SPN 2x22: All Hell Breaks Loose, Part 2

[vaznetti]

Spoilers all kinds :

I was hyperventilating and clutching a pillow to my chest through pretty much the whole thing. the Crossroads Demon! the Colt! the gate to hell! What the YED needed Jake (or someone!) for!

And oh, Dean, with his belief that he failed, and his tarnished soul, and his complete dogged inability to give up. Oh, Dean. Bobby was so, so right. And when did you ever fail your father? Certainly, not at the end, when you held the gun and took your shot, and didn't miss.

And John! John coming back to save Dean's life AGAIN! And moving on, to heaven and Mary, one can only hope. (Well, unless you're me, in which case you really hope that he just reappeared somewhere else, at least for fic purposes.) But no, that's what had to happen, that was the ending he needed. And maybe that last touch to Dean will be enough for him, as well.

(And interesting, despite the "Sam is John's favorite" shtick the Demon used, and Dean believed, at the clinch, here as in IMToD, all John's attention is on Dean. That's it. Sam is on the periphery for them, again and again. I think he broke something when he left, something that never really healed for the three of them, although it bound John and Dean ever more tightly.)

I love that Dean thought he was going to keep his deal from Sam, too. And yeah, that worked out well. And I loved Sam's speech -- of course he won't let Dean die. Of course it's his job to save his brother -- what else?

I love that the show actually ended the YED plotline. That took nerve -- a lot of nerve, to wrap an arc like that up -- and yet they set up the next year beautifully, with Dean's year to live and Sam's questionable return (because the way he shot Jake? Yes, there was something wrong there.) Not to mention a couple hundred demons running loose. I also really liked Samuel Colt's churches, and his iron Devil's Trap, as a plot element. And I really, really liked that both Bobby and Ellen were alive at the end to be merchants of infodump.

(Oh, John. I realize this is me. But oh, John. Pulling himself out of hell to wrestle the Demon away from Dean, buying them all enough time -- buying Dean enough time, because in the end it all came down to Dean, doing his father's work and in the end, with that "This was for our mom, you son-of-a-bitch," speaking in his father's voice. Interesting that in the end, Sam had nothing to do with the Demon's destruction.)

I kind of wanted Jake to not be completely evil, but oh, well. better luck next year. After all, we still have Hendrickson, and with the YED out of the way, maybe the show will focus more attention there.

I will also say that if I were the YED, I would have taken the damn bullet out of the Colt before handing it to Jake. I mean, it didn't take a bullet to open the crypt, so why even take the risk? Luckily for you all, I am not in fact and evil mastermind. (And how fascinating, that the Demon had another reason for wanting the gun, all that time ago.) Interesting that YED didn't kill all of Jake's relatives -- and I wonder if that's one reason it left Dean alive, to have one thing to hold over Sam, if he were left behind. Interesting as well that the children who died earliest were those with nothing to love, like Max, or Andy's brother.

I loved the final scene between Sam and Dean, when Sam confronts Dean with what he's done. That "We just killed the Demon, can't we celebrate for a bit?" line, because no, Dean, you just sold your soul to buy your brother's life. We can't celebrate. But even more than that, I loved the reset, the look back to the premier, with the gun, and the trunk, and "We've got work to do." Here's to season three, and many after.

This probably sounds more coherent than I actually am. Typing is hard because my hands are shaking.

Oh, one last thing: we never did learn why Mary recognized the demon, did we?

Comments

[celli]

No, we never did! And I am so thrilled that there's those little threads (Mary, Hendrickson) to tug on next year, in addition to the new big plot.

*squee*

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

Speaking of our conversation the other day, I will note that as the gates to hell were opened the war began.

[dotfic.livejournal.com]

Oh God, that scene with Bobby and Dean broke me SO MUCH (and I was already broken by Dean's opening monologue...). Dean so needed to hear that. Interesting that Bobby says it there for his own good and angry/lovingly, but then the demon mocks Dean with it later ("What is it with you Winchesters?" *flails*)

all John's attention is on Dean. That's it. Sam is on the periphery for them

Which makes me sad for Sam, except this is the flip of what happened in Home.

Joooooooohhhhhnnnn! :D

Oh, they've set things up beautifully. They had a good villain this year, they actually ended him (how much did I make real, live victory arms at that?) but now they have other problems.

[phantomas.livejournal.com]

I couldn't resist and stayed up to read the spn_live comments and entries like yours as I wait ofr the first torrent to appear...I had to know if John did appear! :)
So, I'm completely spoiled now, but I think I will enjoy the episode anyway. :D

[casapazzo.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, there was something very wrong with Sam there when he shot Jake. So wrong that that's where I thought the rest of the ep was going to skew, but oh, they're saving it up. Which means much more flailing next season.

And oh, DEAN. *clutches him* John really was all eyes on him, and oh, Dean needed that so badly.

I kind of can't believe they didn't burn YED's body, Colt-bullet or no. It seems like one of those extra steps of precautions that can't hurt.

And yes, yes, yes, "We've got work to do" pilot-ep shout-out. God, I love it. I don't know what it is with my favorite shows and ending on lines about going to work ("Angel"), but it kills me. I can't wait for next season.

[hossgal.livejournal.com]

I loved the info dump a great deal less than you did, and thought the YED wrap up was a little fast -

- but then I thought - a war is on, and the boys aren't going to sit back and retire and stay out of trouble (and off the road) - they're going to be out busting ghosts and hunting rogue demons.

Which gives excellent opportunities for a) more Agent Gotcha, and b) revisiting old ghosts they've already finished, because the ghosts came back from hell. So I have decided that I *rilly* like the re-set after all.

And, of course, John. And yeah, he came back for Dean. There is a thought running about in my head that as similar as John and Sam are, John and Dean needed each other (and the family) the way Sam never did. And yet that independence was John and Dean's gift to Sam.

(I don't see Jake as completely evil, but that's a post for a different day.)

- hg

[camille-is-here.livejournal.com]

It was very odd, really. Good--I loved Bobby and Dean out in the junkyard, broken bits of Dean catching the light against the shattered glass of the wrecked cars. Just broke my heart-- until they heard movement, and then suddenly they were all business. I loved Dean telling Bobby not to tell Sam, and then rolling over the first time Sam says "don't like to me."

And I really loved the YED. Best sarcastic, gloating villain ever. And I am glad that they completed the avenging mom plot but left some apocalypse for next year.

But the whole season seemed to lead up to a big confrontation where Dean had to save his brother from turning to the dark side of the force or kill him, and all the angst of that decision never happened, though I can't fault them on the angst they dished up instead. But I sort of felt cheated out of my evil!Sammy moment.

Though he did seem pretty killy with the Jake.

[storydivagirl.livejournal.com]

It was just brilliant from beginning to end. And Jensen and Jared...Jensen with the grieving, but Jared with slipping in and out of Sammy with the creepy stuff with Jake. I'm interested to see if they explore that or if we're supposed to think it ends with the demon being dead.

But one thing that hasn't changed is how much those boys love each other.

A part of me wondered if part of the reason they wrapped up the YED was the fact that going into the last of filming they didn't know if they were going to be renwed and wanted some closure? But I like that we're done with YED itself, but the consequences will carry them into the next season.

[subtly-modded.livejournal.com]

not reading not reading not reading.

10 minutes till showtime for me!

oh god oh god oh god.

*ahem*

i just had to do something...watching the posts fly past is k.i.l.l.i.n.g. m.e.

[subtly-modded.livejournal.com]

omg omg omg.

finished watching now.

i really REALLY need someone in my time zone to watch these with.

(sorry to post twice but...i mean...i .... i'm gonna go make a response post in the newsletter now...)

Wow

[se-parsons.livejournal.com]

Why do we write fic for this show? It writes its own fic!

Half the conversations in the ep tonight were straight-up emo-porn fic stuff!

Hooray!

I can hear a million computers booting up to write post-eps and Dean/Bobby RIGHT NOW after that show. And maybe some Bobby/Ellen, because it really seemed like team-up time at the end there.

I can't believe John was there and had no lines.

John's disappearance didn't look entirely heavenly to me. There was some flickering, which is the mark of a ghost on the show and then black smoke along with the light. More like Mary when she appeared at the house, except for the smoke. I wonder what is up. Why didn't he talk? I think they're keeping John in play in case they can get JDM again.

It seemed a bit truncated, but there was so much to love. And way to use all kinds of plot elements that were introduced before, but in a whole new way!

[camille-is-here.livejournal.com]

While watching this, I did think how lucky they were that Jensen Ackles had his training in the soaps.

[ultraviolet9a.livejournal.com]

How do we know that the demon didn't lie in the Mary flashbacks? That he didn't just want to...I don't know. Create in Sam a sense of inevitability or whatever? (I do hear the pitter patter of plot bunnies feet though)

Oh my god, this episode killed me dead (of course, dead. Couldn't kill me alive. *facepalm*). I mean, they.killed.the.demon. For their mum. And JOOOOOHNNNN *flails like mad* I KNEW he'd come back.

I'm... I'm shaky and hyper and teary and I don't know what else.

[muridae-x.livejournal.com]

... unless you're me, in which case you really hope that he just reappeared somewhere else, at least for fic purposes.

I'm holding out for: the bargain he made was his life for Dean's. And then that same demon tried to kill Dean and the gates of hell were open so John was in a position to be able to pop up and remind the YED that it's just not proper to take a second swing at the target.

Maybe he'll turn up again when the RED comes to collect on her bargain with Dean? It really might depend on how carefully he worded his bargain, and whether it gave Dean more than a short term stay of execution at the beginning of season two. Perhaps that's all it was - those pesky demons haggle you down like crazy - but I'd like to think that maybe John got a little more out of the deal than the YED realised.

Sadly, I guess that the most likely protection he might have gained Dean would have been tied to that one specific demon he made the bargain with, but it's fun to speculate. And it was very nice to see John show up to see and participate in the ending of the retribution he started all those years ago.