The episode was fun, and the interaction between the boys was great. But. Their plan to scare Luther and get rid of him? Beyond dumb. I know, I know, handwavy handwavy, but re-enacting Luther's death wouldn't scare him into leaving, it would make him more angry/determined for revenge.

sighs, waits for everyone to stop with the eye-rolling and the sidelong glances

I know. I know. I pick the goofiest things to nitpick.

I like your goofy nitpicking. You often pick up on things I just accept and gloss over, so I like the, "Hey, wait--" I get when you pick up on something I missed. Not so goofy.

The way they got rid of him squicked the hell out of me, actually, and left me a bit upset. I just could have done without the visual there, and felt that it played out in a way that was not weighted enough for the degree of ick. I freely admit that that particular brutal kind of killing is the one I probably find most horrific and awful.

The lip syncing, however, was priceless.

Also, in addition to my paranormal/magic nitpicking: I'm SO not happy about the squicksome car-dragging and all of the overtones and baggage that carries. And really, did they need to show two different versions of it?

The character interaction was, like I said, fun. But the solution to the main plot bothers me on a lot of levels.

Yeah, I could have done without that too. I also thought the ep as a whole wasn't well written.

I did love the Dean stuff though-- JA was clearly having much fun.

New writers.

IJS.

I do have to agree on the resolution for the ghost. Even Sam called the method they used "brutal".

The resolution was horrid, and the plot was a hot mess. They're lucky the Ackles was so funny during the episode (and I wonder if they know that, and that's why we got what should be a DVD extra at the end of a regular old episode).

I agree with Bobby, in that that was a TERRIBLE plan.

Also, just because the dude was roadhauled doesn't mean that he doesn't have a corpse somewhere. They don't have to hunt down every plant and bird and small creature that ingests or absorbs part of someone who was dead and buried in order to put them to rest, do they?

Guess ghost-killing canon, like Jensen's leg, is flexible.

Yeah, for the first half (the first time through) I was watching from the hallway. I started to type in the W&P that my least favorite episode had been knocked down to second place. However, I would encourage a second watch. There were many subtle layers that I missed the first go around. This in no way should be attributed to the writers, but felt like choices in acting and directing. The writers left me confused.

Luther and Luther's brother are exquisite in their roles. Both of them could have easily had more screen time. I said during the W&P that the solution bothered me, but someone pointed out this is the reality of the 'verse and we should be hit with that from time to time. Tessa drove it home to Dean in the second season premiere. Most of these "monsters" that Dean and Sam hunt, start out just like Dean. The ghost on the highway that kept killing Trisha Helfer wasn't a bad person. He was a victim, who was just really pissed that he was killed and exacted revenge on a responsible party. Meg and Hendrickson we knew were okay people, but not so much as ghosts. According to Luther's brother, Luther was the kindest guy in the world. His death was supposed to be the worst kind of death. I think it was a good choice on the writers part to make a character, even if it is a oft copied one (Did anyone else think he should name the kitty George?), so sympathetic and then hit us with a method of death that was unacceptable beyond the fact that he was killed.

I think it is right that we point out that these monsters have choices, like the shifters, and make the wrong ones. But I also think we are definitely being shown them in a way that has to cause at least some sympathy for their situation. That is continuity that I hope is not foreshadowing for the boys, but might be possible.

eta: I can't shut up.

IMHO, this is an important episode. It reiterates some truths of the SPN verse. Good guys are bad and bad guys are ggood...Lo-lo-lo-lola. We get to see Sam as he would have been as the older brother, fully competent and capable to take care of both of the brothers. Dean doesn't have to bear as much of a burden as he thinks he has to endure. If he had more faith in Sam, Sam could be alright on his own. We found out two shocking things from Lilith. Dean was in Hell for forty years, and he remembers EVERY second. Either Demons lie, or we just haven't seen inside his memory yet. The time line is interesting for me because we saw how much Sam changed after living a year plus something without Dean. How much is Dean changed after forty years without Sam? Is that why he clutched the Bible and prayed when he was scared? Is that why he told Jamie that he sees himself on a mission from God instead of how Croatoan Dean viewed the world? Would he now fight on, without Sam?