#th 1x22

[dailytalesofarcadia]

TOP 5 EPISODES OF SEASON 1 (PART 2) OF TROLLHUNTERS AS VOTED BY OUR FOLLOWERS

↳ 5th Place: It's About Time

[stahlop]

Once Upon a Time 4x01 “A Tale of Two Sisters” Review

Reviews 1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05 1x06 1x07 1x08 1x09 1x10 1x11 1x12 1x13 1x14 1x15 1x16 1x17 1x18 1x19 1x20 1x21 1x22 2x01 2x02 2x03 2x04 2x05 2x06 2x07 2x08 2x09 2x10 2x11 2x12 2x13 2x14 2x15 2x16 2x17 2x18 2x19 2x20 2x21 2x22 3x01 3x02 3x03 3x04 3x05 3x06 3x07 3x08 3x09 3x10 3x11 3x12 3x13 3x14 3x15 3x16 3x17 3x18 3x19 3x20 3x21 3x22

So we are officially in the Frozen arc this season. To be fair, I hadn’t watched Frozen until I saw that Once was going to be doing this arc at the season 3 finale. My daughter was about 15 months old when that came out, and let me tell you, that became the favored movie that summer. I was not a huge fan of this arc the first time around, but when I binge watched it a few years back, I enjoyed it much more. I do not like how we’re immediately plunged into their backstory with nary a thought to our current characters. It almost feels like the Storybrooke crew are an afterthought at the moment. I guess we’ll see how I feel about it this time around.

Summary: We meet Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff from Arendelle and start to unravel the mystery of what happened to their parents. In Storybrooke, Elsa unleashes a snow monster which the rest of the citizens attempt to fight, and finds something in Gold’s shop that she thinks will help her find her sister.

Opening: Snowflakes

New Characters:

Elsa/Anna/Kristoff: So before we meet any of these characters we see Anna and Elsa’s parents die in a shipwreck, but Elsa’s mother is insisting on writing a note to send off in a bottle for Anna and Elsa. They must know the truth, she insists. Then we skip to five years later, so two years after the events of the Frozen movie. Our sisters are immediately recognizable because two years later Elsa is still wearing her signature blue dress and Anna is wearing her same outfit from the movie, just in case you weren’t sure who they were. They are visiting their parent’s graves. Elsa tells Anna she has a surprise for her wedding. It’s their mother’s wedding dress! She also gives her a snowflake necklace that she apparently made? I’m still not sure how Elsa’s ice powers make things like dresses and jewelry. Anna blabbers on about Sven, Kristoff, and the wedding while trying on the dress. Elsa, meanwhile, discovers a diary entry from her mother that makes her blame herself for her parents' deaths. She runs off in a flurry (literally, she has a flurry of snow around her because, emotions). Anna finds her in the woods, still in her mother’s wedding dress. For someone who was worried about only having clear liquids at her wedding two seconds ago, I don’t think traipsing around in the woods is the best idea. Elsa has Anna read from the diary that they left to find a way to stop Elsa’s magic. Elsa is devastated, but Anna is sure they’re reading it wrong. Anna takes Elsa to the Rock Trolls for more insight. Grand Pabbie doesn’t give much information, but he does tell them their parents were headed for Misthaven. Anna wants to go to get information, but Elsa is too worried that something will happen to Anna like it did to their parents. The next day, Anna and Kristoff’s wedding day, Elsa is looking for Anna in the stables with Kristoff and Sven. Elsa should know something’s wrong right off the bat considering Kristoff isn’t even dressed for getting married. He delays Elsa enough so that Anna can slip off onto a ship heading for Misthaven. But honestly, Sven the reindeer is the best part of this scene. Elsa sees the ship Anna is on in the distance and she lays into Kristoff for letting her go alone. Kristoff reminds her she is the queen and needed to stay there, and he stayed behind because Anna didn’t want Elsa to be alone. Awww. Elsa wonders why she’s never heard of Misthaven and Kristoff informs her the inhabitants call it the Enchanted Forest!!

Meanwhile, in Storybrooke,  Elsa has left the barn we last saw her in and is walking down the road when she sees a Storybrooke sign. And despite it being a completely different language than the nordic symbols we see her reading later on, she can read it just fine (does the curse on Storybrooke have a translator like the TARDIS in Doctor Who?). And she gets so upset or angry the sign gets frost on it? A car driven by Sleepy is careening down the road and almost hits Elsa, except she freezes it, knocking out Leroy who was also in the van. Now it’s morning and Elsa is walking down the main street with ice trailing behind her. She is barely in control of her magic because every little sound sets her off. Elsa has decided to hide in a warehouse? I don’t know if she heard Leroy telling Emma and Hook about their ice adventure the night before, because otherwise I have no idea why she’s all of a sudden freaked out and hiding from everyone when she was just walking down Main Street in broad daylight moments before. Emma and Hook go looking for whatever is making the trail of ice through town and Elsa conjures up a snow monster (Hi Marshmallow!) to get them off her trail. A bunch of newspapers start blowing around in the warehouse and one blows right to Elsa that happens to have an engagement announcement for Gold and Belle at the shop, and a picture of the necklace Elsa had given to Anna for her wedding! How convenient. The town is in chaos and Grumpy is yelling about a monster being on the loose. He’s talking about Marshmallow, but Elsa is internalizing it as if he’s talking about her. Elsa sees Gold’s shop and breaks in later that night by freezing the lock? I don’t know how that would make the door open, but, whatever, plot reasons. She picks up the necklace and tells Anna she will find her.

Character Observations:

Emma and Hook: We start off where we left off in season 3 at Granny’s. Emma goes to talk to Regina after discovering she brought back Robin’s ‘dead’ wife. Regina is upset and blames Emma for all this, which, she’s not wrong. Emma tries to defend herself by saying she was just trying to save her life. Regina thinks maybe she deserved to die and Emma says she would know since she saved her from the Evil Queen. Regina tells Emma she’s changed and Emma thinks things could still work out with her and Robin despite the dead wife situation. After a confrontation with Marian, Regina walks off. Emma wants to go after her, but Hook convinces her that Regina needs space. Emma tries to comfort Henry who’s afraid Regina will go evil again. The Charming family is out walking baby Neal in his stroller. Emma is still trying to reach Regina to no avail. Henry thinks maybe it’s just Emma she doesn’t want to hear from and tries to call her. Mary Margaret and Emma discuss Henry’s feelings in all this, and the fact that Emma and Regina both have new men in their lives is brought up. Emma doesn’t know what she and Hook are, and Hook shows up right then, as he does. He accuses her of avoiding him, she claims to just be going through ‘stuff’ and that they’re in a crisis. He tells her that she needs to live her life between crises or she won’t have one (sounds like David’s advice to her in The New Neverland when he tells her to look for the moments). And, of course, that’s when Leroy interrupts them telling them they’re under attack. He tells them about their van being frozen and that’s when Emma notices the ice trail going through town. They follow the trail to a warehouse and then a giant snow monster appears. Emma is, once again, in shock, whereas Hook just looks amused. Their expressions are hilarious. Emma attempts to reason with the snow monster, but it blasts them down with its breath (?) and Emma drops her gun and it ends up shooting the monster, which makes it madder. She and Hook run for it. And we have another giant running through Storybrooke. At least this time it seems to be avoiding the cars, but still manages to get caught up in the electrical wires. Leroy starts yelling about the evil snowman and Emma just rolls her eyes as if asking ‘What is my life?’ All the screaming of the people of Storybrooke is actually scaring the giant snow monster, and he heads off towards the forest. Somehow, Emma, Hook, and David manage to get ahead of it and run into Robin, Little John, and Marian in the forest. I’m gonna assume Roland is asleep in the tent. The snow monster starts heading toward them and Little John immediately hits it with an arrow, Hook telling him too late that it only attacks when it feels threatened. David and Hook finally remember that Emma has magic that she can use against it, so she does, and then the snow monster grows ice spikes and knocks Emma down and blasts the rest of them into unconsciousness. Regina ends up saving them, and Emma tries to talk to her, but she just poofs off. Emma makes a joke to Hook about going home to watch Netflix (and chill?), which he doesn’t understand, but agrees to, and she pulls away. He again accuses her of avoiding him and she admits to it this time. She says she feels guilty about what happened with Regina, but Hook isn’t completely buying it. She kisses him (and I find this such an awkward kiss, I don’t know why) and tells him to be patient with her. He says he has all the time in the world until another monster appears and kills him. Again, he’s not wrong. Emma goes to see Regina at her office and talks to her through the door since Regina won’t let her in. She reminds her that Henry brought her to Storybrooke to bring back the happy endings and that includes Regina (um, actually, I don’t think it does include the person who cursed everyone not to get their happy endings).

Regina: Oh boy. She does about three 180s in this episode. We start with her complaining to Emma that it’s her fault that Marian is back and ruined her relationship with Robin. Which, true. She’s mad because Marian sees her as a villain even though she isn’t anymore. When Regina tells Emma that whatever Marian did she deserved to die, Emma tells her that the Evil Queen was the one who was going to kill her. Regina reminds her that she worked very hard to change who she was and build a future, and no she didn’t. She cursed an entire population to another realm to get her ‘happy ending’, which she got bored with after three days. Then she waivered back and forth about being good (therapy with Archie) and being evil (Cora came back), then told Pan she had no regrets when she was tied to the Thinking Tree, met Robin and fell for him despite the fact that she apparently had his wife killed, and basically got a blast of light magic because she loved Henry enough to True Love kiss him to break the curse. Anyway, Robin tries to make Marian see how Regina is changed, but she freaks out because of the way he touches Regina and infers they were having a relationship. She freaks out even more when the Charmings come and defend Regina. Marian calls her a monster and Regina has to reign in a fireball. Instead, she walks off to clear her head. Robin goes to talk to Regina the next day. He apologizes for Marian, though Regina reminds him that nothing she said was untrue. Robin reminds her that the Evil Queen is not the woman he knows, and like him, she’s left her past in the past. He confirms that what they had was definitely real and his feelings still are real, but he’s going to stay with Marian because he made a vow and he can’t break that. Ok, here are my thoughts on this. Marian died. She was dead for at least three years before the bubble curse came. Then at least another year after the curse was broken and before coming to Storybrooke. Now, I know Robin and Regina have only been together for like, a month, but it’s been at least four years for Robin since Marian died. And while she may be the same person she was all those years ago, Robin certainly isn’t. I can see him trying to help Marian adjust to being in Storybrooke, but he has no obligation to be with her now. What if he was married with kids to someone else? Would he leave his wife because he felt obligated to Marian? Regina is not happy that Robin has chosen Marian. Regina channels her anger through magic and ends up breaking a mirror, which gives her an idea. She heads to the psych ward and frees Sidney from the prison she’s kept him in so he can help her get rid of Marian. Regina goes on about the book giving Marian her happy ending, which, no. The book is a record of what happened, not the whims of whoever wrote it. Sidney goes on about Regina keeping him alive and not forgetting about him so he could help her with her dastardly plan, and by Regina’s expression, you can tell she hadn’t remembered he was even still in Storybrooke until she broke the mirror. Nice job, Regina. Sidney thinks Regina wants him to murder Marian, but she doesn’t want to murder her currently, she wants to go back in time and murder her before Emma can save her. And also, she doesn’t remember sentencing Marian to death, so she puts Sidney back in the mirror so he can show her how it happened. Poor Sidney, from one prison to another. He is way too blinded by his love for Regina. We see an extended scene of Marian being taken by the Evil Queen’s guards with Marian telling Regina she wouldn’t do this if she had a family and that she’s a monster. But instead of making Regina hate her, you can tell Marian’s words really get to her. In the forest, Regina appears at Robin’s camp when all but Marian have been knocked out by Marshmallow. It looks like Regina is going to let the snow monster kill her, but then throws a fireball at it, killing it. Marian is grateful, and Regina poofs off before Emma can talk to her. Regina hides out in her office in a gorgeous scene between her and Emma. Emma’s speech about her finding her happy ending inspires her in another way. She wants to find the writer of the book and force him to change it so she can get her happy ending. Again, Regina, sweetie, the book is what already happened. It’s basically a history. Nothing the author does is going to change what happened in the past. Sigh.

Gold and Belle: Oh, lord, where to even start with this. Gold visits Neal’s grave and basically gives us a synopsis of him switching out the real dagger for the fake one he gave to Belle (for those viewers that may have forgotten over the break). He says he only did it to avenge Neal’s death, and now he’s going to switch them back because Belle is his second chance and he’s not going to start their marriage with a lie (well, too late for that). He pledges to Baelfire that he will be the man that died for him. Meanwhile, Belle has found a house that is seemingly not owned by anyone, but randomly came over in the last curse (did new housing come over for the new people who came over? How does that work?). They decide to use it for their honeymoon since they can’t actually leave Storybrooke. Gold immediately freezes Belle as she goes on and on about the house to trade daggers, so at least he’s making good on his promise to Baelfire. Belle goes to show Gold something, and he notices a circular box sitting on the table. He seems slightly scared of it. She shows him a ballroom, and with a snap of his fingers, Belle and Gold are dressed like their Disney counterparts and the gramophone is playing Beauty and the Beast for them to dance to. Later, Belle is asleep and Gold gets the real dagger out again. He waves it over the box and a galaxy appears inside what looks like the Sorcerer’s hat from Disney’s Fantasia. An evil smirk comes over his face. I can see his vow to Baelfire and Belle isn’t going to last very long.

Questions:

How does Anna and Elsa’s mother know her message in a bottle will get to her girls? She’s literally in the middle of the ocean in the middle of a storm.

Why does Storybrooke need a sign saying who maintains their roads? No one from outside of Storybrooke can come in.

Since when does Regina call Emma ‘Swan’? She usually calls her Miss Swan, sometimes Emma, but never ‘Swan’. ‘Swan’ is what Hook calls her.

Whose idea was it to make Sleepy the designated driver?

Anna’s wedding is the next day and she’s just getting a wedding dress? What was she going to wear if Elsa hadn’t found their mother’s gown?

Did Robin really just compare him being a thief that robbed from the rich and gave to the poor to Regina being the Evil Queen in terms of their pasts?

Why is Belle carrying the dagger around instead of keeping it locked up somewhere safe?

Does Elsa not realize she’s making an ice trail?

How does Emma not even get a scratch after Marshmallow hits her with ice spikes?

Exactly how did Regina plan to go back in time to kill Marian? Emma and Killian managed to go back by a fluke with Zelena’s spell. Was Regina going to kidnap the Charming’s baby and get all the magical items Zelena had previously procured to redo her spell?

Why has Gold not gotten some sort of alarm system for his shop? Even a magical one would make sense with the amount of people who have broken in at this point.

Where is the strong Elsa that we saw at the end of the original Frozen movie? This one is worried about everything all the time.

Observations:

The Queen of Arendelle’s wedding dress is in pristine condition considering Anna didn’t even know where it was until now, and I doubt it had been hiding in that closet.

Houses that come over in the second curse are still furnished even though no one has claimed them.

The code to the psych ward is 815.

We haven’t seen Sidney in Storybrooke since season 1. He’s in the psych ward because he took the fall for kidnapping Kathryn.

Baby Neal was born two days ago and Mary Margaret is already walking him through Storybrooke in a stroller. Nope. Don’t buy it. Unless Regina magically healed her, she would be in way too much pain. I had a normal child birth and it took me two weeks before I could walk around the block, let alone through the whole neighborhood.

The headline of the Storybrooke Mirror that Elsa picks up says “Mr. Gold to Marry Belle French”. Other headlines are “Volunteers help to rebuild Heritage Trail” and “Storybrooke Priory’s ‘laughing’ gargoyle has been vandalized”.

The music playing when Gold brings up the Sorcerer’s hat is an off-key version of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice from Fantasia.

So, I feel like we got the beginnings of a lot of storylines, but I’m not really sure where everything is going quite yet. The only solid thing we really got is that Regina wants to change the stories in the book, which, unless she goes back in time like Emma and Hook did, doesn’t seem like something she can do at this point in time. So far, I could care less about the Frozen arc. Had I not seen the movie, I wouldn’t know what the hell was going on, and it’s not like Frozen was a well known fairy tale previously. It was supposed to be based on The Snow Queen and then Elsa got too likable. We’ll see what happens. Welcome to season 4.

Please leave comments and reblog! Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future reviews.

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[midnightsilver]

Dean’s Theme throughout supernatural

(Seasons 1 -15)

(You know the music that broke our hearts)

Here is every time it played by episode and time frame:

1x22 devils trap 28:30, Dean: For you or dad the things I’m willing to do or Kill... it scares me sometimes

2x1 in my time dying 10:42, 38:20, 40:40 John’s death

2x9 croatoan 33:33, Sam: you can go on. Dean: who says I want to

2x11 playthings 17:40 (1 refrain - drunk Sam makes Dean promise to kill him)

2x20 what is and what should never be [played in a flat key] Sam and Dean at odds

2x21 all hell breaks loose part 1 39:30 Sam’s death at cold Oaks

3x16 no rest for the wicked 14:35 Dean: you’re my weak spot and I’m yours. Sam: you don’t mean that we are family

4x15 death takes a holiday 23:19 Dean to Tessa: I wish I’d gone with you for good

4x21 when the levee breaks 41:25 Dean to Sam: you walk out that door don’t you ever come back

5x4 the end 27:09 [distorted refrain]

5x16 Dark Side of the Moon 14:30 Dean’s memory of Mary in heaven

5x22 Swan song - end credits into Americana theme - they chose family

6x1 exile on main st 20:10 Dean meets his grandfather Samuel

6x7 family matters 39:20 Dean stop soulless Sam killing Samuel

6x19 Mommy dearest 23:39 Dean and Sam save a couple of brothers from Eve

7x13 The Slice Girls 00:30 (Bobby’s death in the recap sequence. Original death scene in Deaths Door 7x10 didn’t have the music)

7x18 Party On Garth 40:52 Bobby’s ghost tries to appear to the boys

7x19 Of Grave Importance 00:20 (Bobby death and ghost in recap sequence.)

8x06 Southern Comfort 41:20 post-purgatory arguing. Sam to Dean: move on or I will [Single refrain that ends flat]

8x12 as time goes by 11:24 Henry Winchester is John’s father 38:32 Henry dying 40:33 Dean to Sam: kinda wish dad knew the truth

8x16 Remember The Titans 41:15 Dean prays to Cas to watch over Sammy in the trials

9x07 Bad Boys 9:10 Young dean caught stealing for Sammy - single refrain. 11:20 rest of the refrain. 40:20 young Dean chooses the family business

9x11 first born 30:41 cas talks to Sam while Dean is MIA with Crowley: I know what it’s like to be sorry and I am sorry Sam.

9x23 Do You Believe in Miracles 36:49 Metatron kills Dean. Dean to Sam: I’m proud of us Sammy

10x03 Soul Survivor 25:46 Sam finds Dean’s family photos 40:40 Cas stops demon Dean. Dean says he is glad Cas was there

10x05 Fan Fiction (The Musical) 09:44 the BM scene explanation

10x08 Hibbing 911 - 40:55 Jody and donna killing vamps while MoC Dean says to Sam: feel like me again

10x14 The executioners song - 41:40 Sam to Cas about how Dean is coping with the MoC: Dean’s in trouble [single refrain]

10x22 The Prisoner - 40:55 MoC dean nearly kills Cas in the library after Cas tries to stop Dean

11x08 Just my imagination- 38:40 Dean: he was there for Sam when I wasn’t. (single refrain of Dean’s theme - main Americana played through ep)

11x23 alpha and omega- 24:45 Dean soul bomb - hugs at the cemetery as Dean leaves

12x01 keep calm and carry on - 4:00 Mary is back, 26:55 Mary watching other families

12x03 the foundry - 22:02 Mary talking about hunting 39:26 Mary misses her little kids

12x09 the trap - 34:30 Sam and Dean are reunited with Cas and Mary after POTUS solitary

12x13 family feud 39:10 [distorted refrain] Mary is working with bmol

12x21 there’s something about Mary 27:10 brainwashed Mary putting her family in danger. 41:10 [distorted refrain]

12x23 all along the watchtower 27:00 Kelly is dying as she gives birth to jack, Mary would die for her sons

13x3 patience 37:30 Dean tells Patience not to get into the life

13x8 the scorpion and the frog 40:50 Dean to Sam: we keep working. (He had been hopeless recently)

13x12 various and sundry villains 40:00 (Americana into Deans theme) sam to Dean: we’ll figure it out

13x18 bring em back alive 21:00 Sam to Gabriel: I make the world a better place

13x22 exodus 40:10 au Bobby arrived on earth. Welcome to the family

14x05 Nightmare logic 39:30 Mary goes off for time with au Bobby

14x11 Nihilism 41:29 Dean tells Sam he’s going in the Malak box

14x13 Lebanon 21:47 John tells Sam that he loved them 37:00 John going back

14x17 Game night 09:25 Mary apologises for how she was when she got back

14x19 Jack In The Box 12:45 Sam and Dean talking about Mary’s death

15x03 the rapture 40:10 Cas and Dean break up

15x10 the heroes journey 30:35 Sam and Dean are ‘normal’ Dean gives the ‘we can do it’ speech [distorted]

15x16 drag me away from you 08:05 kids flash back 40:43 Sam and Dean argue about the way to kill Chuck (distorted)

15x18 Despair (14:20 jack talks to Cas - Americana) 38:45 Cas tells Dean he loves him (single refrain of Dean’s Theme)

15x20 Carry On 23:30 Dean to Sam: I need you to tell me it’s ok 31:44 Bobby tells Dean in heaven that John and Mary are there 40:12 Sam and Dean hug

[thestupidhelmet]

can you talk a bit abt the relationship difference in JH relationship and JM relationship from the perspective of objectivity of jackie. hyde doesnt objectify jackie like michael does but hyde still objectifies other women

Hyde’s characterization is inconsistent on several levels, but I’ll discuss the aspects relevant to your ask.

Sometimes he’s depicted as a feminist. Sometimes he’s depicted as someone whose ass feminists would want to kick.

Sometimes he’s depicted as allosexual. Sometimes he’s depicted as demisexual (one with a high sex drive and for whom aesthetic attraction is important but doesn’t necessarily equal sexual attraction; an emotional bond must be present for sexual attraction to switch on).

Sometimes he’s depicted as aromantic. Sometimes he’s depicted as demiromantic.

In Kelso’s Serenade (2x21), Hyde tells Jackie:

See, I myself don't like you. I find you abrasive. But if I didn't know you and I'd never talked to you, I'd think you were totally hot.

This line can be interpreted as Hyde being demisexual. Aesthetically, he finds Jackie appealing. That doesn’t equal sexual attraction, though, and her personality turns him off. Once they have more interaction, and he gets to know her beyond the superficial, an emotional bond develops. By “Jackie Bags Hyde” (3x08), he clearly feels an emotional attachment (or connection) to her -- which Kitty points out -- and that’s when a sexual attraction toward her switches on.

With a demisexual characterization, what Jackie looks like isn’t nearly as important to Hyde as whom she is. So objectifying her wouldn’t likely be in his mental orbit.

Other episodes back up a demisexual (and demiromantic) characterization. In “Punk Chick” (1x22), Chrissy could be defined as someone Hyde might call “just this side of gross” aesthetically (”The Promise Ring” [3x25]), but her feminist and anarchist attitude attracts him to the point where he claims, “Mother of God, I think I love you. ... Mother of God, I do love you.”

In “Eric Gets Suspended” (2x09), Hyde and Fez meet up with two girls -- a blonde and a brunette (i.e. Mary and Patty) -- for blind dates. Hyde is more aesthetically attracted to the blonde and essentially calls dibs. But once he discovers Mary and Patty’s personalities, Patty’s fight-the-power mentality wins out. He swaps dates with Fez. His aesthetic attraction to Mary doesn’t inspire sexual attraction. His mental and emotional attraction to Patty creates both sexual and romantic attraction, and he’s so hurt when she rejects him -- and for Fez -- that he talks about it to Leo in a later episode.

In “The Third Wheel” (4x11), one of the reasons Hyde dumps Jill is that she likes the Little River Band, and that turns him off. Aesthetically, she’s his type. But once he discovers an aspect of her personality he doesn’t like, his sexual attraction to her decreases.

Hyde’s romantic and sexual feelings for Donna developed since they were in middle school. She’s aesthetically appealing to him (as several episodes of season 1 make plain), but her personality and their long-time bond is what creates his romantic and, possibly, sexual interest.

All of that being said, a few episodes contradict his demisexual characterization. He can be interpreted as allosexual in ”Burning Down the House” (2x15). But he is emotionally attached to Kat Peterson in some way. If what they had were a completely meaningless fling to him, he wouldn’t get drunk because of her humiliating, judgmental rejection of him at Jackie’s party, nor would he keep talking about her to Fez.

“Hyde Gets the Girl” (4x04) is another episode where Hyde can be interpreted as allosexual – but also demiromantic. Hyde’s friends throw him a party to find him a girlfriend. He doesn’t know this is what the party is about, though. Girls present themselves to him, one after the other, as if interviewing for the position of being his girlfriend. Afterward, he says, “I think if I time this right, I can nail every single one of these girls ... tonight.”

Fez is unhappy with Hyde’s statement and says, “No, no, no, no, no. You're supposed to pick just one ... to love. Not nail. Love.”

Hyde responds in disbelief: “Yeah. Right.”

But outside the Formans’ house, he meets Donna’s friend Melissa. He’s instantly attracted to her, aesthetically and likely sexually. Once they spend significant time together at the party, he also develops romantic attraction to her.

Then again, his interest in “nail[ing] every single one of [those] girls” at the party might not have anything to do with sexual attraction. A demisexual person with a high libido can enjoy sex for sex’s sake. Hyde might enjoy sex so much that he doesn’t care about the attraction aspect. The other person in the equation is essentially a living sex toy (though that doesn’t mean he’s disrespectful or selfish to his sexual partners), But partnered sex is similar to masturbation in this case.

Hyde “cruises for chicks” in a few episodes (”Parents Find Out” [2x19], ”The Promise Ring”), but as he says in “The Promise Ring,” he “aim[s] low. Real low. Just this side of gross,” to find someone willing to have sex with him. Because that’s “the kind of girl [he’s] cruising for.” He’s not looking for someone aesthetically appealing or even someone he’s sexually attracted to. He just wants to have sex, which can fit with a high-libido, demisexual interpretation for him.

Hyde finding pleasure in nudie magazines and nudie bars also doesn’t contradict a demisexual characterization. Sexual arousal is not the same as sexual attraction.

All of the above analysis is key to understanding why Hyde doesn’t generally objectify Jackie. If one adds his feminism (”Baby Fever” [3x07], “The Crunge” [5x10]) into the equation, then his disinterest in objectifying Jackie makes even more sense.

But he does objectify her in at least one episode: “What Is and What Should Never Be” (5x03). When Eric complains to him about his choice of Jackie to date, Hyde says, “What can I do? She's hot.” Then he proceeds to guide Eric in a fantasy so that Eric can recognize Jackie’s hotness, too. In this fantasy, Hyde erases Jackie’s voice and, ultimately, her personality.

This lies in stark contrast to his previous characterization in regard to Jackie -- and in the same episode, where he discovers that he actually does listen to her. Her personality is relevant to him and why he plans on being with Jackie “a little while” (i.e. date her), which is partly the point of “What Is and What Should Never Be”.

Kelso is much simpler to analyze. He’s a sexist allosexual with an extremely high libido. He generally sees women existing to serve his needs (whatever they may be). Only when his daughter is born does he finally begin to see women as their own beings whom he’s not entitled to (but this doesn’t last long).

Admittedly, this isn’t a full or completely fair analysis of Kelso. He does learn to put aside his sexual needs for Jackie when they reconcile toward the end of season 3. He cares about Brooke’s personality and needs, not just his sexual attraction to her, in season 6. He treats Angie with respect in season 7.

But, generally, he’s not a deep thinker. He doesn’t self-analyze much or ask others for reality checks. The changes he makes in his behavior don’t stick, and he reverts back to type. He has trouble empathizing with others (but he does so on rare occasion).

Regardless of whether Hyde is demisexual or allosexual, he is a deep thinker. He does self-analyze and ask for reality checks from others (though not always). The changes he makes in his behavior stick (when he’s written consistently). He doesn’t feel or act entitled to a woman’s sexual attention (except during his awful season-1 storyline with Donna). He sees and treats women as equals.

The differences between Hyde and Kelso are myriad. They’re not the same person. They don’t think or behave the same way. They have different goals, wants, and needs. They have drastically different life experiences. All of this adds up to different choices.

[nerdylittleshit]

Thoughts about Spn 14x13 AKA EPISODE 300!!!!!

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

I HAVE A LOT OF EMOTIONS! This episode was really something truly special. Admittedly I’m not the biggest fan of John Winchester and I wasn’t looking forward to his return. But man, I really loved how they pulled this of. It was really close to perfect. It was a big character piece and very  self-referential. But whereas the 200th episode (“Fan Fiktion”) was a love letter to the show and the fans, this felt like a closing chapter, going back to the start, letting go and finding closure. And of course the show ain’t over yet, but it addressed by now its two original wounds, Mary’s death and John’s absence, to let Sam and Dean truthfully move forward. It answered some question and shed a light on a few unanswered questions as well. And I feel by now the show has come full circle in so many ways, so when it eventually will end, and they give us episodes like this, it will be a great end.

But, as always, let’s take a closer look.

Lebanon

Despite the fact that the Winchesters live in Lebanon since season 8 we haven’t really seen much of the city. I wish we would have seen an entire episode from the town’s perspective, but I’m glad with what we saw here so far. The Winchesters, whose family business is to track down Urban Legends have become a Urban Legend in their town by now. We see them interact with the people in town, they are familiar, and this warms my heart. Because again it brings us back to the original concept of the show, a road movie every week. And while this element is still present they also have a home now, a place they can return to, people who know them.

I also love that they go by the name Campbell in town, Mary’s maiden name. Of course the Winchester brothers are officially dead (more than one time), but it also connects them more with Mary. The show started with them known as John’s sons, but they are their own men now (more about this later), and they also acknowledge Mary’s side of the family through that.

The three teenagers can be interpreted as tem free will mirrors, with Max, the girl who loves plaid and classic cars, as a Dean mirror who falls for a brunette. Make of that what you will.

I love that the little case of the week included John Wayne Gacy, representing both Sam’s worst fear (clowns) and his special interest (serial killers). Just like Dean gets his biggest wish granted but there is a downside to it as well.

I also love that we learn that to heaven Lebanon is ‘muddy’, that there is some sort of interference, probably because of all the warding in the bunker.

Finally, the title of the episode doesn’t seem to make much sense at first. Of course the episode takes place in Lebanon (but so did many others) and we get to see more of the town and its inhabitants and how Dean’s wish affects them. But this episode is about family at its core (just like the show is). The family is the centre of every home, of Dean’s heart, just as Lebanon is the geographical centre of the US.  

What your heart desires

Of course the plot of this episode is a bit constructed. All of sudden Dean gets a magical pearl that grants him his biggest wish, what his heart desires. But it doesn’t really matter how we get there, but more what it tells us about Dean and what happens next. For one we see that what Dean thinks is his biggest wish is different from what his heart truly desires. We are the most unreliable narrators of our own stories. Second, as typical for this trope, be careful what you wish for. Sam knows this, so his immediate reaction is to think about the consequences of their actions. Because they learned the hard way that nothing in life is for free and you always have to pay the prize.

So, let’s take a look at what actually happens. Den wishes for his father and they summon John from the year 2003. Therefore dad goes missing two years earlier than in their original timeline (and will likely never return). As a consequence Sam and Dean are not reunited; Dean still hunts whereas Sam becomes a TED-Talk giving whatever. Sam never dies, Dean never makes a deal and goes to hell, Cas never rescues him and remains a loyal servant of heaven. The apocalypse never starts. Mary never returns.

We can debate how much of that would have actually happen like that. My biggest complaint is probably Sam. I just don’t see him becoming this person who totally distances himself from the entire concept of family. I mean he still would have met Jess, fall in love with her, propose to her. And it is still possible Yellow Eyes ordered to kill her to get Sam back in the life, to prepare him to become Lucifer’s vessel. Did Jess still die but Dean wasn’t around so instead of hunting Sam dedicated his life to his new career?

And is it possible Zachariah, just as the Winchesters, still remembered the original timeline? He says to Cas “You wouldn’t [understand that reference”, implying the original Cas would have. He notices the interference of time and says Sam and Dean were supposed to play a role in the apocalypse. Either way, by now Sam, Dean and Jack have killed all a version of Zachariah (Dean the original one, Sam this new one and Jack the one in the AU). It’s a family thing.

And even though they killed Zachariah they don’t kill Cas, despite this new Cas trying to kill Cas, because I don’t think they could have. In the end though it is not (or not entirely) the change in Cas that makes them realize that John has to return to his timeline, but the prospect that with John staying Mary will fade away. John choose her life over his own, saying it is no real choice. I do wonder if this is foretelling in some way, that one character will choose another one’s life over their own, perhaps even in a romantic context.

The first conversation we see is that between Sam and his father. It seemed to me that Sam didn’t really wanted to be alone with his father (he immediately asked where Mary is) and that he was unsure what to do and what to say. Sam and John parted with so many things unspoken, with a huge fight shortly before John died, and Sam blamed himself for not making things right. What I loved is that John is aware that he messed things up, that he wasn’t the best father, and that he apologizes. It means a lot. But it is also interesting to see Sam’s reaction: he forgives his father, and in doing so he forgives himself. Sam truly lets go of the past, of his complicated relationship with his father, of the guilt he felt regarding his father’s death. Sam forgiving John wasn’t just for giving John peace, but to give himself peace as well. Forgiveness isn’t about whether someone deserves our forgiveness or not; it is about our own ability to let go, to find peace, to heal.

Interesting despite the fact that it was Dean’s wish I thought Sam needed this sort of closure much more, more than he even realized. Dean seems more confident facing his father, like he already made his peace and needed this final conversation to close this chapter of his life. John tells Dean that he was proud of him. Back in 1x22 it was because John told him the exact same thing that Dean got suspicious and realized that his father was possessed. Dean needed to hear this (I needed to her this because this scene always makes me very emotional for personal reasons). John also says that he had wished for his son to get a normal life, once their mission of killing Yellow Eyes was completed. This is surprising as John throw out Sam for wanting to live a normal life. And it brings us back to a very old theme of the show: Dean vs the apple pie life.For as much Dean denied in earlier seasons to want a normal life we this is not true, but neither the hunting life or the normal apple pie life with Lisa and Ben had made him completely happy. Now though he has the best of both worlds: he still hunts, he still does in his eyes do something meaningful, but he also has a home, has a family, and he tells his father exactly this. It might not be a family in the traditional sense (that we then see at the family dinner) but it is a family all the same. However it made sense to me that neither Cas or Jack were present for the family diner, as this episode was so much about going back to the beginning, so it was about the core family that started this show.

In a later conversation with Sam we see how much Dean has grown, how mature he acts. Even though the idea of sending their father back with the full knowledge of what will happen (giving him peace but also risking he will change the past) is tempting, Dean doesn’t really think about it. He knows that if it wasn’t for them some other people might had to save the world, might have been given their burden. He acknowledges that his life has been hard, has been painful, that both his parents are partly to blame for it. But he wouldn’t have it any other way. Because his life made him who he is, his choices made him who he is, and that is the Dean he is at peace with, the Dean he wants to be, the one who sacrificed so much because he couldn’t live with himself if he wouldn’t. Dean acknowledges that their lives are theirs, that they are their own man now, writing their own stories. In a show that deals so much with losses of agency, with the concept of fate vs free will (especially again in this season), this means a lot.

When the time arrives to say goodbye John once again tells his sons that he is proud of them, and that he loves them. Dean returns the “I love you”. After Mary and Sam this is the third time he tells someone he loves them, and it leaves some space because there is yet one person left that he hasn’t told yet he loves him (I’m talking about Cas of course). And while, as I explained, it made sense that Cas wasn’t around for the family diner, it also made sense he was there at the end. Because he is part of Dean’s family, and mirrors what John was to Mary (also, any bets on what John and Mary did in their alone time when Sam and Dean were out grocery shopping?).

John won’t remember what he learned about the future, though it would have given him some peace to see what would become of his sons and that Mary would return to life. It is nice though that at least he remembers some things as a dream, which made gave him shortly some comfort. But in the end this wasn’t so much about John, but about Sam and Dean. It is different than Mary’s return. It plays with the idea to have one final conversation with a loved one you lost, to find a chance to say goodbye, to find some peace and closure with it. To let them know that you are ok after all, to look back at your own life and find peace with who you are.

So much about this episode was going back to the start, to show how they have come, how they changed. Much of it felt like an ending. Episodes like this make me positive than when this show will eventually end they will do it in a satisfying way. They know their characters and their stories so well by now, that so much about the last seasons doesn’t feel like stretching the story out but rather coming full circle. The show is becoming its own epos.

And finally huge respect for all the acting this episode, but especially Jared and Jensen’s performances, who brought me to tears. To everyone who works on this show, before or behind the camera, who gives their best every week: thank you.