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agt_spookyMorning, everyone!
I bring to you once again the Watercooler review of SPN from Tina Charles at tvguide.com
She sums things up so much better than I can. :-)
Take it away, Tina!
February 1, 2007: Houses of the Holy
This was such a different episode from last week, wasn't it? After all of last week's action and humor, the new plot twist and the "Renegade" ending, I was feeling all pumped up and experienced a general euphoria over this show. After "Houses of the Holy" was over, I felt the show nicely brought things down a little bit, slowed the pace, chose a topic that was more thought-provoking than the action movie we got last week. Again, much like some of the other episodes that have aired this season, this one has roots in one of last season's favorites: "Faith." It all goes back to Sam and Dean's different philosophies on life. Sam's willing to take things more on faith. That's why he was easily amenable to the thought of a preacher who could heal, and specifically, could heal his brother. Dean, on the other hand, only believes what he can see. It's naturally a more cynical view, but it's what allows him to deal with the things he fights everyday, while at the same time allows him to deny the existence of a higher power, or something that counterbalances all the evil in the world. A couple of the lines of dialogue at the beginning of "Houses of the Holy" even mirrors the conversation Sam and Dean had when they were walking up to the tent.
At the heart here is a supposed "angel" who comes to an individual in the form of a bright light and lets that person know they have been chosen to carry out an important task. Said task involves killing someone who's up to no good; going straight to the cops to confess; where they are then put behind bars or placed in a mental hospital where a sense of peace overcomes them, despite the brutal act they had just committed. They supposedly did it all under the guise of "God's Will." So we don't get a one-sided version of things, Sam immediately believes this is all the work of an angel, meanwhile, Dean is emphatic in his disagreement. He just feels this is a vengeful spirit, even after Sammy's touched by the angel himself. By the way, I thought it was very funny that when Sam admits to Dean he saw an angel, Dean offers Sammy a drink out of his flask. (And when did Dean start having a flask, anyway? Have we seen this flask before?) Anyway, when Sammy gets the sign, Dean won't let his little brother carry out the "angel's" terms. He won't let his little brother kill even though Sam claims he wasn't going to do that. But the attempted-rapist dude still ends up dead (impaled) and both Sam and Dean's beliefs are tweaked a little bit. Sam thought for sure it was an angel and instead it's the deceased Father Gregory. So his faith had to be shaken, especially since this destiny of his may take him to a bad place and he was counting on this belief in a greater good to help him cope with what they do every day as well as possibly save him from whatever's supposed to happen to him. As for Dean, even though he tried to change the outcome, he couldn't. So maybe, just maybe he opened up his mind a tiny bit. It's Dean, so despite him saying he saw "God's Will" at work, I really think it'll take a lot more than this to let faith in, especially after what he admitted to Sam about his mother. Speaking of which...
There were a couple brotherly scenes where I felt Jared and Jensen excelled: 1) When Dean told Sam that their Mom had faith just like him. And that the last thing she ever said to him when she tucked him in at night that angels were watching over them. It was very cool to hear Dean talk about Mary, especially since he didn't visit her grave when Sam did back in "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things." It was a heartbreaking scene, and Jensen delivered it perfectly. 2) The final scene where Sam's beliefs had clearly been shaken was really well done. Of course, my favorite part had to be when Dean told Sam he's watching over him. Sam acknowledges his brother's protection, but also tries to make his big brother understand his need to have faith in something much bigger than them. Jared did such a good job.
Other thoughts:
—Sam prays everyday? I never saw that coming. Neither did Dean.
—Dean on the vibrating bed? That's classic. And I love how he kept asking for quarters. What was that song he was listening to on the bed?
—I liked how they didn't forget about "Nightshifter." They explained that the fact that Dean couldn't go with Sam (in white scrubs) to visit the "crazy hooker" at the mental hospital was because it was a government faciilty and Dean's face had just been plastered all over the news for the bank robbery. See? Consequences from "Nightshifter" are already starting.
—Do you think Sammy was chosen by Father Gregory because of his weirdo visions, his need for redemption or it was another test?
—The car chase thankfully gave us a little action there at the end.
—It doesn't matter that I've heard "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" a million times in my life, the fact that the Bob Dylan tune was used at all was very cool.
—I loved that geek look Sammy gave Dean after he hacked into the sick guy's folder of e-mails.
—Did anyone notice there wasn't a "previously?"
—Did you get a load of next week's promo? Can't wait.
Favorite Lines:
—"You gotta try this. There really is magic in the magic fingers." "You're enjoying that way too much, it's kind of making me uncomfortable."
—"You got any quarters?"
—"She seriously believes she was Touched by an Angel?"
—"You know what? There's a ton of lore on unicorns too. In fact I hear they ride on silver moonbeams and they shoot rainbows out of their ass." "Wait. There's no such thing as unicorns?"
—"There are just some angels you just file under bull crap." "And you've got angels on the bull crap list?" "Yup."
—"You bring quarters?" "Dude, I'm not enabling your sick habit. You're like one of those lab rats that pushes the pleasure button instead of the food button until it dies." "What are you talking about? I eat."
—"Roma Downey made him do it."
—"I guess if you're going to stab someone, good timing."
—"I'm watching out for you." "Yeah, I know you are."
~~~~~~~
Ok, first I've got to say that Dean with the magic fingers? ROCKED MY SOCKS! I just laughed and laughed both times that was brought up, and Sam's reaction each time was priceless! Glad to see some humor in an otherwise thought-provoking episode.
As usual, Tina basically said everything I would've. I was sad for Sam that it didn't turn out to be an angel, because like him, I, too, wish that there was...something else helping the boys in their fight against evil. That they're not all alone in this battle.
Another touching scene was with Father Gregory and Father Reynolds performing the last rites. It was so sad that Father Gregory really believed that he was an angel and doing God's will.
Oh, also loved Dean flying around in the Impala. We need more car chases! It's totally awesome! And as soon as I saw the truck with the metal poles on it, I knew exactly what was going to happen. Still didn't stop me from cringing and going "oh, gross!" when the guy did get impaled.
The end scene was just a killer, and both Jared and Jensen knocked it out of the park, as usual. I could feel their pain and sadness and confusion - wanting to believe in something and have it taken away, and then having your eyes opened to something you didn't believe in. (and Knocking on Heaven's Door was a great touch). And Sam's talk about redemption? Broke my heart. I don't know how either he or Dean carry around the weight of Sam's "destiny".
Kudos to Sera Gamble and Kim Manners for another great episode - one I'll definitely be watching again.
So....what did YOU think of Houses of the Holy?
I bring to you once again the Watercooler review of SPN from Tina Charles at tvguide.com
She sums things up so much better than I can. :-)
Take it away, Tina!
February 1, 2007: Houses of the Holy
This was such a different episode from last week, wasn't it? After all of last week's action and humor, the new plot twist and the "Renegade" ending, I was feeling all pumped up and experienced a general euphoria over this show. After "Houses of the Holy" was over, I felt the show nicely brought things down a little bit, slowed the pace, chose a topic that was more thought-provoking than the action movie we got last week. Again, much like some of the other episodes that have aired this season, this one has roots in one of last season's favorites: "Faith." It all goes back to Sam and Dean's different philosophies on life. Sam's willing to take things more on faith. That's why he was easily amenable to the thought of a preacher who could heal, and specifically, could heal his brother. Dean, on the other hand, only believes what he can see. It's naturally a more cynical view, but it's what allows him to deal with the things he fights everyday, while at the same time allows him to deny the existence of a higher power, or something that counterbalances all the evil in the world. A couple of the lines of dialogue at the beginning of "Houses of the Holy" even mirrors the conversation Sam and Dean had when they were walking up to the tent.
At the heart here is a supposed "angel" who comes to an individual in the form of a bright light and lets that person know they have been chosen to carry out an important task. Said task involves killing someone who's up to no good; going straight to the cops to confess; where they are then put behind bars or placed in a mental hospital where a sense of peace overcomes them, despite the brutal act they had just committed. They supposedly did it all under the guise of "God's Will." So we don't get a one-sided version of things, Sam immediately believes this is all the work of an angel, meanwhile, Dean is emphatic in his disagreement. He just feels this is a vengeful spirit, even after Sammy's touched by the angel himself. By the way, I thought it was very funny that when Sam admits to Dean he saw an angel, Dean offers Sammy a drink out of his flask. (And when did Dean start having a flask, anyway? Have we seen this flask before?) Anyway, when Sammy gets the sign, Dean won't let his little brother carry out the "angel's" terms. He won't let his little brother kill even though Sam claims he wasn't going to do that. But the attempted-rapist dude still ends up dead (impaled) and both Sam and Dean's beliefs are tweaked a little bit. Sam thought for sure it was an angel and instead it's the deceased Father Gregory. So his faith had to be shaken, especially since this destiny of his may take him to a bad place and he was counting on this belief in a greater good to help him cope with what they do every day as well as possibly save him from whatever's supposed to happen to him. As for Dean, even though he tried to change the outcome, he couldn't. So maybe, just maybe he opened up his mind a tiny bit. It's Dean, so despite him saying he saw "God's Will" at work, I really think it'll take a lot more than this to let faith in, especially after what he admitted to Sam about his mother. Speaking of which...
There were a couple brotherly scenes where I felt Jared and Jensen excelled: 1) When Dean told Sam that their Mom had faith just like him. And that the last thing she ever said to him when she tucked him in at night that angels were watching over them. It was very cool to hear Dean talk about Mary, especially since he didn't visit her grave when Sam did back in "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things." It was a heartbreaking scene, and Jensen delivered it perfectly. 2) The final scene where Sam's beliefs had clearly been shaken was really well done. Of course, my favorite part had to be when Dean told Sam he's watching over him. Sam acknowledges his brother's protection, but also tries to make his big brother understand his need to have faith in something much bigger than them. Jared did such a good job.
Other thoughts:
—Sam prays everyday? I never saw that coming. Neither did Dean.
—Dean on the vibrating bed? That's classic. And I love how he kept asking for quarters. What was that song he was listening to on the bed?
—I liked how they didn't forget about "Nightshifter." They explained that the fact that Dean couldn't go with Sam (in white scrubs) to visit the "crazy hooker" at the mental hospital was because it was a government faciilty and Dean's face had just been plastered all over the news for the bank robbery. See? Consequences from "Nightshifter" are already starting.
—Do you think Sammy was chosen by Father Gregory because of his weirdo visions, his need for redemption or it was another test?
—The car chase thankfully gave us a little action there at the end.
—It doesn't matter that I've heard "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" a million times in my life, the fact that the Bob Dylan tune was used at all was very cool.
—I loved that geek look Sammy gave Dean after he hacked into the sick guy's folder of e-mails.
—Did anyone notice there wasn't a "previously?"
—Did you get a load of next week's promo? Can't wait.
Favorite Lines:
—"You gotta try this. There really is magic in the magic fingers." "You're enjoying that way too much, it's kind of making me uncomfortable."
—"You got any quarters?"
—"She seriously believes she was Touched by an Angel?"
—"You know what? There's a ton of lore on unicorns too. In fact I hear they ride on silver moonbeams and they shoot rainbows out of their ass." "Wait. There's no such thing as unicorns?"
—"There are just some angels you just file under bull crap." "And you've got angels on the bull crap list?" "Yup."
—"You bring quarters?" "Dude, I'm not enabling your sick habit. You're like one of those lab rats that pushes the pleasure button instead of the food button until it dies." "What are you talking about? I eat."
—"Roma Downey made him do it."
—"I guess if you're going to stab someone, good timing."
—"I'm watching out for you." "Yeah, I know you are."
~~~~~~~
Ok, first I've got to say that Dean with the magic fingers? ROCKED MY SOCKS! I just laughed and laughed both times that was brought up, and Sam's reaction each time was priceless! Glad to see some humor in an otherwise thought-provoking episode.
As usual, Tina basically said everything I would've. I was sad for Sam that it didn't turn out to be an angel, because like him, I, too, wish that there was...something else helping the boys in their fight against evil. That they're not all alone in this battle.
Another touching scene was with Father Gregory and Father Reynolds performing the last rites. It was so sad that Father Gregory really believed that he was an angel and doing God's will.
Oh, also loved Dean flying around in the Impala. We need more car chases! It's totally awesome! And as soon as I saw the truck with the metal poles on it, I knew exactly what was going to happen. Still didn't stop me from cringing and going "oh, gross!" when the guy did get impaled.
The end scene was just a killer, and both Jared and Jensen knocked it out of the park, as usual. I could feel their pain and sadness and confusion - wanting to believe in something and have it taken away, and then having your eyes opened to something you didn't believe in. (and Knocking on Heaven's Door was a great touch). And Sam's talk about redemption? Broke my heart. I don't know how either he or Dean carry around the weight of Sam's "destiny".
Kudos to Sera Gamble and Kim Manners for another great episode - one I'll definitely be watching again.
So....what did YOU think of Houses of the Holy?
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-02 01:39 pm (UTC)I so agree with you here, Barb. I posted something about this episode last night in reply to another of your LJ entries and wanted to also put it here to be in on the discussion.
As you know, I thought their beliefs would end up closer together after this episode. And I also said that now that Sam knows the demon is after him that he is probably hoping more and more that there is a god out there to help him fight it. I think I was right on these two things, but even though I expected to see this, I was totally moved by this episode. The last scene, where Sam tells Dean that he was right and Dean basically tells Sam that he was right - these boys continue to break my heart. And I think that what it came down to in the end is that, more than anything, they have faith in each other. I really have to watch this episode again in order to speak more coherently about it, but without analyzing it too much, I simply loved it. I now understand why Dean is such a skeptic; I'm still not sure why Sam is just the opposite, though I have a feeling that Dean has a whole lot to do with Sam always feeling safe and never having to question whether there is really a God. But our poor broken Dean, with the last words his mother said to him thrown back into his face at such a tender age - I can understand why he feels (or at least why he felt) the way he did. I'm unabashedly happy that they got to see things from the other side, so to speak. I just want to hug them and make them feel better (or better yet, have them hug each other!).
How much pain do these dear boys need to go through? I so hope that, in addition to some answers, they (and we) get some peace by the end of the season.
Thanks for this - I knew Sera wrote the episode but had missed who directed. I should have realized it was Kim. Jared and Jensen do the brother moments so well, but those moments seem to have a little extra *something* when Kim directs them. I think it's the faith they have in him to take care of them (to bring it around to the subject of this episode!). Whatever it is, I'm certainly grateful for it. Any idea who is directing next week's episode?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-05 12:31 am (UTC)Which is why it was so heartbreaking for it not to turn out to be an angel, because, I too, want there to be a higher power out there, helping both the boys.
it came down to in the end is that, more than anything, they have faith in each other
Oh, that's beautiful, Deborah. Really well said. :-)
(or better yet, have them hug each other!).
From you lips to Kripke's keyboard! LOL!
How much pain do these dear boys need to go through? I so hope that, in addition to some answers, they (and we) get some peace by the end of the season.
Oh, I have a feeling it's gonna get worse before it gets better, and that it's gonna be a hell of a ride. :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-02 03:30 pm (UTC)That said, I'm not sure why, exactly, Dean thought that the wanna-be rapists impalement was a sign from God. Maybe I've seen too many movies, but it didn't seem like it was that much of a miracle to me. I *want* Dean to see something that made him believe there might be something good out there...I just don't think this was it. I wish they had come up with something more...out there. Somehow. But because that's the message I wanted to see, I won't quibble with the method of delivery. Maybe their special effects guys couldn't think of a way either.
I do need to watch it again though, to absorb everything before commenting further.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-02 11:27 pm (UTC)That's what I got from it, anyway.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-03 01:56 am (UTC)Ah-hah! Bad guy #3 also died from a stab wound through the heart. I didn't see that, even though I was looking right at it.
That does make sense, and would explain Dean's take on it being unexpected and out of the ordinary. Thanks!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-05 12:12 am (UTC)Yeah, that's why I thought Dean was so freaked, too. I mean, what are the chances, being run through the heart, just like all the other guys? Freaky!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-02 11:08 pm (UTC)I WANT THAT ON A SHIRT.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-02 11:19 pm (UTC)Thoughts on "HH"
Date: 2007-02-03 01:36 am (UTC)Okay. First of all, this motel room has to be, hands down, the tackiest dump the guys have stayed in-- welcome to Mud Flap Hell!! All it needed were some black velvet posters (ick). And omigod, Dean on a vibrating bed--can ya stand it??? Lord, the fanfic that's inspired by that scene alone is gonna blow minds. Trust Sera to balance the hilarious with the heartbreaking...Sam's faith and Dean's cynicism clash throughout the episode, and there are good reasons for both viewpoints. It soothed any passing fears I had about seeing some sort of fluttery 'angel.' The last rites scenes for Father Gregory were truly moving.
As for the bad guy's 'death by pipe'--divine justice/punishment/retribution, or freak accident? You decide.
The end, with the boys' beliefs shaken, was wonderful. The way Jensen and Jared weave these brothers together is just awesome to watch--cannot wait for "Born/Sign."
Re: Thoughts on "HH"
Date: 2007-02-05 12:20 am (UTC)Ah, so you picked up on that, too, eh? :-) I love Kim to death. He is SO incredibly good at the "brother moments" and getting the best performances from Jensen and Jared.
Okay. First of all, this motel room has to be, hands down, the tackiest dump the guys have stayed in-- welcome to Mud Flap Hell!!
LOL! I know! With the cutouts of the women all over everything. Man, I want to work for the SPN set department!
And omigod, Dean on a vibrating bed--can ya stand it???
NO, I CAN'T!! Ha!
Sam's faith and Dean's cynicism clash throughout the episode, and there are good reasons for both viewpoints
Yep, absolutely. And by the end, each of them were a little closer to understanding the other's.
As for the end - no way it was a freak accident, nuh-uh. There was...something else at work there.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-03 04:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-02-05 12:11 am (UTC)I think that Dean may just sees the words as weapons, as much as silver bullets or a knife, y'know?