The thing is, all these issues could have easily been avoided if the demon tablet or the Batcave had provided Sam and Dean with a way to enter hell.
I find this bit of lazy scriptwriting unforgivable. Some problems may not have been the writers' fault. If they were forced to include numerous subplots then that fault lies with Carver or the writing team generally. But sticking the instructions on the tablet (I prefer the Bat Cave idea, but the search for answers would have been yet another subplot to deal with) would not only have resolved an ugly plot hole, it would have allowed them to cut the summoning/interrogation scenes, thus freeing up several minutes that could have been far better used.
I cannot fathom why, when dealing with such a massive, complex storyline, a writer would choose to weigh it down with unnecessary nonsense.
He takes care of Kevin, gives out friendly advice and seems more bummed out about losing his pie than about (potentially) losing his brother.
That was one of the strangest scenes in the whole piece. Until it ended, I was convinced it was a hallucination. I was all ready for Dean to morph into Crowley, or for his eyes to go black. I even thought they might be using this as a thematic connection to Sam's hallucinations of Dean when he was mad. But ... no.
The oddest thing about it is that it changes gears immediately after by having Dean panic when Naomi mentions that Sam went through purgatory. I don't understand that either. Certainly Dean has every reason to fear purgatory ... but he has every reason to fear hell, too, so why would he be perfectly calm until the latter is mentioned?
I admit, when I first read spoilers about Bobby’s appearance in Taxi Driver, I was pretty excited, mainly because a (temporary) reunion between the brothers and their fatherly friend had the potential to be an emotional highlight of the season for me.
I love Bobby, but I can't say I'm happy with his use here. It seems far too convenient that Sam and Dean should be handed a sympathetic soul to rescue just when they need one, when there has not been one iota of foreshadowing that Bobby might be in hell.
And it seems weird to me that there would not be. I have trouble believing that Crowley would send Bobby to hell 'just because'. His previous designs on the Winchesters or their friends were all about giving himself leverage. And I got the impression that, occasional bouts of enmity aside, Crowley rather liked Bobby. They're both smart men, and they enjoyed the battle of wits.
Surely if Crowley had Bobby in hell, he should have been holding that over Sam and Dean's heads since the season opener?
Does that also apply to spirits who cruelly murder countless innocent people in their confusion and anger? Or do those go to hell? I really wished we had more clarity on this part of the mythology.
Honestly, I'd be happier with less clarity. I rather liked the ambiguity. Sam and Dean burn ghosts' bones because that's the best way they know to protect the living, but they don't know whether they are helping or harming the spirits themselves. It puts an extra layer of tension in ghost stories, where they sometimes get it wrong and burn a helpful ghost. If they're just packing the nice ones off to heaven then ... that just retroactively took the pathos out of a dozen or so episodes.
Ajay, the rogue reaper who helps Sam to cross over into purgatory, is such a blatant plot device that the writers do not even bother following the well-established reaper lore, let alone giving the character an agency of his own.
I was so disappointed in Ajay. I wanted a ferryman like you wouldn't believe. I had my heart set on a taxi drive into hell, along the smouldering equivalent of heaven's axis mundi and over the darkened waters of the Styx. But, well, that's what I get for having hopes, I suppose.
By the way, with this review the collective word count of my writings on Supernatural passes the 500.000 words mark! You know, I am actually quite proud of this achievement.
Congratulations. That is quite an achievement, and your reviews are so interesting. I always look forward to them.
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Date: 2013-04-25 02:58 am (UTC)I find this bit of lazy scriptwriting unforgivable. Some problems may not have been the writers' fault. If they were forced to include numerous subplots then that fault lies with Carver or the writing team generally. But sticking the instructions on the tablet (I prefer the Bat Cave idea, but the search for answers would have been yet another subplot to deal with) would not only have resolved an ugly plot hole, it would have allowed them to cut the summoning/interrogation scenes, thus freeing up several minutes that could have been far better used.
I cannot fathom why, when dealing with such a massive, complex storyline, a writer would choose to weigh it down with unnecessary nonsense.
He takes care of Kevin, gives out friendly advice and seems more bummed out about losing his pie than about (potentially) losing his brother.
That was one of the strangest scenes in the whole piece. Until it ended, I was convinced it was a hallucination. I was all ready for Dean to morph into Crowley, or for his eyes to go black. I even thought they might be using this as a thematic connection to Sam's hallucinations of Dean when he was mad. But ... no.
The oddest thing about it is that it changes gears immediately after by having Dean panic when Naomi mentions that Sam went through purgatory. I don't understand that either. Certainly Dean has every reason to fear purgatory ... but he has every reason to fear hell, too, so why would he be perfectly calm until the latter is mentioned?
I admit, when I first read spoilers about Bobby’s appearance in Taxi Driver, I was pretty excited, mainly because a (temporary) reunion between the brothers and their fatherly friend had the potential to be an emotional highlight of the season for me.
I love Bobby, but I can't say I'm happy with his use here. It seems far too convenient that Sam and Dean should be handed a sympathetic soul to rescue just when they need one, when there has not been one iota of foreshadowing that Bobby might be in hell.
And it seems weird to me that there would not be. I have trouble believing that Crowley would send Bobby to hell 'just because'. His previous designs on the Winchesters or their friends were all about giving himself leverage. And I got the impression that, occasional bouts of enmity aside, Crowley rather liked Bobby. They're both smart men, and they enjoyed the battle of wits.
Surely if Crowley had Bobby in hell, he should have been holding that over Sam and Dean's heads since the season opener?
Does that also apply to spirits who cruelly murder countless innocent people in their confusion and anger? Or do those go to hell? I really wished we had more clarity on this part of the mythology.
Honestly, I'd be happier with less clarity. I rather liked the ambiguity. Sam and Dean burn ghosts' bones because that's the best way they know to protect the living, but they don't know whether they are helping or harming the spirits themselves. It puts an extra layer of tension in ghost stories, where they sometimes get it wrong and burn a helpful ghost. If they're just packing the nice ones off to heaven then ... that just retroactively took the pathos out of a dozen or so episodes.
Ajay, the rogue reaper who helps Sam to cross over into purgatory, is such a blatant plot device that the writers do not even bother following the well-established reaper lore, let alone giving the character an agency of his own.
I was so disappointed in Ajay. I wanted a ferryman like you wouldn't believe. I had my heart set on a taxi drive into hell, along the smouldering equivalent of heaven's axis mundi and over the darkened waters of the Styx. But, well, that's what I get for having hopes, I suppose.
By the way, with this review the collective word count of my writings on Supernatural passes the 500.000 words mark! You know, I am actually quite proud of this achievement.
Congratulations. That is quite an achievement, and your reviews are so interesting. I always look forward to them.