DEATH! Okay, you know, I love Supernatural's incarnation of Death. Not the Reapers, though I like Tessa well enough - she reminds me a little of Death of the Endless (which I assume was intentional). But I *really* love Death himself. I have this vague idea that he and Chuck *combined* are god in Supernatural. If they're the same age and both are necessary for the universe - creation and destruction then one without the other is not god. So both are god, but only if both exist.
Anyway. I was curious about the title. So I committed an act of google. 'Appointment in Samarra' is a book from 1934. I think the important aspect here is the old folktale that is used as an epigraph in the book according to Wikipedia: 'A merchant in Baghdad sends his servant to the marketplace for provisions. Shortly, the servant comes home white and trembling and tells him that in the marketplace he was jostled by a woman, who he recognized as Death, and she made a threatening gesture. Borrowing the merchant's horse, he flees at top speed to Samarra, a distance of about 75 miles (125 km), where he believes Death will not find him. The merchant then goes to the marketplace and finds Death, and asks why she made the threatening gesture. She replies, "That was not a threatening gesture, it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra."' The plot of the book might also be important - it apparently described the evens of three days where the main character gets more and more self destructive with a series of impulsive acts, culminating in his suicide.
Let's watch and find out!
Hi Balthazar-iphale!
God how I love the rumble of the Impala's engine!
Well this place look suitably icky. Doctor? That doesn't sound promising at all.
Dean's about to do a stupid thing.
You know, that chick looks kind of plastic-y to me. I'm just saying.
Dear Supernatural: Your money doesn't even look real.
Hey! He's mailing a letter to Ben! Yay paternalDean!
'He's dead.' But still the prettiest!
Hi Tessa! 'Why are you dead?'
*squee* Hello, Death. :)
Dean, do you really think Death can't just take back his ring whenever he wants?
Oh, hey, look, someone remembered Adam!
'Pick one.'
Dean, sweetie, bets with Death never end well. Never!
'Are you serious?'
'No, I'm being incredibly sarcastic.' The *face* Death makes.
Crap!
1-800-Dial-A-Angel
Again, hi Balthazar-iphale!
'Go ask your boyfriend.'
'Cas can't help me.'
He didn't mean Cas, Sam. He meant Gabriel! *Your* angel boyfriend.
Hmm...is anyone surprised that Sam is trying to do an end run around Dean's plan?
'Michael and Luci are hate-banging as we speak.'
'I'm not a fan of your brother. So screwing him would delight me.' Balthazar hates on Dean because Dean's banging Cas. And Balthazar totally wants to hit that.
'You need the blood of your father, but your father needen't be blood.' No Sam, no. Bad thoughts! No cookie! Keep off Bobby! You don't view him as your father anyway. That's Dean's issue.
'He's in agonising pain, right? Give me a minute.' Dean's a vicious bitch.
'Why?'
'Mostly because you're a dick. Enjoy the ride down, pal. Trust me, sauna gets *hot*.'
Hee. Dean as Death is cute.
Oh...yeah. We knew that was gonna happen. Ouch. *sniffle*
Anyone want to bet Jolene the Nurse dies? There has to be balance, right. So the little girl lives and Jolene gets added to the List. Or something like that.
'May have been born at night, boy. But it wasn't last night.'
Was Sam going to kill Bobby? Bastard. Though I have to admit that it does line up with the whole no soul personality. Eminently practical.
Oh! Oh! I just had a horrible thought! Dean as Death has to reap Bobby! So he takes off the ring! Ack! Say it ain't so...
Hah! Bobby is smarter than you!
No! Don't open the door! It's a *trap* dammit!
I WIN! Sorry Jolene...
Ah, this is gonna be one of those Dean learns a lesson eps.
He took the ring off! FAIL! No soul for Sammy. Well, we sort of knew it wasn't going to be that easy.
Can we now go back and rescue Bobby before Sam does something really very dumb? And utterly unforgivable.
And that has now totally freaked out that guy.
Poor kid...
Right then. Actually crying. I'm such a sap!
unSam needs a leash and a shock collar.
Yes! Sam deserved that sucker punch.
Sammy sans soul is a sociopath. Why does no one listen to me?
Death and Dean share taste in food. That's...kind of creepy.
You gotta love Dean's inability to keep his mouth shut in the face of all powerful beings who could slap him down like a mosquito.
Death's giving back the soul? Cool. I love the old school doctor's bag.
You know, I'm having a thought. Balthazar trades in souls, right? So aside from just screwing with Dean, if the kept Sam from being an available vessel for his soul then Balthazar could have claimed it, right? How valuable would Sam's soul be? It's not just your run of the mill boy next door soul. It's been in touch with an Archangel. Intimately. Died a few times, been to heaven, been to hell. Interesting...
Hellatus! I *hate* end of the year for this.
'VIRGINS SAM. VIRGINS.' - 1/28/11 *whimpers* What will I do without my crack fix?
If they're the same age and both are necessary for the universe - creation and destruction then one without the other is not god. So both are god, but only if both exist.
ReplyDeleteOO! I love this. I think you're onto something.
Ahhh, I know that story. I'd only ever heart it as a short story like your summary, though, and didn't realize it was a book or recognize the title. Thanks, Google-Detective!
The *face* Death makes.
Not so much to this part, because I do not actually remember his face here. But do you ever expect Death to blink like Abe from Hellboy (the movie version)? I don't know why, but that's how I always think of him.
I think you were probably joking about Gabriel, but now that you mentioned it, I kinda want that to be true. That he was referring to Gabriel, knowing he's alive and totally capable of that. Don't think it is what he meant, but I wish.
'Michael and Luci are hate-banging as we speak.'
Totally called that one. I think we all did, though. :D
Thought that occurred to me after I finished my post on this...I wonder who had to die when John saved Dean and Dean saved Sam, or if the fact that they made deals for it means that only they had to die to fix the balance. Hmmmm.
unSam needs a leash and a shock collar.
...*blinks*...*goes off to find fanfiction*
I'd never heard of the story before, so it was an education. :)
ReplyDeleteNo, I'd never thought that he'd blink like Abe until you just said so. Maybe it's the lizard-esque thing. I know Abe was amphibious, not reptilian, but it's the weird blinking that makes him seem even more inhuman. I'd maybe expect Death not to blink at all or something, if I'd ever thought about it before!
Actually, I wasn't entirely joking about Gabe. That is totally my canon - Sam and Gabe were boyfriends. Just like Dean and Cas. :) But yes, it would be awesome if that's what Balthazar had secretly meant.
'Michael and Luci are hate-banging as we speak.'
Totally called that one. I think we all did, though. :D
Oh god, most awesome mistype EVER! The line is actually 'Michael and Luci are hate-banging it as we speak.' referring to Sam's soul. But I stand by my Freudian slip!
It's not just which single person died, but who all keeps dying because Dean and Sam are alive and they shouldn't be? Think of not just them, but the people that they've saved. How many of them was it their time and the boys messed with the natural order? And we saw how it was going to be a continual domino effect with Jolene's husband almost getting into that accident. So it's an ongoing effect. They boys, at this point, simply *are* chaos.
...*blinks*...*goes off to find fanfiction*
It totally exists. A lot.
Oh, really? I totally heard it the way you typed it. I remember thinking "Huh? Obviously, but what does that have to do with the rest of what he said?" :D The correction makes much more sense, thank you.
ReplyDelete