#also if i am not mistaken... the shot parallels to sams first death with deans death... we cry

[flugame-mp3]

SEASON NINE FINALE WAS WILD. I HAVE MANY MANY THOUGHTS. WHAT JUST HAPPENED. A FUCKING ROLLER COASTER FOR SURE

[theythemsam]

spn 1x08, liveblog, collected posts (all 11 of them) or as i like to call it: Creepy Crawly Curiosities and more sam parallelisms (which as y’all know I’m A Sucker For):

ahhh yes its the creepy insects episode

i might be skipping this monsters of the week edit…

#its very gorey and also insects dont make for a good picspam material

aaaand here we have the first time the brothers are mistaken as a couple

#Oh No

i dont mind spiders, but the idea of having one on my hand is terrifying

#also the dad sucks

hey sam finally gets to drive /on screen/

#nice :)

another woman dying in the bathroom, hey @ kripke is that your kink?

#its bad is all im saying #also im tired of seeing naked ladies on this show #where the equality? #where the naked dudes

the fact that matt realizes those two grown ass man, who are definitely not here to buy a house, follow him into the woods and he doesn’t immediately throw a spider at them and run shows that nothing can scare this weird kid

#listen... im just saying... if im taking a stroll in the forest #all alone #and suddenly sam and dean fucking winchester show up #saying they wanna talk with me #im gonna unpack my pepper spray just like for self defense #cause they definitely do wanna murder you  #thats their vibe

poor sammy :(

#like i get that john could have been scared of what could happen to him when alone #but trying to keep your kid under your thumb and kicking him out of the house for wanting to do something else #than the family business is still Not Good Parenting #and sams obviously very hurt about that #and it makes me sad

as much as i don’t like the storyline in bugs, i have to say that kim manners really goes off with the really beautiful wide shots of scenery

#like same thing with dead in the water #theres just some shots that are... so... beautiful ughh i love it! #i dont like the magical native american trope though #like... with the ghost lore? it can make sense but its still really gross tbh

like i definitely get that this is one of the weaker episodes, but i am much more afraid of bug attacks than of the hookman or creepy ghosties

#its a much more painful way to die if you think about it #id rather have a ghost break my neck #than slowly being stung to death by bees #and its be slow for me and very painful cause im not allergic #so that takes a little bit at least

sammy boy i get that like… yes john was doing the best he could but that… still doesn’t mean it was enough.

like I love john. he’s a fascinating character and i think he had the possibility to be a good dad, but he wasn’t and he still kicked his kid out of his home cause thats easier than communication I Guess and he still neglected them growing up and ughhh now im frustrated

[shirtlesssammy]

13x18: Bring ‘em Back Alive

Then:

Ketch rescues Gabriel from the evil clutches of Colonel Asmodeus, and Cas is MIA.

Now:

Dean and Ketch make it through the rift and into the AU. Dean isn’t so sure about where they are, and instead of listening to Ketch’s insolent lip, he tells him to take a hike. Ketch asks to help find Jack, and wistfully, Mary. He did have a soft spot for her --and doesn’t seem to mind she put a bullet through his forehead (and according to Dean, would do so again in a heartbeat.)

As they wander, they notice angels and their human captives on a bridge. The angels quickly dispatch two of the humans, when the angel commander stops the final execution. Dean sees the captive before we do and utters, “no.”

CHARLIE!!!!

I’ve got my fingers in my ears over the discourse that this isn’t our Charlie and the showrunners are so proud of themselves for making things right. I get it. I really do ---but I’m just too happy to have any version of her on my screen again that I’m just going to play in this sandbox. (And I’m still 1000% pissed over how they killed her in the first place.)

Also, is the commander AU!Cas?

Anyway, AU!Charlie appears to be a higher-up in the resistance. She knows where Jack and Mary are. The angels flap off with their hostage before Dean can get to her.    

Back at the bunker, Cas is back from parts unknown and EXTRA salty his husband is in the AU alone. (Sam: He’s with Ketch!) (Us: lol.)

Sam insists that they need to focus on Gabriel, not Dean. (Lol, “In love with humanity” Castiel is totally on board with this idea.)

Gabriel is a tortured soul. He is a huddled, non-verbal mess. Sam tries helping by recalling some probable triggering moments for Gabriel and then tries to entice him with his grace. No takers.

In heaven, Anael is done with Lucifer’s bullshit. He’s busy playing card games, waiting for angels to worship him. Dumah shows up and conducts a little family therapy. (Because they’re siblings, right? Aren’t angels seen as siblings to each other? Like, stop you gross writers.)

Lucifer asks about how the search for Jack is going. Dumah admits that they don’t have enough angels to find him. Luci refused to hear that, and she aquieces. Anael and Dumah exchange a look. BRB, Imma just making my heaven campaign signs: Anael+Dumah 2018!

In the throne room, Asmodeus is pissed that Ketch got the better of him and stole the archangel. And then he mentions that they’re connected, they’re “blood brothers.” So, Asmodeus can sense Gabriel’s presence because he’s taken his grace? Interesting. Is it the grace injections --or just any type of grace influence?

Dean is on a mission, and while Ketch recommends stealth, Dean dismisses him. Dean is hellbent on finding Charlie. Ketch sees right through this duty of Dean’s to see the personal mission underneath. Yeah, Dean is usually right but he can act recklessly when his emotions are compromised. He has A LOT of guilt about his Charlie.

The snowy AU world is so pretty. I’m sure it wasn’t fun to work in, but I bet production was over the moon with the snowy setting giving everything an even grayer and more apocalyptic feeling.    

Dean trundles ahead, and gets shot for his impulsiveness. Ketch, and all his MOL stealth training takes down Dean’s assailant long enough for Dean to recover. They ask the man where he was going to take Dean.

It seems that there is a POW camp about 5 hours away.

Cas enters Gabriel’s room, only to find it covered in Enochian letters.

Gabe wrote out his story since his “death” in season 5. He escaped, yadda, yadda, yadda, Asmodeus captured and tortured him.

Lucifer is all cleaned up and ready to play God. He hones in on an exorcism, and heaven forbid demon #4332 is mistaken for Satan! He intervenes, shoos the demon away, and gets no love from the priests, so he smokes them. Oops.

On their walk, Dean clues Ketch in on angel killing bullets, and Ketch clues Dean in on his festering bullet wound slowly killing him. Luckily, Ketch recognizes the poison the bullet was covered in, and sets to making an antidote.

Cas tries jumpstarting Gabe into feeling better, to no avail.

And in the most pre-episode controversial scene of the night, Sam sits down with Gabriel and tries to make him understand what’s at stake.

There’s a real parallel to these two wayward brothers. They both wanted out. But Sam recognized that his family needed him. There’s no getting out of this mess. He tries making it clear to Gabriel that his family needs him to step up and help. (He also says, “I need you.” and lo, Twitter was aflame. I’ll admit to being salty for diminishing those famous words until I read @tinkdw post about Dean and the need for him to use clearer words. I felt much better!) (Also, I just feel so BAD for Sam. Like, I know he’s driven to find purpose in his crazy, stupid life --don’t we all? But, he wants out so bad. Give him balance and a partner to normalize his world a little! Blerg.)

Gabe activates what little grace he has, and Asmodeus locates him. (So much for all that fucking warding, Men of Letters!)

Dean and Ketch are still on the move. Ketch insists that Dean rest and Dean...pushes onward until he collapses. As he tends to do.

Been there, buddy.

Ketch tries to tease out the Charlie issue and suggests heading back to the bunker to rest and try again later. (Which is a very sound suggestion if we weren’t all weeping CHARLIE over here.) Dean explains just how important Charlie is to us - I mean...him - and the weight of his guilt over her death. We get a flashback to Charlie lying dead in the bathtub which...thanks, show. We needed that reminder. Ketch claims to understand how Dean feels. I'm still having trouble believing that Ketch feels much of anything? If he's headed on a redemption arc then I guess I'll accept it but otherwise I just don't trust him. Like, at ALL. (Boris: Remember when Ketch killed Eileen? I do. All the damn time.)

Aesthetic break:

Charlie, meanwhile, is being interrogated in some old shack. They ask her for the location of the resistance base and she spits back, “Bite me!” Fuck yeah, that's our girl <3

Back with Team Free Gabe, Gabriel sips his archangel juice like a good boy and seems slightly more sane. Suddenly Asmodeus calls Sam and smears his smarminess all over the scene. He gives Sam ten minutes to hand over Gabriel.

Upstairs, Lucifer rants about the whole world order. Humans. Demons. Angels. He's going to devote himself to finding Jack, use his powers to remake the world, and...BOOM happy ending achieved. Anael tells him to stop bitching and make good on his promises. For example, give angels their wings back. Lucifer admits that's impossible. Wherps. Anael tells him, essentially, to go fuck himself and splits in short order.

Dean and Ketch find the camp just in time to see prisoners lined up for execution. The angels tie Charlie to the post first, pronounce their sentence and...

Dean and Ketch make their move. They race into the compound, guns a-blazin', and take out most of the angels in short order. The commander flaps away while Dean unties Charlie and whisks her out of the camp. (By the way, I am 100% on board with the Commander-is-AU-Cas meta.)

Jump back to Gabriel. (SO many jumps in this episode.) The bunker's warning lights blaze and sigils gleam on the walls. Asmodeus has begun his assault on the bunker. Cas and Sam check it out and get surprised by a cadre of demons. They take the demons out quickly, only to have Asmodeus flick them across the room with a flip of his pinky. Two other demons drag in a battered Gabriel and present him to a smug and threatening Asmodeus. Ew. It's looking dire for our heroes when Gabe's eyes begin to glow. Suddenly he insta-heals himself and drags out his wings for a dominance display. Asmodeus tries to fry him but Gabriel kentucky-fries him instead, sending him up in flames. Phew! Done and done, right?

Back in the AU, Charlie asks about our Charlie. Like Ketch, she tries to tease out why Dean's so invested in her well being. Were they...a thing? Nope. Charlie was into chicks. AU!Charlie softens. She can get on board with that. (Aw, Charlie) Anyway, Charlie tells Dean that Jack and his mom were last seen around Dayton, Ohio. And she also doesn't believe Dean’s wacky story about alternate universes...until she sees the glowing rift hanging out in the middle of the road.

In the bunker, Cas tries to convince Gabe to join their fight against AU!Michael's possible incursion. “You cannot turn your back on your father's creation,” Cas insists but Gabe tells them...like father, like son. He flaps outta there.

The rift starts to sputter. It's time to head back home. Ketch tells Dean to go back without him and he'll go save Mary and Jack. (Urgh I really, really do not trust him. He gets himself over to the AU so casually...so easily. With Dean gone, there won't be anyone to keep a wary eye on him. What's he up to? I seriously can't believe he's just...out to save people.) Anyway, I got distracted by my deep distrust of Ketch. Um...also Charlie isn't going back to Dean’s world.

Dean is us, guys. Dean is US. It makes sense that Charlie is staying and fighting for/with her friends. But like Dean, we really want her back any way we can get her. (Me: plugs my ears and ignores people who tell me Felicia Day is super busy with her baby and The Magicians and probably a billion other things. Mumbles line about “anyone can come back on Supernatural.”)

This does give us some very good Dean pain which, I'm almost ashamed to say, makes me very happy. Dean gets back to the bunker, shakes off Sam's and Cas's concern, and asks after Gabe. They tell him that Gabe's gone...and so is the rest of his grace. Dean takes it very, very well.

“Every time we get close, it always falls apart,” Dean says, despairing. And so we get their next mission: find Gabriel.

Son of a Quotes!

Champ, when the resistance crushes you, I’m gonna be there to shred your feathers and grind them into dust.

I just got spin cycled through space and time.

Sam, I don't think he's gonna open up and let the choo choo in.

Charlie was like family. She was a sister to me.

You might as well go back to the cage.

It's been...uh...what's the opposite of fun? ...That.

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