{"id":4539,"date":"2015-03-20T13:00:54","date_gmt":"2015-03-20T20:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4539"},"modified":"2015-03-09T18:51:20","modified_gmt":"2015-03-10T01:51:20","slug":"mark-watches-supernatural-s09e03-im-no-angel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/03\/mark-watches-supernatural-s09e03-im-no-angel\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Supernatural’: S09E03 – I’m No Angel"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the third episode of the ninth season of\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>, Castiel learns how to adapt to his new circumstances. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For talk of consent (relating to both possession and sex) and discussion of homelessness<\/b>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, shit.<\/p>\n

Bartholomew<\/b><\/p>\n

So, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think Bartholomew is the big bad for this season; I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still thinking that Metatron ultimately will be. I mean, what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s he up to up in Heaven? Just enjoying the time by himself? He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too powerful to ignore. Bartholomew can organize and creepily smile at people, but what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s his power? He manipulates Reverend Buddy Boyle in this episode, using the man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s faith to make it easier for the angels to find vessels. But what else? I suppose there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a strength in numbers, which makes me think that ultimately, Bartholomew will be disposable. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a temporary conflict.<\/p>\n

Still, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a roadblock, one that Dean and Cas need to overcome. Well, and Sam? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s complicated. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll talk about Sam in a bit. But the point is that the angels are getting more brutal and gutsy in their attempt to find vessels\u00c2\u00a0and<\/i> locate Castiel. Reapers make a return here, used by the angels to track down Cas, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 sort of interesting? I still think that Castiel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s personal journey is a whole lot more entertaining than the cat-and-mouse game of this season. The same goes for what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening to Sam. All the interpersonal stuff? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s way better written than the arc itself. I suppose that could come from a narrow view of the whole story, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m always willing to admit that the way<\/i> I watch television means that I might have a short-sighted opinion of a story. I ACCEPT THAT THIS IS POSSIBLE. So my issue here is that I feel like this arc about the angels is wandering without any specific direction. SO FAR. The angels want to kill Castiel because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re pissed. I get that. But\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 then what? What comes after that? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see how the show can keep that specific arc going for 20 more episodes. What do the angels want aside from revenge?<\/p>\n

Sam<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really hard to analyze Sam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s role in this season because of Ezekiel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s presence within him. I still can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tell how much of an influence the angel has on him. We know that his physical health has improved unbelievably since the premiere, but is his emotional happiness tied to that, too? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know! And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m getting more and more upset about what Dean is allowing to happen here because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s getting so much worse. From the blocks in Sam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s memory to the lies stacked on top of lies, Dean is only making matters worse for the inevitable moment when Sam finds out. Which is not to say that Dean should care about this only because of the possible negative reaction. This isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t about him in the end. Yes, he had good intentions. He wanted to save his brother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life.<\/p>\n

But what happens when those good intentions don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean anything anymore? Sam was willing to sacrifice himself last season because he was so convinced he was a disappointment to Dean and everyone around him. He could not see beyond his mistakes or beyond all the lies he had told to protect himself or avoid embarrassment. So how does Dean think Sam will react when he learns what is really happening? How can Dean justify trusting an angel he only knew for a few hours?<\/p>\n

I hope that Ezekiel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s endgame is positive, but who knows at this point? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know what the angels as a whole\u00c2\u00a0want<\/i>, you know? Ezekiel resurrects Castiel, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something he chose, so\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 maybe Cas has a purpose for him??? I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T GET IT.<\/p>\n

Castiel<\/b><\/p>\n

There will come a day when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll feel comfortable enough to talk about what it was like for me to be homeless. There were two major periods of it \u00e2\u20ac\u201c once in high school and once after I dropped out of college \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and the experiences play a huge part in who I am today. At the same time, I have very little in my life that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve not shared with THE ENTIRE INTERNET, so a part of my is still clinging to certain traumatic periods of my life until I find the right way to talk about them. (I do want to; I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be cathartic.)<\/p>\n

I mention this not because I have a desire to be coy about myself, but so that you understand my mindset going into this story. For a show that has only used homeless people as set pieces, I was actually surprised at how touching and caring Castiel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story was because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, there are a lot of things that you go through when you find yourself homeless that are in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m No Angel.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d So this is a case of writers using a marginalized experience to build a metaphor for a character\u00c2\u00a0while still keeping those marginalized people as part of the story<\/i>. Because Cas\u00c2\u00a0is<\/i> homeless, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s powerless. He has to learn about how human bodies behave in our world, and that means it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be intensely uncomfortable. He can no longer zap around the world to communicate. He can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t avoid sleep; he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t eat just for the sake it; he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t treat hydration like a silly human behavior.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not saying that what we get here is perfect representation. At the end of the episode, Cas isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t homeless. (Well, he might be, actually. Depends on where Dean sends him.) It was a brief trek through this world, but I did appreciate that the show didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do this callously. They don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make any of these homeless people the butt of a joke, and they use Castiel to address hunger, loneliness, and other emotional and physical issues that you only go through when you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a roof over your head.<\/p>\n

In hindsight, that\u00c2\u00a0should<\/i> have told me that April was not who she said she was. While the kindness of strangers (often those who understand what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like to be down on your luck or without a home) plays a huge part in surviving these kind of situations, I was struck by how odd and unbelievable it was that April would not only take Castiel home, but then seduce him. Like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a clear stigma around being homeless, and I thought it was callous that they suddenly ignored that. Were they trying to say that Castiel was\u00c2\u00a0better<\/i> than the other homeless people???<\/p>\n

Well, it was all a deception on April\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part so that she could get Castiel in a vulnerable state for the angels. Which brings up a whole separate issue: Does Castiel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s consent\u00c2\u00a0count<\/i> if April had sex with him in order to manipulate and trap him??? My gut says no, since Cas didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what was at stake here, and if he knew she was a reaper, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think he would have consented. But the show completely washes over this, portraying his first sexual encounter as a hilarious victory for him, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just so uncomfortable. Perhaps this should have been addressed??? Granted, I get that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s uncomfortable and extremely complicated, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still weird as hell.<\/p>\n

Anyway, so what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s next? April seemed mighty surprised that Castiel genuinely did not know what Metatron had planned. Will that change how the angels view Castiel? Probably not. And where will Dean send Cas now that Ezekiel has given his ultimatum??? CAS\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S FACE WAS TOO HEARTBROKEN AT THE END THERE, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. Like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 what the hell,\u00c2\u00a0who said that was okay???<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0That, and Dean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face when he realized Cas was dead\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 also not at all appropriate. I AM BUT ONE PERSON. WON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T YOU THINK OF ME,\u00c2\u00a0SUPERNATURAL<\/i>???<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m No Angel\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

– The Mark Does Stuff Tour 2015 is now live and includes dates across the U.S., Canada, Europe, the U.K., and Ireland. Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be the remainder of\u00c2\u00a0The Legend of Korra<\/i>, series 8 of\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who<\/i>, and Kings<\/i>. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards<\/i> series will replace the Emelan books.
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!
\n– If you would like to support this website and keep Mark Does Stuff running,\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve put up a detailed post explaining how you can!
\n<\/a>– Please check out the\u00c2\u00a0 MarkDoesStuff.com<\/a>. All Mark Watches videos for past shows\/season are now archived there!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"