{"id":4554,"date":"2015-03-24T13:00:23","date_gmt":"2015-03-24T20:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4554"},"modified":"2015-03-16T18:24:09","modified_gmt":"2015-03-17T01:24:09","slug":"mark-watches-supernatural-s09e04-slumber-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/03\/mark-watches-supernatural-s09e04-slumber-party\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Supernatural’: S09E04 – Slumber Party"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fourth episode of the ninth season of\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>, I CANNOT DEAL WITH THIS EPISODE. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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

Is there any more conclusive evidence needed to prove that every Charlie episode is the best thing this show has ever done? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s goddamn\u00c2\u00a0magical<\/i>, and yet again, we get one of the most satisfying, well-written, and well-acted episodes in\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i>.<\/p>\n

And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all about the cost of adventure.<\/p>\n

Now, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think this is the first time that the show has addressed the concept of being disillusioned by reality. For all its attempts to give some positivity and optimism to the Winchesters, I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a fairly cynical show. People die, the bad guys sometimes win (viciously so), and the hunter lifestyle SUCKS. Like,\u00c2\u00a0all the time<\/i>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not glamorous; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rarely victorious in any pure sense; everyone and everything dies; EVERYTHING IS AWFUL. There aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t many other ways to say this, and\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i> has spent over eight seasons showing us just how thankless and brutal this line of work is.<\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of the reason why many of the meta episodes over the course of this show felt more than just an extended joke. By drawing a line between reality and fantasy, the show openly engaged with the idea that we perceive fictional worlds in a different way than we would if we actually\u00c2\u00a0lived<\/i> in them. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why the\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i> books are evoked here deliberately. While they do accurately describe the events of the lives of the Winchesters, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re framed to give the reader a sense of heroism and glamour that is mostly absent from what Sam and Dean actually experience. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not because Chuck\/God is a terrible person who wants to portray the Winchesters wrongly; the same goes for L. Frank Baum, who wrote the\u00c2\u00a0Wizard of Oz\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>books in a way that smudges on what actually happened. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a purposeful attempt to inspire and entertain others in both these examples, since they\u00c2\u00a0were<\/i> written down by other people.<\/p>\n

But what is that experience like for those who are the center of these stories? Well, look no further than the eight prior seasons of\u00c2\u00a0Supernatural<\/i> for all the tears, manpain, death, destruction, and severe trauma. Is that the same case for Dorothy, whose father continued writing a series of books after her death? The events of her life were sanitized by L. Frank Baum, and it clearly irritates Dorothy. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where Charlie comes in. As a fan of the\u00c2\u00a0Wizard of Oz<\/i> series, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been inspired by Dorothy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s adventures, and then Dorothy is RIGHT THERE. IN FRONT OF HER. (And flirting with her, and you cannot fucking take that away from me, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. Holy shit, I was not imagining that! THERE WAS SO MUCH UNRESOLVED SEXUAL TENSION.) It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s strange and surreal,\u00c2\u00a0but does it mean that Charlie is disillusioned by her vision of Dorothy changing?<\/p>\n

Not necessarily. That aspect of this episode reminded me of when Sam met Colt. Sure, Colt was much different than Sam anticipated, but it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a horrible experience. It was enlightening. In Charlie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s case, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s felt a little disappointed by the visceral nature of being a hunter. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a picturesque journey to her, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s certainly nothing like the fantasy quests she grew up reading. It leaves her feeling\u00c2\u00a0lacking<\/i>, you know? And then she meets Dorothy, who is a lot grittier than she thought, but determined. That determination to save Oz is what grabs Charlie. Even though the rebellion that Dorothy describes sounds horrific, she still keeps fighting it, even when the cost of fighting was once her life. After Charlie dies (I NEARLY GAVE UP ON THIS SHOW, I WOULD HAVE BEEN FURIOUS BEYOND WORDS IF THAT STUCK), she comes to realize that she\u00c2\u00a0can<\/i> still have an adventure on her own terms.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a messy process up to that point, though. As complex as this episode was \u00e2\u20ac\u201c there were flashbacks here, too! \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it flowed\u00c2\u00a0incredibly<\/i> well. The flashbacks to the Men of Letters\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 second case ever were appropriate and illuminating, with clever references to Charlie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s desire for adventure and the use of the chess metaphor, which I find apt to describe the angel\/demon\/Winchester war. And while Charlie is coming to terms with the cost of this life, Dean is busy witnessing that same cost, and it is HORRIFYING. While I am obviously thankful\u00c2\u00a0until the end of time<\/i> that Ezekiel revived Charlie, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also clear that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m meant to feel increasingly uncomfortable about what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening to Sam. More than ever before, Sam is aware that something fucked up is happening. Hell, Charlie even calls Dean on the fact that he did something to resurrect her. How much longer is he going to keep up this facade? With every lie he tells, he digs a deeper hole for himself, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m worried that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to get to a point where a lie isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to cover the truth.<\/p>\n

Look, if Sam can reject Ezekiel once he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s aware of what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s within him, I think it would have made a lot more sense to tell him immediately and try to convince him it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a better situation then to basically turn him into a ticking time bomb. This far down the road? Sam is far less likely to accept Ezekiel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s presence after everything that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been done to him and with his body. When he does learn the truth, won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t he immediately reject Ezekiel???<\/p>\n

Obviously, this is all speculation, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m actually utterly unprepared here. I really don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know where this is going! Plus, now I know for certain that every time Dean invokes Ezekiel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s powers, he prolongs the possession of Sam, which clearly isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to make matters better. Crowley is still chained up. Kevin is off on an actual vacation, THANK THE FUCKING GODS. Where\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Castiel? What about the angels? What did Charlie find in the Men of Letters\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 computer? What about Bartholomew and Abaddon? THERE ARE TOO MANY VARIABLES, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL.<\/p>\n

I ship Charlie\/Dorothy, and you cannot stop me.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Slumber Party\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":"