Never Read the Comments
I tend to pick up on the new Supernatural episodes a day late due to not actually getting the channel that plays the show. So I got to watching this new episode (5.17), and then, stupidly curious, read a discussion about it.
The big hubub is about Lisa and Ben popping back up, and... What's the big deal? No one seemed to mind when Lisa was in "Dream a Little Dream" in season three and Dean tried to shrug off his image of her as "I don't know what you're talking about. Look, a distraction."
See, I think the important thing about Lisa and Ben is what they symbolize to Dean. He would love to settle down with a family (dudes, he's in adulthood, he never expected to live as long as he has, and never made plans for the future), and after seeing what Bobby lost in the episode before, he's all too aware that he can't have that picture of innocence that he wants.
Let me put it this way: Dean cares about a handful of things.
Sam tops the list because it's Sammy, his brother. The kid he raised while John was obsessed and chasing monsters. Dean's made comments to the effect of regretting that Sam had to grow up fighting monsters, while Dean, himself, got to keep some memories of normal. Dean regrets the way Sam is not innocent, or able to have that normal life. And he's sure as hell pissed at the world that he couldn't give Sam that "normal" (the Thanksgiving scene, Christmas...).
There's the Impala. It's the only stable thing Dean has ever known. It's been "home" for over 26 years for him. He's lived out of that car, he's had sex in that car, he's rebuilt it, he's hated it, he's used it to save his and Sam's lives more than once, and it's just always been there. If it had been John's black truck the whole time, Dean would probably love it just as much because after Mary's death, they didn't have anything stable. The Impala, for all it's glory and fetish symbol in the fandom, is "home" to Dean.
Friends and perceived family take a huge place for Dean. Not just Bobby, but there was Ellen, Jo, Ash, Pam for a little while, Rufus for a time, even Ruby when Dean was trying to play nice for Sam's sake. Considering how much family the guy is losing, and will continue to lose (because there is no way in hell this fifth season is ending in anything other than a bloody mess or a Deus ex Machina), is it so hard to stretch the imagination and think that Dean might want to protect the symbols of what he never had?
Lisa and Ben themselves are innocent in all this. Even if Ben was never Dean's kid, Dean happens to like kids, and he likes Ben. Lisa's appeared before as an image of a dream Dean was embarrassed about because it questioned his "nothing matters but Sammy" attitude. The angels and Lucifer know the Winchesters. They know what they like, who they like, and they know enough to go after them. Hell, they were low enough to bring Bobby's wife back to life just to either kill Bobby or break him (I know it was Lucifer, but look at how Zachariah acted in Heaven, too). If Dean thinks of Lisa as a symbol of innocence, and the pretty suburban life he wishes he could have had, then it's not so much of a stretch to think that the angels might be douchey enough to use them.
Then there's what led up to the visit. Seeing Bobby broken. Pam in Heaven telling them to give in because death isn't so bad. A grieving mother being set on the road to Hell with just a false promise that she'd see her son again.
Dean's broken, giving up, and ready to say "yes." He wants to make sure that if there's the slightest chance that something good can come out of it, he wants to take that road-- fine, selfish to say "protect the girl and kid because I like them, and my Heaven is that peaceful life they have", but after 26 years of looking after Sam, comforting John, being a good little soldier, literally seeing Hell, and being pulled every which way, the guy is allowed to want a bit of normal for himself.
There's also the fact that Lisa was just a cameo. The chances of Dean saying "yes" without setting down the rules of "Sammy's not getting touched and gets to go to Heaven" and hopefully healing Bobby (the "everyone I like has a peaceful afterlife" is pretty much guaranteed in the negotiations), are slim. He's going to take care of what he cares about. And, yes, I'd love to see some sort of non-death resolution for Cas-- either making him human and getting a spot in Heaven, or just not being the exiled angel anymore-- but the writers have been skirting around a lot of things with Cas.
----
TL;DR: Lisa and Ben are symbols. They have and represent the peaceful life Dean wishes he could have-- in canon, for three seasons this dream of suburban, normal life, is established. If there's the tiniest chance that he can take that normal life, he will. At the very least, he doesn't want one or the other ending up hunting, and he doesn't want to see their safe little world destroyed.
----
I know that fangirls have problems with the women in the show coming around for second passes. Cassie was awesome, but she made sure it was over. I'd love to see Sarah around again for Sam, but that's sort of up in the air.
Thing is, I get why the fangirls fly into a rage when a woman is brought in as a love interest. Suddenly there is a threat on their perceived territory-- despite the fact that... Well, fictional characters, and actors who don't know that you exist (fuck, have you seen their lovers?). Established heterosexuality is canon, Dean/Cas is not a threat to fangirls' heterosexuality and therefore okay. But add in something the characters might want?
Anyway, not particularly coherent since I have to head to work for a long shift, and I'm still pissed off at fangirls.
I'm just going to take it as a reminder to "never, ever read the comments" in a discussion. Ugh, the fan base makes me want to pull out again, and scrap the current 2000 words of the next "Building Steam" chapter. Is there such thing as a "sane fandom" or am I just hoping too much?
The big hubub is about Lisa and Ben popping back up, and... What's the big deal? No one seemed to mind when Lisa was in "Dream a Little Dream" in season three and Dean tried to shrug off his image of her as "I don't know what you're talking about. Look, a distraction."
See, I think the important thing about Lisa and Ben is what they symbolize to Dean. He would love to settle down with a family (dudes, he's in adulthood, he never expected to live as long as he has, and never made plans for the future), and after seeing what Bobby lost in the episode before, he's all too aware that he can't have that picture of innocence that he wants.
Let me put it this way: Dean cares about a handful of things.
Sam tops the list because it's Sammy, his brother. The kid he raised while John was obsessed and chasing monsters. Dean's made comments to the effect of regretting that Sam had to grow up fighting monsters, while Dean, himself, got to keep some memories of normal. Dean regrets the way Sam is not innocent, or able to have that normal life. And he's sure as hell pissed at the world that he couldn't give Sam that "normal" (the Thanksgiving scene, Christmas...).
There's the Impala. It's the only stable thing Dean has ever known. It's been "home" for over 26 years for him. He's lived out of that car, he's had sex in that car, he's rebuilt it, he's hated it, he's used it to save his and Sam's lives more than once, and it's just always been there. If it had been John's black truck the whole time, Dean would probably love it just as much because after Mary's death, they didn't have anything stable. The Impala, for all it's glory and fetish symbol in the fandom, is "home" to Dean.
Friends and perceived family take a huge place for Dean. Not just Bobby, but there was Ellen, Jo, Ash, Pam for a little while, Rufus for a time, even Ruby when Dean was trying to play nice for Sam's sake. Considering how much family the guy is losing, and will continue to lose (because there is no way in hell this fifth season is ending in anything other than a bloody mess or a Deus ex Machina), is it so hard to stretch the imagination and think that Dean might want to protect the symbols of what he never had?
Lisa and Ben themselves are innocent in all this. Even if Ben was never Dean's kid, Dean happens to like kids, and he likes Ben. Lisa's appeared before as an image of a dream Dean was embarrassed about because it questioned his "nothing matters but Sammy" attitude. The angels and Lucifer know the Winchesters. They know what they like, who they like, and they know enough to go after them. Hell, they were low enough to bring Bobby's wife back to life just to either kill Bobby or break him (I know it was Lucifer, but look at how Zachariah acted in Heaven, too). If Dean thinks of Lisa as a symbol of innocence, and the pretty suburban life he wishes he could have had, then it's not so much of a stretch to think that the angels might be douchey enough to use them.
Then there's what led up to the visit. Seeing Bobby broken. Pam in Heaven telling them to give in because death isn't so bad. A grieving mother being set on the road to Hell with just a false promise that she'd see her son again.
Dean's broken, giving up, and ready to say "yes." He wants to make sure that if there's the slightest chance that something good can come out of it, he wants to take that road-- fine, selfish to say "protect the girl and kid because I like them, and my Heaven is that peaceful life they have", but after 26 years of looking after Sam, comforting John, being a good little soldier, literally seeing Hell, and being pulled every which way, the guy is allowed to want a bit of normal for himself.
There's also the fact that Lisa was just a cameo. The chances of Dean saying "yes" without setting down the rules of "Sammy's not getting touched and gets to go to Heaven" and hopefully healing Bobby (the "everyone I like has a peaceful afterlife" is pretty much guaranteed in the negotiations), are slim. He's going to take care of what he cares about. And, yes, I'd love to see some sort of non-death resolution for Cas-- either making him human and getting a spot in Heaven, or just not being the exiled angel anymore-- but the writers have been skirting around a lot of things with Cas.
----
TL;DR: Lisa and Ben are symbols. They have and represent the peaceful life Dean wishes he could have-- in canon, for three seasons this dream of suburban, normal life, is established. If there's the tiniest chance that he can take that normal life, he will. At the very least, he doesn't want one or the other ending up hunting, and he doesn't want to see their safe little world destroyed.
----
I know that fangirls have problems with the women in the show coming around for second passes. Cassie was awesome, but she made sure it was over. I'd love to see Sarah around again for Sam, but that's sort of up in the air.
Thing is, I get why the fangirls fly into a rage when a woman is brought in as a love interest. Suddenly there is a threat on their perceived territory-- despite the fact that... Well, fictional characters, and actors who don't know that you exist (fuck, have you seen their lovers?). Established heterosexuality is canon, Dean/Cas is not a threat to fangirls' heterosexuality and therefore okay. But add in something the characters might want?
Anyway, not particularly coherent since I have to head to work for a long shift, and I'm still pissed off at fangirls.
I'm just going to take it as a reminder to "never, ever read the comments" in a discussion. Ugh, the fan base makes me want to pull out again, and scrap the current 2000 words of the next "Building Steam" chapter. Is there such thing as a "sane fandom" or am I just hoping too much?