A Theory for S4 (through 4.09)
It would be possible to trace how my thoughts have developed over the past week by reading through the the several posts I’ve made. (Hit the “Anna” or “4.09″ tags “in the trunk.”) But, they amount to zigs and zags and parts and pieces. This post is meant to neaten things up into a statement of where I think the show is after 4.09 “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and before 4.10 airs. I am unspoiled except for watching the preview once after 4.09 ended. I don’t want confirmation of this speculation being right or wrong. The show will take care of that.
I’d love feedback from the unspoiled, though. Help me see where this veers too far from the credible. My biggest hangup is not believing a storyline like this wouldn’t become known. Even when avoiding spoilers, I couldn’t sidestep knowledge that Dean would be waking up buried in that pine box.
So, here’s what I think I know…
FIRST: I think everything we’ve seen so far this season has been filtered through an unreliable narrator – Dean. I’m not sure whether to guess he still has a foot in hell or has already been physically brought back. I lean toward the latter. I believe that waking up in the coffin was his return to an earthly existence. I also don’t think he actually did wake up in the coffin. That was his brain’s way to make sense of having been gripped tight and raised from perdition. Digging out and emerging was a rebirth. AND, he was channeling Buffy-lore! The perfect, deserted, gas station from 4.01 “Lazarus Rising” would be a recharging opportunity for the body if not the mind yet.
I am thinking of him as currently trapped and incapacitated, however. Maybe he’s a John Doe in a mental ward. (Think Anna in “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”) In my head, it’s more likely he’s unresponsive in South Dakota at Bobby’s. Sam (and Bobby -and maybe Ellen? please?) would take care of him. (Think Snow White in 3.05 “Bedtime Stories.”) Sleeping on the floor was Dean checking out and being unreachable. I suppose it’s even possible he is functioning on a surface level and traveling around with Sam, but flipping in and out of reality-based awareness?
The early episodes of S4 would have been to build an acceptance of supernatural good – the beginnings of belief which has now progressed to the leap of faith the boys made (together!) through the church window. I think there’s further to take that aspect of the story and hope the show goes there.
The monster of the week cases we’ve seen would be, to me, what Dean is doing with the stories and memories while Sam tries to get him reconnected (or conceivably a way of processing the world he and Sam are working in). The cases have been suspiciously and bizarrely quirky. We’ve seen Dean “cast” as a fictional player in a Monster Movie. He’s been cursed with Yellow Fever and given an ‘excuse’ to be scared to death. If my theory plays out, rewatching the episodes from S4 so far will be like seeing them new. I can picture DEAN wishing for someone (yay, Sammy!) to love – or love him – more than anything and realizing the dangers of that bond. Who wants superpowers to fight bullies? A guy helpless after a trip to hell. (Danger again with becoming other than human?) As far as wishing to have someone with whom to have tea parties? …..um….. well, I’ve got nothing to explain Teddy yet.
The Monsters that seemed to illustrate Sam, such as the Metamorphosis rougarou, would be projections of Dean’s fears and worries for his brother. I have zero clue about whether they are in actuality close to what we’ll find once we’re seeing the story from a more objective point of view.
SECOND: I do think the angel, Castiel, was the instrument of Dean’s resurrection. If I got to decide things, the heavenly involvement is all Sam’s doing, though. Rather than striking a deal with demons, Sam would have honored Dean’s conviction that Sam should stop the cycle the Winchesters had been on. He would have turned to the only avenue left with the power to do the impossible – his faith. The angels would have seen Dean’s ‘potential’ as a direct result of Sam’s prayers, and Sam’s connection to Dean would have provided the method. The “useful” label/threat Uriel leveled at Sam has, in my opinion, to do with Sam being the tether anchoring a too-slowly healing Dean. If that breaks, Dean could still be lost, and Sam’s own potential then becomes too dangerous for the angels to allow?
Personally, I love that dealing with your soul lands a person in hell. If deals could be broken when you change your mind, souls aren’t worth what I think they are. Further, I love that the Supernatural world opened up to allow for divine intervention.
THIRD: Anna IS Dean. Dean has created an alter ego – a projection of himself. She can understand angels and see demon faces. Officially, she’s considered mentally ill and warped by her father’s influence. Dean stays a step removed from reality if these are Anna’s problems. Anna is even allowed to be vulnerable in grief and accept a supportive hand (on the shoulder!) from Sam.
I’m guessing the angels’ threat that Anna must die is a push to get Dean the rest of the way back into the game. I’m terribly excited to see if it will play out along the lines of 2.20 What Is and What Should Never Be or in some other way.
EDIT: What if Anna is NOT Dean? Or anyway, not solely Dean? I’ve been trying to remember and factor in that telekenisis she pulled with the dresser and the demon orderly. Could she be a creation of Dean but tweaked by and protected by Sam when Dean is overwhelmed?
FOURTH: I believe that when Dean does reconnect to full time awareness, he will find things both better and worse than he’s constructed with his filtering crutch. I don’t know which of Dean’s fears for Sam (intimacy – physically and emotionally – with a demon, Ruby) and/or the temptation to go “darkside ” with his abilities will be the biggest concerns, but I think Dean has worked his way into at least a semi-acceptance or understanding. I’d expect that the war for the seals will be frighteningly urgent and overwhelming.
OFF-TOPIC BONUS QUESTION: Have we seen Ruby wear jewelry in the past? She had this necklace on in the flashbacks and the present.
19 Nov 2008 05:56 am robin 4 comments
Nice writing style. I look forward to reading more in the future.
That’s a fun theory, but one of the things that I like most about this show, is that it doesn’t cheat. It doesn’t suddenly add a protected little brother and abusive father in its fourth season (Bones), it doesn’t mystifyingly resurrect John Winchester for sweeps month (Grey’s Anatomy), it doesn’t turn bad guys into good guys (Elle and Sylar on Heroes). Turning the first half of this season into essentially a dream sequence would be cheating. I also don’t see that it would improve the show, dramatically, even if it would be kind of interesting, psychologically.
Thank you Rick for stopping by and for the compliment. I hope you’ll come around again. S4 has worked so well for me that I am bursting to share it with people.
I’m glad to see you again, too, Grand Sophy. I didn’t think of anyone potentially being disappointed if the show does play things out the way I’m seeing it. Needing half a season or more of recovery and healing after being condemned to hell is the exact opposite of a cheat in my estimation.
I’m thinking of it as the extended version of episodes like “What Is and What Should Never Be” and “Dream a Little Dream of Me” where we are allowed to see the way Dean’s subconscious works. (And what a subconscious!) I do not consider it anywhere approaching the status of erasing what we’ve seen as if it would no longer count. It would have the effect of making what we’ve seen mean more. Suddenly, Dean being frightened of carrying his gun but being willing to man the flashlight for his brother is just that bit more heartbreaking (and heroic) if Yellow Fever is a filter his subconscious needs.
One of the things I’ve loved sooo much about S4 is the way it has recalled and added layers to much earlier episodes. Good heavens, the episode “Faith” deserves an entire entry about the ways to see it in light of S4. The same is true for “Houses of the Holy” and Mary’s talk of angels. I don’t think that changes whether what we’ve seen is solidly literal or clearly imaginary or some hybrid of the two (which is what I mean to propose here).
Another factor that pleases me about this theory is it makes me more understanding of the storytelling focus we’ve had this year. There has generally been notice taken about the scarcity of Sam’s point of view this season so far. It was odd to end on the Dean/Castiel scene instead of Sam/Uriel in “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester,” wasn’t it? The hug in “Lazarus Rising” was nice, but then there was almost immediate distance between the guys? I think that is because broken Dean is taking baby steps in reclaiming his life.
edit: And, from what I imagine is Sam’s pov, he can’t really celebrate Dean’s return yet because Dean is only partway back? Sam would still be worried about losing Dean. I’m going on and explaining the “awww” and “adorable” from Sam and Bobby at the end of Yellow Fever as if they’d gotten some sign of hope from Dean after averting a crisis in his recovery. It could be brilliant to see situations we’ve already seen but from Sam’s pov.
Beyond that, there have been several “comic” eps already this year. I’d posit that Dean is seeing the cases with the view of a wrecked hunter. Heck no, he’s not ready to face wendigos or even a big foot. A teddy bear (albeit giant and animate) he might have a chance against, though.
Phew! I think it’s clear that I’m not done being excited about the idea. Again, thank you for reading and commenting, Sophy!