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| Episode 7.23 “Survival of the Fittest”; Episode discussion and rating poll | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 18 2012, 01:52 PM (163 Views) | |
| Scifidiva | May 18 2012, 01:52 PM Post #1 |
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You're Invited Too, Grumpy!
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Official synopsis episode 7.23 “Survival of the Fittest” SAM AND DEAN STORM SUCROCORP TO TAKE DOWN DICK ROMAN — Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki) prepare for battle with Dick Roman (guest star James Patrick Stuart). Dick’s in the final phase of his plan and the Winchesters must team up with Castiel (guest star Misha Collins), Bobby (guest star Jim Beaver), Meg (guest star Rachel Miner) and Kevin (guest star Osric Chau), the prophet, to stop him. However, Dick is one of the smartest enemies they’ve ever faced so it’s a mind game to see who can keep the upper hand. Robert Singer directed the episode written by Sera Gamble (#723). ------------------------------------------------------------- + .... Another season comes to end .... but the show has not only been renewed for S8 (that Pedowitz asserts was never intended to the "Final Season") SPN has been moved to Wednesdays AND teamed with Arrow - I couldn't be more pleased.So, enjoy the finale and please rate and discuss :). |
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| Scifidiva | May 24 2012, 07:56 PM Post #2 |
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You're Invited Too, Grumpy!
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I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about and analyzing the finale. If I had rated it after the episode aired or only one re-watch I’d have it no higher than “Good” at best or “Didn’t like it” at worst and more likely I’d have split the difference and given SOTF “Meh”. I have now watched SOTF 5, maybe 6 times and that’s the most I’ve had to watch an episode before rating (and yes, I realize I haven’t written up responses for several S7 episodes yet, most recent TWBB that I will get to “soon” but I only had to watch TWBB a few times to settle on a rating). I decided on “Better than Good, Less than Awesome”. The first thing I had to do in coming to rating decision had to do is push aside how deeply I dislike Castiel and pretend for a moment I was only rating the episode as a whole as a Supernatural fan with no character biases. (But the fact that I especially loathe Crazy!Cas partially prevented my giving the episode an “Awesome” – but only partially so “sue me” ). There were several points in the episode that either made little sense; 1) why was Polly sent to wait in the same room as Kevin, and given a change of clothing when the building was so large? The answer seemed to be pure expedience - so that Kevin would meet Polly and be concerned with where the Levi was taking her to and snag the clasp thingy on her new clothes so he could escape for just long enough to learn more about the Levis plan or were a 2) fraction too long (Dick and Crowley’s negotiations were dragged out a tad too long). I also thought the “Bobby resolution” scene seemed rather quick and the whole Bobby going vengeful “quickly” was only done “pretty well” but still a far cry from how underdeveloped Sam’s Hellucination sl was (and I continue to claim the right to feel very angry at the Casta-fix :angry: ) although from what I’ve been reading JP did do a little more than squeeze his hand several times but the scenes were cut (which infuriates me but it was over and done with by the finale). The “SamnDean” (screen time and “arc” wise) seemed only slightly “unbalanced” in favor of Dean because he had a few scenes where he was alone with Cas that seemed a bit longer than when Sam was confronting “maid!Bobby. This was nonetheless an important scene for Sam’s future character development – he said “Shut up” to Dean and further acknowledged that Dean had “the weapon” and was more than willing to have Dean “take out Dick” solo while he dealt with Bobby. I think this is one of the few times this season (the other one AIB) where Sam takes separate charge of a specific task and accedes to Dean the more world-threatening task. Most of this season Sam, shaky with Hell damage, has been accepting Dean as “in charge” of the duo; praising Dean for having a great idea for a source of “righteous bone” was a part of this although reverent Sam had the good grace to look irked at Dean’s joke – they weren’t just desecrating a grave this time (although with the purest intentions), they were desecrating a nunnery tomb. This revitalized Sam “take charge” attitude will aid him during their separation. Bobby and Sam: One of my comparatively minor complaints (that is, “minor” in comparison to SG being able to kill Castiel permanently at the end of S6 - the end of MC’s contract as a “Regular”) about the show over the last several years is that when any interviewer has asked about Jim Beaver feels about Sam and Dean he has commented that Bobby loves the boys equally and looks at them as his adopted sons. But the show has only had Bobby and Sam share (exclusively) very few short scenes in comparison to the more numerous Dean and Bobby scenes and in one of the best and most tense scenes of S6 Appointment in Samarra Soulless Sam wanted to kill Bobby to keep from being re-ensouled and there was no big followup scene, even of many episodes later of Bobby forgiving Sam as I’m certain that an “unaired scene” near the end of “Like a Virgin” was of Sam falling over himself with contrition to Bobby of what his soulless self attempted to do. There was the beautiful moment where Sam held comatose Bobby’s hand before the doctors “took him to surgery” and in the finale Sam placed “saving Bobby and the maid” over “Getting Dick” but it was because he knew and told Dean that Dean had the weapon. Also from what I read from not only fans but bloggers like Alice Jester, Clarissa, Carina, and others – there have been lots of comments about Sam yo yo-ing about Bobby since his death that cannot be attributed only to Sam’s own mental state – both when he had “Luci on his mind” and after Cas preformed “Sam’s storyline-ectomy :rolleyes:, so I’m glad Sam made the choice to “save Bobby”; is it a coincidence that Sera wrote both Death’s Door and the Finale and wrote Sam in both episodes equally concerned about Bobby and confident that Bobby loved him back – perhaps SG is aware of the complaints about the inconsistent writing for Sam regarding “Bobby”. “Bobby’s End”: TBH, it seemed a little rushed but then the “main events” in the last three eps of particularly seasons 6 and 7 have been – the writers have too many sls to finish up while leaving enough drama and new disasters for a cliffhanger. I will miss Bobby and I haven’t made any secret that I strongly like Bobby over Castiel but Bobby had the best possible end to his ghost arc because Bobby appeared to both boys and asked them if they would burn the flask. (So no false/forced conflict if Sam burned the flask and Dean didn’t want him to put Bobby to rest). Bobby had great parting advice, kill Roman because it’s their job (to save the world again) and not out of vengeance AND “go” (don’t run away from your Reaper) when it’s “your time” Dean and Castiel: The other reason why SOTF didn’t deserve the top rating is because of the sheer amount of “Destiel fan service” in the episode - and I AM talking about not only to those Dean-Cas Bromance fans who want the bond restored to all its glory but directly to the slash fans who want a “visible” homosexual relationship (such as a Dean/Cas passionate kiss) acknowledged as canon during the characters time in Purgatory. Heavy sigh but the Dean –Cas bromance will likely return in or after Purgatory but if thr show makes a Destiel physical relation canon I’ll probably still watch for Sam but Dean and Cas will be dead to me and I’m not being just melodramatic. As I’ve said before I’m not anti-gay IRL or on tv shows/movies/books but I am against changing Dean’s 7 seasons of demonstrated 100% heterosexuality to suddenly Dean’s being “Bi” so that Destiel can become canon to please a minority of the fanbase. Crowley and Dick: The show is very lucky to have found two charismatic characters that each are top dogs of the species and find a clever way for them not to kill each (not directly at least). I like the Levis and their plan but I think I’m in the minority (but I’m used to that). Many fans and bloggers found the much slower burning Leviathan plan boring but I thought the Levis were a nice change of pace and I’m in full agreement with “How do you top the much scarier hail and brimstone apocalypse with Sam and Dean being “bred” as vessels for Michael and Lucifer”? I don’t think you can, at least not immediately and without a more thorough understanding of other religions Armageddon’s. Meg: Since S6’s Caged Heat Meg has been after Crowley so she needs to ally with Dean, Sam and Castiel. I have always liked the Megs and Ruby characters more than the angels with few exceptions (Balthazar, Gabriel, even Zachariah in a love to hate way. I especially liked Meg in 7.21 when she told the boys that her motivations were simpler than they thought – she was after Crowley and she needed the boys and Castiel to help and Sam and Dean were after Dick first so she threw herself into the battle for Dick, too. I loved seeing Baby again to the energizing tune of “Born to be wild” and I suspected she was behind the wheel (Dean said they had to “go big”) because she was the only non-crazy entity that couldn’t be killed by bullets flying and hitting their target – she and the impala were obviously the diversion so the boys and Castiel could sneak in separately to Sucracore. The finale: The finale was disappointing because it gave Cas a reason for hanging around at least until the final moments (he could tell which Dick was the real fake Dick and which were clones) but that’s only because I really want Dean to shank him with an angel sword. Their ruse was clever – stab Dick with the fake bone and have Cas step in to defend Dean and be thrown behind Dean so Cas could distract Dick so Dean could stab him with the real weapon. (OK it depended on Cas being thrown in such a way as to still provide a distraction for Dean to make his real move). The EFX were pretty good but I’m unclear if Dean and Cas could see the pulse waves and hear the noise that accompanied it – I would think if they did they would run – I don’t think they were aware that Sam and Kevin had run in but were outside the blast radius. So sucked into Purgatory with dead Dick. Crowley and Sam: I have no idea why Crowley didn’t just kill Sam now that he has a chance unless he (and his demons ) don’y want to bother killing the remaining leaderless themselves and want to enjoy the absolute chaos the demons can wreak while Sam figures out how to kill the levis – demons have always enjoyed seeing the Winchesters squirm and facing overwhelming odds. I also have limited idea why Crowley took Kevin, unless the demons have found other tablets for Kevin to translate. Sam has lot on his plate – he needs to prevent the levis from rallying behind a new leader, rescue Kevin and very likely Meg (the finale wouldn’t have played up her own heroism if the show were just going to let Crowley roast her – not to mention figuring out where Dean is, if he’s alive and trying to rescue him and Castiel. If the show doesn’t allow Sam to rescue him this time after he was screwed in S4, I think I will be done with the show for good this time. Dean and Cas in Purgatory: Undoubtedly I resent them being together because of the potential Destiel factor but it’s more than that. This season did a pretty poor job with Sam’s Hell this season and I will resent if the show does a much more coherent job of Dean and Cas (where did he go?) struggles to survive in monsterland next season. But honestly I have to tell myself – that’s next season and nothing to do with this season finale. One of my first thoughts (and this is finale related) – is Dean “alive” or like Sam in Swan Song, did Dean die when he was sucked into Purgatory? Many fans think Dean is alive. I guess that’s a question that will be answered next season. Second and third concerns for next season: Are we going to get the Rambo-like, lone wolf Mystery Spot Sam again or will Sam realize that this time he needs all the allies he can get to even adequately deal with all things on his “To Do” list. If fans are excited with Dean and Cas finding allies or loved ones in Purgatory as well as villains that Sam and Dean have killed, then I want Jodi, Garth, maybe Lee (AIB), Charlie or even Frank if he faked his death back to help Sam (at least some of the old characters and maybe even new ones). Length of separation – how long will Sam AND Dean be separated – all season as some fans want, half season to correspond to the Soulless Sam time? The significant ratings dip for the first half of S6 was frequently solely attributed to Soulless Sam not being the real Sam but I think it was a combination of SS and the domestic Dean sl hanging on (some fans loathed that sl and loved SS and others disliked both). Fact is. the show lost over half millon and more “Nielsen” viewers and never got them back. I can see a max half season separation provided equal attention and quality of writing is given to Dean and Sam. The problem is few writers have penned Sam –centric episodes so the staff does not hav a lot of practice writing “Sam POV”. |
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| tammitam | May 25 2012, 11:08 PM Post #3 |
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Out of the Fire and Back in the Frying Pan
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So my son's girlfriend graduated the night this aired, and I've been out of town and just able to watch it. I'm glad, Donna, that you posted your thoughts before I am posting this. I think my biggest complaint is ... Dean is the one swept away ... again. Yeah, ok, so Sam went to hell too, however, Sam's hell received far less storyline than Dean's, and Dean dying for Sam. I liked this episode, and was very sad to see Bobby go, though I really wish there had been an I love you or something. Yeah, ok, I'm mushy at times. Anyway ... I feel horrible for Sam... again. But I doubt it'll receive much attention next season. |
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.... Another season comes to end .... but the show has not only been renewed for S8 (that Pedowitz asserts was never intended to the "Final Season") SPN has been moved to Wednesdays AND teamed with Arrow - I couldn't be more pleased.



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9:16 AM Jul 11