SPN Ep: The Man Who Would Be King

[the_other_sandy]

Real life has been mean mean mean to me this week, so this is the first chance I've had to watch last week's ep. On the plus side, that means I get new (to me, anyway) Supernatural tonight and you don't. Nyah. ;-)

Well, that was way too much tell and not enough show. And Castiel's narrative voice sounded a little too much like Misha sometimes, especially in his opening monologue (or would that be the opening of his one very long monologue?).

Haven't we seen this character arc before? Who else do we know who stepped on the slippery slope of working with a demon with the best of intentions, only to lose sight of himself and start making really bad decisions? Could it be Satan Sam? In fact, Castiel's character arc is so closely mirroring Sam's that I can't believe none of the other characters mentioned it. Dean and Bobby both watched Sam slide down that slope, and Sam of course experienced it firsthand. Even Castiel watched much of it unfold, so a comparison might have knocked some perspective into him.

I'm sorry Castiel killed Ellsworth. He looked like a fun character. Unfortunately, we don't see enough of things from the demon point of view for the show to have as much fun with a demon equivalent of Bobby as I might like.

I also liked the quietly badass version of Castiel. It was much more effective in showing what a BAMF he can be in angel form than some of the showier scenes he's had in the past.

Comments

[oddlyspoken.livejournal.com]

Well, that was way too much tell and not enough show

Right on! Rather disappointing really as there were so many interesting things going on. I did love the moment Sam asked if Castiel deliberately left his soul behind. Twist my heart why don't you show.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

The show seems to have a habit of drawing out the season arc too long, then having to cram too many plot points into too few episodes near the end of the season (or mid-season, depending on the arc).

[samazon13.livejournal.com]

I do love seeing Castiel smite. To your point, it is so much more effective at showing what relentless and unquestioning soldiers angels are than telling us that.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

Which reminds me that I forgot to mention that I was amused but unsurprised by the angels' reaction to free will: "What does God want us to do with our freedom?" Independent thought was such a foreign concept to them that they couldn't figure out what to do without orders.