{"id":4384,"date":"2015-01-23T13:00:33","date_gmt":"2015-01-23T21:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4384"},"modified":"2015-01-19T00:28:49","modified_gmt":"2015-01-19T08:28:49","slug":"mark-watches-supernatural-s08e07-a-little-slice-of-kevin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/01\/mark-watches-supernatural-s08e07-a-little-slice-of-kevin\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Supernatural’: S08E07 – A Little Slice of Kevin"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the seventh episode of the eighth season of\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>, I just realized what the title refers to. Help me. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For gore\/blood<\/b><\/p>\n

TOO MUCH HAPPENED.<\/p>\n

The Trans<\/b><\/p>\n

I just adore these characters so much, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. That is also a death sentence in this world, so WHOMP WHOMP. To be honest, I was super worried that this would be the episode where the writers would kill them off. If Kevin read the tablet, how could he serve a purpose within the show itself? If Ms. Tran failed to protect her son, how could she still be alive? And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sometimes frustrating to think about it this way. Not all the time, mind you. The show does work well to build suspense throughout this episode by making the threat of death very, very real. At the same time, I just want this show to be able to explore other characters (and their dynamic with the Winchesters) without\u00c2\u00a0everything\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>always ending in death. (And yes, the fact that this show has sustained two Asian characters for this long is surprising and will still make me sad if we get to a point where these two people aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t around anymore.) I see so much potential here, and I want to see it explored, but I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really get my hopes up anymore, you know?<\/p>\n

Still, I enjoyed this\u00c2\u00a0so much\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>because of how interesting Ms. Tran is as a character. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s motherly in a way that isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a caricature and is also quite refreshing within this show\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s history. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not fearless, either. No, she knows\u00c2\u00a0exactly<\/i> what to fear, and she takes precautions in order to avoid anything happening to her and her son. At the same time, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s remarkably proactive! While she ultimately messes up by using a witch to help her, I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually pretty amazing that she even thought to use Craigslist to gather supplies for another demon bomb. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so resourceful! SHE CAPTURED A DEMON AND PUT HIM IN THE TRUNK OF HER CAR, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL.<\/p>\n

I wonder, then, if Kevin had some secondary plan the whole time, but was unable to pull it off before Castiel arrived. Like his mother, Kevin is stubborn and resilient, and despite that he is tortured and is forced to watch a future prophet ripped to shreds, he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t budge an inch. Well.. until Crowley CUTS ONE OF HIS FINGERS OFF. (Why, episode title. WHY.) Did he do this knowing that Crowley would most likely kill him after he finished translating the tablet? Did he have a backup plan? Was he just\u00c2\u00a0tired\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>of running and hiding for the past year? We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t find out yet, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing the events of this episode will have a huge affect on Kevin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s role in the future. HE WANTS REVENGE.<\/p>\n

Guilt\u00c2\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

I definitely believed that the two glimpses of Castiel that Dean saw in the early parts of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A Little Slice of Kevin\u00e2\u20ac\u009d were hallucinations. He was seeing what he wanted to see, not what actually happened. (Oh, the irony!) Why? Because he was tortured by the guilt of\u00c2\u00a0possibly<\/i> not doing everything in his power to pull Cas into the portal out of Purgatory. We know that Dean does not think highly of himself most of the time, and the memory of Cas slipping away was eating away at him. He kept replaying the moment in his mind, over and over again, tormenting himself with the possibilities.<\/p>\n

So what does it mean to him that Castiel\u00c2\u00a0is\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>alive and relatively okay? Well, like every distressing thing in season eight, that answer is complicated. I noticed that we never got a scene that was, for lack of a better term, a\u00c2\u00a0happy\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>reunion. No hugs, no emotional welcomes, just Dean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s utter shock and disbelief. I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an intentional thing that the show did. Dean isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t UNHAPPY to see Cas, mind you. But I think he realizes instantly that his perception of events tells him that Cas might think he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t try hard enough. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something he believes deep-down, enough that he has that outburst outside of the Impala.<\/p>\n

The twist here, though, is that Dean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mind saw what it wanted\u00c2\u00a0in Purgatory<\/i>. Castiel\u00c2\u00a0willingly pushed Dean away<\/i>, all so that he could remain behind as PENANCE. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually a fascinating character moment because the writers use it to acknowledge the terrible things that Castiel did in Heaven and on Earth. Castiel knew that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never accept himself again if he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pay for his sins. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, Dean was punishing himself over something HE DIDN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T EVEN DO. (Which is, of course, one of many ironies within this episode, since Dean didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that Castiel stayed in Purgatory in order to punish himself as well.) Like, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t imagine a more telling example of Dean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s self-hatred. This is what he does to himself, time and time again. I actually felt like Castiel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s message to him \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that Dean can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t save everyone, that everything is not always Dean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s responsibility \u00e2\u20ac\u201c was something we would have heard directed at Sam earlier in this show, you know?<\/p>\n

OH HOW THE TURN TABLES.<\/p>\n

Naomi<\/b><\/p>\n

Answering a mystery with another mystery? HOW DARE YOU.\u00c2\u00a0HOW DARE YOU<\/i>. I am pleased that the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153mystery\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of what happened to Cas in Purgatory was not dragged out beyond this episode. I did mention during the video for this that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kind of a common thing for this show to do. How many times has someone been brought back without knowing the means to it?<\/p>\n

WELL, HERE IT IS. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Amanda Tapping (!!!!!! MY QUEEN !!!!!) as Naomi who is responsible for Castiel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s escape, and WHAT THE FUCK. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s having Castiel spy on the Winchesters (ostensibly because of those tablets), and she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing so completely against his will. That scene is so deliberately bizarre and unsettling, and\u00c2\u00a0I want a thousand more of them<\/i>. Just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 what plans does she have here? What role does she have in heaven? HOW UNPREPARED AM I???<\/p>\n

Amanda Tapping is on\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so thrilled. SO THRILLED.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A Little Slice of Kevin\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– Mark Does Stuff is now on Facebook<\/a>! Feel free to Like the page, which I’m running myself, for updates and SILLINESS.
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\n– The 2015 Mark Does Stuff tour is being announced!!! Check my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page<\/a> often to see if I’m coming to your city!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"