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observantbystanderaroundtown · 4 years ago

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Ken and I ate at the Cracker Barrel restaurant last night so I could use my coupon for two free dinners. If you’re not familiar with this restaurant chain, let me begin by saying that Cracker Barrel enjoys a cult following with the RV set; there are people who actually plan their vacation stops only in places where there is a Cracker Barrel restaurant nearby. In fact, Cracker Barrel provides special E-Z Find Cracker Barrel US road maps in their Old Country Store showing all their locations so you won’t miss any opportuninty to have some Hash-Brown Chicken, in case you get a hankerin’ on the road.

The interior decor is “Old Time Country”, meaning there are dozens of displays of old-timey do-dads like lanterns and farm implements and button hooks and linament bottles. The display next to our table seemed to have a theme of “Things With Which Folks Used To Use To Get Dressed”. An old man shuffling by our table stopped and pointed to the curling iron in the display and said to me “Know what that there thing is missy? That’s what girls used to use to curl their hair!” He seemed really pleased to be able to pass on this ancient knowledge to me and I didn’t have the heart to tell him that curling iron technology hadn’t really changed much in 75 years, except for the advent of electricity so you could now plug it in instead of holding it over an open flame, thus avoiding a nasty 3rd degree burn. The only other artifact of any interest to me was a tin of Shoe Dressing, which I imagine was some sort of flavor enhancer for shoe leather. I can imagine really poor Dust-Bowl families sitting around an open fire, cooking up shoe leather. Mom would pass around the Shoe Dressing, saying “Here you go Mandy Sue, put you some of this here on your piece of leather and it’ll be reeeeal tasty!”

The ambience of our dining experience was further enhanced by the piped in music which was a combination of Old Country Hits interspersed with Old Rock & Roll Hits, so you could hear Walkin’ The Floor (Over You), followed by Rock Around the Clock, which I found a bit disturbing. The decibel level was up there around Disco Level, probably for the benefit of the clientele which appeared to be in the Old Geezer age group. One Old Geezer was having a birthday, and the waitresses all gathered around his table and sang Happy Birthday to him. The nice thing was that it was the ACTUAL birthday song, sung in a nice, respectful way; not the hyped-up bizarro version sung at other restaurants by a frantically clapping waitstaff who all appear to be buzzed-out on crystal meth. I have often threatend Ken with permanent disfigurement if he EVER arranged to have Happy Birthday sung to me at a restaurant, but I probably woudn’t mind having the nice folks at Cracker Barrel do it.

The food was pretty good, and afterwards we browsed around in the Old Country Store where Ken became enraptured by a John Deere clock that makes a different tractor sound every hour. I found myself examining the display of Precious Moments collectibles. You know, the teardrop-eyed angel children in cutesy poses,with captions like Blooming in God’s Love or Some Bunny Loves You. I personally dislike this kind of diabetic coma-inducing sweetness and would prefer to see something different. Perhaps a figurine of a desperate-looking child looking skyward, with a caption that reads Don’t worry, God loves you even if your mom is a crack whore!

A quick check of my watch told me that I was about to miss Sex in the City – which I didn’t want to miss because it was going to be the episode where Samantha dyes her pubic hair, but she leaves the dye on too long and it ends up looking like a bright red clown’s wig – so I went to find Ken. He had found the 1:18 die cast car display and had EVERY SINGLE BOX pulled out so he could examine the cars individually. I could tell he wasn’t even close to being finished and could probably have spent another couple of hours marveling over each one, but I made him put them up anyway cause I wanted to see my TV show, dammit. We finally made it out of there but then Ken was distracted by the row of rocking chairs on the “front porch” of the restaurant, so he had to sit and rock a spell. “Boy, there’s just nothing like a wood rocker, eh?” he said wistfully. On the way home, we talked about rocking our kids to sleep when they were babies, and I realized that we’re not too far from Old Geezerville ourselves. Then I slapped myself a couple of times and took a silent vow never to become the kind of old lady who plans a vacation around the locations of a chain restaurant that features Hash Brown Chicken on its menu.

#my wtiting

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hippychick006 · 6 years ago

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5.02 - Good God Y’all

I’d forgotten about this one, but on re-watch, there’s so much to love about this episode. Even with all the angst, there’s so many broments which show us how well Sam and Dean work together, even when they are at odds with one another. The story is a good one, great guest stars and lots of clever little details that make it enjoyable to watch.

For anyone skipping these, I will say that this episode addresses Kripke’s view of Jo and Ellen being hunters.

Sam and Dean appear to be pretending that everything is okay after the drama of the last episode. So fine, we’ll do that too. Dean arrives to join Sam outside Bobby’s hospital room. He’s been to radiology and “got some glamour shots.” Sam looks at the chest x-ray which shows Dean’s ribs are covered in sigils. Cool effect.

Sam’s phone rings. Sam answers “Hello… (then confused) Castiel?”. All we hear is Sam’s side of the conversation as he says where he is. This sounds like the first time Castiel has ever called either of them so Sastiel for the win!.

Cass appears walking down the corridor a few seconds later. Dean questions the use of the cell phone. Cass reminds that they are hidden from all angels (which includes him) so he’s having to resort to phoning to find out where they are.

Bobby interjects with the line “enough foreplay”. I squint, is this pandering? I think it is (but if so, I’m claiming wincestiel for the win!). Amazing that back then it didn’t annoy me, but after several years of hellers and their nonsense, I’m more aware of it. Bobby demands to be healed (as he’s now in a wheelchair). Castiel says he can’t as he’s cut off from heaven’s power. There’s certain things he can do, and certain things he can’t (let’s try to keep an eye on Cass’ powers changing, depending on the plot). Since Cass can’t heal him, Bobby has no further use in him and goes back to staring out the window.

Cass says he doesn’t have much time, but they need to talk. I like their talk, which is basically Castiel telling them their plan to kill Lucifer is foolish and cannot be done. Dean: “Oh, thanks for the support. Castiel does have a solution though, he’s going to find god. Dean can’t get his head around this. Dean: God? Castiel: Yes. Dean again: God? Love it. Castiel insists that if God isn’t in heaven, then he has to be somewhere (which is a fair point). Dean tells him to “try New Mexico. I hear he’s on a taco”

Castiel (perfectly serious): No, he’s not on any flatbread.

Dean and Castiel have a debate about whether God even exists and if he does, he doesn’t care about anyone. The debate ends with Castiel advancing on Dean (again, this is not anything other than an aggressive move on the part of Castiel. “I killed 2 angels this week. My brothers. I’m hunted. I rebelled. I did it for you, and you failed. You and your brother destroyed the world… (Sam looks guilty)… And I lost everything for nothing, so keep your opinions to yourself.”

Okay, excuse me for ten minutes, while I bitch-slap Castiel to the Empty! WTF even? Did you forget your own part and the bigger angel’s part that the whole reason there is a freaking apocalypse that needs to be stopped in the first place is BECAUSE YOU ALL ORCHESTRATED IT! But no, let’s continue to blame the 2 humans that would have preferred to have nothing to do with it, thank you very much.

It’s very interesting that Sam is silent throughout all of this. I don’t want to burst the Heller bubble, but it has nothing to do with the non-existent chemistry between Castiel and Dean, and everything to do with Sam keeping his head down and staying out of the way. Particularly, in any conversations where he would be at risk of disagreeing with Dean right now (as we know he has faith in God and would likely be in agreement with Castiel here that it’s a good option to follow).

Sadly, none of them call Castiel out on his bullshit version of events and instead ask what he wants. Turns out to be a very rare and powerful amulet that burns hot in God’s presence. Bobby says he has nothing like that, and Castiel agrees “I know, you don’t”. He looks at Dean, then down at the Samulet. Reluctantly, and after a debate, Dean eventually hands it over, on the condition that Cass does not lose it (and nope, I will not think about the end of Dark Side of the Moon right now, I’ll get to that episode soon enough).

Rufus is back! Love him. He looks to be in a shootout. He pulls a young man that’s been shot behind a car for safety, quickly administers field first aid, then makes a phone call. I want to point out that Rufus pressed a single number, so he obviously has Bobby on speed dial! The connection is bad, but we manage to ascertain that Rufus needs help – and we know straight away that things must be bad if Rufus is asking for help.

Sam and Dean go to help. The bridge to the town is down. Sam checks his phone and doesn’t get signal. They’ll have to hike in which gives us all a good opportunity to listen to Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum as they walk down the street. I absolutely love this scene as they silently work together, taking in their surroundings; including a sporting goods store, the deserted streets, a crashed car in the middle of the street and an abandoned one further up. I also love that the quality of the sound of the song changes from being crystal clear as part of the soundtrack, to that of a tinny sound coming from the radio of the abandoned car as they reach it. Brilliant. Sam reaches in and turns the engine off and the music stops. And it’s these details that made the show stand out for me.

They pass under a banner which says “75th anniversary of Pioneer Day” so the streets really should be a bit busier than they are, but there’s no one around.

They also pass a red Mustang, and I love, love, love this. Sam moves on when he sees there isn’t any risk, Dean stops and admires it. Again, it’s just the little details like this that remind me of how good this show can be.

They continue on and out of nowhere, someone appears behind them and they hear a gun click. Dean’s reflexes are good, he swings around, gun raised. Sam’s just lucky it turns out to be Ellen.

Ellen says, “Hello boys”.

Wait, did Crowley steal that line from Ellen?

Ellen’s welcome consists of spraying Dean in the face with holy water, hugging him, then slapping him and giving him a lecture for not keeping in touch. Sam gets let off lightly with no holy water, no hug and only a glare during the lecture. Ellen brings them up to speed, Rufus was originally investigating omens, then the whole town got possessed, with the exception of the people in the room she’s brought them to. She and Jo were nearby. Dean checks: “You’re hunting with Jo?” Ellen confirms yes, but they got separated and can’t find Rufus either.

Sam looks around and says they’ve got to get everyone out (it’s clear the people aren’t hunters). Ellen says they’ve already tried once and that there used to be twenty of them. Sam and Dean do a quick headcount and only ten remain (excluding them). After a discussion, they agree they’ll need the civilians to arm up to give them a better chance of getting out. Sam and Dean will head to the sporting goods store they passed earlier to get more guns.

Dean stops Sam and suggests that Dean goes himself while Sam starts teaching “Shotgun 101”. Sam logically says Ellen. (as in Ellen can teach them). He tries to leave again but Dean stops him saying it will be a lot faster if Sam stays and helps.

Sarcastic!Sam alert: While you go get guns and salt and look for Jo and Rufus? That’s stupid.

Dean says he can handle it.

Sam’s face as he realises what’s going on. “You don’t want me going out there.”

Dean: I didn’t say that

Sam: ...around demons

Dean: I didn’t say that

Sam: Fine, then let’s go

They get to the mini market, Sam suggests he get the salt, while Dean get the guns from the sporting goods store. Dean says they’ll go together. Sam’s getting a little miffed at this point, “Dean, it’s right there, can we at least do this like professionals?”

Sam is behind a shelf, bagging up the salt when two demons come into the store. Sam originally tries to exorcise the first demon but soon has to give up and stab him. He also stabs the second. If this was my first watch through, I’d be questioning if the budget had been cut for the orange flashing when the demon killing knife is used, but I already know why those effects are missing. Sam looks at the blood on the floor and then on the demon killing knife and seems mesmerised. He stops when he hears someone else come into the store. He hides behind the shelves, but then hears “Sammy” from Dean. He stands in relief. Dean gets closer and sees what’s happened and we get a look from Judgy McJudgerson. I do completely understand though why Dean would have trust issues with Sam in terms of the demon blood drinking. He’s just going about it the wrong way.

Back at the hideout, I hope no one will need to rely on Roger the businessman – who can’t even put the shells into the shotgun, let alone shoot it. Sam’s helping the pregnant couple who seem to be doing slightly better. Dean’s with another guy who he asks if he knows his way around a weapon. The guy (Austin) expertly strips down the gun he’s been given, and Dean asks where he served because he’s clearly military. Austin in turn asks where Dean served, Dean says hell.

A little later, Dean sees Sam sitting alone so he goes to join him. He knows Sam’s brooding about something and asks him what’s wrong. Sam’s upset about the teenagers he just killed. Dean says that Sam had no choice, and Sam agrees, but wishes he could save people like he used to.

Dean: What, you mean when you were all hopped up on demon blood?

Sam: I didn’t say that.

Ellen interrupts the broment. She wants to go and find Jo. They both stand up and Sam says he’ll go with her. Dean has something to say about that. They go slightly outside the room and Dean says, “you’re gonna go out there again?”

Sarcastic!Sam alert: Well, crap doesn’t hit the fan with coffee breaks.

Dean suggests he’ll go, but Sam says he’s got it. Dean: “Why’s it got to be you?” Sam rolls his eyes, and says, “Oh, that’s right, I forgot. You think I’ll take one look at a demon and suddenly fall off the wagon, as if, after everything, I haven’t learned my lesson.

Dean (pause): Well, have you?

I’ve got to question sometimes whether Dean really does know Sam as well as he thinks he does, as even I know that’s going to cause a reaction. Sam shoves Dean but otherwise stays clear. Ellen hears and looks over. Sam continues, “If you actually think I…”. He stops and walks away.

I think I’m supposed to see there are still anger issues with Sam in this scene, but since I remember episodes like 4.04, with perfect clarity, it’s not working on me.

Ellen and Sam talk as they search the streets. Or rather, Ellen talks as she asks Sam what’s going on between him and Dean. Sam says just stresses of the job and changes the subject. This next bit is very important for when we were having a discussion a while back about Jo and Ellen being “wannabe hunters”

Sam: Kind of surprised you and Jo hunting. Weren’t you always saying she couldn’t hack the life?

Ellen: She can’t. But if she’s gonna do it anyway…

Sam: You want to keep an eye on her

Still score of 0 on the wannabe hunter front.

They see smoke and go to investigate. They see a demon at the window of a house. Sam says demons don’t get cold and wonders what they are burning. As Sam moves forward to investigate, Ellen is yanked back, and a fight commences. We see Jo and two other demons, both of whom concentrate on Sam, while Jo and Ellen fight. We see Jo’s eyes turn black.

Ellen: Don’t you hurt her, don’t you…

Jo: Give me my mom back, you black eyed bitch!

Wait what? Ellen also looks confused and she shoves Jo back and hits her with the rifle. Sam tells her to run as he cocks his rifle, but he’s hit from behind. We get a lovely shot of Sam looking up at his attacker, it’s Rufus and his eyes are black. The camera focus goes woozy as Sam loses consciousness and I like this effect.

Love, love, love this next scene. Sam comes to and he’s tied to a chair. Rufus and Jo are in the room (eyes are still black). Sam struggles to get free, but Rufus is a proper hunter (apart from the whole lighting the fireplace thing, which, really Rufus?). He says there’s no way Sam’s getting out of those as he tied the ropes himself. He calls Sam an evil son of a bitch and backhands him. Jo follows up with holy water. Jo looks confused when nothing happens. Rufus isn’t taking chances and steps forward. We don’t see what he’s holding, but Sam does, and he starts pleading, “no, wait, wait, wait…”. Rufus grabs Sam’s head forcing it back with Jo’s help. Sam’s still pleading, but Rufus pours salt down Sam’s throat while exorcising him.

Dean’s pacing, a knock on the door and he rushes to answer it (don’t worry, he checked the spy hole first). It’s Ellen, alone, and predictably, Dean asks, “Where’s Sam?” Ellen shakes her head. Dean does what he always does, grabs his gun to go after Sammy. Except he forces himself to stop and comes back, saying they need a plan first and for Ellen to tell him everything.

Back at where Sam is being held. Rufus and Jo are still trying to exorcise him. They see nothings happening so stop. Sam’s still pleading with them, telling them that something isn’t right. Jo throws the water in Sam’s face again. When she goes to get something else, we see Roger, the businessman (from back at the other hideout) at the door, and he should not be there. We see him twist his ring (which he has a habit of doing). Sam looks confused that he’s there. He looks around and sees the demon trap above him. He tries to get Jo and Rufus to listen, but they are having a conversation about why the exorcism isn’t working. Rufus looks back at Sam, we see that Sam’s eyes are now black and Rufus’ eyes are not. Sam implores them again that something isn’t right.

Back at where Dean is, Ellen tells Dean that one of the demon’s is inside Jo and they need to get it out without hurting her. She says it called her a bitch. Dean says Ellen’s bruising a little easy, and Ellen elaborates that it called her a black-eyed bitch. They can’t figure out what kind of demons they are dealing with since salt and holy water don’t work and that “my daughter may be an idiot, but she’s not stupid. She wears an anti-possession charm…”

Wait, you’ve remembered about these have you? Then why in the last episode (written by Eric himself) was Bobby possessed by a demon, without explanation?

Ellen asks Dean what his instinct is, and he says to phone Bobby or Sam. Ellen responds “Well tough! All you got’s me and all I got’s you. So, let’s figure it out.”

I’ll take this moment to say that although Sam and Dean are separated in this one for part of the episode, they are both with guest stars that are watchable, and the story is entertaining and interesting.

Together, along with a priest and one of the survivors (but mainly Dean), they figure out they are dealing with Revelations eight ten. “And there fell a great star from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell upon the river, and the name of the star was Wormwood. And many men died.” This predicts the four horsemen. Dean asks which one rides the red horse. Clever, clever boy. The pastor responds War.

They work through the information they now have and figure out that War might just be messing with their heads; that no one is a demon and they are all just killing each other.

Pastor: Wait, back up. It’s the apocalypse?

Come on Padre, try to keep up!

Back with Sam, Roger walks in to the room. Sam straightens up as he assesses Roger and I love how Jared does these simple moves with his body, Sam’s not messing around, “Who the hell are you?” Roger takes off his glasses and Sam amends, “What are you?” This whole scene between them is amazing and kudos to the guest star.

Fake!Roger fesses up to being caught. He just popped in to watch. The real Roger is buried in a ditch. Fake! Roger closes the door and pulls over a chair. Sam asks again who he is.

Fake!Roger: Here's a hint. I was in Germany. Then in Germany. Then in the Middle East. I was in Darfur when my beeper went off… I'm waiting to hook up with my siblings…. I've got three. We're going to have so much fun together.

Sam nods: I know who you are.

I love that Sam and Dean are separated, but both come to the same conclusion about who they are dealing with.

War says he didn’t have to do much to get the people to attack each other. Sam says no, this is all War’s doing. People are only stabbing each other, because he made them see demons.

War: Honestly, people don't need a reason to kill each other. I mean, you seen the Irish? They're all Irish!

Sam: I'm gonna kill you myself.

War (laughing): Oh, that's adorable, considering you're my poster boy.

Sam: What's that supposed to mean?

War: You can't stop thinking about it, ever since you saw it dripping off the blade of that knife.

Sam says the demon is wrong, but we can see that he isn’t.

War: Save your protests for your brother. I can see inside your head. And man, it is one-track city in there. Blood, blood, blood. Lust for power. Same as always. You want to be strong again. But not just strong. Stronger than everybody. Good intentions—quick slide to hell, buddy boy. You feel bad now? Wait till you're thigh deep in warm corpses. Because, my friend, I'm just getting started.

And this is where I get annoyed with the narrative. We keep getting told that people can see inside Sam, that he has a lust for power. And I’m…? Show me that lust for power or get Sam himself to talk about it. Because if he does have it, then Sam Winchester is a lot stronger person than anyone is giving him credit for, because he’s never used it, for anything other than to try to do good.

War stands up and puts his glasses back on. He twists his ring. Blood flows down his forehead. He kicks over his chair, drops to the floor, and screams. Rufus kicks the door open, Jo is right behind him. War says “He did it!” Sam protests, but all Rufus sees is a demon. Sam is not helped by War who is still causing drama saying the others are coming to get us. Sam gets backhanded again.

Roger goes back to the original hideout to cause trouble there. He says he saw the demons and they said they’re going to pick everyone off one by one (and they let Roger go because?). Dean argues there are no demons, Austin disagrees. Dean tries to get them to stop, but War twists his ring and says Ellen and Dean are demons. The survivors turn on them and Dean and Ellen have to run.

Back where Sam is, Rufus and Jo are preparing defences with pipe bombs. Jo says pipe bombs won’t kill demons.

Rufus: Right. But in my experience, demons come at you slower if they’re in a body with no limbs

Jo reminds Rufus that one of them is Ellen and he says he’ll do everything he can, that Ellen will be okay.

Jo (nodding): Unless she comes through that window

Awkward silence.

A little later, the pipe bomb explodes. They investigate, Rufus gets pulled through the blown out window and Jo is attacked from behind. It turns out to be Dean and Ellen. Dean fights Rufus, and eventually gets him to see that he’s not a demon.

Austin is leading the civilians on an attack on the other house. Not sure why he’s doing this and not trying to lead them to safety. Anyway, he shoots at the house.

Dean: Damn it! Where's Sam?

Rufus tells him upstairs and Dean goes to get Sam. This next bit is winsync

Sam: Dean. It's not demons.

They speak together: It’s war.

Dean says he just can’t figure out how war is doing it, and Sam says the ring.

Great moments spread all the way through this episode that show the brothers are better when they are working together, rather than at odds with one another.

There’s shooting between Ellen’s survivors and the ones Rufus had. Rufus is trying to stop them, but it’s too late and the Pastor gets shot. Ellen goes to help but is attacked by Austin. He pulls the trigger but luckily for Ellen, he’s out of bullets, but he does have a back-up knife.

War is making his escape to his car. Dean and Sam grab him. While Dean holds War, Sam pulls out the demon killing knife.

War: Whoa. Okay. That's a sweet little knife. But come on. You can't kill war, kiddos.

Dean: Oh, we know

Sam grabs War’s ring hand and cuts all the fingers off.

We see Ellen’s eyes are no longer black, Austin stops trying to kill her.

Dean picks up the ring that had fallen on the ground,, War and his car (and I think his severed fingers) have disappeared.

Dean and Sam are sitting at a picnic table, Dean holds up the ring. Dean: So, pit at Mount Doom? Heh! That doesn’t get a smile out of Sam though. He goes to speak but Dean stops him. Sam pushes on though, says it’s important, that he knows Dean doesn’t trust him, but Sam goes on to say he doesn’t trust himself either.

Sam: From the minute I saw that blood, only thought in my head...and I tell myself it's for the right reasons, my intentions are good, and it, it feels true, you know? But I think, underneath...I just miss the feeling. I know how messed up that sounds, which means I know how messed up I am. Thing is, the problem's not the demon blood, not really. I mean, I, what I did, I can't blame the blood or Ruby or...anything. The problem's me. How far I'll go. There's something in me that...scares the hell out of me, Dean. In the last couple of days, I caught another glimpse...

Okay, so finally, we’re hearing from Sam himself that he’s scared of what’s inside him. That’s all I’ve been asking for. This is a good admission on Sam’s part that he’s struggling and he’s still not right. This is where Dean’s detox went wrong. Step 1 is always for the person themselves to admit they have an issue.

The remainder of the conversation is probably one of the most honest ones the brothers have ever had. Sam admits he’s not fit to hunt and needs to take a step back. He suggests they go their separate ways.

Dean thinks about that and says: Well, I think you're right.

Sam: I was expecting a fight.

Dean: The truth is I spend more time worrying about you than about doing the job right. And I just, I can't afford that, you know? Not now.

Sam nods and says he’s sorry. Dean: I know you are, Sam.

Sam moves to stand up and Dean asks if he wants to take the Impala. Sam says it’s okay and walks away, turning back and tells Dean to take care of himself. Dean: Yeah, you too, Sammy.

We watch as Sam walks to the Impala, grabs his gear and hitches a lift with a truck parked at the picnic spot.

I think this is a good move on the brothers part. If they had continued working together the way they are, their relationship might be in danger of becoming irreparable, so space is a good thing right now for both of them.

Onwards to Free to be you and me.

#supernatural #season 5 #rewatch #5.02 #good god y'all #episode recap

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