vaznetti | SPN 2x11: Playthings

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SPN 2x11: Playthings

So in the very first scene, I couldn't help thinking Dean is about a billion times more of an emo bitch than Sam is, ever. Ever. And then we got the drunken Sam scene, all weepy and mopey, and no, Sam gets to keep the Emo King title. Sorry Sam! I totally take it back!

Also, mm... Daphne. That amused me, as did Dean's revenge for the "compensating" comment.

My initial impression of this one was kind of "meh"; it seemed slow in the middle, especially because it was clear early on that only Tyler was alive. Creepy, of course, because large old houses are creepy, and so are dolls. Those dolls were super-creepy. And I am just not a big horror-movie fan, so... yes. I mean, yay, the Shining! But boo, because I am easily creeped out by certain horror movie tropes.

And to be honest, I thought Sam's existential crisis seemed a little forced -- how did he get so drunk, so fast? It just didn't seem like it belonged there. It felt a little too much like fanfic, to be honest.

I did rather like the A-plot, despite being see-through and creepy, because of the way it ended -- Rose's decision to let Maggie kill her, to save her granddaughter's life, and to remain with her sister. It was nicely ambiguous: is that a happy ending? and if so, for who? You kind of get the sense the boys or someone like them will be back again in a few years to clear the place out, or rather, to clear out whatever will be built on the site. And of course, given my interests, possibly a symbolic decision. Or maybe I'm seeing connections where none exist.

Hm. I'm a little tired; maybe I'll be more coherent tomorrow. Maybe I will read all your comments and change my mind.

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My initial impression of this one was kind of "meh"

Agreed.

And to be honest, I thought Sam's existential crisis seemed a little forced -- how did he get so drunk, so fast? It just didn't seem like it belonged there. It felt a little too much like fanfic, to be honest.

Gah, agreed again! This scene felt like a collision between not so great writing and not so great acting on Jared's part. He might have been able to sell it, but he didn't. IMO

I liked various parts of the ep quite a lot, but the whole underwhelmed me.

I liked various parts of the ep quite a lot, but the whole underwhelmed me.

That's a good way of putting it -- there were some great moments, and some emelents that worked really, really well, but the whole of it didn't quite stick together as well as I'd like.

I will say, we now have canonical proof that so shrimpy and lightweight a drinker as I can drink that lummox under the table. I think Dean could drink his weight in alcohol and not be that wasted.

It's true! Although since apparently Sam was downing every kind of liquor known to man all at once, it's possible that we should cut him some slack -- what was it, whiskey, jaeger and tequila? That's not a promising combination.

I actually liked it kind of a lot. I laughed like a loon for the first fifteen minutes or so--I do love it when they bait each other in public so they can't retaliate. The tale type is pretty standard--even the house was pretty standard for the tale type--but they executed it well, I think. I thought the girl was a ghost at first, but the mother getting into the whole imaginary friend thing there for a while threw me off. And granny in the attic was such a House of Usher, Jane Eyre borrow, only sort of rethought. Not "original," but the show takes its borrowing as a point of pride, which I can get into.

There was a lot to like, but somehow it just never quite came together for me -- the individual elements were neat (the grandmother, the public baiting), but it didn't work for me as well as it should have.

I'd like to see the scripts before they're made. Wonder if there is too much being cut, or perhaps, as below, their are shoe-horning in the emo to the detriment of the storytelling on occasion. Which, since it seems to work for the emo-folk, is probably not a bad strategy for them.

I did notice, though, that Sam was beating the "Bossy Dean" drum again when he was drunk (also the "short" drum, which I thought was pretty funny.) Aside from the fact that Dean didn't want to do the job, and SAm did, and guess what they did--so who's bossy-boots?--I am wondering if that is going to be the wedge, real or imagined, that the demon uses to turn Sam.

I sometimes feel that we can be a little too picky about episodic television, which is often produced under a certain amount of pressure; then again, it's their job to create a good show.

Interesting point about Sam's resentments; he's been swallowing them down for most of the season, to keep from adding to Dean's problems, but they're still there, under the surface, waiting to be exploited.

it seemed slow in the middle, especially because it was clear early on that only Tyler was alive.

Heee. Perhaps it helps ones enjoyment if one is oblivious like me! I kept thinking, "Mama, you really should go talk to your other daughter yourself and not let Tyler relay your admonishments." Never crossed my mind that she was dead.

Ha! No, something about her pinged "ghost girl!" for me right off the bat. I would have liked to see more with the haunted dollhouse, though, because that was totally creeptastic. I mean, I would have had to watch through a blanket, but it would have been awesome.

Boy was Jared's performance in the drunk scene sucktastic. The writing was weak, but the bad, bad drunk act was what made it suck.

But OMG, the first 15 min or so was comedy GOLD.

And, yeah, could they have used MORE standard horror tropes? At least they seemed to have fun with it. Though I started to tee hee when Mom was menaced by the evil playground equipment.

But DAMN the dolls WERE just that creepy. And sadly, underutilized. I really wanted to see the sympathetic magic a bit more. And I wanted to see those damned things torched. I think the boys would have done that, really. The dollhouse and all the dolls.

Leaving them unburnt was unprofessional.

But the ambiguity of the ending was great. It was SO the choice the boys would make for each other. This "DEAN, you must kill me." stuff just won't happen. No way will Dean ever shoot him. He'd "find some other way" even if it sucked. Even if it meant both of them dying.

So it was half a GREAT episode, and the middle was dull.

Boy was Jared's performance in the drunk scene sucktastic. The writing was weak, but the bad, bad drunk act was what made it suck.

Thank you so much for saying this -- I was all, "wow, what is that? I thought Jared could act!"

And I completely agree about the dolls and (especially) the dollhouse, which was really, really scary, and should definitely have been destroyed.

The whole ending was just weird, actually, because that was not a positive outcome. Seriously. Kind of interesting, in terms of the way it might indicate that Sam and Dean don't really have good choices right now. You're right -- no way is Dean EVER going to kill Sam, but what I kind of wonder is how whatever choice he makes WILL affect Sam. It would be neat if Dean's attempts to save him are actually what tip Sam over the edge.

I thought Jared could act!

Because of the wonders of TIVO, I've caught him in a couple of other things, and he's been middle of the road solid - however, he never stretched much at all from what we see on SPN. In fact, he does a lot MORE a lot better on SPN ordinarily - particularly his emo whining.

But that drunk act was craptacular. And there was Jensen valiantly attempting to sell it from the other end, I totally pitied the guy. Especially after watching him flail and mostly be deadly boring for an entire season on Smallville opposite the horrible, horrible Kristen Kreuk. And there he was all trying and Jared was giving him THAT to work with. EEEWW. Bad bad flashbacks for me to high school drama with the hideous overacting and wrongheaded choices badness. It is horrible to be on the other end of something like that and trying to get through the scene without embarrassment. And the boys FAILED horribly there because one person being average and one SUCKING = everybody sucking.

It would be neat if Dean's attempts to save him are actually what tip Sam over the edge.

Neat from a narrative way, I agree. But not so neat in a destroying the whole show way.

That drunk scene was just painful. You're so right.

Neat from a narrative way, I agree. But not so neat in a destroying the whole show way.

Oh, fine! You and your pesky logic! Sam wouldn't go dark side permanently -- just long enough for the fans to enjoy Dean's broken look a bit. Then they'd have a big emotional reunion and everything would be fine.

Hunh. That sounds a lot like fanfic, now that I write it out like that.

Then they'd have a big emotional reunion and everything would be fine.

You should go write that.

Chop chop!

Ah-haha. Sam is forever the emo king. No one shall ever take his tiara. *g*

Hey, if the ep didn't grab you, it didn't grab you. It threw me down and made me its bitch, but I was kinda already halfway its bitch before it even aired, so it wasn't much of a fight. *g*

Reading everyone else's commentary reminded me of how much there was to like in the episode, but all in all it felt like the parts were better than the whole. I think it was a great episode for people who want to see the Dean/Sam, and totally satisfying in that respect but... that's not me.

musesfool pointed out that it was all about the EMO PORN, and for whetever reason that just wasn't enough to carry the episode for me.

I kind of hate not feeling the squee, but yeah, it just didn't grab me.

I actually thought the opposite, that the emo porn was just a moment thrown in to remind us, like the soaps do, "we had our big reveal last week, but in case you missed it, here it is again."

The humor at the beginning just killed me. And I liked the way the tone gradually moved from humor to horror. I think that the emo sort of broke the rhythm of the MoW, actually, which was kind of a shame since the only new information was that Sam is self-centered and maudlin when he's drunk.

I thought it was interesting that the parallel horror story was about two sisters, one of whom dies so that the other doesn't have to be alone in death. Subtle, not. Except that one died very young, and one died very old. So maybe Dean will be happy to die for his brother--when he's ninety and has had a stroke.

Uh, that was me just now, forgetting to sign in at lunch!

Just watched the episode, what I was interested by was the screwed up sibling relationship between Margaret and Rose. We don't know the overall circumstances surrounding Margaret's drowning, whether Rose was there, if the two of them were playing around the pool, or what. But what followed was years, possibly decades where Rose was actively warding her elder sister's spirit from the only family and home she had, to keep her from doing harm; and it ends with Rose sacrificing her life to become a spirit and neutralise Maggie, or at least to keep her happy. A subtle parallel to Dean and his promise to Sam, I think.

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SPN 2x11: Playthings

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