Best Halloween Mashup? That’d be Lil’ Jon the Baptist.

I have a friend that is a priest in Knoxville and he dresses up at Halloween mashing up a Biblical character and a pop culture figure. He has out done himself this year. Ladies and gentleman I present, Lil’ Jon the Baptist:

Yaaaayuh! Kneel down for WHAT?!

I am in awe of his costume and if you start having a rough day– just think about this guy working at his church today– dressed like this.

This isn’t his first inspired costume. Last year he was Doubting Thomas the Tank Engine:

And the year before he was Father Abraham Lincoln:

He has also been Pontius Pirate

Have suggestions for next year? Sound off in the comments.

Edit: 2016 brings Apostle Paul Bunyan!

Supernatural: Paper Moon. The boys are back!

Well, where were we? Oh yeah– Dean is cured (mostly) and they are back to their old routine (mostly). Of course we know that sitting by the lake and drinking beers isn’t going to last long with the boys no matter what they’ve been through. So we assume they’ve been “relaxing” for at least a few days and are getting antsy. We do get to see the boys bonding again which we haven’t seen in much longer than I feel comfortable with. As expected though just a few minutes into their talk Dean brings up a possible case (which Sam obviously had already noticed as well). I get that Dean needs to work to feel normal again and I buy that Sam understands this too.

I’d like to take a moment to mention that if it’s been a while since you’ve seen “Bitten” (Season 8 Episode 4) I recommend going back and watching it (before this new episode if you can, or if you’ve already watched it go back and watch the old episode so you can see all the things you missed). That’s where Kate is from (the werewolf that they almost kill at the beginning of this episode). They let Kate go because it seemed like she could manage out in the world without hurting anyone. This whole premise of letting monsters go that are trying to be good is something that the boys have been struggling with for a while. They both seem to go back and forth on the subject (Dean killed Amy Pond even though Sam wanted her to live and Sam wanted to kill Benny even though Dean backed him up— speaking of Benny– will we ever see him again? Cause that’d be cool). Bitten was one of my favorite episodes in Season 8– which really isn’t saying a lot because Season 8 was weird, but this episode was good on any standard. It was interesting and different so I’m glad they revisited this character.

Quickly into their interrogation it becomes clear that Kate probably isn’t to blame or at least isn’t working alone (and Kate manages to break away which I blame either on their rusty hunting skills or their desire to trust her on some level). Kate runs away and Dean and Sam get to have a heart to heart in the Impala on the way to where they think she ran off to. This scene shows not only what we’ve been missing, but how so much has changed. Sam blows off Dean’s concern about Lester (remember creeper dude that Dean killed while he was a demon?) and seems truly puzzled that Dean is concerned about guilt over this scumbag’s death. No matter how bad Lester is Sam has always been the one that didn’t want to kill humans (well except when he was soulless Sam, but that was understandable). I think both boys are equally guilty as far as Lester is concerned and maybe they are both trying to blame the other as far as all that baggage so that way they don’t have to face any of their own inner demons (hehe).

It appears that they’ve caught up with Kate when surprise surprise it wasn’t Kate, but Kate’s sister who happens to also be a werewolf and a werewolf that tries to kill the boys. Kate saves her and fills in the boys and even Sam wants to take care of her. (Let me take a moment to also say how happy I am to see Dean with his gun again. He’s been favoring his stabby weapons lately and seeing him with his pearl handled gun is great). Kate really seems to have everything in her own life under control, but it’s obvious that her sister, Tasha, is enjoying being a werewolf to the fullest. It’s also obvious to everyone but Kate that she’s out of control. I can’t say I blame Kate for wanting to believe the best in her sister. She turned her to save her life and the boys have done some crazy things to save each other so I can understand Kate wanting to help her sister.

Dean feeds her a line about how he can cure them and that she needs to take Dean to her so that he can fix their problem. Now this is a load of crap, but Kate believes it and leads them to their rendezvous point. Kate falls asleep and we get to see the boys have another talk. Seriously this is the best their relationship has been since probably Season 3. Sam admits to doing things he’s not proud of and Dean makes a few smartass comments, but mostly lets Sam know he understands what he was going through and even THANKS him for saving his life. Damn it’s nice to have my boys back.

Dean very smoothly breaks the news to Kate that there isn’t a cure (or handcuffs her to the steering wheel) and then goes up to the house with Sam to take care of Tasha. Kate is still in denial about how bad Tasha is and Dean says something that really stuck out to me. He says, “No, Tasha is in too deep. You don’t come back from that. Not ever.” Well I’m going to go ahead and say that being a demon with the Mark of Cain on you is about as deep as you can get. I’m assuming this is foreshadowing some rocky times ahead, but I’m just going to dwell on the good stuff for the moment. Dean has consistently  called Sam, Sammy this season and along with it being another thing I love, I feel like he’s trying to hold onto his humanity through his brother.

Now insert twist. Tasha not only has gone way overboard, but has also turned a few friends in an effort to start her own pack.I’m surprised with the lack of fight that the boys put up. I mean really, Dean killed a whole coven of vampires alone and Sam just got off of a demon/monster killing spree. So their next actions are pretty awesome. Seemingly beaten Dean and Sam play the guys holding them into getting close enough to stab them quickly in the heart. So yeah that’s awesome.

While the boys are killing their own werewolves Kate is busy having a conversation with her sister and then subtly stabs her in the heart as well. I’m really happy that Kate took care of Tasha. I don’t think that she could have forgiven the guys if they had taken her out without Kate getting to try to get her under control herself. She runs off and later calls the boys to settle everything with them. I do want good things for Kate. She truly wants to do the right thing despite her issues.

Dean rounds off the episode by admitting that maybe he isn’t ready to hunt, but that he “just wants to do the right thing man, because I’m sick and tired of doing the wrong thing”. So yep, this episode has officially pushed this episode into awesome territory. Coming up we have the 200th episode (holy crap) and it looks to be one of the awesome funny/weird/out in left field episodes that everyone loves.

Supernatural: Soul Survivor. Something good is bound to happen sometime right?

Wow. This episode was packed full of all kinds of awesome.

We start out with Sam starting the curing process with Dean and of course everything isn’t going smoothly. Both boys are in pain. Sam emotionally and Dean physically. Dean may be a demon now, but he still remembers all the buttons to push. We only get to see a bit of the pain that Dean and Sam are going through before we switch back to the angel story. Have I mentioned I’m tired of this story line? Well we have Hanna mooning over Castiel and Cas finally picking up on it and we have Cas admitting that Sam doesn’t know the extent of what is going on with his Grace. Anytime some one wants to stab Hanna with an angel blade I’m cool with it. Just sayin’.

OK now back to Sam and Dean. Dean makes a very impassioned speech (one of many during this process) about how Sam is really the monster out of the two of them. Cue flashback. We get to see Sam pushing sleazy mustached dude from last week into making a crossroads deal with a demon just so that he can capture one in order to try to find out where Dean is. You’d think big long legged Sam could have gotten to Lester before he kissed the demon, but who knows. Maybe Sam thought there’d be more explanations from the demon before the deal was made. Ummm yeah maybe that was it. Although was Dean is saying is obviously affecting Sam it’s not really slowing him down with the sanctified blood injections.

Switch to The King of Hell meting judgments down on Abaddon’s followers. We see the demons trying to manipulate Crowley into doing what they think he needs to do. We even see a sad flashback/rundown of all of Dean and Crowley’s fun times. A new demon tries to team up with Crowley and thinks that he will get in because of his love for ” the classic rock and roll.”  Yeah it doesn’t work out so well for him.  We do find out that the demons are watching Castiel on his trip and keeping tabs on his health. Which becomes important in a bit.

Speaking of Castiel. Well– let’s not. Just know more tension and awkwardness.

Sam looks to be cracking under the pressure of watching Dean suffer, but Castiel helps remind him that if the blood kills him instead of curing him that’s all for the best. Dean does appear to be in pain, but that’s not slowing down his painful speeches. “I chose the King of Hell over you,”  and “I went as far away from you as I could. Away from the whining and complaining.” Or my personal favorite, “Maybe it’s the fact that my mother would still be alive if it wasn’t for you. That your very existence sucked the life out of my life.” Was that a crack in his voice when he said that line? Seriously though I found this painful to watch. It was nice to see Sam stand strong while Dean did everything he could to tear him apart. Well mentally at least.

Crowley now sees one of his followers commit suicide (in an uncomfortable manner) in front of everyone just so he doesn’t have to follow Crowley. I think this is what pushes him to what happens next. What happens next you ask? Well now we see Castiel trying to let Hanna down easy. Unsuccessfully. And then– wait! Can it be? Is someone going to take my suggestion with the Angel Blade and Hanna? Crap. No. After an angel fight with the angel on the run Crowley shows up and kills the psycho before she can finish killing Hanna. Thankfully Crowley takes her Grace and forces Cas to accept it making him all better for a little while. Obviously he has plans for Cas– but maybe just to help Sam cure Dean so that Dean is no longer a threat to his empire (this all happens in a longer time frame, but like I said I’m tired of the Angel story line).

OK we knew we’d have to have a sappy scene with Sam exploring his feelings with Dean and they do it perfectly.  Sam runs into some old pictures of Dean happy and loving. I’m really glad they didn’t go into it too much with Sam second guessing himself. Instead it just serves as a reminder and that the boys do love each other and if this works it will be worth all the pain. A now resolute Sam goes back to finish the job and shockingly finds Dean gone.

We now get to see Dean on the prowl hunting Sam and Sam on the defensive. Sam grabs some fancy keys and goes to cut the power all to try to trap Dean in the electrical room to try to talk some sense into him.  The only hitch in that plan is that Dean doesn’t want to face the pain of being human again so instead tears the door down so that way he can go and kill Sam. After a brief struggle and a barely missed hammer to the head it looks like Sam’s only option is to kill Dean with the demon knife. Thankfully the newly energized Castiel comes to the rescue forcing Dean back into his bonds. After another injection of blood Dean is back. The only thing that surprises me is that they released him right after the holy water no longer had an effect on him. I might would have done another injection to make sure all the demon was all gone. That’s just me though.

Seeing Sam relaxing and happy is something that has been a long time coming. I don’t know that he’s been this comfortable since before the trials. We also get to see a touching scene between Castiel and Dean. Dean is trying to beat himself up about trying to kill Sam and Castiel isn’t having it. Yes it’s everything that we could want in a Cas/Dean scene.

The very last scene of this episode shows a mystery lady with 2 dead bodies nailed to the ceiling above her. Yeah cause that’s normal. Speculation is that this person is someone from Crowley’s human past. Perhaps his witch mother? I’m sure we’ll find out soon.

This season so far (especially if you take out the Hanna story) is one of the best in a long time. I’m very excited to see what is to come. What did you think of Dean being cured?

Supernatural: Reichenbach. Dean’s a Demon. No really, Dean’s a Demon?

Just from the episode name we know that something big is going to happen this go round. Reichenbach Falls is where Sherlock Holmes famously fell to his death (OK well he magically survived as we found out later on) in order to defeat his arch nemesis Professor Moriarty. I know you all knew that, but just in case I thought it was worth mentioning. So as I said we know something big is going to happen.

Last episode we left off with Sam tied up to a chair with psycho friend about to kill him and Dean driving off into the sunset (or moonlight? Whatever.) Obviously Sam isn’t going to die here or that would have made for a very short season and a very abrupt end to the show. We pick up where they left off with Dean still being a jerk and Sam a little worse for the wear.

Psycho tells his sad story about his dad being murdered by Dean.  I’m wondering if they will ever explain why he killed him. Dean in 2003 wasn’t so quick to just kill someone so he would really have had to have a reason. Was he a monster and the son hasn’t turned into one (yet)? Or was he a witch? Or has Dean killed so many people that this one didn’t really stick out?

Two notes on this: 1. Seriously how did this kid not know about monsters if his dad was so involved that Dean killed him? 2. Is this archive footage? Cause Dean looks spot on, not creepy CGI that’s trying to make someone look younger.

Switch to Castiel not able to heal himself and Hannah creepily healing him. Have I mentioned I don’t like Hannah? Maybe I just don’t like demons in general, but I don’t trust her. I’m not on the Destiel bandwagon, but don’t like Castiel having a love interest. The closest relationship I bought like that was him and Meg and he was insane during most of that. Cas talks to Sam (who has escaped conveniently) and hops in a car (with Hannah) to go help try to save Dean. Insert sappy conversation and Hannah acting all weird.

They wreck (because Cas keeps forgetting he’s human and needs sleep) and Hannah continues to be creepy. Really the only thing that saved it this week for me with Cas’ story line was this:

Seriously he was adorable with that little girl. I need him to ditch Hannah and Heaven and all that junk.

Dean accepts a deal with Crowley to kill a woman for him to fulfill a crossroads deal and of course nothing goes as planned. Dean realizes that the husband is the worst of the two and decides to kill him instead which lead to a confrontation with Crowley.  Words were exchanged, Crowley was made to look like a fool in front of his minions which we know is not going to lead to anything good.

So I take Dean’s side in all of this, but this is the first death that we have witnessed of a human. Up to this point we’ve only seen him kill demons that Crowley has sent after him. Will this be important later?

Dean betraying Crowley was definitely important. Crowley goes straight to Sam and rats out Dean’s location. At this time Hannah also visits Heaven and a shady conversation with Metatron happens. Yeah I can’t bring myself to care about this story. I need Cas to at least be a healthy human and be back with the guys. Heaven can wait. Or not. Really just be done with.

Back to Demon Dean sitting at a piano. We see him playing around with the keys and I have seen a few suggestions that he’s playing “Hey, Jude” which is what his mom would sing to him as a lullaby if so that is beautiful, but it’s kind of a stretch with the amount of sound they provide for that scene. I’ll pretend that it’s 100% legit so I can feel some love for Dean since he’s been a dick most of this (read all of this) episode.

Pleasantries are exchanged between the boys and Sam reminds Dean that they know how to cure demons. Dean rudely turns him down and it looks to be gearing up for a fight. Sam makes his dramatic speech and Dean laughs at him. Yeah things are not going well.

Thankfully Psycho shows up to pick that fight with Dean and very stupidly thinks he can kill Dean. Epic fight ensues in which Dean humiliates Psycho boy (yes I know he has a name, but I still think he’s a sideline character). And then Dean does what Sam couldn’t: he convinces Psycho boy that monsters do exist.

So here’s the thing. Sam was Satan. He drained demons to make himself more powerful even though he knew that he was killing the hosts. Sam has always needed saving from himself and Dean has fought him to make it happen. Dean killing one slimy human doesn’t measure up to that in my book.

Don’t get me wrong. Dean is different as a demon. True he still would have slept with whoever he could have, gone to strip bars and killed demons every chance he got, but he would have done it with more charm. He’s quicker to give into all those urges that he would have fought. Still there are enough traces of humanity there that I don’t buy that he’s all demon.

I predict that Dean will go through withdrawals for the blade and until he comes to terms with that he won’t stop fighting Sam. Other notes: they are going to regret giving the blade to Crowley, Psycho boy is still going to cause trouble, but will probably get killed for his efforts, and Sam needs to step up his game.  He let psycho boy get the drop on him and he’s not willing to do what it will take to cure him right now. Get it together Sam.

And finally I’ll leave you with this horrible image.  I found it on Tumblr and have linked the source if you click the image. It was too beautiful not to share.

Those were simpler times when Dean had just been raised from the dead by the host of Heaven, not a bloodthirsty heartless demon. Ahhh.

Supernatural: Black. The one where Crowley is the most human of the bunch.

Well here we are at the season 10 premier and as it is with many season premiers the boys are separated. However, unlike previous seasons they aren’t together by the end of the episode.

We start out the episode watching Sam going crazy looking for Dean (but not quite as crazy as he was when Dean was in hell or when Dean was killed for 6 months by the Trickster. Still he’s pushing boundaries and not letting much stop him from trying to find out where Dean is.

The most concerning part of this opening sequence isn’t Sam slicing into demons or losing sleep trying to find a lead, but watching how sick Castiel is now. Yeah we knew that his grace situation was definitely lacking, but no one likes seeing Cas dying in a nasty flop house (btw why isn’t he staying with Sam? Have I forgotten something?). Sam has gone dark before, but Cas doesn’t get a cold much.

Switch to Crowley and Dean living life to the fullest. Just the exchange between Crowley and Dean says so much. They exchange the boys signature bickering phrase (Jerk/Bitch) and then are seen playing crappy pool hall games. You put this scene together with the conversation Crowley has with Sam later and I think we get to the root of all that is going on. Crowley states more than once about how much fun he’s having with Dean and vice versa. Did he get Dean to take the Mark just so that they could be bffs? It sure seems like it from where I’m sitting.  I also have a theory that he’s sending the other demons to attack Dean to make his change even more concrete. It never hurts that Dean is probably making a name for himself and a BAMF in all the demon circles.

Cas’s story this episode doesn’t sit well with me. It’s not just because he’s not on his A game it’s because he’s willing to kill another angel to get him to obey Heaven.  Since when has Cas been an angel that listens to Heaven.  Any time he is that kinda angel it usually ends very badly. I just feel like he’s still being manipulated and you’d think by now Castiel would be wise to such tactics.

Wait– I thought we were ignoring the whole Amelia story line.

The other thing that doesn’t sit well with me is how easily Sam gets fooled by creepy Army dude. I mean seriously– his car suspiciously breaks down on a dark abandoned road while he’s on his way to track down Dean (which he knows Crowley knows he’s coming) and doesn’t doubt the intentions of a guy that pulls up immediately behind him to help? Where’s his gun? Where’s his automobile know how?  The Impala might be Dean’s, but he’s been around it long enough to know how a car works. It just seemed too convenient a trap and something that Sam wouldn’t have been caught unawares about.

The episode wraps up with Sam zip tied to a chair about to die and crazy army dude frustrated that Dean doesn’t seem to care about it (btw– Sam had Dean’s number this whole time?). Dean just drives off alone promising CAD his eventual death and seems to genuinely not care if Sam lives or dies.

Well. Isn’t that nice.

Not only are the boys at odds they don’t seem to be kissing and making up anytime soon. Will Dean be cured? Will Crowley get his way and have Dean at his right hand in Hell? Will Sam be killed (ummm no) and will Cas die from lack of grace (no please?)?

Well even with my questions one thing is for sure: Season 10 is setting up to be pretty amazing and I’m definitely excited to see what is coming.

The Flash: Can Spin offs ever be any good?

The world of TV is filled with spin off shows: The Originals, Angel, Teen Mom, Maude, The Legend of Korra, NCIS, NCIS:LA, NCIS:New Orleans. . . etc.  OK so NCIS kinda got out of control, but the others show that the love people have for some shows and the desire to see more expands into a whole new series.  Sometimes this is great (Angel) and sometimes you end up with L.L. Cool J. licking his lips while solving crimes and Chris O’Donnell trying to forget that he ever played Robin.

The CW had most recently had the spin off of The Originals which is an even more melodramatic version of The Vampire Diaries so although I had high hopes for The Flash because of what I’d seen on Arrow I was somewhat wary that they might take a more early Smallville teen soap opera-y vibe instead of a balls to the wall all the way superhero series.  I’m happy to say that I feel like they are going with the second option. Barry Allen has a real reason and motivation for being a good guy that is out there helping people.  The actor is cute enough to be a great leading character, but not so good looking that he’s distracting.  We’ve gotten to know him a bit on Arrow so there isn’t a lot of awkward getting to know you crap mixed in the pilot. There is some unrequited romance (plus the promise of the full story of him and Felicity Smoak) and a mystery to be solved in what happened to his mom as well as who Harrison Wells really is.

 

I’m not going to pretend that I know everything about The Flash comics so I know there are a ton of Easter Eggs in this episode that I didn’t get, but I do have a few subtle (or not so subtle) things that I appreciate.

1. They took the time to really tie into Arrow by having him become a reoccurring character months before The Flash so when he tries to decide how to use his abilities it doesn’t feel strange that he would run to Oliver for advice. Crossovers between the shows look like they are going to be awesome.
2. John Wesley Shipp is playing the dad.  For those 5 people that are unaware JWS played the Flash in a doomed (but good) 90’s series. Think Lois and Clark, but without the viewers (really it was a good show and shouldn’t have been cancelled).
3. The surrogate dad Det. Joe West is played by Jesse L. Martin who was a cop on Law and Order for years which I feel like adds a level of legitimacy to his role.  Many people will tune in and recognize him as a cop. I know it’s not a big thing, but I like it.
4. Lastly superhero costumes can be comical.  What someone draws on a cartoon character is often hard to translate into real life (as cosplayers all over the world know). So the firefighter uniform makes sense and the lightening bolt accents although they could be cheesy are played off as an overly excited tech maker’s signature on his device.  Plus it ties into how he got his powers.

I look forward to seeing where this new series is going to take us and unlike the rather slow start that Gotham is having for me  The Flash will be a show that I not only want to watch, it will also be a show I want to watch live (which isn’t something I do much).

What did you think?