A Visual Review – “Two and A Half Men”
6.
Here’s another shot where body language tells the story. Lisa’s very slouchy and doesn’t look like she really wants to be going over this yet again, but Dean is so earnest about making sure she can protect herself and Ben that she does it anyway for his sake. It’s all for Dean’s peace of mind here. And yeah, he’s still going to worry because he’s Dean and that’s what he does. But you know he would never, ever leave if he didn’t think Lisa could handle things in his absence.
7.
Is this where anyone thought the Winchesters would be, in a supermarket with a baby? I’m glad it happened, though, because hilarity ensued. It’s impossible to show in one cap, but when the baby turns its head towards him, Jensen does the most amazing startle reaction. It made me laugh and laugh.
8.
What a picturesque setting. I adore old, slightly falling apart buildings like this one. There’s something so beautiful and melancholy about them, like all the sad things that happened in that building are expressed through a rusted roof and warped wood. Also, holy awesome cars, Batman! That never hurts!
9.
Dean’s magic-finger obsession has returned! This was a really fun callback. But the real reason I want to talk about this image is the label on the magic fingers box. If you look real close (and magnify the image, heh) at the bottom of the label, it says “home units available.” Dean must not look at that thing too closely because if he did, he surely would have one of those things in his house.
10.
Here’s a great shot of the Campbell compound. It looks like it’s in the middle of nowhere and is on a farm. And with the sunset in the background, I’m sure this is the prettiest it’s going to get, judging from the way the inside looks.
11.
Forgive me, but this scene in the panic room had a lot of awesome things happening, so the next four images come from that scene. I really enjoyed it! Now, overall, this panic room is lame when compared to Bobby’s, but the porthole instead of the door slit is pretty cool. So here is the fantastic jump-scare when the alpha shapeshifter pops up in the door porthole as Sam. My theory on why the alpha decided to shift into people it was fighting against was to show its dominance. I mean, it knew the hunters would know what it was, so why not take one of their shapes just to mess with their heads? “I’m going to do some bad things dressed up as you, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.” Psychological warfare at its best.
Hi Ardeospina
Love your choice of pictures/visuals.
I would take either house in a second, hell just for the Kitchen alone. I can only dream what it’s like to have one where two people are not a crowd.
Ha! Sam barely leaning against his car, like he’s going to break it, he looks so uncomfortable.
The way Bobby-John looks at Dean and his reaction is one of my favourites aswell. In fact that whole supermarket scene was priceless.
I too love seeing old buildings and equipment, imagining the events/history these places and things have had.
The only issue I have with the Alpha was not only did he know what the two Sam’s looked like but he knew exactly what they were wearing. Now granted he may of seen Sam when he was investigating the murders, but to know what he was wearing? Must have x-ray vision.
Jensen/Dean/Alpha look so natural with the baby(s). Definitely father material here.
I enjoyed your article – thanks you. 🙂 I like how you shed light (pun intended :P) on a sometimes neglected aspect (cinematography) of Supernatural.
Arde,
As usual you do a superb job with choosing little moments.
I like the Dean/Lisa shot also becasue it depicts something about characterizations. Dean has his shirt untucked (a change from Exile) showing he’s back in hunter mode but the real star here is Lisa. She’s in a bathrobe with bare feet holding a gun. She’s very feminine but also quite bada** in how she handles the weapon.
I read someone dissecting why Jo and Bela and Ruby didn’t work as much when Meg, Pamela and Ellen did and the idea behind the writer’s perspective was that the writers of the show were so busy trying to make these female characters bada** females when they should have simply made them strong characters and allow the actresses to bring the femininity (like Nicki Aycox did and Samantha Ferris and now Cindy Sampson is doing)
I hadn’t thought about the spook factor of something spying on the Campbell compound until your article but now…oooh, I see it. Thank you for that.
Yeah, that panic room could use a touch of Bobby but then again, he’s a character we’re meant to know and trust and the Campbells…not so much.
Great article. I’m so enjoying these visual moments. Thank you for doing them.
Flamey, just as you, I am a huge fan of the look of this show! I adore the lighting. Master Ladouceur is a genius when it comes to emphasize a scene with the right light, and so often is able to make our guys look incredibly adorable or downright despicable.
Especially with Sam’s ambiguity he’s done marvellous things. And, for instance, the way he lit Dean in Season One’s Water-episode, sigh, in that early diner scene, the man never looked better.
Whenever I watch films or tv shows, I pay a lot of attention to the look and the sound. Here it’s wonderfully done in both departments. The way music and sound effect is used, it leaves me repeatedly in awe.
You choices are also some of my favourites of the episode. This is a new approach to a recap or review to an episode of our show. These articles enrich our site even more. I salute you for the great idea!
Love Jas
I love the way you pick the best shots to highlight. I see them when I’m watching but don’t have the time to study and really appreciate them so thanks for giving me the time to do that. All pics were perfect but I agree a frame by frame of Dean setting the Impala free would have been heavenly bliss 😛
Heh … You were right about the squashability of Sam’s ( ex ) car …
I like tatty old rather than shiney new buildings too, so much more character ( and draughts and mice and leaks but never mind … )
Best shots for me were Big Daddy Shifter leaving with his sproglet and Dean’s smile right at the end when he de-dustcovers the Impala.