SPN: Yellow Fever

[superbadgirl]

And at the same time is the butt of so many jokes. Don't get me wrong. Anyone who's read any of my longer stories knows I appreciate mixing humor with all the angst, but jeez. Dean's not a dick.

Well, okay, maybe he is, but he's our dick. (That sounds so wrong. You know what I mean.)

I mean, being scared to death is ... scary. I thought they could have eased up on the joking about it just a tad. However, the angst they did give made up for that a little. And, yeah, Dean running from that teeny dog with a pink bow was actually funnier than anything about last week's episode. Lilith was scary here. I thought she was a bit cliched in last year's finale, and I'm generally reluctant when it comes to kid actors, but that little girl was creepy.

I like Sam in charge. I like how capable he is to do things on his own when Dean runs screaming from kitties, etc. A tad more angst concerning Dean's fate would have been nice, but that's par for the course for the writers. (General writers. I think the ones who penned this episode were new.) That's not to say he wasn't worried as hell, but much of the time all was really got to see was his impatience.

Bobby. Bobby rocks my socks off with the Japanese. Woo. They need to lay off the hair color on him, though. Nothing wrong with a person showing his age, you know?

"You're a dick, too."
"Apparently I'm not." LOL.

I felt bad for the ghost here. Poor Luthor (?). The shot with him and the kitten was just so Lennie from Of Mice and Men.

Oh, Dean. The scariest part of the episode is knowing that Dean really is scared not just for Sam, but a little of him as well. That eye-color-change at the end freaked me out. Dang, that was ominous. And in broad daylight, too.

OT: So, if Dean's scar-free, does that mean his tat disappeared as well? I can't remember if he lifted his shirt high enough to see that in the premiere.

Passing grade. Not sure I really appreciate the special surprise as much as I'm sure countless other screaming fangirls did. Cute, but also kind of cringeworthy. ;)

Totally, totally OT now: why on EARTH do people set up their journals with, say, light grey background and light grey, teensy text? WHY WOULD YOU WANT WHAT YOU WRITE TO BE INVISIBLE?

Comments

[aizjanika.livejournal.com]

I'm beyond guessing why people choose the colors they choose. I made a poll about it once, and most people thought their journals were readable even if I found them blinding or impossible to read.

I set up my journal to make it readable to me, and I think I have it set now so that I never have to see else's style.

I love Bobby. Hair color? What did they do to his hair? I don't think I noticed since he was wearing a hat.

The ghostie guy reminded me of Lennie from Of Mice and Men, too. I recently read that book again. Sad.

I thought the music video thing at the end was cute, but, yeah, it was a bit cringeworthy, too. You could tell that he was doing it to entertain the crew, so it almost felt like spying on someone's home video. I enjoyed it anyway, though.

[superbadgirl]

I could be mistaken (it happens), but I swear Jim Beaver's beard is darker now than it was when we first met him.

[maychorian.livejournal.com]

Dean still had his tat in the premier--he did raise his shirt enough to show.

I agree--I wanted a little angst on Sam's part. And compassion. I believe it happened off camera, and he was holding it together for Dean as much as possible. ::nods::

[superbadgirl]

Dean still had his tat in the premier--he did raise his shirt enough to show.

I knew I could count on someone for the answer. ;)

I agree--I wanted a little angst on Sam's part. And compassion. I believe it happened off camera, and he was holding it together for Dean as much as possible. ::nods::

I felt the same with Mystery Spot - the effect of humor in an obviously deadly situation is a fine line to walk, and here it didn't really do anyone any favors. In order to keep that tone, they couldn't very well show Sam as angsty as he should be.

Or they were going for grim, hardened and all business. That worked, but if we'd just seen a teeny chink in Sam's armor, it would have gone over so much better. As it stands, we have to wank too much to get to that point, and I don't want to have to wank for Sam. We don't have to wank for Dean, why must we always wank for Sam?

[maychorian.livejournal.com]

Mystery Spot worked for me. I could see Sam's frustration and rising desperation, in the way he spoke and moved, how terrible it was for him. But yeah, this, I'm starting to think that's it's intentional, that Sam really is becoming more detached, less emotional, even when it concerns his brother.

I'm still waiting for more character illumination from more episodes. Probably this is because I don't watch shows when they're on TV--I tend to get them in box set form and watch everything at once, so every episode informs the others, and it makes more a whole for me. Getting things piecemeal like this--the way most people do--is making me a little nuts. NEED MOAR PLZ.

[superbadgirl]

MS worked for me up to a point. I think they carried on with the "funny" death scenes a bit too much.

I don't even care if it is intentional - it makes perfect sense for Sam to progress (regress?) this way, but they way it always plays is that he's getting the short shrift as far as characterization goes. They could make it just a touch more organic, I think, because I think it's obvious there are many people unwilling or unable to see beyond what they're portraying on the screen. Poor Sam.

It's seems quite Dean have I loved, Sam have I hated out there in fandom.

I have to believe there's going to be a big payoff.

PS, oooh, your icon is pretty.

[maychorian.livejournal.com]

PS, oooh, your icon is pretty.

Isn't it? :D It's from moonshayde's latest icon post. So is this Misha/Castiel one.

Point taken on Sam getting the short shrift. It's like they want the fans to start hating him. :(

[superbadgirl]

Aw, I can't see it. My internet has been wonky all week, for reasons I can't figure out. But that's okay, I'm sure it'll show up eventually.

Poor Sam. My contrary nature makes me fight for him all the more when I see endless "Yay, Dean kissing! Yay, Dean eating! Yay, Dean scratching his head!" posts. Because while I adore Dean, I grow weary of the fangirling. ;)

[maychorian.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I meant to say, I think the cringeworthy dorkiness was part of why that bit was so utterly gleeful to me. Because Dean would totally do that, just annoy his brother or just because he felt like it, with no thought or care for what strangers would think of him. But it was also pure Jensen, and that was adorable.

[superbadgirl]

I think I'm just too reserved to enjoy it properly, perhaps. Or it reminded me of my BIL, who's the biggest ham on the planet. Hehe.

[bedelia77.livejournal.com]

This is the first episode this season that I haven't loved. It had some good moments but all in all I was disappointed. I think it would have been better if they had gone for serious/scary instead of silly/funny. When the cat was in the cabinet? That scream?? Dean would NEVER scream like that! Even if he were truly frightened. That's when it went downhill for me.

I did like his freakout scene outside the car, saying that they were crazy for doing what they do. That was amusing. And the scene with 'evil' Sam was good, as was the scene with Lilith. Those hit the mark.

Meh, it was bound to happen. Now to look forward to whatever's next. :)

Oh, but I did laugh at the end...and squirmed like hell. I think I covered my eyes at one point but couldn't resist looking again. Hehehe.

[superbadgirl]

This is the first episode this season that I haven't loved. It had some good moments but all in all I was disappointed. I think it would have been better if they had gone for serious/scary instead of silly/funny. When the cat was in the cabinet? That scream?? Dean would NEVER scream like that! Even if he were truly frightened. That's when it went downhill for me.

Yes, this. Well, except I think the scream would have been better had they not let it go on quite so long.

I guess after Mystery Spot last year, where Dean's repeated deaths were ridiculous and intended to make us laugh, this was just ... old. I can see a little humor with this situation, because Dean is acting scared of things that aren't scary, but the writers crossed over the fine line and got pretty heavyhanded with it.

I did like his freakout scene outside the car, saying that they were crazy for doing what they do. That was amusing. And the scene with 'evil' Sam was good, as was the scene with Lilith. Those hit the mark.

Yep, there were moments scattered throughout which were great. Overall, though, they could have done better. :(

Evil Sam didn't scare me, but the bit at the end totally did.

[bedelia77.livejournal.com]

"I can see a little humor with this situation, because Dean is acting scared of things that aren't scary, but the writers crossed over the fine line and got pretty heavyhanded with it."

Exactly! It was totally unnecessary. The fact that Dean is afraid of these things is in and of itself funny. Why go slapstick with it?!

Evil Sam didn't scare me, but it came out of nowhere and it freaked Dean out, which was what mattered. Sam was cold and enjoying Dean's torment, and I think that's more where the episode should have gone - not necessarily focusing on Sam going evil, but taking the things that frightened Dean a bit more seriously (not sure that makes sense).

Sigh. Oh well. They can't all be winners.

[superbadgirl]

Sam was cold and enjoying Dean's torment, and I think that's more where the episode should have gone - not necessarily focusing on Sam going evil, but taking the things that frightened Dean a bit more seriously (not sure that makes sense).

That makes total sense. Someone having that much anxiety isn't really funny. The concept alone isn't really that funny - imagine being scared by everything even while you know it's ridiculous.

Eh.

[nialla]

A tad more angst concerning Dean's fate would have been nice, but that's par for the course for the writers.

I think maybe that's intentional. Sam was on his own and dabbling in serious Dark Side stuff for months. Not only did he she impatience with Dean, even knowing Dean couldn't help it and he was going to die.

Add in how Sam was the one to come up with how to scare Luther's ghost to death. I can see the "old Sam" still doing it, but telling Luther he was sorry as he wrapped the chain around his neck. Now? He's almost pityless about getting the job done.

I hope they do more about this, plus Dean apparently remembering his time in Hell. Did he remember from the moment he returned, or are bits coming back to him over time?

Totally, totally OT now: why on EARTH do people set up their journals with, say, light grey background and light grey, teensy text? WHY WOULD YOU WANT WHAT YOU WRITE TO BE INVISIBLE?

I've never figured out why people choose odd color combos. In some cases, I think it's there monitor is seeing something different than what I am. I know all of the monitors at work show our catalog perfectly fine -- search results show items highlighted in green if they in and red if they're out -- but one monitor just barely tints them with those colors. Of course it's the one at the front desk and I'm often doing work on it while standing, and the color is worse at that angle.

If you're using Firefox, you might want to try LiveJournal
Addons. It has a lot of neat features, including an easy way to change other LJ pages into your style or the "light" format. One thing I really like is while looking at your flist, you can open LJ cuts and comments without actually going to the other LJ. Makes it a lot easier to read quickly.

[superbadgirl]

I think maybe that's intentional. Sam was on his own and dabbling in serious Dark Side stuff for months. Not only did he she impatience with Dean, even knowing Dean couldn't help it and he was going to die.

I don't disagree, but I think they really need to work on showcasing that better. The problem remains that they tend to write Sam more two-dimensional than they write Dean. Intentionally or not, that leaves us to wank about Sam a lot.

Add in how Sam was the one to come up with how to scare Luther's ghost to death. I can see the "old Sam" still doing it, but telling Luther he was sorry as he wrapped the chain around his neck. Now? He's almost pityless about getting the job done.

Yeah, with a wry "it was pretty brutal" tagged on at the end, like that's supposed to cover it. Poor Luthor. What a way to go, again.

If you're using Firefox, you might want to try LiveJournal
Addons. It has a lot of neat features, including an easy way to change other LJ pages into your style or the "light" format. One thing I really like is while looking at your flist, you can open LJ cuts and comments without actually going to the other LJ. Makes it a lot easier to read quickly.

Oh, thanks for the tip. :)

[nialla]

I do agree they haven't done a good job of explaining Sam's motivations. Part of that is the "mystery" about him, now more than ever, but still... there needs to be more onscreen and less fanwanking.

I've been pondering. Perhaps Bobby seeing this and how Sam reacted, as well as having some insight to how he was acting while Dean was in Hell might come into play? He's not with them all the time, but Bobby is pretty damn paranoid (not without good reason) and might figure out that things are not quite right. I wouldn't be surprised if he's already got an action plan in mind in case things to to (pardon the pun) Hell.

[superbadgirl]

I do agree they haven't done a good job of explaining Sam's motivations. Part of that is the "mystery" about him, now more than ever, but still... there needs to be more onscreen and less fanwanking.

Yeah, they should be able to maintain the mystery and still write Sam more fleshed out.

I've been pondering. Perhaps Bobby seeing this and how Sam reacted, as well as having some insight to how he was acting while Dean was in Hell might come into play? He's not with them all the time, but Bobby is pretty damn paranoid (not without good reason) and might figure out that things are not quite right. I wouldn't be surprised if he's already got an action plan in mind in case things to to (pardon the pun) Hell.

Frankly, it's puzzled me since the beginning that Bobby was kind of blase about Sam taking off. Hence the drinking, I suppose, but I can't buy that he'd just go off on a four month bender knowing Sam was out there doing who knows what.