Supernatural - Season Finale

Dean Alive? Check. Castiel? Check. Sam? Check. Yeah, yeah, I know that the lady from London has let loose a shot. But I have grown up watching Hindi movies where, as a rule, when the pistol goes off and you cannot see who is hit, generally the most likely person to get hit emerges unhurt. So pardon me if I am more than 90% sure that little Sammie is alive and kicking. And so what even if he is hit? Dean can request God, not to mention Amara, to not let him die. They got connections in the highest quarters now. For the record, the sight of blood trickling down on the floor from a limp hand did jolt me at first because I thought Sam has killed himself. When Castiel disappeared I thought that Rowena is upto her old tricks. I really wasn't thinking about that London Lady at all. Speaking of London, wonder how the Brexit saga is going to affect the London chapter of the Men Of Letters. :-)

That said, God hasn't come out smelling like roses in this whole episode. First, He needed witches, demons and a bagful of souls from the Reaper to even think about putting up a fight against Amara. He is God, for Heaven's sake! Why should He need anyone else to fight His battle for Him? Even after all this, Amara proved to be more than a match for the whole lot of them. Second, He wasn't exactly full of suggestions as to the future course of action. If it were not for Sam and the others, Amara would be running amok. Third, He seemed to have spared no thought as to what happened to Lucifer. Whatever his earlier transgressions, Lucifer did pitch in to get rid of Amara, didn't he? And last, Amara did give something to Dean for giving her back her brother. What did God give him? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. He didn't even bother to return Dean to Sam and Castiel. Not very polite, eh Mr.God?

Well, there is a silver lining after all - I guess now that his mother is back, Dean (and I hope Sam as well!) can look forward to home-cooked meals. Bye Bye burgers and French fries. :-)

The Conjuring 2 (Spoiler Alert!)

The sequels are rarely as interesting as the original offering. But the 8+ rating on imdb.com gave me enough hope to troupe to the nearest theater braving rains and clogged roads. And I am glad that I did.

The movie apparently is based on the actual paranormal investigation that Ed and Lorraine Warren conducted at a house in Enfield, UK in 1977. I must say I was more spooked by the gloomy British weather and the gloomier old house that the Hodsons occupied than by the actual spirits. There was a scene or two in which I swallowed my pride and shut my eyes tightly. Like for example, the scene where the younger daughter can hear something coming up the stairs and lies huddled inside her comforter, scared out of her wits. And when Lorraine goes hunting for the demon and cannot tell whether what she is seeing is a painting made by her husband or the demon himself. I experienced what can only be called Sheer Fright :-)

But the movie did leave a couple of unanswered questions for me. Whose teeth does Ed find in the basement when he goes there to fix the washing machine for Peggy? How does the demon end up in the Hodsons' house? Why does he tell his name to Lorraine? And why does he want the Hodsons' daughter and Ed both dead?

Hats off to the team for making the sequel scarier than the original! 

Notes for the future trip to Rajasthan (and here I was thinking that I had seen it all!)

Samode Haweli, Jaipur
Pal Haweli, Jodhpur
Jagat Nivas & Fateh Prakash Palace, Udaipur
Nachana Haweli, Jaisalmer
Guided Tour to Jewellers' Mohalla
Desert Camp
Night Camel Safari