Friday, December 23, 2011

Chuck 5x07 "...vs. the Santa Suit"

I was digging this episode up until that last minute when there's some kind of wacky baby story introduced. Really? I believe my response was "what?" laced with disdain.

Recap/review of Chuck 5x07 'Chuck versus the Santa Suit' by freshfromthe.com
Chuck steals a Santa suit, making all the children cry.
But hey, before that, it was actually a good episode! As Christmas looms, Ellie realizes that she is fully unprepared for the party she's hosting in a mere six hours. But hey, she's got a crack spy team on her side, so it should all be fixed up in a jiffy, right? Ha, please. Not while the Omen virus is currently wreaking havoc all over the place, sending everyone to the Buy More to look for answers, which no one has.

The only person who seemingly knows what the plan is for the Omen virus is currently locked in prison, apparently. But thanks to their Omen buddy, said prisoner breaks out of jail. Okay let's stop being coy about it - it's Shaw, which anyone who had seen the previews from last week would've figured out already, despite the crafty camera angles trying to keep it a secret until he arrives in Castle, to knock out Sarah with his Intersect skills. Wait a minute. Um, why have they let him keep the Intersect in his brain? I'm pretty sure they know how to get that out. They got it out of Morgan's brain, after all. That is just sloppy.

But, nonetheless, he still has it, and we find out he was using Decker as a sort of pawn, having gained some valuable blackmail intel on him thanks to that wily Intersect. It turns out there's another piece to the Omen virus that he needs, and he's going to use Sarah as a hostage to get Chuck to get it for him - something called, I believe, a Macau device. The device is currently hidden somewhere in Decker's old office at the CIA, so the crew gets Beckman to help them out. She and Chuck infiltrate and get the device (and also doing a classic "pretend to be kissing when we're caught in a compromising position!" moment).

Meanwhile, they've been having Jeff and Lester try to work out just what exactly the purpose of the Omen virus is in the first place. Where does the information go, etc. They find out, after many a coffee and Subway sandwich, that the device is only trying to get information from government computers. It's designed to send it all to one place, but it's not currently sending it anywhere. Chuck figures that this is what the Macau device is for - to gather all of the information. And why would Shaw want to gather all that info? Because he wants to upgrade his Intersect while also taking down the CIA mainframe, so that they have to start coming to him for their information.

Of course, Shaw would have Sarah believe that he's doing all of this to either A) try to get back with her or B) try to get back at her. I wonder what it could be. Yeah, he wants to make her watch while he kills Chuck. Of course, being a nefarious muahaha villain nowadays, he doesn't really remember that Chuck is rather smart and good at thinking on his feet, and this situation is no exception. He uses the Macau to reverse the Intersect upload so that it actually takes it out of Shaw's brain instead of updating it - by using the Omen virus itself. I totally called that, by the way. Kinda obvious, but whatever.

Chuck and Shaw then proceed to get fighty with it, and we see that Chuck has indeed been learning a great deal of new moves. He puts them to good use, but it's not quite enough. In the end, Ellie comes to the rescue, hitting Shaw over the head and knocking him out before he can shoot Chuck. Ellie is really stepping up to the plate lately!

In the end, the gang is able to have their Christmas shindig. Casey is able to tell Alex how he feels about her (and also put in a good word for Morgan), and Beckman joins the fun as well. But, of course, now we come to that aforementioned ridiculousness. Beckman tells Sarah that Shaw wants to talk to her. And he reminds her of a baby. We're led to believe that the baby is hers, but I'm thinking that's just a bait and switch kind of thing. But, who the heck knows. It's just so soap opera to have a SECRET BABY OMG!

Anyway, that about wraps it up. I bid you all farewell on this Christmas Eve Eve. Happy Holidays!


Choice Song: 

The Kickdrums - Love Can Drive Your Mind Wild

Quotes:

"That plan's kinda vague." - Casey

"My wife has been kidnapped, and I am officially ruining Christmas for the children of Burbank." - Chuck

Chuck: Stan Lee is a spy? That is so weird.
Beckman: Los Angeles spies...

Jeff: Water can only dilute this feeling.
Lester: Plus, fish have sex in it.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Thursday, December 22, 2011

My Favorite New Shows of 2011

It's the end of the year which, of course, means I must do some kind of best of list! Lists are what make the world go round! You can't say you don't love a good list, though you may be able to say that you don't necessarily like what's on my list below.

Because this is an entirely subjective list. Your favorite show? It just may be that I haven't seen it. I am but one person, after all, and I can't spend all my time watching TV. I'm not saying I don't spend a, um, decent amount of time doing that, BUT! Still, I haven't seen everything, so the list below is just of my personal favorite shows that debuted in 2011. That's right, the shows had to have debuted in 2011. Maybe I only just started watching Merlin and Breaking Bad this year, but alas, they have been on for some time now, so I can't include them.

In no particular order other than how they popped into my head...

Honestly, I had no idea how much I was going to really enjoy this show. It does the family-friendly scifi epic right (as in, Terra Nova could take some notes). Sure, there are some cheesy moments, and they haven't entirely figured out what to do with the youngest son, but the action is usually pretty gripping, and the mysteries set up and solved and expanded in timely and interesting ways. If you like some alien scifi, you should like this show.

 Revenge is probably the most addictive soapy show on television right now. The first few episodes were very takedown-of-the-week, but thankfully they started to divert from that formula and embraced the serialized soapy nature of the show. And the success the show is having is just proof that audiences will tune in for serialized shows - if they're good. Revenge is. If you haven't watched it, you really should get caught up over the holidays so you can join in the fun in real time when it comes back.

 To be honest, really the only reason I'm including this on here is because I am such a fan of the book series. While the show definitely does the books justice, for the most part, I do think it has a tendency to get a little too serious with itself. I'm also not sure they've found the right balance between all of the characters yet, but perhaps as it goes on, it will. I did think it was kind of ridiculous how people got all crazed about the major character death being some huge surprise when it was in the book, and completely propels everything that happens in the rest of the series. But I won't go on a rant. If you like smart fantasy, you'll probably like this.

At first, this show seemed like it could get overly cutesy-twee-quirky. Certainly that is half of the appeal of Zooey Deschanel in the first place, but you don't want to overdo it. Luckily, they seem to have found the balance. I have found myself laughing so many times in nearly every episode, you don't even know. Schmidt? Genius. The scene with Zooey and Justin Long, where they were doing the old-timey voices while getting it on? OMG. I was laughing so much. I do think the show probably appeals to girls more than guys, but regardless it's a lot of fun.

Um, what? What is this show doing on here? It fully has a recipe for disaster, and by the pilot alone it lived up to that disaster. But then the show started to clue into that dynamic of Everwood gone by that I love, and now I am hooked. Sure, it's pretty cheesy and sometimes over the top (particularly the character of Lemon... come on, tone her down), but it has a heart and some nice chemistry between the actors going for it. Just forget that Rachel Bilson is supposed to be some kind of wunderkind surgeon and you'll be okay. And, seriously, Zoe and Wade forever. Come on.

To be fair, this show absolutely pissed me off so much with its mid-season finale. And it has taken a while to find any kind of groove. But I like the set-up enough and find the mysteries intriguing enough that I will keep watching for the foreseeable future. But that does not mean I forgive them for killing off the only character that I really liked so soon. Bring him back, I say! Bring. Him. Back! (And his hipster wardrobe!)

Honestly, the original UK version of this show is arguably better. I was seriously concerned this one was not going to be able to live up to the original in any way, but it turns out I was happily wrong. I do think one of the characters was miscast, but perhaps this particular person will get better over time? One can hope. What I liked about this version was that it used some of the same storylines from the original, but it tweaked them in interesting ways, and moved at a faster pace. It will be interesting to see how it continues to follow, or not follow, the original. By far one of the better series Scifi, excuse me, Syfy, has put out recently. Sorry, Alphas, but I find you extra boring.

Honorable Mentions: Grimm, Suits, Fairly Legal, 2 Broke Girls

Did I miss your favorite? Any shows you think I should be watching that I'm not? What are your favorites? Let me know in the comments! 

Friday, December 16, 2011

Chuck 5x06 "...vs. the Curse"

In case you've forgotten, as of the last episode, Chuck and company are in possession of a device called The Omen - a computer virus that will basically wipe out everything, apparently. They were going to be framed for stealing it by Decker, but Verbanski killed him. Nonetheless, the CIA is now holding them responsible and are sending people to take them in. Uh oh!

Luckily, Beckman is able to give them a coded message to get the heck out of there before they're caught, which they do. Chuck gets to mope around about how he's worried he's the next in line to inherit a Bartowski curse. That is, leaving one's family in order to protect them from your crazy spy life. And even though at this point he and Sarah really should go into hiding at least for a little bit, their plans are about to be thwarted once more. When do plans ever really go well, anyway?

Recap/review of Chuck 5x06 'Chuck versus the Curse' by freshfromthe.com
Awesome shirtless? Yes, please!
You see, Ellie and Awesome had planned to have a swanky night out together for the first time in a while. Ellie used Chuck's open table account to reserve a table, so they have been mistaken as the Bartowskis. At first there's a fun little bit where they think they're both pretending to be spies to spice up their mini vacay, but soon enough they've been taken by Robin Cunnings (played by guest star Rebecca Romijn), who wants to use them as leverage against Chuck to get him to turn over The Omen device to her.

Robin and company pretend for Ellie and Awesome that they're really just waiting for Chuck to get there, but Ellie is no dummy. She can tell that they're going to be used as some kind of leverage and manages to knock out a dude so she and Devon can escape. Of course, Chuck has already agreed to bring The Omen device to save them, behind the backs of Sarah, Beckman and Casey, even though they would've totally agreed to do that too.

When Chuck shows up, he ends up getting tied up until he'll confess where he's hidden the device. Meanwhile, the escaped Ellie and Devon are devising a plan to save him, since his plan to save them sort of backfired a little bit. But the Woodcombs are not the Bartowskis, and Devon gets himself caught. Chuck gives up the location of The Omen in order to spare Devon some torture, and Robin unleashes it on the world.

With that done, she decides that she doesn't need Captain Awesome anymore. Come on, Robin, couldn't you use him for his handsomeness and amazing body alone? Have some imagination! Nonetheless, before she can do anything to his pretty face, Sarah and the others come to the rescue, even though Sarah is pissed at Chuck for leaving her. They manage to capture Robin, but don't find out much about why she was tasked with unleashing The Omen, or who told her to do it. All they know is that it's already started to cause havoc all over the world, apparently unlocking a door to some bad guy's cell in the process. Dun dun dun!

While all of this was going on, Morgan and Alex were reconnecting a little bit. Morgan was sent back to his and Casey's place to wipe out his computers, only Alex was there. Yada yada, some sort of useless bit about an apparent box of personal affects that he and Chuck both made that has never before been mentioned, and was clearly only used to make some jokes about pants. Anyway, these two will likely reconcile soon.

Choice Song:

Theophilus London - All Around the World

Memphis - I Want the Lights on After Dark

Quotes:

"Did you just compliment me? And insult me?" - Morgan

"There's one thing I can't live without. My pants." - Chuck, actually talking about his P.A.N.T.S.

"This is where we come on our darkest hours. Iran Contra. Nicaragua. The Clinton years." - Casey

Previous Episode --- Next Episode

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Homemade Hot Cocoa with Homemade Marshmallows

Amidst these wintry holiday times, nothing is better than a cup of hot chocolate and some marshmallows. Hot chocolate/cocoa/whatever you like to call it is really not complete without marshmallows in my opinion.

Homemade Hot Cocoa with Homemade Marshmallows by freshfromthe.com

Side note: did you know that hot cocoa and hot chocolate are apparently two different things? When you see hot cocoa on a menu, it means it comes from a mix, like the one I'll be showing you below. When you see hot chocolate, however, it means that chocolate bits are melted on a stove. At least, that's what it is supposed to mean. Whether restaurants actually follow this, I must assume largely unknown, rule is another question.

Back to the task at hand! If you're feeling fancy, you can make your own hot cocoa mix AND your own homemade marshmallows! What! Yes, it's true. This is a great idea for a little gift, as well. Because let me tell you something, homemade marshmallows are about eleventy-billion times better than store bought. Just the facts, Jack.


Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

Ingredients
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 cup cocoa powder
  • 2 1/2 cups powdered milk
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1 pinch cayenne pepper, more to taste
Cooking Directions
  1. Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl and incorporate evenly (easiest with a whisk). Fill about half your cup with the mix and add in hot water to the rest, stirring to combine. The rest can be sealed in an airtight container in your pantry for future use.


Homemade Marshmallows

Ingredients
  • ~1 cup powdered sugar
  • 3 1/2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
  • 1 cup cold water, divided
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large egg whites
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Cooking Directions
  1. Oil bottom and sides of a 9x13 pan, and dust it with powdered sugar.
  2. In your mixing bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water and let soften up.
  3. In a medium-sized heavy saucepan, cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, second 1/2 cup of cold water, and salt over low heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved (use a non-stick or wooden spoon). Increase heat to moderate and boil mixture, without stirring, for about 12 minutes. If you have a candy or digital thermometer, it should be at 240F. Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until the gelatin has dissolved.
  4. Beat the mixture on high speed until white, thick and nearly tripled in volume. If you're using a standing mixer, make sure you use the whisk-type attachment. It needs to get some air beaten in there. This should take approximately 6 minutes with a standing mixture, but can take longer if you're using a handheld one.
  5. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they just hold stiff peaks. Beat the whites and vanilla into the sugar mixture until just combined. Pour mixture into baking pan. Sift 1/4 cup powdered sugar evenly over top. Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least three hours.
  6. Run a thin knife around edge of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. You're going to have to use your hands to loosen it and get it out, because it will stick. With a large knife, or pizza cutter, cut the marshmallows into roughly one-inch cubes. Sift remaining powdered sugar into your pan and roll the marshmallows through it, on all six sides, before shaking off the excess and storing them.
  7. They can keep for 1 week at room temperature, but it's totally fine to put them in the fridge too.
Recipe via Smitten Kitchen

In photos:

That's all them there hot cocoa mix ingredients ready to get mixed up.

Well hey, now it looks like cocoa mix! What in the world are we doing here? Oh right, making hot cocoa mix.

Now that your mix is ready, start working on the marshmallows. First you need to prepare your pan with some oil and powdered sugar.

Add 3 1/2 packets of gelatin to 1/2 cup cold water to get it softened up while you do the next thing.

Which is mixing together sugar, corn syrup, salt and another 1/2 cup cold water.

Now you've got to let this start to boil for awhile. Twelve minutes is about right. If you have a thermometer and want to be precise, it should be at 240F. But I don't have one, and it turned out fine.

Mix that in with the gelatin. The gelatin may have started to get a tad hard, but don't worry, the heat from the sugar stuff will dissolve it, just keep mixing.

While you start the sugar stuff to mixing, in a separate bowl, get your egg whites all fluffified. And don't take slightly blurry photos like me. Whoops.

Oh my goodness! Look what has happened to the stuff in the mixing bowl! This is after about six minutes. I initially had the paddle attachment instead of the whisk, and nothing was happening. Then I switched in the whisk and whoosh! The thing starts tripling in size and turning white! Amazing!

After you add in your egg whites and vanilla (I did not bother taking a photo as it looks basically the same), pour it into the prepared pan from earlier.

Sprinkle some more powdered sugar on there. Sugar sugar sugar, this is all about sugar!

Put it in the fridge for at least three hours to let it set up. When that's done, take a knife and go around the edges. You can try just turning it over onto the cutting board, but it's likely not going to just plop out. Use your hands and pull it away from the bottom! Hands! Use them! Once you've got it on the cutting board, you can use a knife, or use a pizza cutter and start cutting them into squares.

Homemade Hot Cocoa with Homemade Marshmallows by freshfromthe.com
Roll around the marshmallows in some more powdered sugar and voila! Ready to consume! These will stay fresh for a week out and about, but you can stick them back in the fridge for longer.

Homemade Hot Cocoa with Homemade Marshmallows by freshfromthe.com
Now that you've got your marshmallows ready, heat up some water and get to mixing up some hot cocoa! Generally you can fill up your cup about 1/3-1/2 of the way with hot cocoa mix, depending on how you like it. Stir stir stir.

Homemade Hot Cocoa with Homemade Marshmallows by freshfromthe.com
Plop in some of your marshmallows and - voila! Fancy. Ignore that little sugar bit on that one marshmallow and pretend it looks fabulous and amazing. Because it will at least taste that way. The marshmallows really are quite delicious and make the hot cocoa all the better.

Happy Holidays!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Chuck 5x05 "...vs. the Hack Off"

Confession time: my favorite part of this episode was the cameo by Danny Pudi as a fake Nerd Herder with a double sneak attack cameo from Yvette Nicole Brown as another Buy More employee. Gotta love it. And seriously, a PSA for any of you who don't watch Community - you should. It's awesomesauce.
Recap/review of Chuck 5x05 'Chuck versus the Hack Off' by freshfromthe.com
Danny Pudi "joins" the Nerd Herd

Okay! Moving on. As of the last episode, both Casey and Lester were arrested - Casey for killing a bunch of dudes, and Lester for attempting to poison Jeff. Now they're both in the same prison. While Lester could get out easily by just promising Jeff he won't poison him, Casey isn't quite so lucky. The only way he's getting out is through Chuck and Sarah. They want to break him out, but he doesn't want to be a fugitive. Enter another option - Decker. Yep, the nefarious Decker has a proposition for them - they get this superpowered virus called The Omen, and he'll get Casey out of jail.

But without Casey there to help, Chuck and Sarah need some other backup, which comes in the form of Verbanski, who doesn't want to see Casey rot in prison any more than the rest of the gang. They track down the creator of the virus, Colin Davis, to a naked cult commune. He's got the virus on a chip that he swallows before they can get it away from him.

After getting the chip out of Colin, the next phase of the plan is getting some sort of device that the chip goes in that is at Colin's old workplace, I guess. Honestly, I was barely paying attention to the spy stuff, which is becoming a bit common lately. When they said this special virus could take out all the computers in the world, or some such, I was like "oh here we go, another doomsday device!" It's always some crazy, never-before-seen device that will RUIN. EVERYTHING! Dun dun dun.

Anyway! In what was my second favorite part of the episode, Chuck had to go in as a hacker to a place called The Collective, where he got to demonstrate his awesome computer hacking skills that we don't get to see enough of, and only seem to be around when the plot is convenient for them. He busts out his chardonnay and goes to town in a hack off. While another hacker races to beat him to cracking the Federal Reserve, Chuck is secretly breaking into the system of the building itself to get Verbanski and Sarah into the mainframe room and steal the doohickey that goes with the virus thingamajig. Because you can't have your thingamajig without your doohickey.

When they meet up with Decker later to give him all the technological mumbo jumbo, though, it turns out he was framing them. He had it on tape that Chuck had the Omen virus, and when he showed that to the FBI, Chuck would become the most wanted man in America. Luckily for Chuck and Sarah, however, they still had Verbanski with them. She did some slight of hand and got the thingy back while also placing a bomb on Decker. Boom goes the bomb, and bye bye goes Decker. Guess he's not the villain of the season after all!

But now Chuck and Sarah must figure out what's going on with the virus and blah de blah. Some sort of potentially life-threatening situation, I'm sure. Verbanski, having just realized she has true feelings for Casey, of course now has to make herself scarce for a while after killing Decker, so they can't get together. For now, anyway. Since Decker won't be getting Casey out of prison now, Morgan steps up to help him escape.

Meanwhile, Morgan and Jeff were determined to get Lester back in the right headspace, since he was clearly having it way too easy in prison (he managed to wire in cable and internet for the prisoners, after all). They hired someone to make it look like they were replacing him, and bada bing - Lester promised to not poison Jeff again. What would the Buy More be without it's Jeffster, after all?

Choice Songs:

Teddybears - Get Fresh With You

Blitzen Trapper - Love the Way You Walk Away

Quotes:

Lester: Okay, I admit it, I tried to poison you to keep you subordinate. What is the big deal?
Jeff: I could've died.
Lester: But you didn't!

"I'm gonna look like a Hin-Jew Michelangelo by the time I get out of here." - Lester

"We used to call this routine: The Routine." - Morgan

Morgan: You'd shoot me?
Verbanski: I'd beat you over the head with it.

"Imagine David Beckham. Lester is a shorter, feminine version of his wife." - Morgan

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Monday, December 5, 2011

Cream Biscuits

Did you know - it's getting cold outside. Which means my apartment is crazy cold inside. Luckily I live in Los Angeles, so my cold here is, you know, skewed, compared to the rest of the country.

As in, there is no way I could survive on a space heater alone if I were living somewhere else. I just don't trust those gas wall heaters that we have going on down here. If you've ever lived in an apartment in LA, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. They're shifty. Not to be trusted. Or maybe I just grew up with central heat and don't get it.

Something I do get? Biscuits. Biscuits are great, but especially so when it's cold out and you want some buttery and flakey goodness.

Cream Biscuits by freshfromthe.com

These particular biscuits require cream. So you know I only made them because I had leftover cream from some other recipe hanging around, begging to be used before stinking up my fridge. Nobody likes a stinky fridge.

The best part about biscuits? You can freeze them before you bake them, so you can have fresh biscuits any old time. Brilliant.

Cream Biscuits
(via Smitten Kitchen)

3 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the surface
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Melt butter and set aside. Sift two cups flour, the baking powder, salt and sugar into a large bowl. Fold in 1 1/4 cups cream. If the dough is not soft or easily handled, fold in the remaining 1/4 cup cream, little by little.

Turn dough onto a floured surface, mound it into a ball and, using your hands, press it to a thickness of about 3/4 inch. Cut into rounds, about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Gather the dough scraps and continue to make rounds. Brush the top of each round with melted butter and arrange on the baking sheet. Bake until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve immediately, or flash freeze for future use. (They can be baked straight from the freezer, you just need to add some more baking time, usually around 3 to 5 minutes.)

In photos:


Sifting flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. 


After adding in the cream and kneading it.


I used a larger biscuit cutter than I meant to, so I didn't get as many. I also froze a couple before this step, which is brushing on the butter.

Cream Biscuits by freshfromthe.com

Mine did not brown a whole lot, but I didn't want to overcook.

Cream Biscuits by freshfromthe.com

Slice, butter, enjoy! You can also use jam, of course. But I accidentally broke my jam jar trying to get it open, sending glass shards and rogue jam everywhere. It's true. I don't know my own strength, apparently.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Supernatural 7x10 "Death's Door"

Oh man. I think I need to take a second to process. Though I've always liked Bobby, I've never really been one wringing my hands, fearing he might die. But tonight I suddenly didn't want him to. And that is entirely courtesy of a great performance from Jim Beaver. I could probably wax on about it all, but instead I'm going to get into the recap.

In case you don't recall, the last episode left Bobby with a hole in his noggin courtesy of head Leviathan Dick. We pick up right where it left off, with the boys rushing him to the nearest trauma center. While the doctors go to work and the boys go to fretting, Bobby is in his noggin, working through the good, the bad and the bloody memories of his life.

These initial memories include a scene from the last episode with Sam and Dean, a flirty bedroom scene with his wife Karen before she got possessed, and working on a hunt with Rufus. Soon enough, a Reaper appears and tells Bobby that it's his time to go. But Bobby knows he has something to tell the boys - something he found out in Dick's office last episode - before he would feel okay doing so. That something turns out to be a number, though I honestly have not a clue what the number means. Are we supposed to know? Is that a mystery the boys will have to solve? Guess we'll find out.

Luckily for Bobby, he's a hunter, so he's able to get dream-vision Rufus on his side in figuring out how to not cross over to the other side in a kind of convenient memory where Rufus just happened to have told him that he went through something similar. Perhaps it's not altogether too convenient, maybe it was just Bobby's unconscious latching on to it. Wow I thought about that too much. Anyway, Rufus informs Bobby that the way out is through - he has to go through his worst memories to get back to life.

Not sure what that might be, he goes to the first one that comes to mind. The night when he apparently told Karen that he didn't want to have kids, which broke her heart. We find out that she was possessed three days later, which was not enough time for them to get through that and for Bobby to realize he would actually make a great dad. Alas, it was not meant to be. But this memory was not the one he needed to get back.

Back in the real world, the doctors are fairly grim about Bobby's chances of pulling through. A representative of some kind even has the nerve to ask Dean about the possibility of organ donation. Dean being Dean, he punches a glass directory in anger. Distraught, he heads outside to find Dick smugly waiting in his town car. Dean gives him a verbal lashing, but anything more than that is out of the question for now with so many onlookers. Of course, while Dean is not ready at all to accept the fact that Bobby might die, Sam tries to ease him into the idea. Not so successfully. You'd think he'd learn by now.

Back in Bobby's head, he's decided that since he doesn't know what memory will take him out, he's got to work some mojo on the Reaper to give himself some more time. Because that time is definitely running out. Stuff has started disappearing in this world-between-worlds, and it's because Bobby either needs to cross over or he'll get stuck in between and become an angry spirit someday. While he temporarily traps the Reaper, though, he also manages to figure out what memory is the right one.

It's one from his childhood. We saw a brief scene earlier with his parents - the meek mom and abusive dad that was hinted at not so long ago. But this time we get to see the whole thing. When Bobby's dad starts to abuse his mom, our time Bobby tells him the what for, that he was afraid to have his own kids because he didn't want to turn out like him, but he ended up adopting two boys anyway, and they turned out to be heroes. Awww. We also find out that apparently little Bobby shot his dad in the head, in the same spot that Bobby was just shot in the head! That was a cool bit of symmetry.

Recap/review of Supernatural 7x10 "Death's Door" by freshfromthe.com
Idjits. Weep.
Back in the real world, the doctors think that Bobby's brain has stopped swelling enough that they can operate, so they tell Sam and Dean now would be the time to go in and see him. Of course, this just happens to be when Bobby manages to wake himself up enough to scrawl the important number on Sam's palm and call the boys idjits before flatlining. Bobby!

In his brain, he spends one last good memory with the boys before the Reaper comes calling again. Time to make a choice. Go? Or stay? And.... fade to black! Damn it, I knew it!

What do you think? Is Bobby going to the great white yonder, or will he miraculously pull through? Honestly this felt like a love story goodbye to him, so I would kind of be surprised if he lived. But who knows. I DO know, however, that the preview for the January 6th return (yes, we're on hellatus!) looked pretty awesome.

Random Thoughts:

- I said to myself "his life is flashing before his eyes" and then someone said it out loud on the show and it made me feel smart and cool like a dork.

- The scene with Bobby playing catch with little Dean - awesome. I especially liked the follow up phone call he had with John. Aww.

- Idjits is Bobby's way of saying I love you, and it made me want to weep.

- Chuck Norris vs. Jet Li ... who would win in your book?

- That entire bickering segment with Dean and Sam at the end before they disappeared warmed my heart so much.

- What in the world does the number mean? I think it was 454895? Did Bobby get to write the whole number on Sam's hand or did I add an extra 5 on the end in my head?

- Did you guys see the video Jared and Jensen did thanking everyone for voting in the People's Choice Awards? No? GO WATCH IT.

Quotes:

"What, you were expecting Farrah Fawcett?" - Karen
"No, she always calls first." - Bobby

"Mother Mary, I've got a messed up fruitcake." - Bobby

"You got the only case of genetic bullet in the brain I've ever seen." - Reaper

"Idjits..." - Bobby :(

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