Issues, schmissues.

There are ways to have an opinion that are nicer than this, though.

Yeah, I totally agree [on the boys could not have done the sacrifice]. If our boys went for the sacrifice they would have lost to goal to make the strategy. And it looked to me like the trickster was on Ruby's side of that argument. Sam was ready to make the sacrifice, because he'd already made that choice in the tricksterverse.

Given the particular issues the show has it was really problematic of them to make it a virgin sacrifice. In part they handled it well, with Dean having trouble believing that any would choose to live without sex. On purpose. But then the rest of the episode he kept talking about how they were not going to sacrifice any virgins. So if she'd slept with the lead drummer of the local garage band in high school, sacrificing her would not have been quite as bad? (Though to be fair, Dean wouldn't have sacrificed anyone including Hendrickson.) I'm trying to decide if the whole "virgin" thing was still another example of the shows issues, or a case where the show actually did own its issues.

Really? I thought that the Trickster was trying to make Sam see that going in that direction would do more harm than good.

Well then he went about it wrong. I mean he turned Sam into a real psycho killer, then undid the fact of the trauma, but sent him back with all the memory and experiences. I mean, did he really think that one speech would undo months of experience? I assume that the intent was to turn Sam into a stone killer without Dean having to die first to do it.The writers seem to agree this was the result. I don't think Sam would have bought Ruby's logic so fast before the Trickster trauma. Of course Trickster is famous for screwing up a lot, so maybe he really did not intend the result he obviously got. It is just that Trickster is also a notorious liar and deceiver, so I assumed he meant what he did, not what he said. [Edit: But I have to admit your reading is a fair one too.]

Well, perhaps had they shown the episodes in the original order my reading would have worked better but instead your reading works.

I really wish that they hadn't switched the episode order.

See, I have thoughts about the episode order, but I'm going to have to come back to them because I have to go to work. Stupid work.

Either that or little girls are just creepy, which they are in horror-movie-land. I saw Poltergeist.

I think they're going for a twofold whammy: showing how evil this particular demon lord is by having it choose the most innocent and apparently harmless host possible, and jumping on the bandwagon of recent über-creepy children in films and TV. You know, Samara from The Ring, Charlotte from Blade, the Girl in the White Room from Angel, Dakota Fanning...

So they switched the episode order? I missed that part of the discussion in skipping and skimming. If the intended viewing order was tonights episode first, then Trickster that is an overwhelming point for your view.

Kripke felt that Jus in Bello was a better "season ender" if it had to be - or "hiatus starter". . as it is.

Jus in Bello is more cliffhangery, I agree, but getting my heart torn out by Mystery Spot would have been pretty awesome.