Episode Review – Sacrifice

So… damn… angry..

No, I should focus on the positive.  What did this episode do right?  Well it had “Carry on Wayward Son” playing during the recap.  The sequence inside the base was really well done.  Mark Sheppard got to stretch his acting muscles, demonstrating just how much he’s underutilized in Hollywood. (seriously, wouldn’t you love to see him play a comic book villain?  I’m thinking… Lex Luthor, with accent)  Demonic handcuffs were actually a brilliant move by the boys.  And…

That’s it.  The rest of the episode was SHIT!  Really, the myriad problems with this episode can be summed up in one line:

Metatron: Who, God? Pretty much like you’d expect. Larger than life, gruff, a bit of a sexist. But fair. Eminently fair.

Think about that a moment.  In this universe, God is the confirmed creator of everything.  Including sex.  The creator of sex, is “a bit of a sexist”.  That’s like saying Bill Gates or Steve Jobs were “a bit nerdy”.  What was the point of it?  To complain that humanity isn’t an asexual species reproducing by mitosis? (maybe budding?)  Seriously, that line is one of those that while it doesn’t really ruin anything lore-wise or mess up the show, is just really bad writing.

This was just… disappointing.  Historically, the show ALWAYS had awesome season closers.  Seasons 3 and 6 may have been the lowest points of the series, but their finales still knocked socks off to the point they almost made up for all the crap earlier.  Without a doubt, this was the worst finale put out yet.

And what makes it worse is that this was a season of some consistent quality.  Here’s all the scores the season had earned from me:

4 4 3 4 5 3 4 4 2 3 3 5 3 3 3 2 2 3 2 4 3 3

Mostly 2-4, with a couple of fives. Guess it was inevitable that a 1 had to show up.

…

…

[warning: A nerd rant approacheth]

[Children, pregnant women, and muggles should leave now]

The biggest problem with this finale is more one of structure and writing than anything else.  In no particular order…

• We largely have a repeat of S4 finale with Dean bursting into a church where Sam is about to do something.  Only this time he is successful whereas before he failed thanks to Ruby’s interference.  They then have a conversation that would fit fine in season 4 or early 5, but doesn’t fit at the end of 8 here where both should have undergone character growth.  Really, Sam’s sin is “disappointing his brother”?  1) that isn’t a sin and 2) this is relevant any more.  Dean didn’t believe Sam couldn’t do it this season as much as Sam was physically being affected by the trials.  This isn’t an issue of lack of faith, but genuine health concerns.  We didn’t need a rehash over an old issue!
• Dean’s whole “don’t die Sammy”!  Repeat of S2 finale.  Which… was powerful back then, meaningless now because death has been cheapened in the SPN universe.  You close Hell, so ya know Sammy isn’t going to go there, he would have to go to heaven.  With both Bobby and Ash up there (as well as Castiel as far as Dean knew), it was highly unlikely Sam would stay dead for long.
• Speaking of which, Naomi!  Did you even try?  Here’s how the scene should have gone down:
  “Dean, Sam is going to die.” -Naomi”Oh no!  Every time it gives me a PTSD flashback.” -Dean
  “Tell you what.  We want Hell closed.  So you let Sam finish the ritual, and I promise we will bring him back to life immediately.” -Naomi
  “Let’s make a deal.” -Dean who then proceeds to make out with Amanda Tapping.
  Then, you could have SOME suspense at the end of the episode that Sam might have trouble getting back from death this time.
• Why Metatron?  You know what was the biggest twist of the season?  Benny.  Because at this point, EVERY Winchester ally has ended up betraying them to the point that as soon as they get help, we assume the helper is holding a metaphorical knife (or literal in many cases).  Even better?  Metatron DIDN’T NEED TO LIE!  He & Castiel agreed: Angels need some sense knocked into them, one way or another.  What’s wrong with Metatron’s solution?  Spending time on earth, “in the field” as they say, did wonders for Castiel’s and Anna’s empathy.  Heck, from what little we know about how angels weaponize souls, it might have been BETTER that the angels were cast out rather than locked up with a lot of good, innocent people.
• Which ultimately leads to the worst failing of the episode: the ending!  The music playing over the “angels fall” sequence sounds like it is supposed to be tragic and ominous.  But the show has spent the last 4 years demonstrating that if the angel ain’t Castiel, they are an antagonist like any other non-human.  Any time we saw an angel be fairly helpful or another potential ally, they ended up dead (*sniff* poor Anna).  If anything that ending was the first REAL victory the Winchesters have had since finales 2, 5 & 7.  If the show wanted to show us the angels falling as a bad thing, then they should have spent the last 3 seasons showing them as growing allies, not more enemies.  Metatron has done the boys a huge favor, that’s not what you should end a season finale on.
• Since we also saw a close up of wings peeling off of a falling angel, and wings are the representation of an angel’s power in the show (why do you think we see them turn to ash imprints when they die?) it’s reasonable to assume that all the angels are falling as mortals so….. no real threat from them.

Every season ended with a question (or two) that burned in our minds as we waited out the summer:

1. Did anybody live?
2. Can Dean get out of his deal?
3. How will Dean get out of Hell?
4. Does the world live?
5. How did Sam return?
6. What will Castiel do next?
7. How will Dean get out of Purgatory?
8. ____

What is the question this season?  “So?”

That is why this finale is the worst they’ve ever done.  They should have let Sam seal the gates of Hell and then had Metatron bring him back next season, letting us know that all the angel/demon stuff has been put to rest.  Now, I don’t care how long it takes for the show to return.

Episode Review – Clip Show

Eh, not bad.

.

.

.

What?  It’s always hard to review the season’s penultimate episodes because they’re always a “part 1″ of a two parter, even if the titles don’t officially say so.  So this episode is all build up, moving the plot points into place for the finale.

It was great to see flashbacks to the ancient past of season 1, and this is one time clips were actually useful!  I’ve been rewatching the core 5 and I still needed reminders on who these people were – mostly because a lot changes in 7 years.  Sarah still looks good though, shame she had to die to give the middle finger to all of us Sam/Sarah shippers (all the more reason to not acknowledge the apocrypha seasons).  Kudos however to Crowley for taking the war to the boys in a new way.  This is what I’m always on about, you don’t always have to end the world to have gut-wrenching, suspenseful endings.

Couple of lore things: yeah it was stupid of the boys to not search for a hex bag or to even relocate Sarah to a safehouse, but it is kind of in character and believable for them to overlook something in the stress.  Surprised though that Crowley didn’t resort to something more mundane like a sniper or a bomb.

Second… ok so Catholicism has some kind of power in this universe, obviously.  Their exorcisms have effect, rosaries make holy water, and this episode we learn that going to confession purifies a guy’s blood.  Fair enough but… what does that mean about the eucharist?  If confession has some kind of effect, then obviously it seems that there might be some transubstantiation effect that would affect demons.  Heck, the blood and body are supposed to purify and redeem humans, so force-feeding them to the target should be more effective than the blood transfusion (or rather, blood injection of a powerful being – which is the least we can say about Jesus in this world – would probably have more effect than just regular human juice).  On the other hand, it could be explained that the eucharist would be TOO powerful and might destroy the demon before “curing” it.

Although if Sam is being “purified’ as he believes he is, does he need to go to confession or can he just start mainlining his blood into the subject?  And, we know that demons are an unholy combination of human souls (aka ghosts) and some archangel mojo (although there’s obviously more potential metaphysics to discuss here).  If a demon is “cured”, theoretically that means it is restored to being a human soul.  The demon was possessing a body.  Which may already have a human soul in it.  So… what happens?  Multiple personalities?  Soul overload?  If Crowley is the one that gets cured, then it is a good thing he seems to be able to create his own body.

Oh and didn’t Metatron say only humans could close heaven/hell?  But now he & Castiel are going to do it?  Place your bets now folks, mess up by the writers or a clue about how things are going to go to shit next?

Episodes Reviewed – Pac-Man Fever & the Great Escapist

Pac-Man Fever

Hey it’s Felicia Day again!  Uh oh… she keeps this up she’ll hit the guest star quota and be killed off soon.  (At least Kevin is currently drawing the eye of the show runners so she might be safe until he bites it.)

Still, even though as a male geek I’m obligated to love Miss Day, even I have to admit that her character this episode is dangerously close to Mary Sue status.  L33t hacking skills?  Fine.  Awesome game prowess?  Plausible.  Master LARPer?  Um… ok.  Crack shot?  Ok, does the girl just not sleep?  Where did she find the time to fit that in?  Heck, you wouldn’t even need her to do that well to get to tag along, since we just saw Sam miss horribly.  Put all 3 shots on the paper, two in center mass would be just fine.  Besides, it’s been established in all 3 episodes that this character is pretty “leftist” in her views so… when did she get around to gun practice? (if you bring up FPS, I will pistol whip you with a super soaker!  those do NOT prepare you for wielding an actual gun)  Although that could be a subtle bit of character growth in that she’s at least now a lifetime member of the NRA after everything she’s been through. (and really, once you’ve dealt with Leviathan, wouldn’t you want to be armed?)

But after that hiccup, the episode rolls on to great heights as we see Charlie become a more charming Jo, a little less brash.  She’s eager to go to work, but nervous because she knows how dangerous it can be.  In some ways she seems a lot more like the little sister Dean & Sam never had than Jo ever did.

I am really glad they brought the jinn back.  Especially now that the Trickster is gone, it’s a shame the show makers haven’t been utilizing the jinn more to do odd and wacky worlds.  The only other disappointment I had was that there weren’t more references to the books.  Charlie’s reaction is one we haven’t seen (since usually we’ve seen superfans): someone gaining more insight into some folks they know than they ever considered.  (scary thought: how graphic did Chuck make the sex scenes?)

Kudos to Felicia for making me tear up just a bit at the ending, she really sold the scene.  I was expecting two things at the end:

1. Charlie was going to steal the dream root and go hopping into her mom’s mind (which she would know exists because she would have read it in Dream a Little Dream of Me novel).  That would have hurt the character was kind of obvious, so kudos to the show for not taking that route.
2. Then I was expecting Charlie to read to her mom one of the SPN books, to tell her a story about these guys she knew…  I’d dock a point here but, she pulls out the Hobbit.  It’s the freakin’ Hobbit!  Ya can’t count that against anyone!

the Great Escapist

Fun fact: you’ll notice this episode included a holodeck (pun intended towards Crowley’s set).  It was directed by one Robert Duncan McNeill.  Click the link if you don’t recognize that connection.

All in all, good stuff in this episode.  I wasn’t as thrilled though with the angels so casually executing a bunch of people, and was disappointed that we didn’t get a “triple agent” reveal with Crowley’s traitor.  The show’s almost getting comical in this regard.  How can anyone possibly be in Heaven if this many beings are just so innately evil?

Metatron (note: the show did their research with this, that is an actual angel) was awesome and well played by cool character actor Curtis Armstrong.  Pretty much the angel of geeks, can you just imagine if he and dead!Ash started working together?  So, two lore thoughts:

1) Sam talks about being purified.  I’m actually happy for him with all the crap he’s put up with and gone through life.  However, considering he was both without a soul and was Satan for awhile, could that mean his reaction to the trials is NOT typical?  That if Dean had chosen to go through them he might be in better shape? (especially being the sword of Micheal)

2) Then there’s… Crowley’s gun.

This is part of the problem with series running too long, it leads to canon paradoxes.  Take the episode Goodbye Stranger where Meg (presumably a demon even older than Crowley) knows about Lucifer’s crypts.  Which means, that way back in seasons 3 & 4, Lilith, the FIRST and OLDEST demon (also Satan’s wife – though that’s a relationship we don’t have enough time to analyze) never went after any of these crypts or the angel tablet.  Likewise, waaaay back in On the Head of a Pin, Alastair points out that Lilith would kill as many angels as she could, if she could.  So, during the entire war, she never bothered getting that tablet or an angel sword of her own to make bullets?

Ugh.  Still, not a bad arc episode.

Now, I present my overthought theory:

Ironically, the whole “angel bullet” idea would explain a lot about the Colt.  Say Samuel Colt gets a hold of an angel sword (which he can, he’s friggin’ Sam Colt!) and melts it down into thirteen bullets.  Then he builds a gun with some extra mystical mojo and walla! gun that can kill everything else the angel sword won’t.

So, what about season 3?  I think Ruby was wrong.  She and Bobby never really “fixed” the colt, just got it working enough to cover a few bases.  Since Ruby possessed and/or built a demon-killing knife, it seems likely she would know how to tweak some bullets.  Which is why it didn’t fully work on Lucifer.

And that’s what bugs me a bit about that whole season.  Had they left the gun “broken”, then they wouldn’t have to keep writing it out until eventually someone comes up with the whole “angel sword” ammo.  THEN, you have the limited ammo thing again because how easy can it be to get a hold of those swords?

So, Lucifer says 5 things can’t be killed by the colt.  If we assume it had the proper angel bullets, what would be those 5?  God, Death (unless you want to count them as the same “things”), Archangels, Reapers, Leviathans.  BUT, now here’s a real geek thought: what if it was an archangel sword that was changed into bullets and loaded?  That I could see taking out archangels and reapers. (yes, I’m STILL mad about Crowley stabbing that one reaper “to death”)

Just saying show runners: it’s not too late to grab this idea and run out the clock with it.  I’ll let you have the idea for just a tiny bit of credit.

MLP:ER – A Canterlot Wedding

Happy Derby day everyone!  And free comic book day!  And uh… I guess that’s it, nothing else going on today.

So, finished out season 2, and being a “serious” two parter with some actual continuity to it, this gets a straight review.

• It was neat to see Twilight have a brother, though disappointing that Applejack didn’t join in the song to appreciate her big bro.
• Nice touch that the “princess” (and soon to be sis-in-law) turned out to be a cool person all in all.  I actually felt a bit happy when we saw her run into TS again, and the poor, beat up dear was grateful to see a friend!
• If you have a place where basically the SUN and the MOON stay, do you really need a royal guard at all?
• Assuming the guard is for all the citizens of the city, why not just ask the citizens to move elsewhere where they won’t be attacked by power-hungry maniacs?
• Great to see Luna peppered throughout.  It really helps reinforce the world building.
• Forget biology or physics or any of that stuff – how the hell does civics work in this world?  Is every alicorn a princess?  Do they wield actual power beyond their magic or are they just figureheads like in England?
• By marriage, is Shining Armor now a prince?  Does that make Twilight like… 85th in line for the throne?
• Cool, the ponies fight changelings!  I hope there’s a lot more DS9 references I missed on first viewing.
• Wait, the ponies are fighting changelings, why are they all outside the bubble attacking it?  Why didn’t Queeny have them all infiltrate as invited attendees?  Could you imagine the episode had Canterlot learned most of them were suddenly surrounded by the enemy?  Or if part of the mane six were replaced?  What if the changelings got their hands on the elements?  Could they use them? (among themselves, the changelings seem pretty harmonious)
• So the changelings feed on feelings?  What if they got feelings honestly?  Like say… Queeny showed up in Ponyville and Pinkie became her friend?  The former should gain enough power to conquer ALL the alicorns.
• Or what if she found a stallion that was just into her look?  If the internet starts fantasizing about the changeling queen too much… are we going to empower her???
• Wait… is Cadance… did she use mind control?  OMF (oh my faust), what separates her from the queen other than one tipped her hand sooner? (yes, I’m refusing to use the queen’s name less she gain more power)
• No, really, Pinkie loves everyone, so how can the smaller changelings not be getting a power boost just from being around her?  She’d totally poor all her love and affection into them.  They might have exploded from gorging themselves.
• Are we paranoid enough?  Who else might be a changeling out there?  How do we know they really got Applejack back in the Last Roundup?  Did Cranky actually find Matilda?  Rainbow Dash was trapped under a rock and out of everyone sight for a long time…

Ah but it’s still not a bad episode.

Songs were a little mediocre and it’s a shame we didn’t see more about the full implication-

.

Sorry, seems there was a bit of a mixup in my score calculation.  What I meant to say was:

This episode was totally awesome!  Even if it overplayed a lot of pony fears.

So may the fourth be with you.  Be sure to leave a comment and give me lots of… love…

MLP:FiM – MMMystery on the Friendship Express

April thirtieth first, twenty and thirteen: the city designated as “Louisville” in the state known as “Kentucky” was hosting a week long celebration leading up to something called “Derby” – a race involving equine beasts.  Upon initial survey, I discovered attending these events required a pass called the “Pegasus Pin”.  However, research shows that pegasi show no signs of existence and in fact will not be involved in the Derby.  There must be a link, but how…

May first, twenty and thirteen: further research has uncovered a link.  A 2 dimensionally animated show aimed for females of a young age contains both land bound equines and pegasi, although unicorns – another factor of the show – have yet to be located in these Derby festivities.  In the interest of the investigation, I have begun viewing the episodes of this “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” in the hope of greater understanding.

May second, twenty and thirteen: today I watched the episode involving sweets, a mystery, and a train.  I couldn’t help but smile as it reminded me a lot of my own noir style.  However the smile was lost when I finally figured out the connection.  Fans of this program organize into a loose federation codenamed “Bronies”.  As these Derby celebrations involve both earth and pegasi references, there is no doubt in my mind that this is all a greater plot by them to set up a base of operations in Louisville.  Clever, as the signs are not obvious to those unversed in their lingo and code; they could slip an entire army into the city and back out without anyone realizing the connection.  Rumors abound that this celebration occurs annually, leading me to conclude that this base must be a temporary affair that goes on in other regions labeled “conventions”.  This goes deep; there’s no telling how many in power could be one of these “bronies”.  I might be all alone in facing this threat.

Should I fail in my efforts, I’d have to admit that this final episode I watched was modestly entertaining.  The mystery using the classic “locked room” trope was well done despite taking an unexpected nonlethal turn, yet maintaining tragedy nonetheless.  The unregular characters were memorable and though broad caricatures at first, by episode’s end each of them had obtained three dimensions.  It reminded me of a style of humor very popular in these southern regions: that people will laugh “at” each other, but it’s not at one another’s expense, but in appreciation.  They are quite memorable, as are their deserts.  The episode ends on a suitably dark note, with everybody losing.  (Some may say that there’s some more show after that, but they are deluding themselves.  This isn’t a world of happy endings.  No it was all a hallucination brought on by sugar rushes.)  There are far worse ways to spend a half hour.

So yeah, not bad…

Oh no, I’m turning into one!  I must stop them before it’s too late.  If you’re reading this, I’ll do what I can but I’m only one man.  Spread the word before it’s too late!

-Investigator Winchester

.

.

.

Seriously though: how in the world is there NOT a MLP convention scheduled in Louisville around Derby time?  The cross promotions and ad copies write themselves!

MLP:ER – Ponyville Confidential

In this episode we see how having the press focus on fluff over substance leads to…  Wait, that was the message of this episode.

Clearly we can see that to sell out your friends to score fame leaves one… Hang on, that was also the message of this episode.

Well, congrats MLP, you actually beat me to the punch.  Any over-the-top know-it-all know-nothing overthinker persona I might adopt (easy, since it’s so close to me anyway) to twist the moral of the episode would end up back where the message actually was anyway.  That’s impressive I admit.

So, not a bad episode overall.  Again, it tricks you if you’re familiar with the traditional storytelling methods.  I first thought it would be revealed that there were pictures of Diamond Tiara out there and the CMC would end up with a sort of mexican standoff with her.  Nope, the characters end up doing what they would have to in real life.  That’s what really makes the show work, I think.  The situations can be over the top and spiral out of control to comedic heights, but the solutions end up being very practical; doable by anyone (with some exceptions like the tribble parasprite episode).

Still, grading on the MLP curve, this is just slightly below average.  (Though if the show ever starts tanking and becoming awful, watch a lot of these scores get readjusted.)

Coming soon: We finish out season 2 so I can finally start reading the comic.  Now should the comic review be sensible or silly…

MLP:ER – Hurricane Fluttershy

I don’t know about you, but I for one am tired of all this crass commercialism in our culture!

I’m going to use ‘Nike’ in this review but really that’s just a stand-in for the general ‘sports-culture’ that suffuses America, but really you could put any of those shoe/sport companies in here and it would apply.

Every day it’s the same.  “Get out.”  “Do something physical.”  “You’re less of a human being (or pony in this case) if you don’t participate in sports.”  All summed up as “just do it” by the corporate bourgeoisie slogan.  All perfectly portrayed in this episode, where Fluttershy, wanting to do her own thing, is mocked and shamed into “participating” with the other pegasi.  She must “participate” with the others.  In our world, this is because a free thinker not engaging in the bread & circuses shatters the ‘illusion’ of sports value.  In Equestria, the illusion is more pronounced via tornadoes needed to ruin local water reserves and ecosystems (we all know rain will be made just fine with normal evaporation).  Failure to participate means the tornado ‘fades’ (like illusions) and the gathering of pegasi (like society) lose their purpose. This is best exemplified with the “Roid Rage” pony and his blind devotion to the culture.

So Fluttershy is shown as a malcontent, a threat to the tornado and gathering.  However, they can’t destroy her, that could just prove her point and further disprove the illusion.  No she must be forced to conform!  She must embrace the nike logo and ethos and “just do it”.

OR this could be a parable about overcoming your limits.  And how damaging bullying can be.

This is another episode where those more versed in traditional animation storytelling could be fooled.  The standard trope is that after the working out montage, Fluttershy would probably produce unheard of wing power.  Nope.  While she has improved, it’s a fairly realistic improvement.

Well ok, that does happen sometimes in stories.  So what follows?  Some dire situation happens where the character’s loved ones will be in trouble, and they’ll find hidden reserves of strength!  Yes, the tornado is about to fail… now Fluttershy will jump in and the tornado will hit speeds of OVER 9,000!  Um… no apparently not.  Apparently she’ll contribute a realistic improvement in line with her previously established abilities.

Damn.  This episode was more realistic than many shows about humans.  Good job, ponies.

Still, pretty standard episode for the show.

Again, we see Rainbow Dash showing more devotion to the truth than to her friends.  Just saying…

MLP:ER – Putting Your Hoof Down

Fluttershy was torn.

Her dragon was hungry and she had to keep him strong to become the enforcer of her will, someday.  So she was off to market.  Oh she hated the market.  So many… peasants milling about, hindering her plans.  She let them steal from her, though it only served to fuel the rage already boiling inside her.  She took note of that rude mare – she would be the first to die (and suffer).  No!  She must be calm.  Her plans to topple the alicorn tyrants must be followed, to reveal her capabilities so soon – where they might see – would be disastrous.  Oh sure, the ditz who galloped across the sky every day would be easy enough now that Fluttershy had her hooves deep within Celestia’s precious student, but the dark one that had been released – she was a problem.  By herself she had set Fluttershy’s plans back a decade at least.  Why oh why couldn’t they have blasted her to oblivion last year?  Of course there was still Pinkie and her master, Discord, but they were too wild to plan around.  No, she had to stick with the plan until they showed their move.  She hadn’t come this far to lose the game of thrones.

Curses!  Her insipid friends were here!  Rarity was of no concern, she would serve Fluttershy once promised all the jewels she could want, but Pinkie was undoubtedly reporting her moves to Discord.  She let them “help” her, then deliberately failed the test they placed her in as badly as she could in the hope they would leave her alone already.

Oh but there was someone new in town.  Someone… she could use.  Yes, he would make the perfect general to lead her stormtroopers.  He was per– Curses!  He had spotted her!  Ok, no big deal, she just had to play up her wilting flower act.  But he was granting her license to finally cut lose!  To let her true glory shine!

Of course the peasants couldn’t bear it, but how could she stop?  So many years spent hiding, it was a relief!  However, Rarity (her planned figurehead) and Discord’s disciple were expressing concern.  She was going to ruin all her hard work, there was no choice but to let Angel restrain her, she must regain control!  Oh no!  The minotaur had come for his money.  Fluttershy walked outside, ready to make him an offer he couldn’t refuse – if it wasn’t for her “helpful” “friends” that were standing within earshot.  She was forced to politely turn him away, while planting a seed in his mind… she was worth listening to.  When the time was right, he would join her.  She would see that he was paid plenty…

Hey, I enjoyed this episode and kind of like minotaurs as a fantasy species.  It was especially nice to see an antagonist that was actually a decent chap.  Too often writers seem to have this idea that for conflict to ensue, somebody (or multiple) has to be an asshole.  Well Iron Will really skirted that line between assertive, and jerk, remaining likable to the end.

MLP:ER – Dragon Quest

Ok, I give up.

There are… certain groups that are very active and vocal on the internet, particularly when taking offense.  This episode is very… symbolic of said group.  So how in the world could I critique this episode without that group up in arms?  (I don’t go out of my way to offend people, or at least to make it so over the top it becomes funny.)

Actually said group isn’t really an issue.  Most I’ve come across are pretty cool.  It’s usually other people being offended on behalf of the first.  There’s no telling how much more peaceful society could be if everyone stopped pitching a fit on behalf of others. (Oh who am I kidding, we’d find something else to fight over.)  Then there’s the sense this episode’s script was written by a brony expressing anger issue.

Still, what really separated the ponies from the dragons?  Athletic competitions?  No, ponies do that.  Stealing eggs from other creatures?  Um… Nope. (note I’m not counting Fluttershy since we all know she’s gathering an army for her eventual coup – best to start with the youth)  Swim in lava I guess.  This episode really should have followed closer to Secret of My Excess with Twilight at least a little concerned about what happened to her Spikey and – like him – wanting to know more about what he is.

Not bad but not quite up to average.  At least this episode gave us CRACKLE!  Best dragon! (seriously, I need a Discord and Crackle for my shelf)

 

Crackle best dragon!

Hmm… I somehow seem to have overlooked “putting your hoof down”.

Episodes Reviewed – Goodbye, Stranger & Freaks and Geeks & Taxi Driver

So what have the Winchesters been up to?

Goodbye, Stranger

What is this unholy abomination of Caged Heat with Swan Song?  Or rather, Caged Heat with grandpa removed and the ending of Swan Song tacked on which still improved it.  Although I am sad to see Meg go (I was hoping she’d last all the way to become the last season Big Bad) that would be a small price to pay to put an end to all these silly shippings with her and Castiel.  Am I the only one that seems the problem here?  In the SPN verse, angels & demons see each other for what they really are, meaning that Cas is could burn out Meg’s eyes if he ever stepped out of his meat suit and Meg is one of the most hideous visions imaginable.  What could possibly attract them to each other?  And then they want to hint at something between Naomi & Crowley?  No dice.

All in all, deja vu for hardcore fans who have watched every episode but the show runners seem intent on ignore their own continuity for some stupid shipping fuel.  Blegh.

Freaks and Geeks

I was looking forward to this one.  The concept of training hunters is something that grows more and more pressing upon the show the longer it runs.  Though it was disappointing to have the teacher “betray” them in the end, something I was expecting to happen the moment he appeared on screen.  Had they wanted to make this episode actually shocking, they would have played the instructor completely legit with the vampire inadvertently playing recruiter.  With said vampire later creating scapegoats to try and get these hunters off his trail.  It was nice to see Krissy back, even if she’s a big brat, it’s pretty accurate for a teenager.  Ironic that, if she was a little older, she’d probably be the perfect girl for Dean.

Episode gets a standard score because it at least allowed the villain to make a legitimate and fair point.  Hunters do need to step up their game, the Leviathan were a sign of that.  Now if Dean could just get over his stupid “being hunter means dying” shtick.  Hey stupid, how many “ignorant” people have you guys saved or failed to?  Being a hunter is just like being a cop or soldier.  The former aren’t the only ones victimized by crime and the latter aren’t they only ones killed by armies.  The world needs you guys, and more like ya’ll.

Taxi Driver

This is one of those episodes that is really awesome on first viewing… then grows problems upon reflection.

Positives:

• The Purgatory & Hell sequences were awesome.
• Benny got to kick major ass and exit the show as… not a traitor or anything.  Good for him.
• Naomi actually acknowledges Dean has no reason to trust her, and then shows up to do something for him and not be a bitch about it.  (One of my problems with Ruby initially, a character that said “trust me” in one sentence then “don’t” in the next.  Not a way you infiltrate people.)
• That Purgatory has a backdoor to Hell which Crowley didn’t know about (meaning he kind of wasted season 6) is humorous to me.

Negatives?

• Angel swords can kill reapers?  Even though in season 4 it was established that the only way to kill death was with Death’s sickle (a nice little paradox).  Just… no.  It would have been more entertaining had Crowley actually paid the reaper more to leave Sam hanging.  Seriously, this is one of the same type of being that stood near Lucifer when he summoned up their boss.  I just can’t buy him really being that scared of Crowley.
• Bobby’s soul went to hell because of Crowley’s orders?  …no!  If that was the case… then why didn’t Lucifer put out an APB on Sam’s soul to be delivered to Hell for Satan’s convenient pickup if Sam ever died?  (Would have screwed up Dark Side of the Moon, wouldn’t it?)  Had they revealed instead that say… Bobby wasn’t as free of his contract as he initially thought, that would have been acceptable.
• Hey, you know someone else that is down there and could stand to be rescued?  How about… THEIR BROTHER, ADAM!  Yeah it probably would have been hard, but that could have made a better episode or a really great two-parter.
• They want to get into hell so they ask… a crossroads demon?  They don’t ask… Castiel, who’s pulled both bros out of there? (sort of)  Or Death himself?  They didn’t have to, but it would have been nice to see them acknowledge and at least try those options.  Wait!  Both of them have gone to Hell before, why do they even have to ask anyone?
• Doesn’t Hell have a time dilatation effect or something?  If a month down there is roughly ten years, then 24 hrs is… four months.  Realistically either Sam spent a lot more time searching, or he and Bobby should have gotten out, only to realize they still had 20+ hours to wait on the reaper (in Purgatory, how fun).

And that’s all I can think of at the moment.  The positives carry enough weight to boost this up, but the negatives are still pretty steep.

Just… wish they had rescued Adam.