I think they do, though my main exposure to SPN is DVDs all the way through S6. (The classic rock references were a big part of why I plowed through S1 and was patient with the jelling story arc. That and the fact that Ackles can do no wrong.)

You may be on to something. My dog usually watches TV on the sofa with me, and last season's wretched dog episode made me want to cover his ears or shut him in another room so he wouldn't know how gross humans can be.

Oz wasn't part of my childhood canon, so retellings and re-imaginings do nothing for me. I'm suspicious of re-tellings in general because for every Angela Carter, you get several hundred hacky urban fantasy, YA, or Once Upon a Time products.

I saw a very intentional subtext with Dean and Benny, but I think the whole Destiel thing is just the product of fangirls who cut their teeth on yaoi and tend to see it even in Western narratives, where it generally doesn't exist.

Kevin's been established as a competent hacker in his own right, so the story probably sent him off to play with the angel tablets so that the boys would have a reason to call in Charlie.

But everything you cited is an emotional bond, not necessarily an attachment to a specific place. Dean's fussiness about the mess in kitchen that he just cleaned is simply an extension of his fussiness about the Impala (also his home).

I share your dislike of Charlie for exactly the reasons you gave, but I was feeling very charitable towards this episode because it shunted her into the sort of fantasy universe that she wanted on a personal level and that she belonged in on a meta level.

Presumably Chuck's final work was the S5 finale, what with ascending bodily into heaven and all that.

If she's old, then Jensen Ackles is downright geriatric.

That's how I felt, but somehow this episode worked for me as a perfect sendoff for Charlie. I don't really get Felicia Day as a cewebrity because I'm not into video games or fandom for fandom's sake, but I think she's just fine in the Whedonverse. Something about her in the SPN universe has always bothered me…

I have a hard time believing Sam is that dumb. Either he's keeping his suspicions to himself, or he's already figured it out and is okay with Zeke squatting in his body.

So this was the catalyst for all the action, but it seems to have been dropped as quickly as it was introduced: if Charlie and the boys did get the table display to track angels, what happens when a little dot lights up right on the bunker's position?

I'm pretty optimistic about next week. I have faith that Ackles will be a dog with great reaction shots and flawless comic timing.

I liked everything outside of the actual plot, but if you were expecting it to be more than the sum of its parts, then a C- isn't too harsh as long as there isn't rampant grade inflation at the AV Club.

That ship is easy enough to launch, but I just don't see this S.S. Destiel that everyone keeps insisting is the biggest one in the SPN Shipyards.

I share your disorientation. By all rights, I should have hated this episode. Maybe I was just happy to see Charlie sidelined, and I'm trying to rationalize it.

Tin Man was excremental, and it's a large part of why I'm wary of any Wizard of Oz retellings.

I was glad they didn't do a cheesy lez-out and left it up to the viewers to decide.

The SPN librarians are all pretty nondescript, except for the one in S7 who was having noisy sex in the stacks with a guy who was seemingly written as a chubby chaser. Never mind that the actress playing the librarian couldn't have been more than a size 8, 10 tops, but it is the CW after all.

I'm surprised to say that my expectations were exceeded on this one. (But they were pretty low to star with.) A lot of it was utter nonsense, but hey, I actually tolerated Charlie because the story wasn't straining to sell her to the audience. The banter about the Carver Edlund books and fan fiction was apropos…