ooh i’ve neglected you. i apologise! what with holidays and work taking over, life…just moved on.
i’ll be doing overall reviews of each of the seasons in the coming weeks, try and finish a few shows, decide what to watch in the coming season (trust me, the list has narrowed) and go back to the beginning of torchwood (because i need to remind myself why i loved it in the first place and forget the depression of season 3).
so stick around – i’m back!
And here we are! Good evening and welcome….and it’s Graham Norton commenting… Gah, already this show sucks. I miss Terry Wogan!
Ok, he’s not too bad. 
We’re starting with an act from Cirque Du Soleil, who are apparently launching their very first season in Russia – any opportunity to plug your show! But it is a very good show.
And now last year’s Dima decides to use a running treadmill thing before starting the winning song from last year….which I wasn’t all that impressed with the first time around – eastern bloc voting for sure!
My money is on Azerbajain – Putin was photographed with this entry and this entry only – a very subtle hint for which country to vote for!
Right – new voting system this year – public vote is 50/50 with a jury of profesional musicians who have already voted. Hmm…We’re in Russia with half the vote already counted…oh yeah, this is rigged. 
And we’re jumping straight in -
Lithuania
Sasha Son, Love
guy with a piano , bit ballad-y but actualu music talent. i want his trilby.
Look, it’s a nice song, but nothing special. It sounds like anything you might hear on the radio – ooh, he has a flame in his hand!
Israel
Noa & Mira Awad, There Must be another way
Nice, political song about peace and hope, sung in arabic, hebrew and english. A jew and an arab singing together – not likely to win, but again, nice song about hope. (Although it would be nice if Israel would actually consider it). and they’re on the drums again.
France
Patricia Kaas, El S’Il laffail la fait or something like that
how surprising, the french singing in french. and it’s ballady.
Kat’s response – it’s french. not that there’s anything wrong with that, but…well, can we stereotype much? *I’m agreeing with Kat, by the way.
meh.
Sweden
La voix – Malena Ernman
it’s discopera. and the dress cost EUR 36,000. In a recession? Nice, though. typical blonde girl – verses are slow pop, chorus is operatic. it’s not bad, i quite like it – might make a good music vid. and man, she’s really, really excited about being there – or maybe just happy she made the notes? love the glittery masks.
Croatia
Igor and Andrea, Lepja Tena
oh god the song starts and i’m back in my childhood – mama, what did you do to me? what are the back-up dancers doing? and he has knee-high boots? WTF?
It’s a little too Iglesias-y for me…and now there’s a blonde singer, wailing nicely.
Croatia always has…interesting entries * last year’s was better.
Portugal
Flor-de-lis, todas as ruas do amor
MY FAVOURITE! VOTE FOR PORTUGAL!
it’s oh so bright and happy with flowers, and bright colours and it’s…just happy, folksy, simple and simply beautiful. I think, best way to explain it is…very now. eh i can’t explain it. just vote for it! aww i think she cried again.
Iceland
Yohanna, Is it true?
Another favourite. she’s 18, and looks icelandic. like the top half of the dress, kat likes the satin.
it’s a gorgeous song – you can imagine it on the radio, on a soundtrack, having a cry to it, it’s just beautiful, melodic, very non-eurovision like.
Unfortunately, Iceland can’t win – they can’t afford it.
Graham pointed out no one has ever won wering only blue.
Greece
Sakis Rouvas, this is our night
Gah. I know too many greek people. one of the favourites to win. Greec econtinuing their trend of eurodance. And he’s thrusting. and body popping. upturned collar. this is a favourite to win? It’s…meh. not special. the treadmill is going again.he ripped his top. Um. And there’s a greek flag on stage now. Meh. Graham thinks it’ll do well, Kat mutters, not if there;s any justice in the world.
Armenia
Inga & Janush, Jan Jan
Ooh, I quite like this one, if it weird. Has a brilliant track to it, with a very eastern flavour to it, before adding a basic beat. and they actually have traditional outfits, keeping a bit ot of euro *er, eastern* flavour. I’m not sure why, but I really like this *Kat says that’s because it’s actually a good song*.
Russia
Anastacia Prikhodko, Mamo
ah, the host country. Kat – she looks like a demon. Black eyes, you know!*
she’s aging on the screens…..weird effect.
Kat – what is she singing? Looks like she’s singing for her mummy. and now she’s having a tanty!!!
I’m…yeah. no way they’ll win.it sucked.
Azerbaijan
Aysel & Arash ,Always
if this is rigged, they’ll win.
eastern influence again. very euro-poppy.
not too bad, catchy. i can ehar it playing in the clubs – and on Oxygen. ooh, we have a ukelele!
she’s trying to dance, and well, beyond swinging hips, she ain’t that good. like her dress.
ooh..sparklies!
Apparently biggest cheer so far. see? Putin’s influence
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Regina, Bistra Voda
ah, the weird guy, with the drumming singers! And the awesome group stance towards the end. he’s the guy i wouldn’t kick out of bed, but he has to change his hair first. Cos, ick.
it’s got a bit of balkan folk flavour, which I really like, but overall the song is a little strange. i still like it. And here comes the group stand, in the face of danger! Or wind fans….
Moldova
Nelly Ciobanu, Hora di Moldova
very interesting outfit. it looks like something a girl hidden in the alps would wear.It’s the strange dancing and yelling and…
I like it. So does Kat. Although “looks like the dancers are having spasms”.
it of Irish dancing, Morris dancing, hill dancing….and back to the fun chorus with scremaing and yelping. I like it. lot. Eeep.
Still think her outfit looks wacked out.
You know…Graham isn’t half bad. Terry Wogan, your rep is in trouble.
Malta
Chiara, What if we
To me, this song is very 90’s movie soundtrack ballad. it’s nice, I do like it…but not to win. Although it would be brilliant for music vids. I already have ideas in my head. Like the glittery blue lights. so purdy.
Estonia
Urban Sympony, Radajan
what is she wearing?
there’s a mini-orchestra on stage, it’s nice and melodic but I just….i can’t get my head around their outfits. they’re weird.
the song is alright. Estonia always has such strange songs!
Denmark
Brinck, Believe Again
The Ronan Keating. sounds and looks like him. he wrote it too. has potential?
I’ve never been the biggest Ronan fan, so not sure. Very pop-tastic.
Mmm. I like the guitarist.
Song is very Ronan-esque, so yeah, has strong potential to win if it captures the teenie vote. I like it, but it’s radio stuff.
Can I have the guitarist? The long-haired one? Please?
Germany
Alex Swings Oscar Swing, Miss Kiss Kiss Bang
Dita von Teese is appearing. Well, it worked for Russia.
he really overplucks his eyebrows.
But I like the song.
Hmm, barely seen Dita. I’m sure once she starts stripping, they’ll show her more.
and now there’s tapdancing.
and DITA IS IN A ITY-BITTY CORSET, AND LOOKING HOT. SHE HAS A WHIP, PEOPLE.
I really liked the song, but the performance was not that great and badly taken care of.
Turkey
Hadise, Dum Tek Tek
well, it’s turkish so immediate eastern feel and music, and the belly-dancing. well, kind of belly dancing. as kat says, the ones with the back-up dancers doing the beter singing.
so eurovision. well, recent eurovision-y.
and now we have the acrobat leaping onto stage wearing only silky harem pants.
he’s too skinny.
Albania
Kejsi Tola, Carry me in your dreams
why are there mimes on stage?
and…a man…in a full on green condom body suit? WTF?
and she’s in a tutu.
I like her hair.
another typical europop track. it’s alright, she has a good voice at least. and the eastern bit, with the teensy belly dance bit…and the wind machine on gale force.
That was weird.
Norway
Alexander Rybak, Fairytale
The favourite to win. The one to beat. We have a fiddler on the stage!!
He’s cute.
i don’t know how to describe the dancers. and now we have girls in pretty dresses.
It’s a different song…not poppy, not really folky *Alexander composed it himself*
I like it…but…i had high hopes and I just can’t see why it’s favourite to win. Until he starts fiddling, that’s pretty good actually! i don’t want it to win. If he fiddled the entire way through…
i like the song, but not as much as i love others.
Ukraine
Svetlana Loboda, Be My Valentine
the one with the hamster wheels!
Th outfit, the stage…I’m seeing Lady Gaga in my head. And the dancers are gladiators!
all I have to say is the Ukraine must have an amazing clubbing scene, considering what they bring to Eurovision each year.
gladiators dancing, thrusting and headbanging. Hee. and she’s probably dizzy from all the twirling.
Did she just say he has a sexy bum? Ooh and drumming! And she broke the stick!
In kat’s words, I’m voting for her…she’s fucking nuts!
Romania
Elena, The Balkan Girls
this one starts off really well, lots of drums…and then flatlines. i like the outfits. I had really high hopes initially but i’m not a big fan of it, it’s too iffy.
hmm graham seems to say the back up singer is the main singer. I don’t know.
UK
Jade Ewen, It’s my time
Ok, can we get over the fact Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote this? His stuff isn’t that great, you know.
she has a sparkly mic.
and violinsts.
At least she can sing. and sing well.
Oh look, the man himself is on stage performing – now I see! He’s using this as his opportunity to perform at eurovision!
Ooh near miss – Jade was nearly taken out by a violin…but recovered.
It’s alright – it’s very…Idol winner-y to me, which are the type of songs I’ve never liked.
But she can belt it out.
Finland
Waldo’s People, Lose Control
Oh, I like this song! I can so see this in the clubs. It’s the rapper, with the girls in gold..and FIRE! Fire twirlers! Anyone with fire twirlers gets my vote. Such a far cry from Lordi.
as Kat says, bit fucking odd, but I quite like this one.
mmm…fire twirlers are hot.
Gah. I really like this.
Spain
Soraya Arnelas, El Noche es para mi
The spaniards have decided to go eastern? Or south american?
what is she wearing? Short and sparkly!
it’s eurodancy.
she’s disappeared. how will she re-appear? somewhere else, apparently. i was expecting more from that. you disappointed me, espana!
It’s a nice song..not good enough to vote for.
And that’s it – we have all 25 songs…and now it’s time to choose!!
It will take some time for the results to come through. Hmm..who will win? Where will I attempt to go see the final next?
ppst…hopefully Portugal!!!!!
Ack…they’re opening the voting…via space station.
I don’t think Russia has moved on from the cold war.
Europe, start voting! *grabs phone*
Good luck to all the entrants!
Oh boy. This one is a doozy. It’s one of those episodes which make you turn around and go back, way back, and re-watch specific moments. Now this scene makes sense, now you know why this has happened. And ack, it broke my freaking heart!
The opening montage is beautifully done: a car accident, or so it seems, a woman, and then Castiel lights up the screen, staring gravely at the poor woman…and as the camera zooms out we see the outline of her wings on the bitumen…nice!
Our boys have just buried Pamela, who devastatingly died in the previous episode. I will most definitely miss her; she was the epitome of all the fans. And that would be why they killed her off, as every female character we like on this show never survives for very long. So they get into their hotel room and find Castiel and Uriel waiting for them. They’ve caught Alistair (What? He’s not dead?) And are trying to extract information from him, and for that, they need a torturer. Which is why they’ve come to Dean, the best torturer they know, seeing as he spent 40 years in hell. Sam is not having any of it, because he doesn’t believe Dean can break Alistair, as he sees his brother as weak. And damn Sammy, what has that Ruby girl done to you? Although I guess this is the result of 4 months of learning to stand on your own 2 feet out of your brother’s shadow….err…can you crawl back into it now? I preferred the optimistic, naïve and cute Sammy. Of course, being angels, Castiel and Uriel merely vanish…and take Dean along with them. Hmm. Now, Sammy sees his weak brother as being kidnapped by the angels. You know, I never thought I’d be writing that sentence.
Dean has a little chat with Castiel, who convinces to bring out his bad side and torture Alistair for information on who’s killing angels, and how. So he goes in and tyhey have annoying little moments of chit-chat, with Dean preparing his instruments of torture as Alistair tries to break him. Of course, he’d be the one person who knows how to.
He even drags out old Daddy Dearest yet again, claiming how Daddy dearest never broke, but Dean did after only 30 measly years. Dean calmly and quietly continues preparing his torture devices, which are nasty. Of course, the reason Alistair is baiting him is because he realises there is a leaking pump, resolutely breaking the devil’s trap holding him. He’s keeping Dean pre-occupied so he doesn’t notice.
In the meantime, Anna visits Castiel to tell him to think for himself and be all pale and ghost-like. Sam also has a visit from Ruby, and she helps him find Dean with a really cool trick…and then we find out exactly what Sammy has been getting up all these months, besides exorcising demons and sleeping with one. He’s been sucking demon blood from Ruby. Which…..I don’t think I even have words for. Just. Ick. Dammit Sammy…you are so screwed up right now! He gathers extra-strength from the demon blood, so he sucks some more up in order to go and break Dean free, because he’s so sure Dean is incapable of doing anything himself. Oh, this does so not bode well for our intrepid heroes’ futures. He goes racing off after Dean.
In the meantime…oh, I don’t know if I have the words for it. This bit…
Alistair pulls out his drawcard. He reveals to Dean exactly why he was in hell, exactly what the plan was. Apparently, once Lilith had the contract in her hand, she set the whole plan of releasing Lucifer into motion. Because the first seal had to be broken by a righteous man in hell, torturing others. Do you realise what this means?
It means Dean broke the first seal, he set it all into motion when he picked up that scythe and started slicing and dicing. All of this, all the seals, the deaths, Lucifer…it’s all HIS FAULT.
The close-up on Jensen here is beautiful, you know can see him holding resolutely, but in his eyes, you see him breaking. Gah.
And this is of course when Alistair breaks free and grabs Dean and slams him into the wall.
We come back into it a little later to find Dean practically pulverised and Castiel finally comes dashing into the room to take Alistair on, except, yet again, he is overtaken, plucked onto a meat-hook and nearly killed…when Sam comes in and kills Alistair once and for all. Of course, Castiel is really unhappy now, having seen Sam use his power…to rescue him. Oh the moral dilemmas!
Our next scene is Dean lying in a hospital bed. (SQUEE!) Sam is next to him, all terrified, begging Castiel to help him, but he can’t. I think Sam is also starting to come to some of his own realisations, and he ain’t happy with the angels.
Castiel goes back to the factory and realises the trap was broken, which was how Dean was so badly injured. And then Uriel comes back in..and it’s revealed Uriel is the one whose been killing the angels, because only an angel can kill another angel. He has decided Lucifer had the right idea and has joined a secret underground movement helping Lucifer’s escape, setting the trap to get rid of one his problems, ie Dean. And then we have an angelic showdown, which, inevitably, the gorgeous tousle-headed Castiel wins. Thank the heavens.
We come to our last scene, with Dean waking up in hospital and seeing his guardian angel by his bedside. They have a small chat, as Castiel tells Dean to be more careful, because some of the angels are bad and probably gunning for him. And then Dean asks if it’s true. If it’s true about him breaking the first seal. Castiel can’t lie. And Dean is so heartbreakingly destroyed right here….sniffle. Catsiel reveals ocne they figured out Lilith’s plan they battled their way into hell to try and stop it from happening, to save Dean. But they were too late. Dean wants to know why he rescued him.
Castiel looks at him and reveals, the one who started it, is the one who will end it.
Fudge. Hell. So…my god…..Dean…Dean actually has his own arc? He…has his own little path that is in absolutely no way tied to Sam? Are you people serious? I was terrified it was all tied to Sam, but….it’s all about DEAN! (Cue exuberant squeeing here).
Ahem.
Dean, in typical Dean-esque fashion, tells Castiel where he can stuff it. No, not there, sadly. He tells Castiel to find someone else, because he isn’t strong enough and he can’t do it.
Sounds to me like someone’s been listening to baby brother a little bit too much.
Never fear, 2 crazy ass episodes ahead before another hiatus and then the last 4 in a big bang!!
Pamela! Tessa! Reapers! Alistair! God, I love this episode.
We’re introduced to a town where people miraculously recover from fatal wounds and diseases, while Sam and Dean continue sniping away at each other. Dean is thoroughly sick and tired of all the crap thrown his way lately and you know, I kind of understand it. After all, this is the same guy who’s been brought up like a soldier by the father who then gave his life for him, thus totally screwing with the poor man’s head, and then given up his own life for his brother and gone to hell. He also understands it won’t end. Sam has his innocence filter on again, believing that once they get rid of Lilith all the bad stuff will go away and he can have a normal life again. Which is absolutely ridiculous, because let’s face it, this is life. You have the good and the bad to balance each other out. And after they took out ol’ yellow eyes (oh how we miss you) the bad stuff didn’t go away, it simply increased. Even stopping Lucifer form rising won’t keep the darkness at bay, and I think Dean knows this, which is why he’s sick of it.; He knows the only escape from this life is death, and come one, the poor guy’s been on death’s door at least twice and has actually died (although that wasn’t so pleasant either), so I totally see where he’s coming from. Meanwhile, Sam in his unbridled optimism truly believes he cans top the upcoming apocalypse and life can be hunky-dory again. Oh, ye of so little knowledge. I thought you’re meant to be the smart one, Sammy?
At any rate, the pleasantries of the last episode with the seductive siren are still eating away at Dean, who also realises Sam believes he doesn’t need him anymore, which is really nice Sam, considering your brother went to hell for you and wow…they’re really trying to make Sammy unlikeable, aren’t they? (Or at least painting Dean as a total martyr). Anyhoo, they make the drive up to the town and discover that no one has in a few days, not since a 12 year old was killed. And why? They boys surmise the town’s reaper is a no-show. So, they drag out the awesome Pamela who helps them leave their physical bodies behind and became part of the spiritual realm so they can communicate with the dead boy who’s been creating a bit of havoc at his mum’s place.
And here we start with some cute jokes as they plunge their fists into each other (depending on what level of slash you read determines how much squeeing occurred on your behalf) and they go find the little dead boy, who tells them about the reaper coming to visit and then being taken away…by a demon. Well, our boys figure that out. And then the wind picks up…and it’s Tessa! OH! The most kick-ass reaper ever makes a return visit to take over reaping duties in this town. Dean knows she looks familiar, and so she taps him on the head and his memory from nearly dying comes back, which just had me squeeing all over, because I absolutely adore In My Time of Dying and if she wasn’t a dead reaper, they’d be an awesome couple.
Anyway, she’s all pragmatic about carrying on with her duties and reaping the poor boy, but our boys convince her to leave him until they’ve rescued with the other reaper. At which point the wind blows up and Tessa is kidnapped.
So, now Dean and Sam need to learn how to move physical objects as our dead boy teaches them (it’s very cute) and they wander off to find where the reapers are being kept…in a house surrounded by charms to keep out angels. Huh. I didn’t think about that.
In the meantime, demons are trying to into the room where the boys spirit-less bodies lie with a blind woman…oh this isn’t going to end well. Pamela starts calling Sam back, but is stabbed in the process. Of course…there aren’t any reapers around, so she’s safe…for the time being. So they get in and try getting rid of one of the demons which they do but then end up caught and the original reaper is murdered and blood spilled…because of course this is all another seal, the blood of 2 reapers will break another seal. Alistair is also hanging around like a bad smell…man really wants his whipping boy back downstairs. (Mmmm…Dean as a whipping boy….sorry where was I again?) and just as he’s about to get Tessa….the boys have been concentrating very hard on pulling the chandelier off the ceiling and it smashes onto the ground, breaking the circle, allowing Tessa to escape and then release the boys (Who’ve been held back by an iron chain. Cute.)
Sam has vanished in the meantime, having been called back by Pamela and he fights off the demon with his super duper evil powers and tries to save Pamela…Dean is still stuck on the spiritual plane. He has a run-in with Alistair and it’s not looking good…and then zap! Alistair’s hit by lightning and vanishes, extra crispy. Heh.
Dean also has a chat with Tessa, who reveals she knows more than Dean does about this whole escapade and I don’t want her to leave my screen. I love her. She tells Dean not to trust the angels, because inevitably, he doesn’t know what their endgame is. And neither do we. After it’s all over and he saves the world, does he go back to hell? How does this all work? They go back to the house and Tessa reaps the little boy, allowing his mother to finally have peace.
And then Dean gets pulled back, just in time for Pamela to die. Oh. Oh no. Really? Oh show! Why do you keep killing off the awesome female characters and keep around the nasty ones? How you make me want to cry…until next episode, that is…
Oh this episode. Oh dear. I tried not to laugh or read too much into it, but I couldn’t help myself!
So the boys find themselves in Iowa where men are murdering their loved ones, in particularly gruesome manners. Like, freaky nasty. They discover all the guys have been visiting a strip joint and seeing Disney strippers (Jasmine, Belle, Aurora) and then kill their wives/girlfriends/mothers for them. Sam gets his flirt on with the local doctor/medical examiner/mortician and while Dean begrudges him for stealing his thunder, he soon forgets it in his excitement over actually getting to visit a strip joint on the job. Which avails to nothing. Except for the guy who ends up killing his mother that night.
When the boys next visit the sexy doctor, they’re interrupted by another FBI guy, and come on, I as suspicious here! Anyway, they give him a number to calla s the FBI director, who turns out to be Bobby, frying up some food while wearing a kiss the cook apron. God I love Bobby. Bobby ahs also informed them they’re dealing with a siren, someone who appears to you as your total fantasy, poisons you and then convinces you to kill loved ones for them. I guess they feed off of something. The blood? The adrenalin? The sex? Who knows? They don’t go into details, wanting to mess with the fangirl’s heads instead. Of course, as sirens are shapeshifters they’re bloody difficult to catch.
Sam sends Dean away with the FBI man to keep him occupied so he doesn’t interfere with them while Sam and the doctor flirt and attempt to find the missing blood samples, because they need it for eventually killing the siren. Affected blood on the knife in the siren will kill it. Or something like that. Again, who cares about semantics? All we want is to understand the psychology behind this episode! Kripke, you evil genius. So as Sammy flirts with sexy doctor, Dean gets along amazingly well with FBI guy, who provides him with some evidence of a plant found at all the scenes…which is in the sexy doctor’s room and as we pan over it we see, oh hello they’r eknocking back whiskey and she’s pushing him up against the desk and the shirts are off and it’s a free for all! Woo! Any episode where we get to see so much Winchester skin, is a damn good episode. Yum.
Right. Dean realises Sammy slept with sexy doctor and tells him off. Ooh Sammy is angry about that. Could he really be under her spell? Ss she’s the main suspect Dean calls in FBI guy to help him follow her. They start a stakeout for the doctor, and yeah she heads to a rough and tumble bar. Knowing they’re in for a long night he grabs his trusty flask, and offers it to FBI guy before taking another sip…only for FBI guy to reveal he’s the siren! Bells are going off! Dean’s been suckered in by a male siren!
Fangirls are fainting in fits of ecstasy!
They head back to the motel, where Sam realises Dean’s the one who’s under the spell as he holds a knife to Sam’s throat…and the siren explains Dean didn’t want a hot sexy girl he wanted <anal> his brother back.
And then the siren spits milky liquid into Sam’s mouth, thus infecting him and my god, I don’t even have to spell it out, do I? IS anyone out there not salivating? Or off writing gayporn? Anyhow, now with both brothers infected, he tells them to face off with each other and fight to the death. The winning brother gets to stay with the siren. And they start…verbally. Huh. What, no slappy fisticuffs? Dean starts in his tirade about how his brother won’t stop using his powers and turning evil and then Same really goes for the low blow, telling Dean he’s sick and tired of him moping and whinging about his time in hell. OH that’s it, he deserves a bloody spanking for that one! His brother endured 40 years of hell…HELL…for him and that’s how he repays him? Ooh, skinny tall boy, you’re going down!
Anyway, they start with the fisticuffs, really going at each other and it seems Sam has the upper hand, until Dean drags him through the door, blowing it down and Sam lies there, winded. Dean grabs the fire safety axe and is about to chop off Sam’s head…when in comes Bobby on his brilliant white horse, stabbing dean in the back (literally, and then throwing the (infected blood) knife ninja-style at the siren, who dies.
And we end with pretty scenery scene again, except this time there’s no beer, as Bobby hands them coke instead. After all, someone has to drive. Heh. I love you Bobby.
The boys agree they didn’t mean anything they said while infected (thus avoiding those awkward male siren thoughts sweeping through their heads) and pretend everything’s fine…but we know it’s not, because of the angsty faces they’re pulling as they drive away…into March.
GAH! I have to wait a month for the next one?
Heh.
I love this episode for 2 reasons – I adore young Sam and want an entire spin-off just with young Dean and Sam: Supernatural, the kiddie wars, just because they are unbelievably awesome. Young Sam has the snarl, the woe-is-me look down pat. He’s brilliant.
And secondly? I love this episode because we see Dean in little red shorts. Ooh, down girl! Ha ha.
So, here we have the boys returning to one of the high schools they attended as kids, following a spate of murders/accidents were kids seemed to turn on their bullies…and then have no recollection of it afterwards. While the boys get undercover roles, Sam as a janitor and Dean as the football coach, Sam has flashbacks to their first time here and how it changed him. And wow, Dean shot up and lost the baby fat fairly quickly. And became hot. And man, could that kid look anymore like a young Dean? Whoever the casting director is for this episode, damn! Did they do a good job or what?
So in the past they get dropped off and dad leaves for a hunt. Dean immediately proves how he didn’t care about school at this stage, walking in with his rebellious drop-out attitude and no books, talking back to the teachers and obviously catching the attention of every damn girl in the room. He also manages to make good use of the supply closet. Until he gets caught macking with another girl, and the first one draws him out for the person he really is…or at least how he sees himself as a no-hoper with zero social skills, no future and an overall loser. Ouch. High school can be brutal…particularly when you already have severe self-esteem issues and a dead-end future. Poor Dean. What a big woobie he is.
Sam, on the other hand, walks in already being picked on, befriending the abused victim of the class and standing up for him. While he doesn’t fight back and allows himself to get bullied (At which point Dean does attempt to swoop in and whoop the little bully’s ass, but Sam stops him, wanting to deal with it on his own), it gets to the point he fights back and just becomes the abuser himself. He wallops the bully one and becomes the champion of the school. And wow- anvils! Poor little victim Sammy become the executioner…why am I seeing parallels with what will happen? Sam is so the puppy – kick him when he’s down but then he’ll bite. Sam also has a discussion with his teacher who lets him know he doesn’t need to follow in the family footsteps, he can do whatever he wants, be whoever he wants to be, and you can see this is where the rebellion began. Before this, Sam was a mopey kid who followed along with his dad sullenly, but this is the point he thought hell, no I’ll do what I damn well please….and it’s so awesome of our show to provide us with this moment!
Anyway, so let’s stick with the present for now, as the boys investigate and Sam realises his English teacher still teaches here. They investigate and Sam finds out the boy he befriended killed himself not too long after they left. Ouch. Heartbreaking. But I guess he wasn’t strong enough to deal with it all and decided that was the easy way out.
But the killings continue to happen, until they realise it has something to do with the school bus. They find the bus driver, whose new, and was the bully’s father. The bully, who had only recently lost his mother to cancer and was lashing out, and also ended up killing himself later on. And damn, Sam’s expression here just about kills me! So the bully’s ghost is still lashing out, as daddy keeps a lock of his hair on the bus…the bus which is now driving the football team to another town. Our boys stop the bus, and as Sam has a little tussle with another possessed kid, Dean finds the hair and burns it and peace is restored to the world. Sam does have a little chat with his teacher, wanting to let him know how did it, he broke out and became his own person…until it finally sinks in that he didn’t, because ultimately he’s hunting. He became exactly what he ran away from all those years.
And damn – depressing episode! But a really, really good one! Just needed a bit more Castiel, that’s all.
Well, with a title like that, what else can you possible expect from this episode besides magic? And it’s magic galore, along with some very heavy-hitting anvils of future DOOM for our brothers (And some more undertensions of gayness….seriously…they’ve been racketing up the bromance this season, as well as the angel loving)
So this time around we’re following the Amazing Jay (not the Amazing Race, which I think is just a little more Amazing Jay…but not as great as the Amazing Yellow Line….but that’s another story). Jay is old, washed up and over the hill. Him and his friends all enjoy the classic magic tricks which people sued to rush to see, but are now overshadowed by today’s young’uns, with their flashy sparkles, fireworks and emo eyeliner. And yeah, they’re so taking the piss out of Criss Angel here, but I wonder if this is something that is more American based, because while I have heard of the guy, I’ve never seen any of his work. And neither do I care. But I digress. Because the story isn’t about Criss Angel, it’s about Jay!
Jay’s ready for his final curtain, and decides to perform one of the trickiest moves for his show – attempting to escape iron clad straps before the spiky thing falls on him, piercing him to death. And yeah, he fails, because they’re too tight…..and it drops…and out walks Jay. In one piece.
Outside, another douchebag of a magician keels over, bleeding from little spikes all over his body. Uh oh.
So, our boys rock up in town and start investigating and get screwed over by the old-timers…heh. They send Dean to meet this guy at a random address…and he walks into a dungeon-esque room, and out walks a large bulky man, in tight leather and straps with a whip, asking Dean for his safe word. Oh dear. Oh, that amused me to no end. Of course, we still have no idea how our bow-legged friend got himself out of that one. J
So, Jay performs another trick, and again seemingly fails, but walks away scot-free…and another douchebag of a magician dies in his stead. While our boys think another grim reaper spells, we discover Jay’s oldest friend, Charlie, actually has a grimmoire, is immensely old (and now looking bloody young) and did all of this to stop Jay from dying, because he wants them to be immortal forever. Together.
Huh. How many anvils did you count in that last sentence alone?
So, as Charlie strings Dean up and strangles and places Sammy on the table, straps him in and prepares to..well….puncture him to death, Jay sees his friend’s behaviour for the madness and kills him himself. And then is devastated by what he just did. And lo and behold, instead of another scenic little tête-à-tête, we have Dean sleeping (underneath a blanket this time so he’s slowly coming back to…err…life) as Sam sneaks out to meet up with Ruby, telling her he’ll do whatever it takes to get rid of Lilith, because he doesn’t want the rest of his life to be hunting…and he doesn’t want either him or Dean to die any time soon, and the only way to do that is by stopping Lilith. Oh Sammy. Did you not get any of those heavy anvils dropping left, right and centre? That’s exactly what did Charlie in! He didn’t want to grow old and watch his friends and die and oh there’s no point. Sam’s as stubborn today as when he drank that bloody demon’s blood. Bring on the devastation and torture!
After tormenting ourselves through the Christmas hiatus (Well not really, as Christmas Day fell on Thursday and I happened to be in the US, I got to watch a Very Supernatural Christmas on the CW for once. And yes, I found that damn exciting) – we now get back to our regularly scheduled programming and well, who can we really forget how we finished off with 2008, with Dean revealing his deep, dark secrets of hell? It appears a month has passed in the world of the supernatural, and the boys have been cross-tracking the country on back-to-back hunts. Sammy not getting his beauty sleep or something?
We jump in with a haunted house which the brothers are trying to investigate after a redneck old man was discovered in a very icky manner, but a new family is attempting to move in and just simply won’t take no for an answer, even if they psyche the boys out by “leaving” for the motel only to return once the boys are gone. They’re either very smart or very stupid, and in this case I’ll go with really stupid. When such hot tottie comes knocking on your door…well, you hope you have plenty of rope handy so you can tie them up and err…
*cough*
Sorry. Was distracted there.
So, the boy is seen playing with a young girl and talks about how she lives in the walls, whereas his teen sister is pretty freaked out by the whole thing, and yet seems inherently cool, and could potentially fit right into this show in a few year’s time.
The family and the boys kind of get stuck on the property that night as all the tyres are slashed and they can no longer escape. For once, a seemingly smart ghost. Particularly considering this ghost can cross salt lines…and isn’t affected by rock salt. Uh oh.
So, what the boys think they’re hunting here is the ghost of a young girl who committed suicide years ago in this house…is actually the girl’s daughter. You see, daddy dearest abused his daughter and when she fell pregnant, he locked the kid up in the basement. She killed herself after her twins were born, leaving her 2 cubs to grow up in the basement with no human contact, education or daylight. Yes, there’s 2 of them. And yes, it sounds totally ripped from the headlines, doesn’t it?
So they’re pretty feral kids and damn terrifying.
As Dean and the brother find out when they investigate the inner walls of the house and the brother is killed. Eep.
And then the little boy is kidnapped by the young feral who wants a new playmate. And Dean won’t be able to live with himself if he dies, so he has to heroically go in and find the young boy and rescue him. And while the girls heroically attempt to save themselves in the shed, the boys and the family’s daddy first try to find the young boy, which Dean does manage to do, hence learning about the feral brother and then they all get chased outside and have to fight off the ferals, with Dean rather vengefully kills the young man…as daddy heroically takes out the young woman after she attempts to claw her way into the shed. Quite a heroic episode. And yeah. I can see countless therapy bills for this family.
But, this being our beloved show of course, means we get another very brief glimpse of the gorgeous star of the show, Metallicar, as our boys yet again decide to find the prettiest bit of scenery to pull over and have another heart-to-heart moment…and seriously, Krip, can you lay off the picturesque tourist propaganda for a change? I like these exchanges, because they’re some of the rare glimpses we get into…well, they all tend to be Dean moments, so we get momentary flashes into Dean’s damaged psyche. But I feel like every episode seems to be finishing with one of these scenes now, and this show is anything but formulaic. I mean, this season has been a case of opening with the boys driving to their next destination, arguing over whatever revelation was made in the previous episode, and then expositing about new beast, and then closing off with the tourist shot of Vancouver.
Anyway, this time we learn how Dean is broken up this time because he actually started to enjoy torturing those souls down under (huh, that’s how I feel whenever I visit home). And he’s not happy with what that potentially says about him. And Sam again weeps majestically, stoically….silently.
So, Sam is not talking to Erica and she is snowed under with work and just really not having a great day. The writer whose book Erica pitched has not written any chapters, and Erica’s the one dealing with the fallout. So when Dr Tom appears, she wants none of it. But he gives her a break, and tells her to remember one perfect day, so she can relive it.
And she chooses a day when her parents were arguing and the 3 of them snuck out and headed to Toronto Island and had a great day. It’s also the last day the 3 of them were together before Leo died. I can’t wait until we get to that one.
So Erica is whisked back and convinces her siblings to head out and not deal with their parents, while filching money out of dad’s pocket. Heh.
Sadly, what’s meant to be a happy memory is basically ruined by 32 year old Erica, whose become more responsible and lost all those teenage inhibitions. Rather than laughing at Leo’s antics, she’s yelling at him to stop and grow up and act properly, and trying so hard to recreate the day as she remembers it, she ruins it. And well, I could have told her that would happen. That day was perfect because it was spontaneous, it just happened and they could be free and vent their anger in a semi-normal way. Erica manages to ruin Sam’s new shoes by throwing up on them, and throwing Leo into the arms of the local skank. Erica doesn’t understand what happened, she wanted the day to be perfect, but it can’t be, because it wasn’t perfect to begin with. It became perfect and that’s something she needs to understand, to simply be who she is, and let everything flow naturally in order to create a great day. She finally gets it right, starting a water fight with Sam in the fountain and relaxing. Leo does make out with the blonde skank, but then her boyfriend shows up and they start running away…until Erica, boldened, older Erica walks right up to him and slaps him and tells him off. Heh. Ok, that was cool.
They catch the evening ferry home, and the day is perfect, because they’re together and having fun. They get back home and have a proper talk about their parents.
And then Erica is back at work, and more relaxed. She goes to the home of the writer, only to find he’s overdosed (his book is basically about overcoming drug addiction) and rushes him off to hospital. There. She runs into Sam who if I remember is a doctor/dentist/? I can’t remember. They attempt to talk but Sam isn’t ready to forgive Erica yet…and Erica reminds her no matter what, Erica will be there for her.
That night, as Josh stays out late from work and Sam stays at home, she still doesn’t seem ready to unleash her fears regarding her new husband, but she’s not ready to let go of the fantasy just yet, I guess.
More please. More more more more more!
Here comes the bride….yes, Sam’s getting married to the loser, Josh! Initially Erica is settled, having spent a wonderful time with Ryan (and where the hell is he from? He is so familiar…and so damn HOT), gets to the house for the wedding and is showing off her newfound confidence by keeping everything organised and maintained. Awww, she does it so well. Unfortunately, Josh is acting like a dick, and Erica is yet again asking herself why Sam would allow herself to be treated in this way. Sam does have cold feet and asks Erica to be honest…and Erica isn’t, she tells Sam not to worry. Josh manages to ruin her dress and Erica has had enough and can’t wait to go back and change one regret – the one time Josh and Sam broke up, Erica was the one who convinced them tog et back together. Now, she gets to go back and change that all. Which she does. She supports Sam and tells her she did the right thing. The next day, instead of Erica going over and convincing Josh to take her back, she supports Sam by going over with her to pick up her belongings. As they leave, the power goes out – of course, this is the massive power failure which took out the entire eastern coast of North America a few years back. Stuck in the building, Erica and Sam end up at a neighbour’s party, a very cute neighbour Sam keeps eyeing up. Josh shows up and after awhile snags Erica’s attention…where he reveals he never loved Sam, but was with her only in a bid to be close to the girl he truly wanted. And although they never explicitly say it, you can see it – all these years, Josh has secretly been wanting Erica and is with Sam only because that’s as close as he can get. And man, that one is a doozy. So, Erica gets zapped back to today and is truly shocked to see the wedding is still going ahead. Apparently a couple of days later Josh and Sam got back together – this should be an indicator to Erica it’s not her fault, it’s a path Sam has to take on her own, but Erica still blames herself…to the point she finds Sam and tells her everything. She tells her Josh doesn’t love her and she’s making a big mistake. Bad move. Waiting until this moment to tell your sister she’s making a mistake? When it’s practically too late? Sam is beyond furious, and tells Erica after the wedding she’s never speaking to her again. And I can understand. It’s not what you want to hear about your fiancé, particularly since secretly you’re harbouring those same fears yourself. And so we finish on a sour note, where it didn’t turn out right, and in fact it’s screwed up Erica’s life. But I think she needed it. She needed to be honest with her sister and let her know, even if it all turned to batshit. Because that’s more important than harbouring resentment and sitting back while your sister’s life falls to pieces. And hey, at least Erica gets to keep Ryan! Ooh, and did I mention Claire came back with Ethan? Ouch.
