Here’s part 2 of a hopefully new format going forward. In this installment I’m going to take a look at favorite scenes from Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, Arrow, and Grimm. Without further ado, here we go.
Supernatural
After nearly ten full seasons, I still love this show. Sure Seasons 6 – 9 more than tried my patience, but here in Season 10, I still love this show, and this episode reminds me why. I love the brothers, and I love it when the brothers share their love, if not with each other, then with others. Here, Sam and Charlie have a wonderful scene together in which Sam Winchester is beyond vulnerable and open about just how desperate he is to have Dean by his side in his life. Also, Robbie Thompson addresses a moment from Season 9’s “The Purge” episode when Sam basically tells Dean that he wouldn’t do anything to save him had the situation been reversed. While I hated the words Sam said, I do understand them. Sam had been tricked by the one person he trusted above all others into letting an angel possess him and then lied to for months while said angel healed him. I get why Dean did it, but I hated the lying, as I hate all lies.
Here, Sam recites what happened from the end of Season 8 throughout much of Season 9 and he does so without emotion, without blame, just matter of fact. It is a matter of fact. Sam was all right with dying – although I remain unsure of where that came from since at the beginning of the trials he told Dean he could see a light at the end of the tunnel and wanted to take Dean with him to that light, but back to where I was. Besides being all right with dying, Sam hated what Dean did to save him, which is not surprising since his whole life he’s felt pushed, pressured, and destined to be something he never wanted. He longed for a normal life, which was always denied him. So, by being possessed by an angel, and thus tricked into living rather than choosing death – once again Sam’s choice usurped by someone else’s interference — he lashed out in anger, betrayal, hurt, pain, and you only hurt the ones you love – Dean. Dean was hurt and that hurt carried on throughout the end of Season 9. It was partly addressed in Do You Believe in Miracles, but I always felt it to be unsatisfactory. I’m glad it was addressed here, at least partly. The brothers need to acknowledge the pain they cause the other, and they need to discuss things a little bit more on this front. Hopefully they will.
“Book of the Damned” gave us insights into Sam Winchester, which is always a treat. While I do wish we would get these glimpses inside his head more often, the infrequency of them does make them absolutely delicious each and every time they do happen. “Book of the Damned” was one of those rare treats, and it was excellent. I’m a fan of Charlie, although I do agree that she often is written as superior in every way to Sam and Dean in intelligence, and here she was pretty smart as well; however, her interactions with Sam were the catalyst to him pulling back the curtain a bit and sharing what’s going on inside his head. My favorite scene is Sam admitting that he loves hunting, but only as long as Dean is hunting alongside of him.
Jeremy Carver said that this season would be a journey for each of our characters culminating in them realizing who and/or what they are. Hannah, a tertiary character at best, completed her journey and returned to heaven, freeing her vessel to return to her life, and that set the stage for our main characters. So far Cas is searching, at first it was for rogue angels, then it was for his vessel’s daughter, and now it is clear he is searching for his purpose. Crowley spent much of the season moping and being very boring, but now it is clear that he has discovered his purpose: I’m bloody Crowley! Well, Sam has made his stand, he loves hunting and he loves hunting with his brother at his side. Dean’s journey remains a bit murkier as the Mark of Cain’s influence keeps him a moving target, but he is making a stand on what he will and won’t do, which is go down dark paths to free himself from the darkness that already has a hold of him. We saw that at the end of Season 3 in No Rest for the Wicked: We’re not going to keep making the same mistakes!
The journey for these characters is becoming clearer, while a new big bad has made its appearance. Book of the Damned was a fine installment, made even more so because of Sam’s vulnerability and mental insights. More of these episodes please.
The Vampire Diaries
As I’ve stated numerous times before, I love buddy shows, bromance, partners who look out for each other. It doesn’t always have to be male buddies; Mulder and Scully were a perfect buddy relationship for my buddy-loving heart. The Vampire Diaries remains on my watch list because of Stefan and Damon, and this week’s episode had a great brother moment that will go down as one of three in Season 6, thus far, of favorite brother moments. First was the phenomenal return of Damon from 1994; that scene in the crypt between the two was exceptional, and I cried the entire week afterwards as I rewatched that scene over and over again made even more powerful by the fabulous music chosen for it. The second great broment was Stefan driving up and reuniting Damon with his beloved car, lovingly restored by his grieving brother. It was simple and touching, and deeply satisfying. This episode, the scene where Stefan regains his humanity was excellent. It may have been Lily doing the speaking, but the words were all from Damon. He led off by explaining away Stefan’s greatest demon, that of being a Ripper: It’s in his blood from his mother, thus it is not his fault. He knows Stefan well, and that is Stefan’s greatest guilt. Then, having gotten Stefan’s attention he turned to reminding Stefan of the love he had for his mother, and her love for him in return. Damon knew all the strings to pull and buttons to push to bring his brother back from the edge. Watching Damon standing quietly, hopeful, and expectant as Lily gave voice to his feelings and love for Stefan was a beautiful brotherly moment, acted out not quite between the brothers, but hitting all the right notes notwithstanding.
Arrow
I’m still up in the air about all the chaos going on with Arrow. I always wanted Lance to know the truth, and this only exemplifies the saying be careful what you wish for. I wanted things to stay as they had been to some extent because it was comfortable and familiar; however, the reality is that this show is always pushing forward. It has a path that I do believe is in large part preplanned: you don’t have those five years’ worth of flashbacks hewing so close to the present day in emotions and content without a well-thought out plan. Still, blowing up the whole Arrow franchise is quite a lot to take in. Roy Harper is going to be missed, and the final scene with him saying goodbye to Diggle, Felicity, and Oliver was good, but it’s a scene about midway through the episode that I really enjoy, Diggle and Oliver. These two can never have enough scenes together to make me happy. Diggle has always been the one to get Oliver to confront his pain and his burdens. Diggle can get through to Oliver because he carries similar pains and burdens, and Oliver trusts him. I love how he can stand up to Oliver all without driving him away, and that Oliver listens to him. I don’t know what’s coming next for this team, having lost a trusted colleague and friend, their lair, and their ability to move about and protect the city, but it’s clear that Diggle and Oliver’s friendship will continue to be strong.
Grimm
Grimm, oh, Grimm, what have you done? I’m no fan of silliness such as what is going on with Grimm: Juliette a hexenbiest and avoiding Nick, Adalind pregnant with Nick’s baby and likely leading to the inevitable love triangle that is beyond all love triangles. It’s a soap opera of the worst kind, in my taste. Only because I have some level of optimism left in me, am I hanging on with this show. I want to see how this plays out, at least to the end of the season, but so far it’s looking pretty, well, grim. I really enjoyed the scene between Juliette and Nick at the holding cell. Juliette actually explains herself. She’s conflicted: she loves her old life while simultaneously being consumed with the new power at her fingertips. Nick still loves her but it is clear that there are issues. I give the show credit for dealing with all facets of loving someone: Juliette still loved Nick even when he was hiding things from her in Season 1; Monroe and Rosalee love each other despite their differences in upbringing and young adulthood, they even managed to get their parents to overcome their prejudices and cultural constraints; Juliette grew to love Nick as a Grimm so much that she agreed to help him get his powers back, and now Nick is desperately trying to love Juliette as a hexenbiest, making it clear he won’t hurt her just because she’s a hexenbiest, and she is not making it easy as she pushes him constantly with her new persona. Juliette did show that it’s not all about being a hexenbiest and being angry about that fact; she is concerned that she could hurt him. It’s a difficult situation and not likely to be helped by the addition of Adalind being pregnant with Nick’s child. That is a storyline about as vomit-inducing as Season 2’s never ending amnesia storyline. For now, Grimm is on life support with me. Only because I’ve read ahead on some spoilers – not to be spoken of in any details here – that I will be watching through the end of this season. If Grimm gets any soapier though, it won’t be returning coming next fall – not on my watch list anyway.
Sorry to end on a sour note; didn’t mean to do that. Let me know what your thoughts are on this new format. I can cover more shows this way and comment on specific things that struck me about each. It’s already Monday again, a new week of shows to capture our attention, at least for the next month that is. 😉
That’s all I’ve got for this week. As always, thanks for reading, Elle2
