Review for 5x06 'I Believe The Children Are Our Future'

[galathea]

Sorry this review comes out so very late, but given that we have no new episode this week, I thought I might as well lift the pressure to have the review finished within the weekend and give myself a bit of breathing space. But better late than never, right? ;)

The latest instalment in S5, I Believe The Children Are Our Future by Andrew Dabb and Daniel Loflin, left me with pretty mixed feelings. On the one hand its main plotline had a strong and interesting parallel to the Winchesters in general, and Sam in particular, which positively deepened Sam’s S5 characterisation, but on the other hand the tone and character work of the first half of the episode didn’t work at all for me. Unfortunately the uneven script negatively impacted the excellent premise of the story to a point where my enjoyment of the episode was outweighed by my frustration with it, and I really regret that.



I had two main issues with I Believe The Children Are Our Future. Firstly, the lack of further development of the brotherly relationship and secondly, the poor attempt to mix drama and humour in the episode. While addressing the power issues between Sam and Dean in Fallen Idols wasn’t necessarily the most logical first step in their reconciliation process, I still loved it and felt that the resolution to that issue provided a valid forward momentum for their relationship. Naturally, I expected the follow-up to use that momentum and either show us the new equality in their relationship in practice or, preferably, address the more pressing personal trust issues between the brothers next. The new episode did neither though, on the contrary, for the first half of the episode it regressed the characters, and especially Dean, to near caricatures of their S1 versions for no internal story reasons, and that frustrated me greatly. I can only hope the writers don’t intend to leave the development in the brotherly relationship at that and simply return to 'normal' now, because as it is, they didn’t even scratch the surface of the multitude of issues that arose out of Sam and Dean’s interaction last season. If Fallen Idols is all we get in terms of development and reconciliation process, I will be seriously disappointed.

The sudden change in tone mid-episode, when Jesse’s true nature is revealed and the humour turns into drama, doesn’t do the episode any favours either, as both halves don’t really connect with each other. If anything the silly tone of first half of the episode undermines the serious tone of the second half. I often complain about the humour in the show, because more often than not, it’s a miss in my book. The writers’ leanings towards crude and juvenile humour, which they probably think appeals to a younger audience, always annoyed me, but I dislike it even more outside the context of an episode that is specifically designed to be silly/whimsical. I simply don’t find fart cushions, electrocuted ham and jerk-off/hairy hand jokes even remotely funny, and while I can accept that Dean has a propensity for juvenile humour, I find it inappropriate to reduce his character to a comic relief figure for nearly half of the episode, especially since we have seen him mature so much ever since the second half of S4. After everything that happened in the last couple of years, there's simply a limit as to how far the writers can go back to an (exaggerated) S1 characterisation. Additionally, Dean risking Sam’s life on a hunch by testing the electric buzzer on his brother came off as mean-spirited, rather than funny and was awfully out of character for Dean. Even if it was meant as a call-back to Route 666 and It’s The Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester, where it was Sam who staked Dean’s life on a probability, it doesn’t compare, because in those cases the brothers were in a life-threatening situation and Sam’s quick thinking saved Dean’s life in the end, whereas there was no necessity to use the possibly lethal toy here.

So, overall the tonal changes and the partial character regression made this episode extremely uneven and inopportune at this stage of the season. However, Jesse’s plotline was strong and allowed for an interesting exploration of Sam’s state of mind and provided lovely parallels to the Winchesters’ childhood. So, I will mainly concentrate on the important scenes in the second half of the episode and choose to ignore most of the first part of it.

Castiel: "A year ago, you would have done whatever it took to win this war."
Sam: "Things change."

The confrontation between Dean, Sam and Castiel was fabulous. Once Castiel reveals Jesse’s true nature as the antichrist, a conflict between the brothers and the angel is inevitable. Where Castiel is understandably concerned with the larger consequences of Jesse’s existence, the brothers come from a different perspective. Both brothers made the point in the past that a person cannot be judged on grounds of something they haven’t done yet, Dean’s conversation with Gordon about Sam’s destiny in Hunted comes to mind or Sam’s defence of the rougarou Jack in Metamorphosis. Out of the brothers it was Sam though, who repeatedly followed the principle that the good of the many outweighs the good of the one. Sam was willing to sacrifice Nancy in Jus In Bello for the sake of thirty people. He also argued that the demands of the greater good justified sacrificing the little girl Lilith possessed in No Rest For The Wicked. Not to mention that he made the choice to kill Cindy in Lucifer Rising for what he thought would be the greater good as well. Here though, given a similar choice again, he decides differently and that demonstrates that Sam has truly changed. Not only did he find back to his moral values of the earlier seasons, but he also refuses to overlook the dirty details in favour of focussing on the bigger picture. Throughout the show Sam has always been the one with his eyes on the bigger picture - find dad, avert his destiny, break Dean’s deal, kill Lilith - and in doing so he often dismissed what was right in front of him. In the end that route mislead him to making the wrong choices. Once upon a time Sam would indeed have sided with Castiel, but he has truly learned his lesson by now. ♥

I loved very much that Dean tries to mediate and steps between Sam and Castiel, when the situation between his brother and the angel becomes tense, a gesture that reminded strongly of his habit to break up confrontations between Sam and John. But he also steps back again and allows Sam to fight for himself and present his arguments, confident that his brother is capable to hold his own against Castiel. Just like Sam stepped back before him and listened to Dean’s arguments and only took over again when Dean and Castiel were at an impasse. I really liked that back and forth between the brothers, which demonstrated way more effectively the way they came back together as a stronger team than all the antics in their earlier interaction taken together.

I found Castiel's approach to the problem equally fascinating and frustrating here. First Castiel is in Sam’s face for not doing the wrong thing, i.e. compromising his moral principles and agreeing to kill Jesse for the greater good, and in the same breath Castiel chastises Sam for the very same choices, he just rejected to repeat. He can’t have it both ways though, he can’t approve of Sam’s 'wrong' choices, when they conveniently suit his goals and condemn them, when they don’t. While I think that Castiel tries to justify his own choice to kill Jesse here and lashes out at Sam, because he feels deeply conflicted about killing an innocent child himself, his double standards are still frustrating to me. Castiel is adamant in his judgment of human choices and lays blame at both Sam and Dean’s doorstep, but remains oblivious to the failure of his own choices in the past, although he was the only one out of the three of them, who made informed choices, and that makes him hypocritical. I understand that Castiel is scared and lost and lonely, overwhelmed with the situation he brought upon himself, but as long as he refuses to take responsibility for his own choices and, most importantly, admit those choices to Sam and Dean, who were/are directly affected by them, his growth will always be limited. Not to mention that I as a viewer have a hard time to sympathise with him unless he owns his own guilt, like Sam and Dean already do.

That being said, however, I was really happy to finally have a more meaningful interaction between Sam and Castiel. I’ve always thought that the show robs itself of an interesting dynamic by limiting Castiel’s interaction to Dean, instead of building a relationship between Sam and Castiel as well. There have always been striking parallels between the younger Winchester and the angel, as both struggled with their faith last season, made choices that went against everything they were raised to believe in, choices that estranged them from the people they were closest to. It’s fascinating to see how these similarities are a source of resentment between them: Sam’s disappointment with the angels, his disillusionment at their lack of righteousness and goodness, resulted in the destruction of one of Sam’s major emotional support systems, namely his faith, and that reflects back on his relationship with Castiel. Castiel, on the other hand, condemns the choices Sam made, choices that Sam thought would save the world, and Castiel himself made similar choices, when he betrayed his brothers for what he thought is the right cause. I think Castiel’s (repressed) guilt over that betrayal reflects back on his relationship with Sam as well. I really hope we will see more of the dynamics between Sam and Castiel in the future, it just makes for a more interesting variety in the character relationships.

Sam: "You can do the right thing. You’ve got choices, Jesse. But if you make the wrong ones, it’ll haunt you for the rest of your life."
Jesse: "Why are you telling me this?"
Sam: "’Cause I have to believe someone can make the right choice. Even if I couldn’t."

I think the strength of the episode lies in the parallels between Sam and Jesse. Sam instantly connects to the boy. First, because Jesse is a very self-reliant child, who is obviously left to care for himself at a pretty young age due to his parent’s work responsibilities - which resonates with Sam and Dean’s own childhood experiences - and later over their shared destiny of being tainted by something evil inside them, both created as a tool in a war that they never wanted any part in. All his life Sam fought for his right to make his own choices, rather than accepting the choices other people made for him, and until last year he was always convinced that choices can prevail over destiny. But he also learned in the past year that no matter how good the intentions, people can be lead astray and their ability to make the right choices can be compromised, especially if they base their decisions on half-truths and misinformation. Upon realising that Jesse is at the same crossroads in his life, where Sam himself took a wrong turn, Sam opts for laying out the whole truth to Jesse, neither glossing over the harsh reality for the child, nor making excuses for his own poor choices. He has to trust that the truth makes a difference for Jesse, and I was glad that, at least for the moment, Sam was vindicated in his regained believe that destiny can be trumped by making the right choices.

Dean’s approach to Jesse was interesting as well. I think Dean’s initial attempt to lie to Jesse and sell him a story about being a superhero, painting a bright future ahead of the boy, was mostly a result of Dean heeding Castiel’s warning that making Jesse angry could have severe consequences. He has seen what Jesse did to Castiel after feeling threatened, and it wouldn’t help either of them to scare Jesse away or push him into harming Sam and Dean out of fear or anger. I think Dean lying to Jesse is also an knee-jerk reaction that calls back to Dean’s instinct to protect Sam’s innocence when he was a child, by keeping the harsher aspects of their lives from him. Dean’s intentions here are good, but in the end it’s the exact same kind of lie that made Sam so angry with John, when he was finally told the truth, so it was interesting that Sam takes a step back here at first and accepts Dean’s attempt to convince Jesse, and only comes forward when the demon tries to goad Jesse into anger and resentment. In any case, I really like that Sam explicitly trusts Dean to reach Jesse, even if he himself would choose a different approach.

Furthermore, it is remarkable that Dean reacts genuinely impressed and enthusiastic, when Jesse exorcises the demon out of Julie with a simple thought, and he seems confident that, given the right guidance, Jesse’s powers can be used for good. Dean’s reaction here echoes his tentative attempt to become more accepting of Sam’s powers around mid-S4. In It’s The Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester Dean was shocked when his brother used his powers to kill Samhain, but he wasn’t angry and even acknowledged that in the end Sam achieved something good. He also accepted Sam’s attempt to stop Alistair with his powers in I Know What You Did Last Summer without much protest. Moreover, Dean explicitly stated in Sex and Violence that he doesn’t reject Sam’s powers or his demonic blood per se, instead he rejected the lies, the secrets and the feeling that he can’t trust Sam anymore. So, over time, Dean might have come to accept Sam’s powers as a possible force for good, just like he seems to accept Jesse’s powers as such now, if his brother’s slow slide into darkness hadn’t reinforced the conviction that the powers are evil in itself. Not knowing about Sam’s blood addiction, Dean had no other choice than to come to that conclusion.

As a side note: I remain hopeful that Sam’s powers make a return later in the season. I still think that the blood addiction and Sam’s isolation from Dean as a grounding influence were the true evil last season and that the powers in itself are neutral and could be harnessed for good, without necessarily corrupting Sam’s soul. It would at least redeem a part of Sam’s choices in S4, even if he went about it in the completely wrong way, and give the brothers a weapon for the upcoming confrontation with Lucifer and his minions. If Jesse’s powers are not inherently evil, I don’t see why the same can’t be true for Sam as well.

Dean: "The more I think about it, the more I wished that dad had lied to us."
Sam: "Yeah, me too."

Lies come in many different shapes and forms, and there is a reason why we differentiate between lies that have the intent to deceive, gain advantage or avoid punishment and lies that have the intent to protect. Now, both brothers always resented being lied to in a capacity that was designed to deceive them, especially if that lie came from their respective brother. In the final scene of the episode, however, Sam and Dean are talking about the the second type of lies, specifically the lies we tell children to make childhood a protected and safe environment for them to grow up in - lies that make their world magical (Santa Claus), lies that allow them to deal with scary events in their lives (tooth fairy), lies that make adult themes more easily digestible to them (the stork). Children usually grow out of these stories on their own, at a point where their intellectual and emotional development allows them to comprehend and deal with the facts of life. I don’t think these kind of lies-to-children do any harm or are even detrimental to their ability to differentiate between right and wrong or truth and lie.

I think there can be no doubt that Sam and Dean’s childhood was anything but a protected place to grow up in. From the age of four years on, Dean never had a buffer against the harsher aspects of life. Dean's earlier statement to Jesse that his dad told him different childhood stories, coupled with his admission that 'white lies' might allow children to feel safe at the end of the day, reinforces the impression that Dean himself lacked that sense of safety when he was a child. We know from A Very Supernatural Christmas that young Dean spun a superhero tale around John in order to deal with his own fears, i.e. the fear of John being killed on a hunt, as well as his fear of the monsters he knew existed out there. In effect, Dean told himself the kind of lies that made him feel safer and protected, and he instinctively relayed those 'lies' to Sam, when he told him the truth about the family business, thus allowing Sam to deal with the scary aspects of that truth more easily. When he was older, Dean created a sense of safety for himself by becoming a capable hunter himself, Sam on the other hand never got the feeling of safety back, once the rug of ignorance was pulled out from under his feet. His admission in the Pilot, that he went to Stanford to feel safe, not normal, clearly shows that.

I think it is no coincidence that the end scene of I Believe The Children Are Our Future echoes the end scene of Something Wicked, while contrasting it at the same time. In both episodes the brothers were forced to destroy the innocent perspective of a child for the greater good and both times they regretted having to do that. It’s their response to that regret though, which is different now. Over the past two seasons Sam seemed to have lost the part of himself that longed for innocence, but now he seems to be able to reclaim these parts of his old self, at least to some extent. This Sam might never again be the naïve Sam from Something Wicked, who wanted the innocence of a child back, or the Sam from the Pilot, who wished John had told him a comforting lie when he was nine years old and afraid of the monster in his closet, instead of putting a gun into his hands, but I can’t help feeling hopeful at the fact that Sam allows himself again to mourn the boy he once was. Similarly, I feel that it is a step forward for Dean to finally be able to express regret at the loss of his own childhood and innocence, rather than only Sam’s.

What else was noteworthy

(1) I loved Jesse’s story and found myself duly impressed by Gattlin Griffith’s performance of the antichrist, which was delightfully ambivalent in just the right places. He pulled off hurtful innocence as well as underlying menace equally convincing, and I look forward to seeing him again, as I am sure that this wasn’t the last we have seen of the character. I am curious though, where the writers intend to take him, because unless there are limitations to Jesse’s powers that we are not yet aware of, they effectively created a God-like character here, certainly more powerful than Lucifer or any other angel and demon we’ve met so far, as he could lay the whole world to waste with a single thought! While I would find Jesse as the ultimate intervention in the conflict between heaven and hell rather more acceptable than God himself making an appearance, I hope it doesn’t come off as a deus-ex-machina in the end.

I have to wonder though, if it only takes a certain form of demonic possession to impregnate a human woman with the antichrist, why didn’t the demons create dozens of those children? Unless I miss something here, there should be no reason why they can’t have more than one of these powerful 'weapons' at their disposal. The 'activation' of the first generation of Azazel’s psychic kids started 7 years after Jesse was born, so I guess it’s safe to assume that he was created in case Azazel’s plans were successful, and that the demons calculated some time to twist the boy to their needs. So, when Jesse disappeared, it left them without their main defence against the angels, and I really want to know what prevented them from simply creating a new child and make sure this time that it doesn’t slip through their hands again.

In conclusion: I am sad that the writers wasted the fantastic premise of I Believe The Children Are Our Future on this kind of half-cocked episode. By forcing a (completely misplaced) silly tone throughout the first part of the episode, they managed to undermine what could have been an exceptional story, and unfortunately the exciting last 20 minutes of the episode were not enough to outweigh the annoyances in characterisation of the first half for me. On the contrary, they simply demonstrated what this episode could have been, had the writers handled this episode differently as a whole.

Comments

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Well done, hon.

As you know, for me this was a second episode in a row that was deeply disappointing, as I felt that 5.05 also reduced the characters to exaggerated cariacatures of themselves in order to force its point. I'm glad you've been able to write through your disappointment where I could not.

I love your analysis of the Sam-Castiel dynamic - you already know how much I agree and would love to see this developed, closing the triangle.

Dean’s reaction here echoes his tentative attempt to become more accepting of Sam’s powers around mid-S4.
Oh, even before then - since as far back as S2 we have seen Dean trying to come to terms with Sam's powers as potentially benign rather than inevitably evil - ditto the other psychic kids, particularly Andy. He always found Sam's powers worrying, because they were so inexplicable, but right from the start tried to accept them rather than immediately assuming that they were evil. It was Sam who tended to assume and emphasise the worst case scenario from the start. Dean may have struggled at times to draw a separation between the powers and his ingrained hatred of the supernatural, but he has been trying to do it - and succeeding more often than Sam, in fact - for a very long time now.

Still keeping my fingers crossed for a stronger and more consistent episode next time out.

Re: that...

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

To be honest, it kinda feels to me as if having brought the brothers this far, they just aren't really sure how to write their continued reconciliation. There needs to be tension, and so...it's as if they have forgotten how to write that tension effectively, so have just regressed the characters to achieve it. It is enormously disappointing - not to mention ironic that it should be during the reconciliation phase that this problem strikes, since they didn't seem to have much trouble with the disintegration last season!

Having said that, though, there were plot elements last season that I wasn't happy with, either. So I think the main problem, really, is that there are so many ongoing plot strands now, both character and mytharc, that the writers are overwhelmed by their own story and as a result are dropping balls at the moment.

Fingers crossed for an improvement in 5.07.

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

Man, you're a turbo reader! *hugs* Thanks! I found it easier to write about the episode, once I had my frustration out of the system. The episode really does make a lot of good points, it's sad that it is compromised so much by the poor characterisation.

since as far back as S2 we have seen Dean trying to come to terms with Sam's powers as potentially benign rather than inevitably evil
That is true, but that was when Sam's powers were still passive and he was an unwilling recipient of the visions. Sam was just as worried about his powers in S2 as Dean. In S4 though Sam deliberately uses his powers, with intent, with the same determination he once rejected them and that's a whole different story. :)

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know, but it is still a continuation of a theme with Dean, rather than something entirely new in S4.

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

Heh, we can agree on that. I just find Dean's efforts in S4 more impressive, given the shock he had to overcome in Metamorphosis or It's The Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester. :)

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

True, he had to work a lot harder at it in S4 - something Sam never really gave him credit for, alas, projecting his own issues onto Dean as hard as he was.

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

I don't think Sam ever really realised how hard Dean was trying at that time mid-season, especially since he had officially given up the powers at that time, and they failed to adress his powers in that interim phase or plan for the eventuality that Sam failed to keep his resolution, which could have avoided a lot of the pain they went through later.

[chiiyo86.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the review! I didn't have the same problems with the episode, and it makes me kind of sad that you didn't enjoy it, but well, we can't have them all!

You make good points about Dean's lack of feeling safe during his childhood. It's sad that only now we see Dean wish some of his own innocence had been preserved.

I also think that you're right when you say that Dean would have eventually accepted Sam's powers. He still can - I hope we will see more of Sam's powers.

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! :) I am really torn, because I enjoy the hell out of the episode from the moment Castiel turns up and reveals Jesse as the antichrist! If it wasn't for those damned first 20 minutes, this would have had the potential to be a real favourite of mine. I think I just really resent the wasted potential of this episode.

I am really happy that Dean can finally mourn his childhood. He has given and given in this fight ever since he was 4 years old, it's about time he realises that it wasn't fair on him. :)

If Sam's powers are simply gone now and will never be addressed again, I will be very disappointed. I hate when major show plotstrands simply trickle away.

[karenmiller.livejournal.com]

Nicely summed up. The tonal whiplash is starting to grate on me big time. I don't know what the hell is going on but the show is better than this. I hope they get themselves sorted sooner rather than later.

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Karen! :) Yeah, it makes absolutely no sense at this stage in the season, and I have no idea what the writers were thinking here, other than 'oh, wouldn't it be funny if...' I find it especially befuddling because the moment they focus on the drama, the episode really picks up and becomes meaningful, both in terms of characterisation as well as mytharc. I simply don't get that kind of slope within one single episode. :(

I believe the children are our future

[(Anonymous)]

Hi,
I just wanted to say like always I looked forward to your critique of this episode and I wasn't disappointed by what you had to say.

Yes, I thought that the episode did show an annoying slide back in the brother's relationship, I understand that they wanted to lighten the mood of the show, but it was at the expense of the characters. I agreed with you 100% on Castiel, he comes off as hypocritical when talking about choices, Sam and Dean both lacked intel when they made their choices. Sam killing Lilith, Dean waiting on Heaven to make an approved move had they both been given the truth I think they would have made the right choice in the matter.
Castiel had all the information in the end and yet he chose to betray and attempt to bring about the end of days. He is by far the more guilty party in this little group.
Further more and slightly off the subject, what's with an angel disrespecting the Bible? And to my knowledge when was the Antichrist ever the son of Satan?
Look, I'm not looking for sound theology here, but I don't like that they think that they can use the Bible do no research and then bash it when ever they feel like it.
Yes, I'm a Christian if that insults you, well, to bad. I feel insulted all the time, I don't bash gays, I don't bomb abortion clinics and I don't beat people over the head with my Bible.
Is it too much to ask for a little ambiguity on the writers part on the nature of God and the Bible? They don't do this to the Muslims or the Buddhists. I'm tired of seeing Christians and the Bible portrayed as a lesser religion and one that's fair game.
Enough of my pet peeve for now.

Okay, I was really annoyed at Dean's calling Jesse's use of his powers 'awesome' when all of last season he was condemning Sam's powers as evil. The kid is half demon his powers are of the devil and he's supposed to be the antichrist. Where's the good in his powers again?
Oh,yes and when was the Antichrist ever supposed to destroy the heavenly host? It's sloppy writing and it makes me want to scream.
Well, enough ranting and raving,I sincerely hope that the writers pull it together, I'm rather disenchanted with the plot wholes this season.
A.R.

Re: I believe the children are our future

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed the review. :) And yes, Castiel's hypocrisy is really something that frustrates me greatly, and I hope the writers deal with it at some point.

I don't like that they think that they can use the Bible do no research and then bash it when ever they feel like it.
Well, I can't quite relate to how you feel, since I am not religious, so here's how I see it: The writers use the bible just like they use every other mythology book. They don't intend to be theologically accurate at all, they simply take what they need from every text they find interesting to tell the story that they want to tell. In fact, for example Jesse's story from 5x06 was mainly based on the book Good Omens by Gaiman&Pratchett. I don't think the writers treat Christianity as a lesser religion by using the bible as a storybook, God, Lucifer, angels and demons and variations thereof are part of many different religions, they simply treat those as fictional characters like they do anything else.

I was really annoyed at Dean's calling Jesse's use of his powers 'awesome' when all of last season he was condemning Sam's powers as evil. The kid is half demon his powers are of the devil and he's supposed to be the antichrist. Where's the good in his powers again?
Well, the thing is, Dean didn't condemn Sam powers as evil all of last season. As I pointed out, Dean did make an effort to come to terms with Sam using his powers mid-season, but then Dean was bogged down by his post-hell depression and Sam made a quick slide into darkness and lies because of his addiction and from there it just all went to hell. The point of last season and this episode - well in fact it's an ongoing theme since S1 - is that it's our choices that define us, not our blood or destiny. The powers don't make Jesse evil, just like Sam's powers never made Sam evil. He made a row of bad choices, yes, but Sam never turned evil. :)

you are brilliant

[nrrrdy-grrrl.livejournal.com]

http://nrrrdy-grrrl.livejournal.com/87471.html

Re: you are brilliant

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the recommendation and the kind words! :)

[sherrilina.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I suppose you are right that they didn't show enough tension between the brothers given they are still reconciling, but I admit I didn't notice that much--I don't think I have your bone deep level of investment in the brothers, as much as I love them--so I didn't find this episode disappointing.

Yes, the hair on the hand joke was gross, and the whoopee cushion lame (although I loved Dean's reaction to it in the store, because that seems like just the kind of thing he would buy, IMO), and it was stupid for Dean to risk his brother that way, but otherwise I liked the humor well enough. I loved Dean working on that ham throughout the epp, Dean's love of food is one of his endearing qualities to me...and I liked seeing Action Figure!Castiel....

I agree about the main storyline though, I also found it to be really interesting (although I wonder about the demon virgin birth too), and wonder where it will go in the future. The Sam parallels were good, and I loved Dean's lie in the beginning--he really is great with children, and I loved watching him interact with both kids in the episode.

I also enjoyed seeing the Sam/Castiel interaction as well, Castiel's "You didn't make the right choice" was pretty intense, and probably fueled by guilt as you say. I wonder if they will ever address his culpability for the apocalypse last season....

[galathea-snb.livejournal.com]

No, I didn't necessarily expect tension after their negotiations in 'Fallen Idols', but I expected further development rather than regression. After 'Good God, Y'all' I was really convinced that the writers would have the guts to actually move the characters into a new place, to allow them to learn from their past problems and become more self-aware about where their misconceptions/fears about each other weaken them as a team. The complete and utter lack of open confrontation over what happened between them in S4, now that they are able to actually talk about it without resentment, is unacceptable for me.

Well, yeah, I don't find the humour funny, but I could live with that, if the characters would feel right, but they don't! Dean is not the person we've seen throughout 4.18-5.05. The man is 30 years old and he went to hell and back, I think it's time to let him grow up. It's not that you can't make him lighthearted, but this was a caricature, even compared to his S1 persona. Plus, the interaction between the brothers doesn't feel good-natured and that buzzer incident is just soooo wrong, I dont know what to do with it. :(

But yeah, the rest is excellent and I love the whole anti-christ storyline. A lot of good stuff in it. Compared to some of the later episodes, 5.06 at least makes an effort to tell a good story.

Personally, I have given up the hope that the writers will ever address Castiel's culpability. It's really a permanent thorn in my side when it comes to the character. :(