SPN 7×20

[rusty_halo]

The good:

Charlie was awesome. She went so far beyond the "strong female character" stereotype, by being complex and funny and odd and unashamed of her quirks and not in need of men. I was slightly annoyed that Sam, Dean, and Bobby at various points stepped in to "save" her, but mostly mollified by the fact that she was the hero of the episode who took the most risks and achieved the most goals.

The thing I loved absolutely the most: she was a fangirl who looked up to the awesome women in her fandoms, not to the men. It was Hermione and Leia and Arwen who inspired her to be brave. And her strength was in her technical skill and her brains, not her sexuality or her physical strength.

So lets repeat: Supernatural created an interesting, funny, brilliant, gay, female character, and wrote her as a hero, and did not kill her off. Clearly they still have a lot of sexist crap to make up for, but this is an excellent first step. Right on the heels of last week's episode passing the Bechdel test, too. MORE PLEASE.

Also, the scene where Dean coaches her to flirt with the guard was great. It was funny and awkward and, I don't know, I just love seeing both a woman who doesn't know how to flirt with men (I can so relate), and the show playing again with Dean's so-macho-he's-clearly-overcompensating-for-something subtext.

The bad:

* Bobby is so boring why is he still here MAKE HIM GO AWAY.

* Can we please get back to Dean and Castiel now? We're nearing the end of the season yet wasted three episodes in a row focusing on tangents.

* Charlie felt like a crossover character from another show, a show which is a thousand times more progressive than SPN, and the reactions she elicited highlighted how offensively sexist and out of touch SPN is. Worst offenses: Sam's patronizing"Good girl" and Dean having a fit that they let a "90 pound girl" take the risk instead of saving the day themselves. It was like, "A woman who doesn't want to fuck us, isn't a mommy figure, and isn't evil? We're so confused!"

Originally published at rusty-halo.com. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[soundingsea]

I quit watching this season but people said I had to watch this ep and I'm glad I did. I'd like to watch the show all about Charlie. She rules!

[rusty_halo]

I wanted to tell you the other day when you posted that you'd given up on the show that you had to at least watch this one! I knew you'd like it. :) :)