into coming out to the party. “For once in your life, Aaron, just listen to me.” As dramatic as that may sound, it’s kind of fair. Even when they prodigy and mentor, Aaron had a flair for taking Dave’s instructions in one ear and out the other.

“Dave,” comes Aaron’s soft rebuttal. He’s exhausted. Much to his chagrin, three days rest has done nothing to mend the bone-tired ache in his body. Add the depression he can feel settling across his sternum and the way his ribs feel like they’re being pried open… He has no interest in watching his team get drunk at Dave’s house. Call him a buzzkill or a killjoy to heart’s content, that’s not going to change his mind.

Besides, the last thing he needs is to start himself into a bad habit of drinking every time he’s sad. Then what? He starts himself down a road of addiction. He comes to work drunk. Derek tries to say something. Dave is worried. He gets fired. He’s no better than his own father.

Rossi’s voice softens, any of the agitation previously in his voice is gone. “Aaron,” he calls through the speaker. “I’m not asking. Emily’s on her way right now to come to get you.” He sighs under his breath, just tired, not even mad. “You can make that hard for her,” Dave offers, knowing that’s what Hoch is going to be inclined to do. “I think we both know she deserves a break from that, though.”

Hotch feels the defeat pull his shoulders down. He’s been an asshole lately. Logically, he knows it’s a progression of all the emotions he’s feeling and burying. Emily doesn’t hate him for that but he knows she’s starting to feel overwhelmed by it. And given how successful his other attempts at pushing everyone else away has been, he might just owe her a little reprieve. To do this one thing without an entire battle.

“I’ll… I’ll be there.”

Dave smiles on the other side of the line, content with himself. “Thank you, Aaron. I will see you there, kiddo.”

It’s always the smartest people that fall for the simplest tricks.

Unlike Derek, Emily does feel bad about their plan. Logically, she’s very aware of how beneficial it’s going to be. If they don’t invite themselves over, Reid won’t ask anyone to come. Which means that he’s got to be getting his meals some other way. The thing is, if he were getting them delivered by a friend unknown to his team members, there should be something left over. Food in his fridge or trash in his garbage can. But there’s nothing.

Why does love have to be so difficult? How is it that some people understand it and others are stunningly unaware? Somehow wrapping their pretty little heads around this idea that they are undeserving or tricksters for having tricked someone into caring about them. If they didn’t love Reid would they feverishly watch over him? Did he really consider himself that sinister? That malicious? That he could trick profilers into loving him? Let it be clear, there is no trick. They are not so foolish and he not so unlovable.

“Derek, I think we might--”

Reid’s wobbly. He’s not yet mastered the crutches (at all). His practice comes only from the hospital and then his instructions had been brief before he was sent down the hall. A nurse just needing to see he could maneuver them and that they were at the right height. So, as bitter as he is to admit it, Derek’s lightly placed hand on the small of his back is very helpful.

Turning to see Emily, Reid lurches dangerous and Morgan moves quickly to stop him from falling. Just behind them, SUV pulled up onto Rossi’s lawn as close as she could pull it up, Emily is helping Hotch out of the car. Even from here, he can hear the lowered grumbling shared between the two. Despite being unable to see Hotch except for one brief moment, Reid’s glad to at least hear the other man. Him and Emily clipping rough comments back and forth. Bordering on rude but it’s between them and they’ve always let one another slide in these areas.

Vaguely he can piece together that they’re arguing about whether or not Morgan’s help is needed. “--wheelchair, that you made me leave-- I will take you back-- walker-- asshole!” Despite how angrily they nip back and forth, it’s all in what they don’t say. Hotch falls into Emily’s guiding step. Not even breaking from his own comment as her hand comes around his hips and effortlessly supports his weight as they take a step up. Neither taking the blow below the belt to note how Hotch’s words get cut off by a hardly contained whimper of pain or how choked his quick, distressed breathing becomes.

Morgan’s help is needed but Emily is too focused on keeping Hotch’s feet firmly planted on the ground and Hotch too worried about not busting his ass on the ice.

Reid jerks as Dave’s front door is thrown open. One hand on his hip, an apron over his chest, he shakes his head at the sight of the four of them. “I can hear you two arguing like children from in the house!” he shouts. He steps out onto the porch, tucking the towel in his hand into his pants. “Grown adults out here acting like children!” There is an unmistakable David Rossi laced fondness in his tone. That, despite his haste movements and dry frown, is taken as such because they know him. And he knows Hotch and Emily well enough to know this would happen.

“Get yourselves inside,” Rossi’s entire body changes when he sees Morgan and Reid. A simple passing hand down Morgan’s back for encouragement. “There’s root beer in the bottom drawer in the fridge, have Henry get you one!”

Reid smiles, suddenly excited for this afternoon. Root beer is… it’s the keystone of his childhood. There was not a matter he and his mother couldn’t handle with a little root beer. And while he doesn’t indulge himself often with that luxury (still some part of his brain fails to comprehend that he has the money to get it) Dave always has it. Hearing that Henry is here, implying Will and JJ too, he feels himself growing giddy. Pleased. He can’t wait to talk to them. For Will to hit his shoulder with his fist just a little too hard and to rustle his hair. JJ hovering and laughing. Henry. Smiling laughing.

Dave keeps going.

His frowning turning into a small while Hotch’s dark eyes find him, a glint of hope. “Our poor hero,” Dave greets in a half-jab at Hotch. He cups the younger man’s cheek, smiling at him. “I assume Emily has been her cruel and unusual self?” Once again, another jab. It’s a perfect balance. He neither takes Emily’s side (exhausted by Hotch’s antics) nor Hotch’s (exhausted by Emily’s antics).

They both scoff, at both implications.

“Hotch is being an asshole,” Emily grumbles, childishly sticking her tongue out at him. “Per his usual self.”

Hotch turns to Dave and returns, “to answer your question, yes she is.”

Wedged between Dave and Emily, Hotch makes it to the porch. Emily only hits him once. Once. He deserved it.

“Would you two behave?”

They get all of two steps in before JJ puts a stop to it. You see, no one ever listens to Dave. Not once has anyone ever listened to Hotch but JJ. No, to JJ, they always listen. And with a slow final few blows, Hotch and Emily stop bickering.

“Now,” JJ has flour on her chest. An honor which means Rossi has let her within his kitchen. “Go sit,” she points to the living room, stepping aside to let them through. “Behave yourselves or I’m not letting you eat until you hug and tell each other you love one another.” Her grandmother used to force that punishment on JJ and her sister as children. Cruel, she had thought then, but JJ has learned it to be very useful. As they pass, she hears them both grumble something about Hotch’s mostly liquid diet and how Emily doesn’t think that’s very fair. JJ throws her own towel at their heads. It’s well worth the shared smirk of mischief shared between Hotch and Emily.

Little deviants, she thinks with an eye roll. It’s Halloween so she lets it slide.

In the living room, Reid and Hotch are left while the others fight over one another in the kitchen. The clatter is heard through the whole house. Morgan making Garcia laugh, a barking sound that draws a smile from Reid. Joyous. Emily lightly teasing Rossi for what she teases is new greying in his hair. She asks if he’d like her to dye it for him the next time he gets his hair colored. Her triumphant laughter is just as freeing. 

“Hotch?”

Beaten by the effort it took to walk all the way to the living room, Hotch had mostly succumbed to his placement on in the lazyboy. A chair, in which, he had never sat once in all the years he’d visited Dave’s. But the recliner is large and he can easily lean to support his side. Keeping an arm wrapped around his aching side. Without opening his eyes, head tilted back he hums. “Yeah?”

Reid’s knee is carefully surrounded by pillows. Even if it’s jostled, it’s fully supported in every direction. He’d been sitting here, watching Hotch’s face steadily grow blank. Masking his pain. He’d wanted to know if Hotch too had been tricked into coming. But then, as Morgan, followed closely by Garcia and the others, step in and Reid finds he doesn’t actually need to know. Hotch came, didn’t he? Left the safety of his dark apartment in favor of their boisterous company. Of little Henry in his Spiderman costume and Garcia and her own elaborate Harry Potter costume. 

Derek hands Reid a plate, mostly finger foods a bit of pasta. His plate mirrors Henry’s. While the other’s all eat healthy amounts of pasta. Will sneaks him a napkin, which confuses him, until Will covers his hand over Reid’s and whispers “there are eight Oreos in this napkin”. Sweets, which JJ and Garcia had deprived him until he cleaned his plate. And when JJ caves, Reid’s stomach full of the carrots, crackers, and grapes his plate had primarily had (as well as those Oreos), and brings him a slice of pie and ice cream Will only shakes his head with a smirk.

Hotch manages a few spoonful's of Campbell’s chicken noodle soup. 

“You could eat something else,” Dave ventures, scowling. But Hotch’s body is very displeased and what little solid food he’d managed to eat in the last few days was having a tendency to come right back up. Abdominal trauma, the doctor’s kept informing them, often caused this. They just needed to wait it out. 

“He’s got the palate of a toddler,” Emily mumbles but she means it fondly. She punctuates it by throwing a carrot at his head. He doesn’t have the dexterity to swat it out of the air so it hits his head and he just scowls at her. 

Reid sides with Hotch. “Chicken noodle soup is the best soup,” he offers in Hotch’s defense. Blushing when Hotch just looks sadly at him, as if broken by the idea that Reid is the only person left to defend him. 

“It is,” Garcia tries to add, helpfully. She smiles encouragingly to Hotch but once again he takes them siding with him poorly. If all the sympathy he can garner is from Reid and Garcia, he’s hopeless. He loves them dearly but they effortlessly take his side. “And you leave my boss man alone! If he wants to eat chicken noodle soup then you let him.”

Hotch hums to that, quirking an eyebrow at Garcia, and looking down at Emily. Of all the places for her to sit, she’d chosen the floor. With a whole floor to choose from, she still sat down right at his feet. Resting her back against his shins. Which he didn’t mind but he knew she’d done it just to annoy him. 

Henry grows tired of his adult company and with the sun falling, he knows what’s coming. Even at three, he’s aware of what he’s supposed to be doing.

“Go on,” Hotch encourages. He knows they’re only holding back for two reasons: Reid and him. But Henry shouldn’t suffer just because he managed to piss off the one Unsub brave enough to attack him and Reid unfortunate enough to get shot. “We won’t go anywhere. I’ll put on Doctor Who,” he bargains. “Reid won’t go anywhere.” But it’s not really Reid they’re worried about. “I’ll take a nap,” he offers. Which is what his body needs but he’s not so sure he’ll actually commit to that. 

“Don’t move.” Emily orders.

“I’ll make sure he stays put,” Reid says, with a nod. But given how stupid they both are, Emily loves the commitment but doesn’t take the offer too seriously. Hotch with a blanket tucked over his legs and Reid happily humming away to the Doctor Who theme song, they’re left to the silence of Dave’s house. The others out taking Henry around the block for some trick or treating. 

Hotch does take that nap and Reid contently gets sucked into Doctor Who. Content in ways they both thought were only possible locked away in their own misery. 

[captaincartervalues]

Season 5 rewrite

Imagine how great season 5 would have been if the Crisis lead up and Lena’s and Kara’s storyline had been the sole focus, front and center all season long:

We get Team Supergirl and the DEO learning a Crisis is coming and figuring out what exactly that means while analyzing the catalog of DEO alien records at their disposal and searching for any instance of the “Monitor” or “Anti-Monitor.” The team inevitably asking Brainy as he is from the future and Brainy explaining his knowledge or lack thereof concerning the historical event of Crisis while theorizing that Crisis must be the root of the loss of records and certain information in the future.

We get Dreamer trying to tap into the core of her powers to dream Crisis and interpret her visions. She gets stuck and has problems understanding what she is seeing until her mom comes to her and points her toward the solution she’s been ignoring: her sister. Her sister studied her whole life waiting to become Dreamer so of course she has more knowledge than Nia who avoided it her whole life. She is forced to reach out to her sister and work through their issues toward reconciliation so they can both help stop Crisis and become closer as sisters once again.

We get Kara having to face the possibility that her biggest trauma and worst fear may happen again if they don’t figure this out. We get her and J’onn discussing the loss of their worlds and how while their pain is shared the process of their loss differs greatly. Because while J’onn had to watch the gradual and torturous genocide of his people, Kara lost her people and her planet in an instant, forced to relive that firey blaze over and over in the phantom zone, literally and figuratively trapped in time. J’onn asks how she has dealt with that and Kara says she hasn’t, not fully and with tears in her eyes she turns to him and says how can I survive losing it all again? Losing more than what I lost on Krpton? Losing a home I chose to love? Losing a sister? Losing Eliza and you? Losing my best friends? Losing Lena?

We get Kara struggling with preparing for Crisis as Supergirl and not reporting on it as Kara. She struggles with not being able to inform the masses, not letting loved ones cherish the time they have now and say goodbyes they wouldn’t otherwise get. Alex tells her it’s for the best and for their security to keep it confidential but Kara isn’t as sure and resents having to keep yet another secret. She has seen how secrets hurt those you love and she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to keep this one too.

We get Kara telling Lena all about Crisis after saying no more secrets and that Lena will know everything in 5x01. Lena works with the team trying to stop Crisis while also continuing her secret project thinking that the worlds won’t be worth saving unless people stop hurting each other first and that only once she gets them to stop hurting each other will they be able to truly come together to stop crisis. After all, the multiverse may be in physical crisis, but humanity is in a moral crisis. She has to stop both.

We get Kara having vulnerable and open moments with Lena about Krypton and how scared she is of Crisis taking another home. Kara shares more with Lena than she ever has all while Lena shares nothing of her true feelings and anger towards Kara as she continues to use her. Though unbeknownst to Lena, her own emotions are becoming mixed and blurred the more Kara shares with and confides in Lena.

We get Alex trying to bear the burden of DEO Director as the biggest threat to Earth, all the Earths, is before them. We see her second guessing herself and her decisions asking J’onn for help only for him to show her the answers within herself and to trusts her instincts, reminding her of the questionable and wrong decisions the DEO made under him and the times she instilled hope and compassion in him.

We get Alex sharing small and big moments with Kelly knowing they might be the only ones they’ll ever get. We get Kelly dealing with her fears of losing her loved ones and realizing loving someone and loving Alex is worth the fear of losing them and you can’t run from a crisis, you have to run towards it with the support of your people.

We get Kelly having individual talks with the team about coping with something as huge and stressful as Crisis. Kelly talks through some of Nia’s mental blocks so she can dream more clearly and more freely. Kelly talks with Brainy after he breaks down about not having the answers and not knowing which courses of action are statistically better. He becomes indecisive out of fear of leading the team down the wrong path before crisis which prompts him to realign with his original cold and calculating side. Kelly helps him embrace his emotions again reminding him that sometimes the statistically inferior choice is the right choice bc statistics can’t always replace instinct. Kelly talks with Kara about the struggles of living an every day life reporting on things that are trivial compared to the end of existence. Kelly helps Kara realize that in the face of such overwhelming catastrophe, it can be the mundane and the menial that grounds us in reality. Lena refuses to talk with Kelly insisting she is fine but Kelly senses the opposite becoming increasingly worried. She keeps trying to let Lena know she’s there but Lena keeps isolating herself as much as possible.

We get Kara repeatedly skipping meetings about Crisis strategy to help Lena or spend time with Lena and when she is at Crisis brainstorms (with and without Lena) Kara seems distracted at times. Alex talks with Kara about Lena and tries to be understanding but Lena says she forgave Kara and they have bigger things to worry about so Alex gets increasingly frustrated with Kara’s behavior until she explodes. Alex and Kara get into a big fight when Alex confronts Kara accusing her of not putting enough energy and focus into their Crisis prep. Alex demands her full focus and Kara yells back saying she can’t when her focus is Lena. Alex says this is more important than Lena and Kara saying nothing is more important than Lena. Alex reminding Kara there are literal worlds at stake and Kara saying Lena is her world and there is no world worth living on without Lena in her life. (You thought Kara choosing Lena over the world was gay? We could have had Kara choosing Lena over infinite worlds! INFINITE GAYDOM)

We still get the juicy confrontation with Lena and Kara but this time with more emotional stakes bc of all the extra intimate moments they have shared and time spent trying to stop crisis together while Kara thought they were also getting so much closer than they ever have. Kara telling Lena, she knows why she helped them with Crisis but why did she keep pretending to be her friend for so long? And Lena has less of an “I needed you for my plan excuse” and it’s purely “because I wanted to hurt you as much as you hurt me” stab you the heart. Imagine Lena being able to complete her plan and steal myriad without pretending to be Kara’s friend bc under the guise of crisis she could manipulate Kara into thinking they need whatever from the fortress for Crisis and instead actively choosing to get closer to Kara emotionally just to devastate her as much as Kara did her.

We get another confrontation between Alex and Kara where instead of Alex doing a character 180 and using the “sHe’S a LuThOR” excuse, it’s her just saying Lena is my friend too and I care about her but we don’t have time to try to save her, Kara. We have to stop her now so we can get back to Crisis. And Kara refusing to accept that, saying they have to try bc it’s Lena and she can’t lose Lena. She won’t lose Lena. Alex trying and failing to convince Kara they don’t have the time and asking Kara if she’s really willing to risk the fate of the multiverse on a friend. Kara saying she’s not a friend. She’s Lena. I would risk it all for Lena. And Alex being like wait that’s like super gay my dude but we’ll chat about that later. Okay you useless bi let’s go save your girlfriend.

Bonus:

We could have still gotten some spicy Andrea+Kara conflict along the way as Kara tries to balance reporting with dealing with Lena and Crisis while establishing Andrea’s character as CatCo and Obsidian CEO more

Getting only hints and foreshadowing of leviathan and William’s investigation of them for an epic and surprising reveal of Andrea’s involvement in 5B

James deciding that his best role for Crisis isn’t as Guardian but as a photographer capturing human/alien moments on film and documenting the beauty of life while he can because sometimes it’s not just about fighting tooth and nail to survive but about living while you can. Knowing that his photos can later deliver some hints of comfort of pre-Crisis life during post-Crisis grieving

Alex introducing Kelly to Eliza bc they might not get the chance later

Alien/challenge of the week sent by the Monitor to test certain aspects of Team Supergirl and give each character a moment of reflection and growth before Crisis begins

Idk maybe an actual freaking conversation between Kara and her mom for once that actually deals with the shit she went through

[travllingbunny]

The 100 rewatch: 5x02 Red Queen

Note: I’m afraid that I’ll have to delay my review of 7x12 The Stranger a bit longer - maybe till Friday (because I’m busy with work, and I think that one may take a bit more time to finish), but in the meantime, here’s - finally - a continuation of my season 5 rewatch reviews. It happens to be the only seasons I haven’t covered yet - except for 5x01 Eden, which I rewatched a few months ago after 7x02 The Garden, because I wanted to compare the two. I was planned to do Red Queen right afterwards - it’s interesting to compare and contrast Octavia’s character transformations in season 5 and season 7 - but it didn’t pan out that way. But now, @jeanie205 and me have started another joint rewatch during the hiatus, this one of season 5. (She only saw it live, week to week, and hasn’t rewatched it yet, I binged it and this is my second rewatch.)

...............................

I’ve always thought of season 5 as a season with a really strong beginning - the first 3 or 4 episodes are fantastic - which drags a bit in the middle before ending a very strong two-part finale.. The 6-year jump, in terms of storytelling, had both good and bad results. These two opening episodes, Eden and Red Queen, really make the best out of the time jump, with flashbacks about Clarke surviving on her own on a desolated Earth and meeting Madi, and flashbacks of what happened to Wonkru in the bunker. It says a lot that we got half an episode of Clarke surviving on Earth, a full episode plus a bunch of flashbacks in 5x11 about the bunker... and nothing about the Ring (till that one flashback in season 7). It’s because the life on the Ring was so boring and uneventful that the show didn't care to show anything of those 6 years. Clarke’s peaceful life with Madi in Eden also happened off-screen - we only saw their first meeting and their later relationship in the present - but Clarke’s two months of terrible hardship got covered in amazing 20 minutes. But the bunker is where things were the most intense. 

If the Ring seems to be just boring everyday life of 7 people who can’t go anywhere for 6 years, and if Clarke got to live in Eden (paradise) with Madi after the purgatory of 40 50+ days in the desert, the bunker is clearly Hell. It is a claustrophobic underground world full of anger, conflict and violence that certainly looks like Hell by the end of the episode.

The last scene, with its horror imagery, reminded me of the current Sanctum storyline in season 7 (both Blodreina and Sheidheda like using skulls as decoration), and the comparison shows exactly why the bunker/Blodreina story worked so well, and why the S7 Sanctum story does not. It’s all about moral ambiguity and keeping the audience on its toes, pulling the rug from under us by making us unsure how to feel about characters and their actions, which Red Queen does so well (and which S7 Sanctum storyline completely fails to do, being very predictable and black and white). Red Queen is so well done and intense that I don’t even mind that Clarke and Bellamy and some of my other favorites aren’t in it.

Timeline: The episode starts 42 days after Praimfaya and ends 46 days after Praimfaya.

The opening scenes take place at the same time when Clarke arrived in Polis and tried to open the door. Clarke's only listed as appearing in this episode because of this repeated scene from Eden. (It’s weird that apparently not just the Temple, but the Tower also apparently fell on the entrance. The Tower is next to the Temple, but I’m not sure if that would really happen?) I’m not sure what exactly caused the rubble to fall down, but this is the moment where everyone loses hope, since they know they probably can’t get out, even though they have 5 years to try to think of the solution.

Niylah has found a bunch of books and some other stuff in the bunker, and one of the books was Ovid’s Metamorphoses, which we now know was Callie Cadogan’s book. (That was a nice Easter Egg in 7x08.) Niylah knows Bellamy used to read to Octavia about Ancient Rome - she must have heard it from her or from Clarke or someone else in Arkadia over the last month or so that she spent with them. It is still surprising she knows about Ovid, specifically. What she doesn’t know when she gives Octavia the book is how symbolic it is of what happens to Octavia throughout this episode - her metamorphosis into Blodreina. (We even see the opening line on screen: “ I intend to speak of forms changed into new entities..”).

Octavia Blake is a character who has undergone more dramatic transformations than any other character on The 100. I wasn’t a big fan of her in some of the early seasons, but now I think that, after what the show has done with her since season 4, she has probably had the best character arc of any character on the show. (Some would say it’s Murphy, but that’s because people like to think of character development as going from bad to good, a positive progression - which is a lot more predictable and done quite often. What the show did with Octavia is much more complex and unexpected.) Her turn to the dark side and subsequent redemption were really well done, and Marie Avgeropoulos is one of the best actors on the show (I’ve always thought so regardless of how I felt about her character at any given time) and pulled off her changes in season 5 so well.

What the episode does really well is maintain ambiguity about Octavia’s development as a leader. The first time you watch it, it’s not clear what is she developing into. Is this a story about a well-meaning but still inexperienced teenage girl becoming a great leader? Well, the cliffhanger of 5x01 showed the fighting pits and the new scary Blodreina look, so it’s already hinted it’s not quite like that. But the episode still makes you root for Octavia, who’s up against not just the difficult circumstances - trapped in the bunker, limited resources - but also tribalism of Skaikru and 11 Grounder clans and a lot short-sighted people who hate and keep fighting each other. You just can’t not root for her when she starts forcing them to obey, near the end of the episode (and it’ certainly comes off as a very badass scene - if a bit unrealistic, since Octavia has only been training in Grounder-style combat for about 7-8 months at that point) - but then things may start getting a little ominous as she repeats the mantra “You are Wonkru, or you are the enemy of Wonkru. Choose!” (“You’re either with us, or against us” statements by political leaders are always worrying), even before the ending, where both Octavia and the bunker look like something out of a horror movie. This entire storyline made the point that unity can’t be forced on people, especially not by a single all-powerful leader, without turning into tyranny and oppression.

What’s also morally ambiguous is advice from the mortally wounded Jaha, which ends up influencing Octavia’s decisions and development as a leader. Jaha was always one of the most morally grey characters - he’s not evil, always had good intentions, but his ruthlessness and willingness to disregard individual lives in the name of the Big Picture of saving “his (collective) people” and his complete confidence that this is the right leadership style, were always very disturbing, and made him the villain in the eyes of - and the lives of - all the young protagonists of the show. In season 4, some of them started seeing his perspective. faced with the similar difficult choices. After Clarke in season 4, Octavia also starts seeing his perspective - which is particularly disturbing because it is the same man who executed her mother for just having a child, and locked her up for a year as a criminal just for being born. But Jaha’s actions in Red Queen are some of his most heroic ever in the show, and he gets a heroic death and a moving death scene... while still being kind of a real d1ck, someone who justifies Aurora’s execution to Octavia by saying her mother made herself “the enemy” and bringing them “closer to death”. In the context, Jaha as an unexpected mentor to Octavia can be seen as something good or at least a necessary for her to develop into a capable leader... Or is it? The line between hero and villain can be very thin. Sure, it helps Octavia resolve the situation, save hundreds of people in the bunker, and apparently unite everyone into Wonkru - but as we see by the end of the episode and the rest of the season, it also ends up making her a tyrant who ends up getting hundreds of her people killed in the name of saving “her people” and delivering them to paradise as a messiah. She becomes the same thing she hated, an oppressor like those who forced her to hide under the floor and killed her mother.  

(This dialogue from season 4 is pretty relevant here:  

Clarke: You know, he used to be everything that I hated. Maybe he was keeping us together.

Jasper: When Jaha's looking reasonable, it's time to reassess.)

I have to say, however, in spite of all the moral greyness... I can’t stand Kara Cooper. She’s one of the few characters on the show that just piss me off to no end and I can’t find any sympathy for her. I know that it’s different for others, I’ve seen people say they see her perspective, and yes, the show  gives her a tragic backstory (losing her father in the Culling on the Ark and her husband in the Second Culling in 4x12)... but this time I can’t bring myself to care, because: 

She wants to leave some 1100+ people to die, even though she should be well aware that, even if there is a problem of overpopulation in the bunker*, she really doesn’t have to kill that many people, 

She’s a scientist and gives a speech about how the lack of diversity would lead to a massive die-off for plants... Surely she should know that the same would happen to the humans, and that a human race can’t survive with just around 80 people?! which leads me to

She doesn’t care about the survival of the human race and is ready to condemn it to extinction, just so she and a few others would live more comfortably and wouldn’t be in danger of immediate death, 

She says she wants to save “her people” - but it’s all about tribalism (Skaikru or not Skaikru?) and not love, and she is a hypocrite, because she is ready to leave a bunch of Skaikru outside the door to die, too, 

She is a hypocrite when she acts like Abby did something terrible by opening the bunker door to save Kane (which also saved hundreds of people more than would have otherwise been saved) - basically, she’s like “ Abby, how dare you not prioritize my husband, a guy you didn't even know, over your boyfriend? You're so terrible!" Sure. That makes sense. 

Her arguments about why the bunker “belongs” to Skaikru are rubbish: “ "Jaha found it. It belonged to us" - even if we accept the finders-keepers idea, actually, multiple people helped find the bunker. Yes, Jaha was the driving force, but Bellamy found the coin, and Kane, Monty and Gaia all massively contributed to finding it - without Gaia's info they wouldn't have ever found it - as did Indra, and the fighters from Trikru and their allies who guarded the temple so they could do it. She just ignored all these facts. If they had kept the bunker in 4x11, they would have left most of these people out (including Kane and Monty). Oh, and she is now trying to take the bunker back... and she’s ready to leave Jaha himself outside! 

And after all of that, she saves her own skin by being the most ruthless one of everyone Octavia sent to the fighting pit and killing them all - and then becomes Octavia’s right hand and sycophant. What integrity! 

While many people seem to think that Octavia’s downfall started with the cannibalism during the Dark Year, I think it’s the decision at the end of Red Queen to open the fighting pits and start punishing every crime by throwing people in them. This is her first really bad decision. In practice, this form of “justice” means that you can commit any crime you want if you're good at killing people once you’re in the pit. it fosters a culture of violence - even more so when death matches are entertainment. So, in the end, the guy from Delphi clan who just stole blankets (the Sangedakru delegate Brell demanded death for that - their laws are pretty draconian, makes me wonder in retrospect if Sheidheda was the one who first imposed them) died, while Kara effing Cooper got to live because she was the most ruthless person there. What I think Octavia should have done is - she should have executed the murderers and the leaders of the rebellion and given minor punishments to people who did things like steal blankets. (it's been argued they needed Cooper for the farm - but that was not the reasoning, Octavia left her with everyone else to fight.) 

This was Octavia, sadly, combining not the best, but the worst of the Ark system (death as the punishment for every crime or minor misdemeanor), Grounder tradition (death matches as the solution to everything) and her childhood stories of the Ancient Rome. If you're using Ancient Rome gladiator fights as your role model...you've probably stopped being a good guy.

The last scene, fighting pits 6 years later, is similar to the cliffhanger end of the previous episode, only now we get the cliffhanger of Kane being one of the fighters. Octavia is in her full Blodreina mode now. Not just her outward look has changed, but her facial expressions, too - this is the first time we see that cold, sinister Blodreina smile. Indra doesn’t look too happy, Gaia and Ethan are there. Miller- even after that much time - doesn’t look too happy with Cooper being there, by Octavia's side.

This is straight up horror imagery. There is even some sort of structure made of skulls next to where she's sitting!  Not exactly a throne of skulls like Sheidheda has in season 7 but something similar.

But here’s why this works so differently than Sheidheda and his throne of skulls in season 7 and why people are bored by the latter. There is no ambiguity in the S7 Sanctum story. Sheiheda is completely, cartoonishly evil, there is nothing complex about it, Murphy is now definitely a good guy, as are Emori and Indra, and none of them are in conflict about how to deal with him (except for a short moment in 7x09, which was OOC for Indra). The only characters that we may still wonder 'what are they gonna do? which side will they take?" are minor, underdeveloped characters like Nikki, or Knight (you're in trouble when your main question is "will Knight change sides?"). It's a very simple black and white story, the kind t100 normally doesn't do and Shady’s throne of . But when Octavia has her face painted in blood, has skulls next to her, and a creepy smile while she’s deciding the fate of the winner, that is genuinely disturbing because it's Octavia. You’ve followed her for seasons, and you’ve spent the whole episode rooting for her to solve the problems and deal with those really awful and annoying people... and then she does, and oh my god, suddenly she turns into a villain, and that’s chilling. 

Other observations:

I love the Kabby scene where they're talking while chained up in the farm, while a guy is playing guitar in the background. I think Abby was pretty unfair to Kane when she said he took away her choice to kill herself - because she didn’t try to kill herself, she tried to make Kane kill her, and then she expected him to be able to do it, even though she never could: not only did she open the bunker door to save Kane, she destroyed the radiation chamber (possibly dooming thousands of people) because she couldn’t allow Clarke to risk her life (in 4x08). Kane may be more of a “Head” than “Heart” of the two of them, but Abby should have realized he wouldn’t be able to carry her unconscious body (or even let someone else do it) and let her die of radiation. He loves her and he doesn’t really have anyone else. Abby really seemed to be taking out her own self-loathing out on him. It was still a sweet moment when he finally dropped the pretense that he saved her for being a doctor and admitted it was a Heart decision, and she finally admitted she would do the same and never regretted opening the bunker door to save him. 

But we get a hint about that Abby has already developed a pill addiction, which will strain and almost destroy their relationship. Kabby was a really well written relationship - we saw them falling in love over 4 seasons (which rarely happens with romantic relationships on this show) - but then we also saw that being together and loving each other is not enough to be “happy ever after”, not when you live in f*cked up circumstances and when you both have to deal with all sorts of problems. Love can’t conquer everything, which is more realistic way to depict romance.

Mackson actually have some screentime in this episode. This is actually the first time we see that they are together (after a brief flirting scene in season 4). I had forgotten that Miller says the L word in this episode: "You're a healer, nor a fighter. That's why I love you.” I thought “This was pretty fast” - but when you take into account they’ve been together for a couple of months, it’s actually not that fast compared to most of the romances on the show... It’ just that most of their relationships happens off-screen.

So Level C (which Cooper and her people took over) was where Cadogan planned to be with his family if the rest of the bunker goes to hell. Makes sense he’d do something like that.

Indra was already not a fan of the Commanders at this point, telling Gaia: "Your real Commanders would have left you to burn", "the spirits of the Commanders have abandoned us"

We got two Wells mentions in this episode! One when Jaha was reading a children’s book (apparently The Giving Tree - thanks @jeanie205​) to Ethan, and says it was his son's favorite bedtime story, and another one when Jaha is dying and says “Take me to my wife. Take me to Wells”.

ALIE would be proud of these people: they all keep repeating “There are too many people in this bunker” throughout the episode. Thanos would be proud of them, too. Why not instead say: “There aren’t enough resources in this bunker”? No worries then, they will manage to get 1/3 of those people killed - 814 will remain instead of 1200 by the time they get out of the bunker... What few characters in the show ever seem to realize are too few people for the human race to survive. That is, if they weren't lucky to always be running into more humans, and then everyone blows it away by killing each other, again.

A few lines in this episode feel like dark foreshadowing:

Abby makes the first mention of cannibalism, a dark period in Ark’s history called the “Blight"

"It won't be that easy", says Octavia to Cooper when Cooper wanted to kill herself. One could say the same when Octavia tried to sacrifice herself and die in 5x12

"I'll take care of the boy” - Octavia promises to Jaha to take care of little Ethan, just as Jaha promised to Ethan’s father. That didn't turn out so well in the end...

Rating: 9/10

[shirtlesssammy]

5x01: Sympathy for the Devil

Then:

I never get tired of this shot. 

Now:

Lucifer is free. Sam and Dean are magically whisked away to a plane not far from where they just were. 

So when a bright, blinding light shoots from the ground and the pilot veers the plane to crash mode, it’s not too surprising. Dean’s calmer than I’d expect. 

Once on the ground, they get a rental and in the car, Sam tries to apologize but Dean is focused on the MOST important of tasks: “We need to find Cas.” 

They make it to Chuck’s to find the place practically destroyed. Chuck pops up out of nowhere to give Sam’s noggin a good smack. 

He can’t believe that they’re at his house. His last vision didn’t paint the best picture of Sam. His eyes went black --which surprises Dean. But Dean’s on a mission: “Where’s Cas?” 

Chuck tells Dean that he’s dead, or gone. “The archangel smote the crap out of him.” Dean is in denial and tries to come up with a different solution. Chuck would know though --plus he has a molar in his hair. 

Zachariah and his goons arrive looking for Dean. It’s go time, but Dean wants him to go away. They want Dean’s help before Lucifer finds a vessel. Dean has other plans and reveals an angel banishing sigil.

 “Learned that from my friend, Cas, you son of a bitch.” Dean’s taking his buddy’s death really hard. 

Sidenote: All Chuck has to say about all of this apocalypse crazy is: “This sucks ass.” Does it Chuck? Or is this just your favorite season ever? 

Later at a motel, Sam gives Dean a hex bag to keep angels and demons at bay. Dean asks how he’s doing with his blood junkie stuff. He seems cured. Sam tries to apologize/explain/talk about it all again, and again, Dean shuts him down. They make a plan to find the devil.

A man walks home in the dark. As he’s walking up his front walk, the gate behind him doesn’t close. We spend an unusually long time watching it clatter in the wind. IS THIS AN UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENON? Or just a wind storm? Later, the man is sleeping and wakes to find his bed soaked in blood. He turns on the bedroom light only to find the blood gone. He tries going back to sleep only to find a woman with blood dripping down her face telling him that he’s chosen. 

*High Pitched Screeching Noises* (Sidenote: Bless Becky’s redemption moment in season 15). 

Chuck Skypes Becky and needs her help to get a message to Sam and Dean. She protests that she knows that Supernatural is just a book until he admits it’s all real and she freaks out that she knew it all along. 

At the motel, Dean’s busy watching signs of the Apocalypse on the television. 

Becky arrives and gets more handsy with Sam than is ever okay. She tells them that the Michael sword is lost to the angels but it’s in a castle on a hill made of 42 dogs. Then she continues to assault Sam. 

Bobby shows up with the Impala. Bobby also brought some lore books, and they all learn a little more about Michael. He was the archangel that sent Lucifer south --with a sword. They need that sword. 

Sam then confesses to Bobby what really happened. Bobby’s so angry that he essentially tells Sam that he’s dead to him. 

Heartbroken, Sam leaves to check out an old church nearby.

Later, Bobby confesses to Dean that he never would have believed that John was right: Dean would have to save Sam or kill him. Bobby reiterates that John was right. That gives Dean an idea about John’s old storage locker. “Castle Storage 42 Rover Hill.” Maybe the sword is there. Bobby then knocks Dean out. His eyes go black. Oh wait, that’s not Bobby at all! 

A smirking demon arrives and saunters over to Ruby’s knife laying on a dresser. She taunts Dean about knowing him in the past and how she should have ripped off his “pretty pretty face.”. 

She’s Meg! Back from Hell and ready to, um, give ‘em hell I guess. “Our father's among us. You know we're all dreaming again for the first time since we were human? It's heaven on earth. Or hell.” She kisses another unwilling Winchester which is a habit I’m very glad she kicked in later episodes. Meg hands Demon!Bobby the knife and orders him to kill Dean. As Demon!Bobby raises the knife, Dean pleads for his life. It’s enough to snap Bobby back into control and he plunges the knife...into himself. UGH. 

Sam busts in and he and Meg enjoy a drag-out fight while Dean tackles the other demon in the room. Meg recognizes a losing situation when she’s in one and smokes out of there. 

Nick pours over boxed up baby belongings when he hears crying from the baby monitor. He goes in to check on the surely empty crib, only to have a horrific vision of blood running down the crib mattress. 

Sam and Dean rush Bobby into a hospital emergency room. He’s thoroughly stabbed, but still alive! Sam’s ready to linger by his bedside, but Dean’s adamant that they need to leave for John’s lockup right away. They need to find the Michael sword!

At Castle Storage, they find dead demons on the floor and walls lined with treasures! Also, they find Zachariah and his henchmen. “Oh thank God. The angels are here,” Dean greets them sarcastically. Zachariah ignores this attitude in favor of more mustache twirling. He’d lost the Michael sword but found it again - and just in time too! The Michael sword is Dean!

Zachariah gleefully belittles Dean and then spells it out: Dean is Michael’s chosen vessel. His “angel condom,” if you will. Dean is sHOckiNGly not up for this plan. Zachariah shoots Sam with his finger and Sam collapses in pain. I. Just. No wonder why Cas was mystified by guns.

Michael needs his vessel to defeat Lucifer, so he needs Dean’s body yesterday, okay? (That’s what Cas says.) Dean inquires about the human lives caught in the crossfire. Oh, millions! But it’ll be worse if Lucifer wins, Zachariah promises. 

While Dean may have seriously depleted self confidence, he has a good grasp on consent. He’ll never agree to be Michael’s vessel. (Crying noise crying noise.) If nice, rational threats to the long term survival of the planet don’t work, Zach will turn to whatever he can. He gives Dean stage four stomach cancer. 

While Dean and Sam are doubled over in pain, a bright light flashes. An angel gets stabbed right in the throat (remember when THAT was a thing?) and we suddenly see...CAS!!

Cas kicks the ass of every angel six ways to Sunday while Zachariah looks on, shocked. “How are you alive?” Zachariah asks. 

Excellent question! In reply Cas brings up the other recent miracle of Dean and Sam popping up into the safety of a passing airplane. God’s in the game now, motherfuckers! “Now, put these boys back together and go. I won't ask twice.” FANS SELF.

Zachariah flaps out with great haste. Cas approaches and warns the Winchesters that Lucifer is close to gaining his vessel. They need to be protected, so he lays hands on both of them and zaps some sweet, new rib tattoos into their bones.

Cas shielded them with Enochian warding, which means no angel or archangel can track them now. (Unless they finally learn about cell signals, amirite?) Cas flaps away, as he is quite the international man of mystery now. Dying once will do that to you, I guess.

Nick wakes up to find his dead wife standing in the bedroom. She tells him that she isn’t his wife. She’s actually an angel named Lucifer. Lucifer sweet talks Nick, telling him that he would like to use him as his vessel and sure it’ll hurt, but it’ll all be worth it in the end. Lucifer was just misunderstood and wants to find God so he can hold him accountable. “Just because he created us doesn't mean he can toy with us, like playthings.” 

Me, to this show: 

Lucifer promises Nick vengeance on his family’s killer if he says yes. So Nick says yes. Light flashes in the house, and Lucifer’s on the chessboard. 

Back at the hospital, Bobby’s ready to tear a new one out of some poor health care worker while Dean and Sam look on. They’re in the apocalypse now, so what’s the next step? Dean delivers a rousing speech: “Screw the angels and the demons and their crap apocalypse. Hell, they want to fight a war, they can find their own planet. This one's ours, and I say they get the hell off it. We take 'em all on. We kill the devil. Hell, we even kill Michael if we have to. But we do it our own damn selves.” That’s the spirit!

As they leave, Bobby stops Sam for a moment. He assures him that the demon said all those terrible things, not him. “I ain't cutting you out, boy. Not ever.” BRB CRYING

Sam and Dean head out. Sam tosses out an idea about finding the Colt to kill Lucifer. Dean immediately pours water on this little candle of hope. He just did his happy little speech for Bobby’s benefit! In reality, his faith and trust in Sam are utterly shaken. There’s nothing Sam can do to repair it either. The trust is broken.

I’d Like My Quotes with a Gallon of Custard:

How did we end up on Soul Plane?

Where's Cas?

Angels. Nice change-up to the mythology, by the way. The demon stuff was getting kind of old

It's you, chucklehead. You're the Michael sword

You two need to be more careful

What I do have is a GED and a give-'em-hell attitude, and I'll figure it out

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive! 

[otp-armada]

I am not looking forward to these flashbacks. 

To date, we’ve had four onscreen kisses shared between Bellamy and Echo with additional, smaller moments of other forms of intimacy. I’d rather the show refrain from adding more tally marks to the count. 

If humans were gifted with the capacity for purging unwanted memories, then all this discomfort would be a moot point. I suppose there’s always alcohol as a fallback option, but not even the prospect of temporary amnesia is worth destroying my liver. Turning to alcohol to drown my B/E-related sorrows would probably qualify more as self-harm than self-help.

I’d much prefer to cut directly to an imminent breakup scene without the pomp and circumstance of an agonized Echo’s trip down memory lane. 

If anything, supplying us with visual evidence on how happy they were together is an even sadder remark on the state of B/E’s fragility, knowing it took 0.001 seconds for the mere mention of Clarke’s name to bring it all to ruin. No collection of past happy moments shared on the Ring erases the fractures in their relationship that occur between them afterward, originating with the revelation of a still-living Clarke. I'd be an absolute fool to believe otherwise. 

But if Jason deems a tour of their greatest hits as necessary to the story, I trust his judgment. Showing us B/E's origins as their romantic relationship begins to fall apart in real-time brings it full circle, and it lends gravitas to the story he's telling with Echo. With this particular arc, the bigger picture is still Echo's evolution. It's not about B/E.  

Once season 7 started, there was a visible shift in how Jason utilized B/E.  Whereas seasons 5 and 6 primarily used B/E as the third leg in a love triangle designed to keep a pining Bellarke apart, season 7 uses their master-spy dynamic to bolster Echo's development almost exclusively. Post-season 6, Bellarke is so primed to get together, one honest admission of mutual feelings without Echo as an obstacle and BOOM. Canon couple. 

Echo has a more extensive role than girl-to-be-dumped, and I'm not upset over it. She gets to stand up as a character after the majority of her life has been marked by slavery for her crown, and I'm not upset over it. As indemnification for the loss of her relationship, this orphan-turned-soldier is finding her place in a supportive, loving family while developing a sense of identity and independence, and I'm not upset over it.

I would’ve preferred Jason found a way to take her on this path without B/E remaining intact this far into the final season and theoretically for the foreseeable episodes. I would always choose to end them sooner rather than later, given a choice. But I understand why Jason didn't. 

Echo can’t very well outgrow a master-spy complex if there is no master to her spy. And as much as I hate it, the romantic aspect of B/E is a believable, convenient tool to keep this complex in place until her story comes to fruition. Would Echo act so extremely in service to a recent ex-boyfriend who left her for another woman? Probably not. As far as I can tell, the pinnacle of her arc is the moment she realizes she has to break free from Bellamy. So narrative structure demands B/E stay together, however technically, long enough for her to break those chains. 

I was initially excited about the flashbacks, if only because I took them as a sign of an impending breakup. But the timing doesn't pan out. Aside from the logistics of Echo and Bellamy presumably on separate worlds, and with her thinking him dead, we've only just reached the point where Echo might start to ask herself those hard questions she's been avoiding. She must have noticed a change in her relationship. Between Psychosis!Emori, B/E's 6x04 fight, and Anomaly!Roan, she's had enough cause for doubt. But I think she's suppressed any urge to reflect upon it for a number of reasons. Love. Continued hope they'll last. War. A mission to save him. It took a lot of meticulous maneuvering to corner Echo to this point. Now that we're here, I don't think Jason would pull a reverse Uno card in a 40-minute episode. It seems more likely that he will let her continue to stew in her emotions. Either she'll keep sinking until she hits rock bottom, or she'll start learning how to swim. 

Jason could always prove me wrong. And if I am, I'd never be happier for him to do so. If I'm not? It's at times like this when I am reminded of the resolution I made at the end of season 6- rest easy in the comfort of knowing B/E will meet its inevitable end but do not try to speculate when that might be. Attempting to discern the specifics of "when" brings one only misery. 

Jason’s signature sometimes-too-fast, other-times-too-slow pacing, is often liable to tempt one into ripping their own hair out. That being said, I’ve seen enough of this show to trust in his ability to tell a damn good story. Faith in his competency for the craft just requires on our part, the patience of a saint. 

If nothing else, it isn’t my story to tell, so I’ll just have to suck it up and find a way to deal with any disappointments I may feel. Or I can try to find the value within the story told. It's a better alternative than to be left bitter. No promises, though.

Maybe Echo’s actions against the Disciples aren’t reprehensible, considering the people she’s killing are those complicit in kidnapping and torturing her people. But Orlando was a good, honorable man whose naïveté convinced him to play for the wrong team, yet helped our heroes when he didn’t have to. Not unlike Shaw, whom Echo sold to Diyoza to fulfill her mission. But I assume “We are not his people” is residual mistrust leftover from Ryker’s betrayal of her. She miscalculated the feelings of one possible defector before, she won’t make the same mistake twice. 

If she was able to save Bellamy in the end, I’m sure she’d be able to justify the spilled blood it took to get there. But Orlando suffered at her hands for nothing, and she may not be overly concerned with morality, but she cares for the people she grows close to. Unless the episode proves otherwise, I’d like to think Orlando’s fate will weigh heavily on her. 

They may not have been close. But five years in close quarters with only a few people akin to friends for comfort, it'd be hard not to feel the slightest bit attached.

Those of us who believe in Bellarke know Echo is the third-party obstacle in a love triangle. But what is far more interesting is the role she played in the seasons-long Blake siblings struggle. 

Echo was persona non grata to both siblings following her and Octavia's mountaintop fight. Six years later, she highlights the difference in the siblings' maturities. Whereas Bellamy has learned to embrace empathy and forgiveness with open arms, Octavia is cold and unyielding. On a more personal note, B/E represents Octavia's persistent unwillingness to respect Bellamy as his own person, with needs and wants independent of her. 

After her soul searching on Skyring, I thought she had buried the hatchet, as per her lack of vitriol in her 6x12 conversation with Bellamy, and enthusiastically joining forces with Echo in 6x13. Maybe she did. But Octavia has also proven herself an unreliable narrator, and Hope feels indignation on her aunt's behalf. Whatever the case, there's a reason why the dialogue keeps referencing Echo and Octavia's hostile history. And I think it's building to a head in 7x07. 

I think mutual love for Bellamy is healing the divide between them when Echo is at her most fractured. She's isolated from Bellamy and the rest of Spacekru. Left in pain and seeking retribution as Octavia did, which, as we know, is where it all went wrong for the latter. Octavia, more than most, is in the best position to empathize with what Echo is currently feeling and how pain can destroy her if she lets it consume her. 

If Octavia can remind Echo she's not alone, if a former enemy can convince her she belongs and welcome her with open arms- as her brother did before her- it might do well in healing some broken piece inside of her. And it would be a roundabout display of Octavia's newfound maturity. This is good for both of them. This spiral she is in will require her to look inward. Since her fixation with Bellamy is partly what landed her in this mess, absolution cannot come from him. She can only find it in herself if she wants it. But I'd be glad if Octavia can help see her through it. This is what I mean about seeking value in the story told. We're so concerned about Octavia calling Echo family, about the possibility of it legitimizing B/E, it doesn't occur to us that it's about the characters themselves. And B/E is only a vehicle used to bring us there. It's easier to see when not consumed by automatic seething rage, as typical of our fellow Bellarke compatriots, for anything remotely associated with Echo.

If my heart and mind weren’t chanting “BELLARKEBELLARKEBELLARKE,” there’s a good chance I’d be able to better appreciate the complexities B/E gives to the development of the four characters it directly impacts. 

Our side of fandom has made lots of accusations about B/E since 5x01. It’s a forgettable, physical relationship worth little to Bellamy. B/E is unhealthy for reasons x, y, and z. We generate a different example in every episode. Click slideshow for more details. But the fact of the matter is, much of this isn't true. Until Echo went postal, B/E wasn’t unhealthy. Bellamy just had a greater love for Clarke. Up until their ending scene in 6x04, there was nothing they couldn’t come back from together, if both committed themselves fully, no more walls. It's not a particularly popular train of thought among us, but Jason absolutely could've written B/E as an endgame pairing. And all it would take to deliver a final killing blow is the inclusion of a single damning scene.

We can gripe over the length of time they've stayed together. But, in spite of what most people think about every new B/E development and Bellarke separation, Jason has never actually dropped an ax on Bellarke. Hope persists.

Jason is responsible for the development of dozens of characters, major plots, and dozens of smaller subplots. But our fandom reduced the story chiefly to Bellarke's romance. Our villains are those who stand in their way. Namely Echo, the only outside love interest to be an official obstacle. We fashioned Echo as our enemy. In lieu of removing her from the narrative (which is not in our power to do), we've done everything within our purview to diminish her. If Jason won't treat B/E and Echo as the jokes we know they are, we'll do it ourselves. Minimizing her role in the story makes it a hell of a lot easier to erase a character we'd rather didn't exist for our preferred ship to advance.

Lord knows how many times we've claimed she has no story. That absent relevance or substantial bearing, she's there simply because Jason is partial to her for some elusive reason. But the reality is, we never looked for her story because we wanted to be able to claim its inexistence. We wanted to be able to say she's frivolous to the story, and by extension, to Bellamy. We want to be able to dismantle B/E when it appears Jason doesn't. Except he is and has been doing so since day one. 

Months ago, on a whim, when I was feeling benevolent towards Echo, I wrote a long post HERE giving her the benefit of the doubt, and I said:

In the grand scheme of the story, I think this is the purpose Echo serves, to represent the part that says, “We’re all human. No matter what tribe we belong to, we fight for the same reasons. We love the same way. When you leave allegiances aside, when you see someone for who they are at their core, an enemy today can become a friend tomorrow.”

True peace, a series-long running theme for our heroes, begins with embracing former outsiders like Echo and Emori. Easy to lose sight of this when focused on ship wars. 

It is perfectly acceptable not to love all the components of a story. It is understandable to focus your attention on those select segments you find appealing. But a tunnel-visioned mindset lands you in trouble when you become resentful at the reminders that a story is a composite of more moving pieces than just the parts you like. And when you forget that screentime allotted to developing those pieces ahead of what you favor is permissible. Everything on a show has its time, all in due course. 

On the other hand, B/E shippers overinflate their ship's significance. They take canon and twist it to say, "Look at how strong B/E is, Bellarke could never. B/E is endgame, and Blorkes are delusional." Their conclusion of an epic love is another bias-based fandom interpretation that doesn’t hold water, either. 

I think the reality of B/E lies somewhere in a muddled middle of these two extremes. 

One last point, and I'll get off my soapbox. Despite what the melodramatic diatribe in my opening paragraph suggests, B/E is never as atrocious as fandom makes them out to be. Greater fandom treats anything remotely associated with B/E as the next great catastrophe. And as it turns out, it never really is.  

 Tagging @sometimesrosy, because I think, after years of combating opinions you don’t agree with, it might be a refreshing change of pace to know some of us do have more balanced views regarding B/E. If I do say so myself.

[occidentaltourist]

Lena was emotionally abused by her family, repeatedly betrayed by people she loved. Kara is her last hope and knowing that the person you trust the most in the world lying to you it will hard to get over. I am happy the show didn't wrap their conflicts in one episode because if they did, it will cheapen their relationship.

I definitely agree that the series should, and does, take Kara and Lena’s relationship seriously, and treats it with the gravity it deserves. They mean a lot to each other, and it shows. 5x01 and 5x07? Gold. Love it when the writers give Melissa and Katie quality material and trust them to deliver on the emotional weight of the story.

My main issue is with how they’ve chosen to unfold this storyline, with the Project Nonsense mess. Many smart fans have written about alternatives that would have kept the focus on Lena and Kara and unpacking Lena’s history without going down this outlandish mind control road - which IMO is an example of prioritizing plot over character - so I won’t belabor the point. :)

[monsesdiaz]

It's been a rough time for all us OTH fans, but I'm not going to let that ugly fuckboy pervert who shall not be named ruin the show I love. Instead, I'm going to remain positive and remind myself of why I love this show so much. And to kick start that OTH positivity, what are your top 5 scenes for each individual character (Peyton, Nathan, Lucas, Haley and Brooke)? And if you really want to, feel free to go on a tangent if you'd like. It's completely up to you, and have a good day ♥︎

Yessss! Let’s not let anyone ruin the show! And hahaha Ilove this question and I love how you already know I’m probably going to go offon a tangent (which is why I’ll keep this under the cut :P) Okay, so letssee…I’m going to try and make these individual moments and not include couple/friendshipmoments.

Peyton Sawyer:

1)    2x10;Her the entire episode just standing up for LGBT and minority rights ingeneral. I just love this because Peyton was going through SO much. She wasliterally on the verge of depression, was struggling with drugs, and felt SOalone. She could have just hidden out in her room, let the whole thing blowover, and then come out from hiding. But she chose to stand up for all thegirls who couldn’t stand up for themselves. She knew she could get in troubleand she knew people would talk shit, but she didn’t care. She knew peopleneeded her help and she was going to do it.

2)    6x22;Her goodbye video to Sawyer! This scene always destroys me3 Peyton washaving a child, which should have been one of the happiest moments of her life,but instead it was one of the scariest and saddest moments. She risked herliteral life so her child could live. And you can see how she wants to be sohappy and excited in the video for baby Sawyer, but she’s so scared. Butdespite all that she’s putting on a brave face and UGH. My heart

3)    5x01;Quitting her job. Always loved this scene, but in light of recent events, Ilove it even more

4)    4x16;Talking about her pain. Okay if you follow me you know I talk enough about howPeyton doesn’t get enough credit for being an amazing friend and how I HATE howpeople let a lot of the stuff Brooke said/did slide. So this moment just reallygets to me. Peyton went through HELL. She was physically and sexually attacked,she found out she was adopted and then proceeded to lose her birth mother tocancer, and she was shot and almost died. And she was basically left to dealwith it all on her own. I love how Peyton was able to call Brooke out on thatand was also able to call her out on how horrible and wrong it was to mock hermother’s death. I loved seeing Peyton finally realize she didn’t deserve to betreated like crap and deserved so much more

5)    4x06;Fighting through her pain. Kind of the same as above! Peyton had just beenthrough so much and instead of getting support people just kept throwing moreand more pain towards her way. Peyton’s also the kind of person that holds itall in, so it was amazing to see her let her pain out and fight back ateverything that caused her pain. I loved seeing her realize that she doesn’tdeserve to be in pain and that she needs to fight back and stop being scared.UGH MY LOVE

Lucas Scott:

1)    1x02;Deciding to continue playing basketball! I think this is so underrated, butimportant. Lucas was going through hell on that team. Nathan was actuallytorturing him, he had to live with the fact that Dan wanted nothing to do withhim, and half the town didn’t believe he could make it big on the team. Hecould have easily quit the team and continued to just play basketball on theRiver Court, but he knew it wasn’t fair to let Dan/Nathan win and he knew hismom and Keith deserved better so he put aside all his fears and continued toplay on the team and that’s just amazing to me

2)    3x19;Telling Karen he has HCM. UGH THIS SCENE KILLS ME! Lucas is a very strongperson and hates to admit that he needs help. He kept his HCM hidden because hewanted to play basketball and he didn’t want to worry his friends and family. Ithought it was amazing and brave that Lucas was willing to open up and admitthat he needs help. He let himself be vulnerable and show that he’s not allthat strong and sometimes he needs people in his life as well and UGH. You justgotta love that

3)    4x09;Winning the state championship. Ever since season 1 this moment is somethingeveryone was basically telling Lucas he could never reach. Even in the season 1finale he messed up his chance. So to have the Ravens not only win the StateChampionship but have Lucas be the one to make the winning shot was honestlyjust SO full circle and just showed us that if we all put our minds to what wewant and believe in, we can accomplish our dreams and idk. This is just one ofmy favorite moments of the show, ever!

4)    3x16;Running back into the school. Okay I know this is technically a couple momentand I said I wouldn’t include those, but even if you take Peyton out of theequation how admirable was Lucas in this scene! He risked everything to go runback into the school to make sure Nathan was going to be okay. And then hecould have stuck with Nathan or even left the school, but he knew someone heloved and cared about could be in trouble and that he couldn’t let her bealone. And then again, once he found Peyton he could have run out the schooland tried to get help, but he knew chances of authorities getting into theschool was slim and he didn’t want Peyton to be sitting there bleeding out allby herself so despite knowing all the risks and knowing he could have easilybeen shot too, he decides to stay

5)    3x03;Saving Dan from the fire. Okay I didn’t know what episode to mark this as, butsince it’s revealed in 3x03 why not? Lol But honestly kind of the same asabove. Dan has always been a piece of shit to Lucas. Lucas could have seen thefire and been like oh well fuck it or even have called the cops and just hungback. But he knew Dan probably wasn’t going to survive and despite all his hatredfor him, he knew he had to do something to save him because at the end of theday he’s a human and his father. So yeah, I think it was admirable and brave ofhim to run back into the building.

Haley James Scott:

1)    5x02;The scene where she basically goes off on Nathan and tells him to get his shittogether!! I think a lot of it has to do with BJL’s acting but I just love howshe was like enough is fucking enough…like she needs her husband and her kidneeds his father and she had no problem leaving his ass if he didn’t get hisshit together because she deserved better than that!

2)    4x14;Standing up to Rachel. I just love this moment because Haley is one of thosepeople that’s really kind, caring, and always there for people which cansometimes cause her to get taken advantage of. And I like how she basicallystood her ground against Rachel and made it clear that she couldn’t walk allover her.

3)    6x18;Haley quitting her job. This scene means even more to me now that we know whatall these women went through!! But Haley preaching about always standing up forthe truth and then being a total badass and quitting her job because she can’tdo something she doesn’t believe in…what an inspiration!!!

4)    6x16;Publishing Sam’s paper despite being told not to. The same as above tbh, shewas just like fuck it, this has to be heard and it’s not fair and she knewthere was gonna be consequences and she was going to get into trouble but shedidn’t care because she knew it was the right thing to do!

5)    2x07;Performing for the first time at Tric. I just love this because she was sonervous and chickened out and refused to sing but then she saw how desperatePeyton was and how she needed help and she decided to just fuck it and go forit and it ended up becoming one of the best moments of her life and I justthink that’s something we can all relate to

Nathan Scott:

1)    4x18;Admitting to his point shaving. I love this moment because Nathan fucked up andmade a big mistake, but he owned up to it and took full responsibility. Hecould have easily brushed it under the rug or let Lucas take all the blame, buthe knew it was the wrong thing to do. Even though he knew all of his schooloffers would get taken away and that his chances of going into the MBA wouldbasically be slim to none, but he still came clean and did what was right

2)    1x14;Vising Lucas in the hospital. Nathan really did not like Lucas at this pointand could have easily just left him alone and not gone to see him, but I lovedhow despite all his negative feelings he knew that Lucas was his brother andsomeone Haley really cared about so he just had to go visit him and make surehe was okay. And the little talk he has with Lucas, admitting that he screwed everythingup and how Lucas is the luck one… Idk, I just love this Nathan moment because Ithink it’s the first time in the show we’ve seen him be truly honest andgenuine with everything!

3)    3x22;Saving Cooper and Rachel. These Scott Brothers and their need to be heroes :Phahaa anyways, Nathan just got re-married properly to the love of his life, itwas probably one of the happiest days of his life. He could have easily justcalled the cops and waited for them to show up, but he knew Cooper and Rachel’slives were at risk, so he risked everything to go and save them. I just findthat admirable!

4)    5x02Waking up Jamie and going down the slope with him. I LOOOOVE this moment!!Nathan was so broken and lost. He was going through depression and thought thathis whole life was over and that his dreams would never come through, but healso saw his son struggling. He saw how scared Jamie was and how much Jamieneeded him. The one thing I love about Nathan and Jamie’s relationship is thatNathan never wanted Jamie to go through what he went through with Dan growingup and he never wanted Jamie to feel the way he did and make the same mistakeshe did. So I love how Nathan showed Jamie there was nothing to be afraid of andthat he was going to be okay.

5)    6x24;Making it into the NBA. Okay, every OTH fan had to at least be smiling a littleat this moment. This was the moment Nathan has been working towards sinceseason 1. He had his doubts about making it or continuing with the dream attimes because of all the pressure Dan put him through and all the mistakes hemade. But despite all that he still made it and his dreams came true and I lovethat

Brooke Davis:

1)    6x13;Fighting Xavier! This is one of my favorite Brooke storylines. I just love howshe went from being broken and scared to taking down her attacker and basicallylooking him in the eye and letting him know she’s no longer scared of him andhe no longer has any control over her!

2)    5x11;Firing Victoria. Kind of the same as above. Brooke had just been so emotionallyabused and kicked down by Victoria who is supposed to be her number onesupporter and the one who is propping her up, so it was just good to see herrealize she doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment and doesn’t need her mom tobe successful, she can do that all on her own.

3)    3x16;Going off on the reporter. Okay this is a deleted scene but I’m going to includeit because I love it and it should have been in the episode imo. But I like howBrooke basically calls out the reporter for cashing in on children getting shotand trying to use their pain as a way to get money and be famous. That bitchreporter deserved to be called out and I’m glad Brooke did it!

4)    6x03;Breaking down at Q’s funeral. As someone who’s been broken and didn’t know howto express it, I really feel for Brooke in this scene and it’s one of the raremoments I relate to her. It just gets to me how she holds everything in,doesn’t want to show that she’s weak, and that what happened to her affectedher, but in this moment she realized that sometimes crying and being vulnerableis okay. It doesn’t mean that the bad guys win, it just means that you’re inpain and you need to let it out.

5)    6x22;Letting Sam go. I think this was just an admirable moment. This is a girl shehad been taking care of for a couple of months, she grew attached to her, andeven wanted to adopt her. But she knew that what Sam really needed was to goand live with her birth mom and get a chance to know her, so I really liked howBrooke was able to let her go and be fully happy because she could have easilybeen selfish and kept Sam with her.

[floralmotif]

3.12 is a test for 5.01: Sympathy for Jus in Bello

So... this was meant to be my Round 4 of @elizabethrobertajones Great Meta Scavenger Hunt. Comparing 3x12: Jus in Bello and 5x01: Sympathy for the Devil. I had a lot of this written but was really lazy about editing it and um… I don’t care if I don’t get points. I just want to get this thing out. 

This isn’t the best organized thing in the world. I took a look at some parallels I found and looked at the ladies a little. Other people have looked into them better than I did here, though, in my opinion. I mostly talk about the parallels I see here.

Nancy, Nick, the Supernatural and world views: Nancy and Nick are the “Cats” in these episodes. They are the innocents. They’re the ones that the plot needs to convince for the drama and message to be conveyed and for the audience to find it’s moral seat. They’re both told by their respective convincers that they aren’t the bad guys and are misunderstood. Both eventually believe them and both pay the price for it whether intentional or not on the part of the convincers. We know and care about the Winchesters, we know they don’t mean Nancy harm but from her perspective, they are the scariest of the scary. They go against her beliefs and are considered worshippers of the devil. They are “As Satan” to her. She is convinced by the end of the episode and is willing to say yes to her sacrifice. Just like Nick. Nick is also approached from a prisoner who needs him for a purpose but Lucifer's purpose is much more selfish despite the nuanced framing. Even though both Nancy and Nick are discarded for their trust, the context is very different.

 Through these two episodes we are shown the difference and similarities between the Winchesters and Lucifer. We are also given a Lucifer catalyst as a mirror context in the form of Ruby. The Winchesters would never put Nancy into that position themselves and would never really want her to sacrifice herself for them. Even though they have approached Nancy in a similar manner, they are literally not the devil as he is later seen in SPN. The Winchesters and Ruby comprise the Lucifer parallel for this episode. By their powers combined they are Luci, but only combined. They may feel toxic by losing the PD to Lilith at the end, but they would never be Lucifer on their own(outside of metaphor) and they would never go through with it. I believe this is why Nancy is framed as the little Christian innocent. She is posing that question as we would, the audience: So boys, who are you and how far are you willing to go for people you don’t know? This is a “you are not our tools” display. Sam and Dean really do try to be the good guys here.

Now the above is involving humans. If you want to delve into fun fun land, consider the scene in 5.01 with Zachariah.. Different approach but also kinda Winchestery If you’re not human. They treat the Supernatural in a similar way to Zachariah(minus the sexual assault references) willing to torture and give ultimatums for compliance. Zachariah seemingly views the humans and other species in a similar way Dean and Sam view most Supernatural beings. Gotta love characterization and world view! I think the earlier set is what the show is going for though *cough* SPN is very anthropocentric most of the time. I have some thoughts on that but they’re probably best somewhere else.

More under the cut:

Nancy is interesting, if unfortunate There are several instances of Nancy being resourceful in 3.12. Even if it is all in a typically female coded, nurturer way. I think it’s meant to frame her as innocently as possible even if it’s cheap. She is our Perspective Lens of the “not audience” so we can sort of understand the situation for the people who don’t know the Winchesters and recognize them as the dangerous people they are instead of just the guys we know. She knows her way around the place and how to dress a wound (or at least how to tend to one) She knows the people in the town and is the only one to show genuine care for them on a personal level. She shows agency on multiple occasions even if it’s a little contrived and focused on her sexuality and sacrifice.(ugh) She’s better than some others at least. I think the most interesting thing about her interactions with the Winchesters is how despite her framed innocence, Dean still can’t believe she’s a virgin. Virginity is so strange and Supernatural to him that he can’t believe it. I didn’t get to re-watch further episodes with Meg, Bella. Lillith and Becky so I focused more on other characters.

Ruby and Lucifer Ruby was kind of the perfect pawn of Lucifer and I’d say she’s the most like him of the demons we meet. She also uses trust, blood and a loved one as an avatar of herself to get what she wants. She plays the long game pretty well and just like Lucifer, technically targets individual people by offering them power and a means to an end. Her end was with Lilith’s, the final seal to open Lucifer’s cage. 

Means to an end There’s a lot of talk or at least parallels to the idea of “a means to an end” with Ruby or the lives of innocence against the lives of the few as the catalysts. The name of 3.12; Jus in Bello, even basically translates to the humanitarian law of preventing as much suffering as possible. It is sort of a question of “What is the measure of suffering and innocence in times of war” This idea gets pulled directly into 5.01 with Dean basically asking that question entirely to Zachariah. In 3.12, the question is posed to Dean and Sam by Ruby with a similar situation. Zachariah’s method of winning the war stands as another answer to this question: with the idea that sacrifice is necessary. 3.12 is in a lot of ways, a test for season 5. In fact, a lot of season 3 is. It’s the setup for the war arc, it’s the gun that we’re shown. We’re reminded of in season 4 and is fired in season 5. In some ways, it’s setting up the audience for the Winchester’s answer to this question in season 5: the innocents are everything. 3.12 is like a microcausan and a confirmation of the Winchester’s stance before the real test begins. Even with the death of the PD, we still know the ultimate answer.

Wardings Both these episodes also containing wardings that are new to the series as far as I know. I don’t remember the little pendants anytime before or since. The rib sigil sticks around though. Speaking of the pendants: Why don’t they give these to every person they ever encounter when demons are involved? Oh yeah, that’s why we don’t see them again. Watching 3.12 and seeing the convenient pendants and then seeing inexplicably unwarded-ass Bobby getting possessed in 5.01 was awkward to say the least. How is Bobby not warded? Was his tattoo burned or cut off? The wardings and rules in this show get so muddled sometimes.  Henriksen Henriksen kind of reminded me of Bobby actually and a lot of Dean as well. He somehow gave me a vibe of Dean finding a similar outlet regardless of whether he was a hunter which made me think of his apparent dissatisfaction with his life with Ben and Lisa later. He mostly reminded me of Bobby in the context of the episode comparison though. A veteran of their field being possessed by a demon on their home turf and suffering for it. Henriksen is also what happens when you combine Somerset and Mills from Se7en into one dude. This is why they aren’t one dude. I like Henriksen and he works here but that movie would would not have worked the same way with one character instead of two. I believe a similar reason is a step in the decision to make Dean and Sam separate people. The dynamic of the show and how we are given plot would be so much different if Sam and Dean were a single person.(despite how deuteragonists work) The show needs that dual dynamic to function how it does and not just from a characterization standpoint. 

Some parallels between Zachariah and Ruby: And now we come back to Zachariah. The scene in 5.01 where he shows up and confronts Dean and Sam in the storage unit mirrors the scene where Ruby comes to convince everyone to sacrifice Nancy in 3.12. Demons are destroyed, the possibility of innocent deaths on the table and individual lives at stake. Again, Dean denies the sacrifice. Both scenes are very manipulative with Zachariah operating in an actively antagonistic(sexually assault coded) way and Ruby playing the long game. Sex and trust are also in her arsenal with Sam. She’s relying on her relationship with Sam to keep him on her side. Both lay out how it’s gonna be, both lay out the order of things and their bargain. These two scenes culminate the main tension of the episode. We know Nick will accept Lucifer’s offer, they wouldn’t bother with the setup if he didn’t. The scenes with Zachariah and Ruby are the “debates” they are the main conflict for the characters and the A-Plot. I find it interesting that the scene in 3.12 ends with them deciding on a different path and Castiel “captain flip the script” shows up to end the 5.01 scene. Both offer an impossible situation with lots of casualties. One succeeds on delivering them, one fails mostly. Both decided no to sacrifice. The 3.12 one probably really fed the seed of them being toxic to them. Poor guys. 

BMoL and Angels Part of these two episodes present a lot of similarities between each other and the Men of Letters. The eps and BMoL involve instances of a designated law enforcement (the police/FBI and The Host) deciding on how to deal with the Winchesters and how they operate. In all cases, they also seem to have false information involving them. 3.12 and 12.01 even show similar charts with false information on them. There have been several instances of the Host being confused by the operation methods of Cas and the Winchesters and wanting to “set that right” by whatever means they deem necessary.

Bonus notes: If you squint you can see all of the “Don’t” on the cell wall (No spitting, No shouting, No smoking) demonstrated by possessed Agent Steven. He shoots Dean to spit Dean’s blood(on the sign no less in case you needed convincing), he shouts when expelling the demon, it smokes out. Who the hell is Molly Baker? The camera focuses on her Wanted Poster in 3.12 a few times and it’s weird.