Sofia’s Review: “Supernatural” 8.13 “Everybody Hates Hitler”
After last week’s episode I found myself wondering if we would learn any more about the Men of Letters. As it turns out, we’ve only scratched the surface of secret, magical societies. While I am intrigued, I have to say that this episode had my head spinning a bit. Maybe it was just me, but in the past two weeks I’ve gone into a bit of an information overload. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really excited about where the writers are taking the story, but I’m still trying to grasp the fact that Sam and Dean’s grandfather came out of that closet. But I have taken a little time, and copious notes, and I feel like I’ve got a better grasp on things. Was anyone else having a little trouble keeping up with the story?
First off, let’s talk about the box. Last week I was wondering if Sam and Dean would just take it straight to the coordinates and destroy it like they were told. Of course they didn’t. And how could they? A key to everything they ever wanted to know, it’s the proverbial apple and they are Adam and Eve. (I’ll leave you to discuss which one is Eve.) Of course, the box didn’t work exactly as I suspected. First of all, I didn’t expect a physical key. Maybe it’s just the nerd in me, but I expected it to work like Pandora’s box. I thought that if they opened the box they would magically obtain the knowledge it held. I was actually happy to see a physical key. Magically obtaining knowledge would have felt like a cop out. The key did, however, lead to knowledge in the form of the mother of all libraries. Sam looked like he was in Heaven. His “son of a bitch” said it all. He couldn’t wait to crack open the books and even jumped to catalog their newest addition. I think we have a Man of Letters in the making.
I do wonder though about the old man’s warning to destroy the box. (Forgive me, but I can’t remember his name.) Was it just that he was worried that Abbadon would get a hold of it? Or was it a larger concern about having the knowledge? I’m going back to my Adam and Eve comparison for a moment here. (I’m sure I’m not the first to make it.) If the key is the apple, Sam and Dean have both taken a bite. I find myself wondering if there will be backlash for obtaining this knowledge. What do you guys think? Is there a downside for having all this information at their disposal?
I mentioned earlier that it looks like we’re just scratching the surface when it comes to secret, magical societies. In this episode alone we learned about the Judah Initiative and the Thule Society. Did I mention my head and all the spinning? We have the Judah Initiative of badass rabbis on one side. From my understanding they are not a branch of the Men of Letters but it sounds like they may have worked together in the past. They do not seem to practice magic per se, but they do have at least one giant Golem at their disposal. This was my first time learning about a Golem which is shaped from clay and brought to life by a rabbi for their protection. Would we call that magic? Divine intervention? I don’t know, it’s cool either way. On the other side we have the Thule Society, the evil Nazi necromancers. They definitely practice magic; performing all kinds of terrible experiments and bringing the dead back to life to do their bidding. That is a lot of magic-wielding secret societies! And who knows what else is out there. It blows my mind that these groups existed all this time without hunters having any knowledge of them. Although Henry did mention that a few hunters knew of the Men of Letters, it seems like it was only the most elite. I do wonder how the Winchesters could not be a part lf that list! Complete bias aside, I think the Winchesters are a pretty big deal. But now that Sam and Dean know all about the Men of Letters I wonder if other knowledgeable hunters will start to come out of the woodwork? That could be really interesting!
So it seems that the Thule Society may be a recurring enemy for Sam and Dean. They did manage to kill Eckhardt, but another member of the Thule got away. And you know what happens when a bad guy gets away, he goes back to get more bad guys. If Aaron is the last living member of the Judah initiative it’s on Sam and Dean to stop the Thule Society. And was it just me or did they make way too big a deal out of the ring on Eckhardt’s finger. There’s definitely something going on with that. What do you all think? Will we see the Thule Society again? Have any ideas about the ring? If you know a spoiler, please clearly mark it as one in the comments section!
So those are my thoughts on this whirlwind of an episode! I really like the direction the show is taking. It seems like the building blocks of season nine and ten. I think we could go the distance! What do you guys think? Are you intrigued by this magic-filled mytharc? Sound off below!
Dean: “The water pressure is marvelous”
Dean: “Listen brother, let’s not go all geek on this stuff.”
Sam: “You gonna take off the dead guy robe?”
Bass: “I hope they pay you good to keep the bug up your ass.”
It sounds like Cass is off the grid and Dean is worried. I miss Cass too!
Dean: “Why you following me, gingerbread?”
This whole interaction between Aaron and Dean was hilarious.
Dean: “Ok, citizen…” Dean just cannot handle these situations.
Sam: “That would explain why I have something stuck to my shoe.” These boys are so clever…
Dean: “I thought I was being followed earlier, it turned out to be a gay thing.”
Sam: “What?”
Dean: “Nevermind.”
Dean: “I told you I was being followed. He was my gay thing.”
Aaron: “This big, naked potato face idiot wakes up and goes crazy.”
Golem: “I did not go crazy.”
I laughed pretty hard at their interaction.
Enough of Sam and Dean going off alone when they could just as easily have gone together. There was no reason for Sam to go find the book by himself.
Golem: “The boy smoked the pages.” Don’t smoke your user manual!
Sam: “What did you do? You cast a forever 21 spell on yourself?”
Dean seemed so proud that Sam is embracing his inner Man of Letters. It seems like a great fit for him and we all know Dean would be happy to play with swords, drink old whiskey and wear a dead man’s robe.
I am certainly ready for next week’s episode! God’s obstacle course should prove to be very interesting!
I apologize. Nevermind.
OK Percyowner, I agree we have the potential for great things here, but before you put yourself into a funk (you are a glass half empty person, I bet, huh?), I want to see if I can relieve some of your concern.
No offence to your imaginative storytelling abilities, which are clearly filled with talent (much more than I will ever have), I think you should see what the Supernatural writers do with the story, rather than bumming yourself out with these ideas you thought of here. I think the writers are putting together a much happier story than the one you envisioned for the following reasons:
I do not think Sam will be in the library while Dean hunts – he would not leave his brother out there alone, and we already saw in ths episode that even when Sam does the research, he still joins his brother for the hunt.
Both brothers like the bunker and while Dean does not geek out over the research, as soon as he sees knowledge that will help with a hunt or their goals, he is in just like Sam. So this is not a bone of contention between them, but rather a shared endeavor.
Dean has friends but he never puts them before his brother. (I know, he has said some mean things, but as Sam puts it, when push shoves, Dean does the right thing and he always chooses his brother). There has not been a single episode in 8 years when Dean put a friend before his brother – not even during the worst of season 4 – so try to stop worrying about that.
And, Dean has been willing to use spells to summon demons, angels, etc., so it is not just Sam that could be interested in that stuff. Again, I think exploring the secrets of the MOL will be a shared endeavor. And, they will keep each other human.
In short, we appear to be moving in a really good direction here. As my mother used to say when I would worry about everything that could possibly go wrong, don’t borrow trouble because while working on the trouble that does not, and may never, exist, you lose the opportunity to enjoy the good moments.
Hope this helps (maybe a little?).
[quote]OK Percyowner, I agree we have the potential for great things here, but before you put yourself into a funk (you are a glass half empty person, I bet, huh?), I want to see if I can relieve some of your concern.
No offence to your imaginative storytelling abilities, which are clearly filled with talent (much more than I will ever have), I think you should see what the Supernatural writers do with the story, rather than bumming yourself out with these ideas you thought of here. [/quote]
I am sorry Grace, but I find this response to Percy’s original statement (now deleted) incredibly snide. You may not agree with her theories, as you have stated in the rest of your post, but I find your tone disrespectful and condescending in the above quote. Don’t you think that Percy deserves better than that? Maybe you didn’t intend the tone of your post in this way, but it read that way to me, and it must have to Percy as well as she has deleted her original post.
Well I feel awful. As someone who tends to put myself into a funk by worrying about everything and seeing the glass half empty side way too much, I know how hard that is, so I was trying to help Percy by giving a glass half full view. I always appreciate it when I get myself all worked up worrying about what could happen and people pull me back from that and give me something positive to hold on to so I can see the other side. I am not even sure exactly what you mean by snide, but clearly I did not express what I meant to if I offended you and Percy. I meant to compliment her imagination, which I admire since I have a pitiful amount, and to try to give her reasons why her worries were probably not going to happen so she would worry less and be able to enjoy the show more. I clearly stink at helping. I apologize to you and anyone else I offended. I really enjoy the show and appreciate the Supernatural community, but I do not think I am in the same class as you all, so should probably be quiet and read, so I do not offend you all. Again, sorry. Thanks to everyone for this great site. I promise to be quiet.
You don’t need to be quiet. I like your comments. I don’t know, people tend to get in such a twist over things sometimes. Posts often get misconstrued in this fandom. I didn’t think your intention was poor, if that means anything. Don’t feel bad at all! Please come back on another thread and it’ll all be good.
You didn’t offend me. I had two highly negative reactions to my thoughts and I decided that I didn’t want a brouhaha over them so I deleted my comment.
Please, don’t be quiet on my account. You have thoughts to share on the show and I am interested to hear what they are. I appreciate that you were trying to be optimistic in the face of my pessimism. That’s really good of you.
Anyway, please stay around.
Thank you, Percysowner. The show and fans bring me such happiness, and I would never want to do anything to hurt any of you. I was horrified to realize I had offended people. When I read your first post, I felt like I had found a kindred spirit falling into some of the same patterns (deep holes) that I have been in, and in my eagerness to help, was not very careful about how I worded my unsolicited advice. Thanks also to Alice, for helping me off the ledge too. I will keep posting, but will take this lesson to reread and try to think how it sounds before hitting that send key.
This is such a great show – and this episode, with the brothers working in concert, using their own shorthand language, saying more with a look than most actors could say with two pages of dialogue, and reminding everyone why it is all about family – made me so happy! I am also thrilled to see they are in such a good place as brothers heading into next week when it sounds like they will face a big external challenge. Cannot wait for Wednesday!
E, please don’t attack other posters. That’s really not allowed here. Percy responded to this post with an apology and deleted the original. If she had a problem with Grace’s post, she would have reported it.
Thank you.
Ok, now it’s my turn to apologize. I am sorry, and I guess I over reacted, but the tone of several posts in a row seemed very negative and attacking to me and I got angry about it. I’ll leave it to you in the future Alice.
[quote][quote]I find myself wondering if there will be backlash for obtaining this knowledge. What do you guys think? Is there a downside for having all this information at their disposal?[/quote]
I suspect there will be a downside and it will all fall on Sam’s head and be blamed on him. Dean doesn’t care that much about the bunker, except as shelter. Sam cares about the knowledge and the knowledge is what can be dangerous. Plus thus far anything Sam loves or enjoys goes completely totally wrong. So if there are bad repercussions, Sam will be the one to bring them about.
Some of us have expressed the concern that Sam will end up stuck in the library researching while Dean does adventures. I have also seen the suggestion that Sam, being Sam, will start to investigate the secrets of the MOL and will eventually start using their rituals and other spells. It will do good and save people, but Dean will become unhappy with Sam’s use of power and say Sam is power hungry and if Dean didn’t know him he would hunt him and we get season four ALL OVER AGAIN with the addition of Dean angsting about having to kill Sam and Sam being ONCE AGAIN portrayed as a power hungry, evil brother. Since Dean now has a “better brother” just waiting to join Dean and Castiel is now more of a BFF than in season four, I don’t see this scenario ending well for Sam. It will depend on how the writers handle things, but right now, I think the bunker has the potential to be a really good thing (by giving Sam a place in hunting where he is happy) or a really bad one.[/quote]
Oh pls… do yourself a favor and just enjoy this season… and stop imagining hidden plots in every single corner.. it is a delicious (again) show, only this…
Finally we see Sam and Dean being together and working together and you are talking about the “better brother”, oh c’mon… Benny wil never, ever be Dean’s brother, he was a “brother’s in arms” while they were in purgatory, whom if I recall correctly he dismissed easily when faced with the perspective of losing his “blood brother”…
Are we watching the same serie????
Sorry, I don’t have any intention of being rude to you or anything like that, but frankly… as I said before, just enjoy the show..
And if I am (rude) I’ll leave you my deepest apologies, but I am not changing my opinion…
Take care and have a nice weekend…
Cla ; }
Clarice, you may not have had any intention of being rude, but that is exactly what you have been, and dismissive too. “Oh pls…do yourself a favor and just enjoy this season….” is the same as saying “shut up” as far as I am concerned, and it is my understanding that comments like this are against the rules of this site.
I’m going to let Clarice’s comment slide this time. I know that English is not her primary language so the heart of the language may not seem offensive to her. She made her intent was clear, which was to not offend, so I’ll leave it as that. Plus, she made her point and moved on which is okay too.
But yes, if it happens again, I’ll probably edit.
Thanks Alice… 😀
I was very upset with her comment I admit that.. and upset with many other comments about not only this episode but the whole season, and after two seasons of lousy (my opinion) episodes, we are finally having something good coming…
Honestly I’m just sad people cannot enjoy it.. I have already said in a previous post to Alice’s review/comment, I don’t remember… The show has never been perfect, I don’t know why all of sudden the fandom wants perfection… it has already had ups and downs… we have lived through it…
My point to percysowner and to all the other people is – just have fun with the show, enjoy the fact that we finally are having – again in my opinion – good story, good writing, good acting (AS ALWAYS), great supporting actors, and FUN…
My main problem not with percy’s comment per se, but with the fandom as a whole is that I think we are forgeting to just enjoy the show, just have a good time, drool over Sam and Dean and Cass and Benny and any other hottie who appears in the show…
This what used to happen in the past, I don’t know when it began to become a “such a serious” thing…
And Percy, E, whomever was offended by my comment, again I do apologize.. my intention was only to vent some of my feelings about the show, I don’t want anybody to shut up, I believe in my heart of hearts that everybody is free to express his feelings….
And tks Alice for being so understanding. I love this site and love to being part of the Winchester Family Business, family being the main word…
That’s that.
Everybody have a great weekend.
Cla ; }
Why did you delete it? I read your comment which was quoted and I didn’t find any problem.
I felt I was being too negative and didn’t want to upset people. I just thought I’d pull it back before it became an issue. This was a really good episode and everyone is enjoying it, so there was no reason to harsh anyone’s squee.
Hi Percys, I hope you don’t mind me jumping in… but I was irked on your behalf. I don’t always agree with your views, and I seem to be enjoying the season more than you, but I like your posts, I always read them, I respond to many of them and don’t like the idea that you felt like you had to backtrack on your views or take your posts down.
I didn’t mind you jumping in. I do want to thank you. I realized that my theory was upsetting people and I decided on my own to simply pull back. This was a great episode and I truly didn’t want to bring anyone down. Sofia had asked if anyone had thought the MOL bunker would come back to bite the boys and I had already given the idea some thought and come up with my former post. But really only time will tell and I should let things play out before I jump to conclusions.
You’re entitled to hate/dislike the episode just as much as others are entitled to love/like it. Your post was fine! Don’t be too hard on yourself 🙂
I think posters here aren’t too accepting of less than glowing comments (I refuse to use the label negative). I’ve been critical of the season and have been told I’m just being negative to be negative or that I want to “cause trouble.” Haha! I’m just critical of the story; that’s all. There’s nothing wrong with that.
You should keep posting your theories and thoughts!
I don’t know if you can understand me, but…
Have somebody think that until now the library is a little useless? Because you would need a demon, or an angel or both of them working for you to do the majority of the things.
Thanks for the review Sofia, my head doesn’t hurt so much anymore. I’ve had a chance to watch last week’s and this week’s episodes a few times, so I’ve digested. 😆
I like the comparison to Adam & Eve and the apple. Too much knowledge can become a dangerous thing. Who knows, maybe both the angels & the demons will step in and make a mess of this wonderful place. And let’s face it, anytime things start going the Winchesters way, it bites them in their perfect asses.
But, I don’t want to bum myself out too much about it just yet, I enjoyed the episode so much, and I love their new headquarters. So let’s let them have their moment in the sun, or shadow as the case may be. 🙂
I am really wondering if the writers went back to review some of Grandpa Cambell’s comments from season 4, when Dean went back in time. 1973 would have been about 15 years after the MoL was destroyed. And Grandpa Campbell never admitted to why he really objected to John. Grandma Campbell was the one who stated that she couldn’t imagine John Winchester as a hunter. It’s almost like the writers took that as an opening. If the Campbell’s were the “brawn”, you could see that they might not appreciate the Winchester’s “brains” since in their eyes, it might look wimpy. I stated in another thread that if the writers tie in comments from previous seasons to support their “new perceptions or points of view” in Season 8, I would have to say that this season is very well crafted. I remain hopeful after the last 3 episodes.
Looked up the episode I was referring to above. It is Season 4, Episode 3, “In the Beginning”.
I really like where the writers are taking the story. I wish they had done something like this earlier – like back in Season 6 for example. The Thule society is based in historical fact, Rudolf Hess really was a member. The first and third Indy movies are based on some of the things they tried to accomplish. Its really a great premise for an on-going bad guy and I love it because it lets the brothers bond together again. I also enjoyed the use of the Golem Mythology and Kabbalistic magic. I remember reading several myths and short stories about this creation. One re-occurring them is that if used for anything but the purist of motives it will go out of control and often turn on its creation.
One thing I am very happy about is unlike Kripke and Gamble, Carver is building the Supernatural world. Sam and Dean are gaining contacts and people to call on again. Garth, Charlie and now they have an in with the Judah iniative. Way cool
I couldn’t agree with you more zazreil! I love how they’re moving into this real territory. There’s so much they can explore and take the boys into exciting new realms.