*makes helpless pterodactyl noises*
Do you know that this is the first Supernatural episode in AGES that has left me squeeing and smiling for days after it aired? Honestly I don't think that this has happened since The Great Escapist all the way back in Season 8...and I know exactly why. I watch Supernatural because of Sam and Dean and the bond that they share. I came to the show for the mythology, but I stayed and am drawn back again and again by those brothers. This isn't a show about monster hunting. It isn't a show about the struggle between destiny and free will. It isn't a show about Heaven vs. Hell. No, the heart of Supernatural is that it is a show almost entirely dedicated to the love of a couple of brothers who are soulmates and who will fight to the death just for the chance to maybe find some peace together whenever they are finally done.
1: The Music
I was...optimistically concerned about this episode. Honestly I was. The idea sounded great, but if the music wasn't just as wonderful I feared that it was doomed to be 'good but not great'. Fortunately, though, the music was both funny and heartfelt. We had a chillingly ethereal cover of 'Carry On My Wayward Son' alongside such soon-to-be-classics as 'A Single Man Tear'...the latter managing to be both exceedingly touching and rather humorous. Certainly my toe has been tapping to 'The Road So Far' for the past couple of days (I think my brother is getting rather sick of me belting out 'His name is SAAAAAMY!' to be honest) and 'I'll Just Wait Here Then' featured Kristen as a Castiel cosplayer who could give Samandriel a run for his money when it comes to being the most adorable angel EVER.
2: The Characters
Supernatural is a show that is rather infamous for being extremely ruthless with its self-parody and meta. And this includes making fun of the fandom and not being afraid to either re-imagine their rough, tough macho heroes as an all-girl musical. As a result, I always warn people that you can't really safely declare yourself a fan unless you are okay with being made fun of. Trust me. If you expect any different, you're just going to be disappointed and maybe even a bit offended. Because NOTHING IS SACRED on this show. So we've had characters joking about the Broments, we've had a Sam Girl stalker named Becky Rosen, we've had a gay couple who cosplayed as Sam and Dean, and now we've had a honest-to-God musical put on about the Winchesters. I should also point out that this is really the first time that fans of the Chuck Shirley books have been portrayed in an entirely positive light. Instead of being made fun of (the way poor Becky was), Marie, Maeve, and the rest were all fully fleshed-out characters who were passionate about something because they loved it.
3: The Message
The message of this episode was twofold. First off it was about family. It took us back to the basics of what Supernatural is all about - family loyalty and love. It cut right through all of the crap that has been flung about and showcased the heart and soul of the show, reminding us why we all fell in love in the first place. We fell in love with two brothers on the road in a classic car with rock music blaring and an arsenal in the trunk. Two brothers who had lost everything but still had each other. Two brothers who were united against the world. Two brothers who would die for each other. That is the first message. The second was a love letter directly from the cast and crew to us, the fans. This show would not still be on the air without us, you do realize that, right? It was supposed to end with Season 5, but it was so popular with its small but loyal fanbase that the network decided to renew it again. And again. And again. The second message this episode gave us was a thank-you for all of our love and support and then the cast and crew handing the show back to us. Basically they have said that, while they may not always agree with our shipping and fan interpretations of things, they do acknowledge that those are legitimate and they appreciate our passion for the show they have worked so hard on. Instead of making fun of fanon, they said that we have every right to interpret the show however we want...even if they don't agree and aren't obliged to accommodate those interpretations.. It was basically telling the fandom that we have a symbiotic relationship with them and that they appreciate the loyalty and love we have shown throughout the years.
4: The MoW
I just love Calliope and I wish that she had been in the episode a bit more. Really my only complaint about this episode was that the Muse of Poetry felt a little bit underutilized. It's not really a complaint, though, because the focus was on Sam and Dean and Calliope was a lot of fun. I certainly identify with her about some fanfiction "There's robots and tentacles in space. I can't even..." and I certainly find it interesting that, whenever she died, she exploded into purple goo. Was that a reference to the term 'purple prose', perhaps?
5: The Outsider POV
This is SUCH a valuable part of this show! We are with Sam and Dean ever step of the way, so it is easy to get bogged down in their issues and their man pain and forget just how legendary and awesome these characters are. A dose of Outsider POV where we see Sam and Dean the way OTHER CHARACTERS view them immediately shakes that up and unsettles the status quo for a while, making the show feel fresh again. It also means that they can re-iterate elements of the past, clean up minor continuity errors, lampshade tropes and clichés, and bring back in long-forgotten elements for analysis. Two very great examples of this in the show were the FBI's Most Wanted arc and, of course, all of the meta episodes. This episode gave us probably the most perfect example EVER.
6: The Meta
Robbie Thompson has said that he drew heavily on fanlore for this episode...and it is obvious. Aside from the customary jabs at shipping we also got someone fangirling over how utterly selfless and sweet Sam is, a lecture about the Samulet, a song entitled 'A Single Man Tear', and a whole bunch of other stuff that I KNOW I have seen over the past couple of years. This was all blended together with the special brand of humor and feels that Supernatural excels at, culminating in the ending where Chuck Shirley showed up and looked down at it all and said that it was "Not bad."
7: The BM Scenes
I am not above admitting that I rather childishly giggled at that particular term for the Broments. What? It was funny! And very true. For all that Dean claims to hate 'chick-flick moments' he certainly instigates them quite often. And after a Season 9 filled with angst, man pain, and more fraternal bickering than was probably healthy even for this show, it has been GOOD to get back to the basics and to see Sam and Dean working together on the road again, having their BM moments, and actually behaving like brothers instead of angsty caricatures again. It was about TIME that we got back to that. Supernatural is always at its best whenever it is focused on the Winchesters and the bond they share...because it is their show. Whenever it focuses on other things, the quality instantly drops. This episode gave us broments in droves. And it was beautiful.
8: The Samulet
*squeals & dies* THIS is the moment that absolutely broke me. I, like many other Winchester fans, never really forgave Dean for throwing away that necklace in Dark Side of the Moon, just because he didn't like that Sam had memories in Heaven that didn't involve him. There have been fanfics and fan-art and theories and fans PLEADING for YEARS for us to get a fix-it for that moment. And, like monks mediating a Tulpa to life, our prayers and threats were heard and this episode gave us just about as perfect a Samulet fix-it as we could wish for. I can't be the only one who nearly cried whenever Dean hung it in Baby and Sam looked up, realizing what that meant, can I? Because I did. I don't usually cry at television, but for some reason this show and these brothers get me every time.
9: ADAM!
Will I ever stop talking about Adam? NO! NEVER! NOT UNTIL THEY FIX IT! Yes I do feel very strongly about this and yes I can rant for hours about the fate of poor Adam Milligan. I have so many Adam feels, it isn't even funny. I may joke about it, but really that's only to keep me from bursting out in tears and snatching him up to hiss "My precious!" at the writers every time they forget/abuse him again. If this show ends with him still trapped in the Cage, well, I don't know what I'll do...but it won't be pretty and will probably involve swearing in Elvish and eating copious amounts of ice cream. Honestly, I still can't believe that they really did mention him in this episode and that it wasn't just a fevered dream of mine brought on by too little sleep and too much writing fanfic. IT WAS ABOUT TIME THEY REMEMBERED HIM!
10: The Brothers
Say it with me, everyone: SAM AND DEAN ARE THE HEART AND SOUL OF SUPERNATURAL AND THE SHOW COULD NOT EXIST WITHOUT THEM! THEY ARE SOULMATES! THEY ARE DESTINED TO BE TOGETHER FOREVER! THEY ARE BROTHERS! THE SHOW ISN'T ABOUT MONSTERS OR ABOUT HUNTING OR ABOUT CASTIEL OR CROWLEY OR ROMANCE OR ANYTHING ELSE NO MATTER WHAT OR HOW WONDERFUL IT IS...THE SHOW IS ABOUT SAM AND DEAN AND THE FAMILY RELATIONSHIP AND LOYALTY AND LOVE THAT THEY SHARE! NEVER FORGET THAT! This has been a fandom PSA.
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