Some Thoughts on Supernatural, Season 9, Episode 10, “Road Trip”

I very much doubt I am going to get the next 13 of these things up before SPN Season 10 kicks off on the 7th, but here’s another “Some Thoughts” on Supernatural, anyway. With even more random “thoughts” than usual. It will probably be pretty confusing if you haven’t watched the episode recently. (It also might be confusing if you have watched it recently.)

“Road Trip” was written by Andrew Dabb and directed by Robert Singer.

WARNING: SPOILERS.

The Title

I got nothin’.

The Premise

Dean is guilt tripping over Kevin’s death in classic self-flagellating “Global warming: that’s on me” fashion. To be fair, Kevin’s death is partially his fault. As is global warming! (Baby’s not exactly environmentally friendly.) Re-Graced Castiel comes back to the bunker and Dean tells him all about how he let not-Ezekiel possess Sam to save Sam’s life. They decide they have to find not-Ezekiel and communicate with possessed!Sam so that Sam can cast not-Ezekiel out. They enlist the captive Crowley to help them, and they all head off in Castiel’s pimpmobile car.

CROWLEY: Really? What are you, a pimp?

CASTIEL: I like it.

Dean makes Crowley and Castiel sit in the back together, and away they go.

Further “random thoughts” under the cut:

Some Thoughts on Supernatural Season 9, Episode 2, “Devil May Care”

Here be my incredibly SPOILERY reactions for “Devil May Care,” Supernatural Season 9, Episode 2. (Directed by Guy Norman Bee; Written by Andrew Dabb.) The following is full of SPOILERS.

The Title

“Devil May Care”? Meh, they’ve done better.

Dean

Oh, Dean.

Dean keeps a secret from Sam. Dean feels guilt. Dean drinks. See Dean drink.

So, back in Episode 1, Dean agreed to let the angel Ezekiel possess Sam’s body to save Sam’s life. Sam is in the driver’s seat most of the time, but Ezekiel is still in there. Now Dean feels all bad about the angel deal he made, but he won’t go back on it or fess up, because then Sam could evict Zeke and die without the angelic healing mojo Ezekiel is pumping into his system.

I get that Dean feels like he’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. It’s either let this angel possess Sam’s body or let Sam die, and neither of those options are good. Still. What Dean and Ezekiel are doing to Sam is reprehensible.

I do like that Dean has started calling Ezekiel “Zeke.” Because he wants Zeke to be the new Cas, clearly.

My favorite Dean moment in the episode is when he tells Kevin that he’s family, and that the four of them, Dean, Sam, Castiel and Kevin, are all a part of that family. Dean, I just knew you were meant to play mother hen to everybody. I hope Castiel moves into the bunker soon so that the whole family (plus a body-sharing angel and a captive demon) can all start living under the same roof.

Samzekiel

Possession-without-true-consent issues aside, Ezekiel seems really nice. Too nice. “Oh, sure, you want me to ride in the backseat of your brother’s mind, healing what would have been the fatal damage from his Hell trials, never letting on that I’m there or interfering in his life in any way, except on–and ONLY on–those occasions when I can save him from certain death. And once he’s healed and I’m healed I’ll leave and never bother you again. And in return all I ask is a brief ride in the Sammobile, during which ride I will main as unobtrusive as fallen-angelically possible.”

I’m not sure even Castiel at his pushoveriest was this accommodating an angel.

And while I can’t stop waiting for the other shoe to drop (at which point we will surely discover Zeke is some kind of Lucifer-and/or-Michael-supporting baddie, or something along those lines), I really hope Ezekiel turns out to be trustworthy. Because all the consent vs. free will stuff surrounding this very odd situation is just so much more interesting if Ezekiel really is just trying to help.

My new, dearest hope for Sam this season: Sam comes to terms with sharing his body with Ezekiel. Then, whenever he’s in a tight spot, he shouts “Shazam!” to summon his angelic alter-ego.

I know it’s not going to happen.

But … please? I really really want it to happen.

Shazam, bitches.

Abaddon

Yay, Abaddon’s back!

Wow, Abaddon is really attached to her Alaina-Huffman-shaped meat-suit. I mean, she could have just gone out and possessed any one of millions of bodies that have not been shot, minced, buried alive, dug up, sewn together and immolated, but instead she gets a henchman to practice necromancy to revive her favorite body.

So if, as it seemed, Abaddon spent some time as smoke while waiting for her favorite meat-suit to come back from the figurative dry-cleaners, does that mean that Josie got a chance to go to the afterlife? Or do human souls return when their bodies are cured of the whole being-dead thing? I think this show needs to put out an “ABCs of Possession” handbook: Angels and Demons and the People They Wear, because this is all very confusing.

Abaddon rises from the bathtub where her henchman performs the dark necromantic ritual on her favorite fleshly outfit, and we see a few blurry, tantalizing glimpses of Abaddon’s (Josie’s) naked body. Because she’s the sexy kind of evil.

Her clothes burned away, but her makeup, hairspray and nail polish were somehow reconstituted. Don’t ask.

Apparently, Abaddon is now thinking of upgrading her meat-suit to Dean Winchester, whom she sees as a superior vessel (well, Michael wanted him; she’s probably got a point). That’s what she tells Dean, anyway, once she’s got him in her well-manicured clutches. Honestly, it seems like an empty threat considering how clearly attached she still is to Josie’s body. Why else would she have gone through all that trouble to get it back?

So now I have this fantasy that the season will eventually include an Abaddon-in-Dean vs. Ezekiel-in-Sam showdown, which would be pretty cool. And hey, maybe somebody could possess Cas, too, just for fun. (Like, maybe a demon could possess Cas, and then get ‘healed’ by the Winchesters, and then an angel could possess the healed demon in Cas, who would still be possessing Jimmy, and it would be like possession nesting dolls. Because why not?)

So, Abaddon seems pretty set to become the Queen of Hell. With Crowley still in the Winchesters’ dungeon, there’s not a lot standing in her way.

And the rest of my Supernatural, Season 9, Episode 2 reaction is under the cut:

Some thoughts on the Supernatural Season 9 Premiere, “I Think I’m Gonna Like it Here”

First off: SPOILERS EVERYWHERE, for everything in Supernatural up to and including this episode. Proceed at your own risk.

The Road So Far

The recap kicks off with the Impala zooming down a road and Charlie’s disembodied voice saying, “There’s pretty much nothing the Winchesters can’t do if they work together.” This is a sweet sentiment. Inaccurate, but sweet. The Winchesters have failed plenty of times and that’s why I love them.

After a few seconds, the music picks up. Oh, hells yeah.

It sounds like this “Road So Far” is set to the George Thorogood & the Destroyers cover of Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love.” Because I am an English major and not a rock star, it will forever bother me that the song does not go “whom do you love,” but I can’t have everything. And also, that would sound terrible.

Anyway, the song is good, and consistent with the tone of the show. The refrain of “Who do you love?” serves to remind us of how much the central characters have sacrificed, or at least tried to sacrifice, for their loved ones. There are also several moments when the line “Who do you love?” comes right before a cut from Dean to Castiel or a cut from Dean to Sam, which surely makes for excellent fodder for those dedicated Destiel and Wincest fans out there. There’s less grist for the Sastiel and Moosely mills, but slash fans can’t have everything, either.*

The song also makes incorporating Crowley’s big “I deserve to be loved” moment into the recap really easy. It’s like a call/response thing. The song asks, “Who do you love?” and Crowley screams, “I deserve to be loved!” Piece of cake. And you just know that this was a priority for the producers. If you have seen a single Supernatural interview between last season’s finale and this season’s premiere, you know that the showrunners, cast and crew cannot get over how awesome they think the Sam/Crowley church scene was. They pretty much went fanboy for themselves, really.

And hey, it’s not like they were wrong. It is a good scene, and it’s nice to see it here.

The Title

Fun fact: “I Think I’m Gonna Like it Here” is a song from the musical Annie. (There’s also this version with Audra McDonald.) This continues the long tradition of Supernatural naming its episodes after song titles. This episode name, of course, brings with it the added bonus of referencing a Broadway show tune sung by (and to) Little Orphan Annie.

Does that make Death Daddy Warbucks?

Also, like most of the SPN episode titles, this one has a nicely layered meaning, working as a potential reference for both Sam in Limbo, contemplating the afterlife, and Castiel–and his fallen brethren–trying to deal with being stuck on Earth. (This is especially appropriate for Castiel’s arc, considering his initial optimism regarding his siblings’ potential for assimilation.) But two layers doesn’t make for much of a layer cake, so of course the title also applies to Ezekiel taking up residence in Sam’s body.

Sadly, I cannot stretch the title’s meaning to apply to Crowley, who spends the episode in the trunk of Dean’s car.

And the rest of my reaction is under the cut: