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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Sunday, January 15, 2023 - 11:06 am 
Dean survived! What a surprise  . I fear his flashbacks are going to be disturbing, but better than the alternative.
So now I know who the guy in the preview screen on Netflix for the show is: Castiel. I had tried not to be too curious about him, but it was clear he had to be a big figure to be in the thumbnail like that. I thought he was going to be a ghost of a family member or similar, because of his older style. Seems like it's really down to good vs evil now. I'm wondering if this means future episodes will be fewer standalones, as a coming apocalypse might be more of a priority than an odd demon.
That might be why the funny is up, as everything is so much more dark now. Got to balance it for the viewer somehow.
I did have more to say, but I watched the episodes (s3finale to s4e02) late last night and have already forgotten! It's hard to stop watching when the episodes continue like that! Glad Dean survived and isn't too traumatised (yet, until he has too may of those flashbacks) and relieved Sam didn't decompensate too much without him.
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Sanfranjoshfan
Member
09-17-2000
| Sunday, January 15, 2023 - 12:55 pm
"Dean survived! What a surprise :-). I fear his flashbacks are going to be disturbing, but better than the alternative."
This might be a little spoilerish so I'll throw it in a black box, but i don't think it's really giving much away...it's addressed pretty soon but I'm not sure exactly when...and it was just an offhand remark, not like a "big reveal" or something.
Spoiler
Click below to view spoiler | | There was a 4 month time jump by the time Dean got out! Plus more details of his little va-ca in hell further down the line in s04 |
So you've met Castiel! He's a fan favorite.
Did you remember that Dean didn't believe in vampires early in the show? He also didn't believe in god or angels. His life and his "job" just got a lot more complicated.
"I'm wondering if this means future episodes will be fewer standalones, as a coming apocalypse might be more of a priority than an odd demon."
IIRC, there is more of the core plot going on, but as you noted previously, there's core plot info thrown in, even on monster of the week eps. I know that the last two eps I saw were back to back MOTW, although they also revealed some important details from the main story.
Oh yeah, often the MOTW turns out to be playing a small (or huge!) part in the core story. The overall story is much more epic in scope than just MOTW vs "subplot" (I prefer the term "core plot" better because it's a lot more than a tired old "subplot" as seen in other shows.)
And remember, it's not just an odd demon mixed in with the ghosts and vampires here and there anymore. Since the gate was opened hundreds more demons have moved here....and some of them have big agendas.
Ain't this fun?
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Sanfranjoshfan
Member
09-17-2000
| Sunday, January 15, 2023 - 1:00 pm
Let's see...if you're up to s04e03, then we're only 10 eps apart now. The last ep I saw was s04e12 ("Criss Angel is a Douchebag"). 
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Sunday, January 15, 2023 - 5:00 pm
I have no idea how you paused early in season 4! I had an hour so I watched S4e03 and it "to be continued" to e4 so I watched that too. Wow. All the back story on his mum (conspicuously different to The Winchesters in places!) and more stress about Sam's abilities.
Heartbreaking to make Dean see what he couldn't change. Castiel said to show him the truth, but couldn't it have been explained in a less agonising way! And his mum made a deal with the yellow-eyed demon - not that she had a choice - which ended up in her death and Sam becoming one of yellow-eyes' "psychic kids." Btw, not sure if that means yellow-eyes is certain of his ability to create psychic kids in 1983, or whether he already has some in 1973 and Sam's batch is one of many.
Is Dean overacting about Sam's abilities? It seems like a good thing on the face of it. I suppose Dean knows it could get stronger, plus of course God via angel says it's bad. Not sure I trust Sam not to use it again, because there's bound to become a situation where they need to get a demon out, and he's going to want to save the host.
Odd that Dean didn't know his mum was a hunter. Do you remember if he thought his dad only started hunting after the demon killed his mum? (On The Winchesters, John started hunting almost immediately after they met, here they're getting engaged and he still doesn't seem to know Mary's a hunter.)
E4 was a good example of MOTW with a lot of core plot going on. E5 has a fun title, "Monster Movie," so perhaps it will give me a little while to let the new revelations soak in!
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Sanfranjoshfan
Member
09-17-2000
| Sunday, January 15, 2023 - 5:54 pm
"Is Dean overacting about Sam's abilities? It seems like a good thing on the face of it. I suppose Dean knows it could get stronger, plus of course God via angel says it's bad."
Dean does do a little "overacting" once in awhile, but I assume you meant "overREacting", right? LOL
Dean has reason to worry...there are lots of various hunters out there and Sammy having powers of any kind pretty much makes him sketchy and possibly a target of their own hunter allies. I think the fact that yellow-eyes made his "kids" by feeding them a little demon blood makes the angels nervous because I think it's a new twist for them and they don't know if Sammy can be trusted.
As for Sam's abilities, I was surprised how big a part it is in the story because I didn't remember ANY of the Sam/powers thing at all. In fact in my rewatching, I had been assuming his powers stopped after YE died after they opened the hellgate.
Btw, Sam is holding something back from Dean...but Dean is doing the same thing to Sam! I'm not sure in which eps that those things came up so I won't reveal what those secrets are...you'll know them when you get to those reveals.
I did remember that mom was the hunter first (but had forgotten she was from a long line of hunters) and she was how/why John got pulled into the life.
I can't explain how mom's hunter life and John's recruitment into hunter-life jives with the TW prequel, but who knows...maybe TW will have some time travel event that lines things up???
" Do you remember if he thought his dad only started hunting after the demon killed his mum?"
Maybe they just hunted without the kids involved...until the mom was killed when Sammy was a toddler. Any hiding of their hunter lifestyle must have stopped after that....the kids recruited to help the obsessive dad.
Did you get the part I referred to as "Baby's back story"? I loved that Dean was the guy who convinced his future father into buying Baby instead of that soccer mom car! I guess Dean never realized that he had picked Baby out before he was even conceived.
Waiting and questioning so much for 3 seasons really allowed for a great payoff of answers in season 4, huh? Not just the trickle of an answer here or there, but more of a Niagra Falls of revelations. Btw, there are more explanations coming in s04, too!
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Sunday, January 15, 2023 - 9:36 pm
Yes, overREacting .
I suppose Dean was only four when his mum died, so it makes sense he didn't actually know what his parents did, and didn't question what his dad told him. In The Winchesters Mary reveals she's a hunter to John almost instantly, and although they are dating in the show, it doesn't seem to me like they are particularly attached (which actually might be a bit of why the show isn't as appealing, no one seems as bonded). In this, I don't know how long they'd dated, but it was all love and roses, and he was going to propose without knowing she's a hunter. I think The Winchesters show might have worked better that way, I'd be more invested in the two of them if I had more backstory.
Yes, Baby's backstory, I enjoyed that! And that also linked a little to The Winchesters as he was going to buy that VW minibus thing, which is what the gang drive (I think?) in TW. Funny that he didn't chose it but they did. Like TW is kind of an alternative reality to Supernatural (not intentionally, I assume).
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Monday, January 16, 2023 - 10:00 am
An "old fashioned black and white monster case!" An easy on the brains one!
And Dean in lederhosen!
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Sanfranjoshfan
Member
09-17-2000
| Monday, January 16, 2023 - 1:11 pm
It was TOO easy on my brain!
I hate to admit it but I fell asleep during this one. It was a case of nodding off, suddenly waking up, realizing I didn't know what was happening, rewinding, start watching, nodding off....rinse, repeat. I must've done that 4-5 times! The last time, I just watched the ending and saw the baddie being bested by the boys and figured it likely didn't have any core story plotting during the the time they were fighting each other anyhow.
As for the TW family vs the Supernatural family, that is an issue...maybe the fans will bring it up and they'll do something to fit the TW family history into the established story a little better. (I think fans had a big part in getting Supernatural being picked up for a new season in it's final few years....it was on the brink of cancellation every year towards the end.)
I don't remember them revisiting the past in the Winchester's historic lives again, but I could very easily be wrong about that. Who knows?
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Sanfranjoshfan
Member
09-17-2000
| Monday, January 16, 2023 - 1:25 pm
It looks like your next upcoming episode is called Yellow Fever. It is s04e06, the one that ends with Ackles doing something fun and funny.
At the end of the ep, the first credit seen is always this:
(image from the episode)
That's the only credit that you see before the Ackles surprise.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Monday, January 16, 2023 - 4:30 pm
I just watched it! Gotta love him!
You didn't really miss anything in the monster one. The shapeshifter set up various movie scenes to kill under, then in its native form it turned out to be the girl's friend. I thought that must be the episode you saw where Dean got lucky... if you meant another one he's having a good run!
I fall asleep very easily, regardless of how much I want to stay awake. That's why I tend to watch on the treadmill or exercise bike, if I don't I just end up with my eyes closing. Makes me exercise a bit more though, so there's that .
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Sanfranjoshfan
Member
09-17-2000
| Monday, January 16, 2023 - 5:15 pm
If you saw Eye of the Tiger, your next ep is s04e07, the Halloween one. It's a good example of a "hybrid" episode. It's a standalone but it's also entertwined with our understanding of something in the core story.
I'm gonna see s04e13 next ("After School Special") and I just looked at the synopsis....I was surprised at some apparently perfect casting.
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Sanfranjoshfan
Member
09-17-2000
| Tuesday, January 17, 2023 - 12:18 am
s04e14 "Sex and Violence"....another surprise guest star.
Jim Parrick shows up a a real FBI agent! Parrick played the "aw shucks" kind of country boy, Hoyt Thorntonberry on "True Blood".
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Tuesday, January 17, 2023 - 12:59 pm
So another Seal broken, but they did save the town. And Sam had to use his powers again to smite him. Not sure I'm keen on Uriel!
Then I just watched the wishing well one, S4e08, with the giant teddy bear having an existential crisis and shooting his brains out!! Did you see when he was back to teddy sized at the end the little teddy had a hole in his head to match with a band-aid over it?!
So Dean does remember everything from hell  . Yet he seems to be in a better frame of mind than those depressed months wishing he didn't live this life. A few episodes back he did explain he'd realised saving people was actually pretty good but still, I'm guessing that feeling can wane with time!
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Sanfranjoshfan
Member
09-17-2000
| Tuesday, January 17, 2023 - 3:28 pm
" Not sure I'm keen on Uriel! "
One thing I've learned from this show is that a lot of angels are dicks!
I don't know if you read my "spoilerish" box from a week or two ago, but I can tell you now that the current "Ruby demon" is the special one.
I hadn't remembered how often Ruby was played by different actors back when this was first airing.....or that sometimes she'd show up as a man and then later be Ruby again. I think her meat-suit was in a coma somewhere so she could change outfits often and always go back to the one that looks exactly like Jerod's wife irl.
The suicidal teddy bear was hysterical! And yep, I noticed the poor wounded toy was now scarred for life.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Tuesday, January 17, 2023 - 9:36 pm
Ah, thanks for the reminder about this Ruby being Mrs Padalecki. I will pay more attention to her next time, see if there's a particular spark!
I think the Katie Cassidy Ruby (who I didn't recognise as Katie Cassidy until I looked it up) was zapped out of her body by Lilith. I guess then they changed their mind and needed the character back .
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Sanfranjoshfan
Member
09-17-2000
| Wednesday, January 18, 2023 - 12:25 am
" I will pay more attention to her next time, see if there's a particular spark!"
There is a scene you must not have seen yet....there is a noticeable spark, IMHO.
I mentioned it in passing a few days ago and I said it was "couple of episodes back"....and I think it may have been ep 9, 10, or 11. No need to look for it, you'll know it when you see it.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Wednesday, January 18, 2023 - 3:50 pm
I've just watched e9 and 10. E9 was the one! Yes, just a bit of a spark there, lol. And Dean's "Sam... too much information!"
And then Dean and Anna the fallen angel in e10! She looks like the girl from the "overly attached girlfriend" meme, but doesn't seem to be.
Another good line was the demon Alistair saying "Don't you recognise me? Oh I forgot, I'm wearing a pediatrician."
But geez, poor old Dean in Hell. Not sure what you do with that.
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Sanfranjoshfan
Member
09-17-2000
| Wednesday, January 18, 2023 - 11:30 pm
" Yes, just a bit of a spark there, lol."
But the bad part is that Sammy's hooking up with a demon!
And I found it funny or maybe just ironic that Sammy, the goody two-shoes bro is hooking up with a demon and the ladies man/playah bro, Dean, was hooking up with an angel.
Yes that pediatrician line stuck with me, and it was brought up again recently...I think Alistair said something to the effect that he wasn't recognized because he was a pediatrician the last time Dean saw him.
Yes, poor Dean, but being there in hell-time was 30 YEARS of torture and then 10 more of torturing! And he still seems normal. Heck If I had to endure a single day of what he described I'd be a useless blob of quivering insanity for eternity. I guess the Winchesters have a good helping of stamina.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Friday, January 20, 2023 - 10:11 am
Well I have just watched e12, the magic one. I might be very close to where you are by the end of the weekend... depending on how many you watch!
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Sanfranjoshfan
Member
09-17-2000
| Friday, January 20, 2023 - 12:56 pm
You're next one (s04e13 - "After School Special") is the one I previously mentioned had some excellent casting. You'll enjoy it.
My next one is so4e16 - "On the Head of a Pin". (sounds kind of "bible-y") It depends on my mood after seeing it whether or not I'll watch more after that.
In any case, we aren't so far apart anymore! Is it surprising to you that you've already watched 72 episodes? I'm certainly surprised at sailing through 75 already....we've only been at it for about a month.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Friday, January 20, 2023 - 5:09 pm
It's quite a rate! Only about 250 episodes left  . Probably a good thing for me as I should really get all 15 seasons watched this year, as I'm going to have so much going on after that (moving back to the UK in 2024!).
And I might be slowing down soon, still waiting to find out if I'm a juror on a longish trial  . Good job the episodes are so compelling or this would be a bit of a trial in itself. I'm hoping the quality doesn't go down. Sometimes series lose their appeal after a while, but so far they keep on adding in new parts of the world to keep your attention. It would be quite a feat to keep the writing up for 15 seasons though.
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Sanfranjoshfan
Member
09-17-2000
| Friday, January 20, 2023 - 7:20 pm
"I'm hoping the quality doesn't go down."
Gee, during the episode I just finished, I was thinking how some shows start to lag and/or get repetitive by season 4 but Supernatural just keeps on going like the energizer bunny.
I watched that ep I mentioned might be emotional and it was indeed a dark one but also very informative as to the nature of the situation....and another Sammy secret is revealed! And then (I think they do this on purpose)...it was followed by a more lighthearted ep as sort of palate cleanser to get the taste of true evil out of your brain.
Dean to angel - "Angel or not, I will stab you in the face."
In this ep they had different names (long story) and Dean was Mr Smith...later I learned that Sammy's surname was Wesson. Smith & Wesson - another gun company just like Winchester is....but I don't think they ever pointed that out...it was a very subtle, passive joke.
"It would be quite a feat to keep the writing up for 15 seasons though."
I know what you mean, there is a story arc 5 to 10 seasons down the road with some obnoxious high tech Britt hunters that cross the pond to interfere with the Winchester bros. (No offense intended! ) It was an arc I got tired of pretty quickly.
Well, now I gotta watch just one more...that'll make it 3 eps for for me today.
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Saturday, January 21, 2023 - 12:25 am
But but I don't like it when they fight! E14 and the siren... the writers always seem to drive a wedge between them even when they've just made them closer.
On E13 and the After School Special, young Dean was really good, even the voice. The kept the same little Sammy as before, which was sweet, aged enough since last season to match a youngish version of the appropriate age.
Just squeezing in E15 where they're disembodied souls. So far it's a lighter one, hope it stays that way... probably unlikely!
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Kitt
Member
09-05-2000
| Saturday, January 21, 2023 - 12:30 am
Nope, it's complicated, I will have to stop and watch tomorrow!
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Sanfranjoshfan
Member
09-17-2000
| Saturday, January 21, 2023 - 11:48 am
So you're at s04e15, the ep I was about to watch at 12:56 pm yesterday.
I said, "In any case, we aren't so far apart anymore!"
Well, now I have to take that back. I watched "On the Head of a Pin" and it was good enough that I decided to watch another ep, and then another and another...
I didn't remember that season 4 was so supercharged with plot and great humor and new characters and situations! Ep s04e18 turned out to be one of my favorite episodes that I was looking forward to. I love it when it gets so meta and unexpected. I had thought that ep was a few more seasons ahead, but you're gonna get to it very soon.
There's so much that happens in the rest of season 4...some new characters, some old ones, more plot development, new plot directions, and some interesting back story info about some characters, all of which are pretty compelling.
Bottom line: I finished season 4....I couldn't help it because it tied so many things together and the whole show felt stronger and more cohesive than ever.
And of course then I had to watch s05e01 because it's Supernatural! They don't seem capable of ending a season without an exciting cliffhanger. As far as why I watched another and another when our episodes were almost all synced up rather than just waiting a bit? The answer is simple - because I can and I never could before. Not having to wait months for the followup ep is like getting an extra xmas present early in the year.
Ya know, after watching this show for 15 years, I'll admit I was a tiny bit worried that I had built it up in my mind too much and that I had forgotten boring subplots and\or MOTW eps. I don't know what I was worried about now.
I will try to slow down my watching now that I've seen s05e01. I guess I've proven that I can't actually "promise" that (I'm a very weak Supe fan) but I can try. I'm at a point where good stuff is still happening but not at the same "MUST watch next ep NOW" speed. I just have to remind myself that it's not going anywhere so I can take some time.
Oh yeah...I think they did this at least once before but I didn't remember it being a "thing". When the s04 finale aired, the "THEN" was a collection of the entire season with a lot of clips that reminded me of how we got to where we are. I do know so much about this show but I don't a clear memory for the chronology, especially when I'm trying remember what happened in a series/season/episode that started 17 years ago.
I just had a really bad idea! If you were in hell you could watch all the eps you wanted and it wouldn't interfere with your tx work....and you'd have all the time you needed. On the downside is the torture of course, and that could impair your enjoyment of the show, and I hear getting back home is a bit difficult...and oh yeah... don't think they have TV down there. So, never mind!
Yes, I am a twisted Supernatural fan. 
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