{"id":4415,"date":"2015-01-29T13:00:56","date_gmt":"2015-01-29T21:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4415"},"modified":"2015-01-21T20:11:46","modified_gmt":"2015-01-22T04:11:46","slug":"mark-watches-supernatural-s08e09-citizen-fang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/01\/mark-watches-supernatural-s08e09-citizen-fang\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Supernatural’: S08E09 – Citizen Fang"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the ninth episode of the eighth season of\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>, NOPE. NOOOOOPE. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For ableism<\/b><\/p>\n

LORD, THIS WAS GREAT. I mean, obviously I am not deriving a sick sort of joy out of seeing people suffer or watching the Winchesters treat each other like dirt, but this was a great story. How is Benny even real<\/i>, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all? He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a rich character that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s both likable and kind of scary. (Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s have a moment of silence for Amy Pond, who could have had a similar story to Benny, but nope. UGH, I JUST WANT JEWEL STAITE IN EVERYTHING.) I somehow care about him and his attempts at living in the world without doing any more evil. Part of that might be because Ty Olsson is just so good in the role, but I think the writing for his character is compelling and interesting.<\/p>\n

And amidst all of that, Dean and Sam treat each other TERRIBLY. I honestly don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think the Winchesters have ever been at a worst point in their relationship with one another, though I kind of regret saying that because I imagine this show is only going to one-up that. LOOK, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M TRYING TO LEARN. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Citizen Fang\u00e2\u20ac\u009d might be focused on the possibility of Benny killing again, but I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just as deeply about how Sam and Dean no longer trust one another. Which is sad and upsetting to watch! I think both of them believe they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing the best thing, and in some sense, they are. But they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re both a victim of their own perspective. Dean can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand Sam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s anger at his hypocrisy, and Sam can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand why Benny gets to be the exception.<\/p>\n

Of course, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a gross simplification of what we see here. Sam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision to have Martin Creaser track Benny was a sign that Sam didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t trust Dean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s judgment, though, again, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s complicated. I understand\u00c2\u00a0why<\/i> Sam would do something like that, even if it hurts Dean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ego. He can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t trust a vampire, regardless of what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve done or not done. Plus, Sam has an entire history of heartbreak and betrayal\u00c2\u00a0specifically<\/i> associated with trusting supernatural monsters to not be monsters. WHEN HAS THAT EVER WORKED WELL FOR SAM WINCHESTER? On top of that, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still dealing with the dissolution of his dream with Amelia, so it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perfectly sensible to me that Sam would look upon Dean through this lens. Sam cannot believe in a world where he gets to be happy. Love is an exception to the rule, and the one time he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tried to pursue it, fate made it pretty damn clear that it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t for him. I think what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re seeing is a projection on Sam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part. He is conflating his relationship with Amelia with Dean and Benny.<\/p>\n

Sort of. I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the only thing going on here because Benny IS a vampire, and the threat of him becoming a killer again is incredibly real. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exceedingly rare and nearly impossible for a vampire to resist their nature, so I do want to acknowledge that when talking about Benny. But then this show goes and gives us Benny as a waiter at a diner and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s LITERALLY A DOMESTIC AU COME TO LIFE and fuck Supernatural<\/i>, I can only take so much of this at one time. Lord help me, I am absolutely certain that without having done a lick of research, the Denny ship was taken by this fandom and ridden into the sunset. (Which\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 bah, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s totally queerbaiting. COME ON, THAT SCENE WHERE BENNY STARED SEDUCTIVELY AT DEAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S THROAT. I am not imagining this I\u00c2\u00a0am not<\/i>.) And as entertaining as this was to watch, I appreciated that this was remarkably consistent with Dean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s characterization over the course of this show. He appreciates loyalty, which is why he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still hurting from the betrayal he sees in Sam and why he so openly states that he trusts Benny. Is it shitty? Yeah, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a little cruel of him to say that the only person he can trust is a vampire he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s known for like a year. At the same time, this has to happen. We have to see Dean and Sam mistrust one another. We have to see them grow apart to understand just how different their paths are.<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know where this is headed, though. Are they going to continue to move apart, or will something bring them together? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite know, and unfortunately, the events of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Citizen Fang\u00e2\u20ac\u009d don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly make Benny look like a saint. I think he had to defend himself before Martin killed him, but he did so by biting Martin, making it look suspiciously like he just did it to feed on the man. And look, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually kind of sad to me that by the end of this, Martin is the one who dies. I do understand the role he plays in the story, since he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s meant to contrast Dean. But Dean (and the show itself) makes it feel like Martin was punished for what he did, and it has really uncomfortable implications given that he was mentally ill. I mean, Dean outright claims that Martin can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ever be involved in a hunt again due to this, and then Martin is written as unstable and foolish, and it was a little too over-the-top for me.<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think Sam is going to believe that Benny truly is good after this unless Benny is able to demonstrate that this is the case. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help that Dean TRICKED SAM INTO GOING TO SEE AMELIA, which is undoubtedly one of the most fucked up things he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ever done. Dude, do you have any idea how\u00c2\u00a0traumatic\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>that sort of thing can be??? And I imagine that Dean had some semblance of understanding of how poorly Sam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s relationship with Amelia ended. But let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t.\u00c2\u00a0This is still awful<\/i>. Again, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear that both brothers aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ready to trust one another, and this is how that manifests. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ugly and sad, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, AND I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T SEE A SOLUTION ON THE HORIZON. Puppies??? Maybe? Mostly, I just care about Riot. RIOT IS THE BEST.<\/p>\n

Lord, this episode was messed up.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Citizen Fang\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

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