I’ve decided that I will no longer grade papers on a standard A-F scale. Instead, it will be 🍷 to 🍷🍷🍷🍷, as in, how much wine did it take to get me through the paper.
Yesterday, I got an 11 page 🍷🍷🍷🍷+ mess. Let’s see what today brings!
This is a fantastic idea!!! I’m so changing my lab report rubric to a wine glass rubric!!!
According to Juliet’s master, it was April Fool’s Day. She didn’t know what the difference was between an April Fool and a regular fool, but she was always interested in learning new things. She’d learned a lot since coming to live with her new humans, like how to convince them to give her fried pig meats — she’d even learned the difference between good and evil. She hoped these fools were easier to figure out.
Sam, Dean, Cas, and Juliet are finally going on vacation: visiting Eileen in Ireland for some well deserved R&R. But they have to get there first. By plane. (Well, not Juliet: they don’t make dog carriers for hellhounds and besides, she’s not a common dog. She’s got important things to do, like help Eileen on a hunt, and she can get there a lot faster than humans can in their flying metal beasts.)
As always with Meredith Gylnn’s episodes, I feel as though I get way more out of them the second time around – and I don’t mean that as a criticism; if anything it’s a testament to how good these writers (well, with two obvious exceptions) are at writing a layered story.
For instance, it might seem obvious, but I didn’t really think about this the first time I saw the episode, just because it was all new: in the cold open in Jack’s torture scene, they could have had Sam and Dean die in a myriad of ways, but they chose fire. And then throughout the episode, we hear again and again from Jack that he is looking up to Sam and Dean, like parents. Neither of them died on the ceiling in Jack’s torture dream, but, there’s still that same thread running through their stories.
And like so many things this season (and the last couple seasons), we’re all about retreading old ground but doing something different (by and large…I’m still bitter about 10×21 vs 12×21 but that’s neither here nor there).
Jack wants his parental figures to accept him and fake!Cas tries to drive a wedge there, but it doesn’t work. In this regard, Jack has early Sam’s arc, but there’s hope that this will go better for him that it did for Sam.
Mary, too, gets closure/redemption for her past, in multiple ways. We see her act far more maternal to Jack than she has to Sam and Dean (which, I get on a logical level, even if my Jodyness struggles to sympathize with). And, Bobby tells her that she made the right choice with the demon deal, even if it caused pain for her sons. Of course, neither Mary could have known the true repercussions of the deal, and this is not to blame AU!Mary Campbell for her decision. Just because Mary Campbell didn’t make the deal doesn’t mean she doomed the world. There are what, 7 billion people on Earth? This is what we call a “team effort” – there’s no way ONE person is responsible for all the decisions and actions (or lack thereof) of everyone else on Earth. Anyway, my point is, our Mary has been carrying this burden around with her forever, and hopefully she realizes that this isn’t all her fault.
Interesting parallel: Donatello makes a jab at Dean that for once, this isn’t something Dean’s been specially chosen by God to do. We get so used to the Winchesters/Campbells being at the center of everything that it was interesting to have a character point out that no, sometimes, you’re just a regular ol’ human. Of course, Donatello means this as an insult, but he doesn’t understand that, truthfully, there’s nothing Dean would rather hear in the world more: that he’s not important, he’s not responsible for the fate of the world. And can you blame him?
Other things…
Sam’s instant defeat as soon as they realize Donatello’s been playing them for a sucker. 😦 Sam needs a win!!
Dean and Cas are still so close yet so far. Dean tries to talk to Cas and check in with him, but he’s still not getting the words quite right… A criticism he levels at Cas later (lol seriously, Dean? You’re gonna question an angel’s Enochian? What a goober) and which Cas huffily dismisses.
And not just the Enochian: Cas once again reiterates that he loves Dean (and Sam). He knows what he means. He’s using the right words.
Yes, I’m aware that Sam and Dean were both hurt by Donatello and Dean’s attack was more severe, which would obviously account for Cas’ instant warrior-mode determination, and it might have happened even if Dean and Sam’s roles were reversed in this episode, but the fact is, the story wasn’t written that way. Dean is the one who nearly dies, Cas rushes to him, and then goes full badass on Donatello.
Donatello: *dying out of breath* “Running is hard.” Same, dude.
Random note: is it bad that I only just figured out where I knew the actor from??? Seriously, if I’d realized it was Holtz from Angel, I woulda been screaming, don’t let him anywhere near, Jack!!! But oh well. Jack still ended up in a war dimension, honing his powers…and oh hey wait he should only be a baby but suddenly he’s an adult…and jfc I know I ranted back in s12 about how tired of evil mystical pregnancies I was after Cordelia but…ok Imma stop now because I’m just rambling at this point.
Gog and Magog fangirling over how pretty Dean and Cas are. They’re not wrong. I am 100% here for feminist queer prehistoric warriors.
Also Dean: don’t dis the loincloths. Did you fight a fearsome flannel and denim beast and then skin it for your wardrobe? Didn’t think so.
The last scene with Cas explaining the spell ingredients. Of course we only get clear shots of Dean – he’s so concerned and you know it kills him when Cas throws his own words back at him. Really, though, Dean and Sam don’t have a leg to stand on when they accuse him of going too far (hey, Dean, remember how you threatened Kaia at gunpoint not too long ago, buddy?), but that doesn’t mean that what Cas did to Donatello isn’t terrifying. Just because they’ve all done scary af things doesn’t mean they should all continue. But, as Cas pointed out: if he hadn’t, where would they be? It’s a sticky situation all around.
Also, Jack’s shadow puppets. He’s so smol and badass and I love him.
Karate Girl 