In Which I Write In Anger About Fandom
I know I haven’t posted any reactions since after the hiatus, and perhaps I will on rewatching however for my own sanity I need to get this out.
Fandom drives me crazy. To put it bluntly, I think you are all wrong. Now you may be asking what I am speaking about? Well if people have browsed the blogosphere as I have or looked at some spoiling clips of the Supernatural finale and then read the comments or the meta or the reactions then you will know what I am talking about.
“Sam is evil. Dean is right. I can’t believe Sam would do that. Dean is such a dick, he is weak. I have no sympathy for Sam right now. Oh Dean. Doesn’t anyone understand that only Dean/Sam can stop the apocalypse?”
As someone that is a self professed Sam!Girl (only on the fact that if I had to choose between the two who I would like to tie to a bed and have hot steamy kinky play scrabble with) of course I would be a bit miffed on how people are vilifying Sam and praising Dean like he is the next coming or is Obama. But I am also miffed at all the arguments where Sam HAS to do this cause he is the only one who can and Dean just needs to get a grip and stop being a dick. Both of you people are wrong.
This isn’t about who is right and who is wrong. Everyone is so entrenched in this Sam vs. Dean battle that they have lost focus on what this show really and truly is about. It is WINCHESTERS vs. THE SUPERNATURAL. I do believe that Heaven, not just Hell falls into the latter category.
I am reminded of the book Good Omens by Terry Prachett and Neil Gaiman where in it the apocalypse begins and Heaven doesn't lift a finger to stop it. This is what I see this relating to Supernatural in that the callousness that both demons and angels have for humanity. Perhaps the Angels feel the only way for humanity to be saved is to have the apocalypse.
Both brothers are going for the same goal they are just taking different routes. As an International Relations major, I will use an example. Country B has threatened to invade Country A. There are two approaches that are the most common in dealing with this. Diplomacy and Military Action. Now, while I’m all for talking things out and avoiding violence, sometimes it is needed. It is an evil thing in and of itself but sometimes good can only triumph using the methods of evil. Diplomacy can work but without the power of military action behind it, nothing can hold.
One needs both approaches. And while Sam is a darker way to go and you can say it is wrong, it is obvious that Dean’s “angelic” plan is doing nothing. So really, is Sam that wrong when ends justify the means? Or is Dean wrong by letting evil win by doing nothing and not using everything they have in their arsenal? I believe both are wrong and that if they combined efforts and created… I don’t know… a plan that took into account both of their tools (yes even Sam’s demony powers) they could win.
As for characters in this such as Ruby and Castiel.
Ruby (and for those who speak to me regularly know) has never been a character I’ve been fond of. No, not because she’s a female (I actually enjoyed Bella though she was used wrongly within the series. I’ve enjoyed Ellen, Sarah, the blonde girl from Monster Movie etc.). Rewatching season 3 episodes, if the character as Katie Cassidy had been playing her was developed more than just a plot pusher ie, having a monologue of lines to set up the big plot arc (just like Bella was used as the random bump in the road the boys needed this week to foil their plans) I would have enjoyed her more. This “new” Ruby though, besides the poor acting, is not believable. I have always believed she has been up to no good since her appearance. This loving, caring, and nurturing side is just a façade for further manipulation. I really and truly believe that she is if not has been trying to speed up the apocalypse. I don’t think she really does “love” Sam and that this holding his hand has been a ploy to get him to do what she needs him to do. That or she’s just a giant fangirl.
Castiel… I’m still on the fence with him as a character. I think his higher ups have nothing good planned at all and if are not preventing the apocalypse, pushing it forward and encouraging it to happen. Back to Good Omens, Heaven knew they would win at the apocalypse so there was no reason to worry about it. While I think he still is on the side of preventing, I think he is being the good soldier but has something up his sleeve.
Now that my anger at fandom has dimmed a bit, I’ve been thinking of the series as a whole. Starting with Season 1 up until this coming Season 4 finale.
Everyone feels that the special kids plotline was just abandoned but I think this season shows what it was really about. I think the YED was planning for the apocalypse and bringing Lucifer. I believe that is the reason he made the deal with John Winchester to save Dean’s life at the beginning of Season 2 in thinking that John would be the first seal. I believe the final seal is killing Lilith. YED in AHBL spoke of how he found out he needed just one of them and his battle royale was to get the strongest of the bunch. This is because I believe he didn’t know how powerful his special chosen would be individually. That he knew the final seal was killing Lilith and that he thought there would need to be an army of them to do it. Once he discovered that one would be enough to do the job (Croatoan testing…perhaps figuring out the added effects of demon blood) he just needed to find the strongest of the bunch to do the deed. Of course, Dean killed good ole YED before all that could get out.
Ruby (and the demon Casey from Sin City) both stated that they were ready to follow Sam. These last 2 seasons Ruby has been doing all she can to make Sam stronger. Using Dean against him, placing herself in the role of Dean to Sam etc. This makes me think she knew YED’s end game a little more than she was letting on.
I guess we won’t find out until the finale or the end of the show anyway.
I can’t fault either boy because each one has their pitfalls and justifications. However, I think in the grand scheme of things the fandom is looking at this clever distraction that the writer’s have set up to look at Sam vs. Dean and not Winchesters vs. Other. And the ripping apart of the brothers with the preface warning of “But I love the brothers over all” is a cop out.
Fandom drives me crazy. To put it bluntly, I think you are all wrong. Now you may be asking what I am speaking about? Well if people have browsed the blogosphere as I have or looked at some spoiling clips of the Supernatural finale and then read the comments or the meta or the reactions then you will know what I am talking about.
“Sam is evil. Dean is right. I can’t believe Sam would do that. Dean is such a dick, he is weak. I have no sympathy for Sam right now. Oh Dean. Doesn’t anyone understand that only Dean/Sam can stop the apocalypse?”
As someone that is a self professed Sam!Girl (only on the fact that if I had to choose between the two who I would like to tie to a bed and have hot steamy kinky play scrabble with) of course I would be a bit miffed on how people are vilifying Sam and praising Dean like he is the next coming or is Obama. But I am also miffed at all the arguments where Sam HAS to do this cause he is the only one who can and Dean just needs to get a grip and stop being a dick. Both of you people are wrong.
This isn’t about who is right and who is wrong. Everyone is so entrenched in this Sam vs. Dean battle that they have lost focus on what this show really and truly is about. It is WINCHESTERS vs. THE SUPERNATURAL. I do believe that Heaven, not just Hell falls into the latter category.
I am reminded of the book Good Omens by Terry Prachett and Neil Gaiman where in it the apocalypse begins and Heaven doesn't lift a finger to stop it. This is what I see this relating to Supernatural in that the callousness that both demons and angels have for humanity. Perhaps the Angels feel the only way for humanity to be saved is to have the apocalypse.
Both brothers are going for the same goal they are just taking different routes. As an International Relations major, I will use an example. Country B has threatened to invade Country A. There are two approaches that are the most common in dealing with this. Diplomacy and Military Action. Now, while I’m all for talking things out and avoiding violence, sometimes it is needed. It is an evil thing in and of itself but sometimes good can only triumph using the methods of evil. Diplomacy can work but without the power of military action behind it, nothing can hold.
One needs both approaches. And while Sam is a darker way to go and you can say it is wrong, it is obvious that Dean’s “angelic” plan is doing nothing. So really, is Sam that wrong when ends justify the means? Or is Dean wrong by letting evil win by doing nothing and not using everything they have in their arsenal? I believe both are wrong and that if they combined efforts and created… I don’t know… a plan that took into account both of their tools (yes even Sam’s demony powers) they could win.
As for characters in this such as Ruby and Castiel.
Ruby (and for those who speak to me regularly know) has never been a character I’ve been fond of. No, not because she’s a female (I actually enjoyed Bella though she was used wrongly within the series. I’ve enjoyed Ellen, Sarah, the blonde girl from Monster Movie etc.). Rewatching season 3 episodes, if the character as Katie Cassidy had been playing her was developed more than just a plot pusher ie, having a monologue of lines to set up the big plot arc (just like Bella was used as the random bump in the road the boys needed this week to foil their plans) I would have enjoyed her more. This “new” Ruby though, besides the poor acting, is not believable. I have always believed she has been up to no good since her appearance. This loving, caring, and nurturing side is just a façade for further manipulation. I really and truly believe that she is if not has been trying to speed up the apocalypse. I don’t think she really does “love” Sam and that this holding his hand has been a ploy to get him to do what she needs him to do. That or she’s just a giant fangirl.
Castiel… I’m still on the fence with him as a character. I think his higher ups have nothing good planned at all and if are not preventing the apocalypse, pushing it forward and encouraging it to happen. Back to Good Omens, Heaven knew they would win at the apocalypse so there was no reason to worry about it. While I think he still is on the side of preventing, I think he is being the good soldier but has something up his sleeve.
Now that my anger at fandom has dimmed a bit, I’ve been thinking of the series as a whole. Starting with Season 1 up until this coming Season 4 finale.
Everyone feels that the special kids plotline was just abandoned but I think this season shows what it was really about. I think the YED was planning for the apocalypse and bringing Lucifer. I believe that is the reason he made the deal with John Winchester to save Dean’s life at the beginning of Season 2 in thinking that John would be the first seal. I believe the final seal is killing Lilith. YED in AHBL spoke of how he found out he needed just one of them and his battle royale was to get the strongest of the bunch. This is because I believe he didn’t know how powerful his special chosen would be individually. That he knew the final seal was killing Lilith and that he thought there would need to be an army of them to do it. Once he discovered that one would be enough to do the job (Croatoan testing…perhaps figuring out the added effects of demon blood) he just needed to find the strongest of the bunch to do the deed. Of course, Dean killed good ole YED before all that could get out.
Ruby (and the demon Casey from Sin City) both stated that they were ready to follow Sam. These last 2 seasons Ruby has been doing all she can to make Sam stronger. Using Dean against him, placing herself in the role of Dean to Sam etc. This makes me think she knew YED’s end game a little more than she was letting on.
I guess we won’t find out until the finale or the end of the show anyway.
I can’t fault either boy because each one has their pitfalls and justifications. However, I think in the grand scheme of things the fandom is looking at this clever distraction that the writer’s have set up to look at Sam vs. Dean and not Winchesters vs. Other. And the ripping apart of the brothers with the preface warning of “But I love the brothers over all” is a cop out.