SPN: In the Beginning

[superbadgirl]

Icon is because Sam's not happy with his lack of screentime.

I'm actually getting a bit concerned with how much in-depth stuff he gets, while Sam gets ... well, nothing. We never get any real meaty character growth on-screen for Sam. We see him travel down his dark path in bits and pieces (tonight it was maybe 20 seconds of him getting in a car with a demon and driving away). We're told he's going down it often enough, but hardly see it. This is not a recent development. Sam's growth, if it can be called that, is almost always kind of detached, and often it's stuff we have to infer ourselves or be told.

C'mon, show, you'd better start delivering for Sam. Soon, because frankly, he's getting gypped, and so are we.

Now that I got that out of my system, I really did enjoy the episode. I swear, I did. I loved seeing babyfaced John (oh, John, you were such an innocent, sweet thing). I loved seeing young Mary (the actress must have studied Samantha Smith's portrayal, because her mannerisms were recognizable). I loved meeting the grandparents, may they rest in peace. I liked learning we're not done with Azazel (any bets Ruby's actually an old pal of his?) quite yet, even though he's dead.

I think there were much more direct ways for Castiel to make his point, for reals, but the time travel had to happen sometime, right? Though, honestly, in hindsight Dean will realize he already knew there was nothing he could have done. And even if he could have done something, he's already seen, ala the djinn, that what you wish for sometimes isn't all it's cracked up to be. He's so focused on saving his mom all the time, when I think what his focus and motivation should have been was Sam. He should also know this. I think he now does, or will.

Mitch Pileggi = awesome. I love that man. But, ew, Mary kissed her demon-possessed dead father.

The scene with Dean telling Mary not to get out of bed on November 2, 1983 was heartbreaking. Oh, Dean.

Hmm, not sure that John would have made the USS Enterprise crack. The show was 1) not on long and 2) not popular even when it was on, which was years before 1973, no? Ah, well, cute anyway. Week II for Star Trek references.

Okay, so once again Dean has to save Sam (which maybe means kill him), or a pack of wild angels will do it for him? I like the dramatic tension and all, but they've basically been using this chestnut for three years now. (Sure they tried to change it up last year, but because the shoe was on the other foot, we didn't get the good stuff. They don't seem to write the good stuff for Sam.) Just sayin' Castiel's ultimatum is nothing we don't already know. i would like some forward motion at a pace greater than that of a snail.

I'll shut up about that now. I'm going in circles. It's just that as a bi-brother gal, I'm feeling the scales are tipped too much and want something more balanced. I want both brothers!

Also? How does Dawn Ostroff not get this show? Seriously, has she ever even watched it? Yes to this kind of drama, no to the drama of overprivileged teens (aka Gossip Girl, 90210 and Privileged).

More might come up upon second viewing and a good night's rest. So far so good this season. Miles ahead of last season, for me. :)

Comments

[strangevisitor7.livejournal.com]

not sure that John would have made the USS Enterprise crack I thought the same thing. Not that popular a show until a few years later but I liked the snark.

I believe Ruby is working for YED or at least was. She's a demon and ultimately can not be trusted. Plus she's taking Sam down the path that YED wanted - at least I think she is.

Time travel rocks and I loved the Campbells and young John. Kripke is such a Bruce Campbell fan and has been trying to get him on the show - wonder if that's why he picked that surname.

[superbadgirl]

I believe Ruby is working for YED or at least was. She's a demon and ultimately can not be trusted. Plus she's taking Sam down the path that YED wanted - at least I think she is.

It's hard to say, huh, since we don't get to see much of it. Hehe.

[strangevisitor7.livejournal.com]

We really need the episode that shows what Sam was doing or at least more of his shenanigans with Ruby. But I think the show wants to keep us guessing about Sam's activities until it's too late

[superbadgirl]

Heh, I just wish we could do it without Ruby. Or, rather, with a Ruby I can buy as slick and cool and evil.

I think their intent is to retain the mystery with Sam, but unfortunately what's happening (for me) is that he's coming off as less developed than Dean. I love Sam and I'm all a-tingle at the idea of him going dark side, but I'd like to see it happening a bit more. We're getting lots of tell.

(I should be careful what I wish for. By this logic the Star Wars prequels should have rocked, but I was quite bored by Anakin's backstory...thankfully, Kripke & Co aren't George Lucas.)

BTW, I love your icon.

[strangevisitor7.livejournal.com]

You make a good point in comparing this to Anakin's journey - sometimes a sideways look at things builds the tension better than knowing the whole truth.

It would have been nice to see Sam during Dean's stay in hell but we kind of got that in mystery spot. But I'm with you the curiosity of what Sam is up to and what he thinks he's doing is driving me crazy

As for the icon - feel free to snag if you like

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Since I started watching this show, the Sam storyarc has been a concern of mine. I quit watcing in S2 partly for that reason and I get testy in S3 when it was brought up again. I don't like the repetition and the back-and-forth nature of it. If Sam is going evil, just consistently build that way.

It's been set up from the start, but I just lose patience when they don't do anything but little hints.

I just hope that if there is a showdown, after all is said and done, Sam is redeemed and the brothers are working together.

[superbadgirl]

I like the arc, really, but it would be SO MUCH BETTER served if they balanced things. Dean's the good guy, the everyman. I get that, but I think it could be so much more effective if we saw what Sam's going through.

Instead, we got a four month jump and no explanation. We can figure it out, sure, but wouldn't it be nice to see it?

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Honestly? I think we will see it. Somehow. I think we're going to get more and more Dean flashbacks from Hell as the season progresses and they will parallel that with what Sam did. I don't know what is going to happen, but I think we'll be seeing what happened for them both during the 4 month period.

[superbadgirl]

We'd better! :)

[maychorian.livejournal.com]

Hee! "Pack of wild angels," yes. I get the feeling that they're not exactly supposed to be here, maybe, and they're kind of figuring things out on their own.

And yeah, I miss Sam too. It is making me discontent, even though the last three episodes have been awesome overall. I'm holding out hope that it will balance later, but it's not like it ever has. This is supposed to be a show about brothers, not a guy and his possibly-sorta-maybe evil little brother.

[superbadgirl]

Hee! "Pack of wild angels," yes. I get the feeling that they're not exactly supposed to be here, maybe, and they're kind of figuring things out on their own.

Though I suppose it's possible even God doesn't know what Azazel was up to. Personally, it made more sense to me to think YED and Lilith were always on the same side, and that she didn't really want to kill Sam. If she's trying to set Lucifer free, wouldn't he just love a host with special skills? Demon with power boost technology.

Oh, yes with the awesome. I just wish Sam got some of it. Even what he gets isn't as fleshed out. No this isn't a gripe about air time, it's about how the air time is used. :)

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

That is what I've been wondering. If in the end the special chosen kid is set up to be like a host or vessel.

[superbadgirl]

I'm a little bit fearful of Castiel's little "you can't change destiny" lesson. 1) I don't believe that's true and 2) if it is true for this show, then Sam's as good as gone already.

I think for Castiel stopping it means killing Sam. I think for Dean that means trying to change destiny, which Castiel has just shown him can't be done. Grim, much?

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Yeah that is highly problematic for me. It's hard for me because I don't believe that. What's the point then? If Sam can't be changed or saved at all, then I almost feel like this is a waste of my time. I know it's a horror genre and horror stories usually don't end well, but at the same time stories of redemption and salvation are very archetypal. So I would think the show would be heading that direction and that the Castiel warnings are a mislead.
So I don't think it's true. if it is true, I will be ticked.

And if Castiel doesn't know what will happen (if he is telling the truth) then how can he urge Dean to kill Sam if that is what it takes? If he doesn't know Azazael's plans, how does he know what Sam's destiny is? There is a lot of gray area there to exploit.

Free will has to fact in here somewhere. If there isn't some kind of out for Sam, I will be really ticked.

[superbadgirl]

And if Castiel doesn't know what will happen (if he is telling the truth) then how can he urge Dean to kill Sam if that is what it takes? If he doesn't know Azazael's plans, how does he know what Sam's destiny is? There is a lot of gray area there to exploit.

Of course, you have to take into account Castiel is not human and is possibly unable to see the situation in any light other than "evil must be eradicated; Sam is tiptoeing toward evil, therefore it must be handled." In a lot of ways, his POV is like a heavenly Gordon Walker.

It's up to Dean to provide not only a basic human element, but also the familial one. His POV is going to be on the same side as Castiel, probably, but he will see the gray. No way is he going to let Sam go, not after everything. It just isn't in him.

[bedelia77.livejournal.com]

There have been plenty of Sam-focused eps and I believe next week's is supposed to be another..I for one am glad that Dean is finally getting some well-deserved attention, and am enjoying the fact that he is becoming more important to the overlying arc (whatever it is). Having said that, it was a little odd for Sam to only be there for a few seconds, wonder if Jared had other commitments and that's why they wrote it in that way? Or maybe he just wanted a bit of time off?

Either way, I really really liked this episode. I agree the Mary/demon kiss was gross....I don't think he kissed the other guy, can't remember his name, the one who wanted his dad to stop beating on his mom? (you know, when Dean was dressed as a priest? Is it a sin that I LOVE him dressed up like that??)...getting back to my point, I think that was a little unnecessary. But otherwise I think MP rocked. He even reminded me of the actor who portrayed YED before, wonder if that was intentional? And I loved the twist that Mary was a hunter...wasn't expecting that. I was thinking maybe she was into wicca or something like that and that's how she was connected to YED, but hunter's even better!! They had such a cool mom!! :P

[superbadgirl]

I'm not saying there aren't Sam focused episodes, I'm saying what we get for Sam is surface compared to what we get for Dean and it has almost always been this way. It's awesome for Dean to be multi-faceted and three dimensional and I love that. I want the same for Sam.

[bedelia77.livejournal.com]

It's coming, I'm sure. Surely they will give us more insight into what happened to him while Dean was gone and what he's up to with Ruby. I imagine there will be clashes between Sam and Dean along the way that will let us see how they are changing...

[nialla]

Hmm, not sure that John would have made the USS Enterprise crack. The show was 1) not on long and 2) not popular even when it was on, which was years before 1973, no? Ah, well, cute anyway. Week II for Star Trek references.

Maybe John was a complete and utter geek long before it was "cool" to be so?

IIRC, Star Trek didn't do well in the ratings overall, but it did very well in Certain Demographic Groups (sounds familiar, doesn't it?), so it lasted longer than it normally would have based on ratings alone. John would have been in that demo back then, so I can fanwank that issue.

[superbadgirl]

I dunno, maybe you're right. I think there's just a bank of ST fans on the SPN staff. Hee hee.

I do want to say, though, that I gave Dean a ST reference in a fic over a year ago. Pffft.