Dean is so totally that guy. And you know what? He still doesn't buy it. But it doesn't mean you don't try.

I suppose you may be right, Plei, but three times in one episode is too much.

I will grudgingly admit we could've lost the YED's, except that then I'd probably feel that the YED's characterization felt off, on account of failure to taunt.

But Bobby and Sam's were essential.

In other news, SG-1 tonight was MARVELOUS.

I love the Cam-and-Vala show, and it's nothing like the John-and-Aeryn show. And Teal'c looming genially, and Josh Molina (!), and Daniel saying "hooped!" and everything.

It's the story Nutty has said for years they needed, where they come through in the middle of a museum, minus the kindergarteners. And I adore that Ben Browder helped come up with it. It's funny and suspenseful and has such good character bits in it.

I think the Bobby confrontation works fine, the YED would be fine if they cut one line, and the Sam confrontation would be fine if they cut two lines--which maybe works fine for Sam, because the boy is melodramatic and wordy.

I have been thinking about the finale as Sam's story, and while the big problem remains Sam being put so firmly outside the final confrontation with the YED (as if he got out everything he needed last week, which ... I'm not quite convinced of), he had two major turning points in the episode: shooting Jake (and shooting him, and shooting him) and confronting Dean at the end. We've been reading that confrontation as a Dean turning point, but it is just as much a big moment for Sam, who has been trying to get through to his brother and claim partnership in moments big and small ever since "The Devil's Trap." Or earlier, really, but "The Devil's Trap" is when he took a big step toward adulthood, when he stopped reacting out of adolescent rebellion and made a conscious decision to prioritize family over revenge; when he realized Dean wasn't just an invulnerable quasi-parental figure, but someone who needed his support.

The Dean monologue to Sam's corpse really does set up and recapitulate their basic conflict: Dean wanted to give Sam space to be a kid, to be free of the responsibilities of adulthood, like a lot of parents and older siblings; Sam wanted to grow up fast, to learn the world, to have all the benefits and privileges of maturity, like a lot of kids and younger siblings. Dean's protection, however loving, can feel like limitation; there's been a lot of fic about Sam wanting Dean to come with him to California when he left for Stanford, but my personal fanon is that Sam was trying to get away from his big brother's shadow as much as his father's. Dean's desire to protect Sam is established by--well, lots, but I was thinking of "Skin" and "Something Wicked" and the comics and all the times when Dean says he wishes Sam didn't have to know about the supernatural. When Sam kills Jake, as when Sam killed Madison, he is claiming parts of adulthood he may not have wanted, but which are unavoidable all the same. (Okay. My adulthood has not actually involved killing people, and I do not foresee it doing so. But in horror symbolism, difficult choices that hurt some people to benefit the greater good = BLOODY DEATH and anger, hatred, and giving into base impulses also = BLOODY DEATH.)

And then the end -- Dean defines looking after Sam as his "job", where his job used to be hunting; where job = vocation, identity. Imagine a sociologist having a field day with the role of work in the construction of contemporary American identity. And Sam asks him what he thinks his job is then -- and a job is something adults have. Sam launched the arc by saying they had work to do; he launched it in mourning, rage, self-blame, and grief. Dean launches the next arc by reclaiming the lost joy of hunting and hunting as brotherhood, work as fun--but also work as escape from the difficult discussion of his deal with a demon, his death, his sacrifices in the private sphere. Hunting as stealth emo.

On the whole, I think the second season is much stronger than the first; it's just that the first started out weak and gained strength, and the second started out strong and faltered near the end. Maybe for season three they'll figure out how to balance it all the way through.

With less crying, more action, and no horribly unfunny meta episodes. Please.

A second here on the marvelousness. I loved Teal'c menacing the hostages so much I had to run it back on the TiVo.

SG-1 was good fun. I half watched it the first time because I had other stuff to do, then watched the second showing to catch more fun moments. Teal'c cracked me up repeatedly. And Daniel was unlike any Daniel I have seen. They were all doing the goofy. Vala with the always handy theft tools. Silly fun.

Didn't see SGA.

Dean looked so damned happy to have something to do so he can just not talk about the deal.

So much this. That grin was perfect.

I mean, intellectually, I agree with most of the criticism I've seen leveled. But the firewall catches those thoughts, and it hits Does Not Compute instead.

Also this. When I'm really emotionally involved with the characters, my logic meter falters. (Which was why, in S7 of Buffy, for instance, my logic meter pinged all over the place, because I had grown so distant from so many of them.)

One thing I will say is that this show tends to go back and address previous plot holes later on, so the Devil's trap failing once the gate was open might be covered later. A girl can hope, anyway.

And honestly, because I'm so invested in Dean and Sam and their journeys, some of the technical, picky stuff doesn't matter as much to me. Much as I love the action and the demon killing, I'm watching for the emo character growth and revelation (even if a few less manly single tears would be appreciated).

I have been thinking about the finale as Sam's story (include rest of what Micole wrote here)

I came out of S2 with a strong and serious case of Sam-love. I keep trying to write up thoughts that involve thinking, but they keep coming out as "Sam Winchester (wow, rest of my post eaten and I failed to notice!) less than three, less than three"

And then I said more stuff, but I forget what it was.

I swear I've had this conversation before, but there are some characters who really do need anvil-sized cluestick interventions, and Dean Winchester is one of those characters.

My problem isn't that Dean needs to be beaten over the head with a therapist; my problem is that I don't need to see all of it, especially not in the middle of a season finale and the world ending. It was one of those classic, "Stop talking and have an action scene, people!!" problems.

Emotions transmitted as plot/action, yes; emotions endlessly chewed over while plot/action is not occurring, NSM. As season-ending wowie dramatic plots go, the whole process of finding, opening, and closing the gate to Hell was very -- thin. It could have borne at least two more obstacles in there, which would also get around the problem of "My, it's 9:45 and the story's over! What shall we talk about for ten minutes?"

...Which is so chronic it's downright funny.