Supernatural, you rock my world.

[stillane]

Yeah. If you haven't seen Nightmare, don't go here. Trust me.

Still with me? HEEEEEEEEEEE!

(Incidentally, if you're expecting coherence here, you don't know me very well. I'll be lucky if I achieve chronological consistancy.)

Things that are good:

- Dean. In all ways, shapes and forms. Guh.

- Sam freaking out in the middle of the night, and Dean driving faster.

- Not that it's anything new, but Dean worrying himself sick.

- Sam and Dean. In priest gear. Ahem. Yeah. Now, you see, I've been aware from the first that, given half a chance, I would throw Dean (and/or Jensen Ackles himself) down and have my way with him. Sam, though? I love Sam, and under other circumstances I might appreciate his gorgeousness more, but I never wanted to bed the man until he wore a collar. This disturbs me on several levels.

- Speaking of kinks... Dean cleaning weapons. I was self-aware enough to expect this one, though.

- That beautiful and painful pause between 'You can't tell me this doesn't freak you out' (and that was a plea, by the way) and 'This doesn't freak me out.'

- They didn't forget that the police exist. No, really, this is good. They thought to remove their prints, even though Dean is technically dead. (And, note to self: that bunny that's been kicking your rear? There's your answer.)

- The guest cast. They could act. After the Cassie debacle, that's not a given.

- 'You're...dark.' Hee.

- The tear was clever.

- Sam putting himself between Dean and the gun, and staying there. He makes himself the target right from the start, keeping Max's attention throughout. His 'Yes, you are.' was perfect.

- The continued abuse was another smart touch, story-wise. It brought immediacy to the whole issue.

- Continuity is a beautiful thing, and this show has it so often. Please, please don't ever go the way of the polar bear. I honestly feel like this is building to an answer, and I love that.

- Count the displays of the puppy dog eyes. Go ahead, I dare you. It could be a drinking game.

- That last vision was brutal, even knowing that it wouldn't stick. That isn't a visual you get over quickly. And Sam's reaction to it was priceless, from the initial gut-punch denial to the wide-eyed shock at his new mental toys.

- The stepmother at the end was interesting. If you didn't know better, you might have felt for her. And then she turned to the camera with utter calm. *shiver*

- 'We're lucky we had Dad.' Dean's look of surprised happiness was a little heartbreaking. He wants peace between the two people who mean everything to him so badly.

- The confession. 'Bend this.' Dean is scared to death, under it all, and he can't let on for Sam's sake. On cue, the humor trots right out there. The 'You've got me' explanation made me all fuzzy.

- That last look in Dean's eyes was a perfect blend of fear and... well, the only description I've got is tenderness. There's a softness there, and the whole thing just screams everything Dean won't say. Sam scares the hell out of him, and I don't think it has anything to do with what will happen to Dean. Ackles owns me.

Things that are bad:

- Ew. This one was a bit messy for my tastes. Ironic, when you consider I had my first dissection lab in the new class today. Bizarrely enough, on-screen gore squicks me far more than the real-life version. *shrug*

 

Things to ponder:

The priest-wear brought on a tangent. Okay, so there's this brilliant set of AU stories out there by traveller  in which the Winchesters went the holy route (well, sort of... it's complicated). There is also a truly horrible little movie in which a priest wields kungfu on a bunch of zombies. His battle cry is, 'I kick ass for the Lord!' See where I'm going with this? Now, I couldn't bring myself to actually associate these deep and wonderful stories with that line without feeling dirty, but the boys undercover in canon? That I can do.

There's this tendency to see Dean as the simpler of the two, world-view wise, and I don't think that's true. In their own ways, I think they both simplify things to keep the crazy at bay. No, hear me out. Dean doesn't have distinctions between humans and monsters. For him, it's all good and evil. Humanity doesn't confer some special level of protection, particularly if you're playing with bigger forces. For Sam, you're either a person or you're not. In many ways, I think that might be a defensive reaction. He's becoming something he can't explain, and the division makes it easier to recognize himself. I would love to see these two run into a 'good' monster.

The idea of Sam being afraid of Dean is interesting. He's the one person in the world who could hurt Sam worst with the least effort. (John would need to work harder, I think, because Sam has defenses against him already in place.) Sam's begun expecting Dean to pull away from him; he's hyper-sensitive to the way his brother looks at him, to the way he reacts to him. Sam's waiting to be a freak. The first time Dean flinches there will be damage, even though I don't think any power on this Earth could make Dean hurt Sam willingly (given that they are in their right minds, and bodies).

Final thought: I have to wait a week now?! Crap. That promo was glorious.