#its so fucked that i feel the need to justify rewatching supernatural

[bylertruther]

i don't like season three when viewing it as a continuation of seasons one and two, but i do very much like season three when viewing it as the prequel to seasons four and five... hmmmmm.

[myassbrokethefall]

xf rewatch: jersey devil & shadows

Two early-series stinkers (affectionate) that, at least in the case of Jersey Devil, have achieved cult status or at least meme status for generally being enjoyable as hell. I imagine Fox executives side-eyeing a little, like, what is this, bring back those Squeeze guys or that Chris Carter who wrote the first couple… Really? Uh oh.

I have a deep and abiding love for Shadows partly because I once wrote a recap of it for a fan project, and being me I watched it like 85 times while taking copious notes and turned in a probably 10,000-word analysis, so I know it very well. I DO feel my love for it is justified, partly in its campiness and general silliness (GHOST BOSS. BLOOD BATHTUB. MURDER… AT THE ATM [MACHINE]) but also because Mulder and Scully are great in it, really Detectiving the hell out of the case, interviewing a hilariously mannered and conveniently expositional cemetery groundskeeper, doing a face-to-face with the medical examiner (Howard Graves… Is Very Dead) (she is my favorite, I say this every time, RIP Lorena Gale), and really using their combined powers of Believing and Skeptical in convincing Lauren to cooperate. Yes, there are TWO entire scenes where Scully misses the paranormal thing by seconds; yes, Mr. Dorlund is transparently evil to a ridiculous degree; yes, Lauren wears A LOT of Laura Ashley-ish florals (and this is the episode of Scully's glorious Halloween outfit of black suit, orange blouse, white tights; ah I love it). But, look, at the end, the case is over, and Mulder is like, well, case is over. Should we maybe go see the Liberty Bell? How often do we get to see scenes like that?? For that bit alone I love it, and that's without the Mulder slo-mo (in all of our hearts) jacket swing, Scully's Poltergeist impression and general horror-movie knowledge at the ready, Mulder with his feet on the chair, once again Dr. Ellen Bledsoe being the greatest, Mr. Dorlund getting his uh, wrist squeezed very threateningly with his uh, gold bracelet, by a ghost, Mulder's UNNECESSARILY flirty move of swinging his arm around Scully and breathing on his glasses to show her he snagged a fingerprint… ah it's great. Forget those Squeeze guys, hire these dudes! …They what? OUTSTANDING news.

One more thing I find amusing about Shadows is, I recently was reminded of Glen's ancedote that it came out of a note they got that Mulder and Scully needed to help people. Heheh. "This bitch needs help, get in there, you jerks!" I yelled at Mulder and Scully in multiple scenes this time through. I'd say Ghost of Howard Graves ultimately did more helping in the end, with his supernatural powers, but they tried. And they managed to stop saying vaguely flirtatious dialogue while staring intensely into each other's eyes long enough to at least give her a little encouragement I guess.

I skipped right over Jersey Devil, which is also a silly episode but, honestly, I think comes off better of the two of them. On the other hand, would I say that without the legendary appearance of the Bigfoot Titties drawing? Hard to say. I should add that Mulder and Scully are CRIMINALLY adorable in these episodes, still in their rosy-cheeked (or over-blushed), round-faced big-eyed high-voiced toddler days, and it is difficult to imagine that THE UNIVERSE COULD CONTAIN anything cuter than the last scene (Who was that on the phone? A guy. Same guy as the other night? Same guy. What are you doing, Scully? Going with you to the Smithsonian.) Despite them referencing (in BOTH these episodes) the having or not having of a life (side note, I can't express how common the phrase "get a life" or "he has no life" were back then; that was like cool slang man), vestiges of said life-having remain, with Scully having girl talk with Ellen (I remain obsessed with that exchange: "I thought you said he was cute"/"He's a jerk. …He's not a jerk. He's obsessed with his work"), The Date, Scully's old professor (wonder if she fucked that one. ha), and even more subtle things like Mulder saying "Thanks, Fran" after signing out a car. (Other people work at the FBI! And Mulder and Scully know their names!) (I also found endearing the extremely quick shot of the comics that Fran has taped to her desk. Very nice little set detail.) It all feels so ordinary and workplacey, which I am finding really enjoyable; it's like, a normal government office where people work, and Mulder and Scully also work there, and it just enhances it (enhance!!) when they're working a case and suddenly like a ghost causes a car accident. Or when a hot naked lady (I was impressed with how clear her ass was in the iTunes version of this; I suppose they didn't really bother to blur it back in the standard-definition days and I guess now we are all enlightened in the seeing of asses on TV) attacks Mulder in a dramatically lit warehouse. (Hey baby, come up to Vancouver, you can be on my show! Is something I suspect DD said a lot in the early to mid 90s.)

I'm really not trying at all with this post, sorry. I will wrap up with the revelation that, at least according to the procedural forensic efforts of my friend and me, Bill Dow who plays Chuck Burks plays NOT ONE, BUT TWO DADS in this episode — the guy in the 40s, and the guy at the end hiking with his kid. (Same kid too, I think.) Yes? No? Why isn't Chuck Burks on the convention circuit? Is my question.

Anyway, The X-Files rules. Next up, Ghost in the Machine, which I haven't seen in ages so that should be fun. Sorry these posts are so incredibly lame, lmao. Send tweet

[s0fter-sin]

idk i just need to rant

[girl4pay]

i think it was you a while ago that said something about not liking the use of like Magic And Adjacent Forces to circumvent the need for like… communication or emotional honesty or like the work of developing mutual understanding etc and rewatching SPN i keep thinking about like the inverse of that? where like the very real presence of all this supernatural fuckery in their lives keeps operating as this like scapegoat for so much very human emotional shit that they just. do not deal with at all ever and like… idk idk what i’m trying to say like it never or very rarely feels done in a way that feels like it’s meant to be like symbolic or representative really which like i don’t think i’d like either but like… idk i was just watching an ep where dean’s freaking out to bobby that maybe sam came back from the dead Wrong and Bobby’s like ‘no demon’s lie so sam’s probably just fine’ and no-one’s like ‘hey but like he did DIE under very upsetting circumstances and now his brother’s going to hell and bad shit keeps happening like… maybe he’s just having a good old fashioned Bad Fucking Time of it maybe?’ idk idk what point i’m really trying to make here tbh i’m just really trying to resist the urge to message my best mate bugging her about this bc i’ve definitely sent her enough semi coherent rewatch messages already in the past few days

YES i was just thinking about this omg. like how their whole childhood john’s fucked up obsession and holding onto his grief is justified by the existence of demons so when ppl are like maybe you need to let go or process or move on he can be like no they just don’t understand and it’s true they DON’T understand that demons exist. or like the episode i just watched where sam is influenced by a ghost and all his resentment of dean gets preyed on and he tries to kill him and after he’s like i didn’t mean any of it and dean is like didn’t you? and sam is like ofc not but like. the point of the ghost was he turned small anger into homocidal rage but because it’s supernatural they can just ignore it and move on repressed…it really is like if Evil as a Force exists you don’t have to every check yourself or examine your feelings or actions ever because you’re either fine or evil and if you’re evil you can’t do anything about it. and in this show someone will shoot you eventually or you will pay in hell so its fine. ah the americana of it all. but then the whole thing w sam and dean specifically dean is he WON’T let that ‘natural’ order take care of sam because he’s been taught he can change things by lying/trying hard enough/being good enough and sam is like ? an object or a reward to him and then w sam he’s always trying to be his own person but it’s always in reaction to dean or john so he can’t ignore the guilt and the feeling of indebtedness and then he sees his own anger as this all or nothing thing like either he’s Normal or he’s Like His Family. so you just end up with these two ppl who by show rules should be put down for experiencing the human condition loving and hating each other so much for it it’s CRAZY! which in the end is just like what having a sibling is like but. also watching 1x11 thinking about how sammy is religious and john is dean’s god let’s not even touch that rn though

[kalinara]

So HERE’s an unpopular Witcher opinion for you, having rewatched the series a few too many times:

I actually think Geralt had some justification for yelling at Jaskier.

It wasn’t the right time, and he didn’t articulate it very well, but he’s just had a huge emotional blow and everything came pouring out.  And the thing is, I think he’s got the right to be angry.

Jaskier cares about Geralt very much.  There’s no question about that, but from the very beginning, he’s pushed and prodded and steamrolled over the man’s visible and clearly articulated displeasure.  

That’s not always a bad thing, mind you.  “Toss a Coin to Your Witcher” really has had a clear and visible positive effect on Geralt’s reception, for example.  The banquet set a lot of things in motion for Geralt in the long term, including giving him Ciri (eventually).

But honestly?  Geralt still has every right to be upset that he’s been pushed into things he doesn’t want.  He can be upset that there’s a song out there that throws a group of people that he clearly sympathizes with under the bus for his own benefit.  He can be annoyed that his friend is pushing him into uncomfortable social gatherings in order to protect him.

And let’s look at Jaskier’s behavior in episode 5.  I’ve seen fans decry Geralt’s wish, but remember how it came about?

Geralt was on his own, looking for a bottle in a lake.  He’s suffering from insomnia bad enough that he feels like he needs a supernatural cure.  As far as we know, that’s the ONLY thing he wants from the djinn which is kind of fascinating in its own right.  But he’s doing his own thing.

Jaskier appears out of nowhere and ignores his sick and exhausted friend’s demand to be left alone.  He laughs at Geralt’s misfortune (and I’ll give him the fact that looking for a djinn is probably an overreaction, but as someone who used to suffer from insomnia as a kid, I feel you, Geralt) and starts babbling about his own circumstances.  Geralt makes a passive aggressive crack “Did you sing to her before she left?”

Now look, that crack was a bit of a jerk thing to say.  But the way Jaskier LEAPS on it as a challenge is a bit much, especially when Geralt is visibly exhausted and cranky.  He demands honest criticism and he gets it, and is then offended enough to fight a desperate man over a djinn bottle.

(If you think about it, Geralt’s criticism actually has some merit.  He doesn’t say Jaskier is a bad singer.  He compares it to a pie without filling.  Geralt, as we know, dislikes inaccuracies.  Even when he’s trying not to engage with Marilka, when she makes up a monster, he can’t not say so.  And again, Toss a Coin to Your Witcher and “what happened to your newfound respect” vs. “respect doesn’t make history”.)

And I mean, let’s think about what Jaskier actually DOES with the bottle.  He knows his friend is desperate, he thinks he has the djinn, and immediately makes two wishes (setting aside that they’re very selfish wishes).  He’s about to go for the third and gets offended when Geralt tries to cut him off, acting like Geralt is trying to hog all the wishes when there’s only one left.  And his response to Geralt wanting some peace is to say “Here’s your damn peace!” and BREAK THE BOTTLE.

Hi.  This is not the behavior of a friend.  This is a spoiled brat who was willing to rob his sick, exhausted friend from his potential cure because of his own hurt feelings from a confrontation he forced.

Is it any wonder that the djinn interpreted peace to mean Jaskier shuts the fuck up and almost dies?

(And while I don’t have an issue with his behavior for the rest of the episode, I think it’s fascinating that, sincerely believing that Geralt is dead, he is willing to lie and say that Geralt loved his singing.)

Jaskier’s not so bad in episode 6, but it’s worth noting that he was happy to try to push Geralt into dragon hunting BEFORE Yennefer entered the picture because he wanted to romance Tea and Vea.  After that, though, he was better.  More sensitive.

I don’t think Jaskier’s a bad guy, don’t get me wrong.  And I think his friendship is good for Geralt.  Geralt needs to be pushed out of his rut of “kill monsters to save people who aren’t particularly grateful and get insulted for his trouble” and Jaskier does that.  Jaskier genuinely does care about Geralt...probably a lot more than Geralt himself does.

But Geralt still has some justifiable reasons to be upset or angry.  And this is just from the episodes that we’ve seen.  They’ve known each other for two decades at this point, so we can probably assume that there’s more aggravation than we see.

So Geralt snaps.  He’s frustrated, devastated, and possibly already realizing that he can’t shirk his duties any longer, so he may want to drive Jaskier off anyway, and he just explodes.  Jaskier didn’t exactly deserve it then, but he has maybe deserved it in the past.

But honestly, when they meet up again, I think BOTH of them owe an apology to the other.