#spn 10x18 meta

[amaranthhiding]

Hiding Amaranth

SPN Meta Posts Masterlist (mostly Samwena-related)

Specific to One Episode: 10x07: The First Time Sam Reads about Rowena in Girls, Girls, Girls 10x14: Samwena in The Executioner's Song 10x18: Rowena’s Hairstyle for the “Date” in Book of the Damned 10x19: Samwena in The Werther Project 11x01: Samwena in Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire? 11x03: Sam Protecting Rowena’s Head in The Bad Seed 11x10: Samwena in The Devil in the Details 11x21: Sam talking about Rowena in All in the Family 11x22: Rowena vs. The Darkness in We Happy Few 12x10: Sam and Lily Sunder in Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets 12x23: Sam’s Reaction to Rowena’s Death in All Along the Watchtower 13x12: Rowena’s Motivations in Various & Sundry Villains 13x12: You Want That? 13x19: Samwena in Funeralia 13x19: Moral Compass 13x21: The First Person Sam Asks About After His Resurrection in Beat the Devil 15x06: Rowena's Self-Help Books in Golden Time More meta under the cut

Parallels: Cursed - Rowena's and Castiel's Deaths Samwena, Destiel, and Faith Third Wheel? Rowena was the missing link, I’m so blind Mary Knows (Samwena Edition) They Learned from the Best Sam Smiling at Rowena vs. Dean Smiling at Castiel Dean’s Reaction to Castiel’s Death vs. Sam’s Reaction to Rowena’s Death Castiel & Rowena Parallels Rowena and Mary The Mentalists & Funeralia

Other: Winchester Derangement Syndrome Rowena and Being Needed Rowena as Prisoner Rowena uses tea as emotional support? Something Rowena Loves Shield of God and White Spear Samwena acting like residents in each other’s homes? Samwena and Free Will Rowena and Technology The way they look at each other... SUPERNOTCURSED Part 1 SUPERNOTCURSED Part 2: The Reckoning Sam Grimacing over Magic Dean’s Angel Kink and Sam’s Witch Kink (Part 1) Dean’s Angel Kink and Sam’s Witch Kink (Part 2)

[tinkdw]

Ok so that scene when Charlie's trying on clothes and is all "what about Castiel, he seems helpful and... dreamy" - shed never met him before that had she? So that means Dean would've likely described him to her. Why then, would she say he sounds dreamy, there's no point to it for the plot other than maybe teasing Dean? I may be misinterpreting this but, I saw a gif and I thought of this, so...

I love this bit.

It’s the writers adding a *point* into the moment for no reason other than to make the *point*. It’s unnecessary to their conversation. It’s unnecessary to the A plot. These are my favourite of the Destiel moments. Eg. Thelma and Louise, Bert and Ernie, the mixtape, last time someone looked at me like that, I got laid, the queer settling down with a hunter couple from 11x19 and how Dean immediately got on better with and teamed up with the guy who was basically Cas, the whole B plot of freaking Bloodlines….

These are just a few examples off the top of my head of times that Destiel, UST and the relationship between Cas and Dean being *more* than platonic is brought into the forefront for NO GOOD REASON for the plot.

Charlie is a lesbian. If Cas is dreamy, she means he’s dreamy for someone else… while she pointedly looks to one side and is having a conversation with Dean… and pointing out to him that he’s dreamy. 

*Tink looks into the camera*

She only knows about Cas from Dean and Sam and probably from the Supernatural books and online… perhaps she read some Destiel fanfic?

Then when she DOES meet him? She’s like… “I thought you’d be shorter”. WHY? WHAT HAS SHE HEARD? 

That he is dreamy and gorgeous and helpful and… the perfect boyfriend for someone. 

And who is Charlie’s BFF? The one she tells she loves, the one she is mirrored with (cos Dean is invariably mirrored with and linked to the queer characters in the show for *reasons*), has a Star Wars “I love you, I know” exchange with and gels with the most? 

The way she lunges towards Cas like he’s her new BFF by proxy.

The way she looks at Dean when he comes into the bunker after hugging Cas, her eyes so lit up.

The way we get the standard trope ‘balcony lovers gaze’ trope (which is then reversed in 12x19) with Cas looking up at Dean, while Charlie watches and smiling so brightly, looking between them, with Cas smiling and Dean glad Cas is there, then Charlie and Cas are bonding over their family pizza evening playing an origami future teller love game that is usually associated with teenage kids making it about love and relationships…

CHARLIE IS A GENIUS AND SHE TOTALLY SHIPS IT Y’ALL.

[restlesshush]

10x18 Book of the Damned is such a mixed bag of an episode because on the one hand: written by Robbie Thompson! Noticeably better dialogue! Cas and Metatron’s road trip! Cas gets his grace back! Charlie!

And then on the other hand the Gadreel arc is summarised as “he did something you didn’t want, and that pissed you off. And you said something that hurt him?” and everyone’s response to Cas getting his grace back is just “oh, good to have you back, man!” rather than “thank FUCK you’re no longer dying!!”, both of which leave my brain like SGHJHFDHNVFDVBVDSFGHFD?????!!!!

[deanwasalwaysbi]

I told you we were due for a win

Cas hasn’t figured it out yet. He is Dean’s Win. 

[according-to-the-laura]

StackedNatural Day 157: 5x18, 6x17, 9x18, 10x18

StackedNatural Masterpost: [x]

April 15, 2022

5x18: Point of No Return

Written by: Jeremy Carver

Directed by: Phil Sgriccia

Original air date: April 15, 2010

Plot Synopsis:

Zachariah has a new plan to overcome Lucifer but the strategy has unforeseen destructive consequences.

Features:

Receiving Revelation as a cosmic event, Dean packing his life into one box, Dean at his most self-destructive, Cas digging Adam out of the ground, a family reunion, a premium Destiel fight scene, Adam as bait, a heartfelt brotherly chat in the panic room, Cas turning himself into an angel bomb, the Beautiful Room, Dean’s conditions, Zachariah’s death, Adam meetin Michael.

My Thoughts:

We decided to watch in reverse order today to build to this episode, and god it was the right choice. I haven’t rewatched this one in probably 8 or 9 years at least and I didn’t realize how many moments that I remembered from the season happened in this specific episode. We all know I love season 5, and this episode is GREAT example of season 5. 

Heaven has so much power in this episode. There’s a really strong sense of scale, of the impossibility of the task that they’re actually up against. The bar being destroyed by Zachariah receiving revelation is great for that, as is the blinding light when Michael appears to Adam. 

Speaking of Adam, I didn’t realize before how much he’s like Dean. Not just in looks (although that shot of him and Sam in profile at Bobby’s kitchen table is eerie), but also a lonely childhood where he had to take on too much responsibility, and unearned attachment to his father, and a desperate need to see his mother again. It’s kind of brutal. 

Adam is also, apparently, capable of seeing Michael’s true form without his eyes burning out. He says yes to Michael right after that moment of awe, which I love in retrospect of them being ambiguously a couple in season 15 when they escape the cage. Unintentional but really delicious in retrospect. Some stories demand to be told. 

Dean has a major martyr complex, which @meg3point0 was theorizing is a result both of debilitating depression and the disproportionate responsibilities given to him by his father. He can’t kill himself because people need him, but if he dies as a martyr he’s useful and he gets to die. 

There was a great post going around a while ago about Dean lashing out at everyone in the most hurtful way possible and how it works as evidence of Destiel being baked into the show this early. Read the post, it’s not long - but the gist being that he hits everyone where it will hurt most, and for Cas that’s addressing the unnamed emotion between them in a way that belittles it. And then he beats the shit out of Dean in an alley with their mouths an inch apart, with some specific camera angles that will be replicated almost perfectly in Goodbye Stranger, where Dean was scripted to say “I love you”.

Notable Lines:

“Blow me, Cas.”

“John Winchester was some guy who took me to a baseball game once a year. I don't have a dad.”

“The one thing worse than seeing dad once a year was seeing him all year.”

“Well, Cas, not for nothing, but the last person who looked at me like that…I got laid.”

“I rebelled for this?! So that you could surrender to them? I gave everything for you. And this is what you give to me.”

“What the hell happened to him?” “Me.”

“Pretty much a no-shot-in-hell, hail-Mary kind of thing.” “Ah, so the usual.”

“Isn’t that suicide?” “Maybe it is. But then I won’t have to watch you fail. I’m sorry, Dean. I don’t have the same faith in you that Sam does.”

“the world’s ending. The walls are coming down on us, and I look over to you and all I can think about is, ‘this stupid son of a bitch brought me here.’ I just didn’t want to let you down.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 10

IMdB Rating: 9.0

6x17: My Heart Will Go On

Written by: Eric Charmelo & Nicole Snyder

Directed by: Phil Sgriccia

Original air date: April 15, 2011

Plot Synopsis:

The timeline is changed after Balthazar stops the Titanic from sinking.

Features:

Bobby’s extremely healthy coping mechanisms, Ellen and Bobby’s alternate timeline romance, mysterious gold, Final-Destination-style deaths, the Fates, a great needle drop, unsinking the Titanic, 50 000 new souls, an ultimatum, the return of Celine Dion.

My Thoughts:

We had our friend Alex over while we were watching this one and it is so much fun to watch the gears turn in someone’s head who hasn’t seen this episode before. When the Titanic stuff came up she was SO lost and it was delightful.

Phil Sgriccia as a director continues to be inscrutable - sometimes I love his episode and sometimes he does really weird jerky zooms on a random lawyer. 

This is actually such a cool episode to rewatch knowing that The Man Who Would Be King is coming. All of Cas’ need for souls and power is directly related to the things he’s learned from Crowley. When he says he’s trying to save the friends he has, he’s not talking about fate, he’s talking about what’s been happening behind the scenes. Cas is so powerful in this season and everything happening behind the scenes finally coming together on screen at the end of the season is SO fun and great. 

I love Atropos explicitly saying that Cas threw out the book. Even though within the narrative it’s understood as all of Team Free Will tearing up the script, the larger powers all understand on some level that Cas is the one who has escaped the narrative in the way that the others have not. 

In terms of Destiel content, I had forgotten that the “dirty trenchcoat” scene was in this episode, and there’s a lot of prolonged eye contact between Dean and Cas after he saves them from being exploded by fate. Not to mention, the explicitly romantic couple of Bobby and Ellen have an “we need you” moment that will be echoed in season 8 in Goodbye Stranger. 

Notable Lines:

“Accidents don’t just happen accidentally.”

“Wait, so you saved a cruise liner because—” “Because that God-awful Celine Dion song made me want to smite myself.”

“You have me confused with the other angel – you know, the one in the dirty trenchcoat who's in love with you?”

“Too soon?” “Yeah, Dean. I'm pretty sure six seconds is too soon.”

“You're the ones who taught me that you can make your own destiny. You don't have to be ruled by fate. You can choose freedom. I still believe that that's something worth fighting for.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 8.8

IMdB Rating: 8.7

9x18: Meta Fiction

Written by: Robbie Thompson

Directed by: Thomas J. Wright

Original air date: April 15, 2014

Plot Synopsis:

When Castiel rejects Metatron's offer to join forces, a surprising plan is set in motion; Gadreel is apprehended.

Features:

Metatron’s story, Hannah and Cas’ meeting, fake Gabriel, Metatron’s pop culture download to Cas, Cas refusing to follow the script, Dean torturing Gadreel, Cas discovering the Mark, Cas finally gathering his army.

My Thoughts:

So we’re watching in reverse order today for fun, and it’s super wild because I found Metatron so terrible and annoying in the season 10 episode we watched and I LOVE him in the episode. He works better as a pulling-the-strings-behind-the-scenes villain than a fist-fight-in-an-alley villain I forgot how much he works as a precursor to God - he literally does what Chuck would and will do. I love the framing of the story, although I kind of wish Cas’ fake world had been the entire episode so that the framing would have been a full book-end to the episode. I love Metatron speaking to us, the viewer, and then revealing that he was really speaking to Cas. Cas has been accidentally (to the villain) but explicitly (in the meta-story) outside of the narrative for a long time. Saying that God published the first draft is great (accidental?) foreshadowing to the alternate universes/alternate drafts of late-seasons Supernatural. 

I forgot the whole Gabriel thing happened so that was a fun surprise. I’m excited that Cas is gathering his army because soon he’s gonna give it all up for one guy and give us TONS of great lines. Speaking of, there were a lot of awesome lines in this episode too - see below.

I wish torture was still a soul-corrupting act like it was in season 4. Maybe On the Head of a Pin really did damage Dean in irreversible ways, because he tortures so much lately. I get where they’re going with it in terms of the Mark of Cain, but I think it’s not treated with nearly enough seriousness. It’s bad because it feeds the Mark, not because it’s damaging Dean as a person.

Notable Lines:

“What makes a story work? Is it the plot, the characters, the text? The subtext? And who gives a story meaning? Is the writer? Or you?”

“None of it was real, but all of it was true.”

“Now do you understand that ‘the universe is made up of stories, not atoms’?”

“Among all God's little windup toys, you were the only one with any spunk.”

“he thinks you are just a scared little boy who's afraid to be on his own because daddy never loved him enough? And he is right, isn't he? Right to think you are a coward, a sad, clingy, needy [...] ​​Pathetic bottom-feeder who cannot even take care of himself, who would rather drag everyone through the mud than be alone, who would let everyone around him die!”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 9.1

IMdB Rating: 8.2

10x18: Book of the Damned

Written by: Robbie Thompson

Directed by: P. J. Pesce

Original air date: April 15, 2015

Plot Synopsis:

Charlie contacts Sam and Dean after she finds the Book of the Damned - which could help eliminate the mark of Cain; Castiel and Metatron look for Castiel's grace.

Features:

Charlie hiding in a dumpster, a roadtrip with Metatron and Castiel, an exposition dump from Dean to Sam, Charlie uncovering the Book of the Damned, Dean wants to go on a beach vacation, the Styne family, Sam “burning” the Book of the Damned, Charlie and Cas meeting, a covert rendezvous between Sam and Rowena.

My Thoughts:

I generally really like Robbie Thompson as a writer but most of this episode I was vaguely bored for, with interspersed scenes that I enjoyed. 

Charlie’s character development is so funny because she’s a hacker and good with computers and then she decides to be a hunter while we’re not watching and then she goes to Oz and a bunch of stuff happens off camera and then she sews up her own bullet holes and breaks into museums and monasteries in Europe. And all of that happens off-screen and just have to accept that in the 2 years she’s known about monsters she’s become a more competent hunter than either of the boys, at least in terms of artifact acquisition. She’s also emotionally intelligent, which is a nice change of pace. 

This episode is a big bummer to watch post-finale, because Dean wants to go to the beach which we know he’ll never get to do, and Sam’s character arc has proven and will continue to prove to be accepting the fact that he’s always going to be part of a life that he hates and has wanted to escape since he was a child. And when he finally does he raises his kid to be a hunter, too. It sucks. 

Going to a random cabin and trying to decode the book there was wildly stupid. I understand it was necessary for the plot to happen, but there’s no reason not to chuck the book into the lead-lined case and then drive to the bunker, the most warded building in the world, to do research. 

The Mark of Cain was more interesting to me when Cain was around and otherwise I think that season 10 was mostly kind of bad.

I did really like Cas getting his grace back, that scene was fun and I liked the books exploding out while he got his powers back. Unfortunately I find Metatron so incredibly annoying in this episode that watching his scenes sucks. 

Right at the end with the scene with Sam and Rowena, @meg3point0 said “ah, here begins the great straight-bait of the century.”

Notable Lines:

“If this actually does work, we’re gonna take some time off. [...] Sand between our toes, Sammy. Sand between our toes.”

“Brothers and sisters? Listen to you. Still spitting out the company line like anyone cares. Like we’re actually a family? When what we really are – are a bunch of glowing lights filled with self-loathing or delusions of grandeur. Or both.”

“What’s the maddest thing a man can do? Let himself die.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 6.0

IMdB Rating: 8.8

In Conclusion: REAL strong Stack today, gang. Nic is gonna kill me when Kripke era ends up being my favourite, though. Numbers don’t lie. << Previous Day  |  Next Day >>

[flyingfish1]

Charlie’s swords

There’s a great amount of character development packed into Charlie’s use of swords, starting right in her very first episode.

The first time we see Charlie using a sword (in 7x20), it’s a fake sword, and she breaks it. Her life is falling apart. She’s just found out about the supernatural world, her workplace is infested with Leviathans, she just saw her boss get eaten, she’s completely freaking out, and now two hunters -- who she thinks are Leviathans too -- are pushing their way into her apartment. She grabs a plastic collectible replica sword and thwacks Sam in the side with it. It snaps in half.

It’s a comedy beat, a little laugh to break the tension. Yet even that little moment tells us a lot about her: She values stories about sword-wielding heroes, enough to keep a replica sword on display in her home. When push comes to shove, she’s willing to stop running and start fighting… even though, like that sword, she’s nowhere near ready for real combat yet.

Her next sword, from her next appearance in 8x11, is fake too.

It’s sturdier, made to stand up to play combat, and Charlie shows off some cool moves with it. She’s taking her “sword-wielding hero” fantasy a little farther, acting it out with fellow LARP-ers. She likes the fantasy of being the Queen of Moondoor, but she’s reluctant to believe that she could be a hero in real life.

This sword is only made for role-playing, not real fighting. Charlie can’t defeat any real-life bad guys with it, though she tries—at the climax of the episode, when the villain attacks Sam and Dean with a real sword, Charlie grabs her fake sword and rushes him. He easily parries the blow and shoves her away.

Her dagger is real, though. She grabs it and stabs Gerry’s book of spells, freeing Gilda and embracing her own heroic side.

She’s ready to start using real weapons now, just like she’s ready to start facing the real world. She’s not running away from the supernatural anymore. “No more replacement characters for me,” she says. “I got to face reality from now on. Sadly, reality actually includes monsters, but what are you gonna do? If I can ever be of help to you guys, let me know.”

In her next couple of episodes, she uses other weapons—guns and high heeled shoes—but no swords iirc.

Her next sword arrives in 10x11 when Dark!Charlie brings it home with her from the war in Oz. 

Dark!Charlie does some dark things—torture and murder—with that sword. “Facing reality” isn’t just kisses with fairies -- it’s darkness and awful violence too. Her time as a soldier in Oz has taught her how to fight for real.

Dean: What the hell happened to you in Oz?

Charlie: Everything I wanted. An adventure. Even got my own little sword.

Once her inner balance is restored, Charlie leaves to hunt down The Book of the Damned, and when she comes back in 10x18 she has a new sword, her last one. 

And looook :)

Look at that ambidextrous awesomeness! 

She’s come so far. Even though all of this mostly goes unmentioned in the dialogue, it’s such a good visual way of exploring her development as a hunter, and her development as a person too. She’s become a skilled fighter but -- much more than that -- she’s stopped running, she’s embraced her potential, and she’s finally become the sword-wielding hero she once only dreamed of being. <3

[inacatastrophicmind]

It's fun to share positivity in the fandom! So if you get this you're someone's favorite SPN blog, say your top three episodes of supernatural & send it on to your top three favorite SPN blogs.

Just 3? Oh gosh, this is so hard

I’m going to cheat and say my top 3 episodes per season, because I’m the worst

Season 1

1x01 Pilot

1x12 Faith

1x11 Scarecrow

Season 2

2x20 What is and What Should Never Be

2x18  Hollywood Babylon

2x19  Folsom Prison Blues

Season 3

3x11  Mystery Spot

3x08 A Very Supernatural Christmas

3x12 Jus In Bello

Season 4

4x16 On The Head of a Pin

4x01 Lazarus Rising

4x18 The Monster at the End of This Book

Season 5

5x08 Changing Channels

5x04 The End

5x03 Free To Be You and Me

Season 6

6x20 The Man Who Would Be King

6x15 The French Mistake

6x09  Clap Your Hands If You Believe

Season 7

7x23 Survival of the Fittest

7x17  The Born-Again Identity

7x10  Death’s Door

Season 8

8x23 Sacrifice

8x07  A Little Slice of Kevin

8x21  The Great Escapist

Season 9

9x06 Heaven Can’t Wait

9x18 Meta Fiction

9x04 Slumber Party

Season 10

10x20 Angel Heart

10x18 Book of the Damned

10x14  The Executioner’s Song

Season 11

11x04 Baby

11x14 The Vessel

11x16 Safe House

Season 12

12x10 Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets

12x12  Stuck in the Middle (With You)

12x11 Regarding Dean

Season 13

13x19 Funeralia

13x10 Wayward Sisters

13x14 Good Intentions

Season 14

14x10 Nihilism

14x15 Peace of Mind

14x14  Ouroboros

Season 15

15x18 Despair

15x09 The Trap

15x12 Galaxy Brain

[castielss]

That’s fair, I got some ships that I will never be okay with. I am curious, what episodes you would recommend, any favorites post S05 or even within?

Hey, sorry to take so long to reply but I wanted to make a good list so here it goes:

Season 5: (this is going to be most of s5 because it was all that)

5x02 - Good God, Y’All!

5x03 -   Free to Be You and Me

5x04 -  The End

5x06 -  I Believe the Children Are Our Future

5x07 -  The Curious Case of Dean Winchester

5x08 -  Changing Channels

5x09 - The Real Ghostbusters

5x10 -  Abandon All Hope...

5x13 -  The Song Remains the Same

5x14 -  My Bloody Valentine

5x15 - Dead Man Don’t Wear Plaid

5x16 - Dark Side of the Moon

5x19 - Point of No Return

5x21 - Two Minutes to Midnight

5x22 - Swan Song

Season 6:

6x01 - Exile on Main Street

6x02 - Two and a Half Men (the baby scene in the supermarket was the one to make me go back and watch spn)

6x04 - Weekend at Bobby’s

6x05 - Live Free or Twi-hard

6x06 - You Can’t Handle the Truth

6x09 - Clap Your Hands If You Believe

6x11 - Appointment in Samarra

6x15 - The French Mistake

6x17 - My Heart Will Go On

6x18 - Frontierland

6x20 - The Man Who Would Be King

6x22 - The Man Who Knew Too Much

Season 7: (for me it’s the most skippable season but there is still some good episodes)

7x01 - Meet the New Boss

7x05 -  Shut Up, Dr. Phil (If you love Buffy you will love this episode)

7x06 -  Slash Fiction

7x08 -  Season Seven, Time for a Wedding!

7x10 -  Death's Door

7x11 -  Adventures in Babysitting

7x13 -  Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie

7x 17 - The Born-Again Identity

7x18 -  Party on, Garth

7x20 -  The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo

7x23 -  Survival of the Fittest

Season 8 (don’t mind me if I again put almost every episode of this season here)

8x02 - What's Up, Tiger Mommy? (Purgatory goodness)

8x04 -  Bitten

8x05 - Blood Brother

8x06 - Southern Comfort

8x07 - A Little Slice of Kevin

8x08 - Hunteri Heroici

8x09 - Citizen Fang

8x11 - LARP and the Real Girl

8x12 - As Time Goes By

8x13 - Everybody Hates Hitler

8x17 - Goodbye Stranger

8x18 - Freaks and Geeks

8x19 - Taxi Driver

8x20 - Pac-Man Fever

8x23 - Sacrifice

Season 9: (For me it was also a very superior season expecially for Dean)

9x02 -  Devil May Care

9x03 - I'm No Angel

9x04 - Slumber Party

9x05 - Dog Dean Afternoon

9x06 - Heaven Can't Wait

9x07 - Bad Boys

9x09 - Holy Terror

9x11 - First Born

9x13 - The Purge

9x14 - Captives

9x16 - Blade Runners

9x18 - Meta Fiction

9x19 - Alex Annie Alexis Ann

9x21 - King of the Damned

9x23 - Do You Believe in Miracles?

Season 10:

10x01 - Black

10x03 - Soul Survivor 

10x05 - Fan Fiction

10x08 - Hibbing 911

10x09 - The Things We Left Behind

10x10 - The Hunter Games

10x11 - There's No Place Like Home

10x12 - About a Boy

10x14 - The Executioner's Song

10x17 - Inside Man

10x18 - Book of the Damned

10x20 - Angel Heart

10x22 - The Prisoner

10x23 - Brother’s Keeper

Season 11:

11x01 - Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire

11x02 - Form and Void

11x04 - Baby

11x08 - Just My Imagination

11x09 - O Brother Where Art Thou?

11x10 - The Devil in the Details

11x11 - Into the Mystic

11x12 - Don't You Forget About Me

11x14 - The Vessel

11x15 - Beyond the Mat

11x16 - Safe House

11x17 - Red Meat

11x20 -  Don't Call Me Shurley

11x23 - Alpha and Omega

Season 12:(Season 12 again is one of those seasons I really like, there is some top tier Castiel and Dean moments in here)

12x01 - Keep Calm and Carry On

12x02 - Mamma Mia

12x03 - The Foundry

12x04 - American Nightmare

12x05 - The One You've Been Waiting For

12x06 - Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox

12x07 - Rock Never Dies

12x09 - First Blood

12x10 - Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets

12x11 - Regarding Dean

12x12 - Stuck in the Middle (With You)

12x16 - Ladies Drink Free

12x17 - The British Invasion

12x20 - Twigs & Twine & Tasha Banes

12x22 - Who We Are

Season 13:

13x01 - Lost and Found

13x04 - The Big Empty

13x06 - Tombstone

13x10 - Wayward Sisters

13x12 - Various & Sundry Villains

13x13 - Devil's Bargain

13x16 - Scoobynatural

13x19 - Funeralia

13x21 -  Beat the Devi

13x22 - Exodus

13x23 - Let the Good Times Roll

Season 14:

14x01 - Stranger in a Strange Land

14x02 - Gods and Monsters

14x03 - The Scar

14x04 - Mint Condition

14x06 - Optimism

14x08 - Byzantium

14x09 - The Spear

14x10 - Nihilism

14x13 - Lebanon

14x15 - Piece of Mind

14x20 - Moriah

Season 15

15x03 - The Rupture

15x04 - Atomic Monsters

15x06 - Golden Time

15x07 - Last Call

15x08 - Our Father, Who Aren’t in Heaven

15x09 - The Trap

15x10 - The Heroes’ Journey

15x11 - The Gamblers

15x13 - Destiny’s Child

15x14 - Last Holiday

15x15 - Gimme Shelter

15x18 - Despair

Okay ther you have it my favourite episodes from every season starting on s5.

[waterlilyvioletfog]

Top 3 Supernatural Episodes Per Season

Warning: Spoilers below the cut. I am SUPER biased. Take everything I say with a HEALTHY grain of salt. 

Season 1: omg they look like INFANTS

1. “Home” 1x09. This episode is amaaaaaaaaaaaaazing AND it’s super important to the mytharch AND we get Winchester family drama. One of those early instances of “Wow we need to give Jensen Ackles an emmy like yesterday”. Mary turns up and foreshadows like??? so much??

2. “Scarecrow” 1x11. Super creepy, major “The Lottery” vibes, fuck I just. I love it. 

3. “Hell House” 1x17. Close call between this one and “Something Wicked” but in the end, Harry and Ed and all the hilarity that ensues just. *chef’s kiss* 

Honorable Mentions: “Something Wicked”

Season 2:  ugh so many good episodes season 2 is SO good

1. “The Usual Suspects” 2x07. SAM GETS TO BE SO SNARKY IN THIS EPISODE AND I LOOOOVE IT. Also Diana is a bamf. 

2. “Croatoan” 1x09. UGH YASSSSSSS. Close call between this and “In My Time Of Dying”, though

3. “What is And What Should Never Be” 2x20. Look man, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m cheap as all get out. Dean angst? Gimme gimme. Also it has WYNONNA EARP IN IT.  

Honorable Mentions: “In My Time of Dying”, “Nightshifter” 

Season 3:  half of these episodes suck, the other half are perfect heeeelllppp

1. “Bad Day At Black Rock” 3x03. This episode it just hilarious from start to finish. Also, Bela vs. Dean. 

2. “Mystery Spot” 3x11. A double whammy of HILARIOUS and OH FUCK THIS IS DEPRESSING. 

3. “Jus In Bello” 3x12. It was real hard to decide between this and Ghostfacers but ultimately, Nancy Fitzgerald (aka Ella Lopez) and Victor Henrikson are the actual best and deserve all the love ever.  

Honorable Mentions: “Ghostfacers”, “The Kids Are Alright” 

Season 4: Somehow there is only one episode that is not stunningly amazing?? 

1: “On the Head of A Pin” 4x16. Cas becomes a main character and it is AMAZING and oh my god give Jensen ALL the emmys oh and ALSO we finally learn exactly what Sam and Ruby’s “extracurricular activities” entail. Feels like a movie. We get the reveal that the angels are working to break the seals. Anna is also amazing. Why is this episode so beautiful. I’m fucking crying and so is Dean. I could gush for hours. 

2. “It’s a Terrible Life” 4x17. This episode is just a fucking delight. (Am I giving it such a high score on the basis of The Kink’s “Well Respected Man” alone? Maybe. Honestly I SHOULD be putting Rapture here but oh well. I’m biased.) 

3. “Monster Movie” 4x05. It was hard to decide between this “In the Beginning” “Lazarus Rising” “The Rapture” and “Lucifer Rising” (which all deserve all the praise ever) but ugh ugh ugh this episode is ALSO perfect AND I love it a bajillion. It’s in black and white and the guest actress is SO pretty and also I think I’ve already gone into detail about how the MoTW is a Lucifer Parallel. Also Dean says he’s been rehymenated so TRANS!DEAN RIGHTS! 

Honorable Mentions: “In The Beginning” “Lazarus Rising” “Lucifer Rising” “The Rapture” 

Season 5: You want to be sad? You also want to watch really good TV? SEASON FIVE IS WHERE IT’S AT! 

1. “Two Minutes To Midnight” 5x21. I know, I know. I should be putting “Swan Song” here but look,, I am easily bought with the promise of Julian Richings as Death. 

2. “Free To Be You And Me” 5x03. Funny Destiel buddy cop film, Sam gets to be filtered through the eyes of an audience-stand-in in universe, also contains Castiel’s ICONIC line “but today you’re MY little bitch”. 

3. “Dark Side of The Moon” 5x16. Narrowly beats out “My Bloody Valentine”, “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid”, and “The Song Remains The Same”. I am trash for any pieces of Sam and Dean’s childhoods and also this episode gives me SO MUCH material for beating up John with a baseball bat. 

Honorable Mentions: “Swan Song” “My Bloody Valentine” “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” “The Song Remains The Same” “The End” 

Season 6: We Don’t Talk About Season Six. 

1. “The Man Who Would Be King” 6x20. Cas. Destiel. Ow. 

2. “Mommy Dearest” 6x19. Eve! Sam Smith! idk, I just really like it.

3. “Appointment In Samarra” 6x11. As I said, I am easily bought with Julian Richings. Tessa the Reaper!!! Sam stop trying to murder your father. 

Honorable Mentions: “You Can’t Handle The Truth” “My Heart Will Go On” “Weekend At Bobby’s”

Season 7:  Terrible reputation given the fact that it has SO many great episodes. Sera Gamble? You’re mean. 

1. “Slash Fiction” 7x06. Why is this episode so hilarious???? Robbie Thompson starting out with a BANG!

2. “Plucky Pennywhistle’s Magical Menagerie” 7x14. In the total goop of “thick. black. ooze.” of this season, 7x14 is a light in the darkness. Every inkling of joy, of spark, of color, of childishness, all of it, poured out into this one episode, wherein Sam totally loses his cool and I love it. Sam looks so pretty at the end. Dean is simultaneously an actual child and an actual Dad and I love it. 

3. “Out With The Old” 7x16. I love me some levis, man, don’t know what to tell you. It’s just so fun!!

Honorable Mentions: All of Robbie’s episodes, “Hello, Cruel World” “Repo Man” “Reading Is Fundamental” “How To Win Friends And Influence Monsters” 

(The ONLY reason I’m not including TBAI is bc @mad-as-a-box-of-frogs is slowly converting me to hating Megstiel enough to not watch Destiel episodes) 

Season 8: That one season where we admitted that Crowley’s a DICK. 

1. “Hunteri Heroici” 8x08. CAAAAS!!! Also the only episode where anyone watching actually gives a shit about the Sam x Amelia flashbacks. 

2. “LARP And The Real Girl” 8x11. Super fun! CHARLIE RETURNS. Dean is a FUCKING NERD. Sam gets flirted with :) Real close tie between this one and Pac-Man Fever

3. “The Great Escapist” 8x20. Edlund really gave it his all for this last episode. Cas kicks SO much ass. Sam needs to be protected at ALL costs. Kevin ALSO kicks SO much ass. The actor who plays Sweet Pea on Riverdale is here??? Wow.  

Honorable Mentions: “Pac-Man Fever” “As Time Goes By” “Everyone Hates Hitler” “Trial And Error” 

(See note on The Born-Again Identity for why Goodbye Stranger is not on this list. Again, blame @mad-as-a-box-of-frogs )

Season 9: Sam is mad at Dean for not letting him go

1. “First Born” 9x11. No, I will not elaborate. Tim Omundson speaks for himself. There is nothing wrong with this entire episode and if you try to tell me there is I can and will gut you like a fish. 

2. “Heaven Can’t Wait” 9x06. DESTIELLLLLLLLLLLL. 

3. “Do You Believe In Miracles?” 9x23. Wow it’s the first Season Finale to make it to my top 3!! Metatron gets what’s coming, DEAN BECOMES A FUCKING DEMON. 

Honorable Mentions: “Bad Boys” “Mother’s Little Helper” “Alex Annie Alexis Ann” “Meta Fiction”

Season 10:  Dean is mad at Sam for not letting him go

1. “The Executioner’s Song” 10x14. See my comments on “First Born”. 

2. “Angel Heart” 10x20. BRING YOUR DAUGHTER TO WORK DAY. DESTIEL. JIMMY X AMELIA. COOL UNCLE SAMMY. DEAN IS A NERD. DEAN IS CLAIRE’S DAD NOW SORRY NO TAKE BACKS. (also, “blue eyes crying” is just ugh ugh ugh)

3. “The Werther Project” 10x18. SAMWITCH RISE!!!!!!!!!!! 

Honorable Mentions: “Hibbing 911″ “The Prisoner” “The Things We Left Behind” 

Season 11: Ahh, yes. You. Lucifer. Get fucked. 

1. “Don’t Call Me Shurley” 11x20. *slow clap* Robbie Thompson, you have served your country well. 

2. “Red Meat” 11x17. This is gonna sound strange, but this episode is sorta my comfort food?? I’ve watched it literally so many times. I love it. So much. 

3. “The Chitters” 11x19. Nancy Won wrote three episodes for SPN, all in season 11, they are all stellar. Chitters is GAY. She also wrote “Don’t You Forget About Me” and “Thin Lizzie” I’m putting them here so as not to crowd up the Honorable Mentions.

Honorable Mentions: “The Vessel” “Devil In the Details” “We Happy Few” “Baby” “Form And Void” “Into the Mystic” honestly just watch every non-bucklemming episode they are pretty much all amazing. 

Season 12: I WILL DEFEND MARY WITH MY LIFE DON’T @ ME 

1. “The Future” 12x19. DESTIEL. I would die for Kelly. Fetus!Jack. GOODBYE DAGON!! THE MIXTAPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2. “Who We Are” 12x22. JUST KILL ME WHY DON’T YOU, BOBO?! WE ALL KNOW YOU WANT TO. 

3. “Stuck In the Middle (With You)” 12x12. Destiel love confession!!!!!! Drowley!! Mary will fight everyone willingly!! SAM GETS THE ORANGE JACKET

Honorable Mentions: Every. Single. Non-BL. Episode. Watch. Them. Now. 

Season 13: JAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!!! 

1. “Advanced Thanatology” 13x05. *inhales deeply* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Also, Steppenwolf. 

2. “Beat the Devil” 13x21. DICK JOKES GALORE. Also, we must protect Sam at all costs. Gabena is perfect. Samwitch is also perfect. Sabriel is also good. Lucifer can go fuck himself. 

3. “Breakdown” 13x11. It physically pains me not to put “Funeralia” here but alas, I must not show Steve Yockey too much favoritism. Anyways. DONNA!!! DOUG!! CREEPY!!! SAM’S HEART IS WORTH SO MUCH MONEY!! GIVE SAMMY A HUG!!

Honorable Mentions: “The Scorpion And The Frog” “Funeralia” “The Thing” “The Bad Place” “The Big Empty” “Lost And Found” 

Season 14: 

 1. “Moriah” 14x20. Proof that Supernatural will go down in history as ALMIGHTY. GOD IS THE ULTIMATE VILLAIN.

2. “Peace of Mind” 14x15. I still haven’t recovered. Jared must have had literally all the fun in the world. 

3. “Mint Condition” 14x04. Yay!! Very fun!!! (I wanted to put Optimism here, but again, I can’t show Yockey so much favoritism. It’s not my fault! he’s too good!!) 

Honorable Mentions: “Optimism” “Ouroboros” “Unhuman Nature” “Byzantium” “Damaged Goods”

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

Well, that fits with my theory - the books in Death’s quarters describe all the possibilities but Dean is the one who composes the story with his choices. Like a choose-your-own-adventure story, Death’s books list the possibilities but Dean’s choices make up the story.

Billie is telling Dean that he writes his own story with his choices, just within the frame of the possibilities conceived by the books instead of outside the frame of any book.

Like, the time of ripping or smashing books/tablets is over. Now Dean can compose his own story, picking among the many many options Death’s books offer. It’s like we’re in the pars construens after the pars destruens - Dean and the others smashed God’s writings, now he can compose his story. Just like he’s been smashing John’s ‘story’ and now he can compose his own (of course it’s a process, you can’t pinpoint the exact moment between the two phases). Hopefully the smashing of John’s story comes with sweeping away all the ‘sanitized for Sammy’ narratives, because only then Dean and Sam will be able to have a healthy relationship inter pares.

Now I could start talking about the parallels between this library scene and the library destroyed by Cas in Book of the Damned, an episode clearly all about books in addition to suicidal tendencies and ‘the maddest thing a man can do’ and all of those nice things, but touching a Robbie Thompson episode about books and things at this late hour is not advised. (Do you think it’s a coincidence Jacob Stynes makes a “tiptoe through the tulips” reference in that episode while talking to Charlie? Maybe we need to rewatch it, like, yesterday? Isn’t all of this *waves around s13* about the Don Quixote quote after all?)

Anyway, I’ll just say here that Billie is - just from a mere visual aspect - the opposite of all the douchebag dudes in 10x18 and around, Metatron and the Stynes. Metatron was connected to a storyline of destroying writings (the angel tablet, the poor library), the Stynes were also connected to destroying books imagery (the book Sam burned pretending it was the BotD). I know no one likes to talk about the Stynes storyline but I loved a lot about it, they’re Robbie’s creations and it means something (also there’s a whole femininity and truth versus toxic masculinity thing there, with Mary Shelley damaging them by publishing a book revealing the truth about them). But I’m digressing.

To get back to my original point, it’s like this scene tells us that we’re going from demolishing the narratives imposed from others (douchebag men, mostly) on Dean&co, to picking their own narratives with their own choices.

Oh god, I have emotions about this show.

Dean… every notebook on this particular shelf tells a version of how you die. You specifically… heart attack, burned by a red-haired witch, stabbed by a ghoul in a graveyard, and on and on. But which one is right? That depends on you, on the choices you make.

I find so fascinating that everything in the Supernatural universe, is, ultimately, a story. Everyone with enough power to interfere with free will writes something: God had Metatron write the tablets and prophets write the Bible, then he wrote the Winchester gospels himself; Amara had the nun Agnes write the Book of the Damned, that allowed her to get free and start telling her own version of the story; Metatron harnessed the power of the Angel tablet to write the scripts of his own story… and even on a micro scale, we have John’s journal (mentioned in 13x02 and 13x04), representative of John ‘writing’ the story of the Winchester family, taking free will away from his sons. Last season, we had the British Men of Letters telling their “story” and writing their reports - they also represented a force that tried to impose their own worldview and their own decisions on the American hunter community.

And now we find out that death, each of our deaths, is also a story. But unlike the stories written by God and by Metatron in his attempt to cover God’s role, it’s not a single, coercive story. It’s almost a choose-your-own-adventure kind of story - the ending is death, of course, that’s fixed; but how and when it happens, that depends on your choices. Sure, the amount of possible options seems to be a finite number, but there seems to still be a wide array of different possibilities.

It seems like Death is not a force as restrictive/suppressing of free will as the other story-writing entities we’ve seen in the show. Dean, Sam, Cas, Bobby, Crowley and all their allies fought against God’s script, they ripped the script. There was only one story written on there, one possibility. It was either follow that path, or reject it altogether.

Death, on the other hand, has a fixed destination, but you can choose your own path. The path depends on you, and the time and modality of the destination depend on you, on your choices. Ironically, death is both an inescapable destiny, and a force that allows you your own choices.

And now I’m thinking about what this means about the storytelling choices of the current showrunner. God/Chuck and the Supernatural books represented Kripke, Metatron’s scripts represented Carver - what represents Dabb? I thought it would be Mick Davies with his reports, but now I’m wondering whether it’s the books in Death’s quarters.

The shelves labelled W also remind me of something very Andrew Dabb. His episode Dark Side of the Moon established the structure of heaven, and suggested that “Winchesters” have heavens in the same section of heaven. In his episode Inside Man, he confirmed that heaven is structured in alphabetical order. All people called Robert Singer have heavens in the same corridor. Now, season 13 shows that Death also organizes people’s files in alphabetical order.

@elizabethrobertajones has written a post about Dabb’s storytelling being “poetic” like Billie mentions the universe being; and I wonder if Death’s notebooks are the narrative allegory for the current showrunner’s work. The destination is fixed, but the modality of how to get there, that depends on the characters and their choices. It’s not the showrunner writing the story for the characters, making them move on the chessboard of the story, but the showrunner waits while the characters make their own choices. The characters’ choices have also counted in the past, but in an oppositional way. Cas has smashed tablets. Now it seems to be no more conflict. The showrunner lets the story unroll. He puts the rhymes, but the characters make the choices.

[orionsangel86]

So. 13x02. Was it just me or did that scene where Dean fights the demon in the hotel room for a while until Sam runs in and saves him just feel kinda rapey? Dean seemed really shook too. That demon was hella aggressive and inappropriate - more than usual for trying to kill a guy on this show. And the fight choreography - jeez. What was that about? Can I count this as the must-have-but-no-one-wants Bucklemming questionable consent moment / rape moment? What did I just witness? My poor Dean. WTH?

So yes this scene stood out to me for a lot of reasons, but I don’t actually see it as a negative moment nor equate it with Bucklemmings standard moments of dubious consent (that honour went to Mary and the rapey hunter dude - thanks Bucklemming).

I was gonna write about this in my review. My review which remains in draft form as I write this because I cannot focus long enough to sort out everything I wanna say. *sobs at own inadequacy*

So yes this scene. So you may not have heard but SPN has a new stunt and fight co-ordinator for season 13. So the fight scenes so far have indeed seemed more brutal than previously. Personally I think they have all been awesome. But this one does indeed stand out, and you are right that it seems kinda rapey. Why is that? 

Remember when we talked about 12x11 and Dean’s infamous ride on Larry? How the whole thing was framed to be sexual – look out for @margarittet meta on this scene compared to the movie Urban Cowboy for more info because it is eye opening.

Something SPN does extremely well is utilise standard filming techniques for the ‘male gaze’ but focused on Dean. Dean is quite regularly now framed in a way that would usually be used for a sexy female and it is so very interesting to me that they do this. It is extremely rare for mainstream film and TV to use these filming techniques on male actors. But Dean constantly gets the female treatment. There is an excellent slightly NSFW meta post going around about how Dean is always the character who gets holy water ‘facials’ and the sexual implications of filming said ‘facials’ in a certain way. Note how Dean is also always the character filmed shoving things into his mouth. These filming techniques are never used on Sam. 

Back to this fight scene, and the same techniques are used here. This fight scene was difficult to watch because it was incredibly suggestive, and sexualised. This gigantic beast of a male demon throws Dean down, gets him on the table with his legs up in the air and spread out, then proceeds to pick him up so his face is basically in Dean’s groin, to throw him down on the bed. At which point Dean cowers whilst Sam stabs him through the back.

The moment on the table is bad enough. He is literally lying there with his legs spread while this guy goes at him.and bends forward over him - effectively forcing Dean’s legs up and back like that common position you see in porn where you wonder how often those dudes have to stretch out their hamstrings cos jeez… at least we now know Jensen’s range of flexibility >_>

Then look at this:

I beg anyone to find me a scene in any action movie where this same choreography has been used for the male hero before. I would be very interested in watching it. You know where it HAS been used though?

Here.

In fact in the majority of black widow fights, she ends up with her legs wrapped around the enemy. Interesting right?

However when women use this type of fight style, the character usually has the upper hand. This is because women tend to be stronger in their legs and thighs than their arms. Men however have all sorts of sensitive dangly bits that makes this position extremely uncomfortable and vulnerable for them, so its just not ever done. Its still always framed as sexual though. Women fight this way because it appeals to the male gaze. “Ooh I’d like her to wrap her legs around me like that *wink wink nudge nudge*”.

Ignoring the glaringly obvious sexual undertones of the scene for a moment though, I have to ask why the new stunt coordinator would choose to put Dean in this position at all? Especially when it is then followed by this shot:

Dean, thrown on the bed, pushing himself back and away from his attacker, until Sam turns up at the last minute and saves the day.

Dean is extremely vulnerable throughout the entire fight. He’s not on form at all. This entire fight is showing just how off his game Dean is right now. He’s at rock bottom with his grief weighing on him heavily. Hence the demon gets the upper hand practically straight away. The fight appears sexualised and rapey because it is supposed to be that way. We are supposed to feel uncomfortable watching this scene and it is supposed to signify just how wrong Dean is at the moment. His grief has really wrecked him.

This isn’t the first time we have had shots of Dean in precarious positions however:

So it isn’t a new thing at all. This shot was from 10x18, when Dean was slowly succumbing to the Mark of Cain and was also in a vulnerable position. Another gigantic beast of a man comes towards him and it took something like 8 shots to the chest to take him down. There was genuine fear on Dean’s face in this scene. Dean got the upper hand eventually but the entire scene was framed with an air of discomfort for the audience. Especially since Mr Jacob Stein was leering at him in an overtly sexual manner the entire time his beastly accomplice had Dean pinned.

Two scenes reeking of sexual undertones, both where Dean is put on his back with his legs spread. Its supposed to feel rapey, its supposed to make him vulnerable. Both the 10x18 scene and the 13x02 scene are during times when Dean is travelling down a very dark path towards his own destruction. Whether through the Mark, or through his own heavy hearted grief. 

So there are two reasons why Dean was put in this position. The main reason being to express vulnerability. 

The other reason is to sexualise him and to suggest to the audience just how easily Dean fits into a certain type of sexual role. Of course with the first reason being dominant here the audience is left uneasy and wondering what on earth just happened. But Dean being sexualised and objectified is a pretty constant theme throughout the show. Especially by men and for men. Its part of his bisexual coding. It’s something we never see with Sam - or Cas for that matter. 

Or maybe they just thought spreading Dean’s legs for a huge beast of a man on camera for a second would go down well with fandom. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[tinkdw]

Do you think that if Cas gets the choice between staying an angel (powers, mojo, wings, everything) or staying human (if he were to become human again at some point), and if he chose to stay an angel but remain on Earth (I'm not saying that this would happen, it's a hypothetical) could his endgame still happen or will it only happen if he was to become fully human? Could he remain on Earth, be mostly human but still have some angel aspects (earth angel, if you will)?

Well, for me personally his endgame is to be Human because of all the lead up to him loving Humanity etc but mainly it is the whole heap of moments in seasons 9 - 10 especially that point to the fact that he WANTS to be Human.

In season 9 he becomes Human and it is jarring, painful, awful until he gets to the bunker, then he feels happy, safe and smiles so brightly… THIS is what he wants.

Of course this doesn’t last long, so his experience of being Human isn’t even a GOOD one, but he still wants it again as proved by his actions and words afterwards…

He tells Sam in a clear exposition that he misses being Human (and what the PB&J represents for him):

Then when Cas thinks Dean is dead he cries upon hearing it, then tells Hannah “I just wanna be an Angel”. Because he wants his emotions to be dulled, as he later says to Hannah herself:

…they’re dangerous temptations.”

 HE KNOWS THIS BECAUSE HE HAS EXPERIENCED THIS.

He wants to be an Angel again because he thinks there is nothing more for him on Earth, Dean is dead, his emotions are so painful, his family is destroyed, he just wants to help the Angels, his other family (because he still views them as such until season 11), as much as he can and hopes to feel less pain in doing so. At THIS point he thinks that being an Angel is better than being Human, because feeling nothing is better than feeling pain, you don’t get the highs but you don’t get the lows. 

So this takes us to Hannah and how Cas changes his mind moving forwards (yes, it also has a lot to do with Dean, but it is not all just Dean) …

Hannah is an exposition for Cas’s emotions and feelings.

There are various characters that are expositions over the years for our protagonists feelings, for Cas they are Anna, Hannah and Chuck, for Dean it’s Amara, Lisa & Ben, Charlie, Mary, all the waitresses etc, Sam’s is Amelia, Sully, Ruby for example.

In this difficult time where he is trying to save his brothers and sisters and Dean, where he is half Angel and… well still half Human in a way, one foot in Heaven, one on Earth. There are SO many instances where Hannah shows us that Cas wants to be Human in the end…

In 10x01:

Cas: “Perhaps I’ve been down here with them for too long. There’s seemingly nothing but chaos. But not all bad comes from it. Art. Hope. Love. Dreams.”Hannah: “But t-those are human things.”Cas: *looking wistful and downcast* “Yes.”

He is wistful not just for Humanity, but for HIS Humanity, to be able to experience it for himself again… This is in the same episode that Cas defends and tries to save the 2 fishing Angels who just want to experience and love Humanity, because he GETS IT. Yes, this is also a potential for him to be an “Earth Angel” but it also shows how he would likely be hunted if so and also this fantastic exchange:

Cas: “Do they – do they put up much of a fight?”

Daniel: “The ones who truly want to be free? They do”.

In 10x03:

Cas literally quotes Dean to Hannah about being ���fine” then they talk about why possibly Cas would go to help Dean when he is in such bad condition himself (duh), Hannah literally then replicates CAS’s feelings of worry and putting himself out for DEAN in her interactions with worrying and putting herself out for Cas AND IT COMES ACROSS AS SO ROMANTIC IT MADE EVERYONE LOSE THEIR SHIT THAT THEY WERE GOING TO MAKE HER A LOVE INTEREST FOR CAS, LMAO I CANT EVEN!!!

OK, there is loads more Hannah / Cas stuff that is about Dean, but you didn’t ask about that, you asked about Humanity ok, so… this seems like it’s about Dean, but bear with me, it’s also about how he wants to be Human and not an Angel anymore…

THEN the most important one, in 10x18:

In the moment he gets his OWN grace back, this is the moment that he completely rescinds his Humanity and in this moment he says:

… Let himself die”

This is him considering that he is sacrificing himself, he sees this as a DEATH. Becoming who he now IS NOT, who he doesn’t want to be.

And why does he do it? TO SAVE DEAN. Yes also to help put the Angels back in Heaven etc etc but earlier he told Hannah that he WOULD NOT go to Metatron to get his grace back, so what changed his mind? 

Metatron was in Heaven’s jail, then made powerless, Hannah is restoring Heaven, THE ONLY ISSUE THAT MEANS THAT CAS NEEDS HIS GRACE BACK IS DEAN.

In 10x14 Sam told Cas that he is secretly worried for Dean, we also have the burger date where Dean asks Cas to take him out if he turns again… 

SO CAS SACRIFICES HIMSELF TO SAVE DEAN. HE, IN HIS PERCEPTION, DIES FOR DEAN.

If he is saying that he is killing himself, dying in this moment, it’s because it is not what he wants.

These emotions, feelings, they’re dangerous temptations… and Cas knows this first hand.

So….

Cas has become so Human, even with his grace (though diminished) he is like Legolas, slowly becoming more and more Human by living in their world alongside them… falling in love with Humanity and one in particular, who happens to represent Humanity of course, cos its a TV show and narrative parallels and tropes exist…

Of course there is also the whole mortal / immortal love thing where he will need to become mortal or Dean will need to become immortal for it to work, but that is also kind of a side point, as the whole point of their love and relationship is that it exists because they are an endgame and reward for each other and that they aid each other towards their own personal endgames. 

So yeah, Cas’s endgame for me was always about loving Humanity, and since he experienced it for himself I believe he misses it and would now choose this if there wasn’t a big bad to kill or that he would be needed as Sam and Dean’s protector.  Since this time he has been lost, depressed, unknowing of his place in the world precisely as he is trying to be this “Earth Angel”, it just doesn't work for him to be half in and half out...

It is therefore really important that Dean said the words out loud to him this season that he IS NOT their babysitter, he is wanted rather than needed, he is family rather than a guardian angel or a tool. THIS, leading into endgame…. *happy sigh for Cas*.

It just also happens to be that for me when Cas was Human is also when he realised he was in love with Dean, but his Humanity arc does not solely revolve around Dean, it is also everything that the PB&J represents. Art, Hope, Love, Dreams….

That is why I believe this is where it is leading and why this is what he wants.

[flyingfish1]

Charlie and Charlie: one character arc, two genres

AU as genre difference

Original Charlie is the (disillusioned) heroine of a quest/adventure story. AU Charlie is the (disillusioned) heroine of a romance novel.

“I was raised on Tolkien, man. … Where are my White Walkers and my volcano and magic ring to throw in the damn thing? Where -- where's my quest?” - 9x04

“Sam, before all this, I was just a programmer at Richard Roman Enterprises. I lived with the love of my life…. She owned a bakery outside of Chicago. Cupcakes. It was like something out of a storybook.” - 14x06

First of all, I am so, so happy that Steve Yockey seems to be picking up where Robbie Thompson left off. Almost all of Robbie Thompson’s Charlie episodes explored stories and storytelling to some degree, from one-off lines like 7x20’s “The really evil [villains] always need a special sword” to the fully-fledged Wizard of Oz fanfic of 9x04 and 10x11, and everything in between. Yockey taking up the “meta madness” storytelling theme in his first Charlie episode is a delight.

But the direction he takes it in is especially cool. It closely links the two Charlies and helps the audience (or at least me :p) understand how AU!Charlie relates to Original Charlie’s narrative. It also takes pains to differentiate the two characters, so we don’t feel like the show is pushing AU!Charlie as a replacement for the original Charlie we loved. AND it plays around with the AU worlds in an interesting way: alternate universes as different genres of stories!

So, our original Charlie’s story is all about exploring what it is to be a hero in an adventure story. First she runs from the idea, then she embraces it, and then she’s slapped with all the horrible downsides, and she has to grapple with what it all means for her. AU!Charlie’s story, meanwhile, seems to be focusing on what it is to be a romance heroine: at first she isn’t looking for love, then she finds it and embraces it, and then she loses it in the most horrific way, and now she has to figure out how to approach human connection. The same (or close enough) story beats filtered through two different genres.

When we first meet our Charlie in 7x20, she’s willing to do what she can to stop everyone around her from getting eaten (“What kind of douchebag stands by for that?”) but she wants nothing to do with the final boss battle or with monsters and hunting: “Never contact me again, like, ever,” she orders Sam and Dean. “Good luck saving the world.” When she comes back in 8x11, as soon as she realizes that monsters are involved, she plans to blow up her life and disappear again: “What I care about is not getting my other arm broken, or dying. So I'm dropping my sword and walking off the stage, bitches.” She’s purely in self-preservation mode until she realizes that she can’t just stand by and let people get killed “on [her] watch.” That’s when she starts to embrace the identity of “hero.” Dean reminds her that she’s already a hero for helping defeat Dick Roman, and then...

Gilda: I can't break free from the spell, myself. A hero must take my master's book of magic and destroy it, breaking the spell.

 Charlie: Gilda, my name is Charlie Bradbury, and I am here to rescue you.

After that, she’s all about seeking out adventures. She starts hunting and she yearns for a quest like the ones in the fantasy books she grew up reading. She leaps at the chance to hunt with Dorothy and journey to Oz (“Wicked Witch, a key, a quest? Let's do this”). But she turns herself into a killer during that quest, and she sustains a lot of psychological damage in the process, as represented by the spell that rips her into two halves of herself. Her dark side can only sneer about adventures, and her light side sums up, “It was awesome. Until not so much.” Once her whole self is back together again, she admits, “I think we have all the adventure we can handle right here.... I just got to keep moving forward (10x11).” 

She’s experienced both the wonderful and the awful sides of being a hero, and she has to think about what that means for her life as a hunter.

Charlie: You know, I haven’t been a hunter for very long, but it feels like this is the life. Mostly ends in Sophie’s choices, death, or tears. Usually, all of the above, huh? How did this become my life? I mean, I was gonna own my own start-up, marry ScarJo, invent something cool. Now I’m just… I’m just happy to be alive (10x18).

This is where we see the biggest overlap between the Charlies.

AU!Charlie: I hate hunting.

Sam: Really? ‘Cause I gotta say, you’re kinda awesome at it.

Charlie: Yeah, well, when it’s that or die by angel kill squad… [trails off suggestively]

Sam: Right.

Charlie: I mean, no offense, but who wants to be a hunter? This job—just a lot of tears and death.

Sam: Huh. Funny, you said something like that to me once long ago, about hunting—not you. Sorry. Our Charlie.

Charlie: Well, she was right (14x06).

And how did this Charlie get to that point? Well, in a pretty similar way, really. “I wasn’t looking for love,” she says, just like the original Charlie wasn’t originally looking for adventure. But then she met Kara and it changed everything. “She always smelled like peaches, and her smile was just....” They lived together blissfully in a life “like something out of a storybook” until the Apocalypse hit and it was all ripped away from her: “When the food ran out, people got mean. Mobs started forming, stealing whatever they could get their hands on. A lot of people died. Kara died.” 

She experienced the best and the worst of love and of interpersonal relationships. Her faith in society -- in people relating to people -- is deeply shaken: “People are always the same when things go wrong. They lose it. ... It’s a fact about society. It all falls apart.” And now she just wants to get “Away! From monsters, from—people. I’ll go live on a mountaintop or something.” She wants to run away from what she sees as the problem -- other people -- so she doesn’t have to deal with any of it anymore.

 But Sam insists, “People need people.... If we help people then maybe they’ll help people, and all that—and that’s worth it. Even with all the tears, and death. It’s worth it,” and Charlie concedes, “I’ll think about staying.” She’s still going to have to grapple with relationships. I’m really looking forward to seeing how she handles it :)

It’s a really interesting way of approaching the character -- of both characters -- and honestly, even speaking as somebody who was massively wary of AU!Charlie because I was worried about original Charlie being replaced or forgotten, I love it. And I like her. The genre difference is a clear dividing line between the two characters (along with the dialogue, obviously: “She ain’t me!” etc.) even as the similar story beats link them together.

The genre-bending also, imo, shows something interesting about the ways Supernatural itself has shifted genres over the years. In season eight, when Charlie’s ties to the heroic quest narrative were first established, the show was taking a lot of cues from action/adventure stories like Indiana Jones (Robert Singer said at the time that season eight was ‘our "Raiders of the Lost Ark" year’ [link]). All those tablets and Trials. Now, the show’s narrative seems to be leaning in a more relationship-centric direction. It isn’t a romance story -- Dreamhunter and Mary/Bobby subplots aside -- but it shares with romance stories an emphasis on interpersonal relationships as a primary source of drama. Feelings, too. For example, Cas’ deal with the Empty appears to hinge 100% upon his emotional state. TFW’s relationship with Jack is a big plot-mover in various ways. And so on. 

It’ll be fun to see how it all develops, for Charlie and for everyone else, too.

[inacatastrophicmind]

hi! i saw your list of your favorite spn episodes and i'm wondering what are your top 3 episodes per season??

Season 1

1x01 Pilot

1x12 Faith

1x11 Scarecrow

Season 2

2x20 What is and What Should Never Be

2x18 Hollywood Babylon

2x19 Folsom Prison Blues

Season 3

3x11 Mystery Spot

3x08 A Very Supernatural Christmas

3x12 Jus In Bello

Season 4

4x16 On The Head of a Pin

4x01 Lazarus Rising

4x18 The Monster at the End of This Book

Season 5

5x08 Changing Channels

5x04 The End

5x03 Free To Be You and Me

Season 6

6x20 The Man Who Would Be King

6x15 The French Mistake

6x09 Clap Your Hands If You Believe

Season 7

7x23 Survival of the Fittest

7x17 The Born-Again Identity

7x10 Death's Door

Season 8

8x23 Sacrifice

8x07 A Little Slice of Kevin 

8x21 The Great Escapist

Season 9

9x06 Heaven Can’t Wait

9x18 Meta Fiction

9x04 Slumber Party

Season 10

10x20 Angel Heart

10x18 Book of the Damned

10x14 The Executioner's Song

Season 11

11x04 Baby

11x14 The Vessel

11x16 Safe House

Season 12

12x10 Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets

12x12 Stuck in the Middle (With You)

12x11 Regarding Dean

Season 13

13x19 Funeralia

13x10 Wayward Sisters

13x14 Good Intentions

Season 14

14x10 Nihilism

14x15 Peace of Mind

14x14 Ouroboros