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.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode