I remember christmas

[krickets]

001. Let it first be said that I love this show. I feel like every time I complain or don't like an episode or say, yes, good, but there's something missing, that it probably makes everyone assume that I don't like the show. But no. I do. I love this show.


002. Let's start off by what I did like. The goofy moment with the elf at the beginning, the amulet, silent night debacles, fudge, the scene at the end (sort of), and well, Dean and Sam were in it...


003. Wee!Sam was the cutest thing ever. But overall I did not like these scenes. The moment with the amulet was pure gold, and tugged at the heartstrings and all of that, but I was mostly just underwhelmed with the quality of these scenes. The dialogue, even the performances by the young actors - with the slight exception of wee!sam. It mirrored much of how I feel about that last scene between Dean and Sam, so I'll explain what I mean by that in numbers 5 & 6.


004. The villians were goofy, with some horribly cringe-worthy gore mixed in. I'm not impressed. Honestly? It looked downright scary from the ads and I was so looking forward to it. Instead we got June and Ward Cleaver. I am well aware that that was the point. But I'm so sick of this new bright, but gory!, world I could scream. And okay, I get that they were "gods" - but since when do Dean and Sam fight like a couple-a nancy-boys? Just saying.


005. While I did enjoy that last scene, I was torn because it felt like there should have been so much more. During it, and other parts of the show (with the wee!chesters and the earlier talks of Christmas) - I felt like the actors weren't even in the same room as each other. There's something stifled and empty, like they just keep aiming and missing each other every time. And I don't know who to blame. The writers? Oh surely. This could go so much futher, so much deeper, and it has before. Remember some choice moments from season 1, John and Sam at each other's throats and Dean as the unwitting mediator. Among others, but that is the most vivid example I can recall.


006. I just don't think there was anything really great about this episode. And it has been, so far, the one and only holiday episode. I remember Buffy. (And I'm not mentioning it just because of the similar supernatural themes.) And I remember Amends and I remember how utterly brilliant that whole thing was. And how it sticks out in my memory even now. The things the characters said to each other, and how they hurt each other, and how they loved each other, were all so raw and open and could fill whole rooms with their heaviness. (And that was season 3 of that series, too.) And with Supernatural, we're not even dealing with an ensemble cast. We are dealing with, essentially, two characters. So why is it so hard, it seems for the writers to reach them? And maybe I'm utterly stupid, or maybe I just expect too much, but this episode of Supernatural, and this season in fact, just feels so disconnected, and so empty, when there should be so much more

Comments

[quiet-rebel.livejournal.com]

I totally cried at the end, but it took me until the very last moment to actually FEEL something. I agree with you on the "MORE, PLEASE" aspect. The writers totally could have dug in deeper, made it more of a realization that yeah, at this time next year, Dean will be dead.

I'm just a girl watching TV at home, but I really, really think the writers should step it up some more--with the emotions, the scary (ditto on your #4), and the heart.

[theladyscribe]

I agree. You've seen my initial thoughts on the ep, and it just didn't ping me like I wanted it to. Like maybe it would have been better if they'd separated out the flashbacks from the rest of it? Like the flashbacks didn't fit with the episode. I think because I'm comparing it to Something Wicked, where the flashbacks truly were an integral part of the episode (they told us so much in those short little scenes), and this episode there was a disconnect, because with the exception of it being Christmas, the flashbacks weren't a part of the rest of the story. They were just there, and the seriousness of them didn't fit with the goofy Cleaver-ness of the gods.

Or maybe the goofy Cleaver-ness of the gods didn't fit with the seriousness of the flashbacks. Yeah, I think that's it. I would have much preferred a darker bad guy (a la the demi-god in Scarecrow). I mean, they still could have played the Christmas fanatics, but it wouldn't have felt so utterly cheese-tastic.

[gottalovev.livejournal.com]

it was more than enough for me... sorry it didn't fulfill your expectations though. and see, I just watched the whole Buffy series and they never, ever, got to me like those boys do (and did last night). I guess each person has a sensibility that varies, react to different things, and I am sure you are not alone feeling this way.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

I'm just a girl watching TV at home, but I really, really think the writers should step it up some more--with the emotions, the scary and the heart.

That is a great way to put it. I agree wholeheartedly. And it's not like they can't they have before. I'm curious as to why there's this sudden disconnect this year that wasn't there in previous seasons. A couple of the episodes this season have gotten it 100% right. But the majority of them have been major let-downs, for me.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

When you put it this way, it really was sort of disjointed in that way. Maybe that's why the weight of what could be their last christmas together, dean's last ever, fell so flatly with me. Because it was all over the place with the "this could be really scary if it weren't so goofy" and "this could be really emotional if it weren't so cheesy" etc. etc. Kind of all over the map with that.

I was disappointed. I really wish I hadn't been though. I wanted to like it. I really really did.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

But they have gotten to me in the past. And I think that's my point. While I did compare it to a holiday episode of Buffy, that's not entirely the point. They used to get to me. They can, and they do, on occasion. But for the most part, they didn't in this ep. Which is what concerns me.

[theladyscribe]

I really wanted to like it, too. But sometimes it works for me and sometimes it doesn't. It happens occassionally (I felt let-down by Croatoan and Playthings as well, and I had several friends who adored Playthings).

how did this comment get so long? (sorry!)

[cynthia-arrow.livejournal.com]

I've been feeling that disconnect, too (although not as much last night as I did earlier in the season), and I've come to think maybe it's as much me as it is them. Honestly, I've been distancing myself from Dean's emo crap just like Dean's been distancing himself from it. I just don't let myself get invested. Which is weird, because I didn't have that problem with Sam last season during his I-Might-Be-Evil-OMG-ANGST!, and I'm a freakin' Sam girl, for crissakes! But I just can't handle the emo.

Of course, maybe it really IS the writers' (or actors') fault. I think there are just some writers who can tap into the Winchester angst and some who can't, and different episodes cut different people to the quick. I think I was in the minority who didn't feel anything when Sam shot Maddison, despite the tears and the pleading and the Implications for Sam's Eternal Fate. It just didn't click for me, felt forced.

Other times, it's not a matter of forcing but a matter of not bringing out enough emotion. I think the reason I was okay with last night was that Sam and Dean individually seemed to be emoting and feeling and dealing with shit; it was just the spark between them was maybe not as strong (except when they're grinning at each other at the end). But consider the plot, how it dealt with the way they were on different wavelengths. Even if the fangirls weeped and wailed and squeed, I don't think the episode was designed to elicit that. To me, it seemed to focus on how hard it is for them to negotiate what's happening to Dean. A little schmoop on top of a lot of awkwardness and confusion. Some people turn that little schmoop into a lot; some people tap into that confusion and feel...weird when it's over. Most of us are somewhere in between, I think.

And we can just respectfully disagree about the kids. ;) (I didn't think the scenes were stellar--low energy there, too--but I thought they perfectly cast those kids and I enjoyed seeing those flashbacks.)

[shadow-walker3.livejournal.com]

Tons of yes.

And yeah, the ending just pissed me off even more because it did seem just...disconnected? Like the boys were properly emotional and they're great like always but it was just...distant. And, I mean, I get that they might be that way because of the whole huge elephant in the room and the awkwardness of "what now?" but it could have been handled in a much better way with a hug or a pat and then the awkward, "wannawatchthegameanddrinkandforgetwedidthat" kinda thing.

Re: how did this comment get so long? (sorry!)

[crickets.livejournal.com]

I guess I didn't totally hate the ep. I mean, no I didn't. But I certainly didn't love it. Not nearly as much as the rest of fandom did. Makes me feel kind of... insane, everyone around me going into epileptic fits of joy while I'm just kind of meh.

I gotta say, wee!sammy hit the ball out of the park, but he didn't have much to work with. And I am so not a fan of wee!dean. Just... not at all.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Yeah I totally agree, dude. Elephants in the room can be good, and they can be played well, but I just... this elephant annoys me, or something. I don't know. I can't quite put my finger on it. Eh well. At least I know I'm not alone!

[crickets.livejournal.com]

I think the thing that is really kind of destroying this show for me, is they took away the fog. That sounds so fucking stupid when I say it, but bear with me.

The boys, they used to be this kind of beacon in a gray world. They were heroes who on occasion, cracked a joke or weren't exactly the stealthiest, in this kind of dark world where people needed them. And occasionally they'd have a campy episode or campy characters to go along with it. But it was only occasionally. I miss them traipsing around in dark wet tunnels and dealing with real monsters. Instead of fairy-tales and evil stepford-gods.

There have been three eps I really really liked this season. And maybe if they weren't hamming it up so much, the weight of what Dean's going through would mean more than it seems to. The mood of the thing is just all wrong. I mean perhaps it is a little more about context.

*sigh*

I dunno!

[theladyscribe]

I get exactly what you're saying. It *has* gotten campier this season. I mean, there was a whopping ONE truly (intentionally) goofy episode S1 (Hell House) and then there were two (Tall Tales and Hollywood Babylon) last season. And this season? We've had at least three (Bad Day, SPN Fairytales [which is still the dumbest title EVER], and A Very SPN Christmas) - and we're not even halfway through the season!

Don't get me wrong, we've had some good eps this year (Sin City is one of my all-time faves - and spawned one of my best fics), but I feel like it's lost the desperate tone of last season. Which isn't good, because Dean's got less than a year to live.

I want my desperate, edgy, barely-keeping-it-together Winchesters back! PLEASE!

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Word.

[theladyscribe]

Also, I just got your package in the mail today! Hooray for candy! :)

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Hope you enjoy the pretzels! I made them myself! (Well I didn't make the chocolate, or the pretzels, but I did melt the chocolate and dip the pretzels in it!) I was afraid they wouldn't travel well but I suppose they made it okay?

[theladyscribe]

The pretzels are tasty! And they're dark chocolate, which makes them that much better. :) They may be slightly melted, but I think that is the fault of it being so freaking warm here over the past week.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Aw, okay. Well at least they're good!

[lostashleigh.livejournal.com]

I actually Loved that ep! I thought it actually felt a bit more SPNy to me, but hey that's just me!

That said I do agree with what you're saying to some extent. I did feel like there should have been more in parts. I loved the end scene but I did feel like there could have been so much more to it! And I'm not totally crazy bout the bright and gory thing either! ;(

But overall I really enjoyed this ep, although I do see where you're coming from. The Amulet scene was just Love! Sam and Dean Carol singing(ish) FTW! Fudge, LOL I'm so gonna start saying that! And lots of other bits I loved too! YEY! ;)

[ghost-memory.livejournal.com]

I don't think that you're in the minority.

This season has felt so disjointed, and empty. And the humour and the characters are well..campy seems the right word, and I’m kind of missing the presence this show use to have in the earlier seasons. I thought that maybe this episode would somehow redeem Supernatural for me, and it was funny and touching at points, but it was a little disappointing too.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Yeah I appreciate that there were a lot who liked it and I could see how, I just don't share the sentiment. Thanks for commenting ash!

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Yes yes. Thank you! Agreed!