{"id":4455,"date":"2015-02-20T13:00:24","date_gmt":"2015-02-20T21:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4455"},"modified":"2015-01-30T17:35:47","modified_gmt":"2015-01-31T01:35:47","slug":"mark-watches-supernatural-s08e17-goodbye-stranger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/02\/mark-watches-supernatural-s08e17-goodbye-stranger\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Supernatural’: S08E17 – Goodbye Stranger"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the seventeenth episode of the eighth season of\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>, Castiel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s re-appearance brings about chaos as Cas wrestles with the task assigned to him by Naomi. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of consent, queerbaiting.<\/b><\/p>\n

WELL SHIT, THIS SHOW FINALLY HIT A GREAT STRIDE AND EVERYTHING IS SO MESSED UP. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Goodbye Stranger\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was a refreshing bout of storytelling right in the midst of\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, not my favorite batch of\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>episodes. LET US DISCUSS MANY THINGS.<\/p>\n

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

Look, this is just heartbreaking to watch, okay? I think Castiel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s penance is an important thing; he\u00c2\u00a0should<\/i> work to do good in the wake of doing so much wrong on Earth and Heaven. This is not at all what I had in mind for that, and I suspect that Naomi knows this. As far as I can tell, she took advantage of Castiel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s vulnerability in order to control him. She knew he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d want to help Heaven! But her plan for him is SO FUCKED UP. I mean, that opening scene goes to show how long she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been training Castiel to kill the person he cares about the most. (More on that in a bit.) She knows that is another one of his weaknesses, and she adds it to her repertoire of manipulation. All of this is done in the service of Heaven.<\/p>\n

And while I can understand the need for self-preservation, especially from Crowley, this is just another example of how the angels quintessentially do not understand humanity. The angels of the\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i> world are so used to the hierarchy of existence (with them placed squarely on top of all humans) that they continue to view humans as a means to an end. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing here that contradicts that. In this specific instance, even Castiel himself is a means to an end, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sad to watch him become a pawn. The show does a fantastic job portraying this struggle by having the script constantly cut between real time and Castiel in Naomi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s office. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a nice touch that adds to the tension of it all; we get to see\u00c2\u00a0exactly<\/i> how Naomi is manipulating Castiel and the Winchesters, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an eerie experience. \u00c2\u00a0Without it, the final confrontation wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be as horrifying. We needed to see the details of this con, and we then needed to see Castiel fight against it.<\/p>\n

And about that. Lord, I thought that maybe I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be proven wrong. I was so convinced that Dean was seconds away from telling Castiel that he loved him. I do not mean that in the sense that my own headcanon or shipping tendencies saw something that wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t in the script. I genuinely believed that this was this huge, huge moment for Dean, to admit that he cared about Cas more than just a friend. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even need it to be romantic, you know? Just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 how do you not follow up \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I need you,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with a reason for that?<\/p>\n

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a wealth of opportunity here, and while I think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve made my reasoning for this issue of mine pretty clear over the last year and a half, I just want to make sure that you also understand that I think that just in terms of crafting a story, this is frustrating. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a carrot that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dangled out in front of us that keeps being pushed closer to us, just out of reach, and then is yanked even further away. In all honesty, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not even that big of a shipper. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a part of the way I consume media, but I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t spend my free time seeking out fics or fanart of ships that I enjoy. So it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m terribly invested in Destiel as a thing. But I feel like this is so obvious at this point that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m wondering why the show thinks they need to tease us so often, only to swat it away whenever we ask about it, you know? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what this experience is like. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think any of us are necessarily imagining chemistry between these characters – and again, this does not have to be a romantic\/sexual thing, and that is an important conversation we should be having, too \u00e2\u20ac\u201c so what gives?<\/p>\n

I mean, I know the answer. It just feels good to talk about this kinda shit with y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, because I think most of us\u00c2\u00a0want<\/i> more from this show.<\/p>\n

Honesty<\/b><\/p>\n

While I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m thrilled with the development on a personal level, I admit I find the whole pattern of a Winchester lying, only to be called out on it, agree to stop it, and then CYCLE BEGINS AGAIN to be really tiring on a general level. I want these two to be honest and mature with one another, which I recognize is a hard thing to do within this traumatic universe. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like they have all the time in the world to figure out all of their issues with one another, and they certainly take what they can get. But from the perspective of the writing on this show, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a pattern that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happened so many times that most of us can recognize a mile away. Please do something different,\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>. I want to know that these two have grown after eight years, not because I need characters who are definitively \u00e2\u20ac\u0153better\u00e2\u20ac\u009d than they were when they started. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m perfectly fine with flawed, messed up people. But it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel like they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve gone anywhere, good or bad.<\/p>\n

Angel Tablet<\/b><\/p>\n

So does that mean we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve technically got\u00c2\u00a0two<\/i> antagonists this season? Both Crowley and Naomi are not just in opposition to one another; the Winchesters have a reason to be afraid of BOTH of them. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M INTO THIS, KEEP GOING IN THIS DIRECTION\u00c2\u00a0SUPERNATURAL<\/i>. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S GREAT.<\/p>\n

Meg<\/b><\/p>\n

I love a good antagonist, and I love a good foil. Meg somehow filled the role of both of them on this show, and both Nicki Aycox and Rachel Miner made me enjoy her presence so much. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an element of hope within her characterization in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Goodbye Stranger,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a sense that maybe if she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d actually survived, she could have become someone different. Is that even possible for a demon? (What is with this show giving us hints of exciting potential in characters right before they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re killed off???) I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know. But after years of having to run away from the demons who ruled over her, I could tell she was tired. She was done escaping. She was done being tortured. And I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pretty significant that she sacrificed herself to buy the Winchesters time. Sure, that might have been for a selfish reason. She wants them to close the Gates of Hell and kill Crowley, but she still did something you could reasonably argue as being good, you know?<\/p>\n

Christ, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to miss her.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Goodbye Stranger\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.
\n– If you would like to support this website and keep Mark Does Stuff running, I’ve put up a detailed post explaining how you can!<\/a>
\n– Please check out the MarkDoesStuff.com<\/a>. All Mark Watches videos for past shows\/season are now archived there!
\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 will be\u00c2\u00a0The Legend of Korra<\/i>, seasons 2 – 4, series 8 of\u00c2\u00a0Doctor Who<\/i>, and Kings<\/i>.<\/b>
\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":"