Review: Supernatural, Season 5, Episode 6: I believe the Children are our Future

Previous Supernatural episodes with children in them were pretty brilliant. One in particular that I really loved (and, from what I read on fan discussion boards, so did many other fans out there) is season three’s “The Kids Are Alright.” Seriously, who could forget the adorable little guy who made many hope he was Dean’s son?

Oh wow, how fantastic that episode was. And I still think that child is Dean’s, but that’s just me.

The episode opens up to a sight many parents must see on Thursday nights: a young girl, Amber, is sitting late at night in a dark living room, engrossed in what she is watching on the screen. She hears a noise, gets up to investigate, while everyone is screaming at her not to open it, and while the sight is horrific — a child with blood on his head — Amber just sighs.

Whaaaat?

Her babysitting charge is playing yet another trick on her, and she isn’t fooled by it, sending him quickly up to bed. Then a dog outside starts barking, and the last we see of Amber (alive) is when she draws the curtains closed after peering out in the hopes of figuring out why.

The parents come home, and the TV isn’t working anymore. Amber is sleeping on the couch – then again, perhaps not, as the horrified father touches blood on her head, of which a whole side is gone. Eww.

I know I don’t usually go in depth into the actual events in each episode, but there was something about this opening scene that I really liked. The overall ambiance, perhaps? The lighting? The filming? The acting? The relative simplicity of it? I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I figured it deserved some  space.

It seemed pretty obvious early on in the episode that the main discussion here was going to be about children and choices. Most people would agree that children grow up a lot faster nowadays than they used to. Adults are extremely uncomfortable with the idea, treating it as if it were a bad thing, and doing everything they can to delay adulthood and the era of responsibilities. Which probably explains why so many young people in their 20s act like they are still teenagers.

In any case, those of us who live in North America and Europe often forget that most children in the world have huge responsibilities at a very young age. Even more interestingly, we forget that a mere 100 years ago, children right here were given huge responsibilities at a very young age.

Which begs the question: why has growing up slowly become a good thing?

It seems that growing up has been correlated with less fun; consequently, less fun is also correlated with responsibilities. This doesn’t make sense. Children can be extremely responsible at a very young age and still have a lot of fun. Similarly, adults can have fun fulfilling their day to day responsibilities. I mean, it’s not like any of us had to shoulder the responsibilities of being the Antichrist at a young age, or of fighting off Lucifer so as not to become his vessel and bring about the Apocalypse, no?

Children are just not given the credit that they deserve. They sometimes are pushed to stay innocent, even if their maturity makes them see through the lies their parents tell them.

Father: I’ll just slip this tooth under your pillow and while you’re asleep the tooth fairy will float down and swap it out for a quarter.
Daughter: So some freak is going to come in my room while I’m sleeping and take my tooth. Sounds scary. No, thank you.

My parents never told me about the tooth fairy because they knew I wouldn’t believe them. My father watched me once, as a child, destroy the entire idea of the existence of a tooth fairy his friend was trying to convince me existed. And let me tell you something — even without having the tooth fairy to look forward too, losing a tooth was still a really cool experience (wiggling it and freaking the faint of heart out? Awesome.)

Again, this seems to stem from a nonexistent dichotomy: that immaturity and innocence go hand in hand. But because of this nearly universally accepted dichotomy in our society, adults tend to treat children as cute little things that need protection from everything, even work.

As No Doubt would say: “I’m just a girl in the world, That’s all that you’ll let me be!”

This is quite unfortunate, since children have amazing capacities to contribute to their own advancement, as well as that of their families and their communities. Now I know Jesse was the Antichrist, but how many people underestimated him just because he’s a child?

Being taught at a young age to be responsible doesn’t mean that children have to forgo their innocence. Quite the contrary, a child’s joy and innocence should be cherished, but not at the price of his capacity to contribute to the advancement of humanity. Even Jesse; while he is going to have demons to fight and I’m sure it’s not the last we see of him, it’s pretty clear that he went to a place where he can surf and he is going to be quite happy – relatively speaking, since he does carry the burden of being the Antichrist.

I wonder how Sam felt, seeing a child that young carry a burden far heavier than the one he had, and not succumbing to temptation – at least, not yet.

Will an overarching plotline become that of Sam seeking redemption through Jesse, but keeping him from going dark? Will Sam and Jesse develop a strong bond that will help both of them, Sam from cleansing himself from what he did, and Jesse from denying his dark side? Of course, that’s a big gamble, considering who Jesse is and what he is capable of.

Sam: He might make the right choice.
Castiel: You didn’t.

Harsh, Castiel. Harsh.

And what about Dean in all this? Sometimes I wonder if him being Michael’s chosen vessel means that even if he doesn’t accept, he has amazing capacities to fight the Apocalypse. Okay, fine, we know that Dean is a great hunter… but what if he, too, had some sort of internal something or other, a supernatural strength or paranormal force which would be the reason why he was chosen in the first place?

Then again, we never got a hint of it anytime in the last four seasons, so or I’m totally off the track, or that special ability is very, very well hidden.

Perhaps in the form of Dean’s massive appetite.

The conversation at the end of the episode was also interesting and a little heartbreaking.

Dean: I’m starting to see why parents lie to their kids. I mean, you want them to believe that the worse thing out there is mixing pop rocks and coke. Protect them from the real evil. You want them to go to bed feeling safe. If that takes lying, then so be it. The more I think about it, the more I wish Dad had lied to us.
Sam: Me, too.

I’ll give it to them; Dean and Sam did have it pretty hard, especially Dean, thrust in the role of parent at an extremely young age. I don’t know if John lying to them would have been the best of alternatives though, especially given their family history of being hunters. Even medically, a child has to be exposed to viruses and bacteria from a young age, to allow his bowels to be colonized adequately (still, yuck) and his immune system to slowly build up. Were we to protect a child from every single such organism until his maturity, be it at 15, 18 or 21, then expose him to the real world with all its filthiness, that child’s immune system would become overwhelmed and he’d die.

Who is to say that wouldn’t have happened had Dean and Sam be lied to all along, only to find themselves the target of demons and Lucifer?

Which brings back, yet again, the concept of moderation. As many authors specializing in child-rearing would tell you, a child will tell you when they have heard enough about a given topic. Parents shouldn’t lie to their children, but neither should they overwhelm them with information they are not ready to process. Jesse asked the questions he needed to have answered, and while he got answers, he didn’t get all the information Dean and Sam had. He stopped asking questions when he had had enough — a nifty self-preservation technique most people still have when they are adults.

I don’t think many adults get this concept of telling the truth to their children as much as they can process it. It makes me wonder at the depth of the issues Dean and Sam have, exposed since childhood to things even adults shouldn’t know about. And before we go John-hating, let’s remember that most parents have the very best of intentions at heart, and I think while John made bad decisions and was blinded by his quest for revenge, he did try to be as good a father as he could, considering.

And some parents, trying to be the best they can be, lie to their children to protect them from the dark side of life. But (ironically enough, perhaps) this itself is the real reason why parents shouldn’t lie to their children: for when they discover that their parents, the people they looked up all their lives, the people who made them feel safe and secure, lied to them, that very sense of security becomes shattered.

Seen in this light, I don’t think we can blame teenagers for being moody.

The main question I’m sure many Supernatural fans have on their lips is about Jesse’s potential to go dark versus his ability to remain good, and what the role of the Winchester brothers and Castiel should be. Did Castiel have a right to kill the child? Surely even the most tenderhearted viewer can agree that Jesse being the Antichrist, a demon spawn who is going to be one of the devil’s greatest weapon in the war against heaven, isn’t a good thing to have during an Apocalypse – kind of like flying a kite during a severe thunderstorm. Sam and Dean tried to appeal to his human side, but can Jesse even be defined as human, and even if he is half human, is that side strong enough to withstand the darkness within him?

Julia: Have you seen my son? Is he human?

And, dang it all, Jesse is so adorable that not even for a second was I rooting for him to be killed. I especially loved it when he asked the boys for their badges.

Jesse [taking the badge from Dean’s hands]: Let me see that.

Castiel wanting to kill Jesse could be related to John’s instructions to Dean to kill Sam if need be. And, had Dean complied, this entire Apocalypse might not have happened, and we would all be talking about what a fantastic show Supernatural was during its short three to four season run.

I don’t think its right to get rid of someone just because they are showing signs or have the potential to go to the dark side. The end doesn’t justify the means, and killing the person that has potential to go dark shows that the killer himself has darkness inside him. So what do we do, go around killing everyone?

Let’s admit it: while it would take care of many problems the world is plagued with, but wouldn’t be very constructive to the advancement of human civilization.

I’m quite disappointed that Jesse didn’t get to meet Bobby; I would have loved to see how that would go, an adorable, tender-hearted child meeting a gruff old man. I also loved the X-Men nod.

Dean: He’s also in a wheelchair

Let’s hope that the education given to Jesse by his adoptive parents, who seem to be kind and tender towards their son and instilled him with good manners, will be strong enough that, with help, Jesse will be able to keep his dark side at bay. After all, he would make the boys a pretty nifty sidekick in a couple of years.

One last thought: how in the world did Jensen, Jared and Mischa not die of laughter while filming the scene where Castiel sit on the whoopee cushion?

Some great moments:

Sam: Whoever is doing this […] has the powers of a god… [or] of a trickster.
Dean: And the sense of humour of a nine-year-old.
Sam: Or you.Sam: Dude. Seriously. Still with the ham?
Dean: We don’t have a fridge!

Sam: Hey, you’re not using my razor!

Castiel, sitting on the whoopee cushion: That wasn’t me.

Review: Fringe, Season 2, Episode 5: Dream Logic

I’m liking Fringe more and more. And no, it’s not a case of me trying to delude myself into making the task of reviewing it less tedious. Quite the contrary in fact — reviewing Fringe is becoming more and more fun.

Wouldn’t Walter be proud. I have to admit that, during the first minute or so of this particular episode, my jaw dropped open and I wasn’t really happy; for a moment, I seriously thought this episode was going to be a ripoff of an X-Files episode, “Folie à Deux.” The beginning of the story seemed quite similar, in that a man was seeing people around him at work as monsters, of which he had to kill the head monster. But then the story took a turn — and it was definitely not for the worse.

Fringe Division’s Olivia Dunham, Peter Bishop, and Walter Bishop are sent to Seattle to investigate a case involving a man who attacked his boss. You might think that not so abnormal, considering how many terrible bosses are out there, but no, it didn’t really have anything to do with that kind of boss killing. The poor man seemed to be having hallucinations that made him think that many people in the office were creatures with insect-like heads, and that his boss, a horned creature leader of sorts, was an evil he had to rid the world of.

Sound familiar, fellow X-philes?

But, like I said, that’s about all this episode had in common with “Folie à Deux.” During the subsequent autopsy of said man, Walter discovers a microchip embedded in his thalamus, the part of the brain which, among other things, controls sleeping patterns, including REM sleep during which dreams happen, and also controls motor activity.

While the potential to use such a device for mind control is great, and this was Walter Bishop’s initial theory, it soon comes to light that the doctor who pioneered this chip had developed an addiction to his subjects’ dreams. He would access his subject’s consciousness at various times of the day and download the dreams into his brain, causing a sort of high state akin to that achieved with hallucinogenic drugs.

The plot is delicately twisted a little more when we find out that the doctor has a double personality. The kind doctor who truly wants to help his sleepless in Seattle patients (oh, the joy of puns) and the Jekyll-ish personality who is addicted to dreams.

This is the part that gets a little bit muddy. Somehow, the kind doctor figures it out – and although his Jekyll-ish personality threatens him, he helps Olivia and Peter with their investigation. Then he sets a sort of trap for himself, leaving a threatening message on his own answering machine. Then he sets himself up for a huge dose of dreams from a particular subject, and died from an overdose.

This episode saw the return of Sam Weiss, who seems to have a knack for developing therapy techniques that seemingly make no sense yet get the job done. Olivia is having a hard time accepting Charlie’s death (then again, so am I), and so she turns back to Sam in the hope of being ‘fixed’ again. I really hope this becomes a reoccurring pattern, ensuring that Sam comes back again and again – and hopefully not only when Olivia needs fixing, but also when she needs a sympathetic ear.

I touched on the following topic a couple of times in past Fringe reviews, and would like to touch on it again to bring yet another perspective: ethics of medical research on human subjects. I think we can all agree that what Walter did to agent Cashner was wrong – funny, but wrong. But what about people like Rebecca, from last week’s episode, who were willing to have experiments done on them? Where do you draw the line, if the subject is willing to go very far? Let’s face it – if the subject is willing to go very far, we might get some amazing data that could help carry forward the medical establishment without the moral dilemma of doing something to the subject that might harm them, as subject accepts (or even embraces) the possibility of being harmed.

What if we were to consider the body as a temple to the soul, the interface of which creates the human being? Then the way we treat the body will be very different from the way we would treat it were we to consider it as simply a flesh and bone machine. With such a premise, treating the human body with respect becomes the aim of both researcher and the subject. While the question of how far the experiments can go before the human body is being disrespected still remains, with such a premise, a personal thing, it becomes one with standard much higher that currently exist.

And who knows? Trying to figure out how to answer a certain scientific question without disrespecting the human body might be challenging enough that a few, if not all the questions will be answered.

A great moment came at the very end. Peter has a nightmare, in which he, as a young boy, is sleeping in his bed, only to be awakened by his father. Little Peter asks his father if everything is okay, only to start screaming – at which point Peter wakes up (for real this time). Walter is watching him, looking distraught – he has heard Peter talking in his sleep, and most probably fears that the truth of what happened to him is emerging.

The question is this: Is Peter remembering a past he suppressed, or is the placement of this particular scene in this specific episode meant to hint that Peter’s dreams are also being stolen? And also, if this Walter stole the Peter from the alternate world, why hasn’t alternate Walter come to this world to fetch him back?

Note: As of January 2010, any review I write will be posted on Sahar’s Reviews; Sahar’s Blog will be reserved for random thoughts and musings instead.

Review: Fringe, Season 2, Episode 4: Momentum Deferred

It’s very satisfying to watch a show slowly grow into its full potential. Fringe’s first season was slow, and many stopped watching for various reasons. But for those of us who stuck by it, our patience is paying off, more and more so with each new episode of season two.

The title of this particular episode, “Momentum Deferred,” seems all the more apt as it seems that the momentum deferred from season one’s interesting yet slow start to season two’s increasingly faster pace. I previously complained about how Fringe episodes are so slow, that their time slot isn’t used as efficiently as it is with, say, Supernatural, but this complaint is fading with every passing week. Hopefully this trend will continue throughout the current season, and if it does, it bodes very well for season three.

“Momentum Deferred” starts with the hijacking of a truck carrying cryogenically frozen heads. It is soon determined that organic/mercury hybrids from Parallel Earth are looking for their leader, identifiable only by an omega symbol that seems to have been seared into the side of his head. Ouch.

There are a couple of obvious questions that come to mind. Who is this guy whose head is costing so many other heads to go to waste? We know he’s the leader of the Parallel Earth army. But is he human? Is he a shape-shifting organic/mercury hybrid? Or is he human only to be brought back to life with the use of the organic/mercury hybrid technology? Why was he beheaded, and, after he’s thawed out, what is his role going to be? Is he the one that will be featured in a showdown versus Olivia?

I’m starting to trust the show’s writers and producers, and so for now, remain satisfied with asking the questions, hoping they will be answered shortly.

However, there are a couple of interesting reflections that can be made regarding this particular plotline I’d like to share.

I know this is only a show and that they weren’t real, but the disrespect shown to the frozen heads really bothered me. I know it makes a (chilling) point about the characters, and I can’t help but wonder if there are people around us who would act with equal disregard towards a bunch of frozen heads, were they to stumble upon them one day.

The other question that comes to mind is this: should the heads be treated with respect because they served as a temple to the souls of the individuals they belonged to, or rather because they are the actual person? It becomes something of a philosophical, spiritual, and religious debate to determine what is a person: the sum of all his thoughts, which are contained within the matrix of the brain, or rather the sum of all his thoughts that are attributes of the soul which, interfaced with a body throughout the duration of the individual’s presence on earth, made for what we call a human being?

Continuing on the Several Lessons Of The Heads (a.k.a. SLOTH), I also found it interesting how the corporations that own and control the cryogenic laboratories refused to give out the names of those whose heads were stolen (I can’t believe I just typed that). I always find it interesting how, be it in a TV show, a movie or in real life, corporations put their own self-interest before that of people. Surely there is a way of giving out the list of client names to the agency investigating the crimes while ensuring that the privacy of both the clients with the missing heads as well as the corporations involved is respected. It galls me each and every time that corporate interests are put before human life and human dignity.

The above just had to be one of the oddest paragraphs I have ever written. Don’t judge me until you’ve watched this episode, okay? It’s really out there. Mulder would be proud.

A clearer understanding of the composition of the shape-shifters was kindly provided within the plot of the episode, saving us from further confusion while simultaneously shielding us from an uncool organic chemistry lesson. These mercury/organic hybrids are not your mother’s hybrids; they are even, dare I say, much cooler than the alien/human hybrids from The X-Files. Sorry, Chris Carter. It doesn’t mean The X-Files weren’t epic. They totally were. Except maybe for the last couple of seasons, and the second movie.

A deeper understanding into Olivia’s role in this whole mess is also kindly provided. We already knew Olivia was special, that she had a unique ability, and that she had been experimented on as a child by Walter Bishop and William Bell (woo-hoo, welcome back, Leonard Nimoy!). And now we find out that Bishop and Bell were looking for the strongest child in a bunch to become the guardian of the gate between the two parallel universes. Any wonder that Nina Sharp wanted her to work for Massive Dynamics?

Weird. Fringe seems to suddenly have become The X-Files meets Stargate.

One thing is certain: life isn’t getting any easier for Olivia this season. After fearing for her life at the hands of a mercenary organic/mercury hybrid, it suddenly is revealed (to her, at least) that Charlie isn’t quite Charlie anymore, and that to survive, she has to shoot him, her best friend and long time colleague. Broyles takes time off his busy Acting Secretive Schedule (a.k.a. ASS) to comfort her (somewhat) – but I think we can rest assured that this will haunt her for a long time.

All these events seem to be making a strong woman stronger, although we are also allowed glimpses into some of her most vulnerable moments. Her drinking the worms without the strawberries Walter was planning to sweeten them with was pretty intense, as evidence by Astrid’s disgusted facial expression. Which makes me wonder: did the worms trigger Olivia’s memories or was the flood of memories only a result of the unorthodox therapy Sam had her doing during the last couple of episodes?

Whatever the cause, the effect was unexpected and frightening; the way Olivia just spun and crashed to the ground after Peter rang the bell gave me a heart attack. Do you think she came back because of the shot of adrenaline Walter had Peter inject directly in her chest (ouch) or because of the bell that William Bell (ha ha) rang?

I’m still very ambivalent about Nina Sharp. While she is helping Olivia and it doesn’t seem that her intentions are bad, her position does make her a protector of Massive Dynamics’ interests. Who is to say that in the future, this won’t make her stab Olivia in the back? I’m certain she lied to her in the past, and during this episode, it was clear she lied to Olivia when she said she had never seen the omega symbol before. Which also makes me wonder how loyal to Bell she really is.

Speaking of which, yet more food for thought on the ethics of scientific experimentation was given to us in the form of Olivia and William Bell’s conversation, as well as the apology Walter Bishop gave to Rebecca.

While William Bell expresses regret at having hurt Olivia as well as others whom he and his partner experimented on, something tells that, were he given a chance to change his decisions, he wouldn’t. Just like in Supernatural and in The X-Files, a character’s good intentions pave his way directly to hell (be it figuratively or not). Is it really a case of not having any other choice if Earth is going to be saved? Could something else have been done but, blinded by his own opinions, Bell couldn’t fathom any of them as being as efficient as the path he chose to follow? We don’t know enough yet to be able to have a full on discussion about this — but, as the season continues, rest assured I will probably post a huge discussion about this topic.

On the other hand, we have Walter Bishop, who cried as he watched an old video of Olivia Dunham (an unwilling subject) being experimented on as a child, and who apologized to Rebecca (a very willing subject) for experimenting on her. Which begs the question: if a subject is willing, does it give the experimenter a green card to do what he wants?

One more question, and I promise to get on with another topic: what is the ethical as well as the spiritual and religious point of view on using drugs to achieve a spiritual awakening? Is it really an awakening if it is only reachable if the subject is hallucinating?

Peter deserves a bit of space here, and not only to question why he always has red-rimmed eyes. Does the guy get any sleep, or does Walter really snore that much? In any case, it was interesting and perhaps a little ironic that when he was younger, Peter was scared of falling asleep for fear of being replaced by a pod person. This happened after he watched the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

This was all the more interesting when Rebecca sees Peter glowing – although it’s still not clear if that was a glare from the sun, the drugs or an actual otherworldly glow. What was it Rebecca was going to tell Peter in the lab when the drugs kicked in? “I met you before, when you were a baby, I swear I saw…” You saw what, woman? Talk about bad timing. My mother was right — drugs are bad.

I can’t help but wonder if Peter is going to have his own Olivia moment, if some sort of trigger is going to unleash a flood of memories that will break him away from his father.

The last interesting Peter-related question is this: William Bell mentioned how difficult it was to send an organic, normal person from one parallel universe to the other. If so, how did Peter make it? Does he have a special ability, and his higher than normal intelligence is but one sign of it? Or did Walter figure out a safe way of sending people back and forth, which means that there is a way of fighting the organic mercury hybrids?

There were a couple of good Walter moments. From his excitement at experimenting with the black worms to trigger Olivia’s memory to his enthusiasm at seeing the body bleeding silver to the advice he gave Charlie who admitted to him that he couldn’t sleep: “A little cannabis before bedtime does wonders.”
Walter moments are just as precious as always. There was also Walter’s nervousness at seeing Rebecca again, which gave way for one of two great Walter/Peter moments in this episode: one where Peter is calming Walter down before Rebecca comes to the door to answer, and the second, when Peter gives Walter permission and money to go to Rebecca’s house.

But although that last bit was hilarious, it was also a little odd. While Peter is Walter’s guardian, it doesn’t mean that he’s his father. Walter’s newfound childlike view of the world makes it necessary for him to have a father figure… but still. It’s just still a little odd.

Or maybe it’s just me.

.

It’s very satisfying to watch a show slowly grow into its full potential. Fringe’s first season was slow, and many stopped watching for various reasons. But for those of us who stuck by it, our patience is paying off, more and more so with each new episode of season two.

The title of this particular episode, “Momentum Deferred,” seems all the more apt as it seems that the momentum deferred from season one’s interesting yet slow start to season two’s increasingly faster pace. I previously complained about how Fringe episodes are so slow, that their time slot isn’t used as efficiently as it is with, say, Supernatural, but this complaint is fading with every passing week. Hopefully this trend will continue throughout the current season, and if it does, it bodes very well for season three.

“Momentum Deferred” starts with the hijacking of a truck carrying cryogenically frozen heads. It is soon determined that organic/mercury hybrids from Parallel Earth are looking for their leader, identifiable only by an omega symbol that seems to have been seared into the side of his head. Ouch.

There are a couple of obvious questions that come to mind. Who is this guy whose head is costing so many other heads to go to waste? We know he’s the leader of the Parallel Earth army. But is he human? Is he a shape-shifting organic/mercury hybrid? Or is he human only to be brought back to life with the use of the organic/mercury hybrid technology? Why was he beheaded, and, after he’s thawed out, what is his role going to be? Is he the one that will be featured in a showdown versus Olivia?

I’m starting to trust the show’s writers and producers, and so for now, remain satisfied with asking the questions, hoping they will be answered shortly.

However, there are a couple of interesting reflections that can be made regarding this particular plotline I’d like to share.

I know this is only a show and that they weren’t real, but the disrespect shown to the frozen heads really bothered me. I know it makes a (chilling) point about the characters, and I can’t help but wonder if there are people around us who would act with equal disregard towards a bunch of frozen heads, were they to stumble upon them one day.

It’s very satisfying to watch a show slowly grow into its full potential. Fringe’s first season was slow, and many stopped watching for various reasons. But for those of us who stuck by it, our patience is paying off, more and more so with each new episode of season two.

The title of this particular episode, “Momentum Deferred,” seems all the more apt as it seems that the momentum deferred from season one’s interesting yet slow start to season two’s increasingly faster pace. I previously complained about how Fringe episodes are so slow, that their time slot isn’t used as efficiently as it is with, say, Supernatural, but this complaint is fading with every passing week. Hopefully this trend will continue throughout the current season, and if it does, it bodes very well for season three.

“Momentum Deferred” starts with the hijacking of a truck carrying cryogenically frozen heads. It is soon determined that organic/mercury hybrids from Parallel Earth are looking for their leader, identifiable only by an omega symbol that seems to have been seared into the side of his head. Ouch.

There are a couple of obvious questions that come to mind. Who is this guy whose head is costing so many other heads to go to waste? We know he’s the leader of the Parallel Earth army. But is he human? Is he a shape-shifting organic/mercury hybrid? Or is he human only to be brought back to life with the use of the organic/mercury hybrid technology? Why was he beheaded, and, after he’s thawed out, what is his role going to be? Is he the one that will be featured in a showdown versus Olivia?

I’m starting to trust the show’s writers and producers, and so for now, remain satisfied with asking the questions, hoping they will be answered shortly.

However, there are a couple of interesting reflections that can be made regarding this particular plotline I’d like to share.

I know this is only a show and that they weren’t real, but the disrespect shown to the frozen heads really bothered me. I know it makes a (chilling) point about the characters, and I can’t help but wonder if there are people around us who would act with equal disregard towards a bunch of frozen heads, were they to stumble upon them one day.

Review: Supernatural, Season 5, Episode 5: Fallen Idols

We have been hearing about it for awhile, and the moment finally happened — Paris Hilton graced the little screen and made for a pretty awesome supernatural force to be dealt with. Discussion forums and fan sites were filled with speculation in the last couple of weeks as to the effect having Paris Hilton on the show would have on its ratings; some went even further, stating that this episode might be the one which will make Supernatural jump the shark.

Happily enough, none of this happened; in true Supernatural style, Paris’ visit to the set made sense and fit perfectly with both the myth of the Leshi the brothers were fighting as well as with the style of the last four years and five episodes.

I’ve said it before, but it begs to be said again: kudos to the writing team. We were treated to a great episode that simultaneously entertained viewers and taught them a little more about the paranormal, took the relationship between the three protagonists one step further, and provided for an amazing social criticism.

Yes, three — everyone keeps forgetting about the Impala.

While their complicity isn’t (understandably) the same as it used to be, it was nice to see the Winchester brothers working together again. Many discussion boards and fan sites are already filled with mentions of how great it is that Dean and Sam are finally really mending fences. On the flip side, it seems to be that there weren’t as many Dean quips in this episode as there usually are, but then again, it’s a good reflection of the state of mind he’s in.

The slight shift in the relationship between the two brothers was also interesting, and yet another reason why this show is amazing. Sam being honest with both himself and Dean was a sign that he’s (finally) becoming more mature, and Dean is still able to put his ego to the side and admit when he’s wrong (given time). If at the very least the brothers can learn such important lessons from the Apocalypse… nope, that still doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. Oh well… I tried.

This shift in the relationship has a lot to do with both brothers not only being honest with themselves about their own role in the Apocalypse, but also with the fact that they are starting to be honest with each other about the other’s role in starting the Apocalypse. Sometimes I couldn’t help but wonder if Dean was seeking redemption for breaking the first seal by putting the pressure on Sam to stop the Apocalypse from happening. I also can’t help but wonder if the difficulty Dean has been having with Sam in the last couple of episodes has to do with the guilt Dean feels at breaking the first seal that he transferred onto Sam.

Sam: Dean, One of the reasons I went off with Ruby was to get away from you.
Dean: What?
Sam: It made me feel strong, like I wasn’t your kid brother.
Dean: Are you saying this is my fault?
Sam: No, it’s my fault. All I’m saying is that if we are going to do this, we have to do it different. We can’t just fall into the same rut.

Whatever the case may be, the most important thing is that the brothers have started going deeper; they have started to identify the reasons why they fell into the trap (of breaking the first and last seals) in the first place. One of the main reasons Dean went to hell was because he felt it was his role as the older brother to protect his kid brother. But lately, the anger Dean felt because of Sam’s betrayal made him realise that he shouldn’t be there to hold Sam’s hand and clean up his messes; however, he has been realising that life without his brother sucks, and that they both need one another. And Sam has been realising that while Dean has been treating him like his kid brother, he had other ways of reacting to it other than listening to a demon and getting hooked on demon blood. And him talking honestly about it at the end of this episode could be the beginning of the end of the rift between them.

Ah, brotherly love. Is anyone else feeling all warm inside?

I can guess that it’s going to be very interesting to watch how the relationship between the two brothers is now going to be like. Sam asked for his emancipation from only being a kid brother and Dean has started to accept his role as equal rather than as protector. Dean and Sam walking side by side, rather than Dean holding Sam’s hand, is going to make for a much stronger Winchester team.

The writing, filming, and acting needs its share of kudos here, too: the way the show goes in depth into the nature of the Sam-Dean relationship and its shift with relatively little said really is a sign of the maturity of both the writers and the actors; the evolution of the relationship is chronicled not only in the words exchanged between the two brothers and their actions, but also in the way they react to each other, sometimes in very subtle ways. The quality of the show seems more and move obviously related to the quality of each stage of production.

There are a number of other things that I loved about this episode. For example, as a car lover, the ‘Little Bastard’ reference was amazing. I have to admit that my first reaction to the opening scene, after freaking out about James Dean’s car, was to be really excited about a ‘haunted car’ episode (something I would have wanted Mulder and Scully to investigate). Then I remembered this was the episode guest starring Paris Hilton and that a haunted car just wouldn’t really explain the leaked Paris Hilton plotline.

But even with its associated amazingness, the ‘Little Bastard’ reference wasn’t the best part of this episode (I apologize to all my car-loving friends who might have a minor aneurysm or heart attack at the above statement). The honour of best part of the episode goes to the social criticism given by the Leshi. Ironically enough, the nutty god was in the shape of Paris Hilton while giving its pep talk, which made the entire thing all the more unreal.

Dean: You’re not the first god we’ve met, but you are the nuttiest.
Leshi: No, you. You people, you’re the crazy ones. You used to worship gods. But this? [Gestures at the Paris Hilton form he has taken] This is what passes as idolatry? Celebrities? What do they have, apart from small dogs and spray tans? You people used to have old time religion, now you have US Weekly.

The Leshi’s statement was brilliant for two reasons. First of all, it is true that we have been replacing gods and spirituality with other things, such as materialism and celebrities, which I think of as materialism’s prophets. Case in point: we have people all over the country who have entire rooms transformed into shrines to one celebrity or another. I’m willing to bet that while the amount of money spent on tabloids and all things celebrity related has skyrocketed in the last five years, expenditures related to religion and spirituality have perhaps only moderately increased, if not decreased.

Considering the state of mind of people today as well as their ensuing priorities, does it really surprise anyone that the state of the world is as it currently is?

Not me, it doesn’t. But it does, however, give me hope that instead of idolizing celebrities just because they are famous, we will learn to once again idolize the qualities and attribute of people who made a positive and lasting difference in the world. Because in all honesty, no one is perfect, and no one deserves to be idolized.

Another case in point: all the fallen angels featured on Supernatural. The second reason why the Leshi’s statement is brilliant is that not only does it reflect the state of the real world (i.e. ours), but also the state of the world as defined by the show. Think about Zachariah (ah, how I love putting him down). Perhaps is the angels hasn’t started simply following him and his opinion, perhaps even idolizing him, they would have been able, just like Anna and Castiel, to figure out what is wrong with the picture.

And, perhaps a little more to the extreme, think about God; if idolization and blind adoration had given way to intelligent devotion à la Castiel (i.e. questioning and continuously searching), perhaps religion wouldn’t be in the state it’s currently in.

So the title of this episode, “Fallen Idols”, could very well be the fact that the idols of the victims, i.e. Abe Lincoln, Little Bastard and – egad – Paris Hilton, end up killing them rather than bringing them the joy they thought they would have had. It could also be the fact that these people’s idols should have been less of the lower, human or materialistic kind and more of the spiritual kind. It could also be that in the show, the greatest idol of them all, God, has yet to make an appearance. Or it could be one of the best social criticism that Supernatural has had to offer yet, that the world is in serious need and its population should rethink about how its main idol, materialism, has only failed at the eternal happiness is has long been promising us.

On a lighter note, here are some of the great lines in this episode:

Sam: So what’s with this job?
Dean: A dude has a head-on collision in a parked car? I’d say it’s worth checking out.
Sam: Yeah definitely, but we got bigger problems, don’t you think?
Dean: I’m sure the Apocalypse will still be there when we get back.Dean: We’re not your typical cops.
(You don’t say.)

Dean, finding out about Little Bastard: Oh, we are definitely checking this out.

Dean: Don’t speak. Don’t even look at her. She might not like it.

Dean: Darn he’s short.
Sam: Hey. Ghandi was a great man.
Dean: For a smurf.

Dean: Four score and seven years ago, I had a funny hat.

Dean: You couldn’t be a fan of someone cool? Really? Gandhi?

Dean: Let me get this straight. Your, uh, ultimate hero was not only a short man in diapers, but he was a fruitarian.
Sam: That’s not the point.
Dean: That is good. Even for you, that is good.

Dean: I’m not a Paris Hilton bff. I’ve never even seen House of Wax.

Dean: Don’t.
Sam, grinning: Dude. You just got whaled on by Paris Hilton.

Building a Conceptual Framework for Purposeful Social Action

As you, fellow Sahar’s Blog reader, probably have noticed a long time ago, one of the major lines of questioning I have been following is that of meaningful and purposeful social action.

As a way to develop a conceptual framework for social action, I recently started an online course on the topic (for more information on this course, go here).

The assignments include weekly posts on a discussion forum, and I thought that sharing some of my posts would be interesting to you guys. And if it isn’t, well, there are still going to be weekly reviews of our favorite TV shows, so don’t worry

This week’s post: on altruism in a culture of consumerism

Oftentimes, discussions on the blogosphere surrounding the problems of the world turn around the battle between right and wrong, left and right, good and bad. However, the world is far too complex to be understood in such simplistic terms, and there are an almost infinite number of shades of gray.

There is also a puzzling problem that pops up time and again on the blogosphere: how, in a world populated by an overwhelming majority of good people, such bad things are happening? One blogger once emailed me musing that such things would only exist in a world of barbarians, and therefore, we are barbarians by nature.

That email really saddened me.

Understanding not only the culture of consumerism but altruism in such a culture is a great way to understand this situation.

When an altruistic person’s framework is based in a culture of consumerism, his very definition of life revolves around consuming. Therefore, according to this person, all ills can be treated by consumer goods. Such a person can contribute somewhat to ameliorating the human condition. For example, consumer pressure on such corporations as Nike and The Gap stopped them from using child labour – which is a great thing. However, all this did was to allow consumers to consume Nike and The Gap goods without feeling guilty. It didn’t address the root of the problem, and recent studies have showed that the life conditions of these children who used to work in sweat shop hasn’t improved since their closure.

We are seeing this again nowadays with the green movement; often, consumers refrain their framework within the culture of consumerism, and ask themselves ‘how can I buy green?’.

There are many traps in being altruistic in a culture of consumerism. For one, the root causes of a lot of the issues, such as the two mentioned previously, aren’t properly addressed. The immediate change makes the altruistic person feel good about his contribution, and he can develop a feeling of self-satisfaction.

Realizing that the conceptual framework of a ‘consumer altruist’ isn’t the solution is empowering, but it’s also a great struggle, as it goes against everything the world around us stands for. If it is to be permanently set aside, another conceptual framework needs to be developed, one far more complex than any that have guided humanity up to now.

Review: Supernatural, Season 5, Episode 4: The End

I didn’t quite reach my note-taking record this time; actually, I got nowhere near it. And it’s not because I didn’t have anything to say. It’s simply due to the fact that this episode was really amazing. So amazing in that that while a lot of thoughts flitted by, I was distracted by the awesomeness of this episode.

And that doesn’t have (much) to do with the fact that Sam and Dean finally are back together.

Why was this episode so awesome? Let me count the ways.

1. Right from the first moment of this episode, I’m giggling when the sidewalk preacher asks passersby, “Good evening, folks. Is your soul rapture ready?” Like you wouldn’t believe, I chuckled at the screen. Of course, had I known that this guy was part of the Zachariah information network, I probably wouldn’t have reacted quite in the same way.

2. The little details that make Supernatural all around awesome were particularly noteworthy during this episode. They include: the “Now Playing: Route 666″ and “Closed for Renovations” signs in the destroyed city, the reference to 2014’s president (President Palin), the subsequent headlines of the Washington Herald, including not only a reference to President Palin, but also to homebrewed biodiesel and Canadian aid to the US. These details serve to hone the awesomeness of this show.

3. Castiel’s awkwardness just keeps getting better and better. It went from not understanding Dean’s jokes and puns to the interaction in the last episode between him and the sheriff (demons!) to, in this episode, Castiel waiting for Dean on the side of the road for the latter to get some sleep, and to this line as he’s on the phone with Dean: “The voice said I’m almost out of minutes.”

4. The Imapala and Dean’s love (if it can be described merely as love) for it, and his reaction to her state in 2014: “Oh baby, what did they do to you?”

5: Dean’s one-liners. Seriously. How do the writers come up with them?

6: What’s better than one Dean? Two Deans, obviously!

Dean 2009: They were pink, they were satiny, and you know what? We kind of liked it.
Dean 2014: Touché.

Dean 2009: Oh come on, you don’t trust yourself?
Dean 2014: No. Absolutely not.

Which makes me wonder… we know that Dean doesn’t like being told off, but he feels very comfortable telling other people off. So in this situation, when he is telling himself off… how does it feel?

And I will stop at six reasons (pun totally intended) and proceed with some more substantial discussion.

While Castiel 2014 was hilariously different from Castiel 2009, meeting him was very sobering not just for Dean, but also for me. It got me thinking: how does someone change so drastically in such a short time? Castiel went from being an angel of the Lord intent on finding God (and, therefore, the truth) at the cost of him being shunned by the other angels, to a man high on pills and organizing orgies as a way to commune with God.

Dean 2009: Are you stoned?
Castiel: Generally.
Dean 2009: What happened to you?
Castiel: Life?

While Castiel is a fictional character in a TV show, I’m certain that, just like me, you know of at least one person who started high and crashed to the lowest depths imaginable. What makes us so fragile? Is it an inherent human attribute? How do we go from that high to that far a low? And, most importantly: is such a drastic fall preventable, or is it inevitable?

Dean: Welcome to the club (of being human).
Castiel: Thanks. Except that I used to belong to a much better club. I’m now powerless, I’m hapless, I’m hopeless, I mean why the hell not bury myself in women and decadence? […] That’s what decadence is for. Why not bang a few gongs before the lights go out? That’s just how I roll.

Doesn’t this reply from Castiel sound remarkably like something Dean would have said in season three, when he knew he was going to hell? It also gives decadence a whole new meaning; from something fun that we choose to do, decadence becomes a numbing drug that keeps us from the pain of failure and veils us from seeking the truth.

Decadence could be the poison to faith.

Pushing the thought a little further, it seems that just like the line between love and hate is fine, so is the line between hope and despair, as well as the line between faith and lack thereof. What keeps us from passing that line? It doesn’t seem that faith alone is enough; it needs to be backed up by action.

It reminds me of a prayer I often read: In the darksome night of despair, my eye turneth expectant and full of hope to the morn of Thy boundless favour… Faith is a great thing to have, but it seems that if it doesn’t go hand in hand with action, it’s destined to fizzle out. So perhaps Castiel’s faith fizzled because after the shock of having lost his angel status, he stopped acting. What would have happened, had he continued trying, even in the fact of the severe limitations life as a human gives us?

Hopefully, the real Castiel 2014 will be nothing like the one we saw.

Perhaps the question of faith is the key to why Sam finally said yes to Lucifer in alternate 2014. Perhaps Sam lost his faith; perhaps he gave in to despair, or perhaps Lucifer threatened to kill Dean – those are the only possible scenarios I can come up with.

Speaking of which, Sam as Lucifer’s prom suit was also a pretty disturbing sight. And Lucifer wearing white was pretty ironic, and a reflection of the size of his ego and the extent of his denial.

Dean: The only thing different between them and you is the size of your ego.

It’s often said, and history has clearly shown, that the most dangerous people are the ones who do what they do because they are convinced that they are right, to the point that they could read sacred writings and interpret them in a seemingly logical way to suit their needs. Extremists aren’t stupid; quite the contrary, they are usually quite brilliant. However, their ego keeps them from entering into a collaborative investigation of the truth; they become so convinced of their own interpretation of the truth that the only relationship they can enter is one in which everyone agrees with them.

Autocracy, anyone?

The other problem is that consultation with these people is impossible, and also, dangerous; the strength of their conviction manages to convince many otherwise sane people to do things they never would have thought themselves capable of doing. Think of Nazi Germany; whatever might be said, I’m sure that most of the people involved in the Holocaust got caught up in the moment, would never have thought themselves capable of doing these things, and had lived year of guilt and shame. I met one such person and I don’t think I will ever forget the guilt this person carried their entire life.

The question is, again: how do we keep ourselves from being swept in the hysteria?

One character in the show that seems to be suffering the consequences of his own over-inflated ego – other than Lucifer, of course – is Zachariah. He’s so sure of himself that he sees only one way out: for Dean to say yes to Michael. And if he doesn’t, well, hello alternate 2014 with the messed up Castiel. As Zachariah says, “This is what happens to the world if you say no Michael.”

Zachariah does have a point; Dean is, after all, Michael’s vessel, and saying yes would definitely allow for Lucifer to be defeated (again), be it at the price of Dean’s sanity. However, on the flip side, Zachariah’s point is so narrow that it’s only that – a point. The alternate 2014, where Lucifer remains undefeated, could happen if Dean says no; but it’s only one of the possible realities. Zachariah is so convinced of his own truth that he can’t be consulted with to find alternate solutions and use Dean as Michael’s vessel as last resort. It’s the autocracy of Zachariah: his way or the highway.

Imagine if he was open to consultation. Imagine if he, Anna, Castiel, Bobby, Dean, and Sam were able to sit down and hash out other plans, and, if all else fails, then Dean becomes Michael’s vessel.

Then again, the show wouldn’t be as interesting, so I guess I should thank Zachariah for being such a bonehead.

Needless to say, the ending of the episode left me very happy. I know it’s going to be awhile before the relationship between the two brothers becomes as it used to be – especially in season two, when they were playing pranks on each other – but it’s nice to see them trying to pull through and get things back on track. Of course it does makes me wonder if Dean will truly be able to trust Sam 100%, and if Sam, intent on proving himself worthy, won’t make a mistake or two or more.

There are a couple of questions I haven’t figured out yet: why did the angels run away in 2014? After all, isn’t this their mess? They let the Apocalypse happen! And where is God in 2014?

Last thought: in 2014, Dean was trying to get cell phone reception but couldn’t. Does this mean that there is no Internet, either? If so, then it’s definitely Armageddon!