caffienekitty (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
caffienekitty) wrote2008-02-01 02:07 am
caffienekitty) wrote2008-02-01 02:07 am
Entry tags:
SPN Reaction: Reaction to 3.09
Are you ready for this?
Reactions to Episode 3.09: Malleus Maleficarum
What I know or have seen prior to the episode:
-Title is either "Malleus Maleficarum" or "Witch Hunt". I suspect it will air as the latter because the network thinks its audience won't know or be able to find out what the "Malleus Maleficarum" was. It's online in full searchable text at malleusmaleficarum.org, by the way. Basically the medieval witch-hunter's manual.
- A tiny bit of the opening of one commercial, of girls sitting around a table?
*something that may be a spoiler for a future ep redacted*
From this I am pretty sure that:
-A group of college or high school girls will get in over their heads playing around with some variety of 'witchcraft'. I was kind of hoping for a 'ghosts of the Salem witch trials' thing, but from the shot in the commercial it looks like they're going the 'dangerous, experimental idiot' route. This might be handled well or poorly; either way it's going to be interesting to see Wiccan fans' perspective on what falls out tonight.
*Theory based on something that may be a spoiler for a future ep redacted*
Anyways, that's what I knew or suspected as of 9:20 AM today.
After viewing:
Man, was I ever off base! They even let it air as "Malleus Maleficarum". Cool. I forgot this is also the episode I'd heard would be making many people hate Ruby. Anyway. Gonna need some time for processing on this one. Basic initial reactions:
-Bobby! I miss Bobby! Where's Bobby?
-What the hell is it with Kipke and yanking out people's teeth? Does he have a dread fear of dentists?
-Yay for the bucketing Lower Mainland rain making a cameo appearance rather than being adjusted out in post-production with filters and bug noises! Yay rain! Woo!
-They snuck that 'Not Wicca, "witchcraft"' dodge in there awfully fast. Glad it was there, though.
-Omigawd I don't think an ep has ever made me feel more like puking. I'm so glad I didn't get a burger for dinner. Omigawd.
-SAM'S MINI-TORCH!!!! YAY!!! That's the stuff! TOOLS! Those things rock!
-It's a quibble, but people don't die that fast from slit wrists. Also, not enough blood. Not that I'm a big fan of gallons of blood, just there needs to be more to make it believable. Just saying.
-"That's a curve ball." Hee! *pats Dean*
-Amanda's spell book was a scrapbook, wasn't it? Like the kind they sell to fill with five dollar sheets of paper and little beads and things for decorating around photos? Very practical to have the plasticised pages, but as far as scrapbooking goes, kind of dull. Needs some coloured cutouts and glitter. *nods*
-Dean with the rabbit. 'Why does the rabbit always get screwed?' Aw. I can't explain, just aw.
-That "determination" poster in the background, any chance that's a shout out to the stacks of motivators people over on TWOP have made?
-Blonde pottery woman is very annoying.
-"Book of Shadows" Heh. Why do I feel like I heard Demian the recapper over at TWOP shriek in dismay when that came up?
-The face off between Sam and Dean and the trio, very cat and mouse. Coolness.
-"Victory Garden"? Wow. That's an old term. If I recall correctly it refers to the World War II practice of people plowing under their lawns and flower gardens to grow produce to stretch rationing in wartime Britain. Wonder where Dean picked that one up?
-Ah hah! Ruby messed with the Impala, she must die now. She must be able to turn that 'messes with electrical fields' effect on and off, because she didn't do it the last time she was around, I don't think.
-Dean vs Ruby in front of the Impala. Niiiiiice. I would have been thrilled with that animosity sticking around for another couple episodes. Yay, shouty, family-defensive Dean!
-"She could just stop saving our lives." Uh..... who in the what now? She helped rebuild the Colt, yes (Nice inclusion of the possibility that she's monkeyed it so it can't hurt her), and she knifed some guys in Mag7... am I missing something?
-"More like Dean." Being, to Sam, someone who is less concerned about human life? Hm.
-Dean in pain, wow! Haven't had that for a while! Very nice subtle build up to it too, with the rubbing at the ribcage beforehand.
-Sam slashing the mattress where obviously the little bag thing couldn't be unless whoever put it there re-upholstered? Great sign of the sheer abject panic Sam's in. Sam's not even thinking straight, just "Dean's hurting! Must make it stop!"
-The remnants of that room will be an interesting thing for the hotel owners to find. Blood on the carpet, trashed. Also the remnants of the other death scenes, for the local authorities, because I wouldn't trust Ruby to clean up a hairball, let alone a multiple homicide. I kind of thought her idea of 'cleaning up' might be to wait til the husband got home to make sure he was dead too.
-Determined panicked angry Sam driving. Woo!
-Ruby saving Dean, okay, fine. Scoring snark points off him? Eh. Not so much. What the hell did she make him drink, though?
-"We're just trying to get her a lower mortgage rate!" BWAH!!
-The whole witchcraft/demon power/technical stuff thing seems a bit scrambled on first view. Will have to let it settle and see what falls out.
-Stopping the bullet... eh... chalking that up to the rebuilt Colt having diluted mojo or something. YED dodged it in smoke-form, but actually using a demonic power to act on the bullets, I say is due to these being made differently than the original ones, and heavily Ruby-influenced.
-I liked the actress for Tammy. She had some great facial expressions, and did snide evil well, I thought.
-New leader in the West, hunh? I totally want it to be Meg. Since apparently Ruby isn't Meg... or not... I just want Meg to show up again.
-Crushing Sam into the wall leaving a gigundous Sam-sized divot. That's different. :-)
-Ruby's backstory.... um. Can I say "DO NOT WANT!" or would that be juvenile and whiny? I liked the character of Ruby, regardless of any quibbles I had with the portrayal. I did. But now that she has this stupid "I sold my soul for a handful of dark magic and now I'm a demon, poor widdle me" backstory, I don't like her at all. Unless it's all a lie, in which case yay for mindgames!
-Ruby has a bad poker face. She had a massive 'tell' in her facial expression just before she hoisted the knife. Unless that was part of the plan...
-Not fond of the physical fight between Ruby and Tammy. I mean yeah, it's cheaper than effects, I guess, but they're demons, not Junior High cheerleaders. Instead of more throwing demonic power around, they beat up each other's meat puppets, which we know has little effect on the demon inside. Y'know, unless the whole thing was staged to make Sam and Dean believe the backstory, etc, and ultimately to try to get Dean to help push Sam over the edge and into the dark side. Or something.
-Yay for the last girl of the group fighting back... but... if she was being granted her power by the demon in Tammy, how did she get the power to attack the demon giving her the power? Unless it was all a set up, yadda yadda, see above.
-Tammy coughs up long silver pins. Heh. Cute. One of the "ways to spot a witch" (possibly in the Malleus Maleficarum) involved pricking with a silver pin to see if the person bled.
-Wow. Dean's got some serious suppressed rage issues, with the crazy stabbing he's been doing lately.
-Conquistador Motel. Cute. Verrrry cute. Better than the Inquisition Inn, I guess. :-P
-The whole "Demons were once people" thing.... interesting concept, but.... I need processing time on that one, I think. Unless of course Ruby's lying about that too, to ramp up Dean's stakes in a ploy to get him to help turn Sam to the dark. Which... eep.
Anyway, will require processing, or possibly some denial and retconning.
Just a reminder, 'no spoilers for future eps' includes any mention of anything in any promos for next week airing on the CW. The City TV feed I watch doesn't have promos.
Reactions to Episode 3.09: Malleus Maleficarum
What I know or have seen prior to the episode:
-Title is either "Malleus Maleficarum" or "Witch Hunt". I suspect it will air as the latter because the network thinks its audience won't know or be able to find out what the "Malleus Maleficarum" was. It's online in full searchable text at malleusmaleficarum.org, by the way. Basically the medieval witch-hunter's manual.
- A tiny bit of the opening of one commercial, of girls sitting around a table?
*something that may be a spoiler for a future ep redacted*
From this I am pretty sure that:
-A group of college or high school girls will get in over their heads playing around with some variety of 'witchcraft'. I was kind of hoping for a 'ghosts of the Salem witch trials' thing, but from the shot in the commercial it looks like they're going the 'dangerous, experimental idiot' route. This might be handled well or poorly; either way it's going to be interesting to see Wiccan fans' perspective on what falls out tonight.
*Theory based on something that may be a spoiler for a future ep redacted*
Anyways, that's what I knew or suspected as of 9:20 AM today.
After viewing:
Man, was I ever off base! They even let it air as "Malleus Maleficarum". Cool. I forgot this is also the episode I'd heard would be making many people hate Ruby. Anyway. Gonna need some time for processing on this one. Basic initial reactions:
-Bobby! I miss Bobby! Where's Bobby?
-What the hell is it with Kipke and yanking out people's teeth? Does he have a dread fear of dentists?
-Yay for the bucketing Lower Mainland rain making a cameo appearance rather than being adjusted out in post-production with filters and bug noises! Yay rain! Woo!
-They snuck that 'Not Wicca, "witchcraft"' dodge in there awfully fast. Glad it was there, though.
-Omigawd I don't think an ep has ever made me feel more like puking. I'm so glad I didn't get a burger for dinner. Omigawd.
-SAM'S MINI-TORCH!!!! YAY!!! That's the stuff! TOOLS! Those things rock!
-It's a quibble, but people don't die that fast from slit wrists. Also, not enough blood. Not that I'm a big fan of gallons of blood, just there needs to be more to make it believable. Just saying.
-"That's a curve ball." Hee! *pats Dean*
-Amanda's spell book was a scrapbook, wasn't it? Like the kind they sell to fill with five dollar sheets of paper and little beads and things for decorating around photos? Very practical to have the plasticised pages, but as far as scrapbooking goes, kind of dull. Needs some coloured cutouts and glitter. *nods*
-Dean with the rabbit. 'Why does the rabbit always get screwed?' Aw. I can't explain, just aw.
-That "determination" poster in the background, any chance that's a shout out to the stacks of motivators people over on TWOP have made?
-Blonde pottery woman is very annoying.
-"Book of Shadows" Heh. Why do I feel like I heard Demian the recapper over at TWOP shriek in dismay when that came up?
-The face off between Sam and Dean and the trio, very cat and mouse. Coolness.
-"Victory Garden"? Wow. That's an old term. If I recall correctly it refers to the World War II practice of people plowing under their lawns and flower gardens to grow produce to stretch rationing in wartime Britain. Wonder where Dean picked that one up?
-Ah hah! Ruby messed with the Impala, she must die now. She must be able to turn that 'messes with electrical fields' effect on and off, because she didn't do it the last time she was around, I don't think.
-Dean vs Ruby in front of the Impala. Niiiiiice. I would have been thrilled with that animosity sticking around for another couple episodes. Yay, shouty, family-defensive Dean!
-"She could just stop saving our lives." Uh..... who in the what now? She helped rebuild the Colt, yes (Nice inclusion of the possibility that she's monkeyed it so it can't hurt her), and she knifed some guys in Mag7... am I missing something?
-"More like Dean." Being, to Sam, someone who is less concerned about human life? Hm.
-Dean in pain, wow! Haven't had that for a while! Very nice subtle build up to it too, with the rubbing at the ribcage beforehand.
-Sam slashing the mattress where obviously the little bag thing couldn't be unless whoever put it there re-upholstered? Great sign of the sheer abject panic Sam's in. Sam's not even thinking straight, just "Dean's hurting! Must make it stop!"
-The remnants of that room will be an interesting thing for the hotel owners to find. Blood on the carpet, trashed. Also the remnants of the other death scenes, for the local authorities, because I wouldn't trust Ruby to clean up a hairball, let alone a multiple homicide. I kind of thought her idea of 'cleaning up' might be to wait til the husband got home to make sure he was dead too.
-Determined panicked angry Sam driving. Woo!
-Ruby saving Dean, okay, fine. Scoring snark points off him? Eh. Not so much. What the hell did she make him drink, though?
-"We're just trying to get her a lower mortgage rate!" BWAH!!
-The whole witchcraft/demon power/technical stuff thing seems a bit scrambled on first view. Will have to let it settle and see what falls out.
-Stopping the bullet... eh... chalking that up to the rebuilt Colt having diluted mojo or something. YED dodged it in smoke-form, but actually using a demonic power to act on the bullets, I say is due to these being made differently than the original ones, and heavily Ruby-influenced.
-I liked the actress for Tammy. She had some great facial expressions, and did snide evil well, I thought.
-New leader in the West, hunh? I totally want it to be Meg. Since apparently Ruby isn't Meg... or not... I just want Meg to show up again.
-Crushing Sam into the wall leaving a gigundous Sam-sized divot. That's different. :-)
-Ruby's backstory.... um. Can I say "DO NOT WANT!" or would that be juvenile and whiny? I liked the character of Ruby, regardless of any quibbles I had with the portrayal. I did. But now that she has this stupid "I sold my soul for a handful of dark magic and now I'm a demon, poor widdle me" backstory, I don't like her at all. Unless it's all a lie, in which case yay for mindgames!
-Ruby has a bad poker face. She had a massive 'tell' in her facial expression just before she hoisted the knife. Unless that was part of the plan...
-Not fond of the physical fight between Ruby and Tammy. I mean yeah, it's cheaper than effects, I guess, but they're demons, not Junior High cheerleaders. Instead of more throwing demonic power around, they beat up each other's meat puppets, which we know has little effect on the demon inside. Y'know, unless the whole thing was staged to make Sam and Dean believe the backstory, etc, and ultimately to try to get Dean to help push Sam over the edge and into the dark side. Or something.
-Yay for the last girl of the group fighting back... but... if she was being granted her power by the demon in Tammy, how did she get the power to attack the demon giving her the power? Unless it was all a set up, yadda yadda, see above.
-Tammy coughs up long silver pins. Heh. Cute. One of the "ways to spot a witch" (possibly in the Malleus Maleficarum) involved pricking with a silver pin to see if the person bled.
-Wow. Dean's got some serious suppressed rage issues, with the crazy stabbing he's been doing lately.
-Conquistador Motel. Cute. Verrrry cute. Better than the Inquisition Inn, I guess. :-P
-The whole "Demons were once people" thing.... interesting concept, but.... I need processing time on that one, I think. Unless of course Ruby's lying about that too, to ramp up Dean's stakes in a ploy to get him to help turn Sam to the dark. Which... eep.
Anyway, will require processing, or possibly some denial and retconning.
Just a reminder, 'no spoilers for future eps' includes any mention of anything in any promos for next week airing on the CW. The City TV feed I watch doesn't have promos.