House M.D. Review: Season 1 Episode 10 "Histories"

Episode By: Joel Thompson

*Spoilers!*

Histories (or The Case of the Homeless Cartoonist with a Tragic Backstory)

Quote: “Of course in Swedish, the word ‘friend’ can also be translated as ‘limping twerp.’” 
– Wilson

Overall Thoughts/Observances:

            WILSON GOT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! WILSON GOT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! WILSON AND HOUSE WORKING TOGETHER AS BEST BUDS! YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!

            Okay, I’m good now.

            I was wondering when we’d get to see some real Holmes and Watsonish interactions between House and Wilson. When Wilson went with House to the trial in the last episode, that was certainly a good start. But this time House only took the case because 1) Wilson wanted him too and 2) he wanted to use it as an opportunity to snoop around in Wilson’s past and try and figure out why this patient was so important to his friend.

Gotta love Benny and Martin.

            While I know this show isn’t an 'official' spoof of Sherlock, one of the best aspects of the original stories and of any adaptation of the good ol’ Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is the relationship between Holmes and Watson. Theirs is the ultimate friendship, and honestly I’m not surprised they get shipped so much (though that’s a discussion for another day).

            And it was nice to see House and Wilson playing around, like when House was pretending to deduce things from the drawing he said was of Philadelphia, and Wilson kept urging him on with overly excited questions. Or when Wilson had his little House moment by thinking that he'd solved the case and you could tell that House was secretly pleased.

            I must confess I don’t quite get what the patient had to do with Wilson's brother (maybe his brother ran off and became homeless or something – or maybe I just missed that part), but as long as House knows, it’s okay.

            Anyways, while Foreman also got some character development in this episode (I’ll talk about him next in conjunction with the patient), it was nice to see Wilson actively involved in the case, working with House, and being stubborn that this patient got what she needed. He’s the complete opposite of House – House loves the case, Wilson loves the patient. Opposites attract, I suppose.

The Case and the Patient:

            Our patient this week was very interesting even outside her unusual diagnosis. First off, she’s homeless, so the Team can’t find any real background information on her, which is a serious hindrance to their work. Second, she’s an amazing cartoonist. And she tells her life through the characters in the comic, which I think is fascinating. Third, her guilt about losing her husband and her son in that car accident is a very painful feeling, and one that obviously changed her as a person.

            I also think that her relationship with Foreman showed different sides in both of them. Foreman (or Eric, as House calls him when he wants to annoy him (which is most of the time)) starts off hating this woman, wanting nothing but to get her back on the streets because he’s convinced she’s just faking. And, actually, the patient confesses that she was just trying to get a place to sleep at first. But then she starts drawing Dr. Foreman into her comic, and as the Team rushes to find her illness he begins to actually care about her as a person. So much so that after he and Wilson find out about her past, he pretends to be her dead husband so that she can feel forgiven.

            Also – rabies! I was not expecting that diagnosis at all. I mean, it’s actually kind of obvious when you look back on it, but like Chase said, there’s only been a few cases in modern years. Of course, while I have commended House for its realistic elements, they do tend to find the most unusual or uncommon illnesses for their patients to have. Otherwise it wouldn’t be half as interesting! And House only takes interesting cases.

Last Words:

            Overall, a satisfying House episode. The patient did die, yes, but at least Foreman gave her some comfort. It ends with Wilson brooding about his brother, yes, but at least he’s got House by his side. The beginning of this episode showed some of Foreman’s prejudice against the homeless, yes, but in the end he and Wilson go together to unravel this woman’s history. The episode title is perfect because we learned the history of the patient, some of the history of Wilson, and got a bit of a hint into the history of Foreman (also, the medical students that Cuddy dumped on House were tasked with taking patient 'histories'). Oh, how I love a multi-meaning word.

Rating: 8.7/10

Thanks for reading, guys! I know the reviews have been coming in slow, but I’m trying my best, I swear. Hopefully I’ll be able to speed up during the holidays!

It's Okay...I Didn't Need My Heart

Supernatural Season 10 Episode 7 "Girls, Girls, Girls"

By: Robert Berens

**Spoilers**
If you have not yet seen this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.

       This is the episode that I didn't really know I needed until I saw it. It basically took most of the things that I have complained about in the past (vessels consent and souls, lack of likable female villains, no grit, sissy witches) and compiled it into one complex, seamless episode that dealt with all the issues and introduced us to some interesting new character relationships. I was nervous about how the whole 'sex worker' thing would be handled, especially after last season's offensive Rock And A Hard Place, but actually that all took a back burner to the more complex and much-needed plot that dealt with questions of emotion, humanity, and personal free will choice.

     We haven't really had an episode dealing with the fate of vessels and meatsuits since Season 4's The Rapture. Oh sure a lot of Season 5 was Sam and Dean objecting to becoming vessels themselves, but for a long time demons and angels alike have been in vessels/meatsuits in name only. It is good to see us getting back to the basics. There were a lot of plot threads woven together in this episode, but it never felt confusing or overstuffed. I am also excited to see what Rowena will bring to the table. Aside from the fact that she is Fergus McLeod's (a.k.a. Crowley, the King of Hell) mother, she is also a powerful, old-school witch who seems to toe the line between cartoon villain and empathetic bad guy just as neatly as her son does. This could get interesting. Remember the last time we had a McLeod family reunion on this show?

     The story line of Sam and Dean was also forwarded, with Dean having to face up to Cole again and Sam worrying about how the Mark is affecting his brother. This episode ended on a dark, ambiguous note for them that, while not exactly foreboding, definitely wasn't puppies and lollies. Typical Supernatural...


Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- The opening to this episode reminded me of Shadow way back in Season 1.

- Dean is on a dating app and Sam is being a bratty little brother...HAHAHA! (On a side note, though, I want to know how Sam came up with the idea of Dean's hook-up potentially being some dude named Bruce.)

- Dean is also now officially 35 years old. Guess that makes Sam 31.

- Why did they have Hannah undress like that? Just...why? We didn't need that. It was about as pointless as the Carol Marcus Underwear scene from Star Trek Into Darkness.

- It cracks me up that Dean's hot date starts trying to broker for his soul. Not only does she had ZERO idea just who she is talking to (as if he didn't know what that meant...) but would his soul even be worth much by this point, considering all it had gone through? If Sam's was 'skinned alive' after the Cage...what does Dean's look like, given his years downstairs and most recent 'howl at the moon' period with Crowley?

- Okay. So I never knew I needed this until now, but...FAMILIES WORRYING AND SEARCHING FOR VESSELS! I mean, WOW! It's taken the show THIS long to deal with that? We had a brief mention of it with Meg Masters back in Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean Winchester...but nothing since. It was like we all forgot that the angels and demons we see on the show are inhabiting vessels. Whoa. More of this, please?

- Love how the demon running the brothel realizes that he is in some DEEP trouble whenever the Winchesters show up...serves him right!

- Crowley's mum is officially my new favorite SPN side character of all time! The way she just waltzes into that (strip club?) and ices that demon by turning it into goo was amazing and, with that accent, she reminds me very much of an older Amy Pond...if Amy ever went darkside, that is.

- Actually, no. She reminds me of The Master.

- And we finally got an explanation for the Hannah/Castiel kiss that had the fandom all a-flutter for so long. It was just Hannah breaking the heart of her vessel's husband. I'm not sure how to feel about that, to be honest. I mean, it didn't exactly leave a sour taste in my mouth, but I feel like I should be more upset than I am. It was interesting, though, that this gave us a stark reminder of the fact that vessels had lives and had families. Is this setting up the return of Claire Novak, perhaps?

- "So you and your half-wit pal threw me into the sex trade? I'm evil...but that's just tacky!" I should have known that this soul-dealing brothel was just to get Crowley's numbers back into the black.

- I really hope that this episode is retconning the Man's Best Friend With Benefits witches right out of the canon, because they didn't belong here. In this universe, witches get their powers from making deals with Hell. No ifs, ans, or buts. That's how they get them...even the 'natural born' witches. So why on EARTH would there be a speakeasie-style club for good witches with familiars and no ties to demons? Bring back the old bodily-fluid-spewing witches that skeeved Dean out so much!

- Rowena (Ravenclaw? Haha...) is recruiting witches. Like son, like mother I suppose...

- Hannah...oh my gosh, Hannah! I love her SO much! And I really hope that they bring her back, even if it's in another vessel or just in Heaven. She left her vessel for the good of mankind, for the good of a woman named Carolyn who wanted her life back. Hannah saw that the angels had forgotten their charge to protect their Father's creation. It was beautiful.

- I laughed whenever Cole showed up again and sprayed Dean with holy water. I had been waiting for this scene to happen (it just seemed like too good of an opportunity to miss) and it did not disappoint. Dean just looked sooo done whenever the water hit his face.

- "...the people who love me pulled me back." Excuse me while I go wipe rainwater off my face...

- Really want to know what happened with Cole's father, though. Was he a monster? Did Dean chase the monster that DID kill him into another room? What happened? And, if Dean's story was true and not just a mistake, then what kind of monster WAS Cole's father? And does Cole have any of that DNA...like a rugaru?

- The fight between Cole and Dean was very energized. I am a little bit disappointed by the resolution, though. Dean tells Cole to go back to his family and now they're best buds? What? Noooo! That's not how it works in character development! Now maybe if Cole goes home to find his family killed and becomes a hunter a la Victor Henriksen it'll be okay, but this just felt like an anti-climax to the great story line that he and Dean had going.

- The emotion in the scene was very well done, though. Jared and Jensen always carry the show. ALWAYS.

        I'm not entirely certain why this episode was given the title Girls, Girls, Girls as, really, the demonic brothel didn't feature outside of introducing us properly to Rowena. It was more of a side-plot to the main story which was really Hannah's tale. I'm sad that Hannah is gone. She really was an awesome character this season and we've needed some great recurring female leads, but I think that the way she has 'left' the show was very well handled. We've needed some care given to vessels for a long time now, and the way that she prompted Castiel to start looking up Jimmy...wow. It's about time! The story ended on a bit of a downer, but it fit the tone of the episode well and set up what looks to be some key plot threads for the rest of the season. I'm excited to see where this goes, ESPECIALLY now that Crowley's dear old witchy mum is back. Girls, Girls, Girls is a 4/5.




What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?

Who Is The Fairest Of Them All?

            

       There will be spoilers for ALL EIGHT SERIES' of the New Doctor Who in this one. So if you are not caught up and you wish to view without my opinion clogging your perception and enjoyment, this is your warning to back out now while you still can. If you are caught up and/or don't care about spoilers, then feel free to go on and scroll down while I review the eight aired series' of NuWho from least-stellar to best. Please note that this list is subject to my personal preferences and opinions. I do not claim to be the ultimate authority. I merely give my observations.

9: Series 7b

       This series suffered from two things: bland, boring characters and dull, delusional writing. Poor Matt Smith. He did not have a good final series. The loss of the Ponds was the final nail in the coffin for this struggling series and poor Clara was never given any character development outside of 'cute' or 'feisty' or 'The Impossible Girl', so she remained very flat and one-dimensional and unable to carry a weaker plot due to emotional connection alone. I honestly cannot think of a single episode from this series that I did not either loath or look on with utter apathy. It was that bad. The supporting characters ranged from utterly boring to actively annoying and the stories only became more convoluted and pointless with every step taken towards the entirely stakeless finale. What a disappointment!

8: Series 2

         There actually are quite a few good episodes in this series, so I debated to myself for a long time as to whether or not I could put it this low on the list. But then I remembered Rose sniggering about her 'first date' with The Doctor and I said yes. Yes I could. Because that was annoying as all get out and sucked a lot of the enjoyment right out of the episodes for me. 

7: Series 7a

            I have decided to divide Series 7 up into two parts, part 7b obviously being everything post Christmas Special with Clara and part 7a being everything pre-Farewell to Ponds. Series 7a was MARGINALLY better than its successor, most likely because the emotional connection of Amy, Rory, and family could carry us through some of the weaker writing, and because all of the side characters were memorable and well-fleshed-out. But that's not to say that it didn't have its share of stinkers too. Asylum of the Daleks was a HORRIBLE piece of contradictions and stupid choices and The Sign of Three, while starting out strongly, had one of the weakest and most out-of-left-field-and-not-connected resolution/climax I have ever seen in my entire life. Dreadful!

6: Series 6

        This was the year of River Song and, depending on your opinion of her, you either loved it or hated it. Personally I really enjoy the character of Professor Song (most of the time) and so I didn't take quite as much issue with it as some others may have, but I do agree that the writing was definitely weaker than its predecessor and only became worse as the series went on, making even Dr. Song herself INTOLERABLE in a couple of places and forcibly blasting plot holes into its own hull.

5: Series 3

        Poor Martha always gets such a bad rap and, to this day, I don't understand why. She should be an absolute dream. A competent Doctor who didn't take any nonsense from anyone, but also was willing to blend in when needed, Martha did indeed suffer from her ill-fated crush on The Doctor...but in the end she did the smart thing and got out, so I think we can blame RTD instead of the natural progression of her character. What is it with females and falling in love with The Doctor anyway?! But I digress. If it weren't for the painfully melodramatic and stupid three-parter finale, this series would probably be higher on my list.

4: Series 8

         I have such mixed feelings on this. On the one hand I am very happy with Capaldi's less friendly and more prickly take on The Doctor. We've had the zany heartthrob from space for long enough. It was time for a change. I am also DELIGHTED with the character growth that was given to Clara this series. It was long overdue. Unfortunately, though, the entire series built up to an ultimately unsatisfying cop-out of a finale that did great disservice to the characters in question and literally spit on the graves of YEARS of Who lore and history. Honestly the only good thing to come out of that was Michelle Gomez as The Master.

3: Series 4

         Whenever people say that it is about time to have a companion who isn't twenty-something, willowy, and looking for The Doctor to save her, I ask if they have met Donna. Because Donna was awesome and had a great character arc. Catherine Tate and David Tennant were THE DEFINITIVE TARDIS DUO of Ten's entire run. They just clicked perfectly and, together, created some of the best comedy and chemistry ever seen on this show. Donna's entire run is chock-full of excellent episodes as well, the only real clunker being the Sontaran two-parter. True things were a bit overshadowed with the return of Rose and the series finale ultimately turned out to be painful (on SO many levels) but the rest of the episodes pretty much make up for that. Donna was awesome. Never forget that.

2: Series 1

          I have no time for those who skip Nine... (Ha! See what I did there?) Seriously. WHY would you skip Eccleston's run? It had some of the best episodes, Nine was a master of sass, and Rose was actually tolerable half of the time. It built up to an excellent series finale too that put all of the characters to the test and remains, to date, one of the best television finales I have ever seen. Really my only problem with this series is Rose's persistent abuse of Mickey and the fact that sometimes the 'Bad Wolf' arc word could feel a bit...forced. Not as bad as 'The Medusa Cascade', but pretty close.

1: Series 5

         I have noticed that, since the revival of the show, most showrunners seem to run through a pattern with their series finales. The first series that they do is just about perfect. It will be epic and funny and heartbreaking and everything that you should wish for...and then the next ones will become worse and worse as they go along. That is what happened with Russell T. Davies and that is what I see happening with Steven Moffat. Because Moffat and Smith's first series was...well...I know the word is overused, but there's no better word to use. It was epic. The characters were well-developed, the stories were intertwined perfectly, and it all culminated into a finale that managed to be both cosmic and personal on multiple levels of intrigue and emotion. I honestly don't think that it can ever be re-created or topped. It was just that good.

Supernatural Review: Season 10 Episode 6 "Ask Jeeves"

By: Eric Charmelo & Nicole Snyder

**Spoilers**
If you have not yet seen this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.

         Who doesn't love a good, old-fashioned game of Cluedo? Or just a good mystery with monsters and secret passages and creepy kids locked in the attic. It's also always either the butler or the maid.

        ...and that's pretty much all you need to know about last night's episode of Supernatural. There wasn't a whole lot to it, just a good, old-fashioned freak hunt with plenty of jokes and Sam attracting the eye of several more distinguished ladies. Shame that Sam and Dean didn't actually get any money, though. God only knows that they need some if they want to be able to afford anything other than plaid flannel and the suits that they've been wearing for years now.



Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- Sam brought Dean a 'glazed doughnut' coffee.

- It's so good to see Dean fussing over Baby again. I'm worried about the Mark, but as long as he's doing that we can breath (somewhat) easily.

- "Murphy's law." "Well Murphy was a douche."

- The doorbell on the mansion plays Fur Elise.

- There was SO much shameless Sam objectification in this episode!

- Sam and Dean are murder suspects. Again. Y'know, they're REALLY lucky that detective didn't Google them or search through the database for the name 'Winchester'...

- A lot of the music in this episode was very reminiscent of Sherlock. Or, even more now that I think about it, the recent Sherlock Holmes films with RDJ. Interesting.

- What is it with Sam and attracting rich, older ladies?! "You know they say that women get better with age. Like fine wine. Or cheese." "I'm lactose intolerant." I seem to remember this happening back in Season 3 too...back whenever Dean and Bela had to rob that museum.

- They're hunting a shapeshifter. Nice! My only regret is that we didn't get to see Dean have his mini gross-out over the shed skin again. That used to be practically a tradition with shapeshifter cases.

- "Trust us, there's a method to our madness." Uh-huh...

 - Sam awkwardly flirting with those two ladies absolutely cracks me up. We need more scenes like this! 

- Dean found it hilarious too.

- "Well...we've got a floater." EWWWW! Drowning in the toilet, what a terrible way to go.

- Dash's reason for locking Sam and Dean up is that they wear flannel. Y'know...there was a lot of Winchester Wardrobe cracks made in this episode.

- Dean's outrage at the 'rich cheapskates' buying 'silver'wear and cubic zirconium absolutely made my day.

- "Don't you know? If it's not the butler, it's the maid."

- My only real complaint about this episode is that the resolution did feel a bit...weak and forced. Too much monologuing and exposition out of nowhere. I'm all for twist endings, but they have to feel logical, writers!

- The shadows on Dean whenever he was shooting the shifter made him look like he had black eyes again. *shudders*

        This was on okay episode. It wasn't really one that left me sitting back in my seat to think about for a while, but it wasn't unbearably bad either. Just middle-of-the-road, decently-done, harmless monster hunting. Not bad, over all. The climax/reveal was incredibly contrived and weak, but the rest of the episode was interesting enough to warrant a second watch. Ask Jeeves is a 3/5.





What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?

Ten Highlights From "Fan Fiction"

*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.

Supernatural Review: Season 10 Episode 5 "Fan Fiction"

By: Robbie Thompson

**Spoilers**

If you have not yet seen this episode, PLEASE GO AND DO SO before proceeding.

       Emily Ecrivaine is dead. She died of feels while watching this episode and is even now writing this from beyond the grave. Please do not salt and burn her before she finishes the review...

    Meta episodes are extremely hard to pull off. Meta episodes involving direct references to all sides of a show's fandom are even more difficult to properly pull off. Fortunately Supernatural has a fairly good track record with both kinds (with the notable exception of poor Becky) and, even though we haven't really seen one of these since Season 5, they slip back into the groove without so much as a hiccup. They wanted this to be a tribute to the show and to the fandom that has kept it going...and they certainly succeeded. This episode was a heartfelt, loving, gently-ribbing story that took us back to the basics and reminded us all of just why we fell in love with this wonderful show in the first place.

     I was concerned when I heard that this was going to be a MUSICAL META episode, though. Especially whenever I heard that it was going to be set around a school play. This could have bombed and filled us all with second-hand embarrassment. But it didn't. In fact, I will go out on a limb and say that this is the best Supernatural episode that we have had in a LONG time. Maybe this season will really be about healing the brothers and addressing the problems that they have in their relationship. After all, we did get a return of the Samulet in this episode...

   Honestly the one and only problem I had with Fan Fiction was that its Monster of the Week (Could we please, please go back to that format instead of angel subplots?) actually came off as rather weak and second-thought. But, uh, that's okay because having a case to solve was merely the Winchester's excuse for being there. For this episode the focus was exactly where it should have been: on Sam, Dean, Baby, and the Road So Far.


Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- "These events take place BEFORE Carver Edlund's unpublished work 'Dark Side of the Moon'. Meaning WHERE is the Samulet? That necklace is a symbol of the Winchesters' brotherly love!"

- Love that drama teacher! Though, whenever that thing was stalking her in the bushes, I just wanted to scream at her to RUN! She's the sort of person that this series makes fun of...

- AND THEY USED EVERY TITLE CARD EVER FOR THEIR OPENING TITLE CARD! WHEEEE!

- This episode was supposed to be a love letter to the fans. Well...mission accomplished! They gave us Sam and Dean working on the Impala in their PJ's.

- "We got work to do."

- Robbie Thompson says he went back and re-watched the entire Seasons 1 - 3 in preparation for this and it really shows.

- The look of utter HORROR and CONFUSION on Sam and Dean's face was just beautiful.

- PLEASE tell me that they're going to release the soundtrack for this musical? I really want that. I would listen to it all the time. (They literally have a song called 'A Single Man Tear'...hahaha!)

- "There is no singing in Supernatural!" Oh yeah, Dean? Wanna bet?

- Sam instantly gets along with the theater girls. It's kind of adorable...especially whenever you remember that he was a threater kid himself once or twice.

- "They're rehearsing the BM scene." "The bowl movement scene?!" Oh, Dean...it actually stands for Boy Melodrama. And can I just say right now how wonderful it is to have the theater director waxing poetic about how the boys' lives are hard, but also perfect because they have each other. We've needed that reminder for a while.

- I was going to complain about the space-ninja-she-Dean additions that Marie gave to the plot...but then I remembered that this show CANONICALLY has a rainbow-farting unicorn and a gargantuan, suicidal teddy bear. So I guess I can't say anything, right?

- Dean trying to set the record straight will never fail to get a laugh out of me. EVER. Just...just give it up, Dean. You can't beat them.

- Sam debating the etymology of the ship names to himself while Dean rolls his eyes and groans was just hilarious. Clearly Sam enjoyed winding up his brother. Nothing was sacred in this episode. N.O.T.H.I.N.G!

- "If it's not canon, then it shouldn't be in the show."

- Gotta love the girls' reactions whenever Sam and Dean finally have to come clean about who they are. "You're too OLD to be Sam and Dean!" Gee...what is this...the year of the DeanMidlifeCrisis?!

- Calliope? Whoa. Did NOT see that coming! I was sure it was a Tulpa...but, then again, I suppose that would have been WAY too easy. Nice to see some more mythology come through, though.

- I find it hilarious that Sam leaves Dean alone to help the poor director Marie through her panic attack.

- "If Sam and Dean were real, they wouldn't back down from a fight. Especially my sweet...brave...selfless Sam." Ooo! Looks like we found ourselves a Sam Girl here! (She's right, though.)

- Ouch. Dean visibly winces whenever Marie tells him about the Samulet. He rallies, though, and gives a pretty inspiring speech to the players that is rather reminiscent of his speech in LARP & The REAL Girl. He also stole it from Rent.

- THEY REMEMBERED ADAM!

- The girls who put on the show have some seriously incredible singing pipes. I want that soundtrack. With the songs about Dean and how he's secretly a sensitive guy under it all. And the songs about Castiel protecting the brothers. And the songs about how awesome Sam is. And...yeah.

- "Supernatural has everything. Life. Death. Resurrection. Redemption. But above all...family."

- I guffawed when Dean stabbed the scarecrow and it sent him flying across the stage a la Superman. That was epic.

- The climax of this episode was just perfect, what with everything just hitting the screen all at once, backed to the strangely soothing song 'A Single Man Tear'. This may be officially one of the greatest climaxes that this show has ever put on screen. It was tense. It was funny. And it kept me glued to the screen.

- "NO CHICK-FLICK MOMENTS!"

- And I am not at all ashamed to say that I cried during the final song which was, of course, 'Carry On My Wayward Son' and then Dean hung the Samulet on Baby's rear-view mirror.

        This episode was absolute PERFECTION. So many feels! It also did exactly what an anniversary episode is supposed to do: celebrate a landmark. We have had 200 episodes of Sam and Dean. You may not realize this, but for a genre show like Supernatural to even get close to such an achievement, well, it's incredibly rare. It's rarer than hen's teeth, though, to have a supernatural genre show that lasts 10 seasons and 200 episodes and is still going strong in terms of writing and fanbase. Even though I was less-than-pleased with Season 9, there was still lots of good stuff in there. And Season 10 so far has been absolutely wonderful. If they continue on this same vein Season 10 could well shape up to be the best season yet. And this episode managed to pay tribute to and lovingly poke fun at both the show itself and all of us who have been so loyal for so long, doing so with grace and fondness and making for an episode that I am sure I will be re-watching for many years to come. Well done, SPN cast and crew! Congratulations on reaching 200 episodes. Fan Fiction is a SOLID 5/5.





What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?