They aren't exactly getting the cosmology from a cracker jack box. It is straight out of Vertigo comics and horror films. So alarmingly familiar to me.

They aren't exactly getting the cosmology from a cracker jack box. It is straight out of Vertigo comics and horror films.

It is as well thought out and internally consistent as if they had gotten from a cracker jack box. So not a huge distinction.

I wonder if we'll get Tilda Swinton or some snobby British guy if Gabriel ever shows up...

It is straight out of Vertigo comics and horror films. So alarmingly familiar to me.

So you expect to see the Saint of Killers show up any moment?

The inconsistency that bugs me is mixing the metaphorical and the literal.

Lucifer's *fall* was metaphorical -- he betrayed God. For that, he was banished to hell. For them to describe Anna as *falling* to earth is really pretty silly -- she didn't have a corporeal form at that point, what would have *fallen* was her soul (which I'm assuming is the one thing humans and angels share).

I also would have rather she blatantly disobeyed orders than deciding to *rip out her grace* because ... that's just silly. And provides a much too easy means of re-angelfying her. But I guess then she would have been sent to hell, which doesn't work for this plot.

Otherwise it seems sort of consistent to me. Angels and demons seem to be on fairly equal footing as soldiers in armies where the corporal operates largely behind the curtain. Demons have a bit more freedom when it comes to acting against humans (staging their own battles?), but they both take orders.

I'm sure there's a lot more I'm missing, though.

Okay, I waited to watch this ep until today since I knew there'd be a huge break before I saw another new ep.

One quick comment: I thought Anna was supposed to represent a "Wings of Desire" style angel. There are limitations to this analogy, but the watching over humans for thousands of years and yearning to be human seemed to be that kind of theme.

I can't quite get around the separation of the angel and her grace, but I've decided not to think too hard about that.

If anyone's looking for good fic to tide you over hiatus, you can do a lot worse than this: [link]

It's novel-length (or at least novella, took me 3 hours to read), spins off after the end of season 3, and it's mostly the POV of Robin Wandell, who's the daughter of that hunter possessed!Sam killed in BUABS. It's fantastic, with great plot and even better characterizations. And I adored Robin: she's flawed and real and very very interesting. Loved it.

Thanks for that link, Suela! I started reading that story as a WIP, and lost track of it. I'm glad to find it again.

What's more impressive, that's July's first long story. There are lots of veteran writers who don't do as well with pacing and structure on such a long story. I'm gleefull at having found it.

Ooh. Thank you for the link, Suela. That looks good.