My Review / Observations of "No Exit"

[raloria]

A few quick observations...

* This episode didn't scare me like I was hoping it would. But the doll in that Sony Playstation commercial...now that was scary! Yikes! What a creepy looking doll.
* I like Jo...as long as they don't continue to pursue her as Dean's future love interest (it does seem like they're straying away from that now, though).
* I missed Sammy...and I'm a DeanGirl!
* Look! It's the black oil from The X-Files (come on, you know you were thinking it too).

- Okay, I thought the eye that scared the first chick in the teaser was pretty creepy.

- The Katie Holmes joke was okay...what I really thought was funny was Sam's line "That's funny. And for you so bitchy." Heehee.

- What is with the family (with small kids) showing up at some way-out-of-the-way bar? Does this place look like a McDonalds???? Geeesh! Arby's...yeah...that should have been your first choice! Love Dean's reaction, though.

- I wonder who the preacher on the phone with Ellen is?

- I like finding out Jo's full name...Joanna Beth. It's pretty and seems to fit her.

- Comparison to past episodes #1: Ellen: "Joanna Beth, this family has lost enough. I won't lose you too. I just won't."
John in Dead Man's Blood: "Your mother's death, it almost killed me. I can't watch my children die die too. I won't."

- Love the whole scene in the hallway. It was very amusing to watch all the facial expressions. "Deano" and "Sweetie". Too cute.

- Ah, we love it when the boys are in gun-cleaning mode.

- Dean & Jo play there first little war...she tells him to sit down and he tells her to put her knife away. And Sam quickly gets them back onto reviewing the research.

- One of my favorite scenes is Dean & Jo's discussion in the hall "Sweetheart, this ain't gender studies." Dean has no problem with women being hunters, but he recognizes that Jo's no hunter...yet. "Women can do the job fine. Amateurs can't." It's interesting how he talks about hunting here "No one in their right mind choses this life. My dad started me in this when I was so young. I wish I could do something else." This backs up what ShapeshifterDean told Sam in Skin..."You got to go to college. I had to stay home with dad. You don't think I had dreams of my own. But dad needed me." I think we've all assumed Dean lived for hunting. Now we know he has regrets about being raised this way. He didn't get a chance to have a normal life and he points out to Jo that she still has a chance for that.

- Comparison to past episode #2: Dean: "I know it. I just can't put my finger on it."
Sam in "Shadow": "I'm saying there's something about this girl I can't quite put my finger on."

- Comparison to past episode #3: Dean: "Mazel Tov. You just found your first spirit."
Sarah to Sam in "Provenance": "Mazel Tov"

- Those dirty fingers coming through the grate were pretty creepy.

- Dean, are you sure it's a good idea to be sticking your hand in there? And why is she bothering with the flashlight? It's not helping him at all.

- I paused on that piece of mail Teresa opens before she gets attacked. It was a flyer for a lingerie party on ...get this...Sept. 28th. That's the date the second season started.

- With those cracks forming in the walls all I could think of was that scene in "Hookman".

- Heehee. I love the way Dean's sleeping in that chair. How can that possibly be comfortable? Guess it wasn't, since he woke up all sore and achy. And I love how Jensen played that. I notice he does that, showing not just the emotional pain of something, but the physical pain as well. It's all those little nuances. Did you ever notice at the end of "Shadow" when he gets in the car and throws his head back in pain at just sitting down? It was a nice touch and something one wouldn't expect. Oh, and I also love how rough and deep his voice is here when he asks "Where's Sam?"

- Also loved the way he took out that knife and flipped it over in his hand before handing it to Jo. That was cool...and a little hot...I must admit.

- Nice sharing of memories between Dean and Jo about their dads. I liked this scene very much. The close-ups were gorgeous - especially of Dean *g*! Dean shares his memory and then pulls back before it gets too emotional. The memories are still too painful. And you can see he appreciates Jo's reason for hunting - for her dad. Nicely played by Jensen yet again.

- Okay, it annoys me that they had to bother to show the Roadhouse when Jo is on the phone with Ash. Why people? I know, they're showing his location, but I just found it distracting. They easily could have just shown her talking on the phone.

- Yes! The boys have a new laptop!

- They handled all the H.H. Holmes info very well here. They kept it interesting instead of the usual boring exposition.

- It's a shame they never showed Sam searching in the walls at least once. We were with Dean & Jo the whole time.

- Jo, sweetie...you might as well have been wearing a red Star Trek uniform. Going it alone though that narrow part of the wall was a bad idea.

- Poor Dean! He feels reponsible for Jo and he's angry at himself for losing her.

- Love how the brothers literally run into each other in the hallway.

- Dean: "She's going to have to call you back. She's taking care of feminine business." Heehee. Oh...Dean. But seriously, you can tell how sorry Dean is here for losing Jo. He knows he made a mistake in lying to Ellen and not sending Jo home right away.

- Jo's reactions of finding herself trapped in that box was very good. She almost loses it for just a moment which shows a nice, vulnerable side to her. Then she's back into tough-chick mode, but still tinged with fear. She gained new respect from me for that.

- When fandoms collide: Who else was thinking...it's the hatch from Lost!

- The whole hand reaching in to touch Jo was nicely done. Good moxie on Jo's part in stabbing his hand with her knife.

- The boys to the rescue! So I guess the first victim from the teaser didn't make it. Yuck! That corpse looked ugly. So Jo becomes the bait after all. Hey, it was your idea, girl. Good trap with the rock salt, not to mention the cement. Dean: "I'll give it back." Oh Dean, you're so cute! And how cool did Dean look backing up that cement truck? Yeah...I know you agree with me.

- The scene in the car is a real winner. The close-ups all around, Dean's nervousness over Ellen, "Cold As Ice" on the radio (LOL)...a long drive indeed.

- The revelation about John having been responsible for the death of Ellen's husband is interesting. I hope they will address this again and build on it later. Right now it's clearly being used to cause a rift between the characters so the boys will be on their own for a while. And frankly, that's fine with me. I don't mind the Roadhouse characters, as long as we get them in small doses. On a side note, I do wish Jo had admitted to Ellen that it was her idea to be the bait. And Jo is upset at Dean because of what his dad did? It's not really his fault. She acts like maybe Dean knew this the whole time and didn't say anything. I don't know. But you can bet this is going to bother Dean for a long time.

- Oh and once again we end an episode on Dean. This is clearly something they are going to continue, perhaps through the whole season. It's been in every episode so far.

So overall, a very different episode without a lot of the brotherly aspects that we all love so much. Seemed like Jared had very little screen time and it certainly showed. Speculation is that he had surgery on his hand/wrist at this time, not to mention a root canal. Getting more time to get to know Jo was good and like I said at the beginning, I don't mind her as a character, just don't like her as a love interest for Dean.

So was this a bad episode? A weak episode? I don't think so. It was just different because the dynamic changed a bit. But next week the boys will be on their own once again with the only other constant character in their lives...the Impala!