As usual, I am taking off to spend the holidays with my family. So, I wish all my friends a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR! Sadly, livejournal has become somewhat quiet over the course of the past year, but that makes me all the more grateful for the friends that are still around. I hope you all have a peaceful holiday with your family and friends!



By the way, my review for Holy Terror is in the making. I just didn't get to finish it, because I was pretty sick these past two weeks. But I have some time off between the years, so I am confident that I'll get it out before the winter hiatus is over.

I daresay it does not get more old-school than Bad Boys, except for, you know, actual episodes from the early seasons of the show. Adam Glass ticks all the right boxes for a classic Supernatural episode – a good old-fashioned ghost hunt, Wee!chester flashbacks, gory deaths, a salt and burn, Sam being choked and Dean being thrown into a wall, Dean connecting with kids, parallels between the ghost story and the Winchesters’ story – and the end result is a largely enjoyable trip down memory lane, both for the characters and the viewer. It is no secret how much I miss the old days of the show, so unsurprisingly Bad Boys firmly positions itself as my favourite episode of the season so far.

( Sometimes you have to do what’s best for you, even if it’s going to hurt the ones you love. )

I am sorry this review is so late, but unfortunately I have computer troubles at the moment and the damn thing just won’t let me write (or do anything, really) for more than an hour or so, before it powers down again. So, until I find a way to fix my computer, I might be tad behind with my reviews. Handwritten notes only get me so far, I am afraid.

Dog Dean Afternoon by Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder is a rather silly episode, that borders on (and sometimes crosses over into) the embarrassing and crude, and as such I have my fair share of problems with it. However, there is also an interesting casefile, amiable Sam and Dean interaction and some minor developments on the Ezekiel front, so the episode is not a total loss. In some respects, it even has an 'old-school' vibe, which I always appreciate, but sadly much of that appreciation was buried under the more ridiculous parts of the plot.

( He was possessed by something he couldn’t control. It was just a matter of time before it completely took over. )

I really don't do memes often, but I thought I'd snag this TV meme from llywela13.

Bold all of the following TV shows of which you've seen 3 or more episodes.
- Italicize a show if you're positive you've seen every episode.
- Asterisk if you have at least one full season on tape or DVD
- If you want, add up to 3 additional shows (keep the list in alphabetical order).

( The list of doom )

So, ever since I got my own Tumblr account, I felt tempted to try my hands at gif-making, and this weekend I finally caved and experimented with different programs and techniques. I have to say, it really is fun and far less difficult than I imagined. Well, at a beginner's level at any rate. I have no doubt that some of the effects I have seen on fancier gif-sets require more time and professional programs to achieve. Of course, making gif-sets is not the same as making wallpapers, but it has been a long time since my creative muse last decided to stop by, and I am glad that I finally feel motivated again to create something.

For anyone interested, you can find my first two gifsets HERE and HERE. As I said, nothing fancy, but I am quite happy with them for a first try.

So, during the summer hiatus I came to the conclusion that Supernatural no longer warrants the kind of energy and commitment that goes into my episode reviews, and so I decided to just let it go and switch to casual viewing. However, I seem to have underestimated the difficulty of breaking an eight year long habit. I guess it is fair to say that, as long as I am watching the show, I am going to have thoughts about it, so I might as well write them down. Still, I intend to make some changes. Generally, my reviews will be less extensive, and I will not address Castiel, Crowley or the angels in any significant capacity – sorry, angels and demons bore me to tears nowadays – unless their story is in some way relevant to Sam and Dean’s. It is entirely possible, though, that my motivation to write reviews fizzles out at some point, just like it did at the end of last season, but I guess we will just have to wait and see. Now, onto the review!

As one would expect from a season opener, Jeremy Carver’s I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here looks at the aftermath of the S8 finale and sets the stage for the main plotlines of the first half of the season. My emotions while watching the episode ranged from being genuinely moved (Sam) to boredom (Castiel and Hael) to intrigue (Dean and Ezekiel) to angry disbelief (Dean’s choice), so at the very least I can say that the premiere did not leave me indifferent. In fact, if it was not for the unexpected last-minute turn of events, I would have said the season opener surprised me positively, mainly because it continues the exploration of Sam’s emotional state. Insight into Sam’s inner workings is always a plus in my book. However, the disturbing resolution to Sam’s dilemma casts a very dark shadow over the episode, and my acceptance of that resolution will largely depend on how the writers will handle the long-term consequences of it.

( What you call dying, I call leaving a legacy. )

Okay, this turned out longer than I expected. I guess I still have to work on the whole 'keeping it short' thing. But well, reviews for season premieres (and finales) tend to be more extensive anyway.

Hi folks! I know it has been quiet around these parts lately, mainly because I spent most of my summer hiatus busy with non-SPN related stuff. However, these last couple of weeks, I have also been writing in fits and starts on my missing S8 reviews, and even though I am far from being finished with any of them, I still hope I get at least some of them out before S9 starts to air. Anyway, this weekend I was tinkering with my review for Sacrifice, which, as usual, finishes with a retrospect on the past season, and I kind of ended up writing a whole passage about Sam’s story – in particular about the whole 'Sam did not look for Dean' issue – that went beyond the scope of the general overview I was aiming for. I spent too much time on the paragraphs to just scrap them, but I did not want to leave them in the review either, so I decided to just post them as a standalone bit of meta.

( Nothing says family quite like the whole family being dead. )

Hello, flist! I know it has been quiet around here lately, but I wasn’t really in a talkative mood these last couple of weeks. I mostly buried myself in computer games and books and discovered new (to me) TV shows. Taking a time-out from fandom every now and then is necessary for my mental health, I think. Anyway, here is a short status update – personal and fandom wise – for anyone who is interested.

( Random thoughts are random )

I know I am terribly late with this review, but better late than never, right? I admit, I deliberately postponed this review time and again, mainly because I knew right away that thinking about Taxi Driver would be way worse than just watching it. I will concede that the premise of the episode is fraught with potential, but the mediocre writing of Eugenie Ross-Leming and Brad Buckner just squanders all that potential away. They delivered a script that is not only riddled with continuity and characterisation issues, but also unbelievably careless in its treatment of past mythology. So I apologise in advance that this is more or less a (very lengthy) listing of all the reasons why Taxi Driver really misses its mark.

( I'm going to be in my room. Let me know when there's a good day. )

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. Oh, and one more thing, I will not be able to write a review for tonight’s episode. It’s my godson’s confirmation this weekend, so I will be leaving for my sister’s tomorrow. I will probably stay for a week or so, and that will leave me with no time to review the episode before the next one airs. I hope to catch up on it during the summer hiatus though.

I had so much fun making Grimm icons the other day, I thought I’ll make some Supernatural icons as well, and since I didn’t have anything better to do yesterday – apart from review writing, but I wasn’t really in the mood – I decided to seize the day and get to work. I settled on icons from my favourite episode of the current season, namely Everybody Hates Hitler. Enjoy!

Teaser

( Yifalchunbee! )