lol finale
May. 21st, 2011 04:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tracy_loo_whoSitting in a tiny coffee shop in Budapest, so this will have to be short and sweet.
I haven't actually gotten a chance to read anyone's episode reactions yet, but I hear fandom hated the finale. Which is too bad, 'cause I LOVED IT.
If we'd ended the season with Castiel where he was in 6x20 -- well-meaning but conflicted, tortured, headed down the wrong path -- I'd be worried about where they'd take him next season. But we didn't end there. They made too huge of a mess of their third most important character to not fix it. Castiel finished going down his wrong path, his absolute power corrupted him absolutely, and he became OTT and ridiculously not Cas, so now there's only two ways this could go:
1. They kill him.
2. They save him.
And by "they" of course I mean Dean. Possibly with Sam and Bobby's help, or if (when) he goes for option 2, possibly against Sam and Bobby.
Now, there's a shitload of reasons why TPTB won't do option 1:
They know how much we love Castiel and even if it often doesn't seem like it, I do think they care about what fandom wants. We bitched and bitched about Cas's nonexistent storyline in season six and then the last few episodes were all about him (and therefore amazing). We fell in love with him in season four which is the only reason why three seasons later, he's still around. They're not gonna get rid of him now, I don't care what Sera Gamble says about phasing him out. They try to make us worry about Cas/Misha getting written off every fucking season but they never do it so quite frankly it's getting to be a lot like the boy who cried wolf. That shit doesn't work on me anymore. Demoting Misha to guest star probably only impacts how much they have to pay him, not how much Castiel is going to be on the show. (Remember how much screen time he got in season four when he was a guest star? My guess is he'll be heavily featured in the first few eps, get fixed, and then just pop in from time to time after that, like the opposite of this season.)
Also, they need the ratings.
But mostly, they made it a point to talk about how Castiel and Dean were family every chance they got these last three episodes:
"Next to Sam, you and Bobby are the closest things I have to family. You are like a brother to me." -Dean
"I thought you said that we were like family. Well, I think that too." -Cas
"We were family once. I'd have died for you. Almost did a few times. ... Don't make me lose you too." -Dean
"You're not my family, Dean. I have no family." -Cas
They cannot even talk about family more than they did without shoving it down each other's throats with their tongues. That means something. In fact, this being Supernatural and Dean being Dean, that means everything. It means Dean loves Castiel, it means he'll never give up on Castiel or let him go, and it means he'll do whatever it takes to bring his Cas back, just like he brought his Sam back in the beginning of this season when Sam wasn't Sam. The fact that Cas only went OTT after he got juiced up really emphasizes that the millions of monster souls took over and it's not Cas at all anymore, as do his 180 on Dean being family and his immunity to the angel blade. Before that, when Cas was still Cas (the Balthazar thing was a terrible stretch of his characterization but I guess it was like killing Rachel a few eps ago, whatever, sorry Balthazar, I'll miss you), it was all about tearful looks of longing and regret and openly admitting to wishing things were different.
tl;dr: There is no way Dean's not going to save Castiel.
Maybe he'll do it in 7x01. Maybe it'll take all season of Cas being the new big bad. That's the only thing that worries me, but I don't really think they'll go down that route. Like Dean said, Cas is "full of nuke" and that can't last long.
Man I wish I had time to go through and screencap all the amazing Dean/Castiel moments of the past three episodes, THERE WERE SO MANY. Dean's trust and loyalty, the betrayal of that trust and Dean's subsequent hurt and inability to trust Cas again, the breakup talk, all the tortured post-breakup talks, Dean being jealous of Crowley and (so bitterly XD) calling him and Cas "butt-buddies", Castiel begging Dean to stand by him, Dean's stubborn, pained refusal to either stand by Cas because he's obviously doing the wrong thing or let him go (which is so Dean that I fell in love with him all over again), ALL OF IT WAS AMAZING. Oh OTP, you are so deliciously angsty and epic and OTP. I CANNOT WAIT FOR SEASON SEVEN.
...This totally ended up being longer than intended. The coffee shop owner probably hates me, my battery is dying, and I have yet to see anything in Budapest aside from the train station and the sex shop right outside of it (which was pretty much the only thing written in English). Eurotripping, I AM DOING IT WRONG. Thanks for that, show.
I haven't actually gotten a chance to read anyone's episode reactions yet, but I hear fandom hated the finale. Which is too bad, 'cause I LOVED IT.
If we'd ended the season with Castiel where he was in 6x20 -- well-meaning but conflicted, tortured, headed down the wrong path -- I'd be worried about where they'd take him next season. But we didn't end there. They made too huge of a mess of their third most important character to not fix it. Castiel finished going down his wrong path, his absolute power corrupted him absolutely, and he became OTT and ridiculously not Cas, so now there's only two ways this could go:
1. They kill him.
2. They save him.
And by "they" of course I mean Dean. Possibly with Sam and Bobby's help, or if (when) he goes for option 2, possibly against Sam and Bobby.
Now, there's a shitload of reasons why TPTB won't do option 1:
They know how much we love Castiel and even if it often doesn't seem like it, I do think they care about what fandom wants. We bitched and bitched about Cas's nonexistent storyline in season six and then the last few episodes were all about him (and therefore amazing). We fell in love with him in season four which is the only reason why three seasons later, he's still around. They're not gonna get rid of him now, I don't care what Sera Gamble says about phasing him out. They try to make us worry about Cas/Misha getting written off every fucking season but they never do it so quite frankly it's getting to be a lot like the boy who cried wolf. That shit doesn't work on me anymore. Demoting Misha to guest star probably only impacts how much they have to pay him, not how much Castiel is going to be on the show. (Remember how much screen time he got in season four when he was a guest star? My guess is he'll be heavily featured in the first few eps, get fixed, and then just pop in from time to time after that, like the opposite of this season.)
Also, they need the ratings.
But mostly, they made it a point to talk about how Castiel and Dean were family every chance they got these last three episodes:
"Next to Sam, you and Bobby are the closest things I have to family. You are like a brother to me." -Dean
"I thought you said that we were like family. Well, I think that too." -Cas
"We were family once. I'd have died for you. Almost did a few times. ... Don't make me lose you too." -Dean
"You're not my family, Dean. I have no family." -Cas
They cannot even talk about family more than they did without shoving it down each other's throats with their tongues. That means something. In fact, this being Supernatural and Dean being Dean, that means everything. It means Dean loves Castiel, it means he'll never give up on Castiel or let him go, and it means he'll do whatever it takes to bring his Cas back, just like he brought his Sam back in the beginning of this season when Sam wasn't Sam. The fact that Cas only went OTT after he got juiced up really emphasizes that the millions of monster souls took over and it's not Cas at all anymore, as do his 180 on Dean being family and his immunity to the angel blade. Before that, when Cas was still Cas (the Balthazar thing was a terrible stretch of his characterization but I guess it was like killing Rachel a few eps ago, whatever, sorry Balthazar, I'll miss you), it was all about tearful looks of longing and regret and openly admitting to wishing things were different.
tl;dr: There is no way Dean's not going to save Castiel.
Maybe he'll do it in 7x01. Maybe it'll take all season of Cas being the new big bad. That's the only thing that worries me, but I don't really think they'll go down that route. Like Dean said, Cas is "full of nuke" and that can't last long.
Man I wish I had time to go through and screencap all the amazing Dean/Castiel moments of the past three episodes, THERE WERE SO MANY. Dean's trust and loyalty, the betrayal of that trust and Dean's subsequent hurt and inability to trust Cas again, the breakup talk, all the tortured post-breakup talks, Dean being jealous of Crowley and (so bitterly XD) calling him and Cas "butt-buddies", Castiel begging Dean to stand by him, Dean's stubborn, pained refusal to either stand by Cas because he's obviously doing the wrong thing or let him go (which is so Dean that I fell in love with him all over again), ALL OF IT WAS AMAZING. Oh OTP, you are so deliciously angsty and epic and OTP. I CANNOT WAIT FOR SEASON SEVEN.
...This totally ended up being longer than intended. The coffee shop owner probably hates me, my battery is dying, and I have yet to see anything in Budapest aside from the train station and the sex shop right outside of it (which was pretty much the only thing written in English). Eurotripping, I AM DOING IT WRONG. Thanks for that, show.
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Date: 2011-05-21 03:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-05-21 03:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-21 03:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-05-21 03:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-21 03:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-21 03:38 pm (UTC)Thank you so much Tracy <3
You're the Cas to my Dean =o
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Date: 2011-05-21 03:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-21 03:49 pm (UTC)As for Misha not being a series regular I'm not bummed about it as long as he gets a good storyline when he is there. I'll take quality over quantity any day. As much as I love Cas it seems like the writers haven't known what to do with him since season four (think his unseen search for God and his unseen war in Heaven). Plus I can still see Misha in Devine: the Series.
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Date: 2011-05-21 03:52 pm (UTC)Also I was thinking maybe Misha want a guest contract and not a regular one as it gives him more time to do other things like the Charity and Divine
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Date: 2011-05-21 09:21 pm (UTC)But I still appreciate this post because it has given me a little more hope for season 7. I don't actually have any faith in the writers anymore, but it is still a possibility that it could unfold like this, and it's for THAT possibility, and that possibility alone, that I'll give season 7 a chance. If it doesn't come to pass, I quit.
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From:no subject
Date: 2011-05-21 04:11 pm (UTC)Thank you, for articulating everything I felt so much better than I could have, and for being so reassuring about the few things I was worried about.
♥
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Date: 2011-05-21 04:17 pm (UTC)♥
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Date: 2011-05-21 04:27 pm (UTC)I always love it when my favorite characters go evil for a while. Redeption arcs are usually so beautiful. Even if the writers do something crazy next season, fandom will pull through anyway. And strangely, I think I even have a little faith in those writers. I mean, they may not always be consistent, but they seem to pull it together eventually.
*hugging Dean while Cas goes on a power trip sabbatical* Don't worry, Dean, you two still have a profound bond!
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Date: 2011-05-21 04:27 pm (UTC)...Then I thought about it for awhile and realized that Dean took Cas for granted the entire season until he realized he was up to no good. This last event means that Dean will have to fight for him like he's fought for Sam against the dark side three or four times. (Bobby will be next for evil emporer overlord at this rate)
Dean trying to reach him and fighting for his only and best friend outside of Sam EVER IN HIS ENTIRE LIFE may be worth the pain I am feeling for Castiel succumbing to evil evilness. Dean fighting for Castiel's redemption is brain meltingly good idea. It really raises the level of their relationship to that intense Dean-family-love that made me fall in love with the show in Season 1.
My only thing: Dean will NEVER learn anything if he's always right. And so far he is always right about what will turn people evil.
And also: "They cannot even talk about family more than they did without shoving it down each other's throats with their tongues." Exactly. My MOTHER could see the OTP in the last few episodes.
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Date: 2011-05-21 06:00 pm (UTC)I'm a sucker and I still hope to see Evil!Dean and Michael!Dean before the real Swan Song.
(ALSO: *Adam*. Adam needs to be back on S7 ok?)
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Date: 2011-05-21 04:30 pm (UTC)Bit of a long wait, but heck, it's worth it =D
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Date: 2011-05-21 04:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-21 04:41 pm (UTC)I gotta say, though, I was pretty annoyed and bored when they took away Sam in the first half of the season, and I'm not really willing to stick around for not!Cas. I hate it when shows sacrifice character integrity to bad political cliches and/or emotional punches. The appeal and chemistry of the show has always been for me being able to count on the family when the world is filled with soulless dicks - and Cas pretty clearly became part of the family in S5. I'd think S6 would be working out his place in the Winchester dynamic - but suddenly he's Moussalini? First Sam, now Cas. Who's next, Bobby? Don't even get me started on Gramps. It's the Sam story line redux. I have to be Hitler to save the world! Is Dean going to flounder for the first 10 episodes of S7 too?
But, you know, I'll be following your posts reacting to the show, even I'm pretty much out! So I'm glad you're holding out hope, and I hope you don't suffer too much torture at the hands of the writers. Maybe they'll fix it. I can always tune back in if they ever bring back the Cas!chemistry I was watching for in the first place.
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Date: 2011-05-21 06:25 pm (UTC)This. THIS, exactly. I feel like we'd beaten that prodigal brother addicted to nasty substances storyline to death. For such a smart angel, who watched Dean destroy himself (quite literally) and break his heart to bring Sam back from demon-blood addiction and from being soul-less, that Cas' choice to go dark side is unbelievable and boneheaded.
I was pretty happy with most of this season (ok, except for Dean being so very dismissive of Castiel and all he's done for them. Oh and the Eve storyline that went nowhere.) But rather than Cas developing delusions of godhood, I would have preferred that he grow a spine, gain a healthy dose of self-confidence and have the guts to 1)call dean out when he's being an ass 2) lay it out all for Dean and Sam that he's got important things to do and would appreciate some help from his friends and 3) learn to tell Dean No, and be firm about it.
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From:no subject
Date: 2011-05-21 04:54 pm (UTC)I agree. With all of this, and have only one addition.
If Cas is going to be part of the "family," and we're going by SPN standards of family, that means he needs an epic fuck-up followed by a sweet, though mildly heartbreaking, redemption arc, that inevitably will end in (basically all the ways you've outline above.) Dean fucks up in season 3/4, Sam in 4/5 and Cas in season 6/7.
And really, they have set him up for the most bad ass redemption arc ever.
I'm crossing my fingers and jumping in with you Tracy. ;) Hope your vacation/travel thing is being awesome.
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Date: 2011-05-21 05:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-21 05:24 pm (UTC)All I want is some confirmation Misha will be recurring. And not nuked or ganked out of existence in 7.01.
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Date: 2011-05-21 05:30 pm (UTC)OMC - that's exactly the kind of "voice of reasoning" I'd die to hear since watching the finale xD
In fact I'm totally scared shitless by Cas turning into that evil God, but somehow you managed to make me think clearly again XD
Thanks so sooooo sooooooo much for that ^^
And I just thought about another realll~y good thing coming out of that cliffhanger:
Looooots of God!Cas/Dean fanfics with Top!Cas...ANGST GALORE, I'M COMING! LOL
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Date: 2011-05-21 05:40 pm (UTC)So thank you for that and enjoy the rest of your trip!
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Date: 2011-05-21 05:41 pm (UTC)You've managed to give me a glimmer of hope which is most appreciated. I suppose I can try to pull myself together now.
Thanks again for the positive outlook!
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Date: 2011-05-21 05:48 pm (UTC)And ditto on the S4 involvement. I loled a bit because Sera talks of dropping him back in S7--He was barely recurring THIS season and was supposedly a regular. Dropping him to guest start means we could wind up with just as much Cas or more.
Gah, I am wrecked. I loved it.
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Date: 2011-05-21 05:50 pm (UTC)Yeah!
Date: 2011-05-21 05:56 pm (UTC)Also, I LIKE EVIL CAS. And, like you, I think they'll save him.
We have to keep two things in mind: having an angel as buddyboy with the Winchesters forever kills the whole show's point. Why would they go out and research and kill ANY monsters when they have a teleporting/time travelling/mind reading/superpowered angel that can zap them anywhere and kill whatever by batting an eye? There was a reason Cas was popping around all the time on seasons 4 and 5: the Apocalipse. Now, what would hunting be with Cas as an ally: Cas pops the Winchesters somewhere there's something suspicious, zaps around for 3 seconds, finds the monsters, goes whitelight on its ass and beer time. It saves hunting time, but it makes a boring show.
The other thing: this is a show about family. And a show is not interesting if everybody is getting along all the time. The reason we fell in love with it on S1 was mainly because of how fucked up the Sam/Dean/John relationship was. The John story line is over and dealt with. Sam and Dean have fought and betrayed and saved each other SO MANY TIMES it would make NO sense for them to have more drama between them. Just look at them now: how they NOT-FIGHT. How they do as the other asks even when disagreeing. Dean tells Sam to drop the subject or he'll "break his nose", as if they are 8 and Sam SHUTS UP. They are fixed.
They can't have family drama with Bobby: they need a constant figure on the show and Bobby has always been too well-resolved for that. It is insane to think of Bobby falling on the wrong path. He'd die first.
Now, here's Cas. Who IS family, who is someone they trust implicitly and who has been learning these pesky human feelings for too little time. Dean is right, emotionally he IS a child. But he is family.
This show LIVES OF family drama, and Cas is a Winchester by now. Sam and Dean have both fucked up royally in their times, now it's Cas' turn. And just as Sam and Dean were both saved, I am CONFIDENT Cas will be also.
(ugh, wrote too much! Sorry, I care way too much).
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Date: 2011-05-21 06:06 pm (UTC)