ashkiryn

Come on. Look at that face. He really is adorable, isn't he? And, for the record, I highly enjoyed picking out that picture. :)

Anyway. Sooooo, the TV show Supernatural has been eating my brain. For the curious and those who don't know, this TV series is centered on Dean and Sam Winchester, brothers who travel around the United States in a '67 Chevy Impala carrying on their "family business" of hunting the...well, supernatural, and saving lives. As the series goes on, they're still always willing to make a stop to settle some recalcitrant ghost, ghoul, vampire, werewolf, wendigo, or any other myth, but the brothers are pushed ever deeper into a war between Heaven and Hell, and eventually taking on the denizens of Purgatory as well.

As of right now, I am updating this because I'm now actually watching the show in real time, and so I've completely watched through season 7, and am following along with season 8.

Therefore, spoilers up through season 7.

Alrighty then! Let's kick this baby off! ^^

Favorite Episode: I have absolutely no idea. I don't think that I CAN pick just one favorite. So, here's several.

My first VERY DEFINITE favorite episode was 2.7, "The Usual Suspects", due to a combination of factors. What sealed my love was Dean's confession video to the police ("My name's Dean Winchester. I'm an Aquarius. And I enjoy sunsets, long walks on the beach, and frisky women. And I did not kill anyone. But I know who did."), and how he proceeds to tell the absolute truth, and that they (Dean and Sam) think that a ghost has something to do with the murders they're being accused of. Because seriously, it's just absolutely hilarious because the audience knows it's the truth, but how it utterly baffles all the other characters. And THEN you find out that the true purpose of Dean's "confession" was to distract the police so that Sam can be a BAMF and escape, and that the boys communicate in code words derived from songs and movies (Dean had their lawyer give Sam a note with the words "Steve McQueen" written on it, who one of the police officers recognizes as being from "The Great Escape", which is how Dean communicated to Sam what he wanted him to do)...it's just awesome. Plus, it's utterly amazing, how the brothers know each other so well to the point that they can both lie on the spot, and come up with the same cover story word for word without having a chance to make sure that their stories correlate. Plus, dude, Sam's BAMFness...he escaped from a locked room, on the second story of the Baltimore police station, with guards and everything. And from there, the episode only continues to increase its awesomeness....I just love it when some ordinary person---in this case, Detective Ballard, who the ghost marks as being the next victim---gets dragged along with one or both of the brothers on the hunt, and to see the outside perspective and kind of absurdity that is the brothers' lives (I adored an exchange that Sam and Ballard have, when as he's knocking down a wall to uncover a corpse, and he's commenting on how strange he finds this, and she's all, dude, you're digging up a corpse, and Sam's all, actually, this is pretty on par for the course...no, I'm just surprised the ghost isn't attacking us right now, and then Ballard's all o.O); and this gets double points because I especially love it when that Outsider Perspective is a police officer of some sort, and who actually helps out and lets them go.

What I think is the most perfect episode that they've ever done is season 7's "Death's Door", because...there is seriously nothing wrong with it, especially if you don't let anything that comes after it retroactively poison it (because I do agree that Bobby shouldn't have come back as a ghost, but I love that this episode itself leaves it open-ended). This episode is the most loving tribute to a character that I've ever seen (which Bobby deserves a thousand times over), it's incredibly poignant and heart-wrenching and every character gets to shine, and....there is just seriously so much love in this episode. Love between Bobby and Rufus, and....my God. The love that's between Bobby and "his boys"....seriously, I cried so hard when they finally had Bobby come right out and say that he adopted Sam and Dean, that they're the children of his heart. Everything down to every single camera angle in this episode was sheer perfection forever, and...yes, I will stand by and defend my statement, that this is the most perfect Supernatural episode ever done so far, and that they have a VERY high bar if they want to try to surpass this.

Second best executed episode, in my opinion, is season 4's "The Rapture". Because, even though poor Jimmy is second only to poor, poor Adam Milligan in getting completely fucked over a million times and then never getting mentioned again...at least they gave Jimmy this episode, and I am so glad that the writers actually went there. They didn't have Castiel's vessel just be a throwaway mention, they made him into Jimmy Novak, gave him a character, and gave him a story and a life and a family that he left behind and consequences for his actions. Because it would have been so simple for the show to have ignored the logistics behind the "devout man who actually prayed" to be a vessel, but they didn't, and instead chose a path that makes me, at least, so deeply uncomfortable and breaks my heart a billion times over. In "The Rapture", they actually bring home the fact that that is not Castiel's body, that he is a person whose has a wife that was worried that he was suffering some sort of mental breakdown and a daughter that he said goodbye to in the worst way possible, this family he gave up in ignorance, and that he gave up again to save his daughter. This episode shows us a family that was broken in a horrible way to give us the Castiel that we know and came to love, brings into stark clarity the callous way that the angels use and regard their human vessels and allowing us to speculate on the reality that's left in their wake. I'm not, and I don't think the show either, tries to tell us that the vessels were right or wrong for saying yes for an angel to use them in what the angel believes to be the service of God....just that there is a consequence for every action taken, and that there are many shades of gray in between the black and white.

Third best episode though is, hands down, season 5's finale, "Swan Song". Oh my fucking God, having Chuck narrate Dean and Sam's lives through the lens of the Impala, how it's really more than just a car, but that it's their home...and then having to see Sam say goodbye to everyone as he's preparing to sacrifice himself by becoming Lucifer's Vessel, and that he's going to try the impossible and to take back control long enough to jump into the Cage, thus averting the Apocalypse...how it doesn't WORK, but that Dean still refuses to leave Sam anyway, and how it's Sam's love for his brother that allows him to actually end up besting Lucifer....God, this episode is just endlessly beautiful, and I totally cried my way through it. Because that's the thing that I've come to love about Supernatural. Romance ends up taking over so much of the time in so many stories, but in this series....while Dean and Sam do have a few romantic subplots now and again, it's still made absolutely clear that there is no one that they love more than each other. Dean sarcastically quips at one point that they're working on "the Power of Love" to defeat the Devil, and that that's what ends up doing the trick...that they're constantly told by Michael and Lucifer and almost everyone else that Destiny says that they're going to pull a Cain and Abel, but that Dean and Sam defy them all....seriously, ALL THE FUCKING TEARS. Power of Love....this is how the Winchesters roll. They make selling their souls to demons to save each other an art form (fucking seriously, Mary for John, John for Dean, Dean for Sam, and around and around the merry-go-round the Winchesters go...even Bobby, their practically-adopted-father, gets in on this action; not to mention Castiel rebelling and giving up all of Heaven for Dean), they persist as ghosts when they die, they're willing to be tortured in Hell, and sometimes they scream and hate each other and try to run out on each other, and they may fuck up and make terrible mistakes, one of which included starting the Apocalypse and freeing Lucifer from his Cage....but at the end of it all, the Winchester family always has each other's backs, and there is nothing that they love and have more faith in than each other.

And just for the record, the next two best episodes in my opinion are "In My Time of Dying" (2.1) and "Lazarus Rising" (4.1). Fucking hell, these episodes are just so good, and the best opening episodes ever.

Annnnnnnd just because I can, and I'm clearly taking this too far, but fuck it, it's not like hardly anyone will ever read this anyway, here are my top 5 favorite episodes of each season (which are subject to change, obviously).

*seasons 3-7 are not in order of my preference for them

Season 1: "Provenance" (1.19), "Asylum" (1.10), "Pilot" (1.1), "The Benders" (1.15), and "Devil's Trap" (1.22)
Season 2: "The Usual Suspects" (2.7), "In My Time of Dying", "Folsom Prison Blues" (2.19), "Hollywood Babylon" (2.18), and "What Is and What Should Never Be" (2.20)
Season 3: "Bad Day at Black Rock" (3.3), "Dream a Little Dream of Me" (3.10), "Ghostfacers" (3.13), "Mystery Spot" (3.11), and "Jus in Bello" (3.12)
Season 4: "Lazarus Rising", "The Rapture" (4.20), "In the Beginning" (4.3), "Heaven and Hell" (4.10), and "Lucifer Rising" (4.22)
Season 5: "Swan Song" (5.22), "The Real Ghostbusters" (5.9), "Dark Side of the Moon" (5.16), "Point of No Return" (5.18), and "Sympathy for the Devil" (5.1)
Season 6: "Two and a Half Men" (6.2), "Live Free or TwiHard" (6.5), "Appointment in Samarra" (6.11), "Weekend at Bobby's" (6.4), and "The Man Who Would Be King" (6.20)
Season 7: "Death's Door" (7.10), "Hello, Cruel World" (7.2), "The Born-Again Identity" (7.17), "The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo" (7.20), and "Repo Man" (7.15)

Conclusions: I seem to favor a lot of the beginning episodes (seasons 1, 2, 4, and 5) (and then preferred the second episodes of seasons 6 and 7 over their opening ones, a trend that seems to be continuing into season 8), the ending episodes (seasons 1, 4, and 5), the tenth episodes of the seasons (1, 3, 4, and 7), and the 20th episodes of the seasons (2, 4, 6, and 7).

Favorite Female Character: ...Probably, overall, Ellen Harvelle. That woman is FIERCE. And she kind of reminds me of my mom, which sort of doubles her BAMFness factor. I also kind of love Mary Winchester, because she is also a BAMF, and my two favorite Outsiders are Jamie from season 4's "Monster Movie", and Charlie Bradbury from season 7's "The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo".

Least Favorite Female Character: Huh. Hmm....most likely, this spot belongs to Lilith, due to the fact that she prefers to possess little girls, resulting in a whole lot of CREEPY CHILDREN ARE CREEPY moments for me. Plus, she's the one that kills the entire station full of people in "Jus in Bello", and she ends up knocking Ruby out of her blonde form, which I preferred over the brunette version, and the fact that she and Ruby were in cahoots to manipulate Sam into busting out Lucifer. Because I couldn't help but like Ruby, even though her Snake in the Grass status made me squirm. And just...ugh. Lilith is just awful. I mean, I know she's a demon...but hey, at least others, like Crowley and Ruby, had some class, you know? Also, all Leviathans ever. OH! And Meg. Fuck her, especially when she's being helpful. I hate her way more than Ruby, ugh.

Favorite Male Character: Easy. Hands down, and also my absolute favorite character of the entire series, is Dean Winchester. OMFG. Seriously, the universe owes him the biggest hug in all of existence. SOMEONE PLEASE JUST CUDDLE THIS GUY TO DEATH. I mean, wow, but he honestly just does it for me. He has everything I love in a character. He's got a bad boy exterior, and likes to think of himself as the ultimate tough guy, but he's really this gigantic marshmallow on the inside. (For the guy who declared in the first episode "No chick flick moments", he has them more than any other character.) He goes in all guns blazing, faces the music with a cocksure attitude, a smirk, and a snarky quip. But the thing that makes me want to cuddle him is that this show could very well be renamed "How to Break Dean Winchester". Seriously, all of my favorite characters tend to have some tragedy happen to them at some point, but this guy? Takes the absolute fucking cake. Let's recount, shall we, so that we can see just how much of a goddamned miracle it is that he hasn't just curled up in fetal position already.

First, his beloved mother is killed by a demon when he's four years old, and while his father is focused and bent on hunting down the thing that killed Mary and avenging her, and offing everything supernatural that gets into his path, Dean is forced into taking over the role of primary caregiver to his six month old baby brother Sam. Remember: Dean is four years old. His dad, John, forces him to learn how to shoot a gun when he's six, he learns how to make a shotgun when he's in sixth grade, and, if I remember right, is taken on his first "hunt" when he's twelve. All the while, he's basically the one that's raising Sam, and is his mom, dad, and big brother all wrapped up into one person. He continuously sacrifices anything and everything growing up that'll make Sam even the slightest bit happy. John outright ordered Dean to make Sam the absolute center of his universe, impressed upon him that nothing was more important than protecting Sam and ensuring Sam's happiness, and Dean did exactly that. And you want to know what the absolute kicker of it all is? Dean didn't resent John or Sam in the slightest for any of it. At all. But what growing up like this DID do to Dean was give him the most massive inferiority complex to have ever existed in all of fiction. Seriously, if he was a Hogwarts House, he'd be Hufflepuff incarnate. Why? Because that House's defining trait is loyalty, and Dean? Is so ridiculously loyal and devoted to his family that it makes you want to weep. He is such an extreme fucking doormat when it comes to them, and it's just fucking sad. Plus, they've given him a gigantic load of abandonment issues. Again, his mom dies. Sam, whom he has completely and utterly devoted his entire life to, decides that he's had it with their hunting lifestyle and pre-series, cuts all ties with them after a blowup with their dad, not Dean, and leaves to go to college at Stanford; complying with Sam's wishes, Dean doesn't attempt to contact him for almost two years. As for Dean? He's literally almost never allowed himself to contemplate about what he wants. Nope, he says that he's perfectly content with hunting (which, yeah, he is good at, and does enjoy, sure), but only because he wishes to keep what's left of their family together. Then, even John just drops off the face of the earth (it's later revealed that he got an apparent lead on the yellow-eyed demon (whose name is Azazel, btw) that killed Mary) WITHOUT TELLING DEAN WHY, forcing Dean to contract Sam into helping him find their dad. And then, after they finally do find him? Dean's put into a coma because their car got crashed into by a semi-truck, and he wakes up to find that the only reason why he's alive is because John made a deal with Azazel, exchanging his life and soul for Dean's. And before he dies, John tells him that he's either got to save Sam, or to kill him, because there are "plans" for him. Yeah.

And then, after everything Dean does for Sam---which will include selling his own soul to save Sam's life, and then being dragged into Hell and enduring forty years there, thirty of those being unimaginable torture (and when he breaks after that, OH GUESS WHAT DEAN, you just broke the first Seal on Lucifer's Cage, and started the Apocalypse. Good luck with that guilt!)---Sam chooses to side with a demon over him; and not only does Dean turn out to be right about Ruby, but he also finds out that the angels never wanted to stop the Apocalypse from happening, and that they don't care about the fact they're going to raze the planet, and even when Castiel rebels to help him, he still failed in stopping Sam from being tricked into breaking the last Seal, and thus setting Lucifer free. After it all, after sticking with Sam through Hell and high water, even when he's told that it's his Destiny to be Michael's Vessel, as it's Sam's Destiny to be Lucifer's, and thus being told that he has to kill his brother AGAIN, and even after still sticking with Sam when he was a junkie on demon blood...after EVERYTHING, when Dean ends up going to Heaven, which is comprised of the happiest memories of your life? His first place? Is of making Sam happy. And for Sam's version of Heaven? Is comprised of all the moments of Sam's life when he managed to get away from his family, and thus included nothing of Dean. And do you want to hear what Dean's absolutely heartbreaking conclusion was? His self-loathing is so ramped up by this point that he actually believes that there is something wrong with him, because everyone in the entire universe abandons him at some point. Seriously. His mom, his dad, SAM, who is the axis his world revolves around. The first girl he ever fell in love with, Cassie? He decides to trust her and tells her the truth about himself, and then she kicks him out and breaks his heart. Lisa, whom he turns to in his darkest time, and Ben, the kid he loves like a son? He's going to lose them too. Ellen and Jo? They sacrifice themselves so that he and Sam can get a shot at trying to kill Lucifer. Which fails. Even Castiel, the angel who gave up all of Heaven for his sake, is eventually going to desert him in the upcoming seasons. I mean, it is really, really, really, REALLY fucking depressing when the only loyal thing you have is your goddamned car. Yeah. Seriously. He lets everyone and everything that he loves walk in and out of his life, and trample all over him, and do as they please, and never loves them any less, because he is the ultimate King of Self-Sacrifice. And the only selfish thing that he's ever done in his entire life? That would be selling his soul to save Sam's life, because Dean couldn't bear to live without him, and Dean basically tells Sam, "See how you like being the one left behind for a change".

I mean, this poor guy is pushed over the goddamned edge of despair; it says something about how bad you are really doing when Famine, one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, tells you that the reason that his power doesn't affect you while everyone else is blowing their stomachs out is because you are already dead inside. Seriously, check this out: "That's one deep, dark nothing you've got there, Dean. You can't fill it, can you? Not with food, nor drink; not even with sex. Oh, you can smirk and joke and lie to your brother, lie to yourself, but not to me. I can see inside you, Dean. I can see how broken you are, how defeated; you can't win and you know it, but you just keep trying, just keep going through the motions. You're not hungry, Dean, because, inside...you're already dead." It gets so bad that Dean almost says yes to being Michael's Vessel, even though he's been Team Free Will all this time, and the only thing that stops him, at the last moment, is Sam's faith in him.

Universe, I am not kidding. Cuddle Dean Winchester right the hell now. How he gets up in the morning, especially after losing Sam now, is beyond me. So, yeah. Favorite character ever in this show...as should be evidenced by how I've gone on and on. And the greatest kicker of all? This doesn't even cover half of Dean's trauma. Cuddling is the least the universe could do for him.

Least Favorite Male Character: This is actually kind of tough. I mean, even though I mostly want to punch characters like, say, Zachariah, in the face, he's also got shades of awesome that I grudgingly acknowledge. Hmm...let's go with Pestilence, with War as a close runner up. See, with all the other characters that I dislike on occasion----John Winchester, for all his faults, clearly loves his family and I pity him more than anything else; Zachariah can be pretty funny, especially if you take a step back and look at him from a character standpoint; Lucifer's kind of evil-awesome; Michael's a BAMF and I was cheering for him when he was smiting the shit out of Anna, even as his whole Good Son mentality and Destiny bullshit make me want to smack my head into a wall; poor Henrickson was just trying to do his job, and since Dean and Sam practically drove him to the edge of his sanity, some gloating is kind of understandable, and he rose to the occasion magnificently when confronted by demons; Gabriel gets a Dying Moment of BAMFness, and he's hilarious, for all that he's a major dick most of the time; Azazel's kind of Evilly Affable; and Famine's actor impressed the hell out of me. But Pestilence and War, especially the first? Have got absolutely nothing to redeem them to me. And War doesn't even get any kind of awesome speech about his powers, which I'll admit, even Pestilence kind of got one. So, boo on them. I'm glad that you're both the ones that got the rings cut off your fingers.

Also, fuck all of the Leviathans. They are gross and I hate them, except for MAYBE Chet/Chatty Cathy and George. They are slightly amusing. But on the whole, they can go fuck themselves.

Favorite Scene Ever: Dean and Death eating pizza and talking together in that restaurant. Like...oh my fucking God, that scene was just...sheer and utter perfection forever until the end of time. The emotion was absolutely super-charged, and Death....Death was just so freaking spot on. Christ, after watching this episode, I actually dreamed of being able to go to a Supernatural convention, just so that I could try to find his actor and tell him what a fucking fantastic job he did portraying Death. His entire manner of being the calm in the center of the hurricane, how even though he was utterly calm and polite throughout the entire scene, even though Dean came into the restaurant to attempt to cut off his finger...you can still feel his power throughout that entire scene, and this actor's performance seriously pulled me to the edge of my seat, no lie. Even Dean, who's spent the entire time flipping off every other most powerful celestial being, from God to Michael to Lucifer to the other Horsemen to the "pagan" gods---even he's overcome by awe when face to face with Death. Just...from the music, to how the lightning would throw light onto Death's features every once in a while, just....it's absolutely everything perfect that I could have ever imagined from this scene, and I love it so fucking much it hurts a little. To quote some of Death's awesomeness, after Dean attempts to kill him: "You have an inflated sense of your importance. To a thing like me, a thing like you, well...Think how you'd feel if a bacterium sat at your table and started to get snarky. This is one little planet in one tiny solar system in a galaxy that's barely out of its diapers. I'm old, Dean. Very old. So I invite you to contemplate how insignificant I find you." Seriously, it takes a damn good actor to give a person chills from just saying a line like, "I like the pizza" (and yes, he actually says this; when Dean asks him to not kill everyone in Chicago, Death agrees, and that's his reason---which is both horrible and awe-inspiring at the same time). Apparently, Death is confirmed to show up two more times, and I cannot wait to see him again.

Favorite Pairing: So far? This hands down belongs to Dean/Castiel. I know that, in seasons 6 and 7 (and looking to be in season 8, too), things go downhill for them at light speed, but still, and I'll just bask in the relative fluff I've been given from seasons 4 and 5. I think this pairing is pretty much summed up as being secretly canon, if only from Castiel's side, due to the fact that he rebels and gives up all of Heaven, and chooses to put his faith into Dean instead. As Cas puts it, "I killed two angels this week. My brothers. I'm hunted. I rebelled. And I did it, all of it, for you." Castiel's the one who saved Dean from Hell, knows every inch of Dean's soul and body because he's the one who completely put him back together and resurrected him. At this point, I figure that Dean's so utterly and completely fucked that Castiel's the only real chance at romantic love that he has left. While I applaud Lisa and her efforts...the thing is, she's right in that Dean seriously needs somebody to fucking talk to, instead of repressing everything like he's been doing. He needs to open up and let someone in. And Lisa, bless her, tries, and she's probably the best woman equipped to handle him, as she knows the truth about what's out there...but the thing is, Dean won't share with her, or with anyone else. Hell, maybe he's passed the point where he can bring himself to do it. And because Dean refuses to open up about anything, this is what leads to Lisa into finally having enough and kicking him out in season 6 (which I can't really blame her for at all, because, again, she's absolutely right about Dean...and we're ignoring what Dean has happen to her and Ben later, because the point is that she ends their relationship first). Therefore, since Dean can't or won't open up to somebody like he needs to, I suppose his only option left is Cas, because Cas is just about the only person that Dean never needs to explain himself to, because Castiel knows what's going on inside of Dean's mind better than Dean himself. So, yes, Dean/Cas for the win, even though it's veered into being fucking depressing. *headdesk* But through all of his stupid season 6 Purgatory shenanigans, Cas did have Dean's best interests at heart....in his heart of hearts, anyway. And even though Cas did the unforgiveable in Dean's book, and hurt Sam.....Dean still keeps that fucking trenchcoat and takes it everywhere with him, even though he and Sam are constantly changing cars, and in the end, does end up forgiving Cas and just wants his best friend back again.

Also, I've been looking at screencaps of them from seasons 4 and 5, and I just....HOLY MOTHERFUCKING CHRIST ALMIGHTY GOD, THEIR FACES. Just....the way that they look at each other. Honestly, no words of mine could ever do it justice. The actors on this show in general are immensely talented at conveying so much emotion and expressing so much with just their faces and not ever uttering a single word, but with these two in particular....god fucking damn, but they can just say so much with only their eyes. So much about Dean and Castiel's relationship really goes unspoken, but the thing is, they don't need to. All they have to do is LOOK at each other, and there's ALWAYS just so much fucking EMOTION and INTENSITY and it's just so goddamned RAW and POWERFUL that I don't think anyone could ever find the words to do any amount of justice to the sheer beauty of their moments.

Again, this show practically makes a sport out of finding ways to break our main characters. And Dean and Cas have both broken in so many fucking, fucking ways---Dean in Hell, in the alternate 2014 verse, in almost saying yes to Michael, and Cas in the 2014 verse, in siding with Dean in the first place, after losing his faith in God, after absorbing Sam's Hell-crazy---and yet, through it all, THROUGH EVERY FUCKNIG SHITTY THING, the one thing that never breaks is their love for each other. And that's pretty damn fucking epic and huge accomplishment, coming from these two---Dean because he's already dedicated everything that he is, not just to family, but to Sam especially, and Castiel because he gives up everything he's ever known, for countless millenia, after only spending one fucking year knowing Dean. And just. They honestly shouldn't be able to care this much about each other. But they do. They love each other so fucking much that it's making me cry as I'm typing this. It hurts my heart, how much they love each other, and Dean and Cas honestly have the most epic romance story that's ever existed in ever.

GODDAMN EVERYTHING, THIS HAS BASICALLY RISEN TO BECOME MY SECOND FAVORITE OTP OF ALL TIME, AND THEY ARE ONLY BEATEN BY REMUS/SIRIUS. WHAT HAS MY LIFE BECOME.

Least Favorite Pairing: I've actually come to have one now. See, at the time, the season 6 "Caged Heat" Meg/Castiel kiss made me side-eye it, but I was able to move on and ignore that, you know? But then season 7 rolls around, with crazy!Cas latching onto Meg in unhealthy ways, and Meg encouraging this by actually being helpful, and it just made me want to scream and throw things. I mean, yes, I do see a bit of the logical sense, and that most likely the fact that Castiel allows himself to lean on her at all is because of the fact that Dean basically gives his approval, and that Castiel is seriously unstable, and like how Sam needed to lean on Dean, Meg's the only one there for him to lean on, especially as she's not trying to make him own up to his mistakes and fix his mess, but....STILL. So much haaaaaaaate for this ship. Sure, she was being helpful while it suits her purposes, but for people who want to sail this ship out of the canon harbor? Meg is not a reliable person for a mentally unstable Castiel to depend on and trust that she would have his best interests at heart, because she wouldn't. Even if she wanted to, she can't, because Crowley's out for her, and she always puts herself first. Seriously, I can't even begin to imagine the horror of Castiel's relative health and safety being solely left in Meg's hands. NO NO NO NO NO. Second place for most despised pairing goes to Sam/Madison, because Madison just bugs the hell out of me, to a degree that I barely understand. I just know that I really, really do not fucking like her. Also, the most fail pairing to have ever been was Emmanuel!Castiel/Daphne. Because....uh, she might actually oust Adam out of his #1 spot as the character the show dropped the ball on. Really....doesn't anyone wonder about her, and the fact that her husband just vanished off the face of her earth??

Favorite Friendship: Crap. I think I'm just going to stick to the dynamics of Team Free Will in general, which are Dean, Sam, Cas, and Bobby, with Ellen and Jo making brief appearances before they died, and Crowley jumping in on the occasion, and Gabriel kind of joining in spirit. And I still wish that Victor could have stuck around longer...but nope, they had to kill him. The oddball relationship Dean's going to end up having with Death is also going to be pretty cool in my opinion, if only because that means I get to see Death again. And now, courtesy of season 7, I really loved Garth&Dean and Jody&Sam, and Rufus&Bobby just broke my poor fragile heart. The two other relationships I find fascinating are Dean&Tessa and Sam&Samuel Colt (:P).

Favorite Fight Scene: Ooh...any time that Castiel is kicking ass and taking names. Seriously, when Cas goes into badass BAMF mode, it is really, really, really fucking awesome. Also, season 6's "Live Free or Twi-Hard", because BAMF!vamp!Dean taking out a warehouse of 50+ vampires, all by himself, and fighting the urge to feed, is one of the best things ever.

Favorite Season: Definitely 5 all the way. Yes, a lot of it is tragic and depressing as all fuck, as they try and fail to find ways to stop Lucifer and Michael and the Apocalypse, but there's also some of the funniest episodes, and...see, things are going to fall apart even worse in the aftermath, as now it'll be everyone for themselves to try to snatch the most power. In 5, everyone basically had a common enemy, and put most of the petty rivalries and backstabbing on hold for the End of the World. I liked Cas much better cut off from Heaven and Crowley on the run for being the ONLY demon that wanted to stop the Apocalypse. Team Free Will even got frickin' DEATH on their side. Season 5's all nice, really, in comparison to season 6, which has soulless!Sam wandering around, Cas backstabbing the Winchesters to be part of Crowley's gambit because he didn't want to upset Dean by asking for help, and thus making everything infinitely worse, and then season 7's going to come along with Cas going off the absolute fucking deep end and declaring himself the new God, Bobby's going to die for real, the fucking Leviathans, and Dean and Cas are going to be stuck in Purgatory at the end, leaving poor Sam completely on its own. And season 8's not looking to be much better, with the way Dean's been acting and all of the boys are scaring me. So yeah, let me stay in the relative happiness of season 5 with everyone being forced into staying in the same boat.

Favorite Demon: Crowley, hands down. Again, I REALLY want to like Ruby, but she makes me squirm, so I'm left with Crowley, who's awesome for being so damn Genre Savvy and will raise to great heights as a Magnificent Bastard. Seriously, Crowley's got more class than most of the characters, and certainly more than any other demon. I mean, his idea of transforming Hell? By making it into a gigantic waiting line that you're forced to stand in for all of eternity. How cool is that? Plus, he's just about the only character who doesn't underestimate the Winchesters, and gets pissed when everyone else does. I've REALLY REALLY been enjoying Abaddon as well.

Favorite Angel: Castiel is an obvious choice; Gabriel's also really cool, even though he kicked it right after he came into possession of his cool points, and I did feel for him, because he's never scorned humanity like most of the rest of the angels...the only reason he didn't want to get caught up in the Apocalypse was because he didn't want to have to choose between his brothers. Joshua's all kinds of BAMFness, but he's going to have his own spot on this list, so I'll talk about him then. The only other angel that truly pings here is Lucifer. Because again...he's just kind of evil-fabulous. When a pagan god is ranting about what gives him and all the other Judeo-Christian deities the right to be all high and mighty, Lucifer's response? Is to put his hand through the guy's chest and rip his heart out, saying, "No one gives us the right. We take it." Seriously, he's just such a manipulative badass, and I can't help but admire him. As a character, I mean. Obviously, if I was in this series at all, I'd have sealed myself into Bobby's panic room, or if confronted with Lucifer, ran the fuck away.

Favorite Character of the Week: JOSHUA. He's like...the ONLY angel ever who isn't some kind of douche at all. No wonder he's the only angel that God's still talking with. Seriously, how he lays the gentle smackdown on Zachariah to stop torturing the Winchesters in Heaven, how absolutely nice and respectful he is with Sam and Dean and not scorning them because they're humans, and how understanding he is when they're upset over God's refusal to get involved in the Apocalypse, how he sincerely tells the Winchesters that he's rooting for them to win...he's just the perfect angel, you know? And he's the Keeper of the Gardens, or whatever. I love this guy, and I hope we see him back at some point. And as might have been mentioned before, I love Jamie and Charlie Bradbury to death, and Sarah Blake's a BAMF, and I really loved Jo's appearance in "Defending Your Life". Ohhhhh, and Kevin Tran's mom in season 8's "What's Up, Tiger Mommy" is a complete BAMF as well.

Least Favorite Character of the Week: Apart from Madison, War, and Pestilence...I'm going to go with Metatron. DICKS WITH WINGS, I SWEAR, I SHOULD REMEMBER DEAN AND HIS WORDS OF WISDOM.

Favorite Location: Uh....probably Joshua's Garden. Or maybe Ash's Heaven. Something like that.

Favorite Funny Scene: In "Sam, Interrupted", when the boys have to get inside a mental hospital to hunt what turns out to be a wraith. How do they do this? By telling the doctor the absolute truth about their lives, and Sam's all, "I'm depressed because I started the Apocalypse." Oh God, I laughed so hard I cried. The doctor's reaction was absolutely priceless.

Favorite Romantic Scene: When Dean goes to see Lisa one last time before he thinks he's going to say yes to Michael, and how he tells her that, when he pictures being happy, it's with her and Ben. Seriously, I fucking cried. And then when he goes to her at the end of "Swan Song", and she just hugs him...awwwww.

Also, Dean/Cas Purgatory hug *is shot*

Episodes / Scenes That Made Me Cry: Oh my fucking God, but I bawled like a baby through three episodes in particular: "Dark Side of the Moon", "Swan Song", and "Death's Door". The first because it was an episode that was all HEY, LET'S BREAK THE HEARTS OF DEAN AND ANYBODY WHO LIKES HIM EVEN A LITTLE BIT IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE IN JUST FUCKING FORTY MINUTES, AND THEN OH HEY, LET'S BREAK THE HEARTS OF CAS AND SAM AND THEIR FANS FOR DESSERT, YES YES? Seriously, practically every single fucking minute shatters my heart. And then there's "Swan Song" and the fucking Impala, and narrating the Winchesters' lives through her, and I just can't handle the love, okay, and THEN fucking "Death's Door" and BOBBY, and brb sobbing forever. Other episodes that had scenes in which I cried were "What Is and What Should Never Be" (Dean at John's grave, fuck), "All Hell Breaks Loose" (Sam dying and Dean's reaction), "Heaven and Hell" (Dean's confession to Sam about Hell), "On the Head of a Pin" (Dean being tortured by Alastair), "When the Levee Breaks" (I cannot handle my Winchesters breaking up like this. Fuck, I am never going to be okay with this episode), "Lucifer Rising" (SAM and DEAN and CAS ;;;; ), "Abandon All Hope" (Ellen and Jo! D: ), "The Song Remains the Same" (Dean's speech to Mary...JFC, I will also never be able to handle that, ever), "My Bloody Valentine" (Deeeeeeeaaaannnnn), "99 Problems" (DEAN FUCKING WHY, and then THAT SCENE WITH LISA, and fuck everything), and "Point of No Return" (Sam's speech to Dean!!!! Sam, you have never uttered more perfect words). ....Yeah, and the majority of these bouts of waterworks are caused by Dean. *sigh* I'm such a Deangirl, it's not even funny.

Character Impressions:

Adam Milligan
Holy hell, this poor, poor fucking kid. Honestly, I think that he has no competition as being #1 on The Most Fucked Over By Canon EVER character list. And all because he's the illegitimate half-brother of Dean and Sam, whom he never even met when he was alive, because oh yes, he was eaten alive by ghouls wearing his mother's face. Fun times! And then, for all we know, he's STILL down in the Cage in Hell with Lucifer and Michael, and is apparently forgotten by everyone ever. (At least Dean thought about him a little bit in 6.11, but to me it seemed that Adam was more of a hopeful add on for him than a real concern.) I just hope that we'll get even just a small nod to his continued existence in season 8. :/

Alastair
Oh man oh man. There are just NO WORDS and not enough sadfaces in ALL THE WORLD that convey how much my heart hurts for Dean. And so much stems from this dude. I just...he's a wonderfully crafted, horribly dark character that is just so evil....but even though he is to Dean as Lucifer is to Sam....I just can't enjoy him like I can Lucifer/Hallucifer. Partly because Alastair doesn't have an ounce of hilarity, partly because Dean's pain affects me so much more than Sam's pain, and he's just...he's Alastair. He's cool in how Azazel and others were cool. Evilly.

Kevin Tran
Possibly even more so than Adam, I just want to cuddle this poor boy so badly. And hell, in some ways, I think he's had it even worse than Adam, which is practically Beyond the Impossible. I mean...he was just an ordinary guy stressing over his SATs and wanting to get into a good college, and then he's just basically possessed by God to go roadtrip head-first into the shitfest, gets kidnapped by Leviathans who also take his mom hostage to insure his cooperation, then gets kidnapped by demons, escapes, is abandoned by Sam, and then is left to fend for himself for a year, unable to trust anyone at all as he struggles to stay out of the clutches of demons. Oh, yeah, and now he's watched his girlfriend die and his mom's catatonic. And he's all by himself again. Except for his catatonic mom. His life is just awesome, isn't it?! Also, he's quite resourceful badass, really. But anyway: CUDDLES. HE NEEDS THEM.

Favorite Quotes:

Sam: When I told Dad that I was afraid of thing in my closet, he gave me a .45.
Dean: Well, what was he supposed to do?
Sam: Dean, I was nine years old.

Dean: I can't do this alone.
Sam: Yes you can.
Dean: Yeah, maybe. But I don't want to.

Sam: What kind of house doesn't have salt?! Low-sodium freaks!

Dean: Killing that guy, killing Meg. I didn't hesitate. I didn't even flinch. I mean, for you or Dad, the things I am willing to do or kill...it scares me sometimes.

Azazel (to Dean) : You fight and you fight for this family, but they don't need you, not like you need them.

Dean (to John) : I've done everything you've ever asked me. Everything. I've given everything I've ever had. And you're just going to sit there and watch me die?! What the hell kind of a father are you?

Dean: I can take care of myself!
Sam: No you can't! And you're the only one who thinks that you should have to!

Sam: It's bothering me...
Detective Ballard: Well, you are digging up a corpse.
Sam: No, that's not what's bothering me. That's par for the course, really.

Sam: It's over for me. It doesn't mean it has to be for you. You can keep going.
Dean: Who says I want to?

Dean: There's a ton of lore on unicorns too. In fact, I hear they ride on silver moonbeams and shoot rainbows out of their asses.
Sam: ...there's no such thing as unicorns?
Dean: That's cute.

Dean: Well, I think I learned a valuable lesson: Always take down your Christmas decorations after New Years or you might get filleted by a hooker from God.
Sam: I'm laughing on the inside.

Sam: We thought we were screwed last time...
Dean: Yeah, we've got to go deep.
Sam: Deep, Dean? We should go to Yemen.
Dean: Ooh...not sure I want to go that deep.

Dean: Why? Why is it my job to save these people? Why do I have to be some kind of hero? What about us? Mom's not supposed to live her life, Sammy's not supposed to get married? Why do we have to sacrifice everything, Dad?

Dean: Ever since Dad, all I can think about his how much this job's cost us. We've lost so much. We've sacrificed so much.
Sam: People are alive because of you. It's worth it, Dean. It is. It's not fair and it hurts like hell, but it's worth it.

Dean: Truth is I'm tired, Sam. And it's like there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
Sam: That's hellfire, Dean.

Dean: What?
Sam: ....I lost my shoe. *saddest sadface ever*

Sam (to Bela) : How do you sleep at night?
Bela: On silk sheets, rolling naked in money. Really, Sam, I'd expect the attitude from him, but you?
Sam: You SHOT me!
Bela: I barely grazed you. Cute, but a bit of a drama queen, yeah?

Dean (about Bela) : Can I shoot her?
Sam: Not in public.

Dean: What's Bobby say?
Sam: That we're morons.

Dean: It's like we've got a contract out on us. D'you think it's because we're so awesome? I think it's because we're so awesome.

Dean: We got the knife.
Bobby: And you're planning on doing it without me? Do I look like a ditchable prom date to you?
Sam: No Bobby, of course not.
Dean: This is about me and Sam, this isn't your fight.
Bobby: The hell it isn't! Family don't end with blood, boy!

*after the second most epic, badass entrance ever...*
Dean: Who are you?
Castiel: I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from Perdition.
Dean: Yeah. Thanks for that. *stabs Cas with the demon-killing knife. Cas doesn't flinch*
...
Dean: Who are you?
Castiel: Castiel.
Dean:Yeah, I figured that much, I mean what are you?
Castiel: I'm an angel of the Lord.
Dean: .... Get the hell out of here. There's no such thing.
Castiel: This is your problem, Dean. You have no faith.
Dean: Some angel you are. You burned out that poor woman's eyes.
Castiel: ...I warned her not to spy on my true form. ...It can be...overwhelming to humans. So can my real voice, but you already knew that.
Dean: You mean the gas station and the motel. ....That was you talking? Buddy, next time lower the volume.
Castiel: That was my mistake. Certain people, special people, can perceive my true visage, I thought you'd be one of the them. I was wrong.
Dean: And what visage are you in now, huh? Holy tax accountant?
Castiel: This? This is a vessel.
Dean: You're possessing some poor bastard?!
Castiel: He's a devout man, he actually prayed for this.
Dean: Look, pal, I'm not buying what you're selling, so who are you really?
Castiel: I told you.
Dean: Right. And why would an angel rescue me from Hell?
Castiel: Good things do happen, Dean.
Dean: .....Not in my experience.
Castiel: What's the matter? ....You don't think you deserve to be saved.

Meg Masters: You think you're some kind of hero?
Dean: No, I don't.

Dean: I mean, come on, we hunt monsters! What the hell?! I mean, normal people, they see a monster, and they run. But not us, no, no, no, we---we search out things that want to kill us. You know who does that? CRAZY PEOPLE! We are insane!

Bobby (to Dean) : You stupid, stupid son of a bitch! Well BOO HOO. I am so sorry your feelings are hurt, princess! Are you under the impression family is supposed to make you feel good? Bake you an apple pie maybe? They're supposed to make you miserable, that's why they're family!

Dean: My dad was a lot of things Bobby, but a coward?
Bobby: He'd rather push Sam away than reach out to him....you are a better man than your daddy ever was, so you do us both a favor---don't be him.

Lucifer: I'm an angel.
Nick: An angel?
Lucifer: My name is Lucifer.
Nick: Sure. Naturally. Would you do me a favor there, Satan, and remind me to quit drinking before I go to bed.

Dean: Last night on earth---what are your plans?
Castiel: I just thought I'd sit here quietly.

Dean: You mean to tell me that you've never been up there doing a little cloud-seeding?
Castiel: I've never had occassion, okay.
Dean: ....Alright. There are two things that I know for certain. One: Bert and Ernie are gay. Two: You are not going to die a virgin. Not on my watch. Let's go.

Jesse: Why are you telling me this?
Sam: Because I have to believe someone can make the right choice. Even if I couldn't.

Dean (to Gabriel) : And for the record, this isn't about some prize fight between your brothers or some destiny that can't be stopped. This is about you being too afraid to stand up to your family!

Dean: I think the Dean and Sam story sucks! It is not fun. It is not entertaining. It's a river of crap that would send most people howling to the nuthouse! So you listen to me, their pain is not for your amusement. I mean, do you think that they enjoy being treated like circus freaks?
Damien: I don't think they care, because they are fictional characters.
Dean: Oh, they care. They care a lot!
Sam: ...He ah....takes the story really seriously.

Sam: Chuck, if you really want to publish more books, I guess that's okay with us.
Chuck: Wow, really?
Sam: No, not really. We have guns and we'll find you.

Castiel: Even as we speak, it's....going...down.
Dean: Going down? Okay Huggybear.

Crowley: I forgot you two were, at best, fuctional morons.
Dean: Yeah, well, you're a functioning....moron.

Dean: The apocalypse wasn't his fault. There was this other demon, Ruby, and she got him addicted to demon blood and near the end he was practically chugging the stuff. My brother's not evil. He was just....high.

Therapist: Why you? Why do you have to hunt monsters? Why don't you let someone else do it?
Dean: Can't find anybody else that dumb...It's my job. Somebody's got to save people's asses - yours included.
Therapist: So is there a quota? How many people do you have to save?
Dean: All of them.
Therapist: All of them? You think you have to save everyone?
Dean: Yup. The whole wide world of sports.
Therapist: How? ...believe me, whatever you've got, I've heard weirder.
Dean: It's the end of the world [...] and if I don't stop it and save everyone then no one will and we all die.
Therapist: That's horrible.
Dean: Tell me about it.
Therapist: I mean, apocalypse or no apocalypse, monsters or no monsters, that is a crushing weight to have on your shoulders - to feel like 6 billion lives depend on you. God, how do you get up in the morning?
Dean: That's a good question.

Famine: That's one deep, dark nothing you've got there, Dean. You can't fill it, can you? Not with food, nor drink; not even with sex. Oh, you can smirk and joke and lie to your brother, lie to yourself, but not to me. I can see inside you, Dean. I can see how broken you are, how defeated; you can't win and you know it, but you just keep trying, just keep going through the motions. You're not hungry, Dean, because, inside...you're already dead.

Walt: Shoot him.
Roy: Killing Sam was right, but Dean---
Walt: He made us and we just snuffed his brother, you idiot. You want to spend the rest of your life knowing Dean Winchester's on your ass, because I sure don't. Shoot him.
Dean: Go ahead, Roy, do it! But I'm going to warn you, when I come back, I'm gonna be pissed.

Dean: I'm dead.
Castiel: Condolences.

Dean: I remember this. Mom and Dad were fighting and he moved out for a couple of days.
Sam: Dad always said they had the perfect marriage.
Dean: It wasn't perfect until after she died.

Dean (to Pamela) : If it makes you feel any better, we got Ash killed too.
Ash: I'm cool with it!
Dean: He's cool with it.

Zachariah: The last person in the history of creation you want as your enemy is me. And I'll tell you why. Lucifer might be strong, but I'm....petty.

Castiel: I got your message. It was long, your message. And I find the sound of your voice grating.
Sam: What's wrong with you? Are you drunk?
Castiel: No! ....Yes.
Sam: What the hell happened to you?
Castiel: I found a liquor store.
Sam: And?
Castiel: And I drank it! Why'd you call me?
Sam: Are you okay?
Castiel: Don't ask stupid questions.

Dean (to Lisa) : I have no illusions. I know how the life that I live is going to end for me, and I'm okay with that. But I wanted you to know, when I do picture myself happy. It's with you and your kid.

Sam: When push comes to shove, you'll make the right call.
Dean: You know, tables were turned, I'd have let you rot in here. Hell, I have let you rot in here.
Sam: Yeah, well, I guess I'm not that smart.
Dean: I don't get it Sam, why are you doing this?
Sam: Because you're still my big brother.

Dean: How about you do what we say or we tell the Legion of Doom about your secret identity. They don't really seem like the pro-angel crowd.
Gabriel: I'll take your voices away.
Dean: We'll write it down.
Gabriel: I'll cut off your hands.
Dean: Well then people are going to be asking: 'why are you guys running around with no hands?'

Baldur: You think you own the planet. What gives you the right?
Lucifer: No one gives us the right. *kills Baldur* We take it.

Lucifer (about humanity) : They are broken! Flawed! Abortions!
Gabriel: Damn right they're flawed. But a lot of them try. To do better. To forgive. And you should see the Spearmint rhino.

Crowley: Well one thing has changed: now the devil knows that I want him dead, which makes me the most buggered son in all creation---
Sam: Holy crap, we don't care.
Crowley: They burnt down my house. THEY ATE MY TAILOR!

Crowley: Sam's not coming.
Sam: Why the hell not?
Crowley: Because I don't like you. I don't trust you, and, oh yes, you keep trying to kill me!

Dean: Well, how'd it go? Did he buy your girl scout cookies?
Crowley: Not yet. Where's your moose?

Death (to Dean) : You have an inflated sense of your importance. To a thing like me, a thing like you, well...Think how you'd feel if a bacterium sat at your table and started to get snarky. This is one little planet in one tiny solar system in a galaxy that's barely out of its diapers. I'm old, Dean. Very old. So I invite you to contemplate how insignificant I find you.

Chuck (narrating about Sam and Dean and the Impala) : They could go anywhere and do anything, and when it was clear, they'd park her in the middle of nowhere, sit on the hood and watch the stars---for hours, without saying a word. It never occurred to them that, sure, maybe they never had a roof and four walls, but they were never, in fact, homeless.

Castiel: I just want you to understand----the only thing that you are going to see out there is Michael killing your brother.
Dean: Well then, I ain't going to let him die alone.

Chuck: So what's it all add up to? It's hard to say. But me, I think this was a test for Sam and Dean, and I think they did alright. Up against good, evil, angels, devils, destiny and God himself - they made their own choice, they chose family. And, well, isn't that kinda the whole point? No doubt, endings are hard, but then, nothing ever really ends, does it?