Supernatural

I’m unspoiled for any episodes not aired yet in the US. My speculations ignore the mechanics and logic of the apocalypse as much as needed since I tend to think of it as a metaphor for the boys return from the dead.

I’ll begin at the end because I haven’t been able to shake this final image of Dean appealing for help. We’ve seen Dean pray before, but this time it is without the anger and bargaining evident in 4.18 The Monster at the End of This Book or 4.21 When the Levee Breaks. In the past Castiel arrived to ‘answer’ Dean’s need, but this time Dean leaves Castiel before making his plea.

The camera angle was similar enough to this iconic shot from The Passion of Joan of Arc that it came to mind despite it having been too many years since I watched that movie. Wasn’t Joan questioned about St. Michael during her trial?  Anyway, I chased it to the top of my queue.

Not so surprisingly, I’m still of the belief that what the boys are truly in need of is GRACE. Dean is “dead already” according to Famine. The witness (Jed?) to the first death in 5.11 Sam, Interrupted tells Sam and Martin in group therapy that “We’re all dead.” I know I’ll be spending more time with this as it has me deja vu-ing all over the place. I want to go back and listen to the language used about Sam and Dean each coming back other than 100% themselves.

(Sam went back to powering up with demon blood last season when Dean appeared most suicidal (to me) after the magician’s story of refused immortality. Would the power and control that comes with demon blood have been necessary in the same way now that Dean is again (still?) apparently stretched so thin?)

The interesting thing to me is not only that Dean is unaffected by the increased appetites Famine brings to everyone else (including Castiel). Dean, in fact, has his regular appetites suppressed. Dean has been presented to us very inconsistently in that regard since his resurrection. His food consumption has at times come across as some sort of barometer - eating and drinking 4.05 Monster Movie’s giant portions with some gusto but putting aside his uneaten burger at the end of 4.11 Family Remains prior to making another hell confession to Sam. We recently had Dean’s report of drinking 50+ drinks per week to manage the few hours of sleep he’s getting. Just last week, Dean was having a sex dream though we also have seen him dream of solitary fishing at a lake since his resurrection. That general inconsistency leaves me unsure of direct meaning to take from his current lack of hunger.

Now, back to earlier in the episode! Cupid was a fun character with implications for our guys I believe. As uncomfortable as Team Free Will was with his naked hugging handshake, that’s how much fun it was to watch. Note that his enthusiastic response to Dean’s “Help!” is that “Help is on the way.” His distress at being perceived as a bad guy was genuine and had me remembering the 4.06 Yellow Fever monster. At the same time I got a creepy Alastair chill when he went sing-songy about John and Mary being a match made in “heaven… heaven.” I thought his request that Castiel (who he termed a “brother”) read his mind was not unike Dean asking Mary (and many others over the years) to look at him and know his sincerity and intentions.

The Enochian “angel scratches” on the victims’ hearts were explicitly likened to “the tagging on [Sam and Dean's] ribs” and is explained as a “mark of union.” You know I like that. It’s all too easy for me to accept the opening couple consuming each other out of a supernaturally rabid hunger (beyond normal human craving) to not be alone. The same goes for the double office suicide (with bonus murder) where the couple is unable to tolerate anything interfering with their need to be together forever. Not being alone was a theme we saw explored during mid season four. 4.08 Wishful Thinking’s first wish was for someone to love you more than anything. One of Anna’s main messages to Dean in 4.10 Heaven and Hell was that he was not alone and had people willing to listen when he was ready to talk. 4.14 Sex and Violence focused on the promise of being together forever. My point? If the boys have been saving each other from hell by operating in some other plane of reality, how easy would it be for them to become trapped?

I believe there are mixed views among fans about Dean’s observation of Sam’s display of power and whether it would be classified as in or out of character. Dean is able to regain the knife but doesn’t move to use it to get Famine’s ring while there’s the distraction of Sam exorcising a half dozen demons simultaneously.

The way I see it, Sam was cast into the role of monster once more by insuring the return of his craving and the delivery of a ready “snack.”  I was so proud of Sam not hiding what he was experiencing with the hunger and for suggesting the lockdown. I think that’s Sam doing his part for the recent theme of let’s figure out what is wrong. It was glorious to see Sam refuse the invitation to consume more demon blood and instead re-exorcise the remains consumed by Famine. (How’s this for wild speculation? What if Famine is a manifestation of Dean’s Sam’s Sam’n'Dean’s monstrous aspect? Could Sam using his beyond human powers  pulling those demon essences be seen as actually keeping the boys human?)

Dean watched this without interfering and I think that’s consistent in two possible ways. The first would be that Dean is closer to seeing Sam’s actions without burying them under whatever filters he’s needed until now. I think there are more possibilities though in another recent recurring issue we’ve seen. That is regarding hunters feeling useless. Martin articulated it and we saw Dean cowering at two separate doors while under the wraith’s influence in the asylum. In 5.07 The Curious Case of Dean Winchester, Bobby expressed his depression over feeling useless. 5.10 Abandon All Hope has Jo settling on her plan by acknowledging how damaged she is but needing to know she “can do something.” Pre-hunter John insisted he wasn’t useless and shed his own blood to create a sigil in 5.13.  The show has been hitting the “useless” button from more than one angle and I think that’s because that is what Dean is experiencing.

It’s my hope that the answer to Dean’s prayer will allow for the boys to offer and accept the familial understanding, forgiveness, and love that we saw Sam extend to John. I want the boys to recognize and embrace God’s grace in spite of their own (im?)perfect humanity. I believe the many recent instances of “I still love you/him” (even while acknowledging mistakes with severe consequences) are priming the story for such a redemptive course.

I must stop to notice Dean’s prayer. “Please. I can’t. I need some help. Please.”  He’s just come from listening to Sam detoxing. Not all of Sam’s words were plain to me, but I know I heard, “Dean. If you’re there, please help. Dean, help me.” Circle back now to the THEN before the episode. (This THEN was so rich it could stand to be picked apart frame by frame.) What definitely caught my attention was the Dean voice-over saying how he thought the Dean and Sam story sucked. On screen we see the long shot of Dean in his hellchains and it pulls in to the closeup on his face shouting his fear and agony. This cuts directly into a closeup on Sam’s face shouting in pain and pulls back to show Sam in restraints - arms spread as he detoxes the first time in Bobby’s panic room. I have to think all the symmetry is intended. I’m taking the message that the boys ARE in essentially the same position.

The brother-stuff in the episode was as satisfying as we’ve gotten in a long time. We got the brother theme music while they were investigating at the morgue. To top that, Dean offers Sam a heart (human and bloody, sure) and asks him to be Dean’s valentine.  We got the boys working together to open the briefcase, one at each lock. The boys spoke in unison, and as a bit of icing, we were given multiple “Sammys” from Dean.

I really missed Bobby’s two cents on Sam’s relapse and second de-tox stay in the panic room. Why was Dean carrying around War’s ring (in a pocket?) instead of parking it safely in the panic room or in Bobby’s custody? I still want to trace back the white lights that seem to be happening more frequently. This week there was the human soul the boys released from the briefcase; in 5.13 The Song Remains the Same it happened as Michael took out Anna and possessed John; in 5.12 Swap Meat the screen entirely whited-out as Sam and Gary switched back to their own bodies.

edit 2/18/10: I want to remember being pointed to the Tennyson poem, “The Kraken,” brought up in a post at televisionwithoutpity.com.

Tags: 5.14 My Bloody Valentine, wild speculation

All I can post is a bullet list as the week was extremely busy for me and I wasn’t able to really synthesize my thoughts. But, like always, since I’m unspoiled, I want to be able to look back later and see where my head was before we get new story…

• “I can’t find you.” Anna says this to Dean when she appears in his dream. Yes, I still think the boys are lost and need to be found.
• Anna bitterly applies the “good little soldier” label to Castiel while talking to Dean.
• Are we certain Dean went to Castiel about Anna’s visitation? Would he have let Castiel deal with her alone?  I wonder if perhaps Castiel is monitoring Dean’s dreams and therefore aware of dream appearances?
• “Sam Winchester has to die.”  Anna or Gordon? (Anna in this case, of course.)
• “The answer is still no because Sam Winchester in my friend,” I love Castiel owning that. Is it like Ruby protecting Dean though?
• The 1978 Winchesters live at 485 Robin Tree?  (Robin? Hee! I know it’s silly but I liked hearing Sam make that canon.)
• Sam’s extended handshake with John. I’m not sure if there’s anything to turn that into, but it was noticeable.
• Dean says to Mary: “Look at my face and tell me if I’m lying to you.” This has worked for Dean before when he had only the strength and sincerity of his convictions to gain an ally. Think Folsom Prison Blues and others.
• Anna pulling the crowbar from her chest reminded me of the zombie (ANGELa, I think!) pulling the shears from her chest in S2’s Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things.
• “I will turn this car around.” Oh, I loved the family riding in the Impala!! And this standard everybody’s dad line also connects to the repeated “Reverse. Reverse. Reverse,” from Swap Meat as well as the back in time aspect of this ep. I think there’s a theme becoming more obvious….
• The cabin had the lathing showing through the walls like so many locations - especially with Gordon and with Ruby. (Anna grabs a piece of lathing and uses it to stab Sam.)
• John says, “You all might have treated me like a fool. But I am not useless.” That “useless” has been a recurring issue. Hunters Bobby and Martin both are despondent because of the feeling. Nice to see John being proactive about it.
• Sam’s private time with John and getting to say the things he’d come to realize (understanding, forgiveness, and love) regarding his dad was wonderful. I am of the mind that the overly explicit dialogue is there for a reason.
• “Hey, Jude” - I sang that to my first baby. Love the line about ‘the world upon your shoulders’ when it comes to our Dean.
• Sam tells Mary, “You have no other choice,” when insisting she leave John before the boys can be born.
• Deteriorating sigils and holy oil make me wonder about the strength of the illusions (or manifestations or projections or whatever it is making up reality). Is Castiel’s nosebleed and increasing weakness related?
• “Sammy,” “Dean,” “Sam.” - It’s while the boys are in distress and calling out to each other that Michael’s light appears to John.
• I do like the actor playing young John and current Michael, even though I’m distracted by the height difference between him and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. His accent brought high school Dean to mind for me more than once.
• Are there extensive repercussions because now Anna was killed in 1978? (If that is what we saw happen.) I definitely have not thought through the time travel ins and outs of the ep.
• Uriel to Micheal: “I didn’t know.” That reminded me a lot of Sam’s line of realization after opening the door in Lucifer Rising.
• Michael puts Mary to sleep.
• Michael refers to Dean’s “darling little Sammy” with a tone that makes me think he’s a dick.
• Michael specifically and plainly says about Lucifer, “I still love him.” We got that exact line from drugged Sam to Dean in Sam, Interrupted.
• Dean: “I gotta believe I can choose what I do with my unimportant life.” I loved the way this was said.
• Michael touching Dean’s coat before sending him to join Sam was a neat little detail.
• I am rooting for Team Free Will. It IS awesome.

Tags: 5.13 The Song Remains the Same

I’m unspoiled. I’m harmless though even I can’t decide how crazy I am for thinking the things I think about the show.

So. Who is Gary and why do we care what he wants?

Seriously. What information were we given about this 17 year old kid horning in on our Winchester duo? Hmmph.

Well, Sam Gary is a smart kid taking advanced placement classes. He’s on his way toward a full ride to Stanford MIT and to becoming a lawyer an engineer. He’s a frustrated virgin geek ordering girly-drinks. (I’d guess this is how Dean saw his teen brother.) He crashed the Impala! Family expectations are weighing on Gary and he’s ready to rebel. He plays at blood drinking witchcraft to feel powerful.

At the same time, Dean Gary appreciates burgers, booze, and Busty Asian Beauties. He takes pleasure in a good hunt and wants the classic rock louder! He’s game for becoming a casual pickup though finds he may be in over his head. He has family approval as long as he toes the line. His younger sibling warns that there will be fallout when the folks find out about his demon-dealing witchcraft.

Seriously. (Again.) Is there anything about the Gary character that doesn’t scream Dean-like and Sammy-esque? Perhaps there’s that his involvement with witchcraft and satanic dealings is as part of a trio? He has one friend involved with witchcraft in order to be close to him. Another friend pays with his life for being involved. But, ahh, the show has been throwing a third player into many of the stories and situations for some time now. Famously, the boys are given an actual brother in Jump the Shark. The tragic magicians of Criss Angel (a turning point episode for Sam) came in a brotherly set of three.

I still haven’t settled for sure on how to think of that third entity that’s become part of the story. One theory I’ve had is that it is a construct or manifestation of the bond between the boys — at times more influenced by selfishness and at others by self-sacrifice. Another (more likely?) idea is that there really is an outside influence (trickster-angel-demon-whatever) trying to reach an understanding with the Winchesters.

Gary and Dean worked together to protect each other more than once. In the haunted basement, the ghost attacks Gary first and only once he’s gotten around to pointing the gun at Dean. Could the spirit have being acting to pull off another nick-of-time rescue of our boy? We did have a misunderstood spirit recently in 5.09 The Real Ghostbusters. Dean immediately goes to Gary (thinking him Sam of course) and is attacked himself only when he moves to complete the ghost-disposal.

Later, we get the tag-team demon exorcism. There’s no way that should have been anyone but Sam and Dean protecting and supporting each other to banish evil. So, (since one more leap for me can’t make a difference at this point), I’m using that as more fuel to my Gary = Dean + Sam speculations.

Then there’s Sam and Dean to notice. The criss-crossing of their attitudes has been coming since Sam told Dean in season three that he had to become more like Dean. I found it impossible to ignore during season four when Dean is given memories of attending Stanford and Sam gets in the casual sex game. In the new episode, Dean is now openly desirous of a normal family life. We’ve seen into Dean’s subconscious enough over the years to not be surprised at this desire. Sam is openly contemptuous about normal family life sucking ass. Of course, he’s been saying that to some degree since his resurrection, I believe. If the swap situation was to test his sincerity, he never displayed anything like being tempted or regretful at having to pass on that. His entire focus seemed to be on getting back to his life with Dean.

Reverse! (Do it?) Reverse! (That’s where we are!) Reverse! (Undo it?!) This is a clear illustration of the possibility for misunderstandings in a word. ‘Reverse’ also calls to mind the many mirror images in the episode. The show has certainly practiced many ways to bring that motif into the story over the years, and don’t miss any chances here.

Bob Seger’s “Rock & Roll Never Forgets” couldn’t have been better chosen if there really is a message being sent to Dean still on his way back from hell. The lyrics include “Come back baby/ Rock and roll never forgets” which I think has been the point since Dean woke in that grave. Just last week Dean was near incapacitated by the wraith-induced crazy. (I didn’t spot any similar reminder of Sam’s ‘rage.’)

So you’re a little bit older and a lot less bolder
Than you used to be

Did the white-out screen as Sam and Gary were switching back remind anyone of the door opening at the end of 4.22 Lucifer Rising? Have they used the complete white-out any other time?

More about other elements after I rewatch and get hold of screencaps… I’m hopeful that someone will beat me to the punch discussing all the red, white, and blue throughout the episode. Patriot Burger? Come on! 

Tags: 5.12 Swap Meat, wild speculation

This was written after episode 5.12 aired, so I do have those events informing me as I write this, but I am not directly discussing that episode.  This is a follow-up continuing my reactions to 5.11, the episode that unexpectedly has taken over a good chunk of my brain. I’m unspoiled for any unaired episodes.

BECAUSE I SIMPLY CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT 5.11 SAM, INTERRUPTED….

I haven’t yet written about Sam’s “I still love you” (while gripping Dean’s angel-imprinted shoulder and following it up with the nose tweak) to Dean while he’s flying high on “everything!” This comes after Sam’s been told his rage is inhuman and he fights off a phantom attack by Dean and others in the dayroom. Sam is shouting that he didn’t do it and that he’s innocent as he’s restrained and dragged off. Dean is sitting apparently frozen at a nearby table during the incident. When he goes to see drugged Sam, they talk about Dean wrongly identifying the doctor as the monster. With a touch of irritated frustration, Dean shuts down the conversation with an “I made a mistake!” leading to Sam’s affectionate declaration. Once again they’ve left the wording vague enough for me to play with layers of meaning.

Soooo… I’m wondering what Sam is innocent of.

Sam is guilty of (being pushed into) violence after being cautioned about penalties.  In my most satisfying speculations, though, Sam actually was innocent of MANY of the things we SAW in S4. He chose to assume the role of bad guy. As he played the part, the stories became true however. Despite multiple warnings, Sam lost control. He was assigned the motive of revenge and rage though I maintain his actions were in truth motivated by devotion and loyalty.

I can only point to who I believe the brothers to be to each other as ‘proof’ for this stance. There has to be a reason we didn’t see Sam and Bobby burying and grieving for Dean early in S4. There’s a reason the sleeping with a demon first happened in a flashback story that was being filtered for Dean and not shown to us first-hand. And there’s a reason characters like Bobby (and Chuck and Castiel) allowed Sam to continue along the path he was on. It’s not that Sam was such a stealthy mastermind that no one could have known. There’s a reason the show has gotten so very meta about who is able to contribute to, edit, and ultimately control the story.

Dean, broken by hell, hasn’t accepted the grace essential for a non-evil resurrection. He is still trapped and scared shitless (bury it!) by any explanations that allow for goodness or hope or worthiness. There must be a monster, mustn’t there? Sam stepped in and took some of the burden off Dean’s shoulders by casting himself as the monster Dean believes himself to be?

Annnd… I’m wondering if that isn’t the real mistake Dean is getting closer to realizing.

The longer I think about this episode, the more reason I see in it to have hope for the boys.

Tags: 5.11 Sam Interrupted, wild speculation

This post is to record more thoughts about 5.11 Sam, Interrupted. I did watch the new episode Thurdsay night, but have found my brain wasn’t finished with Sam, Interrupted. (It is utterly ridiculous to come even this close to complaining about not having enough time to process one episode before being given more story. I blame it on being sick after having to put in extra hours at school.)

There are a couple points I wanted to elaborate on from my last entry.

I forgot to explicitly state the reason I’m pointing out the sleep deprivation going on for Dean and for Susan. Even Martin wakes so quickly, it couldn’t have been restful sleep. Sure it’s interesting and helps to illustrate the fragile mental states in the hospital. However, I can’t forget the near constant sleep and dream motif running throughout season four. Maybe this flip on the theme - too little rather than ever-present - is intended to show a new chapter in the story?

It’s for that same reason that I like the episode’s questioning of reality and sanity. I speculated over a year ago that they were setting up to go there. I realize that’s no big feat, but I still find the confirmation satisfying. It does mean that this is more than a one-off, stand-alone story. The groundwork has long been in the works though I expected we’d get here much sooner.

I still haven’t found time to go around reading other reactions to the episode except for the episode thread at televisionwithoutpity. There, I saw one mention of Nurse Ratched’s eyes turning demon-black as she escorted the boys to the exam room.

(link to full-size version which is quite different from her normal eye color.)

I’m sure it happened but am not sure what that means. This demon-eye flash would have been solely for the audience’s benefit. The boys were both following behind her along the hall (one of many hallways) meaning we have information Sam and Dean don’t. This nurse is eventually revealed as the wraith. To speculate: does the eye-flash hint she was a demon but the boys working through the case forced her into the monster-we-can-kill role?

Personally, her “Sugar” directed early at the boys and later the way she anticipated the deliciousness of Sam’s brains had me thinking of Lilith’s personal chef who was a demon able to take a siesta inside the nurse Sam and Ruby drained. The wraith creature reminds me of changelings and sirens (revealing their true forms in mirrors) and of ghouls (given the taste-testing).

While much of the episode’s staging takes advantage of hallways (bigger than, but reminiscent of, the crawlspaces Dean was forced into during season four), we also have more than one notable door. We get Dean cowering at a couple of doors and finally charging to the rescue through Sam’s padded room’s door. We get the episode ending with the boys bursting out of the asylum’s side door. We get Sam’s angry outburst as Dean is urging him to hurry at picking the lock to Jed’s room. I’m still picturing the helplessness of Susan and Jed watching each other through their door windows while she’s killed.

Then it occurred to me that these faces at the windows (a forelorn image we’ve seen often) actually have doors! Yes, they are locked, but if there’s one thing the show has made clear, it’s that Sam and Dean can open doors. Doors aren’t new and windows aren’t new (though my favorite may be the window used as a door in the leap of faith taken in 4.09 I Know What You Did Last Summer). In fact, as I think back, I can remember a few other instances of the two combined. The screen door for interviewing the housekeeper in 4.11 Family Remains and the curtain-screened door to Jimmy Novak’s home in 4.20 The Rapture come to mind first.

I’m putting off discussing Sam’s hallucination of Dean ripping into him and Dean’s hallucination doctor turning from sympathetic to accusatory. I don’t quite know what I want to say except neither of these guys can win for long, can he?

Tags: 5.11 Sam Interrupted, doors, wild speculation, window