Supernatural 5x8 "Changing Channels"

[startrekwatcher]

And LOST most certainly has had a bad episode since season three.

We'll have to agree to disagree then. I think a large part of why LOST for me hasn't felt like it has had a bad episode is that there is so much going on in every episode--so many characters, so many advancing threads-that the good always outweights the bad making each episode pretty solid overall either because it peels away more layers, teases us, moves the plot along, provides answers or sets-up threads. The writers thankfully have enough material that all the threads given their interconnective nature all are interesting even when they are alternating threads each episode.

Kate isn't a favorite character of mine either--I actually only enjoy her when she is involved in the story helping someone else not fixated on herself and her problems-- and the Jack/Kate romance doesn't really interest me but those get lost amidst all the other interesting stuff occuring.

I quit LOST in season two because I got tired of the unending questions and no answers

Yes, I too got frustrated by that aspect but I'm glad I stuck with the series because it has been a really rewarding experience. In hindsight, I can see now why they had to draw some things out because had they revealed much more earlier given how as the series draws closer to its end everything is quickly becoming so linked that it would have spoiled what was to come. You can really appreciate now how everything was planned so expertly to come out at just the right moment to maximize the full impact on the viewer. I hate that it is ending this year because it has been the only consistently entertaining show that I've found to watch in the last few years. Other shows started out well then came completely off the rails i.e. Heroes and BSG had a lot of issues that bothered me in the last 2.5 seasons.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

I'm with you on BSG. Its first two seasons were such a pleasure, but I couldn't have been more disappointed in its last two. Though not nearly as incompetent as Heroes (what show is?) I felt like BSG really went off the rails and suffered from too many characters whom the writers had no idea how to develop, which is a problem Heroes still has BIG time. The final five still feels like something the writers completely pulled out of their butts because they had no clue how to continue. They focused on a bloody love quadrangle instead of focusing on the search for Earth, on Bill and Tigh's friendship and history, on Bill's relationship with his son, (fathers and sons always bring such complicated dynamics to any story but they ignored that in favor of Lee/Kara/Sam/Dee) and they managed to make Baltar completely superfluous which I never dreamed possible at the beginning. Very, very disappointing. I wanted to scream at them for reducing the mystery of the opera house to Hera running through the Galactica and ending up on the bridge. And I wanted to scream, "Hey, Lee! Kara treats you like shit! Man up!" Even the two actors weren't into Kara/Lee.

 

[Thrall]

Amazing Episode. One of the best they've ever done. Reminded me of an old John Ritter movie. But in that one it was Satan behind it all, not an Angel. The Japanese game show and the herpes commercial had me in tears. And I've never seen an episode of Grey's Anatomy, but oh my gawd that was hilarious. And Gabriel is The Angel of Death in Christian lore, so I guess it makes sense.

Some things I wondered about:

-Why did Dean let that murdering asshole lose at the end? The guy is basically just Jigsaw from Saw without the torture. Prison would be the perfect place for him. It's what he deserves.

-If he's an Angel, then why the killing? What was the point of that? If he's trying to hide that seems like a lousy way of doing it.

-If he's Gabriel, then why was he the one who spoke to Mary, mother of Jesus? You know, considering he was supposedly hiding and all. They've never really done away with any lore before, so I doubt they would do away with that.

-If he hates both sides, then why did he want them to just accept their fates? Considering he hated the way his "family" fights and all.

 

[Checkmate]

They never said how long he's been in hiding and, as the angel of death, that implies that he knows a thing or two about who deserves to die. He's just having fun with it as part of his "disguise."

 

[Thrall]

They never said how long he's been in hiding and, as the angel of death, that implies that he knows a thing or two about who deserves to die. He's just having fun with it as part of his "disguise."

But they seemed to imply in most of his episodes that he's just killing people for minor vices. The guy's an evil, power-tripping serial killer who's clearly insane. I can't believe Dean didn't finish him off.

 

[mswood]

And how exactly would Dean finish him off? Dean nor Sam has any ability to kill a Angel. Hurt them, yes, trap them even, but kill no.

Hell even after eons of hatred the demons had no ability to do more then send them out of their host body. And the demons should certainly know the Holy fire trick to trap them, since one of their own is also an angel.

 

[mswood]

He states why he wants the guys to just give in to Destiny and get it over with. He is tired of the conflict between Heaven and Hell, well between his brothers. He sees the only way for it to stop is for them to go at it full tilt.

 

[mswood]

As for the killing, well lets face it no Angel (save perhaps Anna) seems to not be willing to kill.

 

[Bad Atom]

After a second viewing and lots of thought, I fell into the "liked it" camp. I wouldn't go so far to say "BEST EPISODE EVER" because it's not even close. But I enjoyed it for the most part. The funny stuff was mostly funny, and the dramatic stuff was fairly effective. I guess I'd give it a B.

I will say I was a bit disappointed by the Gabriel reveal. The Trickster (as we knew him previously) was a wild card, and introducing him into the larger storyline would have been a nice counterbalance to all the free will vs. destiny talk going on. Instead he's Yet Another Angel. But I'm very interested to see how he'll fit in to the ongoing story.

 

[mswood]

Startrekwatcher

I in general do agree about the comedy episodes not being equal to the dramatic material (though I think The Monster at the end of the Book is a great episode).

I also agree that this season (so far) is weaker then season 4 (though at 8 episodes in I find in stronger then season 1, 2, and 3).

As to the guest stars being wasted in the 2nd episode of the season, I have to strongly disagree. I thought their use perfectly fit the story being told. One that hunters they new had called them in for assistance. Some felt that they were wasted because a one shoot guest actor has a better chance of dying, but the simple fact is that most of the reoccurring guest cast of SN is dead. In fact out of the human reoccurring (not counting any character who died in their first appearance who has since reappeared, as spirit, ghost, vision, ect or those who only had multiple appearances in a two parter like Jake, but hell he's dead to) guest cast we have:

John (Dead)
Ash (Dead)
Hendrickson (Dead)
Bela (Dead)
Gordon (Dead)
Jesus Freak (Dead)
Ava (Dead)
Andy (Dead)
Pamela (Dead)
Ellen (Alive)
Bobby (Alive)
Jo (Alive)
Chuck (Alive)
Rufus (Alive)

The thing is you can't bring back those characters and kill them (after not being on the show for two years or more) because there is no drama in immediately knocking them off. Also a good difference between a one off guest actor and a reoccurring star is that you should have more empathy for the character that you know better,as you have a history with them.

 

[startrekwatcher]

re: the guest stars in "Good God Y'all"

I just felt that they were wasted. Rufus and Jo really weren't much more than plot devices. They didn't have all that much of a role in anything, Ellen got to be a bit more than that. I had no issue with the fact none of them were killed off. Frankly tv shows these days have gone overboard in killing off characters just for the sake of it--serving as some kind of backlash to the fact that tv shows for years rarely killed off characters especially anyone in the main credits.

 

[mswood]

But see serving the plot isn't a bad thing. If teh characters were still writing in character and can serve plot then I see no harm.

To go back to season 2, the episodes I liked Ellen the most in were the ones she was used the least, but stayed in character and served the plot.

Like how Sam called her about Gordon (as a quick example), she had a maybe a total of 1 minute of screen time, yet perfectly served the plot while remaining completely in character as Ellen Harvelle.

Now of course I don't mind a larger role for them, especially if one of the thrusts of that episode is showing their characters growth. Using season 2 again Born Under A Bad Sign was a great vehicle for Meg, Dean and the character of Jo. And it really nailed some very serious character growth for Jo (while greatly highlighting the character of Meg and Dean). But each episode doesn't have to do this with every supporting characters.

Really the only problem I had with those first two episodes is that I felt both weren't long enough. I felt the first could have easily been 2 episodes, and the 2nd could have been about 20 minutes longer (but not enough for two hours).

As for Lost, I did give up the show after the end of its 5th or 6th episode of its 3rd season ( I really disliked the start of season 3, and I didn't care for a good half of season 2), but my boyfriend loves the show (even the episodes I really disliked), and so I kept buying them when they were released on DVD. And I am glad I did. I still am waiting for season 5 (I saw a few episodes, but I prefer to watch them back to back), but after getting rid of the tallies and erasing those first episodes of season 3, the show really hit it's stride again and I am very glad that I didn't give up on it.

Though I still think there is charm and a mystery that its still my favorite season of that show (and boy I love its production values, really love them).

 

[mswood]

Oh and I have nothing against the death ratio in shows today, as I generally feel that (at least in the shows I watch) the ratio is still less then what would be if they truly reflected reality.

 

[OmahaStar]

A few comments, now that I've finally seen it.

1 - Always a pleasure to see Steve Bacic. It's about time someone else realized he's Dr. Sexy material.

2 - Pretty much the whole episode was hilarious. I loved the CSI spoofing probably more than the rest.

3 - Unless I missed something, where exactly did they confirm that Gabby and the Trixster were the same being? Because what I got out of it was that Gabby was appearing in the *form* of the Trixster, someone the boys had already met, but that was only a disguise, and the real Trixster was somewhere else.

 

[Thrall]

And how exactly would Dean finish him off? Dean nor Sam has any ability to kill a Angel. Hurt them, yes, trap them even, but kill no.

Hell even after eons of hatred the demons had no ability to do more then send them out of their host body. And the demons should certainly know the Holy fire trick to trap them, since one of their own is also an angel.

Fair enough. But after all the death and misery he's caused, to just let him go for no reason? I don't buy that. He's just going to keep killing. Keep him locked up there where he can't hurt anyone.

He states why he wants the guys to just give in to Destiny and get it over with. He is tired of the conflict between Heaven and Hell, well between his brothers. He sees the only way for it to stop is for them to go at it full tilt.

So he wants a good portion of his family to get killed in the process. Still doesn't make sense.

As for the killing, well lets face it no Angel (save perhaps Anna) seems to not be willing to kill.

Killing if it's your job is one thing. Killing for just pure enjoyment without any agenda is Joker-like insanity. The guy is clearly insane. Letting him go is one of the stupidest things I've ever seen on the show.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

Letting him go to possibly get him on their side is probably a chance they're willing to take

 

[Mitty]

I laughed myself sick in this episode. Very funny. Where can I get the Knight Rider Voicebox?

 

[startrekwatcher]

Always a pleasure to see Steve Bacic. It's about time someone else realized he's Dr. Sexy material.

SN better be careful when it comes to casting males on this show because for the last few weeks I've found the guests far more appealing than Jensen and Jared as far as looks--the actor playing Patrick, the guy in "The Curious Case of Dean Winchester" they caught in bed with the two Asian chicks, Steve Bacic this week, Misha Collins.

I know there are a lot of fans of the show who find one or both the leads hot but they don't do all that much for me therefore you won't see me having to worry about getting into it with one of the nutso Dean or Sam fangirls. Jensen is just a little too scrawny and while Jared has a nice body I don't find him attractive in the face.

As far as genre leading men that I simply turn into a puddle over--Legend of the Seeker's Craig Horner whose new look this season makes him look so ruggedly handsome, Ian Somerhalder has those smoldering bad boy good looks, Paul Wesley who isn't a hulking figure but has just the right porportions and great features, Misha Collins is perfection and that voice of his drives me crazy, Milo from HEROES is very good looking and so is Adrian Pasdar--even that scar on his chin works in his favor.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Am I the only person in the world who finds Milo Ventimiglia unappealing and entirely average looking? What do women see in him that they find him so attractive? I'm serious. Adrian, yes. He's exotic, sexy, erotic and totally fine. Milo is scrawny, has no acting talent and seems entirely charm free.

I think Jensen and Jared are hot as hell, but they aren't the only attractive men around, no.

I think they were willing to cut the trickster/Gabe a break because they could use an archangel on their side.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Uh oh.....Uh oh!!!! Speaking of crazy Dean girls, hearts are going to be breaking wide open. It's official on the websites you can take seriously, Jensen and his longtime girlfriend Daneel are engaged. She's an adorable woman. I hope that stalker he's got leaves them alone. This is the guy who had a woman jump from a stairwell on him at a con.