SYTYCD S9: LA Auditions

Is this the first time we've ever had a two hour audition episode that took place in just one city? I was kind of blown away about that. Really? Necessary? Granted, there were a lot of good auditions, but I have to be honest, I think this show really gets going once it gets to Vegas. Making these auditions go for three weeks before we even get there is already wearing me out.

What I will say, though, is that thankfully there didn't seem to be any fame whores showcased in these two hours in LA, which one could argue is probably one of the more fame whorish towns around. So, either bravo to the city for being classy, or bravo to the producers for making it classy. Either way, thanks.

Anyway! I'm just going to briefly touch on the contestants that didn't make it through to Vegas, but that were given a lot of screentime regardless. First we've got our second waacker on the show, Jontel "Johnny Waacks" Gibson, whose waacking (am I spelling this right?) was fine, but not as good as Princess Lockeroo from last season. Caley Carr was the surfer hipster mustache tapper dude (interjection - I hate hipster mustaches. the end.) whose tapping was pretty good, but could not handle the choreography. David Matz, the circus performer with the seer (?) wheel. Beautiful performance with the wheel, but also couldn't hack the choreo. And, finally, the Italian dude from seasons past, Jonathan Anzalone, or as I like to call him, the Joey Lawrence lookalike. While not as cocky as before, he definitely was still confident, but not good enough to make it past choreography.

Okay, now that we're done with those people, let's move on. I'll tell you my two personal favorites of the night: Eliana Girard and Cole Horibe. Eliana is an aerialist who has some LEGSLEGSLEGS, and I have to say I loved her entire performance. If she can do other styles as well, I think she's top 20 material. Cole Horibe was the martial art influenced dancer of whom I wrote: "strength power control intensity." Those are a lot of good descriptors. The best, however, was after he listed off all the styles he's studied. Guest judge Jesse Tyler Ferguson said, "Such an overachiever," and his response was "I'm Asian." HA. Love it.

Other highlights of the evening included the brother/sister duo of Marshea Kidd and Jasmine Mason, the survivors of a horrific car accident just six weeks before the auditions. They both made it through to Vegas, though I have to say personally I thought Jasmine's dancing was better. But hell, the dude was pronounced dead at the scene and was actually not dead, so major props for being able to dance so well so soon after such an ordeal. I also enjoyed Megan Branch, who had a cool jazz style about her. And here's the difference between her and someone like Sam Lenarz, whose dancing was fine but just got her to choreography at first... on the surface, they seem sort of similar. Little blonde things who have good lines and whatnot. But why did Megan get a ticket straight to Vegas while Sam didn't? She just had that extra oomph, the extra emotional connection. It really makes a difference.

Alexa Anderson had my favorite music of the night, and was a repeat from last year, having almost made it into the top 20. The song in question was either a remix or a cover of The Naked and Famous song Young Blood. I'm gonna have to find that because I really liked it. Edit: It's this one by White Sea.

And the last dancer to be featured was Stephen Jacobson, a rare case of someone given a second chance after performing an absolutely horrendous initial number that was nowhere near the ballet he said he was trained in. Turns out, he was actually good after they let him try again.

Finally, a special shout out to the hilarious ninja twin duo Nick and James Aragon. I often don't like the overblown theatrics on this show, but they really made me laugh, and are actually good dancers too. Alas, they're over the age limit. Oh well, I enjoyed them anyway.

But seriously. Is it Vegas week yet?

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Deep Dark Mocha Cupcakes

Confession time: I don't like coffee. You might even say that I dislike it. Chai tea? That's something I can get behind. But coffee? No thanks. Double no thanks.

But here's the thing, a lot of people do like coffee. You know, most people, it seems. So when I got this fun package from Joy the Baker as part of her Enjoy program, with a recipe for Deep Dark Mocha Cupcakes included, I figured I had to try it out.

It helped that I was taking them for a work thing, so even if I didn't like them, it would be okay, because surely everyone at work would.

Cut to me, liking them. Liking them more with each bite. Unheard of! They have coffee in them! What is becoming of the world that I like something with coffee in it?!

Even more unheard of? The cocoa I used was dark chocolate, and I don't even like dark chocolate! What is wrong with me? I guess the point is: the cupcakes are just dang good. And if you like dark chocolate and coffee?

You'll be in heaven.

Deep Dark Mocha Cupcakes

Ingredients

• FOR THE CUPCAKES:
• 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• FOR THE COFFEE BUTTERCREAM:
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 3 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons hot water
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside for later. In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and set aside for a moment. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, being careful not to over-mix.
2. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups and place in the oven for 20-24 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cup comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then place on a wire rack until completely cool before topping with coffee buttercream.
3. With an electric mixer, beat the butter and one third of the sugar until thick and incorporated. In a small bowl, stir together the vanilla, hot water and espresso powder. Stir until powder is dissolved. Add the remaining sugar and espresso mixture to the bowl. Beat on medium speed until smooth and slightly fluffy. Spread on the cooled cupcakes and top with sprinkles!

In photos:

Whisk together the dry ingredients. Try not to spill over the side like me.

After the wet ingredients are added to the dry. I forgot to take a picture of just the wet. Whoops!

Spoon into your cupcake liners.

Funny how they seem to go from small on the left to big on the right.

Mix the butter and 1/3 of the sugar - aka 1 cup.

Mix in the rest of the sugar and the espresso mixture. Coffee buttercream!

Frost those babies.

Sprinkle with sprinkles! Totally not necessary, but totally cute.

If this happens to one, don't worry, that just means it's for you!

SYTYCD S9: NYC & Dallas Auditions

Well look at that, we're back for another season of So You Think You Can Dance! I would like to start off this recap with a quote that I think encapsulates why I like to watch this show, courtesy of Lil C:

"I love, love, love talent. But what I love more than talent is when talent meets skill. It leaves me spellbound."

Exactly. I think anyone who works in a creative capacity can have an appreciation for that. But okay, let's get to the meat and potatoes of this thing: the dancing of it all! Now, I'm just going to come out and say it straight off... I'm not a huge fan of the audition shows. They're bloated with filler and feature people who do should not be featured. What bothers me about featuring such people is that is exactly what they want! Like one dude, who shall remain nameless because I'm not going to give him the satisfaction, whose goal was "to be a celebrity." Really? Ugh.

Okay, now that I've got that off my chest, let's head into hour 1 of the premiere, which kicked off in New York City. Nigel and Mary were joined by Tyce Diorio for these auditions. The two dancers from this hour that stood out for me were Shafeek Westbrook and Chehon Wespi-Tschopp. Shafeek was the breaker/flipper who had an awesome smoothness to his work that you don't necessarily see very often in the more hip hop type dancers. He was great, and as such was sent straight through to Vegas. Chehon was the Swiss ballet dancer who was beautiful in more ways than one. Shut up, you know it's true, even Mary gave him a prolonged hug after his audition. He was strong and not obviously just a ballet dancer, and if he can do the other styles I think he could go far.

A lot of people will probably give props to Leo Reyes, but I get a little annoyed with obvious emotional blackmail. Look, I get it. There's a story there, but I felt like the story was played up more than actual dancing. We'll see how long he lasts in Vegas. Also played up was Amelia Lowe, the '20s style girl that everyone seemed to love and I just kind of thought was more of the same contemporary stuff we've seen. but heck, what do I know?

Moving on to Dallas, Nigel and Mary were joined by Lil C, and I thought this hour was much more entertaining than the first. True, I love Lil C, but that's not the only reason why. There were two guys here that really impressed me as well, and also one woman too. Gotta give props to the lady since hardly any ladies got individual showtime this week. The lady in question is Bree Hafen, an "older" dancer with a couple kids, but hey, she can dance. And despite the obvious emotional blackmail here too, at least I felt like I could see that she could dance.

The two guys that really impressed me were Stepheon Stewart and Hampton Williams. Stepheon was the creepster zombie guy who could seriously do some really terrible things with his voice and eyes and weird smile, but he also displayed some serious skills. And this just goes to show you what a great audition means, because he went straight through to Vegas, which doesn't always happen for the more pop lockin' types. Another prime example is Hampton. Because damn. You hear his spiel about exorcising stuff from you through his dancing and think oh man, what am I in for, and then you see it, and yeah. Yeah. I got chills. His music choice was so unexpected, but in a good way, and they actually let him go through the whole song, which never happens. That's how riveted everyone was. Whether he goes very far in Vegas, I don't know, but it was great nonetheless.

There was also Jarell Rochelle, another contemporary dancer that was, you know, good, and had good emotional weight to his dancing, and Daniel Baker, the Aussie ballet dancer, who was also, you know, good. Whether they will be memorable later on? Remains to be seen.

What about you guys? Are you excited for another season, or are you waiting to reserve judgment until the top 20?

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Pumpkin Ice Cream

I know, I know. I've been doing a lot of ice cream recipes on here lately. What can I say, once I start trying something new that I love, I just keep on doing it. This is totally human behavior, yes? Yes.

That being said, I know that when it comes to making your own ice cream, until recently I was one of the many people who did not own an ice cream maker. Now that I do, of course, it makes things easier, but I don't want to exclude everyone who doesn't own one. And guess what! You don't need one to make this ice cream. Technically it's not really the same as traditional ice cream, per se, since it doesn't have eggs and does not require you to cook anything, but it still tastes like ice cream, so that's gotta count.

Also? It's just ridiculously easy, and modifiable. You could totally add in stuff like graham crackers or nutella or chocolate chips before you freeze it, though I went for au natural this first time.

Pumpkin Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 pint (2 cups) heavy whipping cream

Cooking Directions

1. Stir together the milk, vanilla, condensed milk, pumpkin puree, spices and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside for now.
2. Beat the heavy cream in a large bowl with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Fold the milk mixture into the whipped cream.
3. Pour in a shallow 2-quart dish, cover and freeze for 2 hours. Stir after those 2 hours and mix up the slightly hardened edges. Freeze for another 2 hours or until it's frozen. That'll just depend on your freezer and how shallow your container is.

Recipe via Tasty Kitchen

In photos:

The pumpkin/milk mixture.

The whipped cream. Isn't it amazing how this works?

Fold the pumpkin/milk mixture into the whipped cream. It'll be a light orange color.

Put it in a freezer-safe 2 quart container. Mine is probably less shallow than the recipe would like you to use and took much longer than 4 hours to completely freeze.

After it's frozen, scoop and enjoy!

Yummy!

Supernatural 7x23 "Survival of the Fittest"

Finale time! And my, what a finale. Can you imagine the rage there would've been if they had, for some reason, not been picked up? It would've been epic, so very epic. But we all know that the show is coming back for season eight, and possibly more, and also moving to Wednesday nights. Tonight's episode was the last one written by Sera Gamble, who has been with the show from season one, and running it these past two.

Sam, you know you want a sandwich.

But let's get to the business of the finale itself. In the last episode, Crowley found himself devil's trapped by Dick Roman. We pick up there, with Dick working a deal with Crowley in order to screw over the Winchesters by giving them another demon's blood instead of his own. So, you know, their blood/bone concoction wouldn't work to actually kill Dick after all. He offered the entirety of Canada for the demon's taking, and for now it appeared that Crowley had agreed to the terms, even bringing out an eight foot long written contract to seal the deal. Of course, Crowley always has something up his sleeve, so we know this can't be all there is to it.

Meanwhile, Sam and Dean are on the search for the bone of a righteous person. Dean apparently had the idea to go looking for a dead nun's bone, and you must admit, that's a pretty good idea. So they get the bone of one Sister Mary Constant. Now it's just time for the blood of the demon king. They summon Crowley... only he doesn't show up, still being lassoed by Dick and all. But who does show up? Meg, followed shortly by Cas. Now, color me a little bit confused about why Cas decided to show up at this point. Just for funsies? I guess we're supposed to believe that he's just sort of been doing that randomly of late, but if he really did not want to be involved in any of this stuff like he said, then he could've just stayed away. Subconsciously he wanted to help? Maybe.

You know, just mixing blood, like one does.

In any event, while Meg and Cas are still both around, Crowley pops in. He'd like nothing more than to go medieval on Cas, but once he realizes that Cas is a bit loony tunes, decides it wouldn't be any fun. Instead, he hands over his blood to the boys, after telling them that the reason he was late in the first place was thanks to their friend Dick. They're less inclined to believe him when he says that this is his actual blood and not the fake stuff Dick wanted to give him, but are there many other options at the moment? Not really. He promises to catch up with both Cas and Meg later, because he's still got that grudge with Meg and all.

So the brothers prepare the bone and blood with the final ingredient, and it's not doing any sort of lightning magic to indicate it's for real, but what other choice do they have? Dean tries to get Cas to agree to help them out, since Crowley basically insinuated they'd need his help to take on Dick, but Cas would rather play board games. Meg points out that, duh, he can help because he once had all of the Leviathan inside him. Which means he can tell who is who. Because, oh yeah, it turns out that Dick? Has made a bunch of copies of himself, thanks to a bit of the real Dick's arm he kept. So, on their own, they can't tell which Dick is which. But can they convince Cas to help them? Or should I say, can Dean convince Cas to help them? Because obviously it would have to be Dean.

I'm in love with this leather jacket.

Anyway, while all of that was going on, Ghost Bobby was off possessing a poor woman's body to try to take down Dick on his own. I'm not sure what he thought his plan was, but when you're going full on vengeful spirit, I suppose you don't have one. The boys spot him inside the woman and Sam confronts him. He goes so far as to start choking out Sam, then comes to his senses and asks the boys to finally burn the damn flask, admitting he should never have stayed behind in the first place.

Now that that point is settled, back to the task at hand. Dean manages to convince Cas to help them, since he was sort of the one who started the whole mess to begin with and all. Meg comes along for the ride, but ends up getting yanked by a couple of demons, who are planning to take her to Crowley. Inside, Sam tracks down Kevin, who has still been trapped inside this whole time, and has been privy to some disturbing information. Namely, the Leviathan are creating a creamer that will basically kill off anyone thin, short, hemophiliac, and/or smart. They've got to blow up the labs!

It doesn't really matter, though, because Cas and Dean have tracked down the real Dick. They do a little fake out stabbing before doing a real stabbing with the blood bone straight through ole Dick's neck. And it's working! He starts kind of pulsating this translucent aura until SPLOOSH. Gone. But... but wait. He's not the only one gone! Dean and Cas are both gone too!

And that's when Crowley shows up, to basically gloat to Sam about how that was his plan all along, to get Dick out of the way and take control and such. Because that's just what Crowley does. He snatches up Kevin, which leaves Sam well and truly alone, with no idea where his brother's gone or what to do about it. Gulp.

Just where have Dean and Cas gone? It turns out - to purgatory. Because that's where Dick would go when he was killed, where all of the monsters go when they're killed. Cas states the obvious in that they need to get out of there quick, but doesn't offer any ideas in how to do so, instead leaving Dean alone standing in the middle of a forest with some red-eyed monsters surrounding him. Um, Cas? What!

Cliffhanged!

Random Thoughts:

- Bobby's second death was kind of anti-climactic. What was the point of bringing him back in the first place to just end it like that? I actually saw an interview with Jared where he said something about not wanting to annoy the audiences by making death trivial, which is something I believe I complained about not so long ago! It was also an interesting choice to not show him burn up at all, to just focus on the flask. Was that a creative decision, a monetary one? To make us wonder if he's really actually for realsies gone gone gone?

- Is one actually still alive when in Purgatory? Does Dean have a limited amount of time to get out, or...? I guess I'm not clear on the rules of Purgatory, which is obviously the point. I actually think this is kind of a cool development, though I suspect it will be solved too easily come next season, 'cause that's kinda how they do things sometimes.

- Do dead ghosts go to purgatory, or is it only monsters? I think maybe they said it was only monsters at some point, so maybe I just answered my own question. Will we be seeing any old baddies come next season, though? Will it pick up right where it left off, or will some time have passed? All things to ponder over the break.

- The Impala is back! I know, I know, I didn't really mention it in my recap, but Dean brought back his baby to make a grand entrance at Sucrocorp, since Dick already knew they were coming. And he let Meg drive it. A demon driving the Impala, John must surely be rolling over in his figurative grave.

Quotes:

Dean: Dude, on my car, he showed up naked, covered in bees.
Sam: Yeah. I'm not really sorry I missed that.

Dean: Well. Let's bone this nun. ... Sorry.

Cas: Monkeys are so clever and they're sensible in that they leave the skins on the bananas that they eat. Is it really necessary to test cosmetics on them? I mean, how important is lipstick to you, Dean?

Crowley: You bore me, you know that? You have no sense of poetry.

Sam: Uh. Maybe it worked?

Cas: Do we need a cat? Doesn't this place feel one species short?

Dick: Little abrupt, but okay.

Crowley: Think if you'd just had one king since before the first sunrise, you'd be in a kerfuffle too.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

So You Think You Can Dance Season 9 Format Update

Season 9 (it's been on for NINE seasons?!) of So You Think You Can Dance starts up next Thursday, May 24th. As you may recall, the show was dealt an interesting hand earlier this year when producers were told that they would no longer have two episodes a week. That's right, there will be no more results show. No more results show?! Then how will we find out the results?

Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe has finally revealed what that will mean for this season...

At least for the first two competition episodes, it will go like this: episode one will be a standard performance show like we're used to. The following week, the dancers will perform again, but during their critiques, they may find out that they're in the bottom. They won't find out before their routines because that could skew how they perform. At the end of the episode, the judges will then decide who goes home from those bottom three. Does that mean they still perform solos? It may be on a case by case basis, depending on the whims of the judges. I suspect all of this is subject to change as the season progresses. One thing you can say about SYTYD: they're willing to mix things up.

So what does that mean for us as viewers? More partner dances, it would seem. The contestants who go home will essentially be given an extra week of dancing, which actually seems like it could be a good thing. Also? It means we don't have to waste a whole hour waiting to get to some results every week (no more lame musical guests? Yes!). And don't worry, there will still be a group number each week, it will just be at the top of the performance show instead of the results show.

The other big news - there will be two winners. One guy and one girl. In the past, it's come down to just one winner, but this change actually makes sense, too. Since you start out voting for couples on the show, and they eliminate dancers in a one boy/one girl fashion anyway, it makes total sense that there would be a winner from each gender. Of course, this could set up some blowback, as sometimes there seem to be better dancers in one gender over another.

Are you excited, or are you feeling the fatigue? Personally, I just love to watch good dancing.

Supernatural Moving to Wednesdays!

After being relegated to the Friday night "death slot" a couple seasons ago, the upcoming season 8 of Supernatural is moving again. This time, to Wednesdays at 9pm.

And I have to add this gif as well because it really made me laugh:

Anyway! The show leading into Supernatural will be the new Arrow, about, you guessed, it Green Arrow.

But what you really want to know is what it's going to be up against in that time slot, yes? Behold!

ABC: Modern Family & The Neighbors
CBS: Criminal Minds
NBC: Law & Order: SVU
FOX: The X-Factor hour 2

That is all subject to change, as the networks sometimes do switch things around as it gets closer. Personally I think this is a good time slot. I don't watch any of those shows except for Modern Family, and it's not going up against other shows in its own genre, which it totally was on Friday nights. Whether that will translate to bigger ratings, though, I doubt. CW just gets terrible ratings all around, no matter the night. Also? It means I'm not required to stay in on Friday nights just to do a recap! Yay! Free Fridays!

What about you? Are you happy? 

For more Supernatural gifs, check out this photobucket treasure trove.

Supernatural 7x22 "There Will Be Blood"

It's not polite to lurk, Ghost Bobby. Or to possess people.

In case you don't recall, the previously recap was so kind to inform you that last week we found out, thanks to the word of GAHHG on a tablet and the new prophet who could read it, just what can kill the Leviathan. Basically, it's the bone of a righteous man (as righteous and good as the Leviathan are evil and black, or something like that), dipped in the blood of a fallen angel, the worst of fallen humanity, and something else fallen that equals the blood of an alpha monster.

While the boys try to figure out what it all means, poor prophet Kevin has been taken by Dick Roman, who wants him to translate the tablet for him. Kevin resists at first, even when Dick tries to tempt him, but in the end it's just one of those bring-out-a-family-member-and-threaten-them deals that gets Kevin to cooperate. Though the Leviathan let his mom go in the end, Dick isn't ready to let Kevin go quite yet. Uh oh. Poor Kevin.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, aka Rufus' cabin, that they probably shouldn't be using if they're supposed to be keeping off grid by not using things they've used in the past, Ghost Bobby gets frustrated with the guys not figuring things out fast enough for his taste, and tells Dean that the fallen humanity bit of the word refers to Mr. King of Hell himself, our old buddy Crowley. They summon him up, and while he's pro sharing blood, he's not so much into sharing it with them right at that moment, but rather at the last second before it's needed. The good news, however? He happens to know that one of the alphas escaped death last season, and where he's holing up. To the Batmobile!

Everyone's favorite wise-cracking King of Hell.

Or to... whatever car they're driving this week. Impala, we miss you! In any event, the boys head off to somewhere and find a house full of dead vamps with sizzled faces. It takes the boys way too long to figure out that it's because of the new corn syrup Dick's been putting into the food supply, and thus into the humans the vamps have been eating, but I figured that out pretty quickly. I mean, duh. They only figure it out after they've discovered a girl in a creepy pink hidden bedroom. She's a pet of the alpha vamp, and she can help them figure out where he's currently hiding out while looking extremely shady-shifty in the backseat.

Eventually they arrive at a monastery, where the alpha vamp is holing up. While Dean is all ready to go in there, machetes slicing, Sam wants to take a calmer approach and plead their case through words. They do end up getting face time with Mr. Alpha, but only after being de-weaponed by some other vamps. And Mr. Alpha, it turns out, was expecting them, thanks to the girl, who was totally on his side. And he's also been in contact with Dick, who had assured him that he and his babies would be totally fine when they start Maui Wowing humanity. Before the boys can plead some more, second in command Leviathan Edgar shows up, requesting the audience of alpha dude.

This one's just to admire the beauty of the Winchesters.

Alpha dude gives him the benefit of the doubt, but of course the Leviathan plan is to not only make the humans complacent, but to wipe out all the other monsters in the process. The tainted blood will also take out werewolves, shapeshifters and zombies. Well, obviously Alpha is not happy about this, and proceeds to borax Edgar, but Edgar is just too fast with the healy. Luckily, Sam and Dean managed to escape their lockdown in the study with some needles from some bloodbags, and burst in to decapitate Edgar just in time. Alpha gives them his blood, and they leave for now, despite wanting to kill him oh so bad. 


While all of this has been going on, we've also had a side story revolving around Ghost Bobby, who has started to become less than nice in his ghostly ways. First he cracks a mirror when he gets minorly frustrated with Dean, then he goes crazy ghost on the hotel room when they leave him behind to go talk to the alpha vamp, going so far as to actually possess the cleaning lady. Okay, Ghost Bobby? Possessing people is not okay, dude.

Oh, and we also get one final scene with Dick, wherein he summons up Crowley and has him stuck in a devil's trap. Crowls, you probably should've just given that blood to the Winchesters earlier, yeah?


Random Thoughts:

- I was hoping that maybe Kevin would've done a fake translation of the tablet for Dick, but it doesn't look like that is the case.

- I was in love with Dean's brown leather jacket. Have we seen him in that before? Whatever the case, more please!

- Totally knew that Stockholm Syndrome girl wasn't legit, she was way too obviously shifty. Come on, boys. Get it together.

- "See you next season" from Alpha Vamp - quite possibly the least hidden hint ever?

- Now wait. Devil's traps work on Crowley, even though he's the king of hell? I confess it's been a while since I brushed up on my devil's trap rules, but it seems not so much with the right.

- Obviously the boys are going to have to get rid of Ghost Bobby come the finale, right? Or he'll have to get rid of himself.

Quotes:

Sam: That crap is in just about everything. Soda, sauces, bread...
Dean: Don't say pie.
Sam: Definitely pie.
Dean: Bastards. 

Crowley: Keep your friends close, your enemies... blah blah.

Dean: Man, I'm gonna go into toxic shock. I need my road food.

Dean: I can't do this. I can't live on rabbit food. I'm a warrior.
Sam: Dean, you'll be fine.
Dean: You don't know that.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Supernatural 7x21 "Reading is Fundamental"

In last week's episode, the boys were able to get their hands on something the Leviathan(s? I'm honestly still not sure what the proper plural here is, as it seems to be used both ways in the show) desperately wanted their hands on. A big piece of clay. Hmm. That seems weird. We better get to crack-a-lackin' that clay, right? Even when there are big thunderous thunders of lightning and doom when we do! As Dean put it, oh well.

When they cracked open the piece of clay to reveal some kind of unreadable tablet, however, things went a little bit mental throughout a good chunk of the country. Babies were born all over the place, this kid Kevin Tran got hit with some kind of lightning bolt thing that has made him start driving to points unknown to him, and, oh yeah, Castiel woke up.

Pull my finger?

Meg calls up the Winchesters to let them know about their friend's reawakening, so they drive on over to the hospital to check in. Well, Cas is awake all right, and seemingly chock full of angel mojo, but he also appears to be a little bit loopy, not entirely checked in with what's going on, and not entirely caring about it. He does, however, impart some crucial information to them about the tablet they're carrying. Namely, it's the Word of GAHHG (Great Almighty He Him God! I haven't been able to use this moniker in ages!). But, he can't read it either, it's not meant for angels.

Just who is it meant for? Why, none other than our new favorite character, advanced placement Kevin Tran, who has arrived just in time for Sam to act like a dope and leave the tablet in the other room while he chases after a stompy, indignant Meg, who's annoyed at being looked down on for being a demon and blah blah, demon prejudices and whatnot. I mean, Meg, you did do some terrible stuff, right? They have a reason to be wary.

Nonetheless! Kevin steals the tablet and a hilarious chase ensues, with Sam running all over the place to get to him. He and Meg finally corral the kid, find that not only can he repair a broken tablet if need be, but he can also read it. And it says something about the Leviathan! Oh me, oh my! Our literal Deus Ex Machina has arrived! But don't get too excited just yet, because Kevin's got some angels tracking him down after his lightning show. The reason he can read the tablet? He's a brand new prophet who must protect it and learn from it and whoa, that's a lot even for an AP kid to handle.

Sucks being the Chosen One, yo, I can relate.

Before the angels can cart him off to the desert (no, really, the desert), Dean does the bloody hand wall sigil thing and zaps them away. They cart Kevin off to Rufus' cabin to start translating the tablet so they can find out how to get rid of the Leviathan.

While Kevin works on that, Meg has got herself a demon trail. She goes to take care of them, only when she does that, it kind of signals the other angels to where they are, despite their making the cabin angel invisible. Whoops! We also were reminded that Crowley is still around, so obviously he'll be showing up again soon. Prepare thyself!

The angels show up, one of them, a blondie named Hester, gets a little bit punchy, so Meg's like screw that and stabs her with one of those angel-smiting swords, which can now apparently be wielded by anyone? I totally thought in the beginning only other angels could use them, but I guess Dean used one on Zachariah too, so WHO KNOWS.

Anyway, with that pesky Hester gone, we're left with a nicer angel dude who agrees not to take poor Kevin off to the desert, but rather back to his house where they can protect him anyway. Oh jeez, this will not end well.

Have some of my blood, no big.

But what exactly did Kevin translate for our Deus Ex Tableta? It's some recipe of sorts, the first thing required in it being some fallen angel blood, which Castiel is more than happy to supply in the handy bottle he keeps in his pocket, as one does. What else is required for the recipe or whatever it is? I suppose we'll find that out next week. And who knows what Cas will be getting up to, because he flits off to points unknown. What we do know? Crowley will surely know that he's back by now, and want his head for double-crossing him. The question is, will Cas start to feel stuff again, because otherwise he probably wouldn't care much about it. Actually he seemed to care more about Meg's well-being than his own. Bow-chicka-what?

But the episode can't end there, because that's not cliffhangery enough for episode 21. The angels take Kevin back home to his mom, who is lamenting to some apparent, obviously Leviathan, police dude about her missing boy. When he reappears in the kitchen with a couple suited dudes, though, all will be okay, right? Wrong, duh. Because apparently! Apparently, Leviathan(s?) can kill angels with a black goopy hand into the sternum. Dun dun dun!

Random Thoughts:

- Oh man, I miss me some Ben Edlund dialogue like this episode provided, I can tell you that much. My quotes section may be a little bloated this week because of it.

- Did you guys catch the radio commercial for the pie bar? Now that is the kind of bar I would be down with.

- I really liked Kevin, I hope he doesn't end up dead. Osric Chau did a great job.

- I'm kinda tired of Meg. Is she one of the only characters still around from season one? I think so. Man, how long ago.

- The show was picked up for season eight, which was kind of a foregone conclusion, but in case some of you didn't know. Now you know!

Quotes:

Dean: That sound like somebody saying "no, wait, stop" to you?
Sam: Uh. Yeah.
Dean: Oh well.

Dean: This one goes out to all the ladies.

Dean: So big daddy chomper lands here, he grabs himself some Dick...

Castiel: Did you now that a cat's penis is sharply barbed along its shaft? I know for a fact the females were not consulted about that.

Sam: Metatron? Are you saying a Transformer wrote that?
Dean: No. That's Megatron.
Sam: What?
Dean: The Transformer. It's Megatron.
Sam: What?

Castiel: You guys ate the apple. Invented pants.

Castiel: I'm surrounded by large, unhappy dogs.

Castiel: You seem troubled. Of course, that's a primary aspect of your personality, so I sometimes ignore it.

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