Supernatural

Livejournalist shorofsky’s recent post at spn_heavymeta had me primed for this. (I started to post there, but get so caught up on my leaps regarding seasons four and five and find they extend back further and further. I have to remind myself how distressed I originally was over some of the potential rabbit holes.)

Since school let out I’ve been going through S1 again as TNT airs the eps and got to watch the rerun of 1.12 Faith this week. Notice is taken visually and through dialog of the clock stopping at 4:17. This marks the time of death for the healthy swimmer stricken with a heart attack just as Dean is healed.

I John 4:16-18 – 16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 17 Herein is our love made perfect that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. (King James Version)

This has me pinging in part because of the season four explicitness about Dean’s fear. Most obviously 4.06 Yellow Fever had him “infected” with an excuse to be scared shitless. Later in the season Dean is accused of being too afraid to go after Lilith. But, it’s not a new theme at all. Just remember 1.03 Dead in the Water as Sam listens to Dean connect to Lucas by revealing his own fear after losing his mother and his daily efforts to be brave for her. I don’t point this out to in any way imply that Dean is anything less than a badass hunter. In fact, his bravery despite his vulnerabilities (I’ll man the flashlight.) continually has me caring for this character like no other I’ve ever encountered.

Another aspect of the verse deals with love. God’s love for us is perfect and makes us perfect. A very new testament-y message. The show has spent years showing us warping and perversion and the insufficiency of human love. And yet, always, there is the love between the Winchesters and by Swan Song (as Sam faces his judgment) that love is enough to save the world.

Okay, so back to Faith where Dean’s judgment day is postponed twice. First (at 4:17) when someone else’s life is forfeited through Sue Ann’s manipulations. Later, she attempts to punish Dean by setting the reaper on him to heal Layla. Sam interferes and releases the reaper and so Sue Ann pays with her own life for the original healing that saved Roy. Two things interest me here. I think it’s vital to recall that Sue Ann began playing God out of desperation for her husband. I remember discussing way back when about how far Sam would have gone if he’d known the cost of saving Dean.

I tie it into my own theories about who has control over the larger story. I’ve speculated before that the boys are at one and the same time the ‘monster at the end of this book’ as well as holding the god-like power of story creation. Naturally, I believe that Swan Song was the resolution to the apocalypse storyline (I won’t be sorry to see that go though it made a wonderful metaphor in my opinion.) but that the Winchesters’ co-dependency will continue. I have to think an eventual resolution for the boys will be the two of them moving on together which we’ve yet to see.

As an aside, I’m delighted to be reminded that Sam found the “specialist” faith healer Roy (wasn’t that the name of one of the hunters who shot Sam and Dean in 5.16 Dark Side of the Moon?) through “one of Dad’s friends, Joshua” calling Sam back. \o/ I swear, it’s not the characters at all; it’s the SHOW itself that’s incestuous.

Other things I particularly noticed while watching this time:

1.09 Home — The sparks are shown in the foreground as Sam and Dean interview their dad’s old business partner at the Lawrence garage. The younger sibling is lured into the refrigerator and trapped. The plumber has his hand stuck in a hole when it is trapped. The boys must punch holes in the walls to resolve the poltergeist threat. I had a stray thought wondering if the old family photos might relate in some way to the photos Bobby took in S5. Missouri struck me as a precursor for Chuck in the way she knew so much and acknowledged that she would withhold the truth from her clients. Two spirits in the house: aggressive poltergeist and protective Mary.

1.10 Asylum — Two types of behavior from the spirits: patients trying to communicate (and apparently bound to) the evil doctor. The infected cop goes home and kills his wife and himself. Dean poses as a reporter and Sam talks about his acting the part to get information. The number “137″ is repeated. John 13:7 reads: “Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.” John 1:37 is: “And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.” (Both are awesome!) Sam is lured to the basement by a phone call from “Dean” (NOT!). The boys get direct contact from John after Sam nearly kills Dean when Sam is exposed to some form of Dr Ellicot’s rage therapy.

1.11 Scarecrow – Meg! This is the first episode where the boys are dealing with a god demanding sacrifices, I believe. The sacred apple tree has carvings which only now remind me of the markings Castiel put on the boys’ ribs. (Heck, the Wendigo tree with also marked.) The episode has the townspeople crossing a line from setting up victims and turning a blind eye to forcibly SETTING UP victims.

JOHN (on the phone to Sam): Look, I know this is hard for you to understand. You’re just gonna have to trust me on this. (Makes perfect sense with the potential bible verses from Asylum!)

The boys separate angrily but voluntarily. Has anything truly good ever come of that? It happens over and over throughout the series. By the time we get to Swan Song, Sam is again asking Dean to let him go. In Scarecrow, the boys have a telephone conversation where Dean commends Sam with, “You’ve always known what you want. And you go after it. You stand up to Dad. And you always have. Hell, I wish I – anyway…. I admire that about you. I’m proud of you, Sammy.”  I’m wondering what would have happened if Sam had gone with Meg instead of listening to his instincts that Dean was in trouble.

1.12 Faith — see above! Also, it’s interesting to me that Sam dreaming of a tree leads them back to Lawrence when the previous ep depended on a sacred First Tree.

I’ll plan on making another entry to list the things I spotted in the next batch of eps soon. I’m already skimping on recording all but the biggest bits and not clearly articulating all the goosebumps I’m getting.

Tags: 1.09 Home, 1.10 Asylum, 1.11 Scarecrow, 1.12 Faith, livejournal link, speculation

I finished up disc two and watched 1.07 Hookman and 1.08 Bugs  the past couple days. Now, I’ll admit I wasn’t looking forward to either of them as much as 1.05 Bloody Mary and 1.06 Skin, but I was surprised.  A person who is open to speculating that nothing in S4 and S5 isn’t an exaggeration of what was set up in S1 can find support for such a view in these episodes.

posted in icine thread:

I started rewatching S1 over the weekend. I saw Bloody Mary this afternoon and was struck again by how there is absolutely NOTHING that can’t be traced back to the beginning of the story. Sam’s showdown with himself in the mirror when he summons the Bloody Mary monster was JUST LIKE him talking to himself in the cracked mirror during the Lucifer possession. Indeed, there’s a whole scene of Sam insisting that Dean let him do it and later Dean showing up to free Sam only to be caught himself….

AND

I just watched “Skin” for the first time in forever. Man! I’d forgotten how clearly they had Dean self-identify as a “freak” with “issues” and advising Sam to be more like Dean (lie, don’t try to have friends, etc.) early on in the series. This is before Sam’s powers manifest – though I guess he would have had the premonitory dreams of Jessica’s death. Dean doesn’t know that yet.

PS – five years later and I STILL can’t watch the shedding scene. And I can’t help watching a blink too long so inevitably the pretty turns grotesque before I can turn away. There isn’t a shapeshifter episode I don’t think is excellent!

SO, Hookman reaction:

The fact that we have a preacher’s daughter channeling the Hookman monster to targets upsetting her is clearly revisited in 5.17 99 Problems’ Whore of Babylon monster. Of course, by S5, we never meet the reverend’s real daughter and only get the possessed version.

Back in the day, I remember posting that Sam wasn’t attracted to Lori as much as he was identifying with her. It’s more obvious than ever as she argues with her father about being an adult and able to live her own life. We listen to Lori angst to Sam that she is “cursed” and those around her die. She further goes on to talk about being taught about “avenging angels” punishing those who do wrong.

There are early signs of themes that will recur over and over (and over). If I noticed the REAP WITH JOY phrase on the church bulletin board before, I’d totally forgotten it. The message left by the Hookman on the dormitory wall is AREN’T YOU GLAD YOU DIDN’T TURN ON THE LIGHT? Angel light has proved to be less than a blessing, I’d say. The Hookman itself is controlled (not the correct term) through Lori’s cross necklace which was reforged from the original monster’s hook. (I have to believe Dean’s amulet from Sam will be revisited at some point.) The Hookman’s final destruction comes with sparks and ash.

Early on we see her friend, Taylor, advise that Lori is “allowed to have fun.” The fact that this is an echo itself of Dean talking to Sam in 1.05 Bloody Mary lends weight to seeing the boys’ issues making an appearance and then being played out in subsequent episodes. (I saw this happening consistently in S4 and S5.) One of Lori’s biggest issues is with her father and the next episode picks up with that. (Okay, I know, there’s hardly an episode without daddy issues.)

I’ve argued before that 1.08 Bugs is worthwhile and am now ready to expand my list. (Even the cringeworthy bugs themselves were simply laugh out loud funny to me this time.) I particularly enjoyed looking the young handsome editions of our boys. Sam’s hair was allowed to curl and Dean’s freckles and eyelashes were at full strength.

More recurring motifs: The flag was used big and bold on the wall outside the bar where Dean was hustling pool. The falg has been present in other early S1 episodes, but this stood out as an unexpected dramatic use.

There’s a bug zapper that is blue and which puts out sparks.  There are yellow flowers in the kitchen. There’s a reference to the bugs being a “biblical swarm” and the Native American insists on using Calvary instead of cavalry about a dozen times as he tells his story.

There  are also the blatant parallels between Sam and the kid, Matt. Both feel like a disappointment to their fathers. Dean even points out that they are “like peas in a pod.” Dean is called a liar by the Native American and goes on to insist to Matt that lying is called for.

That isn’t news, but THIS was to me. As the boys first arrive to start investigating,  they approach the sinkhole the utility worker was killed in. Dean manipulates Sam (chicken!) into volunteering to be the one to go into the hole. Sam is tethered to Dean and says, “Don’t drop me,” on his way in. Later, Dean reaches into a smaller hole and pulls out a skull.  That looks lame written out, but it really hit me as the practice version of the hellhole cage for Lucifer.

Anyway, I’m surprised to find layers for how to read even the “throwaway” episodes of season one. I mean, of course 1.12  Faith took on new meaning given the events of S4 and S5. Now… on to disc three. I’ve always enjoyed all four of those episodes.

Tags: 1.05 Bloody Mary, 1.06 Skin, 1.07 Hookman, 1.08 Bugs, sparks, speculation, visuals

Surely, I’m the last person to post up my thoughts about the S5 finale. I do love it. I am able to keep my theories alive -  though again there’s no real confirmation that I haven’t been off my rocker the past two seasons watching the show. I felt badly about that for a little while, but decided that this is how I’m able to enjoy the show. I’ll keep on as I have been without believing I can get anyone else to buy into my view.

Without having read reactions with any kind of thoroughness, I’ve seen more complaints recently from people about the excessive drinking in the show. However, I haven’t see anyone notice the equally obligatory inclusion of sleep scenes. And we got both in Swan Song with Castiel in the Impala’s backseat (leading to Sam reminding Dean that angels don’t sleep) and Sam and Dean with the green cooler of beer at the Impala deciding to go with Sam’s idea of saying yes to Lucifer. Dean is shown drink in hand at Lisa’s dinner table. (Could be tea, I suppose.) Chuck also drinks while completing his writing and toasts the boys passing the test.

The Impala’s first owner, Sal Moriarty, is obviously a hybridization of the roadtripping narrator and friend characters from Jack Kerouac’s autobiographical novel On the Road. I think it interesting that the choice was made to combine the two characters into one and make him an alcoholic bible distributor, no less! Can it be taken as another hint of the crossover/merging of Sam and Dean spirits?

I’ve also seen comments dismissing the parallels and reversals as lazy storytelling from a writing team who either don’t care or who tackled a story beyond their capabilities. Of course, as I see it, it’s much more than weak literary symmetry. (If it were, we ought to have gotten scenes of Sam packing a box of belongings, etc.) I maintain it’s deliberate and meant to take us back to the beginning. Like Swan Song’s army man, nothing we’ve seen in S5 can’t be traced back to the early days. It’s all a reverberation of elements previously introduced. One reason I’ve been able to come up with for something like that would be the one we’ve been given by the show in episodes like 2.16 Roadkill and 3.13 Ghostfacers: death echoes.

There’s also still the potential for mental illness to be in play. We witness Sam and Lucifer conversing in a cracked mirror – presenting Sam as fractured into pieces – reminding me of Dean torn apart in hell.

Another point I haven’t seen anyone else notice is that Lucifer shows Sam the demons who’ve watched him throughout his life -  in an abandoned theater. How perfect is that, I ask you? It’s another aspect to the storytelling theme.  Chuck’s narration about the Impala took me out of what was happening currently to the boys on one level. But, it worked perfectly (for me) as  setting up and executing an end to the apocalypse. edit May 24: I forgot to include a note about another reference to drinking and authoring when Dean used “Bukowski” to respond to Castiel’s suggested plan of drinking copious amounts of alcohol.

If I weren’t where I am in my speculating, I don’t know how I’d get past the similarities between Bobby’s basement and others we’ve seen (such as the pagan gods’ of 3.08 A Very Supernatural Christmas).

Michael reappearing to be trapped with Lucifer is not unlike Dean’s inability to let Sam die alone. “I’m here. I’m not going to leave.” “It’s my job. It’s who I am.” They left plenty of room for the viewer to interpret the looks between the characters during the climax since dialogue was minimal. It’s almost as if I saw (now I’m projecting!) Sam on the brink of the hole realizing Michael would start the whole thing again if he was prevented from his mission?

I started crying early when Chuck said, “Here is how it ends.” I was distressed every time the boys were separated since I was afraid that’s how it would be left for the summer. So I was relieved when the shot pulled back to show Sam (or some version of him!) under the street lamp. The first connection I made was to Roadkill’s Molly looking in from a distance to see her husband having gone on to establishing a new family. (We also had an outsider looking in with Callie from 3.05 Bedtime Stories.)

It occurs to me that Lisa’s welcome to Dean, “It’s never too late”  has the same feel as the encouragement Sam received in 5.03 Free to Be You and Me from the waitress who took an interest in his recovery/redemption.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ REWATCHING BEGINS ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

OH MY! Students had their last day so I’ve started rewatching from S1 and am through the first disc. In 1.03 Dead in the Water I’d forgotten the ARMY MEN Dean and Lucas bond over in the park and in Lucas’s room.  They’re also shown on display in the dead boy’s house! And it is an army man floating in the lake that Lucas is reaching for when he is pulled off the dock! (! ! ! !) (Now I want to go check Cole’s room from 4.15 Death Takes a Holiday and Jesse’s room in 5.06 I Believe the Children Are Our Future for army men. Okay, I did.  I didn’t spot them in either of those rooms, BUT… Supernatural’s crack set dressers did include army men on the bedroom table in Dean’s first heaven memory of home in 5.16 Dark Side of the Moon! I do love this show.)

When the army man showed up in Swan Song as a trigger for Sam to access his bond with Dean and ‘beat’ Lucifer, I thought it just tied to the ‘Dean is John’s soldier’ (and Michael is God’s) show mantra. But this is another connection taking us back to the story’s beginning. It’s a link across generations between spirit and living. “Come play with me,” (2.11 Playthings sisters!) is the line Andrea reports hearing as she was attacked in the bathtub. Doesn’t that hark back to the lonely despair of S4-S5? Doesn’t it make sense if you buy into the idea that everything we’re shown is projections illustrating Sam and Dean?

In 1.04 Phantom Traveler the one exchange that caught my attention with potential new meaning was when Sam and Dean were on the plane and unable to find who the demon was possessing. Dean says maybe they’re wrong and it isn’t on the plane. Sam says, “Do you believe that?” and Dean replies with, “I will if you will.” They take another look and right away Dean’s EMF goes off and he is able to recognize the demon in the co-pilot. If he’d been able to convince himself to believe the demon wasn’t there, would that have been enough for that crisis to pass?

Tags: 1.03 Dead in the Water, 5.22 Swan Song, sleep, speculation

Lots to love about this episode, but it’s so obviously a lead in to the finale that I want to wait and see how it plays out before commenting too much. Certainly, a lot of the motifs and themes I watch for showed up.

There were sleep and dreams. Dean is napping during the video surveillance at the Serenity Valley Convalescent Home. (Firefly shoutouts are welcome during an episode with Badger Crowley.) Sam has to wake Dean a couple of different times if I recall. Later Bobby says to Dean that he feels like he’s dreaming to be back on his feet.

There was a reference to authorship when Dean explained coming up with ‘Eunice Kennedy’ for a grandmother as an improvisation surprise. More making it up as they go!

There’s more union/binding going on. It’s revealed that Bobby has ‘loaned’ his soul to Crowley. Sam comes up with the Dean-ish “Did you kiss him? Just curious,” question that leads to the photographic proof of the deal. Crowley oversteps the deal and unexpectedly includes Bobby getting out of the wheelchair. But he’s extends the hold over Bobby’s soul long enough to get clear of the Winchesters.

There’s also Death’s explanation that he is leashed by Lucifer and has been waiting for Dean to catch up. They meet at a Chicago restaurant and share pizza. Dean doesn’t argue with any of Death’s directions. I’d be totally nervous about that (since it seemed important that Dean didn’t eat the burgers offered in the Green Room), but the Supernatural Wiki’s entry for the episode says the place is named the Italian word for “rebirth.”  I want to go ahead and consider that enough reason to be hopeful for the time being.

In fact, I wonder if Crowley’s main objective wasn’t to get Dean to that restaurant? First he suggests stopping for pizza. When Dean turns him down, Crowley discovers Death isn’t in the warehouse after all. His next advice is for Dean to clear out of town which Dean can’t consider. Crowley calls Dean over to the pizzeria after mere moments scanning the surroundings for Death’s current whereabouts.

By the way, a lot of people have noticed ways that Crowley seems to be almost a Ruby-3. (“What do you expect dealing with a demon?”) I find I’m still pretty sold on the idea that Ruby had a lot of Dean in her.

I didn’t pick up on this next point before reading someone else notice that Pestilence lectures on the single purpose that drives bacteria. “Divide and conquer” could play into my Dissociated Dean speculations, couldn’t it? Later Death compares Dean to a bacterium in an extended analogy about Dean’s insignificance. Doesn’t seem to me that repetition could be accidental in any way.

I didn’t catch any significant stairs, but there were a couple of noteworthy doors. (Not as good as in 5.20 The Devil You Know when doors opened themselves for Dean.) Dean knocks to let Sam know the coast is clear for Sam to come inside the security room at the convalescent home.  There are “Keep Door Closed” signs in the croatoan virus distribution warehouse.  That appears after the closing and opening of gates/doors/side doors necessary for Sam, Bobby and Castiel to accomplish their mission.

I spotted two instances of the sparks. First, Castiel creates a showering as he bashes in the gate control in order to prevent the gate from fully opening to let out the “vaccine” delivery.

Soon after, there is another flash of sparks when Death isn’t where Crowley first expects him to be. A train crosses the elevated tracks above Dean (a bridge!) as he returns to the Impala.

I have thought about the sparks some more and was reminded of the several times in season four when the boys hotwired cars. Were we shown any actual sparks with the visuals of the boys touching the dashboard wires together? I had to go look – it’s caught in this screencap from 4.01 Lazarus Rising.

Now, to take my thinking a step (or two!) further than I should, what about the djinn’s blue current in 2.20 What Is and What Should Never Be

or Dean’s electrocution in 1.12 Faith?

Sparks enough? If the show ties everything back to these two episodes, it would be about perfect!

Oh! One other thing I noticed along these lines was the dead leaves (this time of year?) littering the Chicago streets. There was also a lot of dark confetti-like something blowing around when Death was walking by. I haven’t found a good screencap yet, but it was a bit like the dark material fluttering and rising from Gabriel’s death-spread wings. It’s feeling a bit like ashes stirred from a hearth to me?

Tags: 5.21 Two Minutes to Midnight, sparks

I just spotted this after following a link to megTDJ’s livejournal in the spnnewsletter.

Look! Another example of showering sparks. I missed it while flipping through still screencaps. I can’t say it clears up my understanding, but I’m glad the show is continuing the motif.

Tags: 5.20 The Devil You Know, sparks, visuals