Did last week's ep ever come up on iTunes? Because I never got notification, if it did.

It did for me, Beverly.

Lemme go see if I can find it and grab it, then.

Question about the roles in last night's SPN.

I don't have much to say about the lesbian who cannot touch--I suppose it's possible her plight was commentary, but I can only be so generous. More likely, I figure, tossing that same sex line in was a simple way to beef the stats, if it was thought about at all.

Now, as written, the lesbian can't be black, because then the black person dies first. Hmm. Now I'm trying to think of black lesbians on TV--apart from DA, coming up dry. Anyway, never mind. Could the Andy role have been black without there being any reaction to him being so dumb and trusting? If Jake betraying is a big deal, minority-wise, I'm assuming Ava would be worse, but it's certainly possible I'm missing subtleties (now I'm trying to think of black women in the arms of big white guys sniffling and asking protection, and just not seeing that either).

So basically, something has to be rewritten to accommodate having a black person in the episode.

I'm convinced I'm missing something, because, hey, black and not that bothered. Don't get me wrong--if Jake had either stayed a non-believer or died first, I'd have been all about "Not the brother!"

But this is hardly the first time fannish race flags have gone up and I've been left confused. So I'm asking for a walkthrough, really. Because I don't want to think that black people don't get cast, or that casting us means you have to change the script. But other than giving Jake a mental power and not a physical one (uh, never mind I'd rather have his than the others displayed), what's not raising the barrier to entry for minorities?

While I'm looking forward to next week's ep, I feel like we burned through a lot of awesome characters this week with very little emotional payoff. amyth says, and I agree, that Sera Gamble needs a good sitdown with some ME alums, or to be strapped to a comfy chair and shown all of Buffy s3. Madam, I know have posted with Tim Minear, and you are no Tim Minear. She's got talent, she just needs to not take the lazy, cheap way out.

I have a bit of a hard time buying Jake's actions... he may be a badass but he doesn't know anything about demons, so why would he trust the YED and betray a fellow solider? So much for 'leave no man behind.'

Logic holes big enough to drive the Metallicar through. Oy. I thought we might get Graduation Day or Chosen, but it's looking more like... Judgment? Who knows.

Ellen - no corpse, no dead. I hope that Ash is still alive, too, but I'm not counting on it.

smonster is me. Well, if I was younger, and stuff. But her words, yes, and amyth's, are mine.

we burned through a lot of awesome characters this week with very little emotional payoff.

So much.

I'm starting to doubt Jake's whole story, Ava lied and Jake could be lying about everything too.

ita, I was on guard for the race thing when Jake was introduced, but it didn't end up pinging me. I am not aware of betrayal as a racist trope.

The lesbian thing did. She's the only queer person we've seen, her touch literally killed her girlfriend, and she was schmuckbait.

Here's the thing: day players die on SPN, right? So if you 'boost the stats' with your day players, they aren't going to be around very long. To me it's a result of the maleness/whiteness of the admittedly small core SPN cast, which is the main problem. SPN also does not share Buffy's stated goal of subverting horror movie tropes; it often glories in them. So I'm not surprised that this stuff is coming up.

Recurring women on SPN:

• Ellen - probably not dead
• Ava - evil(ish), dead
• Jo - MIA - have we seen the last of her now that Kripke heard the agonzied wails of fangirls everywhere and nixed the romantic attraction? Or will she reappear in the finale?

Recurring people of color:

• Missouri - MIA
• Henrikson - I'm guessing we'll see him next week
• Gordon - ditto

But how would Ava have survived there for five months, on her own? I get her killing any others who showed up, but she is still human -- what the hell did she eat?

There's nothing to say she didn't get magically delivered meals every day. We weren't there long enough to see how it worked. However, she also appears to have gotten magically delivered showers and clean clothes.

I am not aware of betrayal as a racist trope.

Me neither.

However, she also appears to have gotten magically delivered showers and clean clothes.

She can control demons. She's probably had them build a Playboy Mansion for her just over that next rise.