Supernatural 3x01: The Magnificent Seven
Jul. 7th, 2010 06:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meg_tdjNOTE: I adore Ruby and tolerate Bela, so please don't bring any hate for them onto my LJ. Thanks. :)
I have to admit, at the time this episode aired I wasn't all that impressed with it. Everything about it felt different - the light and colour, the sweeping-epic style of the scenes, even the quality of the sound was different from what we'd come to expect from Supernatural. Not necessarily in a bad way, but it was just... different, you know? And I felt that they waited way too long to get the boys to talk about what had happened, since we'd been waiting all hiatus to see some ramifications between them.
But now when I rewatch this episode, I can see where they were going with it. They wanted season 3 to be more epic (poor things, the writers' strike put an end to that), and I think the change in the atmosphere was supposed to signify the change in Dean - he was acting so light and carefree when in actual fact he was overcompensating for his fear and underlying sense of panic. I think as we watch the season progress, the atmosphere of the show will grow darker and broodier again once Dean starts revealing his true feelings. That was actually kind of clever of them now that I look back on it.
Meanwhile, scenes where Sam is alone or even shots of just him in a broader scene where he's all pensive and melancholy seemed to have a lot of shadow and darkness in them, which I didn't tend to notice at first (beyond feeling like they were the best scenes of each episode), but I think it started to strike me near the end of the season that he was often shot in shadow while Dean was shot in light, and that continued on through season 4. Like I said - clever. ;)
But enough of that. The actual episode -
Loved seeing the massive cloud of demons in the teaser. Woohoo!! Way to set up the season. :)
It was so heartbreaking to see the difference in Sam, so melancholy and quietly tolerant, especially in contrast with Dean's overly happy and reckless attitude. I really think Dean laid it on a little thick with Sam at times that he was dying, considering poor Sam was in agony over it, but that's just Dean's way. If he didn't make a joke out of it, he'd actually have to have a serious "conversation" about it, and I don't think he could have handled that at this point. It's just so sad - Sam wants to mourn, and Dean wants to party. It took them half the season to get back on the same page.
I thought it was kind of stupid for Sam to just walk into that motel room thinking Dean would be unconscious, LOL. But his reaction was priceless, wanting to gouge his eyes out and flinching when Dean touched him, heh.
I didn't really like Isaac and Tamara. Isaac's voice bugged me, and they were way too mushy on each other for me. Got kind of annoying at times. But I did feel bad for Tamara at the end when she went off alone. And the scene where Bobby yelled at her was AWESOME.
Ruby... Ruuuuubyyyyy! I love the way she was introduced, as this mysterious woman in the shadows and following Sam on the street. I wasn't impressed with her slo-mo fight the first time around, but these days I kind of enjoy it. I wish we'd gotten to see her kick butt more often. The thing that strikes me about it the most now, though, is the way she played Sam like a fiddle. She swooped in, used the fancy demon-killing knife that she knew Sam would want in the interests of saving Dean, piqued his interest by kicking some serious butt, made him feel like she was indebted to him to some degree for saving her just as much as she'd saved him, and then disappeared so he'd be left in suspense. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. She had him right where she wanted him from the word go. Guh. I so adore the Ruby storyline.
I love the final scene of the episode, where Sam finally snaps and forces Dean to talk to him. Poor Sam, he'd seen what John's deal had done to Dean, and now he was going through the same thing, only instead of having someone around who was sympathetic and a listening ear like he'd been for Dean, he had Dean being all insensitive about it, wanting to have tons of fun, and shrugging off any serious comment with a careless grin. Which, btw... it couldn't have been easy acting-wise for Jared to be acting so serious while Jensen was standing next to him being a goofball, but he really brought across Sam's desperation and hopelessness perfectly. Jared's acting grew by leaps and bounds over that hiatus, IMO, probably thanks to working with Peter O'Toole on Christmas Cottage. I was impressed with every single scene he did.
Another scene I loved, though it was brief, was when they were getting ready for the demons to come and Sam and Dean shared this "look", you know? I'd been waiting all episode for SOMETHING TO BE SAID, but I think that look said more than a thousand words ever could. That moment was so gorgeously shot, too. One of those darker, moodier shots in the episode.
I love the gust of wind from the other room at the end of the exorcism. Cool outside POV on something that's usually the focus of the scene.
I found it interesting which demon targeted who - Bobby got Sloth, which... just look at the way he dresses and the condition his house is in, LOL. Bobby isn't lazy or anything, but he seems to have a one-track mind for hunting and lets everything else get away from him, so that fit to some degree. Lust going after Dean is self-explanatory, though it still bugs me that he was able to overcome her so easily. And Sam was targeted by Pride. Hello. YES. Pride has always been Sam's downfall, so that fit perfectly.
Btw, Ben Cotton as Pride was AWESOME. I loved that scene, with Sam finally being called "boy king" in canon. ;)
And I LOVE that shot of Sam, Dean, and Bobby standing over the grave at the end.
And I mentioned this a while back, but I need to mention it again - the scene where Sam suddenly knocks on the car window and freaks Dean and Bobby out was totally what John did to Sam and Dean in Dead Man's Blood, I love it! Even the way he laughed and got into the backseat was identical, with the added bonus of shoving Dean's seat forward and squishing him, hahaha!
Sam: We can win this war... right?
*long pause, everyone looking grave*
Bobby: See ya on the next one.
Pretty much sums it up, don't it?
Randomness -
*The season 3 title card is still my favourite.
*The show on the dead family's TV was Dallas. Considering the scene starred 3 Texans, one of whom actually guest starred on Dallas briefly, I thought that was hilarious.
*I swear the farmhouse used for that family's home was the same one used in Bloodlust.
*This episode began in Oak Park, while 2x21 was set in Cold Oak. What's with all the oaks all of a sudden?
*That woman committed murder for ugly, ugly shoes. *shakes head*
*Bobby in a suit and no hat. Has fandom recovered yet?
*The girl who played Lust also played Chastity in 5x03.
*Drinking Drain-O is the grossest way you could possibly choose to die. *shudder*
*J&J recently told a couple stories about this episode - that when Sam was wrestling Tamara into the backseat of the Impala when the demons were attacking, Jared kept knocking his head on the roof of the car, and it took out chunks of scalp and hair. Ouch! Also they mimed out a take where Jim forgot to wait for Jensen to get into the car after shoving the guy in the trunk, and he just took off and left him behind, LOL. Here, have the clip. They tell it better than I do. :P
Quotes -
Sam: *after walking in on Dean with a girl* Let me see your knife.
Dean: What for?
Sam: So I can gouge my eyes out.
Dean: *laughs* It's a beautiful, natural act, Sam.
Sam: It's a part of you I never wanted to see, Dean.
Tamara: Like you've never made a mistake.
Isaac: Yeah, yeah. Locked my keys in the car, turned my laundry pink. Never brought on the end of the world, though.
Crime scene guy: We'd better call Grissom.
Sam: Dean, what are you doing?
Dean: I'm comforting the bereaved. What are you doing?
Sam: Workin'.
Bobby: You sure this is the right place?
Dean: No. But I spent all day canvassing this stupid town with this guy's stupid mug, and supposedly he drinks at this stupid bar.
Bobby: The seven deadly sins, live and in the flesh!
Dean: *laughs* What's in the boooox?
*everyone stares*
Dean: Brad Pitt? Se7en? No?
Bobby: Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.
Sam: Who the hell are you?
Ruby: I'm the girl that just saved your ass.
Dean: I'm just gonna ask it again, who was that masked chick? Actually, the more troubling question would be, how come a girl can fight better than you?
Sam: Three demons, Dean.
Dean: Oh.
Sam: At once.
Dean: Hey, whatever it takes to get you through the night, pal.
Dean: Truth is, I'm tired, Sam. I don't know, it's like there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
Sam: That's hellfire, Dean.
Sam: You're unbelievable.
Dean: Very true.
I have to admit, at the time this episode aired I wasn't all that impressed with it. Everything about it felt different - the light and colour, the sweeping-epic style of the scenes, even the quality of the sound was different from what we'd come to expect from Supernatural. Not necessarily in a bad way, but it was just... different, you know? And I felt that they waited way too long to get the boys to talk about what had happened, since we'd been waiting all hiatus to see some ramifications between them.
But now when I rewatch this episode, I can see where they were going with it. They wanted season 3 to be more epic (poor things, the writers' strike put an end to that), and I think the change in the atmosphere was supposed to signify the change in Dean - he was acting so light and carefree when in actual fact he was overcompensating for his fear and underlying sense of panic. I think as we watch the season progress, the atmosphere of the show will grow darker and broodier again once Dean starts revealing his true feelings. That was actually kind of clever of them now that I look back on it.
Meanwhile, scenes where Sam is alone or even shots of just him in a broader scene where he's all pensive and melancholy seemed to have a lot of shadow and darkness in them, which I didn't tend to notice at first (beyond feeling like they were the best scenes of each episode), but I think it started to strike me near the end of the season that he was often shot in shadow while Dean was shot in light, and that continued on through season 4. Like I said - clever. ;)
But enough of that. The actual episode -
Loved seeing the massive cloud of demons in the teaser. Woohoo!! Way to set up the season. :)
It was so heartbreaking to see the difference in Sam, so melancholy and quietly tolerant, especially in contrast with Dean's overly happy and reckless attitude. I really think Dean laid it on a little thick with Sam at times that he was dying, considering poor Sam was in agony over it, but that's just Dean's way. If he didn't make a joke out of it, he'd actually have to have a serious "conversation" about it, and I don't think he could have handled that at this point. It's just so sad - Sam wants to mourn, and Dean wants to party. It took them half the season to get back on the same page.
I thought it was kind of stupid for Sam to just walk into that motel room thinking Dean would be unconscious, LOL. But his reaction was priceless, wanting to gouge his eyes out and flinching when Dean touched him, heh.
I didn't really like Isaac and Tamara. Isaac's voice bugged me, and they were way too mushy on each other for me. Got kind of annoying at times. But I did feel bad for Tamara at the end when she went off alone. And the scene where Bobby yelled at her was AWESOME.
Ruby... Ruuuuubyyyyy! I love the way she was introduced, as this mysterious woman in the shadows and following Sam on the street. I wasn't impressed with her slo-mo fight the first time around, but these days I kind of enjoy it. I wish we'd gotten to see her kick butt more often. The thing that strikes me about it the most now, though, is the way she played Sam like a fiddle. She swooped in, used the fancy demon-killing knife that she knew Sam would want in the interests of saving Dean, piqued his interest by kicking some serious butt, made him feel like she was indebted to him to some degree for saving her just as much as she'd saved him, and then disappeared so he'd be left in suspense. I LOVE IT SO MUCH. She had him right where she wanted him from the word go. Guh. I so adore the Ruby storyline.
I love the final scene of the episode, where Sam finally snaps and forces Dean to talk to him. Poor Sam, he'd seen what John's deal had done to Dean, and now he was going through the same thing, only instead of having someone around who was sympathetic and a listening ear like he'd been for Dean, he had Dean being all insensitive about it, wanting to have tons of fun, and shrugging off any serious comment with a careless grin. Which, btw... it couldn't have been easy acting-wise for Jared to be acting so serious while Jensen was standing next to him being a goofball, but he really brought across Sam's desperation and hopelessness perfectly. Jared's acting grew by leaps and bounds over that hiatus, IMO, probably thanks to working with Peter O'Toole on Christmas Cottage. I was impressed with every single scene he did.
Another scene I loved, though it was brief, was when they were getting ready for the demons to come and Sam and Dean shared this "look", you know? I'd been waiting all episode for SOMETHING TO BE SAID, but I think that look said more than a thousand words ever could. That moment was so gorgeously shot, too. One of those darker, moodier shots in the episode.
I love the gust of wind from the other room at the end of the exorcism. Cool outside POV on something that's usually the focus of the scene.
I found it interesting which demon targeted who - Bobby got Sloth, which... just look at the way he dresses and the condition his house is in, LOL. Bobby isn't lazy or anything, but he seems to have a one-track mind for hunting and lets everything else get away from him, so that fit to some degree. Lust going after Dean is self-explanatory, though it still bugs me that he was able to overcome her so easily. And Sam was targeted by Pride. Hello. YES. Pride has always been Sam's downfall, so that fit perfectly.
Btw, Ben Cotton as Pride was AWESOME. I loved that scene, with Sam finally being called "boy king" in canon. ;)
And I LOVE that shot of Sam, Dean, and Bobby standing over the grave at the end.
And I mentioned this a while back, but I need to mention it again - the scene where Sam suddenly knocks on the car window and freaks Dean and Bobby out was totally what John did to Sam and Dean in Dead Man's Blood, I love it! Even the way he laughed and got into the backseat was identical, with the added bonus of shoving Dean's seat forward and squishing him, hahaha!
Sam: We can win this war... right?
*long pause, everyone looking grave*
Bobby: See ya on the next one.
Pretty much sums it up, don't it?
Randomness -
*The season 3 title card is still my favourite.
*The show on the dead family's TV was Dallas. Considering the scene starred 3 Texans, one of whom actually guest starred on Dallas briefly, I thought that was hilarious.
*I swear the farmhouse used for that family's home was the same one used in Bloodlust.
*This episode began in Oak Park, while 2x21 was set in Cold Oak. What's with all the oaks all of a sudden?
*That woman committed murder for ugly, ugly shoes. *shakes head*
*Bobby in a suit and no hat. Has fandom recovered yet?
*The girl who played Lust also played Chastity in 5x03.
*Drinking Drain-O is the grossest way you could possibly choose to die. *shudder*
*J&J recently told a couple stories about this episode - that when Sam was wrestling Tamara into the backseat of the Impala when the demons were attacking, Jared kept knocking his head on the roof of the car, and it took out chunks of scalp and hair. Ouch! Also they mimed out a take where Jim forgot to wait for Jensen to get into the car after shoving the guy in the trunk, and he just took off and left him behind, LOL. Here, have the clip. They tell it better than I do. :P
Quotes -
Sam: *after walking in on Dean with a girl* Let me see your knife.
Dean: What for?
Sam: So I can gouge my eyes out.
Dean: *laughs* It's a beautiful, natural act, Sam.
Sam: It's a part of you I never wanted to see, Dean.
Tamara: Like you've never made a mistake.
Isaac: Yeah, yeah. Locked my keys in the car, turned my laundry pink. Never brought on the end of the world, though.
Crime scene guy: We'd better call Grissom.
Sam: Dean, what are you doing?
Dean: I'm comforting the bereaved. What are you doing?
Sam: Workin'.
Bobby: You sure this is the right place?
Dean: No. But I spent all day canvassing this stupid town with this guy's stupid mug, and supposedly he drinks at this stupid bar.
Bobby: The seven deadly sins, live and in the flesh!
Dean: *laughs* What's in the boooox?
*everyone stares*
Dean: Brad Pitt? Se7en? No?
Bobby: Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.
Sam: Who the hell are you?
Ruby: I'm the girl that just saved your ass.
Dean: I'm just gonna ask it again, who was that masked chick? Actually, the more troubling question would be, how come a girl can fight better than you?
Sam: Three demons, Dean.
Dean: Oh.
Sam: At once.
Dean: Hey, whatever it takes to get you through the night, pal.
Dean: Truth is, I'm tired, Sam. I don't know, it's like there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
Sam: That's hellfire, Dean.
Sam: You're unbelievable.
Dean: Very true.
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Date: 2010-07-08 08:44 pm (UTC)RUBY!!!! :-D
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Date: 2010-07-08 09:34 pm (UTC)