What is so bad about Aleister Crowley

The delusion of happiness in a world of darkness

The delusion of happiness in a world of darkness

SPN 13x11 "Breakdown" ... mature thoughts.

 

 TLDR Even though I love Sam having finally a voice, YEAH!!!....some thoughts are still bothering me. Sam's repeated breakdown makes no sense, Singer & Dabb (Dumb & Dumber) are awful and ignorant show runners. 

It's quite interesting to read post's on tumblr about the last ep of SPN “Breakdown”. But one post jumped right into my eye, namely “Can we have happy hunters please?“. I'm not gonna link it, bc the post is quite infantile, so no need to push any attraction on to it. It's just, what show is this person actually watching? Do they know that the show “Supernatural” is actually a horror & drama show? And not a Disney production?

Further if this person would be aware of what he/she is watching than the outcome and Sam's behavior in that episode “Breakdown” wouldn't have been that shocking. Just look a couple seasons back, Sam was since Dean took the MoC until now, on a unrealistic, maniac steroid optimism tour. And this after the deadly trials, the possession through a psychic angelic entity, being almost killed in a mock beheading by his brother, tortured by necromancers aka BMoL, the resurrection and assumed death of his mother or the rise of his nemesis Lucifer onto the earthly realm. All these events together are a hard core blow of fate from which he himself wasn't allowed in any form to recover, or even wasn't allowed to mentally process and thereby comprehend the devastating events, which happened to him personally.

Additionally one should keep in mind that title of the episode was “Breakdown”, not subtle in any form and therefor no big surprise. The only surprise was, why the breakdown now? Because of the 'bad place' event and the aftermath? Could be...but at least it's about time that Sam realizes again(!) the reality of his life. I mean didn't he say years ago to Charlie, paraphrased 'he's not happy with hunting, but it's his life'. Emphasizing that he was consciously aware of his extra-ordinary life style, living in a metaphysical world, which in any form contradicts and therefor is not compatible with the white picket fence, positive law, materialistic modern lifestyle.

So, why now the repetition of Sam's incapability to comprehend, that the world he lives in, namely the old natural law, metaphysical world, doesn't follow in any form (zero / nada) the determined rules of the post-modernist world view, is an enigma or cognitive dissonance or ignorance. Now by deliberately ignoring the metaphysical (supra-natural) world and their rules, in which Sam is a part of, he tries relentlessly to adopt the post-modernist life style, which naturally won't work, it's just futile. If he would accept that he's a part of the metaphysical world, than he would be aware that death is truly not the end of living. And wouldn't therefor have the need to mourn and grief the dead friends and family members, which he assumed he had lost over the years. Which leads eventually to the fact, that he than wouldn't have a breakdown (again).

And this bears the question, why can't Sam comprehend the two opposite determining world views, which determines his life, and which actually every history and philosophy student is confronted with in his / her first semesters. Further he has in his bunker the most sophisticated occult / metaphysical library in the USA. Saying, he has all the answers to his mind boggling questions. If he would have done his studies and research than he would be aware of his out of the ordinary lifestyle, and thereby find his peace and place in the two worlds.

This brings us to the show runners of the long running series 'Supernatural'. Because what we get to see in the show is their choice and doing. And by choosing Sam to have a 'break down' again, because of the chosen lifestyle again, tells me that Singer & Dabb have absolutely no idea of what the show is about, are morons concerning the topic supernatural, and have no writing / story telling talents. 

And since the producers of the show have no clue of what they are doing, it isn't than a big surprise when a majority of viewers believe in the non-sense of happiness in a dark and unforgiving world, and truly assume hunters, who's prey is living in the supernatural realm, can live a 'normal modern' optimistic lifestyle.

SPN season 12 A collection of thoughts

SPN season 12

A collection of thoughts

As I had mentioned prior in my post of season 12 (X), I assume because of unfamiliar behavior of the Winchester brothers, their mom Mary and the turning upside down of SPN canon, that something peculiar is going on. The obvious lack of a plot this season is quite telling and than the confusing smorgasbord of stories that in the end didn't quite fit with the final, saying the usual plot build up wasn't clearly evident, makes one wonder if this season isn't actually closed as one could assume. And season 13, which was announced relatively early, is actually the highlight and revealing season, and the season that definitely shows that the show runners Singer / Dabb have created something new and got rid of the Carver ballast.

Contrary to some viewers when watching the season 12 at first I didn't like what SPN had presented, the show felt artificial, the familiar SPN flair, the famous brotherly chemistry IMO was missing, but also motive, common sense and logic. Just by presenting a Dean calling Sam 'Sammy' or a shoved in brother hug, won't satisfy me. I admit it's nice to see, but it won't change the fact that SPN had tons of opportunities for brotherly moments, but than simply deliberately ignored them. And this circumstance I find quite interesting, because this bears the question, why would SPN create such worthy scenes, but would not use them for their own benefit? Further produce a soap opera-ish season, hence lack of an obvious plot.

Sam hidden in plain sight

Season 12 already began in the final episode of season 11 in “Alpha & Omega”. I assume the moment Amara mentioned to Dean “Dean, you gave me what I needed most. I want to do the same for you.” was the pivotal moment. What if Amara gave Dean more than his mother Mary? She said, she is giving Dean what he needed most... but not what he had desired. The question we should all ask is, what was that Amara needed, that she believed Dean needed it too? Is it that she needed to comprehend the concept of family? That family is more than love and hate? Honestly I don't know.

I only know that the concept 'family is more than love and hate' is repeated. At first the pigeon lady mentioned it in season 11 episode 11x23, remember “AMARA: So you hate him. WOMAN: Well, a little bit. Sometimes. But you know family. Even when you hate them, you still love them.” And now in the season pre-finale episode 22 where Dean says to Mary “I love you, I hate you, I forgive you”. So, it seems Dean grasped the concept of family and the concept of love. Circle closed...well could be.

But than I thought that this 'mommy plot' is very odd, because it was obvious that Sam was kept out the whole “family, love, hate” theme. I mean he was the center for the Dean and mommy reunion in the pre-finale episode 22, so why keep Sam deliberately out of the discussion, when the topics are mainly concerning his past experiences and how they naturally effected Dean? I mean Sam is Dean's family and also Mary's son, so why keep him out of the mommy plot? Further the most disturbing factor is, Sam still feels guilty for things he's not responsible for, because of Mary's doing. Do you see what a great conflict this could have been, I smell drama! Why waste this opportunity? And oddly enough at the pre-finale episode 22, Dean is the one who forgives her for what she did to Sam. Um Pardon me? Do you get the strangeness of this scene?

Notice how SPN again took Sam's autonomy away, he isn't even allowed to talk about his own experiences, no matter what happened in the past or present. I find this quite odd, and scary to say the least, esp. when viewers are blindly cheering Dean's emotional outburst towards Mary and thereby totally ignore the fact that Sam is also family and he was the major victim of the past events. Dean's monolog with Mary was as if Sam in general was dead, mute, invincible and therefor Dean had to be his voice, his advocate . The used argument, namely Mary was scared to confront Sam, makes no sense in the sense of 'drama / plot', because literally the conflict is kept out of the drama. But without a conflict there is no drama, hence no plot. The result is just a pile of senseless emotional gobbledygook.

That's why at the end of the pre-final episode 22, when Sam says, when walking into the bunker, she doesn't have to be scared of him, sounds nice, but this statement is a huge farce, but it's not only a farce, the made statement is without reason, because Sam still doesn't know and isn't aware, that all his suffering and guilt tripping is mainly because of Mary's deal with the yellow eye demon. Remember the whole season over Sam was kept out of the family plot. He is still kept in the dark, kept deliberately by Dean and Mary in the unknown. So why the hell are almost everyone cheering the family hug in episode 22? That scene is just portraying Sam as a utter fool. Because no one in the would, when walking into a seemingly private talk about one self, and than only hearing a partial of what is said, than say 'everything is okay'. No in reality the person would ask WTF is going on, wotcha talking behind my back! Again a great drama aka plot, just ignored and thrown away. Why? Why is Sam's inquisitive nature being reduced to blind ignorance?

Which brings me to episode 2 “Mamma Mia” where Sam says to Mary “Her being here fills out the blanks”. And this said without having even talked with her. Remember this scene happened after Sam was tortured and truly believed Dean is dead, and well Mary, hence once a dead mommy, who has than been resurrected. But nay why use such drama, lets ignore the elephant in the room, and let Sam say some emotionally senseless stupid stuff. Further let the viewers assume that Sam is now a mind reader. I mean to fill out the blanks, implies that knowledge / information has been transferred. And normally humans do this by communicating. But we viewers didn't see or hear Sam communicating with his mother. So from where did his enlightenment come from? And here IMO lies the major discrepancy or oddity of this season. It was very peculiar that Sam didn't even once articulate his emotional state and have an intimate clearing discussion with Dean or Mary. Or for crying out loud just being curious. So from where did Sam get his enlightenment to forgive Mary? We viewers had to guess and thereby interpreted Sam's presumed feelings, concerning his kidnapping, torture, believed dead brother and resurrected mother, therefor in the end we don't know nothing.

But than at the same time I'm suppose to believe, because shown in the pre-finale episode 22, that Sam had issues with being a leading figure. Really? And again viewers are cheering Sam's speech to the hunters, but I wonder why, it literally made no sense. Now since Sam didn't articulate in the season his lack of self esteem, one could than assume his insecurities could have been recognized on screen. Therefor the major question is, when during the season was his insecurity topic, hence plot, obvious? When Sam killed the monsters of the week, or when Sam saved the BMoL from the vampires and thereby killed the Alpha-Vampire? Even in the past he took the lead when necessary. So from where does his “its easier to follow than to lead” brain struck come from? There was not once an indication for such plot. So what was Sam's role in episode 22 than actually about?

This leads to the most interesting question of this season, why was Sam portrayed like a mute hero without a cause? Let's be realistic Dean had this season all major plot determining dialogs, dialogs that told us viewers in what kind of state of mind he was. We know the reason of why he was at first happy, than pissed and than forgiving with Mary. Frankly this mommy plot was utterly shoved into the viewers face. So, why was Sam placed onto the sideline? He ignorantly and nonchalantly accepted everything that was thrown at him. There was no necessity for SPN to neglect Sam's role in the family drama. Remember Dean, Sam and John and how dramatic these scenes were? How energetic they were? How Sam and Dean interacted in combination with their father? The exploding dialogs? By comparing these father scenes with the mommy scenes, one will clearly notice the difference in the trio their dynamics.

Sam the mute hero without a cause

The reason why I name Sam the “mute hero without a cause” is because a) he was kept silenced concerning his torture by the BMoL and Mary's deal. And b) what was this season his motivation to act? FYI according to Wikipedia “Motivation is a theoretical construct used to explain behavior. It gives the reason for people's actions, desires, and needs. Motivation can also be defined as one's direction to behavior, or what causes a person to want to repeat a behavior and vice versa. A motive is what prompts the person to act in a certain way, or at least develop an inclination for specific behavior.”

Therefor the question what motivated Sam this season is utterly valid. Keep in mind, Dean had Sam, Mary and the BMoL, these external factors were the cause, hence motivation for Dean to react and therefor to get heavily into action, hence attributes of a plot. But what about Sam? Every topic that could have been a cause / motive for conflict / drama and prompt him to react, like the BMoL, Dean, Mary or even Lucifer were from the beginning of the season, in a subtle manner kept away from him. It was as if Sam was floating in an invisible bubble. He was present, but nothing could or would touch / motivate him and therefor prompt him into action. Except for some heroic actions, that in contrast had nothing to do with his emotional state, his inner 'family' circle or the major story line, hence Mary, the BMoL and Lucifer. What an odd juxtaposition, on the one hand we have Dean who is obviously reacting because of obvious reasons, and Sam on the other hand who obviously doesn't react, even though obvious reasons are given.

Juxtaposition

This is in so far quite interesting, because SPN this season used in their directing mainly all kind of forms of juxtapositions. The most obvious one was episode 12 “Stuck In The Middle (with you)”. And as every film geek knows this technique (juxtaposition) is used in the 1992 film, “Reservoir Dogs” directed by Quentin Tarantino. A brutal torture scene is juxtaposed with the playing of a cheerful pop song, “Stuck in the Middle with You”, on the soundtrack. Soundtrack Dissonance is utilized to, in literary terms, pose a juxtaposition with the intent of making a thematic statement and/or widening our emotional distance to the events before us, thus allowing us to view the piece in a more removed, intellectual manner. And in the case of “Reservoir Dogs” Tarantino’s intend was to manipulate the viewers perception, namely by reacting positively to the pop song, the viewer was literally caught in the act of having 'fun' or 'enjoying' the brutal torture scene.

And in our case, the obvious contrast (juxtaposition) is not only Sam's internal (family) non-motivation vs his external (non-family) motivation. But this also could be seen in the episode 12 “Stuck In The Middle (with you)” at the beginning of the scene, when all where sitting at the dinner ordering their breakfast. The only one who didn't order food was Sam, and not as assumed the angel. Sam in contrast just complained about the bad WIFI connection. In retrospect it's conspicuous that Dean and the others at the table, except for Sam, were so keen, despite the comedic effect, that the angel, who hasn't the need for any food, orders himself a breakfast. Further the scene with Dean teaching the angel 'flirt' lessons appears actually fabricated. Simply because Dean knows (since Kripke era) how the angel reacts to women, and since than he never bothered to act in such 'pair off' manner with the angel. So why now and why in such obvious striking behavior?

A further oddity, namely what did Sam, by mentioning “I downloaded all the bunker’s files to a new archive,...” have to do with shown scene at the diner? Again it made no sense. The information given by Sam didn't correspond with the ongoing dialog at the table. Furthermore no one seemed to be bothered that Sam hadn't placed an order. Now (speculation) what if Sam, by saying something's wrong with the WIFI connection, it is really meant that Sam as a person, is literally not or loosely connected to his surrounding (reality)? This could in a way not only explain Sam's dissonance / contrast behavior at the diner, but also during the whole season. Saying he is stuck in the middle of, who knows, two realities, like a quasi hallucinogenic world and reality?

Brake onto the other side

What do I mean with the term hallucinogenic world. I know it's highly speculative, but just for a sec, lets get crazy. All episodes where Sam acts heroically appear peculiar, at first they are very Sam centric, than they contain Sam specific material, such as his psychic abilities, the 'yellow eye demon', his brother Dean, the death of his mom Mary and at last Lucifer. All these mentioned life events are perceived by Sam as something negative, something he until today still feels guilty about. Now what if Sam is 'hallucinating' these negative events into a positive event? Where he's not the freak, the failure anymore or something to feel guilty about, but in his mind he's the hero who saves the day, like the way he perceives his brother Dean. This could be the reason why Dean and Mary didn't react in a normal manner to Sam's heroic adventures. Simply because in reality, hence the real world they are not participating in Sam's hallucinogenic adventures, and why SPN canon is turned upside down. Or because he is still in the belief that Dean is dead, and everything we saw this season is Sam creating in his mind a world where he is able to save Dean and than thereby the day.

This thesis, namely Sam withdrawing into an imaginative heroic world, would correspond with the ending of episode 12x01 “Be Calm And Carry On”, where Sam after his mind was fractured (broken mirror), and than was defeated by his tormentor Toni Bevelle. Keep in mind, SPN didn't touch the kidnapping and torture subject after episode 12x02 had aired. It was miraculously (sleight of hand) kept out of the season's narrative.

Just so people can comprehend, according to Wikipedia a “Hallucination is a perception in the absence of external stimulus that has qualities of real perception.”

So therefor when a hallucination has the qualities of real perception, than the perceived hallucination IS perceived as reality. Now in our case interestingly enough hallucinations can also be caused by torture aka enhanced interrogation.

According to Wikipedia “"Enhanced interrogation techniques" or "enhanced interrogation" is a euphemism for the U.S. government's program of systematic torture of detainees by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and various components of the U.S. Armed Forces at black sites around the world, including Bagram, Guantanamo Bay, and Abu Ghraib, authorized by officials of the George W. Bush administration. Methods used included beating, binding in contorted stress positions, hooding, subjection to deafening noise, sleep deprivation to the point of hallucination, deprivation of food, drink, and withholding medical care for wounds, as well as water-boarding, walling, sexual humiliation, subjection to extreme heat or extreme cold, confinement in small coffin-like boxes, and repeated slapping.”

Now interestingly a lot of these mentioned torture methods that can cause hallucinations, including the drug induced torture, were used by the BMoL. But oddly enough, again, Sam's kidnapping and torture were after episode 2 “Mamma Mia” never brought up again, just ignorantly glossed over. Why? Why invest screen time and money for such sensible topic and than not dramatize and exploit it for a plot? Why such obvious wast of opportunities? Or Dean and Sam being prisoners of the government, held in a secret black site...why show and invest in such drama, but than utterly ignore it. This is more than bad screen writing. This has method, or as Hamlet would put it “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.”

One of the many explanation I have, but the only one that in a way or other makes sense is that I assume the hallucination we saw in episode #2 is still on going. This could explain Sam, Dean's and Mary's truly not normal / familiar behavior. Lucifer's sudden disinterest for Sam, hence his deliberately designed customized metaphysical vessel. The angel Castiel truly stupid and incoherent behavior. Or the BMoL's incoherent illogical management as a secret / occult society. Seriously their actions didn't make any sense. Just think how stupid this appears, a paramilitary unite 'guarding' an occult society their HQ, hidden in a warehouse. Because, remember Magnus, the American MoL? What a contrast, he hid a whole mansion through magic, and these Brits use hand scanners. Makes you wonder. But than Mrs. Hess demands a portal to escape. Any logic there? Nope, thought so. Since this season makes absolutely no sense, further is filled up with illogical actions, one could come to the conclusion that what we have seen until now could be an on going dream, hallucination or an AU. I mean there must be a reason for the pile of such incoherent stupidity.

Further this 'hallucination' scenario could also in a way explain the use and odd cross reference to the barb wired bat (Lucy) used in the series “The Walking Dead”, which is a significant symbol used by the main antagonist Negan of the show, played by Jeffrey D. Morgan. Who once played the father figure of Dean and Sam Winchester. Does anybody get the weirdness of this scene? I know the scene appeared to be funny, but the ca 3 minute scene doesn't justify the effort and costs it took to purchase the copyrights from FOX to use this world wide known iconic prop. Furthermore Dean saying (paraphrased) “their dad would have loved the bat” makes no sense. Because John Winchester an ex-marine would have never used this blunt instrument to fight off zombies. He as a marine would have known, as Dean should have known too, that using this blunt weapon would cost far to much energy to fight off zombies than in comparison to a sharpen machete. The bat used in “The Walking Dead” is a symbol of ultimate archaic ruling man power, not more. So, what was this scene all about? Why the need to portray Dean as a silly amateur, or a Neanderthal? Which BTW is interesting, because the only ones who think hunters are Neanderthals, are the BMoL.

Though this said, on the other hand I still have to accept, that a rose is just a rose, meaning the season was just simply badly written. If so, than dear SPN crew please contact some IMO awesome fan-fiction writers, they know where the priorities lie and also astonishingly have knowledge of the supernatural realm, they could save the day, because thanks to them I'm still in love with the show.

Much ado about nothing

A further reason why I didn't like the season and both end episodes 22 & 23 is because IMO major made dramatic statements haven't at the end been solved. Not even one single hint was given. We still have absolutely no clue who the old men in London are and if they are still in the game, or why SPN mentioned to us that Toni Bevelle has a son. Now was this given information important or just wasted screen time? Nor do we know what the reaper Billie's 'cosmic consequences' are.

Of course I grasp the idea of suspense, but just by mentioning a threat or lethal consequence, and than in the end deliberately ignore these dramatic statements, can't uphold the suspense. In my case I got annoyed, because for example I wanted to know more about the BMoL. And the used BMoL protagonists Mike, Toni and Fetch didn't satisfy my curiosity. Their motive and actions made no sense. Actually I thought they were utterly boring, incoherent, their actions inconsistent and therefor confusing.

The same with the reaper Billie. Without any storyline, the reaper just appeared and than was eliminated. Just like that... oh. Than the cosmic consequences vanished into thin air, to never been seen or heard again.

As I stated at the beginning of my text, these not solved 'mysteries' could be revealed in the coming season 13. Personally I doubt it. Because it wouldn't be the first time that SPN mentioned something that would have devastating effects, but than would just ignore it.

NO sympathy for the devil

Why SPN recycled the Lucifer story, would be a good question asked at a convention or PR conference, but sadly a majority of con goers and so called journalist are mainly occupied with trivial stuff than content concerning the plot of the show. So probably we will never find out what SPN was thinking when recycling, thanks to Carver, the utterly boring and unnecessary Lucifer character. But than one has to thank SPN for the worst portrayal of the diabolical figure, because now when ever Lucifer is mentioned and shown in the series a collective yawning can be heard throughout the whole SPN audience. So, yeah SPN you've done a good job.

In retrospect SPN had portrayed over 11 years three characterizations of the devil. At first we saw Kripke's fallen angel, depicted as a truly diabolical Satan. Disguised as an understanding passionate angel of light, but than when light fell on to it, the cunning, narcissist nature of this heavenly creature broke through. Than we had Carvers humanized devil, a heavenly metaphysical entity portrayed in a human-ish manner with preadolescence daddy issues. The philosophical fallacy should be obvious. And now the show runner duo Singer & Dabb took Carver's humanized Satan and presented it having an existential midlife crisis. By demystifying the metaphysical entity, SPN turned the once intriguing heavenly being into an everyday soap opera-ish boring dude.

Now I have no explanation for why the show runners made the decision to portray the devil in such boring fashion. Especially putting so much time in it's vessel career. I mean the whole ensnaring of the singer Vincente was a total copy of how the fallen angel tried to lure Sam into saying 'yes'. Therefor no big surprise, nothing new. So why the need to waste screen time for an already known story? I mean SPN can't be that stupid? Or why at the mid season finale focus on the devil and his actions, that had absolutely nothing to do with the main protagonists of the show? We can assume that the show runners Singer & Dabb are utterly aware that the audience is more interested in the brothers their doing than in a side character.

The whole devil story line was IMO boring, illogical and a waste of time. Simply because it didn't involve the Winchesters, didn't correspond with canon and it was utterly predictable. Now about the devil it's spawn. This contradicts the whole SPN canon. Just think about it, if the devil can produce earthly baby devils, just by having sexual intercourse with human females, than why didn't it do that at the beginning of the show, when Sam, his anointed vessel, said no. Just imagine, 12 years later hundreds of supernaturally grown up devil juniors roaming the planet, causing havoc. This truly would have been the Armageddon.

The Finale

IMO the final of the season was utterly unnecessary and incoherent. What did the final have to do with the Winchesters? Or in any fashion with the season? Correct absolutely nothing. So why should I as a fan of the Winchesters be excited for the coming season 13? Reality is, I'm not. Sam has encountered so many supernatural entities and mastered them, so why should this devil spawn encounter make any difference? Well it would have made a difference if Sam and Dean would have been emotionally involved with the Lucifer story instead of the IMO boring angel Castiel. And sorry to say but their mom Mary wasn't the hit either. So, she suddenly got into mommy feels after Dean confronts her in her own head, and than wants to 'save' her sons. Seriously, why now?? And why in such stupid manner? Oh,... I'm gonna take those brass knuckles an gonna smack the devil it's face.... how pathetic, mini muscle without brain.

Than the demon Crowley's so called engagement and following sacrifice at the finale. Where was the story? The whole time the demon is playing preadolescence kinder-garden games with the devil, but without the involvement of the Winchester, and now the script writers are suddenly reminded that there are the Winchesters, hence THE major and only protagonists of the show, so lets let Crowley interact with them. Geez what an awful plot-less story, no wonder M. Sheppard was pissed. And than, what are they now doing, exact, namely nothing, but than, oh, oh, they 'find' (face palm) a lead and than the opportunist narcissist demon sacrifices it self to save the Winchesters. WTF! Who's writing these stories, a three year old? What happened to motivation, common sense and logic? And Crowley's ritual, how stupid can stupid get? The demon is literally dead, hence an evil spirit possessing a dead human body, so how can the ritual function when something living(!) has to be sacrificed? Sure it used the angle blade, but it only thereby destroyed it's own essence, not more.

But the highlight was the most boring, and I mean utterly boring scenes with the once interesting, but now useless angel Castiel. Really? This was suppose to be the grand finale of the season, a moronic angel playing a confused guardian of a stupid woman who can't comprehend that she's carrying the devils spawn. A creature who's life giver is a metaphysical being, who wants to annihilate humanity!

Conclusion

I deliberately didn't touch the 'Mary' story line, simply because IMO her story was unnecessary. Further destroyed the whole once known SPN concept. Her made into a über-hunter is just serving the momentary ruling ideology which lacks reason. Just try to comprehend the concept SPN is trying to sell. The female actor Samantha Smith is 47 years old, is playing a ca. 25-28 year old woman, who is a über-awsome hunter than her 37 and 34 year old sons. Now how can I, as a 49 year old woman, take her serious? I can't sorry. Every time I saw her fighting and running around like a tough gal, I had to laugh. It was so pathetic. The same with the character Jody. The feminization of SPN is truly questionable. Once SPN was balanced there where reasonable female characters like Helen and Jo but also equal male characters like Bobby and Rufus. But now we only get to see tough über-women and dumbed down men.

A long time ago SPN was about two brothers fighting against all odds and their inner conflict. Great classical story telling. Like a modern version of the Greek and Roman mythology Castor and Pollux. Drama at best. But now IMO SPN season 12 was without substance just serving some loud fanatic fans, and Hollywood / corporate media's post modernistic nihilistic ideology, that in it's core simply neglects reason. So, in the end I can only hope that the following season will at least have a plot, where BOTH major protagonists are involved.

SPN Season 12 Overall impression

SPN Season 12 Overall impression

On tumblr someone mentioned the final of season 12 “Is a super emotional and underrated episode and people need to talk about it more.” And I thought, geez the SPN final was the worst and zilch brother emotional final I ever witnessed.

Ya see, good ol' perception. The OP loved it, I disliked it. Now as wished I'm gonna “talk” why the final IMO was the least emotional and surly not underrated episode SPN had produced in the last 12 years. So yes critic is allowed, because we KNOW SPN can do better and has done better. Oh and BTW to critic a film or book has absolutely nothing to do with “hate”. In general, story telling mediums have rules to follow, dynamics and canon that have to be uphold, because without a decent dynamic and canon a story will eventually turn into a boring, confusing tale and therefor will lead to an inevitably disappointing event.

I assume this post can be listed under 'very, very unpopular opinion', simply because I didn't like the last two episodes of season 12, actually I didn't even like the ending of season 11. But season 12 and it's ending were utterly preposterous. I don't even know what happened with the show that once was labeled “Two brothers on a road trip and their supernatural adventures”.

At first, what was this season all about?? Seriously, this is a legit question. People on tumbler and other social media, with a normal functioning mind were repeatedly asking this simple question. And interesting enough until the final aired and after, no one could satisfyingly answer it. And please don't come with “It's about family” that argument is utter BS. Already lacking a plot is a major issue. Lets face it, a story without a major plot maybe in a sense poetic, but on a long going TV horror/supernatural show, this sans-plot issue will cause confusion, which will lead inevitably to disinterest. 

The sans-plot issue

This may sound contradicting but many different plots do not make one whole plot. Remember season 12 started with the resurrection of Mary, the appearance of the British Men of Letters and Lucifer set free. Lots of plots, but in the end we got nothing, the conclusion of all three plots were missing, well except for Dean's mommy issues and at the end we got lots of diapers.

The Mary sub-plot turned out to be a pure Dean plot. From the beginning to the of the end of series, it was Dean who was mainly interacting with Mary. His conflict, him realizing how reality collides with illusion, produced the needed drama for the plot. Which was great, but prolonged over 23 episodes can be boring. Especially when the other major protagonist is kept out of the drama. The season started and ended with Dean having a heartwarming dialog with his mom Mary. There was a concrete narrative arc with a beginning, a middle, and an end. A line of inquiry was opened and pursued, and ultimately a conclusion of some sort was reached. So, here no complaints, except for the obvious fact that Sam was obviously kept out of the story. Sam was only partly interacting in Dean's plot. And this circumstance was utterly disturbing and annoying. Simply because Dean and Mary were mainly talking about Sam and his in the past endured experiences, but WITHOUT him. WTF? It was as if Sam wasn't present, or his conflict concerning his mom, whom he never met, were not important enough. Now this could be a “plot” device for the coming season, or just, as some say bad writing.

The British Men of Letters sub-plot. This sub-plot was beyond sub. I have no idea what SPN wanted to achieve with this 'much ado about nothing' plot. The BMoL started out really cool and thrilling. At the beginning they were the villains SPN didn't have since the time of the Leviathans. Than already after the second episode the BMoL plot started to morph into a soap opera. Saying the assumed believed plot disintegrated into nothing. Drama without a cause, content and common sense, hence soap opera. Sorry, but Mary believing the BMoL sales pitch, AFTER, seeing with her own eyes what they did to her youngest son, is the most unbelievable and absurd story I ever saw on TV. And the used argument for her joining the BMoL, namely trying to achieve the world peace for her sons, is just idiotic. And than Sam joining these clowns, because also believing the world peace garbage, AFTER they shot, kidnapped, physically and psychologically tortured and mentally raped him, is just awe, unbelievable. Geez I can't smoke that much weed to make sense in this stupidity. And viewers are buying this shitty plot. But the end of the BMoL is worth a double face palm. Seriously, I'm suppose to believe that a handful mediocre hunters, even though Sam (after changing his mind...sigh) was leading them, could over run and eliminate highly trained and highly equipped mercenaries and their HQ? Really?? Give me a brake. But like I mentioned before, the oddity could be a relevant plot devise for the coming season 13, or bad writing, but who knows?

The Lucifer sub-plot. What plot? It, the angel cruising to one body (rock star) to another (president), because of wasting human vessels, having an earthly spawn, than being captured by the King of Hell, which than can miraculously free itself, with his old familiar vessel. To end in an SPN AU. This is not a plot, simply because it was confusing, hence turned canon upside down and didn't in anyways emotionally interweave with the brothers, esp. Sam. The whole premiss of the show SPN was once, that Sam like Dean were designed by the heavenly realm, to contain the archangels Lucifer and Michael, to fight the apocalypse. And now it doesn't matter anymore? Since the Lucifer plot was deliberately separated from the main protagonists of the show, hence the brothers, and therefor lacking the emotional link (drama), e.g season 5, the sub-plot turned out to be irrelevant and therefor boring. 

 

Conclusion

My thoughts are just a compressed overall view of the whole season, seen as one piece. Of course there were some nice episodes, but this can't change the fact that season 12 as a whole was during and at the end confusing and incoherent, further deliberately neglected canon and utterly lacked the famous brotherly chemistry. And sorry the brother hug at episode 22 didn't rock me, it felt artificial. So, no points for that lousy spiel.

The obvious lack of Sam being interwoven in any of the plots is peculiar and conspicuous. Now this circumstance can be a hint that something bigger is going on, a foreplay for season 13 OR the character Sam, played by Jared Padalecki is being backout to give the character Dean, played by Jensen Ackles the possibility to be to the fore. In the end I don't know, all I know, the changes are obvious and IMO should be evaluated.

Since it's hiatus, a lot time can be spend with figuring out if season 12 was truly an awfully bad written season or if there is more to the story than meets the eye. It's just using ad hominem as an argument can't be the solution... and therefor I can't get rid of the feeling that what appears this season to be so obvious and disturbing, is the key to the true ongoing story of the Winchester odyssey. Lets not forget we are talking about the 'Supernatural'.

“The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.” Robert Davies

(William Robertson Davies, He was one of Canada's best-known and most popular authors, and one of its most distinguished "men of letters") :D

SPN 12x09 Mature Thoughts

SPN 12x09 "First Blood" Mature Thoughts

Now after waiting around six weeks (were they 6 weeks?) and tumblr not helping much to overcome the hiatus blues, except for my 2 month old puppy, she helped me a lot. Side note who every gets a puppy, keep in mind they want 100% attention. Yep, not 99% they want it ALL! They are sweet little monsters. Thanks to Lotte I didn't have much time to ponder about the awkwardness of Supernatural. One could say a blessing and curse at the same time.

Back to the topic, “First Blood”.... contrary to the bee hive mind set aka unpopular opinion I wasn't very fond of this episode. IMO it lacked real nail biting tension. Seriously Sam & Dean were locked up in an US GOVERNMENT BLACK OP SECRET PRISON. No lawyer, no court, no warrant, no trial. And everyone acts like it's a normal thing in a so called FREE DEMOCRATIC society! What's wrong with you SJW's? This is utterly fucked up business. Or is it now US accepted common practice, to tolerate secret government prisons? To tolerate government torture? As a German this gives me the creeps, because this is how the academic world defines dictatorships. Which reminds me of President Obama saying “We torture some folks”... or President Obama's infamous “Kill list's aka Disposition Matrix”, hence KILLING people all over the world with out trial. And the only problem the US youth has is their pussy or dick? I hope one day the US get their priorities straight, because believe me, if not the US (Empire) is in big trouble. Saying, this could have been awesome nail biting episode, but nay lets ignore the elephant in the room.

Just FYI according to Wikipedia “Black sites operated by the U.S. government and its surrogates were first officially acknowledged by U.S. President George W. Bush in the fall of 2006. The International Committee of the Red Cross reported details of black site practices to the U.S. government in early 2007, and the contents of that report became public in March 2009.... An important aspect of black site operation is that the legal status of black site detainees is not clearly defined. In practice, inmates in black sites have no rights other than those given by the captors...The U.S. government does not provide information about the operation of black sites, and for a period of time did not provide information about the existence of black sites.”

And further about US government using torture, one UK judge observed 'America's idea of what is torture ... does not appear to coincide with that of most civilized nations'.

In retrospect THIS is what I had in mind when watching the brothers being held in a secret US prison, on US soil.... And how did SPN portrait this scenario? Sam is doing some work out and Dean appears to be a bit fustrated, so yeah it looks like they are very intimidated. Further by letting Mary and Castiel act in a calm and IMO boring fashion. I don't get it, the brothers are being held by the US government in a black site, with out legal trial and Castiel the non-angel is just sitting there counting the days and is not in any way furious how a so called free society can act in such manner? And Mary is literally more interested in getting the vampires killed than to investigate where her son's could be, and how it can be that the US government has the audacity to kidnap her son's and lock them away in Pinochet / Stalin death squad stile. But please buckle up because she is a fast driver, oh please give me a brake! WTF

Geez what kind of storytelling is this? Again it's like the beginning of the 12^th season, SPN starts with a very questionable topic, namely kidnapping and torture and than simply ignores it. Then it's the same here, a very questionable topic is being used as bait and than deliberately ignored. And the viewers are not bothered, not at all. As if such Stalin-isch illegal government actions are absolutely okay and utterly common in the United States of America.

I'm too old for this kind of bull shit.

Fast forward, we than get to find out that Sam and Dean had made a 'get out of prison' deal with the reaper Billie. Really? Is that all the SPN writers can offer? IMO a cheap move. But this zero fantasy act leads us to Castiels pep talk. Okay I get it, some viewers thought the angel saying out loud how he thought the 'Winchesters' are important for mankind, was a nice thing. Me, I thought how pathetic. Further what's wrong with this angel. In general angels are metaphysical beings and have absolutely nothing in common with earthly beings. So him not having so called 'wings' and celestial power anymore, is sans logic. Yeh, I know it's SPN cannon, but still it's utter crap, simply because SPN is trying to “sell” the concept of a humanoid celestial being, which is a contradiction and as I said before is utter BS. So, this what ever entity is hanging out in the bunker, not knowing what to do, even try’s to contact the DEMON Crowley for help, but Crowley refuses, and so he just waits. What's wrong with this picture? Correct Castiel is sitting in the middle of the worlds finest library of occult and metaphysical knowledge and does nothing. I mean how stupid can it get, all he would have to do is look for a 'finding or location' spell. But if the spell wouldn't have worked, than he could have contacted some other angels. Let's not forget there are other angel dudes out there. Remember angel radio? Seriously even my puppy Lotte is smarter than this metaphysical entity. And this circumstance leads to the major question, why this pathetic 'O Winchester' speech? Or was the scene only constructed to get rid of Billie the reaper threat and thereby reinforce Castiel's loyalty towards the Winchesters? Like I said a cheap move...

Alas the British MoL.... seriously using a 'satellite' device to locate the brothers? What's this a “Mission Impossible” crossover? What happened with magic and the supernatural per se, not hip enough? Okay the Brit MoL have their agents in high government positions, but isn't this the norm with high potential secret societies, hence no big surprise. Well, not for me. What are these Brit. MoL suppose to be? Because at the moment they appear to be like ordinary desperate headhunters. The torture didn't work, so now they chose the ol' fashion face to face recruitment tactic? Which begs the question why did they torture Sam in the first place? Because it seems they have no difficulty finding other US American hunters. Also the 'clean up' of the government black op team wasn't necessary, actually IMO when using simple logic, eliminating the government agents would cause more trouble than anticipated.

Why? First of all it's not stealth and it raises questions. The black op unite could belong to the US Army, Navy or Air Force intelligence, hence military. Military are hierarchical systems, which means, the companies, units what ever, do not operate on their own, they receive orders and act on their behalf. Therefor eliminating this unite will cause an investigation and evaluation of what had happened. Which means more military people are going to be involved. Further in reality this act will be seen as a terrorist attack on US soil, and as we all know this is a declaration of war and will not be ignored. Therefor SPN portraying the black op unite as a bunch of imbeciles just shows the official US propaganda (yes President Obama repealed the Smith Mundt act), namely downplaying the importance, influence and capability of the US Military and Intelligence agencies.

In general the reason for such 'downplaying' in the media is nothing other than to deceive the public. I mean lets face it, probably a majority here on tumblr doesn't even know that the USA is at war now for over 15 years. And is heavily bombing and invading with out the approval of congress BUT with the help of NATO other countries. So by portraying the military and their black op units as stupidos only fulfills the government agenda, namely to keep the war and militarization of the country out of the masses their consciousness.

About the brothers Sam and Dean. So SPN want's to make me believe that Dean, who was in hell and Purgatory, and Sam who was for centuries locked up together with Lucifer in the cage, who also endured painful supernatural trials which had caused his death and just not long ago was kidnapped and tortured by a psychopathic Brit. MoL. Hence now both are having issues with being locked up and kept in isolation by HUMAN BEINGS? Somehow the relations don't fit. Is SPN trying to tell me that being held by powerful mind bending metaphysical beings such as Alistair and Lucifer isn't that bad in comparison with being held by human beings. Okay... nope not buying that crap. Sorry, IMO it doesn't make sense. Further they had the opportunity to get free. Because lets be realistic, when they were brought to their cell, both were not shackled and only guarded by three not so heavily armed soldiers, so they could have used this 'unsecured' moment for their advantage. Just saying something odd is going on. Because truth is, the brothers are the 'James Bond' of the supernatural, they are trained to survive.

In conclusion this episode lacked common sense and was confusing, because the brothers and their allies were portrait in a fashion which contradicts their usual familiar motivation and behavior. Somehow I can't get rid of the feeling that I'm perceiving an alternative SPN soap opera universe. Where the major protagonist are portrayed in a sweet but mundane fashion and the antagonist are just plainly stupid.

See No Evil

SPN 12x08 “Lotus” Mature Thoughts

SPN 12x08 “Lotus” Mature Thoughts

The mid season finale of Supernatural was IMO unsatisfying. The narrative was incoherent and inconsistent which lead to utter confusion. Personally I don't know if SPN produced such episode on purpose, or not. Though I assume because of conspicuous editing and acting, further the use of in film usual symbols and signs, that there could be a reason behind the shown gobbledegook.

The continuity of awkwardness...

As a nerd of course I need reason and logic to comprehend why the shown episode couldn't evoke any emotional respond. Just by saying “bad writing” won't simply explain the nudging question why the SPN screen writers Buckner and Ross-Leming AGAIN, delivered this season such an awkward and bizzare episode. Remember episode 12x02 “Mama Mia”, also written by Buckner and Ross-Leming, and remember how disturbing this episode was? Correct, now I have written an extensive analysis (X) of this episode trying to prove my thesis, namely that the British MoL are still manipulating Sam's perception through black magic, and thereby are using Sam like a Manchurian candidate, to gain access to the US hunter community and further thereby collect their wanted information. The reason why I took my time to analyze both episodes, namely episode 12x01”Be Calm and Carry On” and 12x02 “Mamma Mia”, was because of the very obvious, blunt contradiction and obvious unfamiliar behavior of Sam and Dean. Further to show what we had seen, wasn't just happening by chance and bad writing, but that there was more to the eye that could be seen. And now again we are confronted in the episode “Lotus” with the same blunt unfamiliar confusing awkwardness as before, so oddly enough there is a continuity in the awkwardness, hence this circumstance can't be a coincident.

LOTUS

What an odd title for a 'Supernatural' episode, normally the used title would be a pop culture or literature reference, something modern to which the audience could automatically relate to. Now of course it could have been taken from Dean's plan to “Impeach LOTUS and find Rosemary's Baby“.

But as some of you out there know, there is also a plant named lotus. Hmm...therefor one could also question, what's so special with this shrubby plant of the genus Lotus and what does this Water Lilly have in common with Lucifer and the British MoL? I mean lets not forget these antagonist are the dominant and driving figures of the mid season finale.

Well you would be surprised, they truly have something in common, namely the altering of perception.

Now have you ever heard of the lotus-eaters also referred to as the lotophagi or lotophaguses? In Greek mythology the lotus-eaters were a race of people living on an island dominated by lotus plants. The lotus fruits and flowers were the primary food of the island and were narcotic, causing the people to sleep in peaceful state of dreamy and contented forgetfulness.

    c. 1901 illustration to the poem by W. E. F. Britten

     

Hence the Lotus fruit alters perception, like the British MoL did with Sam through the use of hallucinogenic drugs (magic) and thereby altered Sam's reality and Lucifer appearing as an Angel of Light and thereby altering his victims perception to gain their trust. But that's not all, the Lotus has also a symbolic meaning. In ancient Egypt the flower symbolized “rebirth”, and this also correlates with the shown narrative of Lucifer having an earthly human baby. Now by knowing the unknown 'hidden' symbolism and meaning of the given title “Lotus” the confusion aka lack of clearness gets a little bit clearer and comprehensible.

“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”

Edgar Allan Poe

… a dream within a dream, thank you Mr. Poe, because precisely this is my thesis of what the story arch of season 12 could be, namely by braking Sam's mind in episode 2x02 “Mama Mia” the British MoL created a highly sophisticated hallucinogenic magical dream world. I mean lets not forget the major question, namely why were the British MoL investing time and energy in torturing and interrogating Sam? Than they just let him go, in the belief that all was just a misunderstanding and overreaction of Lady Bevelle. And the only reaction of the viewers was to say “bad writing”, oh come on, seriously?

Further why I assume this all to be a dream in a dream is the contradicting and inconsistent use of the supernatural in the show 'Supernatural' furthermore the obvious dumbing down of the major protagonist Sam and Dean and of the supernatural creatures such as the angel Castiel and the demon Crowley.

For example why didn't Sam and Dean just summon Lucifer? Remember in the old days they summoned all kind of archangels and even Death. Now oddly enough some wonna be satanist moron was able to summon Satan. But not the Winchesters?

  Remember these morons in "Rock Never Dies"?

Or when they were like cute secretaries researching on their laptops in the BUNKER(!) how to get to the possessed president, now what was utterly wrong with this scene? Correct, they are sitting literally in a bunker filled with highly potent occult literature! Books filled with tons of high magic spell's for the use of summoning, deception, manipulation, hence mind bending techniques! Interesting enough this most surreal scene correlates with what Tony Bevelle said to Dean in episode 12x02 “Mamma Mia”, Lady TB: “Gentlemen. So, to recap -- you live in the Men of Letters bunker, awash in the world's greatest collection of occult knowledge, and yet you know nothing." 

Or why are the angel Castiel and the demon Crowley portrayed like comedian figures, but than not? Their actions seem contradicting, on the one hand the angel and demon act like supernatural entities, than not, than a little bit, or not. It's like trying to square the circle. For example the angel Castiel can't sense Lucifer, but can receive “angel radio”? Okay, put into relation, Castiel the angel can't in any ways sense Lucifer/Satan the father of lies and destruction, a chaotic celestial being, a powerful seraph who absolutely and utterly hates mankind, who is full of utter rage (which is BTW spiritual energy), BUT can sense, because of angel radio, when Satan's corrupt sperm hits the human female's ovum?

Further, when only focusing on the bunker scenes, they 'feel' and 'look' odd, untypical for the show. The one scene ends with Sam saying “Plan C?” and the camera than turns to Castiel showing him dramatically at loss. Editing / cut. The next scene we see they are still at the bunker and Castiel is serving coffee, thereby he receives angel radio, the brothers get to him, the angel than reveals, even for Castiel in a awkward scripted manner, what he had 'heard' and than the brothers, when hearing the news, over react actively stunned. The whole scene in it's drama looked effectively like a Telenovela. The script, the camera close ups and the obvious over acting, all together seem to be like “Changing Channels”. What are we watching? Angelos TV, capitulo 666 “El Diabolo!”? 

    "Lucifer is dating?"

Back to the brothers and the British MoL, the peak of awkwardness. Why did Sam call the BMoL? There was no motive for such action. Since episode two “Mamma Mia” the BMoL were only once mentioned but than shoved under the rug. Further objectively Sam didn't need the BMoL, a) he had the knowledge of the Bunker and b) he has Dean, an angel and demon on his side. The only explanation could be, he is still under their spell.

Another conspicuousness, the brothers were portrayed in this episode like gophers. In general the known and famous familiar interaction was utterly missing. They were on scene but actually not.

Or the entrance of Mr. Ketch onto the scene was a 1:1 remake of Dean's appearance onto the Stull cemetery at “Swan Song”.

But the most disturbing and awkward scene was Mr. Ketch's monolog. Seriously what he said was utter bull shit.

Namely on the one hand Mr. Ketch colorfully elucidates towards the brothers that he and the BMoL are only in the USA to help the US hunter community in their effort in fighting the 'monsters'. Now on the other hand we viewers know what this truly means, i.e episode 12x04 'American Nightmare' killing off the young psychic Magda. Further he says the BMoL are not following the Winchesters, but we viewers again know it's the opposite, remember the scene in 12x03 “the Foundry” where Dean is admiring a motorcycle, well this was Mr. Ketch his bike. So it is very obvious that Mr. Ketch is deliberately lying or deceiving the Winchesters. Therefor his remark that Sam through his (disconnected) call had triggered the BMoL to follow the brothers, is just plainly false. Further Sam called the BMoL when he was at the bunker, so Mr. Ketch must have already been near or by the bunker in Lebanon, from where he had than directly followed the brothers to Indianapolis. Furthermore how did Mr. Ketch know Deans admiration for the grenade launcher, it would only make sense if Mr. Ketch was present during the Winchester their “Thule” hunt (episode 12x05).

Than Mr. Ketch says something very significant, namely how the British MoL have “spent years blending sorcery and technology.” Precisely here the brothers ears should have prickled by such nonsense. Plainly said, sorcery is nothing other than the use of magical powers that are obtained through evil spirits. Hence black magic. So Mr. Ketch literally said the BMoL have just only up dated their black magic powers. And the thereby used 'technology' is actually irrelevant, well actually technology contradicts magic. Hence magic is based on metaphysics (supernatural) and technology is based on materialism (natural). Further changing a vampires DNA is in broader sense an alchemical process and has nothing to do with sorcery. And exorcisms are the opposite of sorcery, namely the expulsion or attempted expulsion of a supposed evil spirit from a person or place.

Now I don't know if Mr. Ketch has absolutely no clue of what he is talking about, or if he is only fooling / deceiving the brothers. Again altering perception. Bothersome though is, the Winchesters and the angel should have noticed the fallacies. And this brings me to another point, namely how does it come that he coincidentally has a 'devise' in the trunk, that oddly enough fits the needs of the brothers? Just take a look at the case in the pristine trunk. There are only two items, and just by chance one of the two items fits the needs of a non existing plan?

Despite the obvious contradicting monolog of Mr. Ketch, the editing was quite eyeopening. It was suddenly at night. NOTICE: the BMoL Bazooka rescue scene happened during the day at broad daylight! And now they, Sam, Dean, Castiel and Mr. Ketch, are in the woods, at the middle of the night. Than the next scene it's daytime. This is an obvious brake, a deliberate editing of the temporal continuity. Like in episode 12x02 “Mamma Mia” where the same obvious editing was made. So it seems, what we are perceiving isn't actually what is happening. No wonder confusion is the name of the game. This could also explain the contradicting / confusing(?) narrative in the shown scene. 

 

               Day & Night

Now there were more obvious contradicting and incoherent scenes in the episode, but to mention them all would bust the post. But if you want to know which ones I mean, just ask. All in all I'm not quite sure if these contradictions were made deliberately or are truly just 'bad writing'. But I tend to the former, because in the end we still don't know what this seasons major story arch is.

Lets not forget confusion is still the name of the game....or are we only being deliberately distracted? Because oddly enough the synonym of confusion is distraction. And the definition of distraction is according to Wikipedia “...the process of diverting the attention of an individual or group from the desired area of focus and thereby blocking or diminishing the reception of desired information.”. This leads us however to the use of distraction or misdirection in magic, because as we know the British MoL are masters of black magic. In his influential and scholarly The Encyclopedia of Magic and Magicians, pg. 232, copyright 1988, author T.A. Waters wrote, "Misdirection is the cornerstone of nearly all successful magic; without it, even the most skilled Sleight of Hand or mechanical device is unlikely to create an illusion of real magic."

And creating an illusion of real magic is nothing other than the re-framing or manipulation of perception.

And precisely this is what we got, namely an episode full of misdirections. And the major reason why I deliberately ignored the Lucifer scenes, they were in the end irrelevant. The Lucifer scenes IMO were the distraction. And according to Wikipedia distraction is nothing other than “ ...the process of diverting the attention of an individual or group from the desired area of focus and thereby blocking or diminishing the reception of desired information.”

In the end it could be all or nothing....