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Supernatural 3x07
All the posts I've seen on this ep so far have been about those two scenes. They were fantastic scenes ("I see right through you"! Repairing the Impala—finally! OMG It's the socket-wrench of accepting Dean's fate!). But they were not all this ep had to offer.
Let's talk about Gordon and how awesome he is.
I've never been in Buffy fandom, but I have read a story or two. There was one fic where Giles and Wesley were both turned into vampires. I bailed somewhere in the second or third violent squicky sex scene, but the point is—that's an awesome idea. Turning a hunter into a vampire? In the fic, Giles became the most vicious vampire ever created. And in Buffy, people lose their souls when vamped. They usually also change their personality, at least somewhat.
In Supernatural, the only thing that happens when you get vamped is you become a vampire. You retain all of your previous personality and your previous moral compass, so watching a newly minted vampire struggle with their new situation, with the possibility that they'd reject the imperative to kill or somehow justify it to themselves, is going to be fascinating anyway.
Then you take Gordon, who has this incredible tension between hunter and monster anyway, and bring him over. And I didn't know what would win. Would he decide to be a monster, or would he resist because he has become what he hates the most?
I was sorry to see the religious maniac go, though it was fairly clear he would. But that scene—as it played out, I just didn't know if Gordon came there to ask forgiveness, to ask for understanding, and to ask his friend to help him die. Or if he went there to kill him. I don't think Gordon knew. And if the other hunter hadn't tried to kill Gordon, I don't think Gordon would have killed him. The interaction was a brilliant negotiation, showing us exactly when Gordon stops fighting his transformation and decides to use it—not just the physical enhancements, but the freedom from any sense of morality. I think it is the moment when he turns on his friend that makes him capable of murdering an innocent girl to trap Dean and Sam.
Gordon also set his trap brilliantly. He did make one incredibly stupid mistake—that is, throwing Sam through the wall. He'd trapped and blinded Sam, and then the first time he attacks, he gives Sam back his sight and brings Dean back into the picture. Dumb, dumb, dumb. It can be explained away, though. That the rational part of Gordon was in control setting the trap, but as soon as he attacked, he was all animal. He doesn't seem to have tactics once it gets going, just indiscriminating rage.
That whole fight sequence, though. Damn. Sam has to be freaking strong to rip Gordon's head off with barbed wire (and I did not think they'd show it until they did). I personally think he wouldn't have been able to had Gordon not fed on Dean. Poor Dean! Stumbling around from blood loss. Oh, boys!
I loved seeing the vampire's remorse at turning Gordon, and his grief. That moment humanized the character so much. No scenery-chewing villain here, no bad guy that does horrible things just cause he can, no here's a guy who succombed to a human desire for vengeance and fucked up badly, and it hardly even matters that he's a vampire.
The damn reception cut out for four minutes right after the title card ($#@&!), so I missed the beginning of the scene with—that was Harmony, right? But what a heartbreaking scene. Her just wanting to come off this drug. Though, she did take an unidentified drug from a stranger, so not the brightest bulb. But it makes Dean killing her horrifying. We're a long way past "Heart", now. Sam isn't even fighting it anymore.
So, yeah. That kicked ass. And then to top it off with the car repair lesson of doom! God.
Let's talk about Gordon and how awesome he is.
I've never been in Buffy fandom, but I have read a story or two. There was one fic where Giles and Wesley were both turned into vampires. I bailed somewhere in the second or third violent squicky sex scene, but the point is—that's an awesome idea. Turning a hunter into a vampire? In the fic, Giles became the most vicious vampire ever created. And in Buffy, people lose their souls when vamped. They usually also change their personality, at least somewhat.
In Supernatural, the only thing that happens when you get vamped is you become a vampire. You retain all of your previous personality and your previous moral compass, so watching a newly minted vampire struggle with their new situation, with the possibility that they'd reject the imperative to kill or somehow justify it to themselves, is going to be fascinating anyway.
Then you take Gordon, who has this incredible tension between hunter and monster anyway, and bring him over. And I didn't know what would win. Would he decide to be a monster, or would he resist because he has become what he hates the most?
I was sorry to see the religious maniac go, though it was fairly clear he would. But that scene—as it played out, I just didn't know if Gordon came there to ask forgiveness, to ask for understanding, and to ask his friend to help him die. Or if he went there to kill him. I don't think Gordon knew. And if the other hunter hadn't tried to kill Gordon, I don't think Gordon would have killed him. The interaction was a brilliant negotiation, showing us exactly when Gordon stops fighting his transformation and decides to use it—not just the physical enhancements, but the freedom from any sense of morality. I think it is the moment when he turns on his friend that makes him capable of murdering an innocent girl to trap Dean and Sam.
Gordon also set his trap brilliantly. He did make one incredibly stupid mistake—that is, throwing Sam through the wall. He'd trapped and blinded Sam, and then the first time he attacks, he gives Sam back his sight and brings Dean back into the picture. Dumb, dumb, dumb. It can be explained away, though. That the rational part of Gordon was in control setting the trap, but as soon as he attacked, he was all animal. He doesn't seem to have tactics once it gets going, just indiscriminating rage.
That whole fight sequence, though. Damn. Sam has to be freaking strong to rip Gordon's head off with barbed wire (and I did not think they'd show it until they did). I personally think he wouldn't have been able to had Gordon not fed on Dean. Poor Dean! Stumbling around from blood loss. Oh, boys!
I loved seeing the vampire's remorse at turning Gordon, and his grief. That moment humanized the character so much. No scenery-chewing villain here, no bad guy that does horrible things just cause he can, no here's a guy who succombed to a human desire for vengeance and fucked up badly, and it hardly even matters that he's a vampire.
The damn reception cut out for four minutes right after the title card ($#@&!), so I missed the beginning of the scene with—that was Harmony, right? But what a heartbreaking scene. Her just wanting to come off this drug. Though, she did take an unidentified drug from a stranger, so not the brightest bulb. But it makes Dean killing her horrifying. We're a long way past "Heart", now. Sam isn't even fighting it anymore.
So, yeah. That kicked ass. And then to top it off with the car repair lesson of doom! God.