I'm sorry: WHAAAAT? This was awful. Not that Supernatural ever was very coherent but this was a rushed, sloppy and frankly a very anticlimatic conclusion to their ordeal... they even had to pull a "and-here-is-how-we-dun-it" to "explain" this mess.
Sam & Dean can apparently take a massive beating from fists powered by such godly energy that when absorbed is enough to transfer the powers over to Jack (who needs build up when you can just give him more OP powers...). Most "powerlevels" were also disregarded for this like Chuck's omniscience and featuring Amara, Death/Lucifer etc.. . And no time for Cas? I know there is another one coming but this had a freaking montage at the end...
This episode has it all, from small and forgivable mistakes such as randomly disappearing attack dogs to plot-breaking and totally unrealistic killing of characters who could have been interesting and worth keeping alive. It's clear now that the show's creators don't really understand the source material and they are now trying to improvise some fanfiction to hold their story together. They are trying too hard to add shock value by killing off characters who haven't really been developed enough for anybody to be shocked about their deaths. The episode's ending was also trying to go for shock value, but ended up quite random and unnecessary. Most actors and production values are still good as ever, but even those can't carry a flawed story.
yes, picard against the adjudicator is great to see, and one of the highlights of the character. but the main problem with this episode is based on the fact that star trek is shit at lecturing about philosophy. when it is implicit, it is one of the most sophisticated television shows, but in an episode such at this when characters try to explicitly answer philosophical questions, it falls flat. as an example, in 'elementary, dear data' the moriarty character quotes 'cogito ergo sum', which has not been considered a valid account of subjectivity for centuries - even less so in the 22nd century. furthermore, the episode promises to address ideas about consciousness in machines. instead we are given a half-arsed throwback to american slavery, which just affirms that the show is and always will be a product of the US, and not a pure utopian vision. overall i'm rather disappointed that this is often regarded as 'top 10 TNG' material. even 'conspiracy' and 'where no one has gone before' from S1 greatly outmatch this.
Even nudity couldn't help the pilot. Very disappointing start and I believe it goes on. The real problem as always is the lack of a good script. Upsetting:-(
The last few episodes of Season 4 was fine, but this S5 premiere was painful to watch. Especially the way they deal with Deschanel's pregnancy. It hurts the story! And the editing is really bad in this show.
