Supernatural

I remain unspoiled – so far so good!

The hyacinths in 4.14 Sex and Violence were given unmistakable importance. They were a major plot point and clue in Dean’s assumption that Sam had succumbed to the siren. Dean takes note of them in Dr Cara Roberts’s office and puts together two and two when Nick Monroe produces an evidence bag and story of hyacinths found at the previous murders.

We see them associated with both potential sirens, Cara and Nick.

Within a couple hours of the episode, I was looking up and sharing their symbolism in our S4 forum thread. I found that blue hyacinths mean “constancy” and purple hyacinths say “I’m sorry.” Hyacinths in general can be associated with “rebirth.” That made me feel so much better about the boys being at odds.  I was content to see it as a non-verbal message between the brothers and take comfort in that much. As Dean gets closer to understanding the truth, apologies will be in order from all sides, I think.

Of course, blue has its own significance within the Supernatural universe. Thankfully, I can lean on others (particularly livejournal user hearseeno) to have articulated that! Purple, as far as I know, is still more of an open question?

Then in the televisionwithoutpity episode recap, it was pointed out that ‘hyacinth’ has its roots (hee!) in Greek myth. Given the Greek origin of the siren in our episode, I was curious. The story turned out to involve a tragic all male love triangle and is considered “a classical metaphor of the death and rebirth of nature.” (Personally, besides Sam/Nick/Dean, I was reminded of the magicians in 4.12 Criss Angel.)

Anyway, from there I found myself at the main wikipedia page for ‘hyacinth’ with a surprising number of directions to head. Who knew there were three(!) Saint Hyacinths? Two of them had brothers who were also sainted.  Of those, the Saint Hyacinth with the brother, Ceslaus, (who was believed to have raised the dead!) includes a painting that I think bears a passing resemblance to the medallion profile on the Lion’s Pride motel wall.

<- snagged from wikipedia

<- cropped from an oxoniensis screencap to show the wallpaper and room divider as well as the medallion.  Is that a halo?  I bet someone with talent could zoom in and clean it up to read the date and inscription….

I can’t think of a better place to mention it, so here’s where I’m saying how much I’m in love with the dual meanings of the word ‘pride.’ Supposedly, ‘pride’ is Sam’s fatal flaw. right? And, if my theory is close, he is engaging in desperate, dangerous activity to get Dean back. The stronger, smarter bit from Sam could be seen as pointing out he’d avoided his siren (Cara) while Dean hadn’t. Still, he was enthralled along with Dean by Nick, [edit: or at least finds he's miscalculated the strength of Dean's issues yet again. Actually, are we certain Sam was caught by the siren's influence? In 4.06 Yellow Fever, Sam expositions about making the frightened monster-spirit angry enough to come out and be dealt with. I'd buy the idea of Sam channeling drill sergeant John to motivate a Dean hiding from reality.]

Anyway, ‘pride’ in reference to lions would mean the family. I like that as another reminder of what the show will always be about.

Finally, yikes! I checked out the entry for The Doors song “Hyacinth House.” While Dean and Nick were bonding in the strip club, the episode called to mind several songs without actually playing them, so it might not be such a leap to think about this one, too. (Seriously, check it out if you aren’t familiar with the song.)

To please the lions this day
I need a brand new friend who doesn’t bother me
I need a brand new friend who doesn’t trouble me
I need somebody who doesn’t need me

and

Why did you throw that Jack of Hearts away?
It was the, was the
It was the only card in the deck I had left to play

Not only includes a lion reference, but it fits with my theory! I see Sam as (currently, temporarily) overwhelmed by the responsibility of acting as caretaker for a dependent (suicidal?) Dean. The victim killer son in this episode’s story willingly took on the care of his mother no doubt out of love (despite killing her for the siren). Now that we are seeing from Sam’s point of view, and now that he’s stepped up whatever he’s doing with Ruby, we should expect that his issues will drive the story more. Yes, he’s lying to Dean who is finally objecting to the lies. However, I’ve little question now that Dean unconsciously demanded and contributed to those lies as the season’s story has been unfolding.

Nice fit, but I think I may have come full circle and am back to depressed again about where the boys are at the moment, though.

BONUS: The view through the blinds of the hyacinth flowers in the doctor’s office leads to another thought about season four! More soon.

[edited Mar.16, 2009 to fix image link]

Tags: 4.14 Sex and Violence, speculation, visuals