#season 10 meta

[blindmagdalena]

and ANOTHER thing about sage!!!

'smartest character in the world' is always such a difficult trope to write because the writers can almost never make that pay off in a satisfying way. but it WORKED here. not only did it work phenomenally well from a plot perspective, they made it work so beautifully from a character perspective!

the fact that she's doing this for enrichment! just to prove she can! because for her entire life she's been disrespected and pushed aside and underestimated not only as a supe, but as a black woman? revolutionary. best character in the show. i'm in love.

[booksandmate]

On understanding and other things

I think part of the reason why that final talk is so painful is because it shows that they don't know each other as well as they wanted to believe. Both of their ideas about who the other is and what they want are based mostly on what they want the other to be and not on who they really are.

They both want to be together, but in different ways. Aziraphale wants them to be on the same side, on the side of heaven. Crowley wants them to be on their own side, one apart from heaven and hell and everything they know, one where they can be themselves as Crowley and Aziraphale, not as angel and demon or even angel and angel.

And I think the reason they want such different things has to do with a number of things that could be summed up in their different life experiences and, consequently, their views on idealism and big changes.

Aziraphale never got over who they were in the beginning. I think for both of them that might have been one of the most beautiful moments of their lives, because they were still together, on the same side, simply in awe of the beauty of creation and unaware of the problems that would arise in the future. It is the only part of their history where they could be on the same side without breaking the rules, so it is only natural that Aziraphale remembers it as the best of times. But it ended with Crowley being unfairly cast out, so it's only sensible that he has a completely different perception.

And Aziraphale still believes Crowley to be an angel. He interprets his rejection of evil and his pursuit of goodness as a remnant of the angel he used to be and his desire to be one again. And actually, this interpretation makes sense, but it’s just not the correct one. Crowley has again and again denied his demon nature, doing everything in his power to do as little evil as possible without his head office noticing, yes, but not because he wants to be an angel.

Crowley has given up the idea of heaven as fundamentally good a long time ago, as it has proven, in more than one ocassion, to be capable of as much cruelty as hell itself in the name of an imagined greater good. Crowley's experience as an angel was good only at the very beginning. Once he learned that heaven was more about following rules than doing good, his idea of it was lost.

In short, Crowley doesn't want to be a demon any more than he wants to be an angel. It is not a matter of which side, but of the existence of sides per se. He does not like the system and does not want to be part of it from either side.

That is why he is hurt, because after so long, Aziraphale misunderstood his true nature. Crowley wants to be good, yes, but not in an angelic way. He doesn't want to go back to the place where rules and great plans matter more than real goodness. He just wants to be himself, outside of preconceived ideas of good and evil.

And so Aziraphale's offer to return to all that comes to Crowley as a disappointment. To realise that after all these years the one person you can consider a friend doesn't really understand you, the one person who has stood by you, listened to you, protected you, and done everything that no one else ever did. That even that person can't understand what you are, well, it must have felt like a stab in the chest.

And the same is true the other way around.

Crowley wanted to think that after the events of s1, Aziraphale had finally accepted who he was and what he (they) wanted. In the same way that Crowley hasn't been good at being a demon, Aziraphale hasn't been good at being an angel, and Crowley thinks that puts them in the same place. But it doesn't, because although Aziraphale is not just a clueless angel who silently follows the rules, neither has he been let down in the same way that Crowley has.

As I mentioned earlier, their difference of opinion is based (not entirely, but largely) on their different experiences of heaven. Aziraphale has been let down by heaven a couple of times throughout history, but none of them could match what Crowley had to go through when he was cast out. Aziraphale knows this, but he can never truly understand it.

So even when they both understand that heaven is not ideal, one of them approaches it with exasperating idealism, while the other doesn't even try anymore.

[greenqueenhightower]

Why did I just notice that???

Do you see how Alicent is so dissatisfied in the scenes during the Green Council meeting in episode 9? How utterly surprised and somewhat disappointed?

It's not because she falls from cloud nine to discover the possibility of Aegon becoming king when she learns about the lords' "long-laid plans" from Tyland Lannister. She knew that it would make sense for Aegon to inherit the throne for both the realm and the survival of her family, and basically gave us hints she realized this as early as the hunt scene in episode 3.

More specifically, she understands that she might have to put Aegon on the throne during the scene when a heavily drunk Viserys laments his fears of making a mistake in naming Rhaenyra his heir since he now has a son, and reveals to Alicent his prophetic vision of seeing his son with the conqueror's crown. Even if at that moment, Alicent reassures Viserys he made the right choice, you can see that the doubt lingers in her mind, and in seeing Rhaenyra return from the hunt covered in blood in absolute and ruthless callousness, Alicent recognizes the danger.

It is a wake-up call: in the end, she might have to choose her son over Rhaenyra.

And of course, we know that as Aegon was growing up, Alicent spent hours musing these doubts and even confronts him with them in episode 6: "You are the challenge, simply by living and breathing. You are the king's firstborn son and what they know, what everyone in the realm knows in their blood and in their bones, is that one day you will be our king."

So what explains her dismay during the Green Council meeting??

As I see it, the cause of Alicent's distress during the Green Council among other things is not that the lords planned a whole operation to crown Aegon as king, but that they did so behind her back, as if she is not fit to be included in these discussions, let alone be consulted for her own son's future and survival.

She rightly says: "Am I to understand that members of the small council have been planning secretly, to install my son without me?" and right after that comes the condescending reply: "My queen, there was no need to sully you with darkling schemes."

No sh!t.

Remember how betrayed and distraught Alicent felt went Aemond lost an eye and everyone dismissed her concerns as that of an overreacting and overbearing mother? The Green Council scene gives flashbacks to this.

Once again, Alicent's wishes, her wills, her thoughts, and her whole person as a mother, queen, advisor, and woman, are sidelined and minimized by members of her own council.

So this is why I think it makes sense that episode 9 is called "The Green Council" which contrasts the name given to a different council meeting in episode 10, namely, "The Black Queen." Because apparently, Rhaenyra owns her council meeting, even if she has to shut down Daemon to do so. But Alicent is not yet perceived as her own council's queen.

I hope we can somehow see Alicent truly become her own Green Queen in season 2.

[charcubed]

*points to subtitle*

Brad's line from the next scene is overlaid here because it is also Mobius' inner monologue in this scene when Loki didn't adequately defend him to Sylvie :(

EVERYBODY GIVE IT UP FOR THE MISCOMMUNICATION TROPE PART OF THIS LOVE STORY

[saym0-0]

i think it would be funny if grian usually has parrot wings but when he puts on the permit office uniform it switches to sparrow/some other english garden bird, just to be extra like. boring. bonus points if the bird isn't native to any other country hermits are from so its like super boring to him but super exotic to them

[mysecretwindowuniverse]

1x7 | Penguin's Umbrella ☂️

In between all the deaths via weatherballoon, clones, mutants, and resurrections, I still maintain that the biggest suspension of disbelief Gotham ever asked the audience was to pretend that Oswald wasn't stunningly pretty and most definitely didn't have a comically long line of eager suitors vying for his affection at any given moment

[unremarkablehouse]

Omg I love them Line Dancing together, they’re cute dorks.

Source: IG @Gilliana_fan

[aspoonofsugar]

Weiss's Design

Here comes an appreciation post of our Snowhite's beautiful design! This is also the third installment of my RWBY design series, after Yang and Blake's analyses. As per usual, it uses ideas shared in other Weiss's metas. Enjoy!

A SPECIAL SNOWFLAKE

Monty Oum's early sketch depicts Weiss as a living snowflake:

This is because Weiss's design plays with the idea of "a special snowflake" in two different ways:

"snowflake" is a derogatory term for a person, who is entitled, oversensitive and easily offended; it also holds some political implications linked to white privilege

snowflakes are famous for having unique structures, so each one is different from the others

Weiss is initially a stubborn and pampered heiress, who feels superior because of her name. Still, she is deep down frail and needs to build her own distinctive identity.

These two sides of our Snowhite are conveyed by the Schnees' semblance:

Glyhps are snowflake-shaped and they represent:

the family privilege, as they are inherited by all the Schnees - they are a magical projection of the family crest

the potential of each Schnee to grow into their own person - they gain more complex and individual designs with time

In short, Weiss is a special snowflake, for better or worse. She can give in to her father's mentality and be defined by her name. Or she can step into the world and discover who she is outside her family:

Winter: It sounds to me like you have two choices in front of you. You can either call Father, beg for his money back, and explain once more why you would want to study at Beacon over Atlas, or you could continue to explore Remnant, discovering more about the world and honestly, more about yourself.

Let's see what Weiss's design says about her choice.

SNOW PRINCESS

Let's consider Weiss's concept art:

And let's compare it to Winter's:

The two sisters appear similar:

their color schemes are the same

they look like royalty

they share glyphs as their semblance

they fight with swords

They are designed this way to show that Weiss looks up to Winter and tries to emulate her. This is clear if one considers Weiss and Winter's allusions: Weiss alludes to Snowhite, while Winter alludes to the Snow Queen. And yet, when one looks at Weiss's concept art, it is easier to see the Snow Queen's inspiration, rather than Snowhite's:

She looks like a snowflake

She is the color of ice and snow

She wears a crown, like a queen

Glyphs resemble the Snow Queen's power to turn snowflakes into animals

It is as if Weiss's true self (Snowhite) is hidden behind a mask (the Snow Queen). This conveys Weiss's insecurity, as she is caught between the weight of the family crest (a snowflake) and her idolisation of Winter (the Snow Queen). She is a Snow Princess, who needs to decide which kind of Queen she'll be. Either an Evil Queen like Jacques or an Ice Queen like Winter.

Still, Weiss is her own person and this comes to the surface in her final design:

The main differences with the first version are:

Her bangs and pony-tail do not part in two sides

She has a scar on her left eye instead than a beauty mark

Her necklace is an apple instead of a tear-drop

She has no tear-drops dangling from her sleeves

The golden circles on her bolero become silver and she gains silver decorations on her boots

Weiss loses her tear-drop motif and her color-scheme gets simplified. This gives her more Snowhite-like details:

The apple on the necklace alludes to the poisoned apple

The scar on the eye alludes to the magical mirror cracking

The final design only has black, white (silver) and red, which are Snowhite's defining colors

Moreover, Weiss's appearence grows more asymmetric. Her hair is not perfectly parted, but worn in a side pony-tail. This symbolizes Weiss's struggle against Jacques's expectations. Similarly, the elegant beauty mark is changed with a scar. This gives Weiss more personality and shows that behind the princess there is a fighter.

In short, Weiss's Vale design shows glimpses of our girl's true self. However, they are hidden by the cold ice covering Weiss's soul. Luckily, the Spring Arc comes and the ice melts.

MELTING ICE

In Mistral, Weiss leaves her white dress behind and wears a blue outfit:

This happens because our snowflake is slowly melting into water (white > blue), so that she can become herself. In order to do so, though, she has to first lose all the superficial things that define her identity:

Jacques: You are no longer the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company.

Weiss sees herself as the SDC heiress, so the story takes away her title.

Vernal: Your sister isn't in Mistral anymore. No one is coming to rescue you.

Weiss sees herself as Winter's little sister, so the story has her separated from Winter.

Thanks to this, Weiss faces herself and discovers who "just Weiss" is:

Vernal: Let's see what the Schnee name really means. Weiss: I'm more than a name.

This transformation is mirrored by Weiss's design. She loses all the superficial references to Snowhite:

she wears no apple anymore

she has no black-white-red color pattern

Still, her fairy tale emerges strongly in her glyphs, as she learns to summon:

Weiss's avatars are Snowhite's characters:

The Boarbatusk is the Hunter, who is famous for killing a boar

The Knight is the Prince, who saves Snowhite from the glass coffin

The Queen Lancer is both the Evil Queen and the New Queen Snowhite becomes at the end

Weiss loses all she has to be reborn anew. Similarly, her design is stripped of all the Snowhite's allusions, only for them to be expressed more clealry and in a deeper way by the evolution of her semblance. Weiss's magical snowflakes aquire unique patterns that refer to her personal story.

This process of refinement climaxes in volume 5. Here, Weiss dies, is resurrected and crowns herself queen by summoning the Queen Lancer. This Grimm represents who Weiss truly is. She is neither the Evil Queen, nor the Snow Queen, but a Royal (a queen), who is also a Knight (a lancer). She is a Queen Knight.

After this metaphorical coronation, Weiss starts showing her interiority outside. This is why she gains back her two missing colors in her journey to Atlas:

she wears a red scarf

she wears black thights

She is back to look like Snowhite (black + white + red)!

Interestingly, both the scarf and the thights are items worn to stay warm. In short, the closer Weiss gets to her Icy Kingdom (Atlas), the more she shows her true warm self (Snowhite).

QUEEN SNOWHITE

Weiss's Atlas design has three layers to it:

it is queen-like

it is Snowhite-like

it has all the colors of the previous outfits

1- Weiss gains a silver tiara with red gems. It is bigger and more refined than the old one because Weiss has grown. She isn't a princess anymore. She is a queen.

2- Weiss wears Snowhite's three colors: a white dress, black gloves and red jewels. interestingly, black and red are not covered by white. The ice is melted and Weiss's different shades are now out in the open. What is more, Weiss's outfit is similar to her Disney's counterpart:

Disney-Snowhite wears a dress with blue puffed sleeves, which are present in Weiss's Atlas design. There is no risk to confuse our girl with the Snow Queen anymore:

Weiss is not Winter's imitation, but her own person. She is 100% Snowhite.

3 - Weiss's clothes are white, black, red and light blue. These are all the colors worn by her throughout the story. In addition, there is a warmer shade of blue, which shows the cold is gone once and for all. These palette symbolizes Weiss's different parts coming together into a more beautiful and stronger person.

This fits Weiss's new summon:

The Nevermore combines all the other glyphs. It is the final form of Weiss's inner snowflake and the culmination of her growth. Aesthetically, it gives Weiss an angelic look, which brings to mind the final inspiration of her design.

MAGICAL SNOW ANGEL

Oh look! Weiss looks like Sailor Moon! This isn't by chance, as Weiss is inspired by the magical girl genre. Magical girls are heroines, who:

transform into ideal versons of themselves

fight metaphors of human emotions in the form of monsters

purify people's hearts

Weiss is the same, but the first heart she needs to cleanse is her own:

Mirror, tell me something, Tell me who's the loneliest of all? Fear of what's inside of me; Tell me can a heart be turned to stone?

Yes, it can:

Pure Heart Crystal (Sailor Moon)

Soul Gem (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

A gem standing for one's heart is a pretty common trope in magical girls' stories. Not only that, but the corruption and healing of these stones come up often. Well, Weiss's heart is a snow-crystal, which needs to be melted and rebuilt into a unique structure.

Weiss purifies it by fighting her inner demons in the form of Grimms. As a matter of fact these monsters symbolize humanity's darkness, so they are the perfect enemy for a magical girl. Weiss defeats them and makes them white like snow. She integrates them and the struggles they represent into herself. Through this process, she slowly changes into her ideal self. She doesn't need a spectacular transformation sequence because her evolution happens inside. It is slow, but deep and here to last. After all, the heart is irreplaceable:

Everyone is entitled to their own sorrow, for the heart has no metrics or forms of measure. And all of it… irreplaceable.

Hearts are like snowflakes because there are no two, which are the same. Weiss learns this lesson and starts teaching it to others. This is how she heals hearts. Empathy is her superpower. Thanks to it, she is ready to save her family legacy:

Weiss: I will not be defined by my name because I will be the one to define it.

Weiss's first step is to define herself outside the Schnee name. Her second step is to give the Schnee name a new meaning. She first refines her heart. Then she cleanses her surname. From her inner snowflake to the family crest. That is the kind of magical girl she is.

In a sense, she is stepping into Nicholas's footsteps. He purifies minerals into Dust. She purifies stones into souls. From Saint Nicholas to Snow Angel.

MAGICAL QUEEN SNOWHITE

In conclusion, Weiss's design describes her evolution in three ways:

She goes from being a snowflake (derogatory) to being a snowflake (unique)

She grows from a princess into a queen

She leaves the Snow Queen behind and becomes Snowhite

This refinement process is nothing, but her magical girl transformation.

[lenaellsi]

Why does aziraphale tells crowley he forgives him??? I literally just finished it and its driving me insane

hello anon! hope you're doing okay after that ending!

that's a hell of a question. there are a few different answers, and i think a lot was going on in aziraphale's head at that particular moment, but this is what I took from it:

-this is a dance aziraphale and crowley have been doing for a long time.

there's some sort of moral conflict. aziraphale repeats heaven's party line. crowley asks a bunch of uncomfortable questions. aziraphale doubles down. crowley calls him an idiot. aziraphale forgives him. crowley storms away. pretty much half of their relationship is built on these kinds of destructive patterns at this point--of course they'd fall back into it during the worst fight they've ever had.

-aziraphale is angry.

he's heartbroken, and he doesn't understand why crowley has decided to abandon him in what should be (from his perspective) the happiest moment of their lives since the fall. he's lashing out, and intentionally hurting crowley in the same way he's been hurt. he's not stupid, no matter how much miscommunication is happening in this scene--telling someone "i forgive you" after they've kissed you is going to hurt, and he knows that.

this reading comes mostly from michael's performance. several people have noted that in the moments immediately after the kiss, aziraphale says "I l--" and then cuts himself off. then he goes on a Michael Sheen Face Journey TM and ends up angry, and that's when we get "I forgive you." whatever else is going on with aziraphale in this moment, he's pissed.

-forgiveness is what aziraphale does.

in aziraphale's very first (modern day) scene of the season, we learn that forgiveness is "one of his favorite things." he forgives maggie's rent, and he forgives gabriel enough to shelter him from heaven and hell while he's vulnerable. it's an instinct for aziraphale, for better or worse, whether it's because it's something he thinks he SHOULD do or something intrinsic to him as a person who desperately wants to do good. occasionally, it's even something he does for his own gain. (see: forgiving maggie was a kind action, but he himself admits that part of his motivation was that she always knows how to find his music.) it makes sense that he would fall back on forgiveness as a framework for understanding a mess of complicated and painful emotions. it makes him feel better, forgiving people, and he needs the comfort of that here.

-he means it.

he forgives crowley for saying no. he forgives crowley for breaking his heart. he forgives crowley for always asking 'damn fool' questions. he forgives crowley for kissing him at the worst possible time. he forgives crowley for falling. he forgives crowley for making him doubt. he forgives crowley for being kind, and clever, and ridiculous, and special, and someone he couldn't help but fall in love with, no matter how much it hurts them both.

and unfortunately, forgiveness is the one thing that will always make crowley walk away.

[spnbeit-midrash]

late seasons watch through has me so deep in ‘when is dean aware of his feelings for Cas and vice versa’ and while I think it’s come to the surface to him a few times before there is no WAY post demon!Dean he isn’t thinking about it!!!! Demon!Dean was a dean that embraced all of his hedonistic instincts without shame, and we /know/ he slept with men, or at least Crowley; so he has to be aware of/attempting to re-bury his lack of heterosexuality; and then post cure we get ‘you look great’ and ‘I’m glad you’re here’ and dean trying to reach out but I think feeling a bit rebuked by ‘there’s a female waiting out in the car’ and then two episodes later a teenage girl says the word destiel to his real actual face and by the end of the episode he tells a little lesbian playing a mini-Cas to put as much sub into that text as possible!!??? like I don’t think Dean does a lot of self reflection but that is not buried deep that is AT THE SURFACE there is a degree to which he has to consider being aware of how very not normal he is about this man

[collarbjt]

SPN 1006

Is Supernaturl novel in spn famous now? Performed in school play, just wow

Dean : Out there hunting, is the only normal I know

Again, I’ll kill you john.

Oh, girl acts Dean.

Carry on my wayward son~

Dean’s “NO” face is so serious lol

Wincest Subtext 🤣🤣🤣 so hilarious

Sam got shut down trying to give some old-school stories!! Lol

Spaceships, and robots, and some Ninjas, and then Dean becomes a woman. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Wow is it a mid-term summary?????? Lol whatever, the end of novel Supernatural in spn is Swan song, it would be quiet disappointed to the readers in spn univ.

DESTIEL????

That word, ‘subtext’, is hit of this episode, yeahhh

D-stiel?? Oh Sam that’s the worst shipping name I ever heard!!! Lol Thx for ‘e’ sooo much. And what the Sastiel, Samstiel??? You wanna in Sammy? Finally Casdean, lol 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Sam and Dean are too old to be Sam and Dean, lol

Calliope, why greek gods are all in America?

Dean is awkwardly reacting to the compliments about his brother. Hahaha This Samgirl is a great playwriter!!

Road so far, in ‘baby’. Saving people, hunting things, family business- good intro, and summary

Cas is waiting Dean😭 with sad song it’s really sad

Calliope is picky, avoid the spaceships robots and tentacles

Oh,,, this play is now not funny, so sad….I’m impressed.

What… wait that man in vinyl, who’s that????????????

Samulet! Finally the writer realized it’s real Winchesters.

Heyyy it’s not a classic ROCK!!!!!! You guys forgot Adam??? Oh poor boy…

This play is so touching…maybe bet you Winchesters too, right?

Chuck!!!!!!

[smellypire]

I was thinking about how the gun shots in the new episode could indicate some form of morse code. Chuuya shot Dazai 7 times, and the first two gun shots were timed further apart.

Soukoku is known to have missions go by different code names, and we've seen Dazai communicating with Ango VIA heartbeat so morse code (with Chuuya) could be plausble.

I just thought that the way the anime made Chuuya shoot him so many times seemed signficant and meant something, so the morse code idea came to my idea.

The amount of times shot, 7 times, could be also a way from Fyodor to mock their bond and empathsis on his view on the shallowness of it. So he would make Chuuya shoot him 7 times to showcase how little he thinks of their bond (since they have known e/o for 7 years).

OR

As I said, it could be all Dazai and Chuuya communicating VIA morse code with their gun shots.

[television-overload]

Tiva thought of the day:

We've explored what Ziva's reaction might have been to find out she's pregnant after 11x02, but let's imagine, for a second, that she never went to Israel, never talked to Deena, never had a major shift in self-esteem and happiness.

Forget the fact that she and Tony would probably still have been playing will-they-won't-they if all that hadn't happened. Imagine for a second that they still got together, maybe still in a moment of distress with Parsons out to get the whole team. I just think that this Ziva....

....who is still part of the world, would have a wildly different reaction to getting pregnant. At least some part of her would have been so happy, she still lived in the U.S., the baby's father is close by, her best friend. She has a job, she hasn't distanced herself yet, she still had people to lean on, so I just feel like that would be such an interesting reaction to see. That Ziva had grown so much, you could tell she had almost found peace with herself, and then immediately afterward all that was blown to bits. She would have been freaking out, of course, but I think she'd have a more measured, calculating reaction to it. Like, okay, this is happening. What do I do about it. And of course she'd tell Tony.

But this Ziva....

....she's in denial. She's keeping it all bottled up. She's not letting herself be happy. She's in disbelief, feels like the world is playing a cruel joke on her. She'll love Tali more than anything in the world, but she won't forgive herself. Not yet.

[khruschevshoe]

The Beast Below & Kill The Moon as Foils

The interesting thing to me about The Beast Below and Kill the Moon as episodes is that they operate on a very similar concept: there is a living (very BIG) thing that functions as the only thing that keeps large swathes of humanity safe/alive and they both end with a bit of a cop-out where that Thing stays right where it is but how the themes of those episodes are WILDLY different based on how the Doctor&Companiok interactions play out.

The Beast Below is an exploration of how the Doctor does what is necessary, what he thinks is right and kindest to the most number of people, but that sometimes he is wrong, incredibly wrong, and that it is very essential for him to listen to his companions, to give them a choice, and also that at the end of the day, the Doctor is the Star Whale, he is lonely and pained and kind, that this is the ethos of the show: the Doctor is kind but he really needs to be stopped and reminded of it sometimes (really great parallels with the end of the Runaway Bride/Fires of Pompeii, in a way).

But Kill the Moon is all about how the Doctor is right. How he will always be right. That he knows better than his companions, that he always holds all the cards, that he is cruel to teenage girls and tells them they're not special and knew all along what was going to happen but didn't tell his companion just to see what she would do, but her decision didn't matter at the end of the day, not to him, not to the problem at hand, because the Doctor knows everything and is right and God, disregarding the other major problems with this episode it just leaves a sour taste in my mouth in comparison to the Beast Below. That in this episode, the Doctor is not a god that needs to be reminded of his humanity but a god that is cruel and all-knowing and somehow right in that. I've talked about how the Beast Below embodies the ethos of Doctor Who to me; Kill the Moon, at least in how the Doctor acts, feels like the opposite.

[evas-spn-thoughts]

s01e03 - Dead in the Water

We now get into episode 3, Dead in the Water...

It's a fantastic episode and great insight into Dean Winchester.

That's it, that's my whole intro.

So before I start my breakdown, I just want to say that I genuinely love this episode. The monster of the week aspect is fine, and the water aspect is very creepy and really works.

But, how they start to unpack the enigma that is Dean Winchester is my favourite thing. Dean in season 1 is very different to who he ends up being - part of that is good writing and part of that is an accident which ended up creating - imo - the greatest male fictional character on tv.

This is an episode that I can point to and say 'yes, that is the Dean Winchester that I see in the later seasons' because while the foundations are laid for who he is, there isn't a lot of obvious similarities between later seasons Dean and s1 Dean - but this episode unpacks the gentle side of him and how we know going forward that a lot of Dean Winchester is posturing and seeming tough, while actually being very caring and very loving.

I don't have a fear of water, but I am nervous swimming in lakes and any dark water, and this episode does not help with that anxiety. We open on a woman swimming and she gets dragged under, which is terrifying!!!!

It doesn't need to be said every episode, but my god Dean is pretty!!!

Sam annoys me a little bit with his whole judgement of Dean sleeping or flirting with anyone, like... it's entirely unnecessary, and makes him look like a bit of a dick. Its a very conservative view of sex and I suppose in 2005 there might have been a want to have the promiscuous brother - Dean - and the romantic brother - Sam, but now as I watch it in 2024 it feels a bit slut shamey. 

Sam is very touchy about finding dad, he gets annoyed about it very quickly, and it's funny because Dean isn't annoyed at Sam, until Sam implies that Dean doesn't care about finding John as much as he does. Dean goes on the offence and talks about Sam not being there and Dean being with John 'for the last 2 years'. 

This to me reads as Dean feeling attacked rather than actively trying to make Sam feel bad. The one thing you can always believe about Dean is that no one - other than Sam, maybe - cares about their family as much as Dean does, and Sam implies that Dean doesn't care which sets him off on the defensive, because Family is top priority for Dean, always.

Again Dean highlights the importance of saving people, not just finding dad. Another instance of his want to help people and not just kill monsters or be on a mental revenge quest.

Agent Ford and Hamill... God, some of the aliases are just not it.

Another example of Dean trying to go with someone to get to the truth, he messes up with the Dam and just goes with the punch to try and save face. It's not a massive thing, but it's funny to note that he's done that in this episode and the last. 

Dean meets Andrea, he's friendly, shakes her hand, isn't creepy or leering at her. Then he sees her son, Lucas, and immediately switches his attention to wanting to know how he is, when he doesn't reply, he moves on - but it clearly stays with him that Lucas doesn't talk. 

Him asking Andrea to take them to the motel is definitely veering more on the side of wanting a hookup, but the whole walk he is asking about Lucas, he doesn't do it well... but he is asking about that and not anything else. I don't see him asking about Lucas or saying 'kids are the best' as a chat up line, it's just Dean got a bad vibe from Lucas and wants more information.

Sam again doesn't know his brother all that well, because as we will find out, Dean Winchester is amazing with kids - from young kids all the way to troubled teenagers. It shocks me that in the same episode where we see Dean being so gentle with Lucas, we have his brother implying that Dean doesn't interact well with children. Like, that is not a way to show the brother bond, how Sam doesn't know that is beyond me - Dean raised Sam, how does Sam not see that Dean is a very nurturing and caring figure. I suppose it goes back to how differently Dean presents himself in front of Sam compared to how we end up knowing Dean to be, and maybe highlights how Sam remembers their childhood and how those 2 years away may have skewed his view on his brother.

Dean's caring instincts kick into overdrive when he finds out that Lucas saw his dad die. We literally see him look at the scenario in a totally different light, and he immediately can relate to Lucas. 

Sam does not have the same emotional reaction, he looks at it as a case, and sounds very calm about everything and is just stating the facts. This is the first clear instance we get of this case being very different for Sam than for Dean.

The minute Dean see's Lucas he has a one track mind for seeing if he is okay or knows anything about the lake.

Sam is finally understanding that Dean's care and interest in Lucas is not related to trying to sleep with Andrea.

Dean seems to see himself in Lucas almost immediately, which we will see more later in the episode, but to me, that is why Dean is so certain that Lucas knows something and saw something.

The scene between Lucas and Dean while they are drawing is amazing, its one of the core reasons why I love Dean Winchester, and part of that is Jackles and how he manages to make Dean sound so gentle when he talks to Lucas, but he also doesn't talk down to him. He manages to convey that Dean just cares... about everyone. He cares about this kid we met 5 minutes ago enough to understand that Lucas doesn't want to talk, but will listen and maybe just needs someone to understand him.

His voice and the slight break in his voice before he says 'that's... my mom' is so telling of how Dean is still not over her death, and it still affects him even 22 years on. These are all examples of instances where Jensen just does something, that he - even 3 episodes in - understands Dean Winchester.

'Kids are strong. You'd be surprised what they can deal with'. If that isn't Dean talking about himself - and most likely Sam, because Dean always puts Sam first. These throwaway lines give you an idea of what they had growing up, and how they likely had to persevere through a lot.

Clearly Dean trying with Lucas makes an impact, because Lucas trusts him enough to want to give Dean a clue and draws him a picture.

The whole hand in the sink thing is the second thing that creeps me out about this episode, it is awful!!

The boy are smart again - and I am here for it. They put together that it's coming from the lake not 'something that controls water'.

Dean not talking after Mary's death is one of my roman empires, I think about it so much. Because it makes total sense that he would stop talking. Dean feels so much all the time, so the idea that he was so scared after Mary that he couldn't talk makes sense. 

Dean very obviously sees himself in Lucas and through that he can connect to him, and also open up in a way he probably doesn't do a lot. 

We understand that Dean tries to be brave every day because of his mom, which is a knife in my heart. 

The blocking of the shot, and the fact that we see Dean talking to Lucas with Sam and Andrea lurking by the door is interesting, because at some point, the camera pans past Dean and makes him a blur and shows Sam very obviously and as the centre of the shot, and clearly you are meant to care about Sam's reaction to what Dean is saying and him learning something new about his brother. 

This plays into my belief that at least in season 1, Dean and Sam have a relationship that is slightly less brotherly, and leans into the fact that Dean raised Sam. This is a factor, because as everyone gets older, you start to understand and learn about the person that raised you, you start to see that when you were a kid you may not have noticed everything. Season 1 to me, is Sam learning about the man who raised him, and realising that how he remembers Dean may not be the true Dean, it would also explain why the softer and more vulnerable side to Dean is slightly alien to Sam, because as a parent, you try to hide the insecurities or struggles, and that's what Dean has done for Sam his whole life.

Sam tries to bring up the whole selective mutism thing that Dean has just talked about, but Dean is very quick to shut down any talk of that. Dean is very emotional and is not averse to talking about these things. But I think he needs to feel in control of how they are brought up and talked about, he needs to be the one to open up and not have Sam ask about it. It's part of Dean and his need to put up a front, he doesn't want to talk about things that make him emotionally vulnerable unless he decides to, and he will just shut down when he doesn't want something talked about - which I relate to.

This won't be the last instance of Sam learning something about their childhood, we get at least 2 more that I remember off the top of my head.

We get a lore dump, and some traumatic stories from an older woman. We also Mr Carlton talking to the lake. All the norm for Supernatural.

They go to the police station and are talking about the case. Lucas gets upset and tries to cling onto Dean, another way to show the trust Lucas has in Dean.

The boys get called out for not being rangers, and very aggressively get told to leave. They both stay quiet and agree to leave - even if they don't actually.

Dean's conscience gets the better of him, and we assume he heads back into town. Sam is doubtful, but Dean is very sure that they haven't solved the case, he says that Lucas was scared and he doesn't want to leave until he's sure Lucas will be okay.

Sam yet again has no clue who Dean is, because he is shocked that Dean cares about Lucas.

If there were water related deaths happening in my town, I would not be having a bath. Just saying.

Lucas is banging on the door, as Andrea is flailing around in the bath. Thankfully tv magic is at play and Dean and Sam come at the perfect time to save her. Dean stays with Lucas, and Sam saves Andrea.

Lucas begins to creepily stare out the window and then walks out to the shore line. Kids doing things while just staring is very off putting.

We realise that Andrea's dad and Bill Carlton killed Peter many years ago and the spirit is going after his family - which fair enough, if someone killed me, I'd be coming back as a spirit to get them.

He DROWNED a boy and he says they didn't mean to!!! Holding someone underwater is not an easy thing to accidentally do.

Lucas gets pulled underwater by the spirit and Dean jumps into save him.

Jake sacrifices himself to stop Lucas from being taken, and Dean gets Lucas.

Jensen talks about filming this, and it sounds terrible. Apparently he had divers holding his legs and trying to pull him under while he was holding the little boy who plays Lucas. Now I'm a strong swimmer but that still sounds awful, and they are wearing layers, so many layers.

Sam says that 'they can't save everyone' but he and Dean seem to be taking it hard that they didn't save Andreas dad.

In a very cute moment, Dean makes sure Lucas knows to say 'Zeppelin Rules' which is just adorable. Dean also gets another kiss from a woman he hasn't been flirting with but oh well, it's supernatural in 2005, its gotta happen.

Overall,

This is a very good episode, and the first since the pilot that keeps me entertained the whole way through, we steadily understand who Sam is as the show goes on and every episode so far has given us something new.

But there is something about uncovering who Dean is that just makes it feel more impactful, it might be that it just feels like we are getting an insight into something that the other characters don't see, and it might just be down to how magnetic Jensen is, that we constantly want to learn more about Dean and we learn things slowly.

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

Can't send asks from my sideblog, but this is @chewing-the-drywall

I feel like much of s2 fell into Frenchie's "we put it in the box and then lock it and don't open it again" in the sense that it set up A LOT that I was intrigued about how they would address it, but it either never was mentioned again or was handled poorly.

Examples range from light, like how I wish we saw more of the crew interacting with each other in ways that built on their characters from S1, where in S2 they didn't feel any more developed, or even regressed. (Example, Fang used the word Fingies 2-3 times through S2, and it felt like they were using it almost as a shorthand for his character, rather than making him feel more real and multidimensional as a character.)

100% @chewing-the-drywall. When I first heard that line I had I was so excited for the story to prove Frenchie wrong. Or show how important it can be to put aside problems to stay alive in the moment. But in the end, this one line summarized how the season handled everyone, besides Stede and Ed. Below, is an in depth discussion on where this season decided to spend it's limited amount of time. Instead of focusing on the characters and plotlines they'd already established.

This season had so MANY ideas it wanted to touch on.

Izzy trying to deal with his unrequited love and opening up to a new way of living. The traumatized 'Revenge' crew trying to adapt to a softer way of life again. The abandoned crew learning how to help their traumatized friends. Introducing new characters like Zheng, Auntie, and Archie into our main group. Setting up a conflict to resolve in season three. Along the way, referencing Pirates of history like Ned Low, Mary Reed, and Anne Bonny.

Notice, I've said all this and we're not even at our romantic leads.

Which is fine. Stories are fluid things. As long as the story knows how to flow from our leads to our side characters. Which leads us to how I feel this show took a lot of time away from establishing our central crew-

[Warning- this will be a controversial opinion- I want to know what y'all think about this] Zheng/Oluwande. This seasons habit of retreading old plotlines and referencing scenes from S1.

What S1 did so well was paralleling the side stories with what was going on with Ed/Stede. Usually, highlighting how well Stede/Ed worked by showing how much Ed/Izzy DIDN'T work. Or general hijinks that tied into the plot (Oluwande and Frenchie on the French ship).

Season 2 chose to parallel our main story with what was going on between Zheng/Oluwande as a budding romance and Izzy's slow recovery. The reason Zheng/Oluwande scenes felt like a waste for me in that the story was JUST a retelling the story we watched from S1.

A frustrated first mate(Auntie), and a legendary captain(Zheng) fighting over the captain falling in love with an idiot(Olu). In season 2, much like every callback for me, it felt like it slowed down the plot by pulling us out of the story. Like...yeah, you did the thing again, do you want me to applaud you for it?

I LIKE Zheng and Oluwande as a couple! I like that Oluwande was debating leaving Stede and taking Jim and Archie with him. But at the same time, I didn't care about Zheng until episode 7 when she beat up Stede, showing that yes. She's not just some all powerful woman taken down by a mix of love(the crew in ep3) and thinking that she was above it all (ep 7). She's fast on her feet, smart, and willing to stab someone who gets in her way. She's her own person. But.

Every other scene that established her was about her romance, felt like we could have put Rhys and Taika in there. It didn't feel...unique. It's as if the show only knows 1 way to write a romance between a badass and a bumbling idiot. Again. Oluwande in season 1 wasn't dumb in the same way everyone else was. He was protective of Jim, a bit nervous overall, but he was the person the crew chose to lead them. The season just dumbed everyone down a bit and called it a day.

This comes to the larger issue. When we only have eight episodes I don't want to rewatch the exact same plot beats with different characters. Time spent here ends up taking away from other stories we could have told about trauma and growing as a family and other forms of growing as a family. We didn't need another romance plot line. Imagine taking this time instead to show Lucius reaching out to Pete AND the crew for help. Or Frenchie finally feeling safe enough to play his lute. Or Roach helping Fang get over his thing with cakes-you get my point.

The fact we took all the found family stuff from season one, and pushed it onto only Izzy in S2 means when he dies, all the found family shit falls away. His death makes us realize we've been ignoring the central family we were supposed to care about. Because in so many words, their trauma was ignored.

[I even theorize if Izzy was alive and sailed away with them. Showing how he was taken in and loved by his crew, the ending wouldn't feel so hollow. This crew doesn't feel like a caring family. The person who protected them for months died, wasn't mourned, and then they threw a wedding the same day. Not even a full day to mourn. The 'New Revenge' feels like a heartless crew of characters we barely recognize because they aren't a family like they were at the end of S1. More like coworkers who sometimes fall in love with eachother.]

Trauma, Timelines, and Tonal issues when jumping from Episodes 1-3 to Episodes 4-5.

When the crews meet up, the story chooses to focus on the fun plot. Ed and Stede recovering their relationship, only dipping back into that serious tone when Izzy or Lucius come on screen to 'make things sad' again. I don't think the transition from 'serious' to 'comedy' was handled well.

I don't have an official timeline of the events of season two. But from what I remember, everything happens within 2 weeks.

In episode 4, Stede ignored the vote of his crew- to let the man who was torturing half his 'FAMILY' for at least 80 days- back aboard. This rubbed me the wrong way, as it showed Stede being a selfish prick in a way that could seriously harm his crew. That's when I started to see how not adding a *single* time-skip mid-season would hurt S2.

Imagine if we had a one-week off-screen time skip between episodes 4 and 5.

Maybe it's implied that they stay in that town for a bit. Izzy would a bit more time to learn to move on his new leg and start to open up to those he already trusts. Include a scene of Izzy WITH the crew, maybe laughing about something with the old traumatized crew, even if it's just a 30-second opener. Imply that the traumatized crew would have more time to settle in with the family they miss. Show that yeah, the traumatized crew needs more time to heal. Imply at the start of the 'Ed apology' that Ed and Stede have had more time to talk their issues out.

THEN have Ed apologize. You can even keep the bullshit corporate to show that Ed still has to work for this.

Healing takes time. Setting a series over the span of two weeks after half your cast was tortured by your lead love interest? After five of your main crew thought they would sail off into a storm and die after months of stress and life threatening battles? Why did that shit get shoved to the side so quickly?

Framing episode 5 as the START of Ed making amends with the crew, only to drop the plot by episode 7? Not a smart move. Because let's be honest, 'poison into positivity' in episode 6, referring to the fact that they sold all of Ed's loot to pay for the party, ignores the sacrifices the crew made to live that long. (The death of Ivan, and intense trauma they all need to work through). In a way, Ed throwing this party was him asking the crew to start putting everything away in that imaginary box.

It's Ed retroactively letting himself say 'hey, that time I spent torturing my captives was worth it because we got something good out of it' while still ignoring his own guilt. Ed needed to take accountability for his actions. No more 'I took 'a' mans leg' bullshit. The reason his arc feels so unsatisfying is that the plot easily forgives him. Fuck. I hate what they did for Ed's arc, but that's not the point.

Overall.

My issue with this season is not that it chose to do these topics, it's that it didn't think about the implications of what they were bringing up. It didn't dare to think 'maybe it's fucked if we quickly brush off a trauma like this'. Again. I know we have to blame MAX for cutting off two episodes. But I don't think 2 additional episodes would fix a tone problem seen going from episodes 3-4.

Fucking hell. Each member of the revenge had the potential for their own arc, so it's baffling to see them all reduced to 'well meaning idiot' when they all felt so fleshed out in S1.

When izzy gives his speech about belonging, there's a reason the only image in the show of the crew all together was from S1.

At the end of the day, Season 2 didn't let our surviving side characters grow. This is a mean spirited bit on how I feel the writers see the their own characters.

Stede and Ed are our leads. They won't die, not in this genera. Their shitty actions will be forgiven because it's a comedy, and as long as it's joked about, it holds no weight. They won't die. They won't get fatally hurt. Their trauma will be taken seriously, but it's a 50/50 on if they'll talk about it before breaking up again. They will eventually get a happy ending, their trauma looked at head on, because duh.

Jim, Olu, Lucius, Pete? Characters who used to have defined personalities in S1, but haven't been defined much beyond their relationships with their partners? Whose trauma might be mentioned, but will quickly be 'resolved' in one scene? Shame. Seems like they're only useful as set dressing, But we might make you useful as interchangeable side characters to riff against. Oh, and you're in love! Isn't that cool!

Izzy? I'll just quote Jenkins here. "To have him become a father figure to Blackbeard, and on some level to the rest of the crew, and to see him become the heart of why we’re giving pirates the chance to stand for being able to live how you choose. In reality, they’re thieves and criminals, but what our pirates stand for is a life of belonging to something larger than they are in the face of a crushing, slightly fascist normalcy." So...Is Izzy a pirate and accepted into the Revenge family? Or is he still an outsider? Jenkins gave us a romcom but still defines Izzy's character as that of one stuck in a drama/tragedy. Point and laugh, because tonally these two things clash HARD and will make an audience lose trust in it's writers unless well established. Leading us to the entire issue we've pointed out of not letting your characters actions hold in dramatic weight in your story.

Frenchie, Wee John, Roach, and Fang- Ah. No love interests again...shit. Well. Background actors it is... for now. We'll see. But we need 2 more scenes of the couple breaking up, so MAYBE you'll get some backstory hinted at in dialogue. You all have 1 thing your good at, so that's easy enough to put you where you belong.

Buttons and Swede? Well. They're still alive!! Don't be sad, fans :) The actors just couldn't show up anymore. We don't want our silly happy queer pirate rom com to not end on a happy ending! (Closes the lid of the trash can where they're keep Con O'Neill a bit tighter, thanking God Con was silenced by a strike this entire season from social media)

Do you agree, or disagree? Leave any lingering thoughts down below!

I'd love to chat down below.