SPN S3: Episodes I liked, didn't like, and those in between.

[rsadelle]

So I've been hiding from real life in SPN, so I decided that as long as I was hiding, I should just power my way through until I was caught up, which was kind of good and kind of feels like an overdose.

Overall, I didn't like S3 as much as S2, but it had some really good episodes.

"The Magnificent Seven" - eh.

"The Kids Are All right" - Oh, I loved this, with the kid who might be but isn't Dean's, and how much Dean really wants to be the kid's dad. I really never quite got the Dean would be a good dad thing before this episode.

"Bad Day At Black Rock" - This was hilarious, with the whole good luck/bad luck thing, and I loved the look on Sam's face when he says, "I lost my shoe."

"Sin City" - Eh. It was an okay episode, but not great.

"Bedtime Stories" - I loved this episode! In case you don't know, I'm a serious sucker for a fairy tale retelling.

"Red Sky at Morning" - This was another good episode. I loved Bela saying to Dean, "When this is all over, we should have angry sex." I also loved Sam and the older woman. Ha! I have to say, though, that Dean in a tux is supposed to be totally hot, but it's not as hot as Dean in his regular clothes.

"Fresh Blood" - I don't know how I feel about this as an episode, but, oh, Dean teaching Sam about the Impala.

"A Very Supernatural Christmas" - For all that this show can have a tendency to be a little heart-wrenching, I really hadn't cried at it (and you know me; I'm a sap) until this episode. Dean making Christmas for Sammy, Dean wanting Christmas because it's his last one and Sam not wanting it for the same reason, and the amulet. Also, ha! Skin mags and shaving cream.

"Malleus Maleficarium" - I enjoyed the killer book club.

"Dream a Little Dream of Me" - I loved this episode. Dean's happy dream is where he really is Ben's dad, and his nightmare is himself and having to finally say he doesn't want to die. Plus, Jeremy tying Sam to the ground as if he were on the cross.

"Mystery Spot" - I liked the Groundhog Day thing, and Sam having to live after Dean (I told you he would live if Dean died!), and then coming back to the beginning with that knowledge.

"Jus In Bello" - Oh, yes. I loved them trapped in the police station. It was much better than Assault on Precinct 13 (the Ethan Hawke version, anyway; I haven't seen the original).

"Ghostfacers" - I don't think I liked this episode very much, although I liked the way Corbett was the Andrew of the operation.

"Long Distance Call" - I didn't like this one very much.

"Time Is On My Side" - Most of this was pretty eh, but the end was awesome, with Bela crying and Dean frustrated and telling her that if she'd just come to them sooner they could have helped her.

"No Rest for the Wicked" - Okay, so I get that this is what the whole season has been working toward and it's the whole setup for S4, but I didn't think it was that good as an episode. I did like Bobby saying that family doesn't stop with blood, and Dean yelling for Sam in hell.

Gag Reel - So I generally like the gag reels, but this one wasn't as good (despite the little montage of Jared and Jensen having Sam and Dean say "I love you"), and it has one bit that drove me crazy. There's a title card that says "Who's scene is it?" Seriously? In one of the special features for S2, they talk about how every little thing on the show is looked over by numerous people. Where were those people when they were making the gag reel?

Comments

[norwich36.livejournal.com]

Wow. I'm impressed that you pretty much liked everything that SPN fandom as a whole liked, and for the same reasons. My own personal faves from S3:

The Kids Are Alright: I loved seeing Dean's longing for normality/fatherhood, though honestly that little kid was kind of unrealistically drawn just to play up the Dean parallels. Still, it's produced a lot of Ben-fic, which is a plus. (My favorite is a story where it turns out that John Winchester is actually Ben's dad, because Lisa really *did* have a type).

Bad Day at Black Rock--Jared is so good at physical comedy, they should really give him more to do. I (and fandom) totally agrees with you on the "I lost my shoe" thing. I also really loved Dean's "I'm Batman."

Fresh Blood--I loved this because it reinforces the season-long theme of hunters becoming that which they fear most, which is of course what is going to happen to Dean. Also, Gordon is an awesome character (though I hated that they had to kill him off) and Sam is so fierce in this, foreshadowing what is to come. And yeah, the tag scene with the Impala is heartbreaking, and everybody everybody everybody loved it.

A Very Supernatural Christmas: Oh my HEART. Yeah, definitely tear-jerky. Anytime we get flashbacks to little Winchesters, I'm going to love it, and the amulet! And Dean symbolically taking John's place in Sam's heart! *Sniffles* Also the pagan gods were hilarious, I thought.

Mystery Spot--probably one of my top 3 SPN episodes because of the blend of tragedy and humor. (Oh my GOD I laughed so hard when the safe fell on Dean, with his legs sticking out like a cartoon. And also when Sam went nutso crazy on the mystery spot and hacked it so violently he ended up accidentally killing Dean himself.) Plus, I love the Trickster so I was really glad he wasn't dead. And that montage of Sam after Dean dies on Wednesday? Where he's so fucking fierce and OCD and John-like, with the perfectly organized weapons in the trunk and the clippings on the wall just like John only much more neatly arranged, and sewing shut his own bullet wounds and KILLING BOBBY?
Oh, yeah. It feeds my evil!Sam kink, what can I say.

And Jus in Bello is probably my other favorite ep of the season. I love Agent Henriksen, because in any other show he'd be the good guy, and I was *so* happy he and Dean got to bond. I just wish they hadn't killed him off, because I wanted him to become a hunter.

(There's some really fabulous fic spinning of Mystery Spot and Jus in Bello, but I'm not giving you more recs unless you ask since I think I've been deluging you with them).

I actually loved Ghostfacers because I love outsider views of the boys, though I felt really really bad for the one who died.

And I actually agree with you about No Rest for the Wicked. Of course, I had seen Dean's last day in fic about 250 times before seeing the episode, so it couldn't help but be a letdown. There were a couple scenes I liked, but overall I was underwhelmed, especially the first time I watched it. But creepy little girl Lilith was pretty scary, I thought.

[rsadelle]

You seem so surprised that I liked what everyone else did.

Well, yeah, Ben was overplayed, but it was funny, plus if she had a type, that probably influenced how she raised him. (John as his dad? Yikes. Does that mean the Winchesters have a type too?)

I did like Sam killing Gordon in "Fresh Blood." What was so heartbreaking about the Impala scene is that it's the first time we see Dean doing something that shows he's accepting that Sam has to be more like him to survive alone.

Ah, yes, the pagan gods. They were hilarious.

I didn't get evil!Sam so much as kindofbroken!Sam. I totally knew that Dean getting crushed was coming, and it was still hilarious. I think I laughed at about half of Dean's deaths.

I don't know what it was I didn't like about "Ghostfacers." I think "Roadkill" was a better outsider view. Part of it, I suspect, is that the ghostfacers are so ridiculous, and I can't stand to watch characters embarrassing themselves.

I did like the scene where they're singing - Dean talks Sam into it and Sam gets into it and then Dean realizes what they're singing and what's happening. (Although: In a previous episode Dean makes fun of Sam when Sam checks into a hotel as Richard Sambora, and in this one it's Sam who says Bon Jovi is uncool.) I didn't think Lilith was all that scary as a creepy little girl, although it is interesting that the first time we've seen her in an adult body is when she takes over Ruby. Given Lilith mythology, I'm surprised to see her as a child. I was also disappointed by the Sam vs Lilith showdown. It was so anticlimactic and didn't solve anything and didn't even really open up any questions wide enough. Also, I don't think Sam's psychic abilities were dormant so much as repressed.

[norwich36.livejournal.com]

You seem so surprised that I liked what everyone else did.

That's because you didn't, overall, in your reviews of seasons 1 and 2. I mean, obviously there was some overlap, but I thought those reviews were interesting because they came at a lot of fan-favorite episodes from a very different angle. (Which doesn't mean I didn't like your season 3 review--just that it seems like even without reading about the meta you've now become acculturated or something.)

I was kind of surprised how much I liked Ghostfacers, because like you I *hate* comedy based on the characters embarrassing themselves. I think it's probably because it reminded me of a couple Buffy episodes (one Jonathan-centered, and one Andrew-centered) that I really loved.

You've now seen "Lazarus Rising," yes? since you commented on my review of it? I was so amused how that episode gave canon support for a longstanding fanon trope: Dean thinks Sam's musical taste completely sucks. And the ipod! So yeah, I was a little surprised to find Dean liking Bon Jovi, but it was a *qualified* approval of Bon Jovi.

[rsadelle]

Huh. Interesting. What was so different about my reaction from that of the fandom as a whole? Also, interesting that apparently you can join the fannish hivemind even without the fannish connections - it just takes longer.

I think what makes the Ghostfacers different from the Trio from Buffy is that the Trio is done in such a humorous good-spirited way, whereas the approach to the Ghostfacers seems more mean-spirited to me. We're laughing gently at the Trio and meanly at the Ghostfacers.

I have. I have to tape and watch later because of my dance class, so I haven't seen tonight's episode, but I'll be able to stay pretty much caught up from now on. What was the song playing on Sam's iPod? I did love Dean not appreciating Sam's modifications to his baby. Qualified, yeah, but he's so dismissive in the previous episode that I wondered about him now having any approval.

[norwich36.livejournal.com]

I haven't watched it either--I'm watching Gray's. Which unfortunately seems to be 2 hours long, which I didn't realize, and this episode is kind of sucking, but not so much that I don't want to see how it turns out. Though I may just give up on it this season--my SPN love has grown to the point that even waiting an hour to watch the taped episode is driving me nuts. And Gray's is really annoying this season. So far we haven't even had a Callie/Hahn moment to make up for all the MerDer crap.

I can see your point about the Ghostfacers, but I guess I kind of liked them (at least the girl and the one who died) so I didn't find it as meanspirited as I could have.

I knew you were going to ask me how your reactions were different, and of course now I can't remember exactly why I thought that except that you didn't like a lot of the really fannishly popular episodes (like Croatoan and Nightshifter and Heart and Faith).

[rsadelle]

I stopped watching Grey's a while ago, although I did go to YouTube yesterday to watch the bit where Alex picks Izzie up off of Denny's deathbed (because I was rereading the story where Jensen has a thing for JDM's voice, which mentions Katherine Heigl and because it's one of my favorite true love romantic moments). I think I'm the lone fangirl out there who actually liked Meredith. (Except for most of the rest of the season after the Escapade where we met because I got poisoned by other people's character hate.)

Huh. Interesting. I did like Nightshifter, but more in retrospect than in the moment.

[norwich36.livejournal.com]

I don't have a problem with Meredith--or for that matter, Derek--when they're on their own. In fact, there was a very adorable scene last night after Cristina got in an accident where she had a vision of her and Meredith as old ladies living together that was actually really lovely. It's the lameass off-again, on-again sturm and drang of Mer/Der that I find awful.

Should I tell you that Denny was in last night's episode, albeit very briefly toward the end? The first hour and a half of the premiere was sucktastic, but the last half hour pretty much made up for it.

[rsadelle]

Actually, I don't care that much about Denny. It was the Alex/Izzie moment from Denny's death that I loved. There's something about the way he turns around and walks to the chair, instead of just stepping back to it, that makes it that much better.

[glendaglamazon.livejournal.com]

The song playing on Sam's iPod was Jason Manns' "Visions." So, major inside joke/shoutout. *g*

[rsadelle]

Ohhhhh. They have a lot of those - I love the one in "Shadow" (I think) where Meg (I keep wanting to call her Nicki, but that's the actress not the character) says she met "somebody Michael Murray" in a bar. Hee!

[rsadelle]

Two other things I love about the Impala bit from "Fresh Blood" (because I just rewatched it): 1. We don't really see Dean in the teacher role much, and I really liked it. 2. Dean says it's his job to show Sam the ropes, which has me thinking about Dean buying Sam a hooker for, say, his 16th birthday and talking him through what to do and/or sharing the hooker.

[glendaglamazon.livejournal.com]

I will echo norwich36 in saying it's interesting how much your opinions line up with fandom on S3 (except, of course, fandom will tell you that you're COMPLETELY WRONG about "Red Sky" because it is widely considered the WORST episode of Supernatural EVAR!!!!!11111!!!!!!! *g*).

Also, staying clear of fandom, you missed the widely held opinion on the girls, which, predictably, was soundly negative--partly because they were somewhat mandated by the network, and seemed to be shoehorned in to much of fandom. However, if you didn't have that impression, I think that says a lot about fandoms expectations. They never gave Ruby and Bela a fair shot. And, while Ruby was redeemed a bit from pre-season concerns by being a demon, Bela was never given a shot. I actually liked Lauren Cohan (Bela) as an actress far more than Katie Cassidy (Ruby, and David Cassidy's daughter), and thought she and Dean had good chemistry, but I did agree with the general fandom opinion that the boys tended to get really stupid whenever Bela was around. Her character was more shoehorned in than Ruby, but I did like the idea of her character, that there are people like her in the Supernatural universe.

As a whole, I think your assessment is correct, S3 is the weakest season, with some of the strongest episodes.

[rsadelle]

Wait, why don't they like "Red Sky at Morning?" Is it just because of the Dean/Bela stuff?

Oh, of course no one likes the girls. No one likes anyone who might potentially get in the way of their OTP. I think that's a discussion I'll stay away from to keep myself from despairing at the state of fandom. I don't think they were shoehorned in at all, or if they were, I read it as less "let's put some women on the show" and more "we're pretty sure we're not being canceled anytime soon, so we can add more characters now." I really liked Bela. I liked that she was ruthless and amoral and then had her heartbreaking end (although, I don't know about child abuse as the ultimate justification for seems evil but is really good deep down - it says way more about us as a society than about the character when it's used as a shortcut rather than a real story). The idea that they get stupid when Bela's around actually kind of works for me - in their introduction to her, they both lean together to watch her walk away - and it's not like they have any experience with women like her (you know, powerful, with it, something other than a sex object). Ruby - I don't know. I think I started liking her, but not the way I like Bela. Here's a question, though: I've read a fair number of fics with Katie (or, at least, she's a major character in "The Seahorse," so she's in my mind as a real character), but I can't think of a one with Lauren in it. Is that because everyone hates Bela or have I just missed her? (I would totally go for Bela and Dean having angry sex.)