Supernatural: The Curious Case of Dean Winchester
Magical Bobby: Still Not Dead
by Sylvia Bond
Supernatural Episode Review – Season Five, Episode 7
“The Curious Case of Dean Winchester”
It takes a lot of work to make an episode of a TV show. You’ve got directors directing, and producers producing, and best boys, and key grips, and gaffers, all besting, and keying, and gaffing. There’re so many people involved, it’s a wonder they don’t all run each other over trying to get their jobs done. So my hat’s off to a show that can produce good-quality television, and keep the light burning for the fans who watch it week after week.
And I get it, I do, that sometimes a show will have an off week, an episode that didn’t go exactly according to plan, and I’m willing to adjust my expectations to the reality that is. But this week, the ep that Show produced was so very disappointing on so many levels, I came away feeling like I’d been gob smacked. My friend in Alaska always says to me, “You should watch Show with lower expectations and turn off your brain, and that way, it’ll be more fun for you when it sucks.”
Well, that’s fine advice for some, but I can’t exactly do that. Writing these reviews over the years has trained my brain to pay more attention rather than less, and so, yeah, those small details (some not so small) that don’t quite work really get in the way and piss me off. Not only because I feel that Show messed up (and that’s because Show feels like a favored child), but because I’m bothered by it, and I shouldn’t care this much, but I do. And believe me, I tried to find points in Show’s favor this week wherever I could, but it wasn’t easy.
So let’s look at why this week was so disappointing, shall we?
The plot revolves around an Irish he-witch, who has this floating poker game where you get to play with magical chips that either increase or decrease your expected life span. Naturally, the he-witch, having been practicing for a few hundred years (poker was invented in the 1400’s or the 1700’s, depending on your view of the history of the game), is pretty good at it. He’s taken a few lives for his own amusement, so when this comes to the notice of Sam and Dean, they are hot on the trail, trying to figure it out. They arrive in the most likely town, and call Bobby to ask him about it. He’s got nothing, and so they are basically on their own.
It’s not a bad start, because the idea of a magical death-dealing poker game has all kinds of fun handles that you can grab onto and make a story out of. You know, kind of like those ship’s wheels, with all those spokes, except in this case, Show picked the wrong spokes and didn’t really hold on all that tightly, because that wheel just kept spinning out of control.
A large portion of the episode has to do with Bobby dealing with being in a wheelchair. And I don’t mind the episode being about that, in fact, I’ve been expecting something along this line. Anyone who’s had a foot operation or a sprained ankle or anything like that that kept them off their feet for even just a day or two can understand some of what Bobby’s going through. When you suddenly can’t get around, you just about loose your mind. Multiply that by being stuck in a wheelchair forever, and you’ve got a story idea that just about anyone can relate to.
But here’s where it gets whacked. Bobby still lives in his house in South Dakota. He supposedly can’t get around very well because he’s stuck in a wheelchair because his legs don’t work. To what extent his legs don’t work, we don’t really know, because it’s never been explained if he has partial feeling or any movement at all or whether he’s in danger of getting leg thrombosis or atrophied muscles and all those kinds of details that my mind tends to obsess about.
Bobby also lives in a house of stairs. There’re stairs going up to the many rooms above the first floor, and stairs going down to the basement and the Panic Room, so Bobby probably lives on the first floor only. There are even stairs that go down from the front porch, but I assume that there has been a ramp built over the stairs on the front porch, maybe by Sam and Dean, but details, details, let’s move on.
Now Bobby, once he gets off that phone call with Dean (after the conversation where he tells them he doesn’t know anything), grabs his ring of keys, and the next time we see him he is bumping into Dean, who has only just then discovered the location of the poker game.
So check it. Bobby, who has no use of his legs, is able to load his wheelchair up into the van, get into the van, drive an undetermined amount of miles (one assumes there are hand controls on the wheel instead of him using the foot pedals), get to the city, find parking (a miracle in and of itself, because I can bet you a gazillion dollars that Bobby wouldn’t have a handicapped tag on his van, out of pride), get the wheelchair out of the van, get around quickly enough to discover the location of the poker game, play in said poker game, and loose, all before Dean and Sam can even find the game.
It all happens far too fast and without any explanation whatsoever as to how much time had passed between the end of the aforementioned phone call and Dean bumping into Bobby in a back alley. What’s more, later in the ep, Bobby can’t even push himself up a ramp, and Sam does it for him. Then he whines to Dean that he’s not a Hunter because he doesn’t have the use of his legs. Excuse me? What did we just see him do? What about all that other stuff he was able to accomplish? Oh, right, Show puts it off to Magical Bobby strikes again!
So how should Show have handled it instead? Well, Show got it partly right, in that conversation that Dean has with Bobby about what it means to be a Hunter, and how Bobby is family, and how important that is. I liked Dean’s little speech, actually. But what Dean should have done is to point out all the stuff that Bobby had done on his own to get to town and connected that to the rest of the ep, and to make Bobby seem less magical. I hate Magical Bobby and Whiny Bobby with a passion. I like Regular Bobby, tough and irascible, who tries to cut the emo conversation with Dean short by saying, completely in character, “Okay, good talk.”
Then there’s the poker game itself, where we got to observe and observe and (yawn) observe other people playing. We got to watch cards being shuffled, and poker chips being pushed across the table till I thought I was going to go mad. We even got close-ups of chips being pushed across the table, long, drawn out, loving and perfectly focused, needless and uninteresting close-ups of chips being pushed across the table. Lord, it was better than 5-Hydroxytryptophan for falling asleep.
Watching people playing poker is only interesting if you are next in line to play, or if you are observing to learn how to play. Then there’s Celebrity Poker, which is a TV show for people who like to watch celebrities playing poker for charity. I can’t speak for all fans, but the poker playing part of this ep did nothing for me because I am none of those things. Plus, I’m a terrible poker player. I have wild, obvious, and predictable tells and about halfway through the game, I’m like a three year old who wants to do fun things with the chips other than stack them. Like flick them at people. So to me, the poker parts of the ep, which amounted to a whopping one-third of the scant 40 minutes allotted to Show, were insipid.
Okay, moving on. Next comes the Spell. The she-witch, who is the he-witch’s companion lo these many years, decides, for some reason, that she’s had enough, and gives to Dean and Bobby the spell to undo it all. If Dean and Bobby can pull it off, everyone who’s still alive will be automatically reverted back to their real age. Why I can’t understand the she-witch’s sudden motivation (as in why now does she suddenly decide it’s too much?), I’m familiar with that quirky behind the scenes flip of the coin where characters suddenly change their mind, so I let it go.
But meanwhile, please notice that it’s Dean and Bobby she gives the spell to. Here it comes, right? You know I’m totally going to go there: Where’s Sam? It’s the Sam and Dean show, not the Bobby, Dean, and the He-Witch show. But let’s take the SAM IS COMPLETELY MISSING FROM ANY IMPORTANT PARTS OF THE STORY complaint given as read, and move on to the newer issue.
Sam takes off, all on his own, to do something (ostensibly to “find another way out of this”) to save the day. We don’t know what that something is, and even if Sam does, Dean and Bobby certainly don’t, because he doesn’t tell them. There was some early-on discussion of him trying his hand at the poker game, but Dean convinces him that he’s a terrible poker player and he’s not to do it. So while the idea is out there, Dean and Bobby certainly don’t know that that’s where Sam has gone. (They might suspect, but they don’t know.)
At the same time, Dean and Bobby have a spell that will reverse all the premature aging in town, but Sam doesn’t know they have the spell, because he’d exited, stage right, before that happened. (Who knows how long the poker game went on for, but it would take Old Guy Dean about twice as long as Regular Dean to dig that grave, so let’s say eight hours?) Yet somehow, while playing poker and being completely out of contact with anyone, Sam knows that he needs to grab the toothpick that the he-witch was chewing on to give Dean and Bobby a bit of he-witch DNA for the spell. Moreover, when he grabs the toothpick, he runs out into the alley, and mysteriously, magically, Dean is RIGHT there to take the toothpick.
And it gets even more improbable from there! The he-witch reveals to Sam that the toothpick he took had no he-witch DNA, so it won’t work. Then, when the spell goes all haywire and doesn’t work, Dean knows right away that it was the toothpick that was the problem, even though he has no way of knowing that. And I’m not even peeved that Show seems to be implying that Sam is to blame for grabbing the wrong toothpick, because the idea of Dean magically knowing this little fact, with no basis in reality, is totally glossed over.
It’s a huge plot point, because how in the world could Sam know that they needed DNA? And how would Dean know the toothpick didn’t work? Was he wearing his schwami hat or something? I for one, saw no hat, and while Sam might or might not be psychic at this point, Dean definitely is not, so the whole thing became this ludicrous impossibility, and such bad, bad storytelling, it was painful to watch.
I’m a writer, and I know it’s hard sometimes to get all those threads to come together, but this was so obvious and sloppy that I just wanted to get up and turn off the TV. (Yes, I watch the old fashioned way, with commercials.) And why didn’t I? Because in spite of the messy plot, the overlooked plot holes, the excess of focus on poker chips, and totally out-of-character Bobby, I have my loyalty to Sam and Dean. So I stayed, even though I felt like someone was propping my eyes open with toothpicks and had tied me to the couch.
Eventually, amidst sweat and flying Samhair, Sam wins the poker game and saves Dean from dying of a heart attack, even though he’s supposedly the worst poker player ever. He gets almost no credit for this. Instead he marches off, announcing his intention to get a booster shot for a case of “the clap” that the he-witch gave him.
But let’s back up a minute, to the point where the he-witch, in retaliation, said he was going to give Sam a “present” and clapped his hands together three times. Within minutes, Sam is rubbing at his crotch to relieve the irritation that he’s suddenly feeling. From the fact that the he-witch clapped, we’re meant to believe that Dean is able to infer that Sam’s got an instant case of “the clap” (aka gonorrhea), even though Sam has yet to experience frequent and painful urination.
Plus, there are 13 standard antibiotics used to treat gonorrhea in the United States, only one of which is not an oral antibiotic. Also, the clinic that he ends up at is going to want to test him first. Since Sam’s as clean as a whistle (unless there’s some leftover demon germs floating around from that Skank Ruby), the clinic is not only not going to be giving him a booster shot, they are not going to be giving him anything. Not to mention it was magical gonorrhea, so it’s totally gone now, if it ever was there in the first place. Sam, being the intelligent, web-surfing expert that he is, has probably come across this information and knows it. So the whole thing where he flounces out the door was just a plot device to allow Dean and Bobby some MORE alone time, where they could have a meaningful conversation that once again Sam is left out of.
I’d also like to complain about the amount of time that Show spent on the goodbye scene between the he-witch and the she-witch. She’s suddenly decided that she doesn’t want to live forever aiding and abetting the he-witch’s antics, she misses her family, and she wants to end it all. That’s fine, just fine, but Show spent like, an HOUR on this scene, on the weeping and wailing of a secondary character who is about to die. Moreover, when she ages, they did it with CGI. The male characters who die by the sudden onset of aging got a nice, realistic markup job, or a combo of makeup and CGI. CGI is fine, and I realize that it’s a fun toy, but what’s wrong with good old fashioned Max Factor? Her aging looked totally, totally, totally faked, and the whole thing was just a soul-wounding disappointment.
Lastly but definitely not leastly, I take extreme umbrage about the lack of Sam and Dean togetherness. Sam goes off on his own again and again and again (see aforementioned rant) and when he is with Dean, he’s not really connecting with Dean. Where are the brothers, saving people and hunting things? Where are the brothers angsting and squabbling and, yes, dithering? What I got in this ep was not what I came to see, I can tell you that for nothing.
Was there anything good about this ep?
Well, I liked the he-witch. He wasn’t scary or anything but he was interesting. Plus, give me a man with an accent, or even a slight lilt, and I can listen to him read from the phone book and be happy. So there was that.
Then there were the closeups of Sam and Dean playing poker. Now, I know what I said earlier about how boring it is watching people play poker, but again, but if it’s SAM and DEAN playing poker, them I’m just happy to be there to see it. Although, truthfully, Show used a very heavy filter this time around, which totally blocked out the color from those big green eyes the boys have. I’ve seen Show use a filter and still have the boys’ eyes be green, and their lips sweet and lush and pink, so I know Show can do it, it just chooses not to from time to time, just to get back at me for demanding so much.
Then there was Chad Everett. When I first learned that Dean was going to become an old man, and that someone else was going to play Dean, well, you can probably imagine my discontent, my ire, even, and me stomping around complaining to anyone who would listen. No one else can play Dean, and no one else SHOULD play Dean except for Jensen Ackles, you know?
But I’m a fan, and I’m watching Old Guy Dean, and I realize, all of a sudden (gobsmacked again) that he’s being played by Chad Freaking Everett. I mean, I didn’t watch the credits, and didn’t know who was playing who, but there he was. It was HIM. Dr. Joe Gannon from Medical Center! I had quite a crush on him when I was a kid. I thought the actor’s name was cool, I thought the character he played was cool, all morals and high ground, a good, decent guy who could stay chilly and make the right decisions in dicey situations.
And here, he made a really good Dean, though I did wonder why didn’t they just apply some Max Factor and CGI to Jensen Ackles and have a go at it that way? Well, I reckon they must have done some tests and it didn’t work or proved too cost prohibitive or whatever, so they got Chad Everett, who has the height, and the shoulder width, and the strong facial features to pull it off. Everett had the expressions and body movements, and the wry, self-deprecating attitude about his own aging experience that made him feel true and real. So I really liked him in this part, and started to wonder where he’d been, and you know what? He’s given me yet another reason to mosey up to seeing Mulholland Drive, even though anything by David Lynch just creeps me the heck out. So, go CHAD!
I loved the fact that Sam got to save the day. He wasn’t in the ep a lot because once again, he’s being stored in the cupboard like a set of Guest Towels no one is brave enough to use, but when he was there, it was choice. I mentioned closeups of the brothers before, but we really got a lot of eyecandy when Sam was playing poker. He knew enough to play the player, not the game, so he revs up his out-of-my-element and I-am-so-worried-about-Dean expressions and plays them to the hilt. And he’s so sweet and dewy eyed and strong-jawed when he’s like this, it was a joy and a treat to watch, though the scene was not nearly long enough. Though, again, when it’s all over, Sam gets so very little credit for pulling it off. Where were the claps to the back and the glass of beer and the toast to Sam’s success? Nada, ziltch, zip, that’s what Sam got. As always.
I loved the little kick that Dean does at the end, and his unfettered joy at being young again, but most of all, I loved Sam’s Samhair. (You knew this was coming, too, didn’t you.) In preparation for this ep, someone washed his hair. And I don’t mean, just washed it, I mean, they washed it with love. They used good quality shampoo and a cream rinse without any sodium laureth sulfates, and then they used cold water to rinse it out. And then they finger combed it and let it air dry so it has the shine that only virgin hair has. Not to mention those very stunning streaks of auburn and gold running throughout. Just glorious.
Why so much obsession with Sam’s Samhair? With an episode like this, once again played for laughs and leaving out all that I hold near and dear about Show, I must find something to bring me back next week. And the Samhair was pretty much all I could grab hold of.
Sylvia Bond is a ten-year technical writing veteran with too many degrees under her belt to count. She lives in Colorado, but does not ski, preferring instead to spend her money and time at the annual Great American Beer Festival, taking road trips across the United States, and reading historical fiction from the comfort of her fluffy green arm chair. She has been involved in fandom since 1993 and been writing fanfic since approximately 1993. What she finds most amazing about fandom (besides the open heartedness of fans and the sheer amount of creativity) is how visible fandom has become. “In my day,” she says, “we had to hide behind P.O. boxes to get fanfic. But nowadays, people wear t-shirts that shout their affiliation and share their shiny toys on the internet.” It’s a wonderful world.
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I haven't had a chance to read the whole review but Sam wasn't there when the female witch came by because he had medical needs to take care of thanks to Patrick's clapping routine.
Also there were additional layers to the whole hunt the show didn't do a good job of showing. IMO Bobby set the boys up, he suspected what was happening in the town and sent the boys there, when they confirmed his suspicions, he headed over. It would have been better if show had Bobby in some motel room when talking to Dean so we'd know something was off.
I also wonder if he wasn't being suicidal. Surely he realized he wouldn't be healed, just crippled and younger. I think he probably tried after deliberately losing 25 years to lose some more and when he couldn't he was pissed. He meets up with Dean and then he can't confess he was trying to lose so he has to let Dean act.
His actions almost get Dean killed. Also he and Sam keep relating to 30 year old Dean even though he's in an 80 year old body and ignore signs of his impending heart attack. Yes, it could be acid reflux but Dean had had a heart attack before and knew what it is like. You don't get out of breath as a relatively fit 80 year old after two flights of stairs. Twice we see Dean grabbing his left arm. I wish the show had built on the fact that the entire time he was doing the physical activities that can strain a 30 year old, he was 80 and had a bad heart. Patrick even commented on that to him and Sam.
I'm loving your review as always but work calls. I'll finish the review later and comment more. Just wanted to explain Sam's absence at the she-witch's offer. Also we were, I think, supposed to believe Sam went off the reservation to play the game rather than working on a plan with Dean and Bobby.
Robijean
I like your theory about how it could have gone down, Bobby setting the boys to a task that he's pretty sure about. But Show totally didn't go there, and the issue remains open.
Suicidal Bobby pretty much fits how I saw it, too. I don't know if Show was very clear that if you got the years back that you didn't also get healed? What about the guy at the motel that Sam and Dean found. His hip was healed because he was younger, so wouldn't it stand that if Bobby was younger he wouldn't be paralyzed? Still, unclear, very unclear.
I think it's fine that Sam was absent, and your theory holds up well. My problem is not where he was, but how he knew about the spell when he was never even there?
Sorry, Syl, but I'm not reading your review this time around. I happened to love this episode, and I just can't bear to read negative reviews of it. There has been far too much wanking of SUPERNATURAL lately, and while I know you would never do that, I've become overly sensitive to anything negative said about the show. I've been seriously considering leaving online fandom altogether. It used to be fun. Now, not so much. So I politely decline to read your review this week.
Love, Robin
You are completely at liberty to read or not to read, as it pleases you. : D
I am as big a Sam girl as there is. I adore the guy (and the actor playing him). While I can understand the complaints last season that he was in the background an awful lot, I just don't see it at all this season. I would argue that out of seven episodes this season, Dean has been little more that comic relief in three of them. In Free to Be You and Me, he was basically a tag along in Castiel's story, I Believe the Children…had Sam clearly connecting with Jesse while Dean had a few jokes. Finally we have this episode. Even though it involved Dean actually experiencing life as an old man, there was no exploration of that and was mostly played for laughs. Bobby had his issues and Sam got the poker game (which I actually enjoyed) and to save the day. I also liked how Sam didn't play up what he did. He said he was "just lucky". No he wasn't. Yes, getting 4 of a kind is lucky, but Sam played Patrick like a fiddle.
Regardless of the Sammy levels and whether we agree on that, I agree with you completely on the issue of Dean being comic relief, or that a lot of what he's going through is done for laughs. Wouldn't it have been cool to actually see Dean explore the idea of growing old, esp since he's pretty much convinced that it never will happen? Not just old, aching joints and back problems, but the mental part of it. Once again, Show missed the boat, this ep could have been a lot more and simply wasn't.
Yes to everything you said. My most major complaint was too much bobby and Not enough samndean time. Im sorry,but chad everett just did NOT sell it to me as old dean. SOooo it felt like Dean was missing for most of the episode.
The Man witch (SNORT) was dreemy, so cudos to kripke on that one thing…wouldnt mind seeing him again. Also thought him and sammy had definitely some chemistry going…..which is odd, considering ….maybe he will come back again and attempt to convince sam to take his GF place??
You liked the man witch, huh? Oh man. You and my friend in Alaska! He's too blue-eyed perfect for me, but the character was very fun, and yes, I'd be willing to watch him in a future ep.
I didn't care much for the episode itself or the he-witch or his accent. Especially the way he says "sam" like in "saum"!! Quite irritating!
the she-witch was very attractive. Why can't they find someone like that for a recurring female character on the show, instead of the plain and boring actresses like ruby, jo!! She was distracting and held her own…I think she played clark's mom on supernatural? Saw her somewhere before.
Hey…I am glad they didn't do that MAC thingy and make Jensen old…wouldn't want a jumpstart on imagining jensen age
Oh! there's more whining from me…can we see some color on Dean! He's always wearing the same grey/green whatever jackets!! Sam on the other hand moved to brown!
Ditto, dude.
You liked the she witch? I thought she was kind of boring. Beautiful, but just sort of…standing around. I never got why she was with the he witch in the first place, and all of a sudden she's wanting to leave.
But who am I kidding! I wouldn't give two nickles for that, if I could have more Sam and Dean! Hey, maybe even playing poker with each other! Instead of strangers.
I didn't mean I liked the she-witch as in her character. The actress was beautiful.
Agreed, she was very beautiful, but I don't think Show did enough with the character either.
I thought this episode was OK but nothing special and I guess not being a writer allows me to look past the plot holes and just enjoy whats on screen (a big plus for any fan of Supernatural) I'm a Deangirl so I focus on the negative and possitive of Dean's story. Negative being Bobby's attitude to Dean. I'm still mad at Bobby for the 'boo hoo princess' talk and he's still treating Dean like the red headed step child. You mentioned Sam didn't get a thankyou but neither did Dean after saving Bobby's life. At the end Dean shows maturity when handling Bobby and apologizes for calling him an idiot but gets zip in return.
Agreed! It did occur to me about the fact that Dean never really got any props for sacrificing himself, and for dealing with Bobby going emotionally downhill. I think I was focusing on the plotholes, so I appreciate you bringing it up about Dean getting short shrift too, even though he was on screen a lot, which was kind of hard to pull off, but Show managed it!
As for possitive, Dean's little dance and heel click was the best part of the episode for me. Chad was fantastic at copying the mannerisms but Jensen's my Dean and I actually cheered out loud at his return. I know I'll probably get blasted for this here but while I'm glad Sam saved the day I wish he found another way than beating the manwitch at poka because to me thats a Dean thing. We know Sam's the smartest, it's been hammered home enough but we're led to believe he's great at everything
I don't know if they were trying to pound it home that Sam's so smart and that's why he won, or if they were (if you'll excuse the expression) playing the whole little brother card – making Sam win, even though he's the youngest? But I get your point, you think it's unfair that Sam's good at this too, and you're not going to get blasted for that.
I think everyone was shocked that Sam won, even Sam. Maybe he won because Patrick underestimated him? That and a little luck?
I really wish we could see the brothers playing poker with each other. Or playing pool. Or hanging out…anything!
cont..He speaks Spanish, recites latin without the book, he hits the bullseye, he's a pool shark, he knows his art history, he picks the locks, he's into pomology, he completes the Times crossword. They're turning him into a Mary Sue (check out Tv tropes and you'll know what I mean in regards to Sam) Sam deserves so much more than the Mary Sue treatment and Dean deserves a lot more than the comic relief treatment.
Sam's wonderful, and he's not becoming a Mary Sue, he's becoming (if he's not already) a set of Guest Towels that no one wants to use!!! He's beautiful and he hangs on the rack, and I want to see Padalecki get some dialog and some scenes with meat on their bones!! Unless you mean Mary Sue in that he's too perfect to be real? There's a reason people don't use guest towels…..
Don't forget Sam can also perform an autopsy yielding more accurate results than a forensic pathologist, and can identify partially digested seeds just by looking at them. :-)
It would be nice to be shown that Dean is also good at something that Sam isn't. You would think it would be something that Dean had to be good at to survive all those years as a hunter, such as poker (or pool or darts), but, I guess not. Sam is awesome at all of those things as well! Better than Dean, even. There's nothing Dean can do that Sam can't do better. And then of course, Sam is also super smart, but Dean, well… he likes to eat!
Oh you are funny…..but yeah, okay.
So I'm going to be the devil's advocate here, and is Show trying to demonstrate that Sam is no longer the "little brother?" And that maybe one day Dean'll get pissed off about it and we get a good fight scene?
Or….what? Why would Show do that? It's not on accident that Sam can do all these things, so Show is doing it to cater to fans? Who knows. But I agree, what's the one thing Dean can do better than Sam still? He's a better mechanic…he likes to eat…
Is he a better shot with the rifle or pistol, is there canon for that?
Boy, it sure is buried….cause I can't think of anything definitively, so you have well proven your point!
I understood the situation to be that Dean and Bobby caught Sam up about the reversal spell as some point off screen. Sam was gone when She-Witch stopped by, and the next we see, Sam is playing poker while Bobby and Dean work on the spell. But I found no reason to believe that at some point between these two scenes, Dean didn't inform Sam of the spell and recruit him into the job of getting a hold of some of He-Witch's DNA. So your frustration about that apparent plot hole/story telling blunder doesn't bother me.
However, I do totally agree with your issue with Bobby showing up as he did without any apparent help and in some fashion that suggests a warp in the time flow continuum. This was inexcusably sloppy story telling. I don't need to see Bobby take a whole lot of steps to get to where Dean and Sam are, but they could have written him as having already been in town when S&D arrive, already aware and working on the case. Maybe even having called S&D to help him out after he'd already lost 25 years to the He-Witch. But then, this whole Bobby = paralyzed isn't working for me at all.
In fact, I still don't get why Bobby is paralyzed. IIRC, didn't he stab himself in the gut to get rid of that demon who'd possessed him way back in Season 4, epis. 1? How did that action end up paralyzing him?
I did miss Jensen. A lot.
Zach paralyzed Bobby in order to force Dean into consenting to being Michael's vessel back in the first ep of this season after breaking Sam's legs.
Zach: "Bobby's injured. Say yes and we'll heal him. Say no and he'll never walk again." Dean said no.
When Cas arrived he only told Zach to heal Sam and Dean, so Bobby stayed paralyzed.
Bobby isn't necessarily paralysed. He just says that his legs don't work. That covers a world of sins, most of them not being paralysis.
Dean and Bobby might have caught up with Sam, but we didn't know that. Maybe Show didn't want us to know to heighten the mystery of what was going to happen, but it's sloppy writing, because you could create tension another way, IMO. Even the barest mention of telling Sam about the reversal spell would have been enough, they didn't even have to film the scene, just account for it. But that's just me. I'm pretty sure you have company in not being bothered.
I like your solution to the magical appearance of Bobby in town, at JUST the right place when Dean's coming out of the bar. Yeah, like he was already in town or something and had played the game and lost and needed HALP!
Yeah I totally understand you missing Jensen but at least Dean was there if that makes you feel any better.
Can you understand us Samgirls missing Jared as well as Sam in ITB and TE. I felt so bad I stopped watching after that.
*sighs and sends hugs*
Oops – I meant Season 5 Episode 1 for when Bobby stabbed himself.
Sylvia, found the review entertaining & funny. Don’t agree with all but some stuff u were dead on. I love SPN so am more forgiving when stories, plot holes etc “go to hell.” Don’t mind Cas and Bobby either. This one not one of best by long shot. Had a big crush on CE in Medical Center, so fitting he plays OD cause I have a huge crush on young Dean
. I loved Chad him as Dean, IMHO he did a phenomenal job. Happy to see Jensen get a few days off (well deserved) Loved Sam saving day. Humour was great. Jim Beaver was awesome period. I loved the their feelings moment..”are we done feeling before we start to grow some female parts” TERRIFIC. Loved that Sam has grown so much and that he finally got to save Dean. He-witch did nothing for me period. if interested I have a review of 5X07 posted.
Sure, lots of people seem to like this ep, just as it is, and I'm okay with that. It was an SPN ep, after all, and there are certainly TV shows that are far worse. Far, far worse.
Oh, CE, who knew how many folks had crushes on him, and here I was thinking it was just me! I wanted to check into Medical Center SO badly…..and yeah, he was so fun as Dean, it was a very good fit.
And sure, send the link, I usually let myself read other people's reviews after mine is out for a bit.
So, 7 eps in, we have had 2 Dean-centric eps, 3 fillers and 2 other apocrap eps where Castiel's arc of seaching God and being Dean's new BFF was more shown than Sam's arc, if he even has one this season? Why oh why didn't Sam get the emotional arc, or at least part of it, now that Dean has the entire mytharc? Dean had most of the emotional arcs in S1, 2 and 3. So in 4 and 5 he gets both the mytharc, the emotional arc and the filler episodes?
Forget this being the Sam and Dean show, it clearly isn't and I am glad for your forewarning. Why on earth have Bobby and Sam had exactly 1 scene together alone (WtLB) in 5 seasons? Literary balance? Another lie apparently. It seems Bobby's there for oe brother and one only. Well, it really seems this is all about one brother at this point.
Me thinketh Kripke & Co have very little story left and are trying their damndest to thin it out to last another 15 eps without reheating absolutely everything for the fifth time around? We still have the yearly dean hospitalized, (we just had the Dean nearly dying apparently, for the 2nd time this season) and Dean crying prettily. Are they just they pooping out one Dean episode (never minding the plot holes or the retcons) after another because they are convinced fandom, which to them apparently is the same as the general audience, wants just that and only that? Are they even trying anymore?
This is starting to smell like crap already. And yes, I have seen the ratings, and they ain't nothing to write home to Mom about.
Sam's storyarc this season is finding redemption and the whole Lucifer's vessel thing which is pretty big as far as storyarcs go. Dean's is being Michael's vessel and Castiel's is finding god. They've all got something to do. As for the standalone eps, I've been informed that tv shows have to fill a quota of standalone eps so the network have something to use as filler that won't confuse new viewers. They are filling the quota at the beginning of the series before getting stuck into the mytharc stuff as it would be too out of place to break up the whole apocalypse thing.
Sam has saved Dean plenty of times starting in Wendigo in S1. I don't think we needed this most recent episode to prove that Sam could do the saving or that Sam was a big boy now who didn''t need to sit at the kiddie table. Sam has bigger issues of self-loathing over starting the apocalypse than to worry about being the junior partner. I don't mind that Sam nad Bobby don't interact. I like that is demonstrates he is still an outsider in his family. He probably always will be, and that's okay. He's loved, he's just different. The episode had it's funny moments, but I agree it was weak. I was feeling guilty I felt disappinted afterwards, but that's the truth.
Interesting point about Bobby and Sam not interacting. I've complained about it in the past, this very thing, but mostly because I don't like the fact that Bobby being there means less Sam, it's all about me wanting more Sam. But, at the same time, yes, Bobby doesn't have the same relationship with both boys, you are right. I like that, because it makes sense. But what I wish is that there would be some sort of acknowledgment of it, some comment or something that lets us know that the characters are aware of it. And not just blithely going on about their business as if Bobby and Sam are close pals.
I felt guilty too, for being disappointed.
I normally greatly enjoy pinkraygun reviews, even if I don't always comment. However, I find this one to be downright insulting and feel the need to weigh in on this.
A lot of your commentary on Bobby smacks entirely too much of ablism to me. He can't drive or do things on his own because he's paralysed (got to go let some folks in my life know that they secretly can't drive) but then when he does do things on his own it's because he's magical?
I admit, I've already got my Irish up because of other highly ablist reviews I've read, but this one is seriously getting to me, I think because I expect more.
So check it. Bobby, who has no use of his legs, is able to load his wheelchair up into the van, get into the van, drive an undetermined amount of miles (one assumes there are hand controls on the wheel instead of him using the foot pedals), get to the city, find parking (a miracle in and of itself, because I can bet you a gazillion dollars that Bobby wouldn’t have a handicapped tag on his van, out of pride), get the wheelchair out of the van, get around quickly enough to discover the location of the poker game, play in said poker game, and loose, all before Dean and Sam can even find the game.
I'm not entirely sure why you think that Bobby wouldn't have a handicapped tag (plenty of people have got both bucket loads of pride and handicapped placards / bucket loads of issues with their disability and a handicapped placard – it's not like you only get one after getting a certificate of "Perfectly Okay with My Disability). Additionally, we don't know how much Bobby knows about the game/how long he's known it's been in town. While Sam and Dean are chasing their own tales, Bobby could be tracking things down – or Bobby could have had a run in with Patrick years ago and therefore already knows the kind of place he'd hold a game.
(And I'm really pretending that you wrote "Bobby, who has no use of his legs, is able to load his wheelchair up into the van, get into the van, drive an undetermined amount of miles (one assumes there are hand controls on the wheel instead of him using the foot pedals)" because you weren't thinking about what you wrote and not because that's what you really think. As someone who sometimes uses a wheelchair and uses a cane the rest of the time – and who knows plenty of full time chair users – and as someone who has run into this kind of ablist thinking in real life far too often – assuming that because we can't always use our hands/legs/mouths/whatevers we can't be independent – this is deeply, deeply degrading.)
Additionally, on that, front:
Anyone who’s had a foot operation or a sprained ankle or anything like that that kept them off their feet for even just a day or two can understand some of what Bobby’s going through.
NO. Just… no. Having a sprained ankle or a foot operation is NOT like being disabled, any more than the straight football player who was called a fag by that guy on the sidelines knows what it's like to be gay. You don't know what it's like to be disabled. You don't know what it's like to go through life confronted by people who think that being in a chair means you're incapable of doing anything for yourself or that because you use a cane to walk, you can't read or write or think independently. I'm willing to bet money that when you had your foot operation or your sprained ankle, when you got in line to buy coffee, you were able to do it – and no one asked you where your helper was or if you were lost and needed them to call someone to help you.
Dean's speech is important because it deals with deconstructing the ablism that Bobby is likely facing. He went from being That Guy (the one who can do anything – build a panic room in a weekend, drive cross country to help stop the Apocalypse, anything) to That Guy In A Chair. It sucks to be that Person In A Chair/With A Cane/Whatever. Because even if you don't want it to define you, society is defining you by your disability, not your ability.
Additionally:
"He supposedly can’t get around very well because he’s stuck in a wheelchair because his legs don’t work. To what extent his legs don’t work, we don’t really know, because it’s never been explained if he has partial feeling or any movement at all or whether he’s in danger of getting leg thrombosis or atrophied muscles and all those kinds of details that my mind tends to obsess about."
A) That's not really any of Sam and Dean's business, unless Bobby makes it their business. B) Jim Beaver's muscles aren't going to atrophy since the actor is actually able bodied (much in the same way Hugh Laurie's House needed to be taught how to use a cane for support since he wasn't actually using it for support. C) If you were so bothered by the fact that Bobby can both need a wheelchair and drive a car, how on earth would you understand the gory details of his health problems?
chasingtides:
A lot of your commentary on Bobby smacks entirely too much of ablism to me. He can't drive or do things on his own because he's paralysed (got to go let some folks in my life know that they secretly can't drive) but then when he does do things on his own it's because he's magical?
Sylvia:
Ablism is a new word for me, thanks for introducing it. I had to look it up. Here it is:
“Ablism creates and perpetuates images of people with disabilities as unable: unable to be independent, unable to work, unable to do or be like people (apparently) without disabilities.”
That’s not what I was expressing. Rather it was this.
First, that Bobby suddenly appears (magically) right in Dean’s path, somehow interacting with the poker game, way before Dean can. It wasn’t the wheelchair that he was in that I objected to him being able to do all of that – if he’d not been in a wheelchair, I would have said the same thing. I’m tired of Bobby somehow appearing to have special powers, and that the boys can’t seem to figure things out without him.
And second, given that his legs are paralyzed, and Bobby’s not one to ask for help from strangers, the loading and unloading of the wheelchair in the van gave me pause. So maybe I’m mixing it up a bit, but the “magic” part was Bobby’s unexpected appearance, and the wheelchair confusion was that if Bobby was able to (as he obviously was) do all that he did, why does he feel like he’s of no use to anyone? He seemed pretty able to me. But then, suddenly, after hauling himself and his wheelchair, across the country, why was he suddenly unable to push himself up a ramp?
I’m not bothered by Bobby being able to drive a van and handle the wheelchair at either ends of the trip. What bothered me that in spite of being able to do all of that, he somehow felt useless and wanted the ep to deal with the juxtaposition of that. In Dean’s speech, Dean never even brings it up.
chasingtides:
I'm not entirely sure why you think that Bobby wouldn't have a handicapped tag (plenty of people have got both bucket loads of pride and handicapped placards / bucket loads of issues with their disability and a handicapped placard – it's not like you only get one after getting a certificate of "Perfectly Okay with My Disability).
Sylvia:
I didn’t think Bobby would have a tag because I didn’t think he would have a tag, is all. I’ve known men like that. My dad has a tag and it took him a while to get used to having one. He kept insisting he didn't need it, or want it, and wouldn't use it.
chasingtides:
Additionally, we don't know how much Bobby knows about the game/how long he's known it's been in town. While Sam and Dean are chasing their own tales, Bobby could be tracking things down – or Bobby could have had a run in with Patrick years ago and therefore already knows the kind of place he'd hold a game.
Sylvia
That’s my point. The disconnect between events in the ep and any awareness of time passing felt sloppy to me. Dean says, go get dinner, it’s your turn, Sam goes off, Dean goes into a bar, and poof, there’s Bobby. Magically. Also, unless Bobby is lying to the boys, he has no idea about the game or Patrick or anything.
chasingtides:
(And I'm really pretending that you wrote "Bobby, who has no use of his legs, is able to load his wheelchair up into the van, get into the van, drive an undetermined amount of miles (one assumes there are hand controls on the wheel instead of him using the foot pedals)" because you weren't thinking about what you wrote and not because that's what you really think. As someone who sometimes uses a wheelchair and uses a cane the rest of the time – and who knows plenty of full time chair users – and as someone who has run into this kind of ablist thinking in real life far too often – assuming that because we can't always use our hands/legs/mouths/whatevers we can't be independent – this is deeply, deeply degrading.)
Sylvia:
I don’t even know what you’re saying here. I was expressing my amazement at all that Bobby did on his own, because with no use of his legs how on earth did he load the wheelchair? Did he get help? Does he have a mechanical chair lift? I have no idea about the logistics of this, and the culmination of facts about his journey into town was meant to emphasize the point that there would be a lot of things he’d have to do and many miles to go, and yet, he’s in town and played the game and lost, ALL before Sam has picked up dinner. It's the timing of his magical appearance that I object to, not that he's in a wheelchair or able to travel on his own.
You are being really, truly insulting. Why are you assuming that being in a wheelchair means that you can't do anything for yourself? Why?
chasingtides;
NO. Just… no. Having a sprained ankle or a foot operation is NOT like being disabled, any more than the straight football player who was called a fag by that guy on the sidelines knows what it's like to be gay. You don't know what it's like to be disabled. You don't know what it's like to go through life confronted by people who think that being in a chair means you're incapable of doing anything for yourself or that because you use a cane to walk, you can't read or write or think independently. I'm willing to bet money that when you had your foot operation or your sprained ankle, when you got in line to buy coffee, you were able to do it – and no one asked you where your helper was or if you were lost and needed them to call someone to help you.
Sylvia:
I said, that a person “can understand some of what Bobby’s going through.” The very next sentence says, “Multiply that by being stuck in a wheelchair forever, and you’ve got a story idea that just about anyone can relate to.” I frankly thought it was high time that Show dealt with the issue, and I don’t think they did a good job at all. As for me, when I had broken my big toe, I couldn't get around very well. I live in a house of stairs and I really, really wanted to be waited on hand and foot, but there or at the grocery store, I was on my own. But I think the issue you are raising has little to do with my review, except it kicked off a lot of anger at people who you felt have expressed ablism. And fair enough, you've got life experiences that I do not, but that doesn't make my point invalid: I hate magical Bobby, and this ep was a prime example of it.
No.
Seriously, no. You don't get it.
Let me put it this way: If a white man went around saying that such-and-such a black woman on television wasn't a real representation of the experience of women of color while women of color were saying something different, who would you be listening to?
Why aren't you listening to people who share similar life experiences to Bobby instead of being deeply insulting by comparing your broken toe to a lifelong disability? Because understanding that you need to use mobility aids for the rest of your life, learning to plan your entire life around your limited mobility and limited resources, learning to balance your medication and the fact that total strangers think your health is their business, learning to deal with being treated like an infant for much of your adult life, understanding that you can never ever do things that you've loved again, realizing that people you love or respect are treating you like a totally different person – these are just a few of the things a person with an acquired disability has to deal with and you never have. DO NOT compare such experiences.
Well, I think I would feel that the white man would be basing his opinion on observation, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't know what he was talking about.
So what you're saying is that I'm dismissing Bobby's life experience. And not only that, that I'm totally wrong to do so because I've never been stuck in a wheelchair. I'll grant you that I have not, my experience is from observation only, and it looks to me like it would get longer to get around if you're in a wheelchair.
I'm not comparing my broken toe to being in a wheelchair. I just remember wishing I had some help – in contrast to your example of a person who wouldn't want any help. I remember being pissed off and frustrated by my inability to get around like I was used to. The feelings are similar, I'm thinking, though of course they would be compounded to a much greater degree by someone whose life is completely altered forever.
Yes. You are deliberately drawing a comparison. If you don't realise what you're doing… well, you say you're a technical writer. You ought to know what you are doing. (On the other hand, you should also know the difference between "lose" and "loose.")
You are dismissing Bobby's life experience when you compare it to a sprained ankle – losing your ability to ever use your legs again is absolutely nothing like having a sprained ankle and needing crutches for three weeks.
chasingtides:
A) That's not really any of Sam and Dean's business, unless Bobby makes it their business. B) Jim Beaver's muscles aren't going to atrophy since the actor is actually able bodied (much in the same way Hugh Laurie's House needed to be taught how to use a cane for support since he wasn't actually using it for support. C) If you were so bothered by the fact that Bobby can both need a wheelchair and drive a car, how on earth would you understand the gory details of his health problems?
Sylvia:
A) Why wouldn't the level of Bobby's paralysis be Dean and Sam's business? Aren't they supposed to be like family? And anyway, they probably know, but I don't.
B) This isn’t about Jim Beaver at all, right. I know he’s an actor and that legs work just fine. This about Bobby. And I’m not bothered by the fact that he can drive a van and needs a wheelchair at the same time, like I said, there was no framework for time passing and I thought it was sloppy.
C) I wasn't bothered by Bobby being in a wheelchair. But I can pretty well figure out that if you had to travel on your own with a wheelchair that needed unloading and loading, and then get around in a downtown area (not always littered with wheelchair accessible ramps), and you solved the puzzle and played the game and lost all before Dean has had his dinner – it's magical, because it should have taken Bobby longer to get there, and that’s just logistics. But then, it should always take Bobby longer to get there than it does. I'm still puzzling over how Bobby got there at the exact right moment to kill the siren in "Sex and Violence."
You're responses are downright insulting. So, I'm going to stop pulling my punches.
Do you actually know anything about living with a disability at all or does your brain stop at OMG I CANNOT WALK MY LIFE IS OVER?
Most people who use wheelchairs load and unload them on their own. It's one of the things you get taught to do when you get your first chair. Considering Bobby's lifestyle prior to 5.01, I have no trouble believing he can haul a Quickie or similar chair in and out of a car on his own (particularly if I can haul mind in and out of my backseat on my own).
Disabled people get around without ramps all the damned time. It's called life. We will complain and bitch because it makes our lives that much harder and there are time when we, say, can't use a subway, but we can actually get around. We have for centuries. (FYI, it should also take the Winchesters longer to get where they're going. I am resigned to the fact that hunters can bend time and space.)
And really?
Someone's health care is their business – theirs and their doctor's. My parents don't know my healthcare info. My brother doesn't know. When I have a partner, they don't know. When I have a partner with a chronic ailment, the intense details of their healthcare aren't my personal business. If and when we choose to share the details, that is our choice. Considering Bobby's current anger, I would be shocked if he also decided to share that kind of intense intimacy with Sam or Dean. Because, trust me, the details of his healthcare are an intimacy.
I don't think you got Sylvia's points at all and are reading what you want to read. Her post was not at all about Bobby being unable to help in the hunt because he was in a wheelchair. She was pointing out how impossible it would be for anyone to have driving hundreds of miles, found the poker game, lost, and then ran into Dean at just the right moment before Sam got back from getting dinner. Even my husband was like WTF? didn't they just get off the phone? Regardless of Bobby's ability to get around, unless he has teleportation powers like the angels…I just don't see it happening as the episode was framed.
No. I don't see why this an issue suddenly because he's in a wheelchair. Bobby – like Dean and John – has always had the power of Super Speed. (Perhaps a combination of red eye and no respect for speed limits? IDK) Do we know Bobby wasn't in town yet? I don't see why using a wheelchair automatically means he's slow. We also don't know how much time elapsed. Really.
Additionally, it's one thing to say, "I found the time frame unrealistic." It's another thing to talk about how he can't drive and he's MAGICAL because he's independent.
Maybe I should have been more clear – It really is about Bobby traveling at the speed of light. He's already magical and it drives me crazy. But I couldn't not talk about the wheelchair as part the equation because that would have been disingenuous.
It's not suddenly an issue for me, because I've been complaining about it for ages and ages. Trouble for Sam and Dean? Why, it's Bobby to the rescue. The wheelchair issue just seemed to compound it for me above and beyond – not that I know from firsthand experience, but my god, it should have taken him at least a little longer! Loading and unloading that wheelchair would take him time, right? But we got no time, no realism. I was awaiting Show's effort to treat the whole matter realistically. But like the scene in the hospital after Bobby's operation, there was no realism. And I was disappointed.
Since I apparently missed something huge: What operation?
I'm not being insulting and no, my brain does not stop there at OMG I CANNOT WALK MY LIFE IS OVER. Bobby's life is not over, which is why I liked what Dean had to tell him in that speech at the end.
Bobby can load and unload his wheelchair; I never said he couldn't. My comments expressed surprise at the speed at which he traveled across the country and the speed at which he did all that he did. It was magical, seriously magical all that he was able to do without any time seeming to pass in the real world. Not that he was able to do it from a wheelchair, I never had a problem with that, just that, wow, magical Bobby strikes again! I thought it was unrealistic, and I stand by that. So really, yeah, the characters on this show can bend time and space, especially Bobby.
And I don't know, the way Show has been pushing the whole "we are family" idea, I expected that that Bobby had shared that information. Even if you don't share that kind of information, or maybe I wouldn't, it's possible that Bobby and the Winchesters have; we don't have any proof to the contrary, so the possibility is still there.
Obviously I don't have the experience of being stuck in a wheelchair or having to use a cane to get around. But I'm not trying to be insulting, here, I was trying to make a point in my review that Bobby is magical, and I guess at this point, his wheelchair is too, because it didn't look like a Quickie. It looked like a heavy, old fashioned, clunky hospital wheelchair. And I know those are heavy, because I've pushed a few. Not trying to start it up again here, but if he was (as he seems to have been) able to lift *that* chair in and out of the van, why couldn't he push himself up a ramp? It's the lack of logic of the entire situation that I'm objecting to.
If Sam is like a son to Bobby, why wouldn't he offer Bobby a break?
Also:
"I feel insulted because you did xyz that implied people like me aren't really people."
"I wasn't insulting! You just don't understand me!"
Uh. No. You were insulting.
It's not that he can't do for himself…it's just that he couldn't do what he did at the speed that he did it. Even if he weren't in a wheelchair, it wouldn't have been possible. The time frame just doesn't match up.
Can you point out an episode in the show where all of the time frames added up properly? Or are you stuck on the idea that it's only ~*~magical~*~ because Bobby can't use his legs? (Does Dean have the legs of the Flash now or something?)
Some episodes do it better than others, I reckon, but this one did it really badly. Because to my way of thinking it should have taken Bobby in a wheelchair longer than it already didn't. So, say, if Show had added a note at the bottom of the screen "two days later" or something to give us a frame of reference, I would have had far less trouble with the whole issue.
How do we know they're not in a city that's less than 15 minutes from Bobby's place? The show never did tell us where they are. They could be spitting distance from Bobby.
You've never actually met anyone for whom being in a wheel chair is a part of every day life, have you? Your ignorance is showing.
Actually, I've known several people who were in wheelchairs, and my experience, by observation, tells me that it just takes longer to get around, is all.
And I know several people who use wheelchairs who can have theirs disassembled and be ready to roll before I've finished packing my purse. It's like anything else. If you do it often enough, you learn to do it quickly.
Exactly. If you do it often enough. Bobby has been in his new situation for, what? A few weeks at best?
Considering the time line, I estimate about six months-ish. Maybe five. If he's living on his own, he'd damned better be able to do that.
I wish Show were more clear about this kind of thing, like timelines; I like the small details and I think they make texture that makes the story being told more realistic.
Considering that Sam and Dean were apart for several months at the beginning of the season, Bobby has had at least several months to get used to his chair.
I'm not convinced that so much time has passed since season 5 episode 1.
So… you think it's June in the show?
The devil, so to speak, is in the details. I wish they would take them as seriously as we do. It really can make or break a story.
I'm sure that you are right. However, Bobby's chair did not look like that type of chair. It looked like a heavy old fashioned clunky hospital wheelchair, not easily assembled or lifted. Not that I have any experience with actually lifting wheelchairs, although I used to build wheelchair wheels for Olympic racing wheelchairs, so I know what the spokes and nuts feel like when they come out of the box, and how heavy they are, and how much time it takes to assemble one and hand tighten the nuts. Even the light racing wheels are not all that light.
Being both a chair user and watcher of the show, I'd say a Quickie-style chair, given the ease with which Bobby was getting around town. Hospital chairs are not made for independent mobility.
Really? Okay, I'll buy that. It looked clunky and uncomfortable to me, but maybe that's the way Bobby's sitting because he hates sitting in it.
I'm curious what aspect of the logistics did Sylvia get wrong for anyone that can't use their legs? My grandmother has my grandfather get her motorized chair from the back of the van when they travel? I've seen buses and trains that have the lifts for wheelchairs and bikes.
The only person I know that needs a wheelchair has a hard time getting around without help. She has ehlers-danlos syndrome and she does post often on LJ about the challenges she has when she leaves home and travels to conventions. It's not the same as being disabled but it made me realize I take a lot of what I can do easily for granted.
None of what Sylvia wrote here rang false to me.
A manual chair and a motorized chair are world apart and not just in weight class (although that's a bit one). For example, I have all-terrain tires for my manual chair, so I can go through mud and over rough terrain. There are major athletes who use chairs. Getting on a bus (that has stairs) is very different from driving your own car when you use a chair.
Disabilities have a huge, massive range. Assuming that everyone is absolutely always on one end of the spectrum (or they're not really disabled or their feelings aren't valid) is both false and a form of ablism.
Syl, I totally agreed with everything in your review. Except that I didn't like Dean's ending speech to Bobby. It was okay until Dean told him that he was all Dean had left. And mentioned that there wasn't much left between him and Sam anymore. So, because Dean can't forgive Sam for choosing Ruby over him then Sam doesn't exist as family anymore? A nice little tag fic for Sam, having forgotten the car keys or something, was just outside the door when he heard Dean say this. Anyway, that line made me so angry that I almost stopped watching it right then and there. I was very disappointed.
Actually, I believe the line was, "Me and Sam, we don't have much left." Not everything is a slam on Sam.
You didn't like it, eh. I liked that he tried, that he was not just blowing Bobby off with a joke or something. But yeah, Sam goes off to pick daises or whatnot, which is very frustrating. I certainly hope Show is done with these filler episodes!
As emm points out below, Dean specifically said "me AND SAM". How anyone could assume that Dean does not include Sam in his family is beyond me. Unless you're looking for a reason to criticize Dean and this was all you could come up with?
I guess I heard it wrong. In my defense, I'm still smarting from Dean trying to replace Sam with Castiel. My anger and criticism it aimed toward the creators of the show, not my beloved characters. IMO, Dean has been acting out of character this season. I blame Kripke and the writers. I feel very jerked around by them. If it wasn't for fanfiction, I may have given up on Spn long ago.
Hi, Sylvia: a very apt review. This episode was both amusing and boring, and chock full of characer blips and plot holes. I enjoyed it, but I can't say it was the best this show has to offer. It was filler, and it felt like filler. I don't have any more patience for Sam being passed over for Dean's benefit, at all. I dread Dean's Special Speeches with a passion now – just dread them……
And cutting Sam out whenever Family comes up? Hypocritical much, Show? You can't cut out one brother, the same brother, when Family rears its' metaphorical head on the show, over and over and over again, without making the idea that SPN is about Family a total and utter LIE.
Show is very hypocritical when saying Family is all that matters because they have isolated Sam each and every time. I have no patience or sympathy either for Dean's Special Speeches and emo tears or for his ad nauseum adolescent jokes. Way to ruin the characters of Sam AND Dean, Show!
On the Bobby as a speed demon issue – chair or no chair, it was silly for him to arrive from his home in SD to where Sam and Dean were, to finding the poker match, and playing and losing the game, so very very quickly. If Bobby were a race car driver with a hot vehicle, it would still be silly. I understand the other emotional issues involved here, but it was still a moment for fans to employ creative methods of hand waving fan wank. I did, however, deduce that Sam was in cahoots with Dean and Bobby on the toothpick DNA issue (perhaps Sam should taken his drink glass instead!), so that was no problem for me.
As I recall, Dean got off the phone with Bobby, sent Sam out for dinner. Right? Then, Bobby arrives in town, plays poker and looses, and Dean actually goes and plays poker too, and looses, all before Sam gets back with the burgers and cokes. Am I remembering it wrong?
How far away is SD from the town they are in? We don't know. Sure, it could be a fifteen minute drive, or it could be two states away. Still – Sam was sent out to get dinner, and that would take 20 minutes at most….two poker games and an unknown amount of driving time later, well, that's a whole lot longer than 20 minutes.
I'm probably remembering the whole thing wrong now!
Also, if Jensen needed the time off, why not give Sam his very own Very Special Epic Episode, in the manner of The End and In the Beginning? Sam is owed twice over now, and frankly, he needs that kind of attention in a way that Dean never has. I'm pretty much immune at this point to Dean getting any kind of separate attention anymore. I just get pissed off, no matter what Show wants me to feel. I really do like Dean, and LOVE SamnDean, but I HATE seeing Sam passed over, especially if it is about Family, which happens all the time. Where is Sam's Epic Mytharc in all this, that's what I want to know.
Face it, Emily, Sam has and will never be given that attention. The writers and Kripke are having too much fun getting their adolescent rocks off imagining they are Dean or Castiel. They only use Sam as a plot device and I fear his redemption will come only through his self-sacrificing death to save THE ultimate hero Dean..
Oh man, I could so get behind an ep with Sam in it. I agree with you, Dean is great and damn beautiful, but Sam has been getting short shift lately….and forever it seems. And always kicked out the door when those family discussions come, yes. It would be easier if when Dean is talking about family to someone other than Sam that he, you know, made Sam a part of the conversation.
Where is Sam's Epic Mytharc, indeed.
Sylvia– your review is SPOT-ON. I agree with everything. I'm not sure they even had a real script for this one, with as many plot holes it had. Sam's hair and Dean's dance were the only positives that came out of this one for me.
Thanks for the review.
You're welcome for the review. I feel pretty comfortable saying that next week's ep will be much, much better….
I don't know, script or no script, there was many a truck driven through the plot, I'd say.
Sylvia
Hello! Well, I honestly did not love this episode but I did not hate it either. When I first viewed it, it felt kind of ‘meh’ to me but I have had more time to dwell on what I witnessed and I have come to conclusion that it was a decent episode. Because after all; there was some ‘awesomeness’!
1) Chad Everett! Yummy…… OMG he was completely smoking HOT back in the day.
Perfect choice to play ‘Older Dean’. I thought Chad did a really great job. He even
had the same mannerisms. BTW – He still looks sexy and he is in his 70’s! So, the hot
streak of rocking guest stars continues.
2). The look on Sam’s face when the he-witch was taunting him during the poker game…when he told him Dean’s time was up. Sam got so emotional when he thought his brother was dying. That entire scene made me hurt and squirm at the same time.
3). Sammy saved Dean!
4). All of Jared’s scenes with Chad. Stands up and clap’s loudly!
5). Jensen when we saw him young again. LOL! That scene was funny………
6). Old Man Dean flirting with the hotel maid.
7). Old Man Dean and his cheeseburgers. Good to know Dean will still be eating cheeseburgers or at least trying to.
8). Sam’s hair
9). Jensen’s talk with Bobby
10). "Have you seen you? You look like…" "The old chick from Titanic? I know, shut up."
Thoughts to ponder…
1). You know, I never imagine Dean as an old man because I always foresee him dying young. I think he believes that is his fate as well because he and Sam have discussed it. Sam also feels they won’t live long either.
2). I wonder why they chose Dean to be the one who grew old? Why not Sam?
3). Sam and Dean both almost died again! That needs to stop!!!!!!!
4). Sam and Dean did not kill the he-witch…..That is two episodes in a row where the bad person got away….although in the previous episode it was a child.
Lastly, I am so ready for some ‘end of the world’ storyline movement. I really like the ‘filler’ episodes but I enjoy the episodes more which really make me think and keep me on the edge of my seat….even more…………I know, I am a glutton for punishment.
Joan
# 7 you are wrong, wrong, wrong!! : D
Don't you remember? At the end, Young Dean picked up the cheeseburger like he was going to eat it and then remembered how bad it was for his heart and then put it down again. Of course, that probably won't keep him from eating cheeseburgers in the future (heaven forbid!), but I think it symbolized Dean's awareness of his own mortality. Or maybe it was just a cheeseburger he didn't want to eat…..
Thoughts to ponder #4, I hadn't thought about that. What is Show's propensity for leaving bad guys alive? Are they going to come back? Lots of fans seemed to like the he witch and he would make an interesting adversary in the future, eh?
#1, oh man, another CE fan!! He was so slick and sexy, and still can pull it off with flirting with the maid. He reminded me of Clint Eastwood, with that glint in his eye.
And lastly, yeah. What you said. I'm ready for some real stories that relate to the brothers and to saving people, hunting things. I'm a glutton, too, and an old fashioned fan. Bring on the angst!
Heh!
Yes, you are correct! He did put down that cheeseburger! One of the things that brings me joy is watching Dean EAT so I do hope he will continue eating bad stuff….:-)
I do agree the he-witch would be a great adversary.
Yes, I am a total CE fan! OMG so HOT. And I do like your comparison to Clint. Glint in the eye for sure!
I am happy to see he still has it cause I totally believed that he totally thought he still had it.
I am glad you are also ready for some real stories. I am SO ready! And, i am an old-fashioned fan girl as well so it is time Kripke! Are you listening? Bring IT ON!
See ya next week.
Joan
Dear Sylvia!
Haven't you thought that maybe Sam, Dean and Bobby had a Plan and they actually communicated a bit before Sam went playing poker and Dean and Bobby started stuff with the spell? What makes you think that Sam takes off all on his own when clearly events from this point don't support this theory?
I mostly love your reviews, but sometimes you just want to be annoyed, even without any real reason. (With respect, T.)
They might have had a plan, true enough, and I think Show was doing the old bait and switch there, to throw the viewer off; and sure, there's nothing to disprove your theory or mine.
It just felt clunky to me and I don't think it worked very well.
And no, I truly didn't want to be annoyed. I would much rather adore an ep, and write a review full of joy and fannish squee, because the results are more fun to read, the comments are brighter, and the energy coming off of writing it is more positive. Negative reviews are draining.