![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I've decided to have a rewatch of Supernatural :D So far I'm up to Bugs
I wasn't all that fannish over the early season 1 episodes when I first watched them, I think it took me to um :thinks: Scarecrow maybe to really get into the show. But I find myself so nostalgic now watching the pilot, and even the exposition on how they were raised didn't make me roll my eyes, although I'm not sure if that's a sign of the episode actually being better than I remembered, or my just being more fond of the show and the characters now *g*
I do miss how beautifully it was filmed though, and them being able to afford the music! It seems like these days many of their one-off MotW episodes aim to be funny or to gross us out, it was really only season 1 that ever scared me. Embarrassingly enough I was watching the pilot curled up in bed with the light switched off and :blushes: I had to turn the light back on during the teaser when Mary comes down and sees John watching the tv. Even when I already knew how it was going to end, that moment still just scares the hell out me. And then I was jumping madly at Mary on the ceiling, and the woman in white popping up back in the car eek.
And how cute and brotherly was the bridge scene with Sam stepping on Dean's foot, and then Dean slapping the back of Sam's head *g* And the scene by the car with Sam leaving and the brothers looking at one another, but not knowing what to say :hearts:
8/10
Wendigo is an episode that I remember as being pretty dark (lighting-wise) and boring, and it didn't engage me much on first viewing. But I thought it was a decent enough episode this time around. Love the emotional continuity carrying over from the Pilot with Sam being sooo on edge, and Dean concerned and trying to get Sam to open up what's bothering him and deal with his anger
And obviously there was a lot of controversy in fandom at around season 3 time for the show failing harder at writing well-rounded women characters compared to seasons 1 and 2, but I'm not sure that's entirely fair. Yes season 1 had more memorable female characters, but then the format was slightly different then with a lot more focus on the individual characters in the MotW's. And I really loved Haley in this episode, especially after the writing of the women seen in the pilot was kind of one-note. In this episode it was nice to get a character like Hayley who wasn't the damsel in distress, that was actually her brother kind of! She was almost coming across as a female Dean with her determination on finding her brother and keeping her family together. Not to mention noticing how cool the impala was, and how impressed was Dean at that! *g* And it was cute how it ended on her just kissing him on the cheek as a thank you. Her little brother was a bit of an odd character though, I half thought he was mute because it took him so long into the episode to actually speak!
7/10
Dead In The Water. I really liked this one! It was nice to get more layers to Dean with him bonding with the little boy, and the main plot was an enjoyably creepy one too. I tend to like when it's a vengeful spirit getting justice for some past act, and having to figure out what exactly happened. So often these days they just call in Bobby for the research and exposition, it's nice seeing Sam and Dean bouncing ideas off one another and figuring it for themselves in these early season 1 episodes. And :shudders: at the litle kid appearing in the water at the end while he's trying to lure them in.
I wish they could have got Amy Ackler on to play a more exciting character though, she could have made a kick-ass demon compared to some of the actresses they went with :cough: It seems a shame that when they do get a really strong actress that they waste her on a role that's fine, but a bit on the bland side. She would have made an amazing Eve...
8/10
Phantom Traveler
For all the gratuitous shots of the ladies there have been so far, this episode had equal exploitation at any rate :P with a rather nice pan up of Dean's body laying in bed :fans self: Some more nice character touches for Dean in this one too with his fear of flying, and Sam trying to talk him through it aww. And loved seeing them have to make a quick exit and leap over the fence when the real homeland security representatives turned up, I do miss that sense of jeopardy that the earlier seasons had more of
Also I liked the continuity with the guy being grateful to John for helping him out on a past case and so calling Sam and Dean in, I really liked his character actually, he seemed pretty cool. And it was nice for Sam to find out that John did speak with pride about him getting into college after all, and Dean being all "see".
One quipple is that the ending confuses me a little. It's a powerful and well-acted moment definitely, but I'm not sure why Sam is so upset that he just gets in the car without a word? It seems like a natural thing for John to leave a message for people with supernatural problems to contact Dean as Dean is the one that's still in the hunting lifestyle, whilst Sam was heading for college and a break from all that the last time they spoke :shrugs:
7/10. A solid episode with again some great character moments, but admittedly I didn't find the main plot as compelling as Dead In The Water's was. I do wish the region 2 DVD's had the commentaries for this episode and the pilot though, I'm interested in what Jensen and Jarad have to say :pouts:
Bloody Mary. This episode was pretty much how I remembered it. It wasn't bad as such, but it is one of the season 1 episodes that feels way too derivative. They did try and do something a little different with it, but it's such a well-known urban legend that it just didn't have all that many shocks in store. I did jump a few times, particularly when the girls own reflection starts acting differently to her in the mirror scene, but overall I thought the direction of the episode could actually have been a little scarier? Even the moment of her crawling out of the mirror didn't have the impact that it did in the origina film
More interesting is the myth-arc for Sam and his visions which really starts here with the reveal that Sam dreamed of Jessica's death before it happened. Nicely creepy ending too with Sam imagining the ghost of Jessica haunting him.
And as ever, even putting aside the main plot, there were enough nice character moments here to make this episode worth watching. Hee at the guy just answering "No" until Sam bribed him with Dean's poker money and Dean sulks. And hmm did we ever find out why Dean's eyes started bleeding?
6/10
Skins. Probably a controversial opinion as I know this episode is very popular in fandom, but the main plot just kind of grossed me out/made me sad at first. This is me taking tv too seriously I guess LOL, but it just seemed the most depressing thing in the world for those women to be tied up and tortured, while believing that someone they loved was responsible. And then their partners going to prison and being unable to clear to their name. Stuff like that has always weirdly bothered me on tv shows, it still kind of bothers me that an innocent man ended up in prison in the Buffy episode I Only Have Eyes for you. He was possessed by a ghost okay, it wasn't his fault!
:ahem: Anyway! I did like the second half of the episode a lot more when the Shapeshifter is imitating Dean, not only did it reveal a lot about Dean's thoughts on being a freak and everyone leaving him in the end, but also the shapeshifter itself was kind of given a weirdly sympathetic POV in his talk with Rebecca. And awesomely gross scene with the Shapeshifter shedding its skin and all its teeth falling out!!! :coughs: evil Shapeshifter Dean was still really hot though :cough:
This was a good episode for the brothers too with the nice touch of Sam immediately picking up on it not being Dean when you might have at first expected the writers to have one of the brothers falling for an obvious fake-out like that. Aww at the ending with "All Right Now" as Sam and Dean smile at one another :loves:
8/10
Hookman was a bit like Bloody Mary in that the urban legend is so familiar that there really weren't a lot of surprises there, nor did I find it as scary as it could have been. It was a somewhat cool twist though that they explained away the usual lame horror movie cliche of the non virgin characters being killed by linking it to Lori's religious upbringing meaning that she was the one who believed those people needed to be punished. It makes it feel less like the lameness of the writers punishing characters for having sex when it's more down to Lori's own issues
Lori was kind of annoying though I found, there was a whole lot of high-pitched screaming going on. Still I did like the final scene with Dean looking concerned as he watches Sam and Lori saying goodbye and says "we could stay". So sweet!
Best part of the episode though was Dean digging up the grave, oh wow did he look hot :fans self: And he also looked like such a cute little boy when Sam nudges him to bow his head in church. Jensen really was absolutely gorgeous during season 1
6/10 Kind of a meh episode
Bugs. Okay everyone hates this episode, and it's actually one I didn't hate so much on first viewing because I found it so interesting when they were getting into Sam and Dean's relationship with their father. But yeah on this viewing it really was a pretty crappy episode, the second half of the episode especially was almost sending me to sleep. And interestingly in the companion they seemed to think the major fail of the episode was because bugs aren't really scary enough. But I'm not sure a SPN episode is bad simply because it doesn't qualify as scary? (And the bugs *did* make me jump at least once, although admittedly the bad CGI spiders during the shower scene were ridiculous).
I think the episode was just kind of boring and badly thought-out quite honestly. The X-Files used to have episodes on native American curses, and they were usually pretty boring as well Idk. And the way they didn't really solve anything, but the sunlight mysteriously came up just made it seem like they had rushed through the script and didn't know how to end it properly? I mean really how pointless was it that their only solution was to wait it out, and then somehow none of them get bitten more badly by the swarming insects in what should have been a time span of about 6 hours????
5/10
I wasn't all that fannish over the early season 1 episodes when I first watched them, I think it took me to um :thinks: Scarecrow maybe to really get into the show. But I find myself so nostalgic now watching the pilot, and even the exposition on how they were raised didn't make me roll my eyes, although I'm not sure if that's a sign of the episode actually being better than I remembered, or my just being more fond of the show and the characters now *g*
I do miss how beautifully it was filmed though, and them being able to afford the music! It seems like these days many of their one-off MotW episodes aim to be funny or to gross us out, it was really only season 1 that ever scared me. Embarrassingly enough I was watching the pilot curled up in bed with the light switched off and :blushes: I had to turn the light back on during the teaser when Mary comes down and sees John watching the tv. Even when I already knew how it was going to end, that moment still just scares the hell out me. And then I was jumping madly at Mary on the ceiling, and the woman in white popping up back in the car eek.
And how cute and brotherly was the bridge scene with Sam stepping on Dean's foot, and then Dean slapping the back of Sam's head *g* And the scene by the car with Sam leaving and the brothers looking at one another, but not knowing what to say :hearts:
8/10
Wendigo is an episode that I remember as being pretty dark (lighting-wise) and boring, and it didn't engage me much on first viewing. But I thought it was a decent enough episode this time around. Love the emotional continuity carrying over from the Pilot with Sam being sooo on edge, and Dean concerned and trying to get Sam to open up what's bothering him and deal with his anger
And obviously there was a lot of controversy in fandom at around season 3 time for the show failing harder at writing well-rounded women characters compared to seasons 1 and 2, but I'm not sure that's entirely fair. Yes season 1 had more memorable female characters, but then the format was slightly different then with a lot more focus on the individual characters in the MotW's. And I really loved Haley in this episode, especially after the writing of the women seen in the pilot was kind of one-note. In this episode it was nice to get a character like Hayley who wasn't the damsel in distress, that was actually her brother kind of! She was almost coming across as a female Dean with her determination on finding her brother and keeping her family together. Not to mention noticing how cool the impala was, and how impressed was Dean at that! *g* And it was cute how it ended on her just kissing him on the cheek as a thank you. Her little brother was a bit of an odd character though, I half thought he was mute because it took him so long into the episode to actually speak!
7/10
Dead In The Water. I really liked this one! It was nice to get more layers to Dean with him bonding with the little boy, and the main plot was an enjoyably creepy one too. I tend to like when it's a vengeful spirit getting justice for some past act, and having to figure out what exactly happened. So often these days they just call in Bobby for the research and exposition, it's nice seeing Sam and Dean bouncing ideas off one another and figuring it for themselves in these early season 1 episodes. And :shudders: at the litle kid appearing in the water at the end while he's trying to lure them in.
I wish they could have got Amy Ackler on to play a more exciting character though, she could have made a kick-ass demon compared to some of the actresses they went with :cough: It seems a shame that when they do get a really strong actress that they waste her on a role that's fine, but a bit on the bland side. She would have made an amazing Eve...
8/10
Phantom Traveler
For all the gratuitous shots of the ladies there have been so far, this episode had equal exploitation at any rate :P with a rather nice pan up of Dean's body laying in bed :fans self: Some more nice character touches for Dean in this one too with his fear of flying, and Sam trying to talk him through it aww. And loved seeing them have to make a quick exit and leap over the fence when the real homeland security representatives turned up, I do miss that sense of jeopardy that the earlier seasons had more of
Also I liked the continuity with the guy being grateful to John for helping him out on a past case and so calling Sam and Dean in, I really liked his character actually, he seemed pretty cool. And it was nice for Sam to find out that John did speak with pride about him getting into college after all, and Dean being all "see".
One quipple is that the ending confuses me a little. It's a powerful and well-acted moment definitely, but I'm not sure why Sam is so upset that he just gets in the car without a word? It seems like a natural thing for John to leave a message for people with supernatural problems to contact Dean as Dean is the one that's still in the hunting lifestyle, whilst Sam was heading for college and a break from all that the last time they spoke :shrugs:
7/10. A solid episode with again some great character moments, but admittedly I didn't find the main plot as compelling as Dead In The Water's was. I do wish the region 2 DVD's had the commentaries for this episode and the pilot though, I'm interested in what Jensen and Jarad have to say :pouts:
Bloody Mary. This episode was pretty much how I remembered it. It wasn't bad as such, but it is one of the season 1 episodes that feels way too derivative. They did try and do something a little different with it, but it's such a well-known urban legend that it just didn't have all that many shocks in store. I did jump a few times, particularly when the girls own reflection starts acting differently to her in the mirror scene, but overall I thought the direction of the episode could actually have been a little scarier? Even the moment of her crawling out of the mirror didn't have the impact that it did in the origina film
More interesting is the myth-arc for Sam and his visions which really starts here with the reveal that Sam dreamed of Jessica's death before it happened. Nicely creepy ending too with Sam imagining the ghost of Jessica haunting him.
And as ever, even putting aside the main plot, there were enough nice character moments here to make this episode worth watching. Hee at the guy just answering "No" until Sam bribed him with Dean's poker money and Dean sulks. And hmm did we ever find out why Dean's eyes started bleeding?
6/10
Skins. Probably a controversial opinion as I know this episode is very popular in fandom, but the main plot just kind of grossed me out/made me sad at first. This is me taking tv too seriously I guess LOL, but it just seemed the most depressing thing in the world for those women to be tied up and tortured, while believing that someone they loved was responsible. And then their partners going to prison and being unable to clear to their name. Stuff like that has always weirdly bothered me on tv shows, it still kind of bothers me that an innocent man ended up in prison in the Buffy episode I Only Have Eyes for you. He was possessed by a ghost okay, it wasn't his fault!
:ahem: Anyway! I did like the second half of the episode a lot more when the Shapeshifter is imitating Dean, not only did it reveal a lot about Dean's thoughts on being a freak and everyone leaving him in the end, but also the shapeshifter itself was kind of given a weirdly sympathetic POV in his talk with Rebecca. And awesomely gross scene with the Shapeshifter shedding its skin and all its teeth falling out!!! :coughs: evil Shapeshifter Dean was still really hot though :cough:
This was a good episode for the brothers too with the nice touch of Sam immediately picking up on it not being Dean when you might have at first expected the writers to have one of the brothers falling for an obvious fake-out like that. Aww at the ending with "All Right Now" as Sam and Dean smile at one another :loves:
8/10
Hookman was a bit like Bloody Mary in that the urban legend is so familiar that there really weren't a lot of surprises there, nor did I find it as scary as it could have been. It was a somewhat cool twist though that they explained away the usual lame horror movie cliche of the non virgin characters being killed by linking it to Lori's religious upbringing meaning that she was the one who believed those people needed to be punished. It makes it feel less like the lameness of the writers punishing characters for having sex when it's more down to Lori's own issues
Lori was kind of annoying though I found, there was a whole lot of high-pitched screaming going on. Still I did like the final scene with Dean looking concerned as he watches Sam and Lori saying goodbye and says "we could stay". So sweet!
Best part of the episode though was Dean digging up the grave, oh wow did he look hot :fans self: And he also looked like such a cute little boy when Sam nudges him to bow his head in church. Jensen really was absolutely gorgeous during season 1
6/10 Kind of a meh episode
Bugs. Okay everyone hates this episode, and it's actually one I didn't hate so much on first viewing because I found it so interesting when they were getting into Sam and Dean's relationship with their father. But yeah on this viewing it really was a pretty crappy episode, the second half of the episode especially was almost sending me to sleep. And interestingly in the companion they seemed to think the major fail of the episode was because bugs aren't really scary enough. But I'm not sure a SPN episode is bad simply because it doesn't qualify as scary? (And the bugs *did* make me jump at least once, although admittedly the bad CGI spiders during the shower scene were ridiculous).
I think the episode was just kind of boring and badly thought-out quite honestly. The X-Files used to have episodes on native American curses, and they were usually pretty boring as well Idk. And the way they didn't really solve anything, but the sunlight mysteriously came up just made it seem like they had rushed through the script and didn't know how to end it properly? I mean really how pointless was it that their only solution was to wait it out, and then somehow none of them get bitten more badly by the swarming insects in what should have been a time span of about 6 hours????
5/10
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-11 02:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-09-11 02:39 pm (UTC)The teaser freaked me out the most as it seemed like they were using real bugs for those shots :/