By: Andrew Dabb
**Spoilers**
If you have not yet seen this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.
To be honest, I have NO idea why this episode is entitled Reichenbach. To a Sherlock Holmes fan 'Reichenbach' inspires a feeling of dread because that is the famous falls where Holmes and Moriarty plunged to their apparent doom...actually this title would have been more appropriate for Swan Song where Sam jumped into the Cage and dragged the deadly archangels down with him. Because that had a more 'reichenbach-y' feeling than this episode did. But I digress...
Don't let yourself be fooled by my complaining, though. I'm not saying this episode was bad. Because it wasn't. Not even a smidge. In fact, I would say that all of the potential and set-up of Black more than paid off here. We got Dean playing the piano, Sam being awesome, Crowley sulking, and even a couple of Princess Bride jokes thrown in there just for fun. Unfortunately we also got Dean sexually harassing a dancer, beating up the manager who stepped in to protect her, and then stabbing a cheating husband just because the guy dared to try to tell Dean what to do. Still...he's a demon. That's fairly par-for-the-course, I guess, and I have to say in a way I'm glad they're not shying away from the uglier side of what Dean has become. Now if only they'll portray it in a way that will get across how wrong it is!Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:
- What did Dean do to Cole's father back in 2003 and why? We know that this was the time Sam was at Stanford and Dean was presumably hunting either on his own or with John...so what happened? I don't really think that our Dean, our pre-Hell/pre-Mark Dean could have killed a human in cold blood (one that didn't threaten Sam, that is) but then again he's always had a certain darkness in him. And certainly this reeked of what happened with Amy Pond and her son...
- On a side note: SAMULET ALERT! WE HAVE A CONFIRMED SIGHTING OF THE SAMULET! IN A FLASHBACK...BUT IT WAS THE SAMULET!
- Sam and Dean’s contrasting fights in the beginning- Sam getting beat up and Dean beating someone up.
- I REALLY could have done without Dean groping at that dancer (even if it was nice to hear 'Sweet Cherry Pie' again) and I wish that Carver would just admit that Demon Dean is a seriously creepy, borderline-rapey individual (Even Jensen admits it) rather than just a 'womanizer'.
- Castiel is still dying. I'm really enjoying his arc thus far this season. It feels like he has a purpose again and, so far, he's been great. Everybody was kind of in a doldrums last season, but things are looking up. Now I know it's a bit early to say because we're only two episodes in, but I think I like the way the writers seem to be building up the Castiel-Hannah relationship. I was worried that it was going to turn into a shoe-horned romance that would pretty much eliminate any chances Hannah had of being a well-rounded character but, thus far, I seem to have been spectacularly WRONG. And I couldn't be happier about being proven so. Hannah is turning out to be a delightfully quirky, caring, firm, and all-around wonderful angel. Now here's to hoping that she actually survives to the season finale...- I love the way they've written her so that she is, in some ways, very similar to Season 4 Cas...which makes sense, given that she was an angel who had never been on earth until Metatron cast them all out. Wow. I could go on for hours about Hannah. Provided they don't mess everything up, I think she may just have joined the ranks of Sarah, Charlie, Meg, Ellen, and Jody on my list of favorite SPN ladies.
- The scene where she threw Metatron (straitjacket and all) against the bars of his prison was especially satisfying. Go, Hannah, go!
- Why are Castiel and Hannah travelling by car? Doesn't she have the mojo to zap both of them around? Or is she just being nice and sticking to his method of travel? Or does she still not have her wings? It was never really explained what the whole 'wings burning off' thing did to the angels...
- And...awwww. She tucked poor, tired Castiel in to bed and covered him with his coat!
- "Dean is a demon, Cas. The Mark messed him up somehow." "That is a VAST understatement."
- I love that the drink Dean ordered for Crowley had a tiny red pitchfork in along with the umbrella.
- Lester the Murdering/Cheating Husband cracks me up. I mean...I really know I shouldn't be laughing at such a reprehensible piece of trash - but he's just so pathetic and whiny that I was actually cheering whenever Dean stabbed him. He got what was coming to him! Though...why did Dean take exception to Lester pulling a double standard on his wife? It's not like this version of Dean is exactly a chivalrous white knight. Was it just because Lester was trying to order him around?
- Crowley's face at the meeting reminds me of myself whenever I'm trying to complete anything involving math. Crowley being bored with paperwork and politics is the best...as is Crowley realizing that turning Dean Winchester into an (even more) immortal force of nature might have been the day he shot himself in the foot.
- "You know what, Dean? It's not me...it's you."
- Castiel wakes up to the tune of Roadrunner (nice touch) and meets a little girl who charmingly offers him some cereal. And that's it. We need more Castiel and Hannah with kids scenes because they are ADORABLE!
- Metatron called Castiel 'Asstiel'. We have officially scraped the bottom of the insult barrel.
- "You are my brother and I'm here to take you home."
- Throughout Cole's monologue to Dean, I was just WAITING for them to make a Princess Bride joke...and then they did. And it was the best thing ever.
- Much as I hate Demon Dean, you've got to admit that the guy's sense of style when it comes to wit and sarcasm just turned the dial up to 200.
- Watching Cole and Dean fight, the thought struck me, John Winchester created a monster. The YED knew it back whenever he was telling Sam that the youngest Winchester was the horse he was betting on. Normal demons and the other Chosen Children were dangerous in their own right...but Sam and Dean have been trained as weapons since the time they were young and, even while un-possessed and with their souls intact, are pretty dark and scary. Dean as a demon, with all of his training and conditioning, though...that's TERRIFYING.
- Guess it took a Winchester to outsmart a Winchester.
- It made me wince whenever Dean screamed as Sam splashed the holy water in his face. How many times have we heard the worry that Sam would go dark? How many times have we seen Dean just look so done whenever someone throws water at him? And now he's the one smoking and in pain? Are the writers TRYING to rip out my heart? (Probably...)
- Props to Jensen Ackles for his acting ability too. We've seen Jared play so many different versions of Sam now that it was about time Jensen got his turn too. And wow. This is different from shifter!Dean or levi!Dean in that it is still actually Dean. He's recognizable as the same person...and somehow that makes it all the more terrible.- Crowley called the Blade Dean's 'precious' and said he'd throw it into a volcano. I need brain-bleach for the mental images of Jensen Ackles in a Gollum skull-cap and loincloth that conjured up. Thanks, writers, thanks.
- "It's just a car, Sam." Nooooo!
- And the episode ends with Dean threatening to eviscerate Sam and Crowley moping over all his pictures of the 'honeymoon' he and Dean went on. *sigh* Is Crowley actually moping? You never can tell with that guy. (I'm pretty sure he saved the cowboy hat picture right next to the one of him and Bobby kissing too.) Sam should have just stabbed Crowley. I love the guy, but he's like a cockroach...he always turns up again until you smash him.
This episode was an amazing continuation from the more mellow last week and gave us a good look at Demon Dean (who I refuse to call Deanmon) and the depths that he has sunk to. I'm very interested to see if we're going to see about the things Sam's been up to that characters keep hinting at, but I'm also happy with the story thus far. Dean makes a compelling villain and there was a lot of great dialogue in this episode as well as a plot that kept me constantly guessing. Really looking forward to see what they do with this. Reichenbach is a 5/5.
What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?
No comments:
Post a Comment