the_other_sandy: Black and white TV (TV)
the_other_sandy ([personal profile] the_other_sandy) wrote2008-11-06 09:06 pm
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SPN Ep: Wishful Thinking

It looks like this episode ran short too, but all we got was more commercials.

"Wishful Thinking" reminded me a lot of a Saturday Night Live sketch in that it had a cute premise that was stretched out way too long and then beaten into the ground. Long story short: be careful what you wish for. It just seemed like an awful long way to go just so Ben Edlund could get a giant teddy bear into an episode. I didn't really hate it (there are worse episodes), but I don't see this as being one I'll watch over and over again.

The wishes were fairly revealing of the wishers' personalities. What else would a little girl want but a live teddy bear to have tea parties with her? Or a bullied little boy but the ability to get back at the kids who hurt him? At least Wes eventually recognized that it wasn't cool to force some poor girl who didn't even know he existed to love him more than anything and took his wish back. It was especially revealing that Dean kept thinking of happy, fun things to wish for, while all Sam could come up with was Lilith's head on a platter (I think poor Sam needs a vacation).

Here's the part where I'm probably inviting wank down on myself.

We all know that Dean is the best big brother ever. He's always there for Sam and doesn't let Sam bottle things up until he explodes. Meanwhile, Sam has the reputation in fandom of being selfish and self-centered. Yet, every time Sam tries to be there for Dean like Dean is there for him, Dean shuts him down cold.

I get it. Really. Dean is the big brother and he sees letting Sam look after him as an enormous failure on his own part because he's supposed to take care of Sam, not the other way around. I also totally understand that Dean is right--there are probably no words in any language that can adequately describe what he went through in hell. What he saw there can never be unseen, and what he experienced there can never be understood by anyone who hasn't been there...which is basically nobody except for demons. There's nothing Sam can say or do to make it better, but just once I'd like for Dean to let him try, because the stoic big brother thing inadvertently makes Sam feel like the worst and most useless brother ever. He tries so freakin' hard, and yet he never really gets to give back in his relationship with Dean.

But on the other hand, "Kneel before Todd!" = best line ever.

[identity profile] ambersaigh.livejournal.com 2008-11-08 05:39 am (UTC)(link)
The one line I kept waiting (with bated breath) for Dean to say was "I don't WANT you to understand"

I could totally go with that. That would be very Dean. It would also be easier for Sam to accept.


...So I suppose it goes without saying that I can't believe he didn't say it.

I would also like to point out that I really don't think Sam would have wished for Lillith's head on a plate, bloody or otherwise. I think he wanted Dean to shut up, be serious, and stop trying to oversimplify matters. Also, it was the easy answer that Dean wouldn't think to argue over.

I also can't believe that I've been reading reviews and lurking all over summary posts about this episode all night and, while most of them have mentioned Sam saying the title of his book is Supernatural, no one has thought it might be a nod to the original premise of the show way back before Kripke ever thought of the Winchesters. You know, the one where he thought it might be a lone reporter, going around the U.S. writing stories about urban legends? Or am I delusional?

[identity profile] the-other-sandy.livejournal.com 2008-11-08 08:44 pm (UTC)(link)
I would also like to point out that I really don't think Sam would have wished for Lillith's head on a plate, bloody or otherwise.

If Sam had said that last year, I wouldn't have believed him. But we saw what Sam turned into after Dean's death in "Mystery Spot," and after everything that Lilith has done, I can totally believe that Sam's greatest wish right now is Lilith's death.

while most of them have mentioned Sam saying the title of his book is Supernatural, no one has thought it might be a nod to the original premise of the show way back before Kripke ever thought of the Winchesters

I did see someone mention that on Yahoo!Groups. I'm afraid it went right past me, probably because he said he was writing a book and I thought the original premise was for the protagonist to be a tabloid reporter. Or maybe I'm just dense sometimes. ;-)