For JDM fans.

NGH. I wonder which motorcycle is his??

I don't think anyone can say the JJ's haven't given everything they had.

With all the gossip surrounding entertainment-type people, all the bad behavior and stupidity, I tend to forget that acting, even film acting, is a profession. That people who take it seriously actually work at it, study and learn and experiment, developing their skills and their abilities. It makes me happy to see someone like Ackles on the periphery of a scene, where he's not the focus. All the action is elsewhere, but I've never seen him not *in* the scene. He's right there, attention where it's supposed to be, energy level up and *working*, not just idling until it's his turn on camera.

It was something of a revelation to see JP's screen test in the S2 extras. I tend to forget that's not JP up there onscreen, that he is actually portraying a character. That was emphasized by his screen test, where he gave virtually the same reading we got in the pilot. Twice, with minor variations. But the focus and the energy level was right there. He was a good actor going in. We got everything on the page, and a little bit more. Put him with JA, and their energy together brought the whole game up a level.

In the past three years, JP has refined his craft, brought so much more depth and scope and (I know I'm overusing this word, but it's so important onscreen) energy to every minute he's onscreen. This past year it was a quantum step--he seems to be generating so much more personality, more emotion, more power--but contained. It's far more subtle, he's doing so much more with so much less histrionics. It's a joy to see.

And when I hear that he's sitting down with dvds and trolling through old episodes teasing out bits that could be foreshadowing or precedent to use them as callbacks in a current episode, it just reinforces how dedicated professionals are to their craft.

Okay, hosannahs over with. Just felt a little schmaltzy there. These guys do that to me.

Perfectly said Bev.

eta:

Consuela wrote a post-ep to the finale.

This was excellent. I don't even have words for it. I can't imagine Sam and Bobby any other way.

Spoilery interview with Eric Kripke.

I'm very !!!! about that interview which concludes:

For whatever it's worth, the writers have never been this excited about a season. We have some really exciting plot twists.

I'm so weak! I clicked that, then closed it again after the first few questions! I'm such a fickle spoiler ho.

I have seen the first few spoilers, which both are unsurprising (in a narrative sense) and yet are surprising because I don't trust the writers enough to make big changes with the characters, or take risks with their likeability.

So, this will be interesting.

I only saw the first few spoilers, though. I guess I'm not quite so disenchanted as to want to be thoroughly spoiled. Also, I'm working on a story set in November 2008 and I'd rather not have it ruined by knowing too much about what the writers intend to do.

Winchesters - Dean and Dad in profile and the three Winchesters.

TWOP's JDM thread is discussing the resemblence of JA to JDM.

Hah. I've gone on at length about the lucky casting in this show. There's an obvious facial resemblence between young JDM's pictures and JA's present ones. If you look at stills from JDM's movies when he was in his 20s, there's a lot of resemblence to JP in the jaw, brow, dimples, length of body, breadth of shoulders. And there's a similarity of eye and jaw shape, and smile, between JA and Samantha Smith, both now and even more apparent in pics when JA was younger.

I caught a bit of What is Now the other day, and noted that the shape of Smith's face could be a feminized version of JP's, as well as her height and length of arm and leg bones.

Lucky casting, IJS.

Interview with Sera Gamble - non-spoilery. (Unless you haven't watched through season 3.)