6x01, now with thinky thoughts
It feels so odd and so wonderful to be watching this show live again with my flist. *tearful hugs*
None of this is organized, but you know me...
Okay, first of all, my worries and assortment of things I never want to see on this show:
I dearly hope that Sam is Sam. Because I have several reasons why that all add up to the same basic conclusion: I want Sam to be Sam because I want Sam's trauma to be Sam's trauma and not supernatural influences that propel the plot forward and give us little to no insight on Sam the person. They have danced around this ad nauseam, and I am sick of watching the writers beating on that poor horse. Just let it die. Please. If they go the route of Sam not being Sam, then what will it lead to? If it doesn't lead to Dean finally pulling the trigger, then what is the point? If it leads to Dean pulling the trigger, then what is the point? Either way, there would be angst that we've covered to death before, and no doubt a lot of misunderstandings also covered to death, and there is at the end Dean who has or has not pulled the trigger and is either watching Sam become a monster in actual fact or burying Sam and neither of these options leads to anything but a suicidal Dean and an extremely low note for the series to go out on. It would be about as emotionally unrewarding as Missouri coming back for more "tough love." But what bothers me the most is the same reason I hated this back in S3: what happens to Sam when he dies? Where did he go at the end of S2? What did he endure in the cage with Lucifer? Where is the emotional aftermath from simply being a human being in that situation? I am really tired of Sam's storylines being all about the supernatural plot happenings that revolve around him. I want him to have a storyline that is about him, as a person. So please, writers. No devil, no demon blood, no destiny. Let his virtues and vices be his own. Let Sam be Sam.
At the heart of all this is my general weariness of how Supernatural glorifies its heroes even as it goes to great lengths to deconstruct the big damn hero trope. That is a meta for another day, I suppose; it doesn't belong here. But I truly miss characters being gray not because of supernatural influences but simply because they're human beings, and human beings are rarely ever (or never, as far as I'm concerned) purely white or purely black but always some shade of gray. They generally get this spot-on for Dean, but they have shifted and half-assed it with Sam all the way since S1. They had the chance to allow Sam to have as poignant a storyline as Faith's in Buffy/Angel, or even some shade of the nature/choice conflict that Angel went through, but they keep shying away from anything solid and sustainable for him. They almost got there in S4, although they could have shown a lot more. They were building up to something difficult and adult, but then S5 deconstructed S4's hard work. And if this next bit was covered in the 40+ minutes of the S5 finale that I didn't watch, just let me know and I'll count it as "token" and move on from it, but here's the thing. I can't believe we never got a glimpse of how and why he first took a drink of human blood, of what prompted him to cross that line. Part of why Dean's deal felt natural to me and not extreme choices for the sake of cheap drama is because the reasons why he made that choice were built up carefully throughout the latter half of S1 up through all of S2, so that by the time he meets the CRD in the finale, we understand and care exactly why he is doing this. It feels inevitable. The snowball effect. With Sam, I can understand why Sam would choose to use his powers at last, feeling powerless on the heels of losing Dean and having Ruby's lies ringing in his ears, but I can only fanwank why he would choose to go there, to do something that is inherently defined as monstrous and inhuman as to drink human blood, something he once used to classify the difference between innocent and guilty vampires. I can only guess that Mystery Spot turned the page for his mental state, but that is only a guess. They never showed how his feelings towards it evolved, only the end results, only that one day down the line by the time he was explaining it in Metamorphosis, he said he had no choice and couldn't be free of it. But what made him drink at the time? He wanted to use it against them? Or because it was hopeless? Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't? Was he suicidal in the spiritual sense? What made him indifferent enough to the human host to drink? How did he feel about it? They never explained it, in part because it seems they want to keep this "is he or isn't he?" tension going for as long as they can stretch it out. Leaving it out is like leaving out where he went when he died in S2. Filling it in much after the fact would still leave a sense of disconnect, the very opposite of the sense of intimate understanding I had for Dean in S2. At this point, it will never not be too late, but at least they can allow him to deal with the aftermath of the previous 5 seasons as an adult human being, rather than the continued pawn of supernatural forces. Adding insult to injury, the "is he or isn't he?" is most often portrayed as Dean's story emotionally, not Sam's. Sam is left saying "This is who I am" or "I have to believe [MOTW] will make the right choice," but it's mostly transference and tied hand-in-hand with this Doom and Destiny aspect that leaves him nothing but a reactionary character in the face of accusations and manipulations. The content of their conversations made me want to pull my hair out at times, but one thing they did right in S3 was that Dean's deal was allowed time and space to be an emotional burden on both brothers.
But enough of that. It's a meta for another day. But please, show. Let Sam be Sam, for Sam's sake.
Moving on...
I really, really like Lisa and how her relationship with Dean is so far being handled, and I swear to you the show will be cheap and pointless and dead to me if she is fridged in any way whatsoever, literal or metaphorical. If it doesn't work out, fine, let them part as adults. But none of this fridging nonsense as just another notch in Dean's angst belt. That staircase conversation with Dean sold me on their relationship, and it sold me on her as a distinct character in her own right, and I do not want to see that pissed on for the sake of boys being boys or some shit like that. That is a Big No.
There is part of me that hopes they do something with the similarities/differences between Dad-mode Dean and John, but another part of me runs screaming from that possibility, given that they would inevitably use anvils of a sort reminiscent of The Season of Godawful Parallels and Extreme WTFuckery. So I have mixed feelings. Done well, it could be a haunting character piece that could bring a lot of Dean's issues with John full circle and give him some hard-earned closure.
If Mary, Ellen or Jo are ever included in the reincarnation bus, they'd better stay reincarnated and not be used simply as the wrong-in-the-head MOTW, like real Meg was in S4. Don't get me wrong, I loved how they used real Meg in S4, but she had reason to hold a grudge. Mary, Ellen and Jo have more history with the boys and should be granted as least as much of that soft glowy effect as John got in S2, if they can't come back for real like Sam and Dean.
Oh, and I never, ever want either of the boys to "grow up" ever again. Isn't Sam 28 or so? Isn't Dean in his early thirties? I know this is the CW, but for sam's sake, let them be grown men. The timing is long overdue.
The walking about in real time wasn't the most thrilling television for me, as earnestly as Jensen sold it. The second time around, in daylight with first the Yorkie then YED, had much better pacing and atmosphere. But that's a small nitpick.
The Campbells, though, have got to develop some distinct personalities fast, or I'm going to lose patience with them. I don't care if they're nice or not, but they've got to be more than Personality Type [fill-in-the-blank]. I hope they remain forces of Chaotic Neutral and not be revealed as the followers of the undoubtedly evil being responsible for the current unrest.
In other news: Jensen is honestly one of the best actors of his generation on television. I wish he was on a higher profile show that got him more attention and could lead to quality films in his future. I'm worried he'll forever be only the best actor on the CW and the go-to boy for cheap horror films and such. Please, movie gods, no. Let him be the next Harrison Ford or the next Johnny Depp, or whatever in between he wishes to be. (p.s. Damn, he looked good. Bambi eyes! ♥)
I liked Sid and his entirely un-SPN-like dynamic with Dean. On the other hand, he appears so invested in learning all about Dean, that for a long time, I was certain that he would be revealed as a demon. I'm still not sure what's going on there, but I hope for more, in any case. (I entertain myself with the thoughts of him being an angel interested in Dean in a vessel who volunteered to host an angel interested in Dean because he's also interested in Dean after living near him for the better part of a year. This is all in a slashy way, mind you.)
That conversation between Lisa and Dean on the staircase really sold me on their relationship, and I mentioned this in an email, but for a moment there it struck me as something not out of suburbia but out of the kind of atmosphere they had in The End, the kind of atmosphere I'm guessing the show's budget didn't allow them to sustain through S5. It's very much like something out of a scifi film, or out of the films about Europe or Asia during WWII. The aftermath of cities not on the front lines but near enough to war zones that shell-shocked veterans show up in their towns, and the ones who fought try their hardest to keep the shit they went through shut up inside and the ones who were protected from the great evil try their hardest to understand and protect in smaller ways in return. It just felt real and lived-in and difficult but worth working through the tough times. It doesn't feel alien to even the Dean of S1, given Cassie, but now on the far side of five seasons, it feels so much more something Dean has earned. It will never be easy; if they had written it easy and jokey and cute, then it would be a completely different show and he would be a completely different character with an entirely different history. I like that it's not portrayed as some epic true love, but that it's simply two people who care about each other doing their best in this situation, both of them caring too much to simply let go and follow the easier option. I don't criticize her as a careless mom or criticize him as a selfish, needy bum. Again, a lot of that and my appreciation for their relationship in general has to do with that post-war tone established just right there, in between them, and how easy their chemistry is. They're not beating me over the head with how these two beautiful people want to have sex with each other, but allowing them to be human and right/wrong/vulnerable. I dearly hope they are able to sustain this.
I wonder a bit at what they will do with the possibilities they've opened up here, if they will later reveal that more than the few dreams we saw in Dean's head are of the Djinns but that the issue of supernatural beings acting abnormally, of Campbells being back, etc., will be revealed as one large hallucination or some sort of half-real, half-dream alternate reality. Like a season spent down the rabbit hole. I could really get on board with that if they handle it well, if they don't fall into the trap of undoing character work with a reset button. If Dean or Sam or Cas, etc., are changed by the experience once they climb out of the rabbit hole, then it could be such a rewarding journey. They really set up a great opportunity for a season-long WIAWSNB. As a long-time fan of the "what if?" field of speculative fiction, I am in love with that concept. Of course that means they won't do it, but man, it would (could) be amazing. They have a terrific track record for episodes with that Down The Rabbit Hole atmosphere, they really do. I am trying to shed the bad feeling that the only "revelation" we're headed for is that Sam isn't Sam and/or that Grandpa and the Campbells are evil.
The Sam and Dean stuff in this episode was love for me, from start to finish. I love that Sam said something positive about Dean as a person. I love that Dean just sat there in shock for a long moment. I love that when Dean turned his back and stepped away, that Sam stepped up behind him as if to rectify the distance caused by Dean's hurt. I love Jared's choice there, as his head followed Dean turning back around in that small "are you okay?" sort of way. I love that Dean offered Sam the Impala again with so much history by now in that gesture that although it was in many ways "you can't go home again," it was also in many ways "family remains." I love that hurt and distance didn't derail love and concern. I love that Sam was more impatient to get to Dean than interested in killing the djinn. I love that look they shared when Dean got home to find Lisa and Ben gone. I love that they were talked without arguing even though they weren't on the same page, even though so much hurt stood between them. I love smilla02's notion that Sam's own hallucination must have been about Dean. I love that Sam saved himself with one of Dean's golf clubs. I love, love, love that they came across as adults, and I love that they could go anywhere from here. I hope they move the relationship forward. I felt they were stripped of the brother bond in S4, forcing them to understand and approach each other as distinct individuals and adults. S5 did damn all with that, but here they finally have a chance to expand on that. To let them define each other not simply as Brother, but as Friend. To stop heaping doom and destiny and curses on them, to let them be with each other not because there is no alternative but because they choose to be together. Because they choose to be each other's friend. (Seriously. Seriously. For me, the "he's my brother" reason for togetherness went out with The Benders. Done and done.)
As a side note, Sam testing himself could come back to bite all of this in the ass, but you know, I really loved how Jared played that moment. Wryly affectionate. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Dean has ever tested any of his family members (or even Bobby?) when there is any concern that they are possessed or a shapeshifter. He's always been on the side of believing family is family, and of course keeping his doubts to himself and/or Bobby over the long run. So I really love how all of those factors came together to make that moment.
Given that Dean hasn't spoken much about Lisa and Ben in the previous 3 seasons we've been aware of them (that he has, in fact, been very reticent to discuss them at all), I would assume that it is Sam who has discussed them with Bobby, for him to say "Nice to finally meet you." Although I guess it might have been Dean, since his reunion with Bobby was rather understated, which I would assume meant that Dean has seen Bobby in the year since whatever happened in the S5 finale happened. I hope they address that, just how much need to know stuff was going on. If Bobby saw Dean just once in a blue moon, then it would be easier to believe the explanation he gave. If he called Bobby or visited often, then it would be really hard to explain away, unless Sam was the one who kept away in the company of the Campbells and rarely visited Bobby outside of whenever it was Bobby first found out about him. They seemed to have a familiar way about them, though, so I dunno. This makes me wonder, also, what Bobby thinks of Grandpa Campbell and how those two very different authority figures interact with each other. Bobby and Sam seemed to be on the same page about Dean, going against what Samuel would have done, so that makes for a potentially interesting dynamic. Almost like John 2.0, with Sam and Bobby given the opportunity and power to intervene.
As far as Sam's (and Bobby's) decision to keep Dean uninformed, I can definitely agree with the general sentiment that they screwed up big time. How could they believe Dean would be at peace believing that Sam is in hell with the devil no doubt being tortured or becoming a torturer/demon/etc.? They failed to think it all the way through from his shoes, but here's the thing, and this is just my fanwank. I think the reason why they failed to look at it objectively is because they had a great deal of pent-up protectiveness towards Dean that built up through the early seasons but really came to a boiling point in S3. The show did something very important for their perspective, I feel, and very telling, when Bobby directly referenced Dean's age and manner of death in S3. That spoke volumes to me about not only what his mindset was when he (I would guess) went along with Sam's choice to leave Dean out, but also his general mindset about Dean in the hunting world, period. Working so hard together (although the show failed to illustrate all of their efforts) to save Dean in S3, only to find themselves utterly ineffectual spectators to his death and dealing with his shredded corpse, that drove them both to drink (snark aside) and left a tangible mark on how they dealt with each other as well as how they dealt with Dean when he was back. I think the show falters a bit in Bobby's characterization from time to time, particularly when he is reduced to Devil's Advocate (no pun intended, Sam), but they really nailed it for me with this scene. With that one line, they brought back all of what Sam and Bobby went through in S3 and reminded me of the emotions, of Bobby's response to seeing Dean alive again, of Sam's response, of their interaction with him in 5x02 with this hope/fear that he is special to God, all of it. Sam is being cooler than he's been in the past, but I don't think that discounts the main thrust of Bobby's arguments here, or Sam's earlier in the episode. Dean finally was granted what must seem like to them to be a miraculous out from the hunting world, and if they failed to see clearly what the exact circumstances would do to Dean psychologically, then I think their failure was born of a great amount of that pent-up protective love, made all the stronger (and therefore more narrowly-focused) for how increasingly depressed he was in S5. His out wasn't perfect, but it was an out with a family he had dreamed about and obviously still cared about in S5, and I can understand where they were coming from although their thought process was not clear and ultimately left more damage than not. He didn't let them off the hook, and I really hope they make the point sometime to give him or to give some other character something to say along the lines of "He didn't think Sam was dead; he thought Sam was in hell being tortured. That isn't a religious belief of his; that's based on his own experience." And the show might come back to prove me wrong on all of this, the whole "Sam isn't Sam" tension may turn out to be true and Bobby will regret not telling Dean because Sam fooled him or some such. But I hope that doesn't happen. I hope they will be allowed to have made a human error here, an error born of great love, and sometimes from great loves comes hypocrisy and damaging choices. It's practically a Winchester trademark. I hope it will be left muddy, that it will simply be as difficult and ugly to work through as human relationships are. There doesn't have to be a suspenseful reason for everything, and I hope the show lets some things just be human.
That said, I wish they'd done a moment between Bobby and Sam in the doorway similar to the one between Dean and Bobby in AHBL.2, not to mention the bigger explosion they had in the lot outside. That was the only thing I felt missing, although the cut to Dean's reaction was well timed. How does Bobby feel about Sam informing Dean? I hope we find out. The situation calls for another "How's your brother gonna feel..." speech, yes? Given that 1 + 1 equals 2, you'd think Bobby being so adamant about Dean being out of the hunting life that he'd "do it again," would mean he'd direct an equal volume of crankypants at Sam for dragging Dean back in. I wonder if we'll ever get that speech. Don't fail the boys, S6.
Random Things:
* I love the opening montage, and I especially love how it ended, trailing off of Dean's hand to the gun and holy water resting under the bed. That was beautifully done. Just the perfect note.
* Show needs more rock music in general, though.
* As far as "shattering" goes, the Impala under a tarp >>>>> new title card. That is a Big No, people.
* But about that new title card: it comes across as very dream-like. I wonder if I'm reading too much into that.
* I hope Dean gets to kill a genuinely evil Yorkie someday. That's right up there with Sam's hair getting possessed.
* As much grief as I give the show in my head for their silly extreme! sound effects (does cutting one's skin with a knife really make that sort of noise?), I appreciate it for the fact that it's clear Sam hugs Dean back. And we see Jensen bumped a bit into Jared, so it's not some little halfhearted pat on the back, but a hefty one. ♥ Also, his expression doesn't bother me, since he's changed, plus he's not the one dealing with an emotional whirlwind out of nowhere. It was coolly appreciative, if you know what I mean. Like Sam is cool in general, but he expected and appreciates Dean's honest emotion here.
* Sam actually reminds me quite a lot of 2014 Dean. Intentional? Meta? Whatever, I'm digging it. He finally gives off this impression of being unapologetic about his strength, about his nature, about his history. It took a long, hard road to get there, and I'm sure they will come back around with something being wrong about him. For now, I appreciate how adult this Sam feels, and more importantly, how anti-angst he is. After S5? For that alone, I want this Sam to stay with us... but only if they don't even that out by burying Dean in angst. Less pity parties, SPN! More shooting monsters in the face!
* "Delicate features"? I guess it would have been too slashy for any male character besides Cas to recognize them as such, heh.
* If Grandpa was actually pulled "down," then Sam really could have been anywhere in S2. I wonder if he's lying (either to himself or to the boys) about that. Or if he doesn't remember and is only assuming he was upstairs, as it were. What would have the juice to pull that off?
* I love how Jensen played that moment when Lisa recognized Sam. Beautifully done.
* "Just don't touch the decor, okay? Assume it's all loaded?" ♥
* I'm generally annoyed by the blanket statements they give Bobby. "That's life!" "That's family!" Thanks for playing, Bobby Singer!
* It's a little thing, but I love how Lisa scooted over for Dean to sit down. ♥ They're such a couple.
* I don't know how many times, by word or by deed, Dean has expressed being "sorry for everything." I'm not sure if this wasn't the first time someone turned it back on him. Not by expressing sympathy for his low self-esteem issues, but in a practical way, by pointing out exactly why he doesn't have to feel sorry for every thing. What a difference.
* "See, it's almost like I'm a professional." WOOF. Oh, yeah! \o/
* Nice to hear Dean compared to his mother. I want to hear more about her. They created the perfect opportunity for it.
* Jensen kept distracting me what with looking so good. I was slashing him with everyone but Christian, and my god but does Corin Nemec not always end up as the third wheel in everything, even the fic in my head? Does he? I only know him from Stargate SG-1.
* I keep wavering on how much weight to give Sam distinguishing "hunting with family" from "seeing you again." On the one hand, it puts a distance between the two. But on the other hand, there's "family" and there's family, and what Sam feels for Dean (what they feel for each other) could finally be allowed to expand past Brother and into something less easily defined. As much as S5 drove me up the wall, it did seem to be establishing Sam and Dean as soul mates (literally, given Ash's comment). So there's that. I am going with Fankwank #2 on this one.
* "That's for our father, you son of a bitch." Oooh, karma. Bites.
* One of Dean's much-maligned golf clubs saving Sam's ass is almost like nerd angel karma. \o/
* The only part of this episode I didn't like at all was Dean's hallucination of Lisa, Ben and YED, if only because it felt too blatantly dream-like. I guess that was the point, but I hated how it was filmed (it felt gratuitous and hurt my eyes), and I couldn't feel emotionally invested in it, as much as I love Lisa, because I was too aware of it being a dream.
* What Sam was saying there at the end was so much an echo of Dean's words in The End. I loved that touch.
* Jensen, Jensen, Jensen... Keep breaking my heart. That almost-wave killed me. The whole goodbye killed me.
* SPN hasn't scared me in about 3 seasons, but that preview! D: I hope this means more scares like S1.
* I miss Cas in general but I didn't miss him in this episode, if that makes sense. I'm not sure how he would have fit in. But I hope he's back and frequently throughout S6.
The show had a lot to promise to win me back from S5, but I really liked the tone and the character work in this one. It felt like the offspring of what I loved about S4 and The End. So far, so good! (I seem to be in the distinct minority in that. :/)
p.s. Just one thing: I hate that I feel the urge to add "Or maybe he's possessed" to every positive comment I make about Sam. I know I've expressed this sentiment already but I can't help myself. Please don't do that to him, show. Please let him be Sam.
None of this is organized, but you know me...
Okay, first of all, my worries and assortment of things I never want to see on this show:
I dearly hope that Sam is Sam. Because I have several reasons why that all add up to the same basic conclusion: I want Sam to be Sam because I want Sam's trauma to be Sam's trauma and not supernatural influences that propel the plot forward and give us little to no insight on Sam the person. They have danced around this ad nauseam, and I am sick of watching the writers beating on that poor horse. Just let it die. Please. If they go the route of Sam not being Sam, then what will it lead to? If it doesn't lead to Dean finally pulling the trigger, then what is the point? If it leads to Dean pulling the trigger, then what is the point? Either way, there would be angst that we've covered to death before, and no doubt a lot of misunderstandings also covered to death, and there is at the end Dean who has or has not pulled the trigger and is either watching Sam become a monster in actual fact or burying Sam and neither of these options leads to anything but a suicidal Dean and an extremely low note for the series to go out on. It would be about as emotionally unrewarding as Missouri coming back for more "tough love." But what bothers me the most is the same reason I hated this back in S3: what happens to Sam when he dies? Where did he go at the end of S2? What did he endure in the cage with Lucifer? Where is the emotional aftermath from simply being a human being in that situation? I am really tired of Sam's storylines being all about the supernatural plot happenings that revolve around him. I want him to have a storyline that is about him, as a person. So please, writers. No devil, no demon blood, no destiny. Let his virtues and vices be his own. Let Sam be Sam.
At the heart of all this is my general weariness of how Supernatural glorifies its heroes even as it goes to great lengths to deconstruct the big damn hero trope. That is a meta for another day, I suppose; it doesn't belong here. But I truly miss characters being gray not because of supernatural influences but simply because they're human beings, and human beings are rarely ever (or never, as far as I'm concerned) purely white or purely black but always some shade of gray. They generally get this spot-on for Dean, but they have shifted and half-assed it with Sam all the way since S1. They had the chance to allow Sam to have as poignant a storyline as Faith's in Buffy/Angel, or even some shade of the nature/choice conflict that Angel went through, but they keep shying away from anything solid and sustainable for him. They almost got there in S4, although they could have shown a lot more. They were building up to something difficult and adult, but then S5 deconstructed S4's hard work. And if this next bit was covered in the 40+ minutes of the S5 finale that I didn't watch, just let me know and I'll count it as "token" and move on from it, but here's the thing. I can't believe we never got a glimpse of how and why he first took a drink of human blood, of what prompted him to cross that line. Part of why Dean's deal felt natural to me and not extreme choices for the sake of cheap drama is because the reasons why he made that choice were built up carefully throughout the latter half of S1 up through all of S2, so that by the time he meets the CRD in the finale, we understand and care exactly why he is doing this. It feels inevitable. The snowball effect. With Sam, I can understand why Sam would choose to use his powers at last, feeling powerless on the heels of losing Dean and having Ruby's lies ringing in his ears, but I can only fanwank why he would choose to go there, to do something that is inherently defined as monstrous and inhuman as to drink human blood, something he once used to classify the difference between innocent and guilty vampires. I can only guess that Mystery Spot turned the page for his mental state, but that is only a guess. They never showed how his feelings towards it evolved, only the end results, only that one day down the line by the time he was explaining it in Metamorphosis, he said he had no choice and couldn't be free of it. But what made him drink at the time? He wanted to use it against them? Or because it was hopeless? Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't? Was he suicidal in the spiritual sense? What made him indifferent enough to the human host to drink? How did he feel about it? They never explained it, in part because it seems they want to keep this "is he or isn't he?" tension going for as long as they can stretch it out. Leaving it out is like leaving out where he went when he died in S2. Filling it in much after the fact would still leave a sense of disconnect, the very opposite of the sense of intimate understanding I had for Dean in S2. At this point, it will never not be too late, but at least they can allow him to deal with the aftermath of the previous 5 seasons as an adult human being, rather than the continued pawn of supernatural forces. Adding insult to injury, the "is he or isn't he?" is most often portrayed as Dean's story emotionally, not Sam's. Sam is left saying "This is who I am" or "I have to believe [MOTW] will make the right choice," but it's mostly transference and tied hand-in-hand with this Doom and Destiny aspect that leaves him nothing but a reactionary character in the face of accusations and manipulations. The content of their conversations made me want to pull my hair out at times, but one thing they did right in S3 was that Dean's deal was allowed time and space to be an emotional burden on both brothers.
But enough of that. It's a meta for another day. But please, show. Let Sam be Sam, for Sam's sake.
Moving on...
I really, really like Lisa and how her relationship with Dean is so far being handled, and I swear to you the show will be cheap and pointless and dead to me if she is fridged in any way whatsoever, literal or metaphorical. If it doesn't work out, fine, let them part as adults. But none of this fridging nonsense as just another notch in Dean's angst belt. That staircase conversation with Dean sold me on their relationship, and it sold me on her as a distinct character in her own right, and I do not want to see that pissed on for the sake of boys being boys or some shit like that. That is a Big No.
There is part of me that hopes they do something with the similarities/differences between Dad-mode Dean and John, but another part of me runs screaming from that possibility, given that they would inevitably use anvils of a sort reminiscent of The Season of Godawful Parallels and Extreme WTFuckery. So I have mixed feelings. Done well, it could be a haunting character piece that could bring a lot of Dean's issues with John full circle and give him some hard-earned closure.
If Mary, Ellen or Jo are ever included in the reincarnation bus, they'd better stay reincarnated and not be used simply as the wrong-in-the-head MOTW, like real Meg was in S4. Don't get me wrong, I loved how they used real Meg in S4, but she had reason to hold a grudge. Mary, Ellen and Jo have more history with the boys and should be granted as least as much of that soft glowy effect as John got in S2, if they can't come back for real like Sam and Dean.
Oh, and I never, ever want either of the boys to "grow up" ever again. Isn't Sam 28 or so? Isn't Dean in his early thirties? I know this is the CW, but for sam's sake, let them be grown men. The timing is long overdue.
The walking about in real time wasn't the most thrilling television for me, as earnestly as Jensen sold it. The second time around, in daylight with first the Yorkie then YED, had much better pacing and atmosphere. But that's a small nitpick.
The Campbells, though, have got to develop some distinct personalities fast, or I'm going to lose patience with them. I don't care if they're nice or not, but they've got to be more than Personality Type [fill-in-the-blank]. I hope they remain forces of Chaotic Neutral and not be revealed as the followers of the undoubtedly evil being responsible for the current unrest.
In other news: Jensen is honestly one of the best actors of his generation on television. I wish he was on a higher profile show that got him more attention and could lead to quality films in his future. I'm worried he'll forever be only the best actor on the CW and the go-to boy for cheap horror films and such. Please, movie gods, no. Let him be the next Harrison Ford or the next Johnny Depp, or whatever in between he wishes to be. (p.s. Damn, he looked good. Bambi eyes! ♥)
I liked Sid and his entirely un-SPN-like dynamic with Dean. On the other hand, he appears so invested in learning all about Dean, that for a long time, I was certain that he would be revealed as a demon. I'm still not sure what's going on there, but I hope for more, in any case. (I entertain myself with the thoughts of him being an angel interested in Dean in a vessel who volunteered to host an angel interested in Dean because he's also interested in Dean after living near him for the better part of a year. This is all in a slashy way, mind you.)
That conversation between Lisa and Dean on the staircase really sold me on their relationship, and I mentioned this in an email, but for a moment there it struck me as something not out of suburbia but out of the kind of atmosphere they had in The End, the kind of atmosphere I'm guessing the show's budget didn't allow them to sustain through S5. It's very much like something out of a scifi film, or out of the films about Europe or Asia during WWII. The aftermath of cities not on the front lines but near enough to war zones that shell-shocked veterans show up in their towns, and the ones who fought try their hardest to keep the shit they went through shut up inside and the ones who were protected from the great evil try their hardest to understand and protect in smaller ways in return. It just felt real and lived-in and difficult but worth working through the tough times. It doesn't feel alien to even the Dean of S1, given Cassie, but now on the far side of five seasons, it feels so much more something Dean has earned. It will never be easy; if they had written it easy and jokey and cute, then it would be a completely different show and he would be a completely different character with an entirely different history. I like that it's not portrayed as some epic true love, but that it's simply two people who care about each other doing their best in this situation, both of them caring too much to simply let go and follow the easier option. I don't criticize her as a careless mom or criticize him as a selfish, needy bum. Again, a lot of that and my appreciation for their relationship in general has to do with that post-war tone established just right there, in between them, and how easy their chemistry is. They're not beating me over the head with how these two beautiful people want to have sex with each other, but allowing them to be human and right/wrong/vulnerable. I dearly hope they are able to sustain this.
I wonder a bit at what they will do with the possibilities they've opened up here, if they will later reveal that more than the few dreams we saw in Dean's head are of the Djinns but that the issue of supernatural beings acting abnormally, of Campbells being back, etc., will be revealed as one large hallucination or some sort of half-real, half-dream alternate reality. Like a season spent down the rabbit hole. I could really get on board with that if they handle it well, if they don't fall into the trap of undoing character work with a reset button. If Dean or Sam or Cas, etc., are changed by the experience once they climb out of the rabbit hole, then it could be such a rewarding journey. They really set up a great opportunity for a season-long WIAWSNB. As a long-time fan of the "what if?" field of speculative fiction, I am in love with that concept. Of course that means they won't do it, but man, it would (could) be amazing. They have a terrific track record for episodes with that Down The Rabbit Hole atmosphere, they really do. I am trying to shed the bad feeling that the only "revelation" we're headed for is that Sam isn't Sam and/or that Grandpa and the Campbells are evil.
The Sam and Dean stuff in this episode was love for me, from start to finish. I love that Sam said something positive about Dean as a person. I love that Dean just sat there in shock for a long moment. I love that when Dean turned his back and stepped away, that Sam stepped up behind him as if to rectify the distance caused by Dean's hurt. I love Jared's choice there, as his head followed Dean turning back around in that small "are you okay?" sort of way. I love that Dean offered Sam the Impala again with so much history by now in that gesture that although it was in many ways "you can't go home again," it was also in many ways "family remains." I love that hurt and distance didn't derail love and concern. I love that Sam was more impatient to get to Dean than interested in killing the djinn. I love that look they shared when Dean got home to find Lisa and Ben gone. I love that they were talked without arguing even though they weren't on the same page, even though so much hurt stood between them. I love smilla02's notion that Sam's own hallucination must have been about Dean. I love that Sam saved himself with one of Dean's golf clubs. I love, love, love that they came across as adults, and I love that they could go anywhere from here. I hope they move the relationship forward. I felt they were stripped of the brother bond in S4, forcing them to understand and approach each other as distinct individuals and adults. S5 did damn all with that, but here they finally have a chance to expand on that. To let them define each other not simply as Brother, but as Friend. To stop heaping doom and destiny and curses on them, to let them be with each other not because there is no alternative but because they choose to be together. Because they choose to be each other's friend. (Seriously. Seriously. For me, the "he's my brother" reason for togetherness went out with The Benders. Done and done.)
As a side note, Sam testing himself could come back to bite all of this in the ass, but you know, I really loved how Jared played that moment. Wryly affectionate. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Dean has ever tested any of his family members (or even Bobby?) when there is any concern that they are possessed or a shapeshifter. He's always been on the side of believing family is family, and of course keeping his doubts to himself and/or Bobby over the long run. So I really love how all of those factors came together to make that moment.
Given that Dean hasn't spoken much about Lisa and Ben in the previous 3 seasons we've been aware of them (that he has, in fact, been very reticent to discuss them at all), I would assume that it is Sam who has discussed them with Bobby, for him to say "Nice to finally meet you." Although I guess it might have been Dean, since his reunion with Bobby was rather understated, which I would assume meant that Dean has seen Bobby in the year since whatever happened in the S5 finale happened. I hope they address that, just how much need to know stuff was going on. If Bobby saw Dean just once in a blue moon, then it would be easier to believe the explanation he gave. If he called Bobby or visited often, then it would be really hard to explain away, unless Sam was the one who kept away in the company of the Campbells and rarely visited Bobby outside of whenever it was Bobby first found out about him. They seemed to have a familiar way about them, though, so I dunno. This makes me wonder, also, what Bobby thinks of Grandpa Campbell and how those two very different authority figures interact with each other. Bobby and Sam seemed to be on the same page about Dean, going against what Samuel would have done, so that makes for a potentially interesting dynamic. Almost like John 2.0, with Sam and Bobby given the opportunity and power to intervene.
As far as Sam's (and Bobby's) decision to keep Dean uninformed, I can definitely agree with the general sentiment that they screwed up big time. How could they believe Dean would be at peace believing that Sam is in hell with the devil no doubt being tortured or becoming a torturer/demon/etc.? They failed to think it all the way through from his shoes, but here's the thing, and this is just my fanwank. I think the reason why they failed to look at it objectively is because they had a great deal of pent-up protectiveness towards Dean that built up through the early seasons but really came to a boiling point in S3. The show did something very important for their perspective, I feel, and very telling, when Bobby directly referenced Dean's age and manner of death in S3. That spoke volumes to me about not only what his mindset was when he (I would guess) went along with Sam's choice to leave Dean out, but also his general mindset about Dean in the hunting world, period. Working so hard together (although the show failed to illustrate all of their efforts) to save Dean in S3, only to find themselves utterly ineffectual spectators to his death and dealing with his shredded corpse, that drove them both to drink (snark aside) and left a tangible mark on how they dealt with each other as well as how they dealt with Dean when he was back. I think the show falters a bit in Bobby's characterization from time to time, particularly when he is reduced to Devil's Advocate (no pun intended, Sam), but they really nailed it for me with this scene. With that one line, they brought back all of what Sam and Bobby went through in S3 and reminded me of the emotions, of Bobby's response to seeing Dean alive again, of Sam's response, of their interaction with him in 5x02 with this hope/fear that he is special to God, all of it. Sam is being cooler than he's been in the past, but I don't think that discounts the main thrust of Bobby's arguments here, or Sam's earlier in the episode. Dean finally was granted what must seem like to them to be a miraculous out from the hunting world, and if they failed to see clearly what the exact circumstances would do to Dean psychologically, then I think their failure was born of a great amount of that pent-up protective love, made all the stronger (and therefore more narrowly-focused) for how increasingly depressed he was in S5. His out wasn't perfect, but it was an out with a family he had dreamed about and obviously still cared about in S5, and I can understand where they were coming from although their thought process was not clear and ultimately left more damage than not. He didn't let them off the hook, and I really hope they make the point sometime to give him or to give some other character something to say along the lines of "He didn't think Sam was dead; he thought Sam was in hell being tortured. That isn't a religious belief of his; that's based on his own experience." And the show might come back to prove me wrong on all of this, the whole "Sam isn't Sam" tension may turn out to be true and Bobby will regret not telling Dean because Sam fooled him or some such. But I hope that doesn't happen. I hope they will be allowed to have made a human error here, an error born of great love, and sometimes from great loves comes hypocrisy and damaging choices. It's practically a Winchester trademark. I hope it will be left muddy, that it will simply be as difficult and ugly to work through as human relationships are. There doesn't have to be a suspenseful reason for everything, and I hope the show lets some things just be human.
That said, I wish they'd done a moment between Bobby and Sam in the doorway similar to the one between Dean and Bobby in AHBL.2, not to mention the bigger explosion they had in the lot outside. That was the only thing I felt missing, although the cut to Dean's reaction was well timed. How does Bobby feel about Sam informing Dean? I hope we find out. The situation calls for another "How's your brother gonna feel..." speech, yes? Given that 1 + 1 equals 2, you'd think Bobby being so adamant about Dean being out of the hunting life that he'd "do it again," would mean he'd direct an equal volume of crankypants at Sam for dragging Dean back in. I wonder if we'll ever get that speech. Don't fail the boys, S6.
Random Things:
* I love the opening montage, and I especially love how it ended, trailing off of Dean's hand to the gun and holy water resting under the bed. That was beautifully done. Just the perfect note.
* Show needs more rock music in general, though.
* As far as "shattering" goes, the Impala under a tarp >>>>> new title card. That is a Big No, people.
* But about that new title card: it comes across as very dream-like. I wonder if I'm reading too much into that.
* I hope Dean gets to kill a genuinely evil Yorkie someday. That's right up there with Sam's hair getting possessed.
* As much grief as I give the show in my head for their silly extreme! sound effects (does cutting one's skin with a knife really make that sort of noise?), I appreciate it for the fact that it's clear Sam hugs Dean back. And we see Jensen bumped a bit into Jared, so it's not some little halfhearted pat on the back, but a hefty one. ♥ Also, his expression doesn't bother me, since he's changed, plus he's not the one dealing with an emotional whirlwind out of nowhere. It was coolly appreciative, if you know what I mean. Like Sam is cool in general, but he expected and appreciates Dean's honest emotion here.
* Sam actually reminds me quite a lot of 2014 Dean. Intentional? Meta? Whatever, I'm digging it. He finally gives off this impression of being unapologetic about his strength, about his nature, about his history. It took a long, hard road to get there, and I'm sure they will come back around with something being wrong about him. For now, I appreciate how adult this Sam feels, and more importantly, how anti-angst he is. After S5? For that alone, I want this Sam to stay with us... but only if they don't even that out by burying Dean in angst. Less pity parties, SPN! More shooting monsters in the face!
* "Delicate features"? I guess it would have been too slashy for any male character besides Cas to recognize them as such, heh.
* If Grandpa was actually pulled "down," then Sam really could have been anywhere in S2. I wonder if he's lying (either to himself or to the boys) about that. Or if he doesn't remember and is only assuming he was upstairs, as it were. What would have the juice to pull that off?
* I love how Jensen played that moment when Lisa recognized Sam. Beautifully done.
* "Just don't touch the decor, okay? Assume it's all loaded?" ♥
* I'm generally annoyed by the blanket statements they give Bobby. "That's life!" "That's family!" Thanks for playing, Bobby Singer!
* It's a little thing, but I love how Lisa scooted over for Dean to sit down. ♥ They're such a couple.
* I don't know how many times, by word or by deed, Dean has expressed being "sorry for everything." I'm not sure if this wasn't the first time someone turned it back on him. Not by expressing sympathy for his low self-esteem issues, but in a practical way, by pointing out exactly why he doesn't have to feel sorry for every thing. What a difference.
* "See, it's almost like I'm a professional." WOOF. Oh, yeah! \o/
* Nice to hear Dean compared to his mother. I want to hear more about her. They created the perfect opportunity for it.
* Jensen kept distracting me what with looking so good. I was slashing him with everyone but Christian, and my god but does Corin Nemec not always end up as the third wheel in everything, even the fic in my head? Does he? I only know him from Stargate SG-1.
* I keep wavering on how much weight to give Sam distinguishing "hunting with family" from "seeing you again." On the one hand, it puts a distance between the two. But on the other hand, there's "family" and there's family, and what Sam feels for Dean (what they feel for each other) could finally be allowed to expand past Brother and into something less easily defined. As much as S5 drove me up the wall, it did seem to be establishing Sam and Dean as soul mates (literally, given Ash's comment). So there's that. I am going with Fankwank #2 on this one.
* "That's for our father, you son of a bitch." Oooh, karma. Bites.
* One of Dean's much-maligned golf clubs saving Sam's ass is almost like nerd angel karma. \o/
* The only part of this episode I didn't like at all was Dean's hallucination of Lisa, Ben and YED, if only because it felt too blatantly dream-like. I guess that was the point, but I hated how it was filmed (it felt gratuitous and hurt my eyes), and I couldn't feel emotionally invested in it, as much as I love Lisa, because I was too aware of it being a dream.
* What Sam was saying there at the end was so much an echo of Dean's words in The End. I loved that touch.
* Jensen, Jensen, Jensen... Keep breaking my heart. That almost-wave killed me. The whole goodbye killed me.
* SPN hasn't scared me in about 3 seasons, but that preview! D: I hope this means more scares like S1.
* I miss Cas in general but I didn't miss him in this episode, if that makes sense. I'm not sure how he would have fit in. But I hope he's back and frequently throughout S6.
The show had a lot to promise to win me back from S5, but I really liked the tone and the character work in this one. It felt like the offspring of what I loved about S4 and The End. So far, so good! (I seem to be in the distinct minority in that. :/)
p.s. Just one thing: I hate that I feel the urge to add "Or maybe he's possessed" to every positive comment I make about Sam. I know I've expressed this sentiment already but I can't help myself. Please don't do that to him, show. Please let him be Sam.